596 
THE  TROPICAI 
AGRICULTURIST.  [March  2.  1896. 
TEA  IN  AISTUALIA. 
A fiiir  business  has  been  clone  privately  in  Cliina 
tea,  sales  comprisinfj  ‘2,1)00  half-chests  comnion  congou 
to  medium  panyong  at  to  lUd  100  half-chesis 
panyong  at  7.jd  to  Tijd  "200  cpiarter- chests  buds  at  .'>1(1 
<o0  cjuaiter-chests  medium  buds,  KiO  quarter-chcsis 
buds  at  up  to  Tie!  and  DO  half-chests  kooloo.  Of 
Ceylon  teas,  ‘280  packages  have  been  sold  at  prices 
ranging  from  oAdtolld.  Of  Indians,  50  chests  have 
been  sold  at  Old.  The  auction  sales  on  Friday  last 
were  quiet,  and  jirices  realised  for  Ceylon  teas  showed 
a decline,  which  in  some  cases  amounted  to  as  much 
ltd.  The  quantity  of  Ceylon  offered  was  381)  chests, 
183  half-chests,  and  172  boxes,  and  the  cjuantity  solcl 
was  ‘239  chests,  130  half  chests,  and  172  boxes.  Fine 
pekoe  and  broken  orange  pekoe  realised  lOJd  to  Is 
Igd ; pekoe,  0;d  to  Dd ; broken  pekoe,  7jd  to  Old; 
and  pekoe  souchong,  D.td  to  OJd.  Of  Indian  teas, 
1)29  chests  and  lull  half-chests  wore  offered,  but  sales 
were  only  made  of  9 1 chests  and  31  half-chests,  at 
Oid  to  lOJd.  At  the  auction  sale  of  Indian  teas 
yesterday  (Thursday  i only  a small  business  was  done, 
one  of  the  c.italogues  lieing  almost  entirely  passed 
in,  as,  although  the  bids  were  fully  up  to  and  in  some 
cases  over  late  market  lates,  the  importers  preferred 
to  hold  for  an  advance,  looking  at  the  character  of 
recent  advices  from  Calcutta.  The  total  quantity 
offered  was  ‘2,(1D.'>  packages  cx  “Argus,”  and  sales 
w'ere  made  publicly  of  372  packages  as  follows:  — 
Orange  pekoe,  lOd;  pekoe,  (i.fd  to  7.J  ; broken  pekoo. 
(i-jd  ; i)ckoc  souchong,  bid  to  8d  ; and  broken  pekoo 
souchong,  fid.  Sales  have  since  been  made  privately 
of  about  700  chests  at  an  advance  on  auction  bids. 
Cable  advices  announce  the  closing  of  fhe  Calcutta 
markets  for  the  season  1895-1H>,  and  recommend  the 
holding  of  recent  shipments  for  price.— .liisf/uhtsui/i 
Jan.  2D. 
M A in':  E r E CRT  E A SHARES. 
Thursday  evening,  Jan.  23. 
Since  last  writing  a steady  business  at  rather 
hardening  prices  has  been  in  ijrogress  tor  nearly  all 
Indian  Tea  shares. 
Fhksii  Issues. — We  shall  in  future  allude  to  the 
Cachar  and  Dooars  and  to  the  East  Indian  and 
Ceylon  Companies  in  the  sequel  under  their  respective 
headings. 
Mincing  Lane  has  shown  a distinctly  hardening 
tendency,  and  even  the  commoner  classes  of  Teas  are 
now'  fetching  advanced  prices. 
Cevi.on  Shakes. — C.  T.  P.  Co.  ordinary  are  still 
wanted  at  2I5  upwards,  but  holders  ask  f‘2.5.  The 
Prefs.  were  taken  early  in  the  week  at  Ibi,  and 
have  since  changed  h.ands  at  Idi,  and  more  is  now 
asked  for  them. 
Ceylon  and  Oriental  £3  shares  changed  hands 
as  high  as  3 3-l(j,  or  for  the  first  time  at  a 
premium. 
Eastern  Produce  and  Estates  Co.’s  £">  shares  are 
still  asked  for  at  Ij  without  finding  shares. 
Lanka  Plantations,  after  being  rather  a ked  for. 
arc  now  sellers,  and  D4  downwards  would  be  faken 
for  them. 
New  Dimbula. — In  our  last  we  strongly  slated 
the  price  at  which  the  “E”  shares  had  been  sold 
as  £17,  but  we  learn  th.rt  the  ]nire  w.as  really 
£18,  at  which  more  business  has  since  been  done. — 
J!  and  C 3/ciif. 
I'L.VN'I’IXi;  AM)  PIlODlU'lv 
Ihii'i'isji  Assam  Tea  Comuanv,  I jimitei).— Adverting 
to  the  letter  which  appeared  in  our  last  issue  re- 
ferring to  this  company,  we  learn  that  at  a subseijuent 
meeting  of  the  company  the  shareholders  by  a largo 
majority  passed  the  identical  resolutions,  as  pro- 
posed by  the  directors,  wliich  had  been  negatived 
at  the  meeting  of  December  18th. 
Dc, ATM  UE  A Weli. -known  PuANTKii.-  It  is  with  much 
regret  that  avc  announce  the  death  of  Mr.  John 
Grant,  who  has  been  manager  of  ttic  Noedeem  Tea 
Company  iu  the  JJooars  siuce  that  eompauy  com 
meiiced  operations  some  dozen  years  ago.  No  concern 
in  the  Dooars  district  has  been  more  prosperous,  or 
given  more  splendid  profits  throughout,  than  Nee- 
deem,  and  Mr.  Grant  is  well-known  as  a very  suc- 
cessful planter.  Though  not  one  of  the  very  earliest 
pioneers,  he  was.  we  believe,  the  oldest  Dooars 
|)lanter  remaining  in  the  district.  Mr.  Grant  was  a 
native  of  Perthshii'e,  and  gained  his  fir.st  experience 
in  lea  iu  Sylhat,  wliere  he  worked  a few  years  before 
Ids  engagement  by  the  Needeem  Company  10  open  out 
Iheir  gardens  in  the  Dooars.  He  long  occupied  a pro- 
minent position  iu  the  district,  and  was  for  years  cap- 
tain of  the  local  Volunteers.  He  was  widely  known 
not  only  as  a successful  tea  planter,  but  as  a most 
kiud-bearted,  genial,  and  hospitable  man.  Ho  p.assed 
away  on  New  Year's  Day,  and  his  death  is  rendered 
all  the  more  sidas  he  was  just  on  the  point  of  re- 
turning liome  from  India  for  good,  and  had  been 
contemplating  this  step  for  the  last  two  years  or 
more,  without  feeling  able  to  break  aw.iy  from  his 
congenial  duties  and  surroundings  as  the  time  for 
saying  good-bye  approached.  It  seems  too  often  the 
case  with  tea  garden  managers  that  they  hold  on  a 
little  too  long.  The  sad  news  will  bring  much  sorrow 
to  Mr.  Grant’s  many  friends,  and  much  sympathy 
will  be  felt  for  Mrs.  Grant,  who  had  gone  home  in 
advance  of  her  husband,  and  is  now  in  Scotland. 
The  PnoDUEE  of  Venezuel.a. — A/irojio-i  the  Vene- 
zuelan dispute,  the  principal  indmtrics  ofVenezueli 
are  the  cultivatiou  of  coffee  and  cocoa,  cattle  raising, 
the  growth  of  sugarcane  and  its  nianufactnio  into 
sugar  and  rum  for  local  use,  gold  mining,  and 
the  collection  of  natural  products,  such  as  vegetable 
ivory,  ebony,  «ud  other  woods,  dyewoods,  and  a 
variety  of  articles  of  minor  importance  for  export- 
ation. Coffee  is  the  main  stable  of  Venezuelan 
wealth,  the  cultivation  extending  in  more  or  less 
degree  to  all  districts  of  the  Republic  where  soil 
and  climate  are  suitable.  The  port  of  Maracaybo 
ships  annually  some  30,000  tons  fi-om  the  Aiidine 
States  adjoining  Colombia,  Puei to  Cabello  about  7.000 
tons  from  tho  comiti'y  round  about  Valencia,  and  La 
Guayra  from  1‘2,000  to  13,000  tons  from  the  districts 
within  reach  of  Caracas.  Venezuelan  coffee  beaia 
a high  reputation,  and  would  gain  still  more  in 
favour  if  greater  attention  was  paid  to  the  method 
of  cultivation  and  prepar.ition  for  the  market.  The 
total  urea  under  coffee  is  estimated  at  from  180,000 
to  200,000  acres,  and  the  average  yield  at  a little 
under  5 cwt  per  acre.  The  plantations  have  a neglected 
appearance  generally — km  e-deep  with  weeds  and  the 
trees  nnpriincd  and  uncared  for.  The  coffee  is  grown 
under  shade  trees,  forming  a strong  protection  from 
tho  hot  sun.  The  total  cost  of  cultivation  and  other 
chaiges  up  to  the  time  of  the  deliver}'  of  the  bean 
in  a maiketable  state  in  Gar.rcas  or  clsewliere  is 
calculated  at  about  35s  ijer  cwt.,  thus  leaving  a con- 
siderable profit  to  tlic  grower  at  present  values.  Rut 
drawbacks  exist  to  deter  Europeans  from  embarking 
in  the  enterprise.  llevcDutions  are  of  too  frequent 
occurrence. — //.  and  C.  .1/ail,  Jan.  17. 
J'he  MAMHEsrEK  DiKEcr  -Tkade  i.N  Tea.— The 
steamer  '■  Clan  Drummond,'’  the  second  of  Messr.s. 
Cayzer,  Irvine  and  CIo.’s  new  service  to  SManchester 
from  Calcutta,  arriA  cd  iu  Manchester  early  last  week. 
Her  Manchester  consignments  included  between  5,000 
and  (i.OOO  ch>  sts  rf  tea,  imported  by  Messrs.  Johnson. 
Dodds  and  Co.,  whose  efforts  to  establish  a market  in 
that  city  have  met  witli  success. 
( 'AMIRI  Oil. 
Campuou  ekom  Jjeae  Oil. — The  recent  high  price 
of  camphor,  on  account  of  the  war  between  China 
and  .lapan  and  trade  monopolies,  lias  caused  some 
anxiety  in  countries  where  it  is  largely  consumed, 
says  Mr.  David  Hooiter,  writing  in  the  Phannaceii- 
lical  donnial,  and  China  and  Japan  being  at  present 
the  only  two  countries  where  camphor  is  produced 
on  a large  scale,  it  has  been  tliought  desirable  that 
its  cultivation  should  be  taken  up  in  other  lands. 
In  , lapan  the  camphor  trees  grow  at  high  elevations 
luvay  from  tlie  sea,  and  only  large  trees  of  about 
011c  Jiuiulred  years  old  are  seli.cLed  for  use  iu  making 
11k'  i.'inpl'or.  From  the  export  returns  of  this 
country  it  seeuie  that  the  supply  is  gradually 
