April  r,  1896.]  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
669 
trade,  purchase  with  the  utmost  reluctance.  The 
dealers  however,  have  yet  to  receive  the  bulk  of  the 
supplies  of  the  new  season’s  crops  from  the  East 
Indies  and  Central  America,  when  the  market  on  the 
spot  will  be  fairly  tested  and  business  placed  .on  a 
sounder  footing  than  it  is  now.  What  the  home  trade 
really  want  is  a liberal  assortment  of  colory  or  fancy 
coffees,  such  as  are  to  be  found  among  the  plantation 
growths,  which  are  much  too  dear  to  make  their 
larger  consumption  possible,  and  a return  to  a lower 
range  of  prices  for  these  particular  kinds  would  come 
as  a boon  to  the  retailers  of  genuine  cofiee  through- 
out the  kingdom.  Spurious  compounds  and  foreign 
admixtures,  in  iraitationof  the  pure  article,  would  then 
be  less  able  to  compete  with  the  well-selected  and 
carefully-blended  preparations  of  the  real  aromatic 
coffee  berry ; and  votaries  of  the  same  would  have 
restored  to  them  in  all  fulness  the  peculiar  fra- 
grance and  gentle  stimulus  of  their  favourite,  though 
long  neglected,  drink.  The  time  of  year  is  fast 
approaching  when  an  ample  supply  of  desirable 
qualities  will  be  on  offer,  and,  with  the  promise  of 
more  reasonable  prices  ruling  while  it  lasts,  there 
may  be  an  opportunity  for  the  dealers  and  others 
to  secure  better  profits  on  their  sales  than  they 
have  been  in  the  habit  of  obtaining  hitherto. — II. 
and  C.  Mail,  Feb.  21. 
THE  PUBLIC  SALES. 
TO  THE  EDITOR  OF  THE  HOME  AND  COLONIAL  MAIL. 
Sir, — It  is  pretty  generally  admitted  in  the  market 
that  some  alteration  of  the  days  of  the  public  sales 
might  be  made  with  great  advantage  to  those  whose 
duW  calls  them  to  attend  regularly. 
The  point  which  strikes  one  most  forcibly  on 
looking  into  the  subject  is  the  utterly  unreasonable 
policy  of  crowding  the  entire  offerings  of  Ceylon 
tea  into  one  day’s  sale  in  each  week.  The  num- 
ber of  samples  which  have  to  be  valued  is  propor- 
tionately greater  than  in  the  Indian  sales,  and 
the  length  of  time  taken  to  sell  1,000  pac- 
kages of  Ceylon  tea  being  also  greater  owing  to  the 
smaller  average  size  of  the  breaks  the  effect  is  that 
Ceylon  buyers  have  on  one  day  of  the  week  a most 
exhausting  ordeal  to  undergo  if  they  faithfully  sit 
through  the  whole  sale.  Common  sense  would  sug- 
gest that  in  the  interests  of  sellers,  and  for  the 
gi-eater  convenience  of  buyers,  the  week’s  offerings 
should  be  spread  over  two  days.  But  the  difficulty 
is — which  days  should  they  be  ? Monday  has  been 
the  Indian  tea  day  for  many  years,  and  could 
scarcely  be  interfered  with  Tuesday  has  been  the 
Ceylon  sale  day  for  a considerable  time.  Wednes- 
day has  been  another  Indian  sale  day,  w'hen  gene- 
rally about  half  a Week’s  offering  came  to  the  hammer 
and  Thursday  has  been  a sort  of  make-weight  day, 
when  about  a tenth  of  the  total  quantity  of  Indian 
tea  offered  In  the  week  is  brought  to  sale,  Friday  and 
Saturday  being  unappropriated.  It  is  somewhat 
difficult  to  make  changes  that  will  be  universally 
approved,  but  there  is  no  question  that  much  good 
would  result  from  some  lightening  of  the  labour  of 
those  engaged  in  the  Ceylon  sales  on  Tuesdays,  and 
it  might  perhaps  be  found  a convenient  way  out  of 
the  difficulty  to  adjourn  the  Tuesday  Ceylon  sale 
punctually  at  two  o’clock  until  Wednesday  at 
twelve  o’clock,  when  the  remainder  could  be  sold 
with  the  benefit  of  an  extra  morning’s  tast- 
ing. But,  this,  of  course,  takes  away  Wed- 
nesday from  the  Indian  sale,  and  to  meet 
this  objection  let  the  week’s  offerings  of 
Indian  tea  be  divided  into  two  sales — Mon- 
days and  Thursdays — still  retaining  Monday  for  the 
larger  part,  say  three-fifths  of  the  total  on  Monday 
and  two-fifths  on  Thursday.  Then  it  is  evident  that 
the  opportunities  for  tasting  the  samples  would  be 
more  evenly  distributed  over  the  week,  and  confidence 
in  the  valuations,  wliich  is  the  surest  guarantee  of 
satisfactory  biddings,  would  naturally  result. — I 
am,  &c.,  D.  F.  Shillinoton. 
TO  THE  editor  OF  THE  HOME  AND  COLONIAL  MAIL, 
giB,— Ae  youT  valuable  papevveaches  nearly  all  who 
are  concerned  with  Indian  tea,  will  you  kindly  be 
the  mqans  of  ventilating  a proposal  which,  I under- 
stand, is  likely  to  be  made  to  importers  and  their 
brokers  by  some  of  the  London  buyers. 
It  is  to  do  as  Calcutta  does,  and  to  cease  hold- 
ing any  public  auction  of  Indi?.n  tea  for  some  few 
woeks  in  the  summer  in  order  to  give  “ the 
market  a period  of  rest,  and  to  agree  to  a date  upon 
which  the  first  public  sales  of  new  crop  shall  be 
held  in  London. 
If  the  proposal  be  a good  one,  there  is  not  much 
difficulty  in  carrying  it  out  now  that  nearly  all  pro- 
ducers close  their  crops  so  much  earlier  than  they 
used  to  ; but  such  arguments  in  its  favour  as  there 
may  be  will  no  doubt  be  put  forward  by  those  who 
urge  its  adoption. 
My  object  in  writing  to  you  is  merely  to  secure 
eai-ly  consideration  for  the  proposal;  inasmuch  as 
the  co-operation  of  shippers  in  India  with  importers 
in  London  would  be  required  to  effect  it.  Speaking 
from  somewhat  considerable  experience,  however,  I 
may  perhaps  be  permitted  to  say  that  the  small  in- 
termittent sales  during  June,  attended  by  unwilling 
buyers,  are  not  altogether  conducive  to  the  interest 
of  producers. — Yours  faithfully, 
Herbert  S.  Parker. 
38,  Mincing  Lane,  February  20. — //.  and  C.  Mail, 
Feb  21. 
» 
DISEASE  AMONGST  COCONUT  TREES. 
TO  THE  EDITOR  OF  THE  “ TIMES  OP  INDIA.” 
Sir, — Coconut  trees  are  attacked  by  a disease  called 
in  Goa  Mandolim,  which  manifests  itself  in  two  forms, 
in  one  of  which  a gummy  liquid  runs  out  from  small 
slits  in  the  tree,  and  in  the  other  a yellow  powder  is 
formed  and  thrown  out  from  similar  slits.  The  dis- 
ease generally  appears  in  the  more  healthy  and 
luxuriant  plants,  and  the  cultivators  comes  to  know 
that  a tree  has  been  attacked  only  when  the  leaves 
begin  to  droop  lifeless  and  the  fruits  to  fall.  It  is 
strange  that  no  mention  is  made  of  the  disease  in 
either  Watt’s  ‘‘  Dictionary  of  Economic  Products  ” 
or  in  the  '■  Bombay  Gazetteer,”  which  leads  me  to 
the  conclussion  that  the  disease  is  localized.  Can  any 
of  your  readers  inform  me  wether  coconut  trees  out- 
side Goa  have  been  seen  attacked  by  Mandolim,  and 
also  give  me  the  causes  and  the  remedies  used  in 
its  cure.  I myself  believe  that  the  disease  is  the 
result  of  a fungus,  but  I cannot  be  sure,  as  I am 
not  an  expert  at  examination  with  the  microsc  ope. 
In  Goa  the  cultivator  makes  a hole  through  the 
tree  above  the  part  affected,  but  this  cure  is  not 
always  successful.  I have  with  me  specimens  from 
trees  attacked,  and  will  only  be  too  glad  to  show 
tkem  to  anyone  desirous  of  seeing  them.  Mr.  Ber- 
nardo Francisco  da  Costa,  who  lately  died  at  Diu, 
has  written  an  interesting  book  in  two  part — Aqri^ 
cultof  Indiano — in  which  he  treats  minutely  of  the 
disease.  Before  him  a Jesuit,  who  was  in  charge  of 
the  vast  plantations  his  Order  possessed  in  Salsette, 
Goa,  had  described  the  the  disease  in  his  Arte  Falma- 
rki.  The  disease  must  be  one  which  has  existed  for 
years.  The  specimens  above  referred  to  I obtained 
through  the  kindness  of  Mr.  da  Costa,  jr.st  a month 
before  he  left  for  Diu.  J.  Ci  Lisboa, 
— Times  of  India,  March  3. 
A writer  in  the  Times  of  India  says:— In  reply  to 
Dr.  Lisboa’s  letter  in  your  issue  of  this  day  soliciting 
information  as  to  whether  coconut  trees  outside  Goa 
have  been  seen  attacked  by  a disease  called  in  Goa 
maiirlolim,  I have  much  pleasure  in  informing  him 
that  I have  seen  and  examined  coconut  trees 
attacked  by  mandolim  at  Madras,  Cochin,  and  Travan- 
core,  and  even  at  Juvem,  near  Bandora,  and  I can 
assure  him  that  the  disease  is  not  confined  to  Goa 
alone  or  localized,  as  he  believes  it  is.  In  my  own 
little  garden  at  Mazagon  I have  two  fine  coconut 
trees  brought  down  from  Penang  and  planted  some 
years  ago,  one  of  which  was  last  year  attacked  by 
the  disease  or  insect  called  mandolim,  which  was 
instantly  removed  by  a Goanese  toddy-drawer,  almost 
all  pf  whpBi  are  experts  in  cocpanut  cuUivatipn  and 
