674 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST, 
[April  i,  1896. 
given  her  (I  had  helped  to  put  up  and  decorate  her 
booth  at  the  food  show  myself,  and  had  been  at  her 
call  there)  she  enumerated  the  places  and  clubs 
where  the  tea  had  been  served  by  us  and  then  in- 
ti*oduced  Mrs.  Tipton  to  give  her  regular  tea  talk. 
The  ladies  individually  spoke  to  Mrs.  Tipton  after- 
wards asking  where  the  tea  could  be  had  etc.,  so 
the  next  day  I sent  some  of  the  packets  round  to  be 
distributed  by  Mrs.  Grannis  to  ttiese  ladies  to- 
gether with  list  of  grocers. 
PUINTKU  MATIT.U  WANTED. 
On  occasions  like  this  I miss  the  advantage  I 
could  take  of  suitable  printed  matter,  giving  some 
particulars  about  tea  and  its  manufacture  etc.  If  the 
Committee  have  any  such  matter  in  type,  it  would 
be  easy  to  get  a stereotype  or  cast  for  me,  and  I 
could  have  a few  printed  as  required,  at  a small 
cost.  Even  the  leaflet  Mr.  Mackenzie  is  having 
printed,  or  will  have  printed  at  some  time  would  be 
useful  if  it  included  India,  I must  say,  however,  I 
would  like  something  more  interesting  with  many 
more  cuts  and  less  telegraphic  in  form. — Indian 
Planters’  Gazette,  Feb.  29. 
THE  COFFEE  INDUSTRY  IN  HAWAII. 
Coffee  planting  is  making  steady  progress  in  these 
islands,  and  as  the  young  trees  come  into  bearing,  as 
they  are  now  beginning  to  do,  the  area  will  be 
rapidly  extended.  Thrum’s  Almanac  for  1896  gives 
a table  showing  the  parties  engaged  in  this  busi- 
ness, the  extent  of  land  cleaned  and  planted  and  the 
acreage  of  trees  in  bearing.  The  area  shown  as 
devoted  to  coffee  comprises  4,806  acres.  There  are  a 
few  names  and  areas  omitted,  however,  and  the  actual 
extent  probably  exceeds  5,000  acres.  Within  three 
years  the  whole  of  this  will  be  in  bearing,  and  giv- 
ing crops  which  will  show  an  increased  yield  each 
succeeding  year,  as  the  trees  grow  larger. 
The  average  number  of  bearing  trees  to  the  acre 
is  not  over  500  in  the  best  fields,  and  where  forest 
trees  are  left  standing  for  shade,  the  number  of 
coffee  trees  is  even  less  than  that.  Many  more 
trees  may  have  been  planted,  but  in  estimating  for 
crops,  it  is  safer  to  figure  low.  Even  this  area,  with 
all  its  trees  in  good  condition  and  bearing  well, 
should  return  to  the  growers  not  less  than  2,000,000 
pounds  annually,  which  will  figure  among  the  exports 
within  a very  few  years.  And  this  will  only  be  the 
commencement  of  an  industry  which  will  continue 
to  grow  year  by  year,  should  no  disaster  overtake 
it.  And  yet  there  is  room  for  hundreds  of  new  coffee 
plantations. 
Strangers  frequently  inquire  regarding  coffee  laud, 
and  where  is  the  best  place  to  locate.  As  most  of 
the  coffee  growers  locate  on  Hawaii,  it  gives  the  im- 
pression to  many  that  Hawaii  is  the  only  island  in 
this  ^oup  where  coffee  will  flourish.  There  is  just 
as  good  land,  though  of  much  less  area,  on  Oahu, 
Kauai,  Mau’  or  Molokai  as  on  Hawaii,  and  with  this 
advantage  that  it  is  more  accessible,  especially  when 
located  on  Oahu.  We  are  glad  to  learn  that  a planta- 
tion is  to  be  started  at  Makaha,  which  is  about  four 
miles  beyond  Waianae  village  on  the  line  of  the  Oahu 
railway,  and  within  two  hours’  ride  from  this  city. 
Messrs.  F.  B.  McStocker,  J.  A.  Lowe  and  W.  H. 
Hoogs  are  the  promoters  of  this  enterprise.  Coffee 
is  found  growing  in  most  of  the  valleys  along  the 
Waianae  range  of  mountains,  and  also  in  those  of 
the  Koolau  range  on  Oahu.  One  of  the  finest  coffee 
plantations  that  we  have  ever  seen  was  in  the  Haualei 
valley  on  Kauai,  cultivated  by  Charles  Titcornb 
and  later  by  Godfrey  Rhodes,  the  latter  gentle- 
man being  now  in  the  city.  Some  years  later  the 
blight  appeared  in  Haualei  and  the  valley  was 
abandoned  to  sugar  cane,  which  in  turn  gave  way 
to  rice  That  was  long  before  the  lady  bird  pro- 
claimed herself  as  the  friend  of  the  coffee  and 
fruit  grower.  With  her  assistance,  coffee  may  now 
be  successfully  grown  in  any  part  of  this  group 
wherever  suitabfb  land  and  moisture  are  found. 
But,  like  every  other  agricultural  enterprise,  it  takes 
time,  patience  and  capital  to  develope  a succes.sful 
coffee,  sugar  or  orange  plantation  here  or  anywhere 
q\sq.— Planters'  Jlunihhj,  January. 
FOR  A DUTY  UN  TEA. 
tiik  imposition  or  a dutv  on  tea  being  aovocated  by 
THE  COMMITTEE  ON  TEA  TRADE  OF  THE  UNITED  STA1E8. 
We,  the  undersigned  committee,  representing  of 
tea  trade  of  the  United  States,  beg  to  make  the  fol- 
lowing recommendation  : 
That  a specific  duty  be  imposed  upon  importations 
of  tea,  sufficient  to  correct  certain  evils  which  can- 
not be  avoided  under  present  regulations. 
Heretofore,  when  the  subject  of  duty  on  tea  has 
been  suggested,  it  has  generally  been  opposed  with 
the  fiction  of  the  “ free  breakfast  table”  by  some 
who  have  not  understood  the  subject  and  the  con- 
ditions which  affect  the  production,  distribution  and 
consumption  of  tea.  The  fact  is,  the-  removal  of  the 
duty  on  tea  has  been  a positive  injury  to  the  consumer, 
because  of  the  poorer  quality  which  has  been  imported 
since  then. 
The  Bureau  of  Statistics  at  Washington  shows  that 
in  1873  the  average  import  price  of  tea  was  double 
the  price  of  today  and  the  consumption  per  capita 
1.53  pounds,  since  which  time  the  average  quality 
and  price  have  steadily  declined,  together  with  the 
consumption,  which  is  now  only  1.34  pounds  per 
capita.  The  consumer  pays  the  retailer  nearly  as 
much  today  for  a pound  of  tea  as  he  paid  in  1873 
and  receives  a much  inferior  quality,  which  accounts 
for  the  falling-off  in  consumption.  In  contrast  with 
this  we  find  that  in  all  countries  where  there  is  a 
tax  on  tea,  the  consumption  per  capita  has  increased, 
most  notably  in  England  where  the  consumption  has 
increased  within  the  last  twenty-five  years  from  3.63 
to  5.53  per  capita. 
In  England,  where  the  duty  is  8 cents  per 
pound  and  the  consumer  gets  better  value  for  the 
same  money,  the  consumption  is  four  times  greater 
than  in  the  United  States,  where  there  is  no  duty. 
The  average  price  of  tea  at  retail  throughout  this 
country  is  about  50  cents  per  pound  and  considering 
that  one  pouni  of  good  tea  will  make  over  200  cups, 
giving  four  cups  of  tea  for  1 cent,  it  will  be  seen 
that  good  tea  is  an  enonomical  beverage.  The  dif- 
ference in  value  to  the  consumer  between  good  tea 
and  poor  tea  is  very  much  greater  than  the  public 
realizes. 
Some  twelve  years  ago,  Congres’,  upon  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  tea  trade,  passed  a bill  excluding 
adulterated  and  exhausted  tea.  Although  the  bill 
has  been  of  .advantage,  it  has  not  prevented  the  im- 
portation of  large  quantities  of  poor  tea.  Duty  is  the 
only  real  safeguard;  its  imposition,  as  has  been  pro- 
ven by  experience,  would  retard  the  importation  of 
poor  quality  by  American  merchants  and  at  the  same 
time  prevent  native  shippers  in  the  producing  coun- 
tries from  exporting  to  this  country,  where  there  is 
no  duty,  the  inferior  and  trashy  teas  they  cannot 
send  elsewhere. 
The  Russian  Government  imposes  a duty  of  -iri 
cents  gold  per  pound,  and  it  is  a well-known  fact 
that  the  people  of  Russia  receive  the  best  tea  of  any 
people  in  the  world.  The  duty  on  tea  in  France  is 
equal  to  21  cents.  Germany  11  cents,  Austria-Hungary 
20  cents,  Spain  28  cents,  Portugal  48  cents,  Norway 
24  cents  and  England,  a free-trade  country,  collects 
a duty  of  8 cents  per  pound,  not  only  from  tea  im- 
ported from  China  and  Japan,  but  the  same  duty 
from  her  own  colonies,  Indian  and  Ceylon. 
Worthy  of  mention  in  this  connection  is  an  article 
by  Mr.  Stanton,  of  Gow,  Wilson  A Stanton,  London, 
one  of  thre-  leading  firms  importing  teas  from  British 
colonies,  which  was  read  before  the  Society  of  Arts, 
.January  23,  1895,  in  which  he  states  that  no  tax 
was  more  cheerfully  paid,  or  more  impercep- 
tihle  in  its  weight  than  the  duty  on  tea.  Sir 
Henry  Peek,  baronet,  confirmed  Mr.  Stanton’s  re- 
marks and  showed  that  the  duty  collected  from  tea 
in  1894  has  amounted  to  ,t‘3,49i),00O,  equivalent  to 
about  |17,000,0(X),  sufficient  to  provide  the  country 
with  four  new  war-ships. 
