tHE  tkOPlCAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[AtRiL  f,  i8g6. 
71O 
warmly.  As  a rule,  too  little  is  known  of  the  quiet, 
unobstrusive,  but  valuable  help  afforded  by  scieutitia 
men  in  connection  with  commercial  matters. 
“Well,  to  return  to  the  Bahamas,  not  literally,” 
for  I had  made  a jump  from  my  chair  and  was 
looking  round  for  my  hat,  which  I ultimately  found 
I had  utilised  as  a seat  cushion,  “but  in  our  con- 
versation. After  sponge  comes  pineapple.  Large 
quantities  of  this  fruit  are  sold  to  the  United  States, 
the  value  for  the  year  1894  being  not  less  than 
.£50,000.  At  the  same  time,  I am  of  opinion  that 
with  rnora  care  and  attention  in  the  cultivation  and 
manuring  of  the  pine-apple,  it  would  be  possible  to 
increase  this  item  of  production  considerably.  Or- 
anges are  also  grown,  and  .1  d. resay  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  Florida  orchards  by  frost  will  lead  to 
an  increased  cultivation  of  oranges  all  over  the  West 
Indies.  Then  there  is  the  grape  fruit.” 
“Which,  I suppose,  is  not  the  grape?” 
“ You  suppose  rightly.  The  grape  fruit  is  some- 
thing like  a large  yellow  orange  hut  with  a slightly 
bitter  flavour,  due  to  a tonic  principle  which  Is 
highly  valued  in  the  States,  where  the  fruit  is  largely 
taken  as  a digestive.  In  greater  attention  to  or- 
anges and  grape  fruit,  and  in  arranging  to  supply 
the  States  with  early  fruit  and  vegetab’es  for 
which  they  are  specially  adapted,  I think  the  Baha- 
mas have  a prosperous  future  before  them ; and 
though  a small  and  comparatively  insignificant  portion 
of  the  British  Empire,  their  well-doing  cannot  but 
be  a source  of  gratification  to  us  all.” 
“ I take  it,  then,  that  you  think  there  arc  great 
ossibilities  in  early  fruits  and  vegetables.  Dr.  Morris  ?” 
asked. 
“ Undoubtedly.  Look  at  the  Bermudas,  that  turn 
out  spring  onions  to  the  tune  of  £60,000  a year, 
new  potatoes  to  the  tune  of  ±'27,000  a year,  and 
lilies  to  the  tune  of  ±'21,000.” 
“ Are  lilies  early  fruit  or  vegetables  ? ” 
“ You  are  too  particular,”  smilingly  answered  Dr. 
Morris.  “ But  to  resume.  Look  also  at  the  fruit 
trade  of  the  Canary  Islands,  the  Azores,  and  the 
Channel  Islands,  worth  in  the  aggregate  several 
millions  sterling  per  annum  St  Helena, 
again,  is  now  getting  more  prosperous,  because 
it  has  devoted  itself  to  supplying  the  Capo 
With  new  potatoes.  It  is  in  these  minor  industries, 
as  they  have  been  styled,  that  no  inconsiderable 
portion  of  the  wealth  of  planting  countries  is  found, 
and  more  will  be  found  in  the  future.  But  they 
want  cultivating  with  intelligence  and  enterprise, 
otherwise  by  growing  unsuitable  products  or  not 
growing  suitable  products  piopcrly,  or  not  pre- 
paring them  for  market  in  the  best  way,  loss 
Instead  of  gain  will  naturally  result.  But  the  in- 
habitants are  waking  up  to  the  conditions  of  the  times, 
and  I do  not  think  they  will  be  found  lacking  in  the 
qualities  that  deserve  success,  and  go  so  far,  also, 
towards  commanding  it.” 
“And  what  about  sisal?  I understand  that  it 
promises  to  be  a great  source  of  wealth  to  the  island.” 
“At  present  there  are  20,000  acres  under  cultiva- 
tion. The  plant  existed  in  the  island  for  more  than 
60  years,-  but  had  run  to  weed.  Successive  governors 
tried  to  utilise  it,  Mr.  Bayley,  Sir  William  Robinson, 
and  Sir  Henry  Blake.  In  1888,  Sir  Ambrose  Shea,  who 
had  succeeded  Sir  Henry  Blake,  took  up  the  matter. 
There  has  been  some  controversy  on  this  point,  but 
while  there  is  no  doubt  that  he  was  not  the  first  to  note 
its  value,  it  is  largely  due  to  his  personal  effort  and 
spirit  of  enterprise  that  the  industry  has  been  so  far 
established.  It  was  he  who  first  engaged  the  atten- 
tion of  capitalists  in  the  industry,  and  so  impressed 
them  with  the  capabilities  of  the  plant  that 
they  were  willing  to  embark  their  money  in  its  cul- 
tivation. T’hft  industry  has  been  somewhat  ham- 
pered too.” 
“ Indeed!  In  what  way  ? ” 
“ When  the  industry  was  started  in  the  Bahamas 
the  price  of  fibre  was  exceptionally  high.  This  led 
to  exaggerated  ideas  being  entertained  as  to  the 
profits  likely  to  be  realised,  and  no  doubt  much  land 
that  was  unsuitable  tor  the  purpose  was  i>lanted 
with ’sisal  Then,  too,  the  enler])i  iso  was  overloaded 
with  capital,  which  was  due  to  the  same  cause,  and 
consequently  the  cost  per  acre  was  increased  so  as 
to  make  a reasonable  return  unprofitable.  A similar 
mistake  was  made  when  the  fibre  industry  was  started 
in  the  Mauritius.  Of  course,  when  the  price  fell, 
many  of  the  companies  could  not  pay.  You  see  all 
white-rope  fibres,  of  which  sisal  is  one,  are  liable  to 
violent  fluctuations.  Take  sisal  itself.  In  1889  it 
was  £56  lOs  per  ton.  In  1895,  it  fell  to  .£13.  This, 
it  is  true,  was  a quite  exceptional  fall,  and  due 
largely  to  over-production  consequent  upon  high 
prices  and  to  the  depression  of  trade  in  the  United 
States.” 
“ Then  you  do  not  take  a hopeful  view  of  the  future 
of  the  sisal  industry.  Dr.  Morris?  ” — I enquiiei  with 
considerable  curiosity. 
“ Well,  I should  hardly  be  justified  in  desponding 
about  the  future  of  sisal.  If  white-rope  fibres  pay 
anywhere  they  should  pay  in  the  Bahamas.  The 
plant  is  the  best  of  its  kind,  and  it  yields  ex- 
cellent fibre.  I am  informed  on  good  authority  that 
the  latter  can  be  placed  in  the  New  York  market 
at  a cost  (including  cutting  and  carting  the  leaves, 
cleaning,  baling  the  fibre,  and  shipping  it)  of  some- 
thing like  one  penny  (two  cents)  per  pound.  Now, 
manila  costs  two  pence  (four  cents)  per  pound  at 
Manila  and  Yucatan,  hemp  costs  a penny  halfpenny 
(three  cents)  per  pound  at  Progreso.  These  are  the 
official  figures  quoted  in  my  Canton  Lectures  before 
the  Society  of  Arts.  Bahama  sisal  should  therefore 
hold  its  owm.  The  people  are,  I believe,  determined 
to  keep  down  expenses,  and  to  ship  only  first-class 
filiro,  so  as  to  establish  a name  for  it.” 
“And  what  about  cleaning  the  fibre?  Has  the 
machine  difficulty,  about  which  we  have  heard  a 
good  deal,  been  satisfactorily  solved  ? ” 
“ That  I regard  as  one  of  the  most  satisfactory 
oints  about  the  Bahama  industry.  -They  have 
etter  machines  than  are  used  in  Yucatan — all 
doing  good  work.  For  instance,  I saw  the  Todd 
machine  working  both  at  Andros  and  New  Pro- 
vidence. This  turns  out  aLout  three-quarters  of 
a ton  of  fibre  per  day.  The  total  cost  of  an  engine 
of  21  horse-power,  driven  by  kerosene  gas,  of  a Todd 
fibre  machine,  cemplete,  and  of  a double-screw  press 
is  about  £1,000.  If  a second  machine  were  added, 
making  the  total  cost  about  £1,600,  the  same  engine 
would  drive  them  both.  The  output  of  fibre  would 
then  be  about  a Ion  and  a half  per  day,  at  a slightly 
reduced  cost.  The  position  of  sisal  on  good  lands  is, 
therefore,  not  so  bad.  In  fact,  the  people  who  know 
most  about  it  say  that  sisal  in  the  Baliamas  has  come 
to  stay.  At  the  same  time  it  must  be  said  that  sisal 
is  not  a small  man’s  cultivation — on  the  contrary,  it 
requires  considerable  capital  and  organisation.” 
And  then  I discovered  that  I should  miss  my  train 
if  I lingered  longer  talking  over  sisal,  so  1 bade  Dr. 
Morris  a cordial  but  hasty  farewell,  and  within  a 
very  few  minutes  a railway  porter  h.ad  discovered 
that  he  was  unequal  to  the  task  of  keeping  out  of 
a train  in  motion  the  winged  Hermes. 
— Commerce. 
THE  TIBETAN  TEA  TRADE. 
Much  is  said  about  the  expansion  of  the  tea  trade 
of  British  India  and  the  possibility  of  extending  it 
to  Tibet.  It  appears  there  are  powerful  obstacles, 
the  chief  being  that  the  sale  of  tea  in  Tibet  is  a 
Chinese  Government  monopoly,  which  the  wily 
Celestials  are  most  indisposed  to  relax  their  grip  of. 
Most  of  the  tea  consumed  is  grown  in  Western 
Szchuen,  and  though  the  three  qualities  produced 
there  are  all  very  poor,  the  worst  of  the  three  is 
the  only  quality  used,  and  65  per  cent  of  that 
consists  of  twigs  and  brushwood  I This  singularly 
attractive  blend  appears  to  have  been  introduced  to 
the  notice  of  the  Tibetans  in  1074  A.D.  (a  long 
time  before  England  tasted  tea),  at  which  period 
it  used  to  be  bartered  for  horses.  From  the  first 
the  traffic  was  under  Government  control,  and  the 
system  of  “permits”  now  in  vogue  was  iutroducod 
in  1127.  'I’hcse  permits  are  issued  by  the  Board  of 
Uevenne  in  !’<  kin  each  season,  and  must  be  re- 
turned thither  by  the  end  of  the  year,  with  the 
revenue  arising  from  the  amount  of  trade  repre- 
