826 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[June  i,  1896. 
tas  so  fcweiful  a hold  upon  the  Minciug  Lane  bro- 
kers’ sj  iiipalhits.  'I  he  ai  bitratois  gave  their  dciisioii 
in  Mr.  Tuatt’s  favour,  findirg  that  the  citroueha  oil, 
or,  rather,  the  copi  oued,  supplied  was  ‘‘  equal  to 
sample,  ’ and  setting  aside  all  other  consideiations. 
They  also  refused  Mr.  Domtier's  application  to  state 
a case  for  the  consideration  of  a pioperly  qualified 
legal  tiibucal.  “Let  Ihebu^er  levvare’’is  thtirshib- 
boleth,  and  unless  the  law  comes  to  his  aid,  Mr.  Do- 
meier  must  swallow  “ the  mixtute  as  before.’’  Lut 
the  case  is  not  likely  to  end  here.  The  d>  feated  side 
can,  if  they  choose,  appeal  to  the  committee  of  the 
Brokers’  Association,  as  they  did  in  the  case  of  the 
first  parcel,  but  Messrs.  Domeier  & Co.,  have  ]>ro- 
bably  had  enough  of  broker-arbitrators,  and  we  un- 
derstand that  they  are  going  to  try  to  set  the  award 
aside  at  law. 
In  Mincing  Lane  the  c.ase  has  evoked  an  extraordi- 
nary amount  of  feeling,  in  which,  unfortunately,  the 
personal  element  enters  largely.  Each  side,  of  course, 
nas  its  friends  and  enemies,  and  while  practically  the 
vvhole  of  the  produce-brokers  are  on  the  side  of  Mr. 
Treatt,  the  drug  trade  emphatically  support  Mr.  Do- 
meier.— Cliemiist  and  J)mijijint,  April  f. 
TO  EXCLUDE  IN  FEU  [OB  TEAS. 
The  plan  sketched  out  by  Appraiser  Bunn  of  the 
New  York  port  of  entry,  to  restrict  or  prevent  the 
entry  of  inferior  teas,  instead  of  resorting  to  tariff 
measures,  is  summarized  and  made  clear  by  the 
NewY’ork  Shippiii;/  ami  Connnercidl  Ll.ti.  He  adtnits 
that  the  present  law  is  inadequate : 
“ It  has  been  an  utter  failure  and  the  official  ex- 
amination of  teas,  accompanied  by  so-called  arbitra- 
tion, could  never  be  considered  anything  but  a farce, 
Mr.  Bunn  refers  particularly  to  the  bogus  teas,  which 
are  not  not  grown,  but  manufactured  fi’ora  spurious 
leaves'  tea  dust,  decayed  vegetable  matter,  gypsum, 
earth  and  colouring  material.  The  mixture  is  made 
to  look  quite  handsome  to  the  inexperir  n^ed  eye  and 
its  sale  returns  good  profits  to  unprincipled  retailers. 
A chromo  thrown  in  with  every  purchase  makes  the 
ignorant  consumer  apparently  satisfied.  There  is  no 
question  about  the  legitimate  trade  being  injured 
and  Mr.  Bunn  proposes  to  regain  lost  ground  by 
needed  legislation.  He  is  not  prepared  to  say  that 
the  imposition  of  a duty  would  keep  out  the  objection- 
able grades,  but  he  says  emphatically  that  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  present  law  is  defective  by  failing 
to  protect  consumers. 
“ Ever  since  March  2nd,  1883,  it  has  been  unlaw- 
ful to  import  any  tea  adulterated  with  spurious  leaf 
or  exhausted  leaves,  or  which  contained  so  great  an 
admixture  of  chemicals  or  other  deleterious  substances 
as  to  make  the  tea  unfit  for  use.  The  statute  is  all 
right  so  far  as  it  discriminates  in  quality,  but  the 
provision  on  arbitration  is  all  wrong  and  it  has  caused 
considerable  friction  between  the  examiner,  the 
arbitrators  and  importers.  Rejected  teas  find  their 
way  to  interior  markets  without  difficulty  by  being 
exported,  as  requii'ed  by  law,  and  then  coming  back 
to  another  port,  where  inspection  is  not  so  rigid. 
“ The  proposition  before  the  trade  is  to  limit  the 
number  of  ports  wheie  teas  may  be  entered  and 
examined.  The  necessity  for  such  action  will  be 
made  apparent  when  it  is  stated  that  there  are  at 
least  seventy-one  ports  for  the  entry  of  merchandise, 
with  appraisers  at  thirteen.  Tea  examiners  are  to  be 
found  only  at  New  York  Chicago  and  San  Francisco. 
“ It  is  recommended  that  the  Government  estab- 
lish standards,  taking  five  samples  of  Ping  Suey  teas, 
such  as  extra;  first,  low  grade,  pea  leaf  and  young 
Hyson ; also  samples  of  low  grade  Congou,  Amoy, 
Japan,  Formosa,  Ceylon,  Assam  and  low  grade  Japan 
dust.  An  expert  examiner  is  wanted  at  every  port, 
and  instead  of  the  shiftless  method  of  arbitration 
now  in  practice  it  is  suggested  that  a board  of  five 
arbitrators  be  appointed  to  servo  at  each  port  where 
tea  is  entered,  the  appointment  to  be  made  by  the 
Seci'etary  of  the  Treasury,  and  the  members  of  each 
board  to  have  had  an  experience  of  ten  years  in  the 
tea  trade.  I’inally,  a Government  office  is  to  be 
created  for  a supervising  examiner,  whose  duties 
would  be  to  see  that  the  laiv  in  relation  to  tea  was 
being  inforced  everywhere. 
• These  sirggestions  of  Mr.  Bunn  aie  a (vast  im- 
provement over  the  present  system,  and  they  deserve 
more  consideiation  than  the  tariff  proposition.  As 
the  latter  is  practically  buried  in  the  House  of  Re- 
presentatives it  would  be  weli  for  the  tea  trade  to 
agitate  the  necessary  reforms  in  admitting  tea,  so 
that  son  ething  ceb'nite  could  be  undertaken  and 
pushed  through  before  Congress  adjourns.  If  Mr. 
Bunn  is  too  conservative  or  too  radical  in  his  views 
another  plan  of  operation  can  be  drawn  from  his 
timely  hints.’’ — Inter, state  (hocer. 
FOUESTKV  IN  ANCIENT  TIMES. 
Though  ine.'tsures  wore  adopted  for  tlie  Con- 
servation of  Forests  so  early  as  1871,  the  organi- 
sation of  the  I'orest  I lepartinent  as  it  now  .stands 
was  a work  of  much  later  date.  The  dep.art- 
nieut  is  j’et  iu  its  infancy,  and  it  is  very  t^rati- 
fjdng  that  within  so  short  a period  it  has  risen 
to  the  ))osition  it  now  occupies. 
Wliilst  admiring  tire  rapidity  witli  which  the 
ilepartment  is  beginning  to  be  useful  both  to  the 
Government  and  the  governed,  and  speeulatin';>- 
what  a larger  sphere  of  usefulne.ss  it  will  attain 
when  it  reaches  manhood,  one  cannot  help  going 
far  b.ack  and  enquiring  was  there  anything  like 
conservation  of  forests  during  the  time  of  the 
Kandyan  king.*,  or  were  the  subjects  who  were 
mostly  cultivators  allowed  to  cliena  forests  at 
their  own  sweet  will.  1 opine  not.  The  very 
fact  that  there  existed  at  that  time  an  officer, 
called  “ Kela  Koi-ala,”  shews  that  there  was 
conservation  of  some  kind  or  other. 
The  Kela  Koralaship  (literally  Forest  Officer) 
or  according  to  Ferguson,  Conservator  of  Fore.-ts 
was  an  honourable  olfice  in  the  Sinhalese  re<dme 
bill  tliat  it  was  not  a very  emollient  one  is 
certain  from  the  fact  that  we  do  not  read  of 
it  in  Sinhalese  History,  or  learn  from  tr.adition, 
that  the  sons  of  illustrious  families  sought  or 
obtained  this  post,  and  no  doubt  if  it  was  a 
lucrative  one.  Some  crafty  Adigar  or  Dissawe 
would  have  iirevailed  upon  his  Soverei<m,  to 
bestow  this  post  to  him,  in  addition  to  the  many 
he  enjoyed. 
In  ancient  days  long  before  the  cultivator’s 
axe  denuded  the  forests  of  the  Central  Province 
the  northern  |)ortion  of  the  Island  w.as  more  thickly 
inhabited  than  t'le  rest,  and  tlie  Central  the 
least  inhabited,  consequently  there  must  have 
been  more  forests  here  than  in  any  otlier  parts 
of  the  Island,  but  it  is  doubtful  whefher  the 
Kela  Korala  had  anytliing  to  do  with  the  for- 
ests in  the  uninhabited  wilds.  His  duties  were 
the  demarcation  of  boundaries,  settlino-  who 
should  get  the  landowner’s  and  head  man”s  share 
of  game  that  falls  on  disputeil  grounds,  seeing 
that  no  more  than  what  is  granted  by  the 
.Sovereign  on  sanasse  to  temples  and  other  per- 
sons are  approiiriated.  He  h.ad  also  to  see  that 
no  one  trespassed  on  forests  set  aside  for  the 
Royal  Household  for  its  fruit,  sucli  as  Mora. 
Galsiyambala  Xc.,  to  see  tliat  they  were  gathered 
and  sent  to  the  Royal  Gabadawa  (or  store  room) 
in  due  time.  He  was  also  supposed  to  know 
where  game  alumnded,  its  breeding  times,  and 
to  procure  medicinal  herbs  if  required  by  the 
Royal  Physician,  sure'y  a multifarious  lot  of 
duties  for  one  man,  one  would  say,  but  no,  he 
had  his  Athu  Koraias  or  as.sist,ants  who  were 
responsilde  to  him  for  their  subdivided  charges, 
and  had  to  obey  liis  orders  and  perimlically^re- 
port  to  him. 
yome  say  there  was  a Kela  Korala  for  eacli  of 
the  three  divisions  of  the  Island,  the  Phiti  Mhaya 
and  Ruhunu  Ualles,  others  that  there  was  one 
for  every  Desavoui  (or  District). 
