830 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[June  i,  iSg6 
B.C.  AFRICAN  CURRENT  CHAT. 
We  beg  to  congratulate  the  planters  on  the  ex- 
cellent prices  the  Shire  Highland  coffee  is  obtain- 
ing in  the  London  market. 
Report  is  again  busy  with  the  statement  that 
Nyassaland  is  likely  to  become  a Crown  colony  soon. 
One  of  Mr.  Moir’s  mango  trees  has  fruited  lately. 
The  tree  was  only  planted  out  in  August  1893  (being 
brought  in  a box  from  the  South)  and  the  ripe  fruit 
was  eaten  in  December  1895.  In  order  not  to  over- 
tax the  young  plant  all  the  young  fruits  except  twelve 
were  stripped  off. 
With  reference  to  Mr.  Swann’s  communication  to 
the  Administration  journal  it  is  interesting  to  note 
that  a number  of  the  Kazungn  people  have  been 
working  in  the  Shire  Highlands  with  various  planters 
for  the  last  six  or  eight  months.  We  sincerely  hope 
the  recent  Administration  action  will  lead  them  to 
come  in  greater  numbers. 
Commander  Cullen’s  discovery  of  guano  on  certain 
of  the  Lake  Nyasa  islands  is  good  news  for  planters 
and  all  interested  in  agriculture. 
We  hear  that  Mr.  .John  Buchanan  brought  out  the 
hrst  plants  of  the  Orange  variety  of  coffee. 
We  hear  H.  M.  Government  have  agreed  to  allow 
coffee  manures  to  enter  the  country  free  of  duty. 
Probably  the  next  issue  of  the  Gazette  will  contain 
a list  of  the  articles  which  come  under  the  category 
of  coffee  manures.  We  hear  Mr.  S.  Steblecki  has 
sold  part  of  his  Mpemba  Estates  for  a handsome 
sum.  Mr.  James,  formerly  of  Messrs.  Buchanan  Bros, 
is  to  be  the  first  Superintendent  under  the  new 
managemet.  We  understand  a new  and  thoroughly 
sea-worthy  gunboat  is  to  be  placed  on  Lake  Nyasa. 
Mr.  B.  Bradshaw  hopes  to  take  a trip  home  this 
season.  He  has  now  210  acres  under  coffee  at  his 
Mount  Zion  estate  while  50  acres  have  been  recently 
planted  on  his  new  Bloomfield  estate.  Mlanje  district 
is  suffering  from  a great  scarcity  of  labour  and  the 
planters  there  have  been  considering  the  difficulty  in 
council  assembled. — Central  Africin  Planter. 
THE  INDIAN  TEA  ASSOCIATION. 
The  following  are  extracts  from  the  proceeding.s 
of  a meeting  of  the  General  Committee  of  this  As- 
sociation held  on  the  6th  instant 
Letters  of  21st  and  28th  February,  and  13th  March, 
from  the  Secretary,  Indian  Tea  Association,  London 
with  reference  to  the  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  London 
and  India  Docks’  .Joint  Committee  to  impose  ad- 
ditional charges  on  cargo  for  overside  delivery  in  the 
London  Docks,  were  ordei'ed  to  be  recorded  along 
with  letters  of  13ih  and  20th  March,  from  Messrs. 
Begg,  Dunlop  and  Co.,  Messrs.  Finlay  Muir  and  Co., 
and  the  Secretary,  Bengal  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
all  upon  the  same  subject.  The  General  Committee 
bad  considered  it  desirable  to  issue  a Circular  warn- 
ing Shippers  not  to  accept  Bills  of  Lading  contain- 
ing any  stipulation  for  charges  to  be  paid  in  London, 
which  had  not  been  hitherto  paid  by  the  receivers, 
and  they  noted  with  satisfaction  from  Mr.  Tyes 
letter  of  13th  March,  that  in  view  of  the  strong 
opposition  of  London  firms,  the  shipowncxs  had  de- 
clined to  amend  their  Bills  of  Lading  as  desired  by 
the  Docks  Committee  so  as  to  enable  the  latter  to 
make  delivery  of  all  goods  on  the  Dock. 
In  reply  to  the  letter  of  7th  March,  from  the  Secre- 
tary to  the  Chief  Commissioner  of  Assam,  asking  for 
certain  statistics  as  to  the  cost  of  production  and 
prices  of  tea,  the  following  information  had  been 
furnished  : — 
Average  price  of  Assam  Tea  sold  in 
Calcutta  (1895-96)  . . R.  0 8 7 
Average  price  of  Surma  Valley  Tea 
sold  in  Calcutta  (1895-96) 0 7 4 
Outturn  of  Tea  for  1895-96  Assam 
Valley 57,101,1271b. 
Outturn  of  Tea  for  1895-96,  Surma 
Valley 41,267,4201b. 
Considered  letters  of  20th  and  30th  March,  from  Dr. 
George  Watt,  Reporter  on  Economic  Products  to  the 
Government  of  India,  with  reference  to  the  question 
of  the  appointment  of  a special  Scientific  Officer  to 
enquire  into  various  matters  connected  with  Tea.  Dr. 
Watt  suggested  that  the  Association  should  now  frame 
proposals  on  the  matter  and  submit  the  same  in  an 
official  form  to  Government  A letter  which  had 
been  just  received  from  Mr.  Buckingham  was  also 
read,  in  which  he  stated  that  the  expenseattending 
the  appointment  of  such  an  officer  might  be  met  by 
a subscription  of  one  anna  per  acre  under  cultivation. 
The  Committee,  while  approving  in  the  main  of 
Mr.  Buckingham’s  suggestion,  reserved  the  matter 
for  further  consideration  pending  further  communi- 
cations from  him  with  reference  to  his  branch  Com- 
mittees. The  proposal  was  one  which  they  considered 
would  have  to  be  dealt  with  by  all  Members  of  the 
Association. 
Considered  letters  relating  to  the  American  Market 
Fund,  from  the  Secretary,  Indian  Tea  Association, 
London.  The  General  Committee  in  London  had 
recorded  a vote  of  thanks  to  the  Central  Travancore 
Planters’  Association  for  their  energetic  action  and 
support.  The  Committee  noted  with  satisfaction  that 
the  London  Committee  were  of  opinion  that  there 
should  be  a levy  made  for  the  season  1896  97  on 
the  same  basis  as  that  for  the  last  season,  the 
proceeds  of  which  should  be  spent  in  further 
work  both  in  the  United  States  and  Canada,  and 
possibly  in  similar  efforts  on  the  Continent  and  in 
Africa,  and  that  a General  Meeting  of  the  Asso- 
ciation would  be  called  very  shortly  to  consider 
the  Committee's  proposals.  The  General  Committee 
on  this  side  were  unanimous  as  to  maintaining 
the  efforts  now  being  made  in  America,  which  ap- 
peared at  last  to  be  meeting  with  success,  and  it 
was  decided  that,  in  the  event  of  no  definite  de- 
cisiou  on  the  part  of  the  Lonfion  Association  com- 
ing by  the  miil  due  the  next  day,  a telegram 
should  be  sent,  suggesting  that  a new  levy  be 
asked  for  on  the  basis  of  4 annas  per  acre  of  pro- 
duction and  one  anna  per  maund  of  produce,  the 
rate  for  produce  being  double  that  of  last  year. 
The  figures,  recently  published  by  Messrs.  Gow, 
Wilson,  and  Stanton,  showing  the  great  advance  in 
the  quantity  of  British-grown  tea  taken  by  the 
United  States  and  Canada  in  1895  as  corapai’ed 
with  1894,  should,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Commit- 
tee, act  as  an  incentive  to  still  more  vigorous  efforts 
to  push  the  trade  of  Indian  tea  in  America. 
Considered  letter  from  the  Honorary  Secretar}', 
Cachar  branch,  enclosing  minutes  of  a meeting  of 
the  branch  held  on  2nd  March,  at  which  the  ques- 
tion of  serving  warrants  on  absconding  coolies  was 
again  considered,  a id  it  was  decided  that  no  alteration 
of  the  existing  law  was  required,  but  that  the  law 
should  be  more  vigorously  upheld,  and  papers  in 
connection  with  a recent  case  bearing  on  the  subject 
were  forwarded  for  information.  Toe  rules  for  the 
re-settlemeut  of  Cachar  had  also  been  considered  by 
the  Cachar  Committee,  who  were  of  opinion  that  there 
was  nothing  in  them  detrimcutal  to  the  planting 
community  with  regard  to  the  question  of  serving 
warrants  on  absconUing  coolies.  The  General  Com- 
mittee decided  that  they  could  hardly  make  a re- 
presentation to  Government  on  one  case  only,  and 
the  Cachar  Committee  were  to  be  asked  if  they  could 
furnish  any  others.— 3L  Mail,  April  28. 
MARKET  FUR  TEA  SHARES. 
Thursday  Evening,  April  16,  1896. 
Since  the  resumption  of  business  after  the  Easter 
closing  there  has  been  a continued  strong  buying  of 
all  the  best-known  tea  companies  shares,  and  the 
official  list  shows  more  than  one  advance  in  quota- 
tions—Dooars  Ordinary,  notably,  having  reached  tho 
“record”  level  of  18  to  19  for  the  .tTO  share.  The 
Profs.,  more  especially,  command  marked  attention, 
and  few  of  the  quoted  ones  can  now  be  bought,  to 
yield  more  than  about  4 per  cent,  at  the  outside. 
Ceylon  Siiaues. — C.  T.  ]’.  Co.  Ordinary  are  in  de- 
mand, and  28  to  80  would  bo  given.  The  I’rcis. 
liave  touched  17i. — 11.  A C,  Alail,  April  17, 
