June  i,  i8g6.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
833 
eluding  the  Ceylonese,  was  but  3 ])cr  cent.,  China 
supplying  97.  Not  till  1887  did  the  fonuer  amount 
to  one-half,  and  that  for  only  a single  montli  in  the 
year. 
Tnn  M,VKKi;xb  non  Indian  Tea. — Tho  United  King- 
dom, it  is  stated,  continues  to  be  the  great  market 
for  Indian  tea,  as  much  aa  92  per  cent,  of  the  c.x- 
ports  of  tlio  year  having  been  shipped  thither.  Of 
the  small  quantity  not  shipped  to  the  United  King- 
dom Australia  takes  a considerable  but  unfortunately 
not  an  increasing  share;  Indian  tea  seems  so  make 
no  headway  in  the  colonies  in  competition  with  China 
and  Ceylon  tea.  Persia  during  the  last  four  years 
has  been  taking  larger  quantities.  As  regards  the 
trade  with  Persia,  Her  Majesty’s  Consul  at  Eusliire 
writes  in  his  report  for  1891:  “There  has  been  a 
sti'ong  demand  throughout  the  year  for  Indian  and 
Batavian  teas,  which  seem  to  be  steadily  supplanting 
the  China  teas  in  favour  with  the  Persian  consumer. 
Heavy  consignments,  chietiy  from  India,  were  re- 
ceived by  native  merchants  who  found  no  difficulty 
in  disposing  of  them  at  a good  profit.  It  was,  how- 
ever, at  the  port  of  Bandar-Abbas  that  this  trade 
received  its  most  vigorous  impulse,  the  import  be- 
ing more  than  double  that  of  the  previous  year.’’ 
Some  of  the  tea  at  any  rate  imported  into  Bandar- 
Abbas,  was  destined  for  consumption  in  Russian 
Asiatic  territory,  and  it  seems  probable  that  the 
effect  of  recent  fiscal  arrangements  of  the  Russians 
will  divert  the  transit  trade  to  Batoum  and  the 
Trans-Caspian  Railway.  A new  feature  in  the 
trade  of  the  year  is  the  largely  increased 
export  to  Asiatic  Turkey,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped 
that  the  exports  to  this  country  may  become  larger. 
Exports  to  the  United  states  and  Canada  have  also 
developed  very  greatly,  though  the  aggregate  is  still 
relatively  trifling.  A good  deal  has  been  said  in 
trade  reports  from  China  of  tho  gratifying  revival 
in  the  tea  trade  which  marked  1894,  and  it  seems 
that  the  quantity  exported  was  sliglitly  larger  than 
it  had  been  in  the  preceding  year.  China  tea,  how- 
ever, has  not  succeeded  in  competing  with  Indian 
tea  in  that  great  market,  the  United  Kingdom, 
which  takes  more  than  nine-tenths  of  onr  tea  and 
nearly  as  much  of  Ceylon  tea.  Steadily  and  surely, 
year  by  year  since  1886,  the  importation  of  China 
tea  into  Englai:d  has  fallen  and  that  of  India  has 
increased,. until  last  year  close  on  three  pounds  of 
Indian  tea  were  imported  for  every  pound  of  China. 
This  latter  tea  still  retains  its  hol’d  of  the  Australian 
and  American  markets,  where  quality  in  tea  is 
hardly  yet  appreciated  except  by  a select  few,  and 
where  Indian  tea  consequently  has  not  been  able  to 
find  its  way  in  considerable  quantity. 
Tea  Wakkants. — A Bill  affecting  the  title  of  tea 
warrants  is  being  promoted  by  the  London  Cliamber 
of  Commerce  under  the  title  of  the  Warehousemen’s 
Certificates  Bill.  The  chief  object  of  the  measure  is 
to  render  the  title  of  tho  holders  of  a warrant,  in 
certain  c.?ses  which  are  of  frequent  occurrence,  more 
complete  and  secure  than  it  is  alleged  to  be  under 
the  present  law.  Under  the  law  as  it  now  stands, 
if  a warrant  is  stolen  and  pawned,  the  gooels  can  be 
followed  and  recovered.  Tho  Bill  under  notice  is 
intended  to  secure  for  the  holder  of  the  warrant  a 
good  title  against  the  original  holder.  Tire  follow- 
ing is  the  principal  clause  on  this  subject  in  the 
Bill  : “ Every  certificate  or  warrant  small  bo  a 
document  of  title  to  the  goods  specified  therein 
within  the  meaning  of  the  Factors  Act,  1889,  and 
shall  be  transferable  by  indorsement,  whether  in 
blaiik  or  spf>cially ; and  any  holder  of  the  certi- 
ficate or  warrant  shall  have  the  same  right  to  the 
possession  of  that  property  in  tho  goods  on  be- 
lialf  of  tho  holder  of  the  certificate  or  warrant.’’ 
Discussing  the  proposed  measure  from  a trade 
point  of  view,  tho  Urocer  says  ; “ Such  a jnovision 
if  it  were  to  become  law,  could  not  fail  to  oncournge 
fraud  and  theft  by  increasing  the  number  of  receivers 
of  stolen  property.  When  the  custom  of  the  trade 
in  dealing  with  W’arrants  is  remembered  the  serious- 
ness of  the  proposed  change  will  at  once  be  recog- 
nised. It  is  the  custom  of  buyers  of  goods  for  which 
warrants  are  issued  to  send  a cheque  to  the  broker, 
and  in  many  instances  to  take  an  order  for  the  war- 
rant to  the  merchant  and  carry  the  w arrant  to  tlic 
wholesale  dealer’s  office.  Thence  the  warrant  is 
taken  to  the  Clearing  House  or  the  w'arehouse ; and 
this  duty  is  frequently,  in  the  hurry  of  business,  en- 
trusted to  youths,  who  carry  the  warrants  through 
crowded  streets,  where,  of  course,  there  arc 
many  chances  of  robbery.  Such  robberies  do 
not  now  take  place,  because  the  warrant  is 
of  no  use  to  the  thief.  The  warrants  when 
delivered  to  the  w'arehouse  proprietors  are  entrusted  by 
them  to  their  clerks  ; aud  here  again,  if  the  proposed 
Bill  became  law,  a fresh  temptation  would  be  offered, 
as  these  clerks  would  be  able  to  obtain  money  on 
them  if  they  were  so  disposed.  At  present  they  could 
not  so  negotiate  the  warrants,  for  the  reason  that 
they  do  not  carry  a good  title  with  them.  Why  such 
a Bill  should  ever  have  been  promoted  it  is  not  easy 
to  understand.  It  would  certainly  open  a door  for 
fraud  by  enabling  advances  to  be  obtained  on  stolen 
W'arrants.  At  present  the  banker  or  other  financier 
is  in  the  same  position  aa  the  pawnbroker.  If 
the  latter  makes  an  advance  on  stolen  goods,  the 
rightful  owner  on  discovering  their  whereabouts 
can  claim  them.  Therefore  thieves  do  not  find 
it  easy  to  dispose  of  their  booty  through  such 
a channel.  Why  should  anyone  who  makes  an 
advance  upon  stolen  warrants  be  relieved  of 
the  same  liability  ? The  warehouse  proprietors  say 
they  do  not  want  the  Bill  ; bankers,  who  have  had 
the  matter  brought  before  them,  say  they  do  not 
want  it.  The  retail  grocer,  who  has  to  entrust  his 
warrants  with  the  wholesale  dealer  for  clearing, 
certainly  does  not  want  it.  It  is  to  be  hoped 
theiefore,  that  such  an  objectionable  proposal  will 
not  be  further  pressed.” 
Produce  and  the  Board  of  Trade  Returns. — 
From  the  Board  of  Trade  Returns  for  clearances  of 
tea  ior  home  March  we  find  that  the  use  was  con- 
siderably in  excess  of  the  arrivals,  and  the  stock  in 
bond  was  reduced,  showing  a deficiency  of  2,492,5001b. 
As  regards  coffee,  there  was  a plentiful  supply,  the 
clearances  being  moderate,  and  the  stock  nearly 
equal  to  that  of  last  year.  Cocoa  came  forward 
plentifully,  and  although  the  deliveries  were  good, 
there  is  a material  e.xcess  in  the  bonded  stock. 
There  have  been  superabundant  imports  of  sugar. 
Imitating  the  Tea  Planters. — The  coffee  plan- 
ters of  Brazil  seem  disposed  to  imitate  the  meihods 
of  Indian  aud  Ceylon  tea  planters  in  pushing 
the  sale  of  their  produce,  A conference  of  dele- 
gates from  the  several  coffee-producing  states  of 
Brazil  has  lately  been  held  in  Metropolis  to  consider 
measures  for  promoting  the  export  trade  in  Brazil’s 
most  important  product.  The  following  recommenda- 
tions were  adopted  by  the  conference  : 'The  appoint- 
ment of  a permanent  executive  committee  in  Rio  de 
Janeiro,  to  be  composed  of  one  member  from  each 
coffee  state ; the  establishment  of  cafes  and  per- 
manent exhibitions  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  the 
consumption  of  Brazilian  coffee  in  foreign  countries; 
appropriations  of  2,000,000  milreis  in  the  first  year 
and  1,000,000  milreis  per  annum  thereafter  for 
meeting  the  respective  expenses  (two-fifths  to  be  paid 
by  S.  Paulo,  one  fifth  by  the  S' ate  of  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
onc-fifth  by  that  of  Minas  Geraes,  one-tenth  by  that 
of  Bahia,  and  one-tenth  by  that  of  Espirito  Santo)  ; 
an  application  to  the  Federal  Government  for 
negotiations  with  foreign  Governments  for  obtain- 
ing a reduction  in  the  import  duties  ; and  the 
co-operation  of  coffee  planters  with  the  per- 
manent executive  committee  in  the  execution  of  this 
programme. 
'The  Brazil  Coffee  Market.— The  reports  of  the 
Rio  coffee  market  furnish  an  illustration  of  the  in- 
fiuence  of  low  exchange  in  stimulating  exports,  even 
W'hen  it  might  be  supposed  that  a comparative  scar- 
city of  suiiplics  in  the  producing  mai'kot,  with 
reserve  stocks  in  the  consuming  markets  would, 
by  raising  prices,  tend  to  check  the  outflow.  Al- 
though tho  relatively  diminishing  supplies  and  pros- 
pects bad  the  effect  of  forcing  up  Brazilian  prices, 
the  advance  was  in  paper,  and  was,  therefore,  so  far 
as  tho  buyers  for  sale  on  a gold  basis  was  concerned, 
counteracted  by  the  decline  of  exchange.  With 
a prospect  of  short  supplies,  therefore,  the 
foreign,  and  particularly  the  American  buyer,  was 
induced  to  take  advantage  of  the  low  exchange  tq 
