jUNr:  T,  1S96. 
!I!E 
TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
'*^43 
[iibcriaii  coffee,  we,  as  tea  planters,  not  altogetheu 
i<{noi-aiit  of  coffee,  cultivation,  rlo  not  cave  to  accept 
tills  assertion  or  experiment  at  Klang  for  a term 
of  years  in  the  hopes  of  ultimate  success.  I 
hold  letters  from  my  agent  (which,  being  private, 
I naturally  refrain  from  publishing)  that  would  prove 
up  to  the  hilt  that  our  opening  works  fiom  felling 
to  planting  were  to  proceed  without  a check,  ',\’hen 
I visited  Klang  and  satisfied  myself  that  our  expecta- 
tions were  not  to  be  realized,  I decided  to  ah  mdon 
at  once.  I do  not  wish  to  iinpe,ich  my  iiginl’a 
ho»a  _/ides,  but  I maintain  the  opinion  which  T 
expressed  to  him,  and  which  he  verbally  admitted 
tj  me  was  true,  viz.,  ‘‘  he  had  been  guilty  of  an 
error  of  indgmeut.”  The  Selangor  Government  has 
accepted  our  view  of  the  disaster,  and  I regard  the 
terms  offered  us  as  liberal  in  the  extreme.  My 
partners  and  I have  nothing  more  to  say,  for  we 
realize  that  columns  of  newspa]ier  di.scussion  will 
neither  restore  the  dollars  lost,  nor  prove  that  the 
district  south  of  the  Khang  river  is,  at  the  moment, 
a coffee-growing  country.— I am,  etc., 
\V.  FOKSYTIIK, 
Pamhayama,  Kelsni  Valley, 
Ceylon,  April  '22nd,  1890. 
EXPOIM'  TEA  DU'I'Y  AT  EORMOSA. 
Tlio  foliowing  letter  i.s  taken  from  the  Foochoir 
Hr.ho  : — 
J''ooeho\v,  Stir  April.  1899. 
Dear  Si)',— 1 am  informed  on  good  aiithoriTy  that 
(.ho  •iapane.-iO  Ctisioni  in  Eormosi,  a.rc  now  > ollcciing 
the  Export  duties  nil  Tea  at  the  rale  ol  'i^l.12  jicr  picul, 
which  are  received  and  all  .wed  to  be  expo- ted  from 
Amoy  /Vee,  while  the  native-grown  article  has  to  pay  an 
Export  duly  of  fj^3. 84  per  picul. 
S.irely  the  • Heathen  Cnince  ’ will  not  permit  then- 
own  trade  to  be  handicapped  in  such  a serious  manner 
w’liich  must  affect  not  only  ..Vnioy  hut  this  port,  and 
Shanghai  as  well- 
Trusting  that  all  merchants  interested  in  the  Ameri- 
can trade  will  cry  out  against  this  crushing  injustice  to 
their  busiuess. — I am,  dear  sir.  voiirs  obe'.lieut  sni  vant, 
MhlU  Il.VNT. 
The  in.xtter  of  the  Formosa  export  duty  011  tea, 
referred  to  Dy  our  correspondent  Jlerduvil  m today's 
i.ssue  of  this  paper,  i.s  of  grave  importiinco  to  iminy. 
Of  course  it  touches  mo.st  nearly  the  sldp;  ers  nf 
Oolong  tea  from  Amoy  and  tins  port  to  Amoric-a, 
where  tliis  description  of  tea  is  chiefly  cousniiied ; 
ami  in  a less  degree  to  the  general  shipper.  As- 
suming that  the  Ciiinese  will  do  uotiiiiig  i.i  tlic  'vay 
of  assioiilating  their  duties  with  those  of  Eorniosa. 
the  Chinese  teamen  will  have  to  reduce  tiieir  prices, 
or  be  prepared  to  hear  the  buyer  say  ' f luii  (pute 
willing  to  offer  you  Tls.  17,  lor  this  string  ciiop, 
less  'i'ls.  1.90,  to  place  me  011  the  same  term.s  as 
Formosa  shippers  as  regards  July.’  Cii  e.ss  sonie- 
ihiiig  can  be  done  it  is  pjatont  tnat  the  lea  ciade 
in  Formosa  will  iucrease  voiy  coiisideihbiy,  whiie 
tint  in  China  will  correspoiuiingly  decrease.— (.Vn'/ia 
J/flil,  April  29. 
TEA  IN  AMERICA. 
New  Yor.K,  .Vpril  8.— '.i’hore  is  the  same  quiet  ami  nii- 
intcrestmg  maikec  e.xocpt  lor  clioic-o  ami  fiao  For- 
mosa, which  are  scarce  and  very  lirmly  held,  while 
ti  e low  grades  .are  in  full  supply  and  weak.  Oii 
the  other  hauJ,  the  husv  grades  of  -fapan  below 
gv.od  niedinm  are  scatce  and  nrm,  while  tin;  inghcr 
grades  are  in  goo.l  su[iply  and  steady,  liure  is 
an  over  supply  of  greens  and  a buyer’s  market.  Ceylon 
and  India  in  fair  r-eqnest  and  growing  in  favuiir.  as 
dealers  more  and  more  appicciate  their  value  lor 
blending  purposes.  ^ • 
East  week  the  Montgomery  Auction  and  Commis- 
sion Company  sold  7 (iiil  packages  teas  us  foilow.s  : 
Moyune — iifiO  floysou,  0 (<7  {>.}c  ; 878  ^ oiuig  iiyson, 
23.J  @ tUc  ; 452  Imperial,  loi  at  Oc;  544  Gunpovsder, 
(t  (fli  lie.  Pingsuey— Gunpowder,  21  @ t>ic. 
.Japan— b',1  pan-fired,  I04  (ci,  10c;  210  basket-fire  1, 
104  @ 10c  ; 21  capers,  16c  ; 1,975  Congou,  2b*  (h  7^c; 
2.k(5  India  and  Orange  Pekoe,  Ri  (q'  22c,  Oolong— 1.52 
F’oochow,  9 (o  7.4c  ; 45  Amoy,  12  (d  7hc  ; 1,821  Fotmosa 
lOJ  (rr  144c.  ^ 
Today  at  noon  the  Montgomery  Auction  and  Com- 
mission Company  will  sell  10,670  packages,  viz. : 
2,932  half-chests  Moyune,  including  many  desirable 
chops;  1,773  boxes  Pmgsucy  ; 131  half-chests  Jiipau  and 
Nibs;  30  half-chests  Japan,  baslcet-fired ; 795  half- 
chests  and  boxes  Cengou,  including  fancy  Ning 
Chows;  20  boxes  Capers;  48  packages  India,  Java 
and  Ceylon  Pekoe;  302  half-chests  and  boxes  Amoy  ; 
desirable  leaf  ; 890  half-chests  Foochow,  including 
492  half-chests  of  the  celebrated  “ Man  Thie  ” chop, 
new  season’s  ; 3,743  half-chests  aird  boxes  Formosa — 
a particlarlj'  attractive  assortment  of  all  grades. — 
American  Grocer. 
THE  .SPEf'EI.ATlON  1 rN  CAMPHOR. 
EoJ lowing  the  luinouuccment  of  a break  in  the 
price  of  camphor  in  London,  where  the  syndicate 
has  reduced  its  quotations  from  210  shillings  to  180 
shillings  per  hundredweight,  equal  to  a reduction  of 
over  seven  cents  a pound,  the  refiners  here  have 
dropped  their  price  four  cents  a pound,  the  result 
being  an  unsettled  feeling  as  to  the  position  of  the 
.article.  When  a similar  reduction  was  made  by  the 
ayiidicate  some  months  ago,  it  was  not  met  liy  the 
refiners,  and  contrary'  action  at  the  present  time  is 
believe.'!  to  indic:i.te  that  they  regard  the  situation  as 
one  of  less  inti'in.sic  strength  than  it  was  on  the 
occa.sion  nf  the  piovions  lircak  in  Ijondon.  It  would 
appear  from  :in  e.saminatioii  of  tho  statistics  that 
the  syndicate  is  very  heavily  loaded,  and  that  its 
iiianipiilation  of  prices  has  so  far  checked  the  de- 
m-^.nd  for.  the  gum  and  turned  the  consumption  on 
to  .suirstitutes,  th.at  its  ability  to  maintain  the  corner 
it  li.as  undertaken  to  establish  is  scarcely  among  the 
possibilities.  The  statistics  of  imporis,  deliveries 
and  stocks  at  London  in  packages  for  a series 
of  years,  as  given  in  the  following  tabulation,  is  of 
interest:—  Stock 
1.S90 
Imports. 
13,722 
Deliveries. 
8,157 
9,931 
Jan.  1 
1891 
8.656 
5,598 
1892..  ; ... 
8,429 
10,029 
4,327 
1.893 
10,799 
2,727 

11.633 
4,883 
1895 
7,740 
4,300 
1896 

16,270 
The  stock  on  Miivch  .1  had  been  reduced  to  13.674 
packages.  Die  imports  during  the  two  preceding 
mouths  having  been  but  675  packages,  against  deli- 
veries of  4,398  packages.  The  stock,  as  shown  by 
these  lignres,  does  not  represent  the  entire  London 
stock,  aith.oiigh  when  taken  in  coiiuection  with  the 
diminished  imports  since  Jan.  1.  it  may  be  taken  as 
indicating  that  an  unusually  large  proportion  of  the 
woild’s  stock  is  hold  tliere.  In  fact,  latest  Hongkong 
drculars  state  that  stocks  are  small,  and  report  trans- 
•ictions  in  access  of  receipts,  with  iirices  at  the  time 
r.ither  firmer  after  a drop  during  the  month  of 
F’eiiruary. 
The  -yudicate  is  generally  credited  with  holdings 
amoiintiiig  in  all  to  between  25,000  and  .40,000  pack- 
ages. iiiid  it  a};peiii's  to  have  had  iittle  hand  of  late 
ill  .supi. lying  tho  demands  of  tho  American  market. 
The  irelivei'ic'S  for  1895,  as  stated  in  the  above  table, 
show  cicariy  the  tffect  of  high  prices  on  consump- 
tion. In  1893-94,  when  speculation  was  induced  by 
(ho  growing  demands  of  celluloid  lUiikers  and  for  the 
iiewiy  exploited  smokeless  powders,  whiie  the  prices 
api'.ioached  semewhere  near  the  average  that  the 
syndicate  maintained  last  year,  coiituuiption  was 
kept  up  by  the  outlets  whicli  the  industries  named 
afforded.  Rut  since  then  the  powder  makers  have 
discovered  new  iiiatrials,  and  many  of  the  larger  out- 
lets pre\ioiisly  afforded  through  the  drug  trade  have 
been  supplied  by  cheaper  substitutes.  It  is,  theielore, 
safe  to  assume  that  the  cousunipif.ion  of  camphor  is 
so  far  below  the  supply  that  an  equilibrium  can  only 
be  restored  by  cbe  reduction  of  prices  to  a point 
which  will  regain  for  it  the  preference  over  com- 
peting aiticl  s.  How  long  the  syndicate  will  resist 
