Sept,  i,  1896.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
1 83 
cargo  of  pepper  and  other  spices  was  imported  into  London 
by  the  adventurers  ‘ after  a prosperous  voyage  of  two 
years  and  seven  months,’  and  sold,  no  doubt,  to  their 
own  exceeding  profit.  What  gains  were  made  on  im- 
ported produce  in  those  days  is  shown  by  iNIalyns  in 
his  ‘Centre  of  the  Circle  of  Commerce,’  a contemporary 
work,  from  which  it  appears  that  the  difference  between 
the  cost  and  tire  sale  price  of  some  of  the  Company’s  chief 
iiuports  in  1623  was  as  follows 
Pepper 
Cloves 
Nutmegs 
Mace 
Indigo 
Raw  silk 
What  the  City  middlemen  made  in  those  days  one  can 
only  conjecture.  The  mere  enumeration  of  the  figures  is 
Mincing  Lane  man’s  mouth 
Cost  in 
Sold  in 
India 
England 
per  lb. 
per  lb. 
s d 
s d 
0 
1 8 
0 9 
5 0 
0 4 
0 
0 8 
6 0 
1 2 
0 
8 0 
0 
India  w'e  naturally  ' expect 
discredited  poison-antidote 
tw  the  derivation  of  tlrat 
enough  to  make  a modern 
water. 
In  a book  dealing  with  the  early  British  trade  with 
to  find  a reference  to  the  now 
bezoar.  Mr.  Cawston  gives, 
word,  the  Persian  pad-zahr 
(lit.,  ‘ poison-expelling  ’),  meaning  “ antidote.”  The  Per- 
sians employed  the  name  specially  for  the  balls  of  silicious 
matter  occasionally  found  secreted  in  the  intestinal  canal 
of  the  Persian  wild  goat,  but  the  East  Indian  bezoar, 
as  we  now  know,  was  mostly  derived  from  monkeys. 
'The  popular  delusion  of  the  efficacy  of  the  drug  in  the 
mental,  as  well  as  in  physical,  afflictions  is  shown  in  the 
line  from  a contemporary  author,  where  ‘ the  healing 
bezoartical  virtue  of  grace  ’ is  mentioned. 
Less  accurate  is  Mr.  Cawston’s  reference  to  ‘ worm- 
seeds,’  which  were  among  the  first  orticles  imported  from 
India,  as  ‘short  for  wormwood-.seeds,  the  seeds  of  Arte- 
misia maritima,  still  used  in  India  as  a stomachic  tonic.’ 
The  seeds  brought  over  by  tlie  early  Indian  traders  un- 
der tliis  name  were  probably  the  Indian  variety  of  Semen 
Ciiire,  the  worm-seed  which  is  now  chiefly  imported  from 
Russian  Central  Asia  for  santonin-manufacture.  ’The  seeds 
of  the  wormwood,  or  absinthe  plant,  have  no  connection 
with  them  except  that  both  plants  are  Artemesim.  'The 
spice-trade  of  tlie  Company  received  a heavy  blow'  in 
tlie  early  years  of  that  corporation’s  activity  by  the  ex- 
pulsion of  the  British  from  the  Moluecjis,  or  Spice 
Islands,  by  the  Dutch  ; and  from  that  time  may  be 
reckoned  the  definite  establishment  of  a competing  spice 
and  drng  market  at  Amsterdam,  which  is  today  a serious 
rival  to  London  as  it  has  ever  been  before. 
The  long  duration  of  the  lucrativeness  of  the  Indian 
trade  of  the  Bast  India  Company  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  in  1726  it  was  computed  that  of  the  Company’s 
annual  imports,  representing  an  aggregate  value  of 
22,000  00'' f , not  less  than  8,000, OOOf.  was  clear  profit. 
'I'e:!  became  a trading  article  of  the  East  India  Com- 
pany about  the  year  1645.  It  was  first  introduced  into 
this  country  by  the  Dutch,  and  sold  then  at  from  120s 
to  200s  • a pound.  In  1660  the  Company  presented 
Charles  II.  witR  2 lb.  2 oz.  of  the  herb— a liberality  w'hich 
was  probably  wCH  calculated,  for  shortly  afterwards  ‘ tay  ’ 
became  a fashionable  beverage  w-ith  the  Upper  Ten.  A 
four-shilling  duty  did  not  prevent  the  spread  of  that 
popularity,  and  in  1745  Parliament  passed  an  Act  threat- 
eniiig  the  Company  with  the  forfeiture  of  the  charter  if 
they  should  fail  ‘ at  any  time  to  keep  the  London  market 
supplied  with  a sufficient  quality  of  tea  at  reasonable 
prices,  to  answer  the  consumption  thereof  in  Great 
Britain.’ 
The  East  India  Company’s  monopoly  of  the  Indian  trade 
was  abolished  in  1833  ; but  the  Corporation  itself  survived 
until  the  Mutiny  in  1867,  after  which  it  was  taken  over 
by  the  State— a fate  that  has  recently  also  overtaken  its 
East  African  successor. 
It  is  interesting  in  the  present  day  to  note  that  tlie 
first  real  trading  company  which  received  a Royal  charter 
in  Eii'^land  was  not  a British,  but  a German,  one.  It  w’as 
composed  of  traders  of  the  Hanseatic  Le.ague,  who  esta- 
blished a kind  of  depot  in  the  City  of  London,  at  the 
place  where  Cannon  Street  Station  stands  now.  For  nearly 
three  centuries  the  ‘ Germans  of  the  St(  elyard  ’ were  one 
of  the  most  powerful  corporations  in  England,  and  it  was 
partly  apprehension  of  their  growing  influence  that  caused 
Elizabeth,  in  15«7,  to  revoke  their  privilege  and  turn  them 
owt.— Chemist  and  Dru<j(jist,  July  ‘25. 
are  not  surprised  that  the  varying  accounts  of  what 
the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  said  or  did  not  say 
on  that  occasion  caused  such  bewilderment  that  it 
is  thought  expedient  for  the  Grocers’  Federation  to 
take  the  matter  up  and  find  out  the  real  truth  of 
the  case.  If  Sir  Michael  Hicks-Beach  has  been 
rightly  reported,  it  will  be  seen,  on  referring  to 
another  part  of  this  Journal,  that  he  stated  in  the 
House  that  ninety-five  per  cent,  of  the  duty  on  tea 
was  derived  from  leaf  sold  wholesale  at  less  than  a 
shilling  a pound ! To  put  the  same  fact  in  another 
way,  the  tea  which  commands  a wholesale  price  of 
over  a shilling  is,  according  to  the  Chancellor’s 
statement,  only  1-7  per  cent,  of  the  whole;  while 
the  wholesale  price  of  the  bulk  of  the  tea  sold  in 
1895,  varied  from  7|d.  to  91d.  per  pound.  Unless  Sir 
Michael’s  observations  are  capable  of  some  other 
explanation  they  certainly  form  a serious  indict- 
ment against  the  trade,  who  might  obviously  be 
accused  of  making  enormous  and  unfair  profits  on 
on  their  higher-priced  teas;  so  that  in  iheir  own 
interests  and  for  the  satisfaction  of  the  public  such 
insinuations  should  at  once  be  repudiated.  Fortu- 
nately there  need  be  no  difficulty  in  removing  any 
false  impression  which  may  have  been  caused  by  so 
strange  an  assertion.  According  to  official  figured 
now  before  us,  it  is  plain  that  in  1895  the  whole- 
sale price  of  tea  in  London  ranged  from  5d  to  2s 
6d  per  pound,  and  choice  parcels  brought  even  more 
money  than  the  latter  quotation.  It  seems  evident 
that  Sir  Michael  was  speaking  on  Tuesday  without 
his  book,  or  he  meant  to  say  something  different 
to  what  he  is  reported  to  have  said.  Anyhow,  the 
trade  will  not  be  content  until  the  matter  has 
been  fully  explained.  As  to  the  various  propositions 
which  were  forthcoming  why  the  tea  duty  should  be 
lessened,  differentiated,  or  altogether  abolished,  we 
leave  it  to  our  readers  to  consider  them  at  their  lei- 
sure. They  are  all  so  manifestly  impracticable  at 
the  present  time  that  it  seems  little  better  than 
childish  to  have  wasted  many  hours  of  the  precious 
time  at  the  disposal  of  the  House  in  bringing  them 
forward.  With  the  heavy  expenditure  sanctioned  by 
the  Legislature  to  ensure  the  safety  of  this  country 
and  her  vast  dependencies,  there  is  no  prospect  what- 
ever of  any  remission  of  existing  taxation,  and  the 
tea  duty  cannot  be  said  to  press  heavily  on  any  class 
of  the  community.  The  trade  themselves  are  in  no 
way  desirous  of  a change  which  would  cause  an 
immense  amount  of  trouble  and  anxiety  with  no  pro- 
bable adequate  return.  “ Let  well  alone”  is  a safe 
motto  in  this  instance,  and  one  which  all  parties 
concerned  will  be  disposed  to  adopt. — Grocers’ 
Journal,  July  11. 
PLANTING  OF  BUCKLANDIA  AMONG  TEA. 
Dear  Sir, — Will  you  be  so  good  as  to  inform  me 
through  your  columns  as  to  the  suitability  of  plant- 
ing the  BucJd'india  tree  for  shade,  timber  and  fire- 
wood on  a Ceylon  tea  estate,  elevation  about  3,(XX) 
feet,  in  a dry  climate,  that  is  to  say,  planted  in 
the  tea  at  intervals  and  along  the  roads,  also  for 
timber  clearing  alone,  on  the  estate.  Also  as  to  the 
planting  out  of  the  seed  in  nurseries:  whether  it 
requires  any  special  soil  or  preparation  of  the  soil 
for  rearing  plants  in  the  uurseiies. 
I have  never  seen  the  seed,  so  have  no  idea 
what  quantity  (weight)  to  order  to  raise,  say,  10,000 
plants.  Can  you  inform  me  ? 
Will  you  also  kindly  insert  advertisement— 
Wanted— /luc/ufaarftd  seed,  suitably  packed,  for 
transmission  to  Ceylon.  State  price  for  large  and 
small  quantity. 
THE  TEA  DUTY. 
Some  of  the  statements  which  were  hazarded  in 
the  discussion  on  the  tea  duty,  when  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  business  the  Finance  Bill  came  to  be  con- 
sidered in  the  House  of  Commons  on  Tuesday  last, 
are  calculated  to  till  the  mind  of  those  engaged  in 
the  tea  trade  with  wondering  amazement ; and  we 
Some  trees  have  a marked  injurious  effect  on 
the  tea,  whereas  GrevUlea  rohusta  does  no  injury 
but  rather  the  reverse.  ^ 
I should  like  to  know  what  you  think  would  be  the 
effect  on  tea  if  interplanted  with  BucMundia. 
Botbschild ; I 
Pussellawa,  V w.  H.  Hannam. 
Ceylon.  J 
