320 
THE  TEOPICAI 
AGRICULTURIST. 
PLANTING  AND  PllODUCE. 
The  Decline  oe  British  and  Indian  Trade  wi  i'ii 
Central  Russian  Asia.— An  official  repcrl,  from  oar 
representative  at  Khorassan.  on  British  and  Indian 
trade  with  Central  Russian  Asia,  or  what  is  left  of 
this  trade,  will  shortly  be  issued.  The  heavy 
Customs  duties  levied  all  along  the  Russian  frontier 
line  from  the  Caspian  to  the  Pamira  are  proving 
an  all  but  impassable  barrier  for  the  British  mer- 
chant. The  green  tea  trade,  which  used  to  reach 
Russian  Turkestan  and  Khiva  from  China  by 
Bombay  and  Persia,  is  now  taking  the  Batoura 
route.  Piece  goods  cannot  cross  the  frontier,  though 
right  np  to  the  Russian  line,  British  and  Indian 
piece  goods  ca.iTy  all  before  them,  in  spite  of 
Russian  competition.  Black  tea  still  takes  the  old 
route  by  India,  though  Russia  is  now  growing  her 
ov/n  tea  Bucceshully  on  the  hills  around  Bafcoum, 
but  our  consul  at  Meshed  thinks  that  this  cannot 
compete  with  good  Indian  tea  if  that  is  sent  to 
Khorassan.  At  the  same  time  trade  beyond  our 
north-western  Indian  frontier,  where  it  does  not 
come  into  contact  with  Russian  Customs  duties,  is 
increasing,  and  this  is  especially  the  case  with  im- 
ports from  the  countries  beyond  Cashmere  and  from 
Afghanistan.  In  Chinese  Turkestan  there  are  no 
import  or  export  duties.  But  the  main  change  in 
trade  in  the  last  few  years  in  this  region  is  thst 
British  merchandise  now  finds  its  way  into  Central 
Asia  not  through  Afghanistan,  as  it  fonncrly  did, 
but  through  Cashmere,  thanks  fo_  the  Russian 
harriers  on  the  northern  frontier  of  Afghanistan. 
Sotee  Rb.asons  Why.— It  is  not  surprising  that  the 
coffee  planters  of  Madras  are  inquiring  into  the 
question  why  the  consumption  of  coffee  has  declined 
of  late  years,  and  is  still  on  the  down  grade,  while 
teas  have  increased  so  much  in  popular  favour.  There 
are  several  reasons  for  this,  and  briefly,  tliey  may  bo 
summed  up  as  follows: — Coffee  is  not  easily  made,  it 
is  not  so  easy  to  procure  pure  as  it  should  be,  and 
few  cooks  of  JBritish  training  know  how  to  turn  coffee 
into  anything  else  but  a liquid  mess  from  which 
the  flavour  has  departed.  But  in  the  comparison 
with  tea  there  are  other  causes  to  take  into  account. 
Coffee  planting  as  an  industry  has  no  representation 
in  London.  It  would  be  idle  to  deny  that  the  tea 
industries  of  India  and  Ceylon  have  benefited  im- 
mensely by  the  organisations  here  which  have  fostered 
the  development  of  tea  planting,  and  in  various  w^ays 
stimulated  interest  in  British  grow'u  tea.  At  the 
Royal  Colonial  Institute,  the  Society  of  Arts,  and 
elsewhere  there  have  been  valuable  and  instructive 
papers  read  about  tea.  Its  praises  have  been  chanted 
loud  and  frequently.  Advertisement  in  all  shapes  is 
necessary  in  these  times,  and  the  tea  industry  has 
benefited  enormously  by  the  advertisement,  it  has 
received  not  only  from  the  organisation  we  have 
mentioned,  but  by  the  many  forms  of  dealers  who 
advertise.  Coffee  planters,  on  the  other  hand,  have 
nothing  to  tickle  the  public  with.  There  is  no 
special  mark  or  brand  of  coffee  known  outside  the 
trade.  The  public  do  not  care  a rap  whether  the 
coffee  they  drink  is  Brazilian  or  Mysoie.  There  is 
a distinct  opening  for  coffee  specialists  at  home  who 
would  make  and  advertise  certain  blends  or  select 
certain  districts.  The  coffee  planters  would  find 
organisation  and  representaliou  at  home  useful,  but 
even  then  we  doubt  very  much  if  coffee  will  ever 
prove  a serious  rival  to  tea,  because  of  the 
difficulty  the  humble  consumer  finds  in  making  it 
ready  for  use  as  oomparerl  with  tea.  As 
the  medical  faculty  has  been  quite  impartial  in  its 
attacks  on  tea  and  cofiee  neither  product  scores  over 
this  point.  The  art  of  coffee  making  , is  eit’i  r a lost 
one  or  it  has  never  been  found  in  these  islands.  A 
Coffee  Planters’  Association  in  London,  representing 
the  interests  of  coffee  growers  in  Indii,  Ceylon  or 
any  other  British  possession,  might  find  some  useful 
oocunation,  and  help  to  give  the  fillip  to  the  oon- 
[Nov.  2,  l8q 
receiving  good  value  for  his  money  hut  he  is 
porting  a British  industry.  Those  who  attach  w 
to  sentiments  of  this  kind  say  that  this  feclini 
been  very  pronounced  in  the  case  of  Indian 
Ceylon  tea.  That  there  is  no  feeling  of  this 
where  coffee  is  concerned  receives  an  illusti 
this  week  by  tlie  publication  of  the  prospect 
the  Dumont  Coffee  Company,  Limited,  in  i 
the  names  of  Messrs.  B.  R.  Buchanan,  H.  K.  Ri 
ford,  and  other  gentlemen  interested  in  Indiar 
Ceylon  tea,  appear  as  directors  of  a Brazilian  i 
company.  If  this  ]ir03pectus  referred  to  a con 
for  the  cultivation  of  tea,  say,  in  China  or  1 
America,  such  susceptibilities  might  beruffl:d,  b 
applied  to  coffee  it  is  a p int  which  calls  fi 
special  comment.  Coffee  planters  have  not  ch 
topograjjhical  or  geographical  consideration,  be 
they  would  have  found  it  very  difficult  to  c 
Puerile  as  the  idea  may  seem  to  some,  and  di 
as  it  is  to  carry  it  ti  any  practical  end,  if  i 
theless  serves  as  an  instance  marking  one  o 
disadvantages  under  which  the  coffee  planter  si 
The  consumer  of  tea  whose  incliuations  a 
favour  of  fervid  patriotism  is  proud  of  the  r 
that  he  is  drinking  tea  produced  in  the  B 
Empire,  and  although  his  feelings  might  be  sul 
if  he  were  paying  more  for  it,  and  getting 
value  in  the  case  of  Indian  and  Ceylon 
he  congratulates  liimself  th.it  he  is  fosi 
economy  and  sentiment  at  the  same  time, 
tile  case  of  coffee  there  is  nothing  of  this  kind, 
description  of  coffee  is  as  good  as  another  t 
consumer  without  special  knowledge,  wh  > only 
that  the  cup  of  coffee  placed  before  him  be 
by  some  one  who  knows  how  to  a-ocompiish  thi 
but  who  outside  this  aspiration  cares  naught 
the  berry  comes  from.  Perliaps  coffee  planter! 
consider  whether  it  is  worth  while  to  work  up  a 
sentiment  on  the  subject. 
“ Futures  ” in  Produce. — An  English  transi 
of  the  book  entitled  “ The  Ruin  of  the  World’s 
culture  and  Tiade,"  by  Dr.  G.  Riililaud,  pro 
of  political  economy  at  Zurich,  has  just  been 
by  Messrs.  Sampson  Low  & Co.  The  voluin 
been  annotated  and  supplied  with  a preface  b 
Charles  W.  Smith,  a Liverpool  broker.  In  the 
it  is  urged  that  the  demonetisation  of  silver  1 
no  way  affected  prices,  but  that  it  is  the  ‘‘  flotit 
dealings  in  ‘‘futures  ” which  have  been  the 
cause  of  the  phenomenal  fall.  It  is  appaientlj 
tended  that  the  interests  of  the  speculators  U 
make  such  transactions  continuously  “ bear  ” c 
tions,  regardless  of  the  actual  economic  or  stati 
position  ot  the  particular  commi'dity  relieved 
occasionally  by  a.  “ corner”  equaliy  disadvanta 
to  producer  and  consumer.  Indeed,  it  appea- 
be  contended  that  the  fall  in  silver  itself  is  i 
dealings  in  “futures”  in  that  iiietil.  Mr.  Sinii 
Dr.  Riihland  appear  to  believe  in  the 
bility  of  and  an  international  agreement  tc 
vent  gambling  in  “ futures.”  Such  an  agre 
would  not  prevent  competitive  importa.ioi 
Argentine  and  Indian  wheat  for  sale  at  re 
gold  prices  whenever  exchange  fell  ; nor  coi 
as  matters  stand,  prevent  actual  sales  of  silver 
duced  prices  for  the  ev.press  purpose  of  lot 
the  exchanges. 
The  Diminishing  Tea  Trade  op  China. 
British  Acting  Consul  at  KiuUiang  reports  th 
great  feature  of  the  season  has  been  the  large 
creased  export  to  Russia  and  the  continued  de 
in  shipments  to  England.  British  growths 
India  and  Ceylon  have  almost  ousted  China 
from  the  London  market,  and  the  rnerchaut 
for  even  a smaller  export  to  Eugianu  durii 
present  season. 
Dock  Dues  on  Produce. — The  notice  of  an  in 
in  dock  dues  on  the  part  of  the  dock  compaiii 
caused  some  exoiteuient  amongst  London  mer< 
