397 
Dec.  j,  1896.]  The  TROPICAL 
THE  INDIAN  RICE  CROP  OF  1896. 
The  Statistical  Bureau  of  the  Governmeut  of  India 
has  issued  the  following  First  General  Memorandum 
01  the  Rice  Crop  in  Bengal,  Lower  Burma,  and  Madras, 
of  the  season  189(5 : — 
In  Bengal  the  weather  was  on  the  whole  unfavoura- 
ble insufficient  rain  alternating  with  floods,  which 
resulted  in  a reduction  in  the  area  under  cultivation 
and  caused  damage  to  the  standing  crop  over  a large 
area.  There  was  good  rain  about  the  middle  of  Sep- 
tember which  has  slightly  improved  the  prospects  of 
the  crop. 
The  area  cropped  with  winter  rice  is  estimated  at 
29,597,900  acres  against  90,402,500  acres  in  1895  and  an 
average  of  32,031,  100  acres,  the  decrease  being  about 
2j|  and  9i  per  cent  respectively.  This  year’s  crop  is 
estimated  at  about  three-fourths  of  an  average  crop, 
but  the  estimated  outturn  is  likely  to  be  much  reduced 
as  there  has  been  little  or  no  rain  in  the  first  half  of 
October. 
The  area  estimated  to  have  been  sown  with  autumn 
rice  amounts  to  7,128,500  acres  against  an  average  of 
7,438,100  acres  and  an  approximate  area  of  7,050,100 
acres  in  1895.  Tue  outturn  is  estimated  at  67  per  cent 
in  1896,  against  78  per  cent  in  1895,  of  an  average 
outturn. 
In  Madras  the  area  reported  to  have  been  sown  with 
rice  is  3,385,000  acres  which  is  about  the  average,  but 
is  less  by  174,000  acres,  on  nearly  5 per  cent,  than  the 
area  sown  in  the  corresponding  period  last  year.  The 
decrease  in  area  is  due  to  the  unfavourible  character 
of  tile  season.  The  standing  crop  is  reported  to  be 
generally  in  fair  condition,  though  it  needs  rain  in 
many  parts,  especially  in  the  norinern  districts. 
In  Burma  the  area  sown  up  to  the  end  of  Sepmtem- 
ber  is  reported  to  be  5,190,912  acres,  being  an  increase 
of  100,009  acres  over  last  year’s  area.  The  increase 
is  due  to  fallow  land  being  largely  brought  under 
cultivation.  The  area  destroyed  by  floods,  &c.,  is  esti- 
mated at  83,676  acres,  of  which  66,352  acres  being  in 
the  districts  of  Thongwa  and  Amherst.  The  rain  up 
to  date  has  betn  favourable.  The  standing  crops  are 
reported  to  be  healthy,  and  the  prospects  very  good. 
» 
TEA  IN  AMERICA. 
New  York,  Sept.  30. 
The  situation  still  drags,  and  is  without  new  feature 
since  out  last  report.  Fine  grades  of  Formosa  con- 
tinue to  be  well  held.  On  all  sorts  there  is  no  change 
to  report. 
Last  week  the  Montgomery  Auction  and  Commission 
Company  sold  8,671  packages  of  teas,  as  follows  : — 
Moyune — 24  Hyson,  6 lo  61c  ; 549  Young  Hyson,  6j  to 
26c;  177  Imperial,  8 to  2o.Jc;  356  Gunpowder,  lOJ 
to  30^c.  Pingsuey — 21  Young  Hyson  ; 311  Imperial, 
10  to  15c  ; 1,783  Gunpowder,  7f  to  i^Sc.  Japan — 32 
Nibs,  5.J  10  lljc;  46  Caper.“,  17c  ; 121  Siftings  ; 
723  Congou,  6i  to  18c  ; 101  India  and  Orange  Pekoe, 
12?  to  16?c.  Oolong — 356  Foochow,  6;  to  7Jc  ; 985 
Amoy,  6J  to  Sic  ; 2,985  Formosa,  lOii  to  32c. — American 
Grocer,  Sept.  30 
COFFEK  Guowino  im  H.vwaii. — The  Haivaiian 
Commercial  Journal  of  Sept.  15,  says:  Last  week 
we  referred  at  .some  length  to  the  possibilities  of 
this  Island  as  a field  for  coffee  and  other  indus- 
tries and  also  gave  an  account  of  the  .succe.ss  of 
Mr.  Ahrens  of  Waianae  in  coffee  growing.  At 
that  time  we  had  not  visited  Mr.  Ahrens  estate 
and  therefore  were  obliged  to  coniine  ourselves 
to  informatton  received  at  second  hand.  How- 
ever, on  Saturday  last  week  we  had  the  pleasure 
of  visiting  tlie  ^V^aianae  coffee  fields  with  a party 
of  ladies  and  gentlemen  from  Honolu.u,  under 
the  direction  of  Mr.  B.  F.  Dillingham,  manager 
of  the  O.  R.  v'e  L.  Co.,  and  can  even  add  to  the 
glowing  descriptions  of  the  place  we  had  already 
received.  As  a result  of  the  visit  of  Mr.  Lilling- 
liam  party  we  understand  tliat  one  or  two  new 
coffee  plantations  will  be  started  in  the  neighbor- 
liood  of  Honolulu  at  once. 
AGRICULTUPIST. 
THE  AVERAGPI  PRICES  OF  CEYLON  TEAS. 
The  views  of  any  man  experienced  in  the 
London  maiket  tending  to  throw  light  on  the 
late  downward  course  of  the  prices  obtained 
for  our  teas  cannot  fail  to  be  of  interest.  Ex- 
pression of  these  is  quoted  in  our  London 
Letter,  and  although  there  may  be  tliose  who 
may  not  fully  agree  with  the  o|)inions  expressed, 
there  is  reason  to  think  that  these  are  worthy 
of  every  consideration.  Undoubtedly  the  steady 
falling  off  in  the  quotation  of  averages  that 
has  been  noticeable  for  some  years,  has  not  been 
satisfactory.  But  if  it  can  be  shown,  as  is 
alleged,  that  this  falling  off  is  not  attributable 
to  want  of  apjireciation  shown  by  the  British 
public  for  Ceylon  teas,  undoubtedly  the  knowledge 
will  be  pleasing  to  ns.  The  expert  who  favoured 
our  London  correspondent  with  an  interview  on 
his  to|)ic  was  able  to  cite  his  own  e.xperience 
as  evidencing  that,  although  the  averages  pub- 
lished by  Messrs.  Gow  Wilson  and  Stanton  and 
others  were  undoubtedly  correct  as  applied  to 
the  whole  volume  of  sale,  they  did  not  represent 
the  conditions  attending  the  .sales  effected  by 
himself  or  those  of  many  other  estate  owners. 
In  his  own  case,  he  said,  the  prices  he  had  ob- 
tained showed  no  reduction  on  tho.se  at  which 
he  had  sold  for  quite  three  years  past.  Indeed 
they  hail  even  slightly  improved  during  the 
last  year  of  the  three.  He  tlioiiglit  that  an 
explanation  of  the  reduced  gcneiol  averaoe  was 
to  be  found  in  the  very  large  quantity °of  tea 
coming  forward  of  late  from  low  country  estates. 
He  did  not  consider  that  this  was  by  any  means 
lip  to  the  average  of  general  imports  of  tea 
grown  on  our  higher  levels,  and  the  prices  ob- 
tained for  them— their  bulk  being  lar<'e,  caused 
a reduction  in  general  average,  while  a "particular 
average  would  show  a steady  maintenance  of  the 
prices  for  several  years  of  i'mports  of  the  higher 
class.  He  drew  the  deduction,  he  continued, 
that  no  evil  augury  was  to  be  drawn  from  the 
present  quotation  ot  averages.  And  the  more  so, 
he  thought,  because,  although  our  low  country 
teas  obtaine.l  lower  prices  than  those  jiaid  for 
the  higher  growths,  these  could  be  produced 
much  more  cheaply  than  the  last,  and  the  grow- 
ers of  both  therefore  secured  equivalent  pi’ofits. 
At  the  same  time  he  admitted  that  the  publffi 
quotation  of  average  made,  did  induce  a good 
deal  of  apprehension  as  to  the  future  of  the 
Ceylon  tea  trade  among  them  not  fully  in- 
structed on  the  subject.  He  would  like  to  “ee 
some  distinction  drawn  by  the  firms  makino' 
publication  between  the  aver.ages  for  the  two 
clas.ses  of  teas.  Whether  this  could  be  done 
he  declared  himself  to  be  ignorant.  If 
it  were  practicable,  he  feared  that  to  draw  such 
a distinction  must  involve  such  dilficulty,  and 
))Ossibly  an  invidiousness  that  might  be  resented 
by  smie.  We  can  oui  selves  see  objection  to  the 
course  this  gentleman  .suggested  as  desirable.  It 
has  not  been  establisheil,  in  the  first  place 
what  should  determine  the  clasification  between 
high-grown  and  low-grown  teas.  Some  miiffit 
fix  the  limit  at  one  thousand  feet  of  elevation 
others  might  deem  higher  or  lower  altitude  a 
more  fitting  line  of  separation.  And  as  the 
various  London  tea  firms  might  adopt  independent 
classilicat ions,  theii  average  would  in  such  a case 
show  such  an  amount  of  variance  as  to  «-ive 
results  ev'en  more  misleading  than  are  obtained 
under  tbe  existing  system  of  a general  average. 
And  after  all  it  is  scarcely  the  outside  public 
that  would  be  either  affected  or  misled  by  the 
present  quotations.  And  those  who  are  “ in  the 
