March  i,  1897.] 
THK  TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIS  L. 
605 
THE  CLUNKS  ESTATES  COMPANY  OF 
CEYLON,  LIMITED. 
At  tlie  extrixonliiicai-y  General  Meeting  of  share- 
holders of  tlie  above  Company  held  on  Saturday, 
February  13Lh,  1897,  at  12-30  p.ni.  at  the  Com- 
pany’s ( HlicesNo.  7,  Queen  Street,  Fort,  Colombo, 
the  following  were  present: — Mr.  W.  Forsythe, 
Chairman,  Mr.  S.  L.  Harries,  Directors;  Messrs^ 
A.  Thompson,  Jas.  Forbes,  L.  E.  Edwards,  E.  II. 
A Vanderspar,  George  Vanderspar,  and  W.  lil. 
Mitchell.  Mr.  E.  .John  was  rei)iesented  by  his 
Attorney  Mr.  11.  John. 
Mr.  F br.sythe  having  taken  the  Chair  the  notice 
convening  the  meeting  was  read. 
An  interim  dividend  for  1890-1897  of  .')  ]>er 
cent  was  declared  and  made  joayable  forthwith. 
A vote  of  thanks  to  the  Chair  closed  the  pro- 
ceedings. 
^ 
PRODUCE  AND  TLx^Nl'ING. 
Rubber  Plantations'. — Planters  on  the  look-out  for 
profitable  products  to  culti'v'ate  might,  where  possible, 
turn  their  attention  to  the  rubber  industry.  In  the 
course  of  a single  year  the  exports  of  this  commo- 
dity from  Lagos  increased  from  5,867  lb.  to 
5,069,576  lb.,  a growth  of  trade  probably  without 
parallel.  J3ut  the  natives  who  obtain  the  rubber  in 
the  forests  employ  such  wasteful  and  destructive 
methods  of  “ tapping  ” that  the  supply  is  sure  to 
dwindle  away,  as  has  happened  through  the  same 
on  the  upper  waters  of  the  Amazon.  If,  then,  this 
young  and  most  prolitable  industry  is  to  become  a 
permanent  source  of  wealth,  whether  at  Lagos  or 
elsewhere,  some  method  of  insuring  constancy  of 
supply  must  be  adopted.  There  are  two  ways  by 
which  that  might  be  accomplished.  The  rubber- 
producing  forests  could  be  leased  on  such  conditions 
as  would  give  the  lessees  personal  interest  in  pre- 
venting destructive  ‘‘  tapping.”  Or,  better  still,  as 
not  confiscating  native  rights  of  free  search,  planta- 
tions may  be  established  at  suitable  phices.  Once 
the  trees  reached  maturity,  they  would  continue  to 
yield  tho  precious  juice  for  many  years  if  properly 
treated.  Refore  science  turned  its  attention  to  the 
matter  the  invariable  practice  was  to  bleed  a tree  to 
death,  and  it  is  that  barharous  method  which  still 
obtains  at  Lagos.  But  by  a new  and  improved  pro- 
cess sufficient  vitality  is  left  in  a “tapped”  tree 
for  complete  recovery  and  future  fruitfulness. — H.  rC  C. 
Jiail,  Jan.  15. 
The  Coming  Rivalry  in  Tea  Manue.actuue. — It  is 
of  course  very  gratifying  to  the  feelings  of  Indian 
and  Ceylon  tea  planters  to  learn  that  their  methods 
of  manufacture  are  worth  imitating  by  the  Chinese 
and  Japanese  tea  growers,  and  if  that  were  all  it, 
would  be  quite  pleasant.  The  Chinese  and  Japanese, 
however,  are  not  proud,  and  they  wish  to  learn  all 
about  everything  as  soon  as  possible.  We  see  by 
the  Ceylon  Ubseroer  that  an  enterprising  Chinese 
“creeper”  is  in  Ceylon  yoirning  for  information. 
It  is  mentioned,  too,  in  another  Ceylon  paper  that 
an  enquirer  of  .Japanese  nationality  is  also  believed 
to  be  searching  for  more  light.  It  is  a proud  and 
and  happy  position  for  Indian  and  Ceylon  planters 
to  control  the  tea  markets  of  the  world,  and  they 
may  be  lifted  up  at  the  idea  that  their  rivals  re- 
cognise their  supremreyq  and  would  adopt  that  wuty 
of  doing  business.  It  is  not,  however,  desirable  that 
these  competitors  should  find  the  path  of  knowledge 
readily  accessible.  Suiiermacy  in  the  tea  market  was 
fought  for  keenly,  and  won  by  pluck  and  prcservance. 
It  must  be  hold  tightly,  and  with  as  much  reserve 
as  is  possible  in  these  days  of  universal  knowledge. 
The  game  may  become  a very  keenly  contested  one 
before  long,  a".d  no  one  can  afford  to  give  away  a 
point.  Of  course,  if  the  Chinese  and  .Japanese  mean 
to  manufacture  tea  on  the  same  lines  as  India  and 
Ceylon  they  will  find  out  all  about  it  soon  enough 
There  is  no  mystery  about  the  process  of  manufaej 
ture.  That  the  Par  East  is  becoming  very  much 
alive  to  the  value  of  machinery  we  are  ourselves 
aware,  illustrations  and  descriptions  of  machinery 
and  ne'w.spapers  contaning  them  being  in  demand 
just  now  in  that  quarter.  But  this  is  no  reason  for 
hurrying  up  events  or  assisting  competitors  in  their 
task  of  competition. 
A Changed  Tea  Route. — Commenting  on  the  tea 
routes  from  China  and  India  to  Russia,  the  Grocer 
says: — “ The  way  in  w'hich  railways  and  tariffs  modify 
the  conditions  of  trade  and  effect  great  changes  is  illus- 
trated b}’^  what  has  taken  piace  in  regard  to  the  tea 
routes  from  China  and  India  to  Russia.  Now  that 
the  railway  has  linked  Merv,  Bokhara,  and  Samar- 
kand w'ith  Russia  proper,  the  Russian  Government 
has  absorbed  the  Bokhara  customs,  and  since  the 
beginning  of  1895  has  levied  equal  customs  duties 
along  the  w’hole  line  of  the  frontier  from  the 
the  Caspian  to  the  Pamirs.  Consul-General  Elias' 
reporting  on  Persian  trade,  states  that  the  al- 
tered conditions  have  led  to  a deflection  of  the  tea 
route  of  the  greatest  importance  to  Persia  and  India 
— teas  formerly  sent  to  Russia  via  Meshed  being  sent 
now  via  Batoum,  and  Persia  thus  losing  £8,000  a 
year  in  customs  alone.  The  Collector  of  Customs  at 
Bombay,  reporting  on  the  matter,  states  that  the 
green  tea  trade  is  by  far  the  most  important  branch 
of  the  trade  between  Bombay  and  the  Russian  pos- 
ses.sions  in  Central  Asia.  The  tea  is  imported  from 
China  into  Bombay,  and  re-exported  from  there  to  Ban- 
dar Abbas,  chielly  by  Mogul  merchants.  A considerable 
quantity  of  Indian  tea  is  also  shipped  to  Bandar 
Abbas  from  Bombay.  The  figures  of  China  tea  to 
Persia  show,  how'ever,  a serious  falling  off  in  the  first 
nine  months  of  1895-96.  The  Bombay  Collector  re- 
marks that  ‘ Indian  tea  has  benetitted  by  the  new 
customs  regulations,  while  the  trade  in  China  tea  has 
suffered,  though  not  as  yet  very  severely.  There  is, 
however,  some  risk  of  Bombay  losing  its  position  as 
the  centre  of  the  trade  in  China  tea,  in  consequence 
of  the  opening  of  the  Batoum  route.’  In  the  opinion 
of  the  Persian  Consid,  it  is  wrong  to  surmise  that 
Indian  tea  has  benefitted  by  the  changes — in  fact, 
he  thinks  China  is  now  sending  a good  deal  of  tea 
to  Russi.a  via  Batoum,  and  that  ‘ India  will  probably 
lose  tho  handling  of  the  tea  by  which  she  Jras,  up 
till  now,  profited.’  ’The  whole  of  the  tea  trade  for 
Central  Asia  twenty  years  ago  was  in  the  hands  of 
British  Indian  tea  planters.  Today  they  do  not  sup- 
ply a leaf.  It  seems  strange  that  it  should  have 
come  to  pass  that  tvliile  Indian  black  tea  has  been 
steadily  driving  the  Chinese  article  out  of  most  of 
the  far-distant  markets  of  the  world,  Chinese  green 
tea  in  a short  space  of  time,  and  apparently  with- 
out an  effort,  drove  the  Indian  article  clean  out  of 
its  own  market.  Apparently  the  duty  on  Chinese  tea 
at  Bombay,  though  only  5 per  cent.,  together  with 
the  saving  in  freight  direct  from  China  to  Batoum, 
are  the  causes  which  have  thus  dislocated  a branch  of 
trade  in  W'hich  are  concerned  the  interests  of  Indian 
lu'lian  tea  growers,  Afghan  and  Persian  carriers,  and 
merchants,  the  Persian  Government  revenue.” 
The  Tea  Industry  and  the  Famcne. — The  com- 
munity in  Loudon  interested  in  tea  are,  as  will  be 
seen  from  the  report  of  a meeting  in  another  co- 
lumn, well  to  the  fore  as  regards  tho  Famine  Fund. 
The  sums  contributed  by  members  of  all  branches 
of  the  tea  industry'  are  notable  evidence  alike  of  the 
promise  of  tea  enterprise  in  connection  with  India 
and  of  the  desire  on  the  part  of  those  who  cons- 
titute it  to  join  with  alacrity  in  the  movement  for 
for  alleviating  the  distress  of  the  native  popula- 
tion in  the  famine-stricken  districts.  The  same 
feeling,  we  are  sure,  exists  throughout  the  financial 
world  of  commerce  here.  The  movemout  in  the  large 
towns  for  gathering  contributions  towards  the 
Famine  Fund  is  proof  that  the  appeal  to  private 
charity,  tardy  though  it  was,  will  not  be  made  in  vain, 
The  F.vmine  .and  the  T-abour  Qestion.— The  follow- 
ing letter  signed  ” 'Tea  Planter”  appears  in  today’s 
Standard  [ In  view'  of  the  terrible  s'ufferingg  of 
