6i8 
THE  TROPICAI 
AGRICaLTURISr.  [March  r,  1897. 
afforded  ns  the  fluctuations  on  which  we  chiefly 
live,  our  business  in  silver  has  been  checked  by  the 
steadiness  of  its  value.  This  may,  however,  be  but 
a prelude  to  better  things.  For  if  the  production  of 
silver  is  to  be  reduced  by  its  present  moderate 
price,  while  that  ot  gold  increase  by  leaps  and  bounds, 
we  may  see  the  present  relative  position  of  the  two 
metals  changed  by  the  natural  laws  of  trade,  pro- 
vided, of  course,  present  silver-currency  countries  do 
not  abandon  its  use. 
COFFEE,  &C.  AND  SILVER. 
There  seems  to  be  no  reason  why  they  should, 
as  there  can  be  no  question  that  the  trade  of 
countries  like  Mexico,  for  instance,  is  being 
greatly  advanced  by  the  depreciation  in  silver,  as 
wages  there  remain  stationary,  while  much  higher  sil- 
ver prices  are  being  paid  to  producers,  whereby  a great 
stimulus  is  being  given  to  the  production  of  coffee  and 
other  agricultural  products,  which  are  now  becoming 
leading  articles  of  export,  and  which,  when  once  deve- 
loped, will  remain  so,  even  with  a recovery  in  the  value 
of  silver.  In  Indian  tea  and  in  Santos  coffee  the 
new  types  have  led  to  increased  transactions,  which 
it  is  to  be  hoped  will  prove  permanent  and  progressive. 
We  hear  in  some  quarters,  not  well  versed  in  busi- 
ness, of  the  depressing  influence  of  speculation  on 
the  prices  of  produce"  Yet  those  who  ar«  acquainted 
with  the  Con.inental  sugar  trade  could  tell  you  that 
refiners  there  have  had  to  suffer  from  an  insufficient 
margin  between  the  prices  of  raw  and  refined  sugar, 
a difficulty  which  can  be  explained  by  the  fact  that 
raw  sugar,  being  the  chief  medium  of  speculation, 
has  commanded  a price  above  its  relative  intrinsic 
value.  The  law  that  the  more  current  you  make 
a thing  the  higher  is  its  value  is  well  understood 
on  the  Stock  E.xchange,  where  with  securities  identical 
as  to  intrinsic  merits,  that  which  is  most  dealt  in 
always  commands  the  highest  price.  There  was  a 
striking  instance  of  this  some  40  years  ago,  which 
some  of  us  are  old  enough  to  remember,  when  native 
Ceylon  coffee,  being  the  medium  for  speculation, 
was  always  relatively  dearer  than  plantation  Ceylon, 
and  was  called  the  Consols  of  the  coffee  market, 
commanding  even  on  some  occasions  a price  equal 
to  plantation,  though  iuLrinsically  its  inferior  by 
many  shillings  per  cwt.  Make  crystals  and  granulated 
sugar  a medium  for  speculation  rather  than  raw, 
and  the  refiner's  position  is  at  once  improved.  To 
ourselves  it  is  naturally  the  same  whether  specula- 
tion fastens  on  raw  or  refined  sugar  so  long  as 
there  is  speculation  which  requires  our  system  to 
keep  it  sound  and  wholesome. 
AN  UNASSAILABLE  AXIOM. 
It  may  further  be  laid  down  as  an  unassailable 
axiom — (1)  That  there  will  always  be  speculation, 
(2)  that  speculation  is  desirable  in  the  interests  of 
trade,  and  (3)  that  it  is  to  the  advantage  of  all  that 
speculation  should  be  kept  sound  and  sober  by  the 
rules  on  which  we  act.  It  is  on  this  rock  that  we 
stand,  and  we  know,  therefore,  that  our  foundations 
are  true.  In  the  accounts  there  is  nothing  which 
seems  to  call  for  special  remark.  The  investments 
are  all  taken  at  the  prices  quoted  at  the  close  of 
the  year  ; since  when  any  change  has  been  to  their 
advantage.  Our  American  securities  are  all  of  the 
highest  class,  and  being  all  in  sterling,  are  free 
from  the  risk  of  currency  experiments.  Their  quality 
is  proved  by  the  fact  that  they  all  stand  s.t  a pre- 
mium, and  that  the  railways  whose  bonds  we  hold 
are  now  able  to  borrow  at  rates  much  below  the 
interest  our  bonds  carry  : in  the  case  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania and  the  New  York  Central  at  little  more  than 
— say,  at  3.^  per  cent,  against  li  per  cent,  so  there 
can  be  no  question  as  to  the  payment  of  our  bonds  as 
they  fall  due.  With  these  remarks  I beg  to  move 
that  the  report  and  accounts  be  received  and  adopted, 
(Appaluse.) 
Mr.  B.  B Tabor  seconded  the  resolution, 
which  was  carried  unanimously. — / iihmtia(_  Times, 
Jan.  213. 
CENTRAL  AFRICAN  NEWS. 
Mr.  Alexander  Whyte  has,  during  the  last  ten  days, 
been  collecting  zoologicsl  and  botanical  specimens 
on  the  top  ol  Mlosa  mountain  and  plateau.  He 
reports  that  he  has  procured  some  interesting  speci- 
mens, several  of  which  he  thinks  are  new  to  science. 
The  top  of  Mlosa  plateau  consists  of  roiling  hills 
covered  with  fine  short  grass,  well  wooded  in  the 
gullies  and  with  a plentiful  supply  of  water.  The 
plateau  is  not  quite  equal  in  extent  to  the  Zomba 
plateau,  but  lies  at  about  the  same  elevation 
(between  five  and  six  thousand  feet  above  the  sea), 
and  the  scenery  is  even  finer  than  that  of  Zomba. 
Access  is  obtained  to  the  Mlosa  plateau  by  more 
easy  gradients  than  the  Zomba  plateau  or  that  of 
Mlanje.  At  this  time  of  the  year  Mr.  Whyte  finds 
the  climate  very  pleasant. 
The  first  foal  bred  in  British  Central  Africa,  the  pro- 
perty of  the  Administration,  is  now  two  years  old,  and 
in  a few  months  time  it  will  be  broken  in.  It  would, 
we  think,  be  very  advisable  for  those  who  import 
horses  to  get  in  as  many  mares  as  possible,  and  in  this 
manner  by  degrees  to  get  a true  Nyasaland  breed. 

VARIOUS  PLANTING!  NOTES. 
Royal  Gardens,  Kew. — Bulletin  of  Miscellaneous 
Information,  Appendix  I. — 1897,  contains  list  of  seeds 
of  hardy  heiDaceous  plants  and  of  trees  and 
shrubs,  which  for  the  most  part,  have  ripened 
at  Kew  during  the  year  189(3.  'These  seeds  are  not 
sold  to  the  general  public,  but  are  available  for  ex- 
change with  Colonial,  Indian,  and  F'oreigu  Botanic 
Gardens,  as  well  as  with  regular  correspondents  of 
Kew.  ho  application,  except  from  remote  colonial 
possession,  can  be  entertained  after  the  end  of  March. 
The  Bulletin  of  the  Botanical  Department, 
Jamaica,  for  November  1896,  edited  by  William 
F'awcett,  B.Sc..  F'.L.S.,  Director  of  Public  Gardens 
and  Plantations,  has  for  contents : Soil  F'erments 
Important  in  Agriculture  II ; Micro-Organism's  & 
Tooacco ; Orchid  for  Naturalisation ; Coccidse  or 
Scale  Insects. — IX,  Jaffa  Orange;  Ferns:  Synoptical 
List. — XLIl;  Contributions  to  the  Department; 
Castleton  Gardens.  Mr.  R.  Thomson’s  paper  on  the 
new  orchid  is  interesting : have  we  Udontoylosswa 
crisimni  in  Ceylon  ? 
Coffee. — Mr.  A.  G.  Beestou,  brother  of  Mrs.  Mac- 
kenzie-Steuart,  has,  I hear,  accepted  the  post  of 
Secretary  of  ihe  Serapiqui  Coffee  Co.,  Ld.,  which 
has  recently  been  formed  for  working  the  property 
in  Costa  Rica  visited  last  summer  by  Mr.  J.  L.  Shand. 
The  capital  for  this  venture  has,  1 understand,  been 
now  subscribed,  and  Mr.  Rothe,  the  vendor  of  the 
land,  returns  at  once  to  Costa  Rica  to  begin  operations 
in  earnest.  The  proceedings  of  this  Company,  and 
also  of  the  Dumont  Coffee  Co.,  Ld.,  in  Brazil,  will 
be  watched  with  much  interest  by  all  old  Ceylon 
Coffee  Planters. — London  Cor.,  local  “ Independent.” 
The  “Indian  Forester,”  a Monthly  Magazine  of 
Forestry,  Agriculture  Shikar  and  Travel,  edited  by 
J.  W.  Oliver,  Conservator  of  Forests,  and  Offg. 
Director  of  the  Forest  School,  Debra  Ddn, 
for  January  1879,  has  the  following  contents;  — 
Original  Articles  and  Translations  : The  American 
Resin  Industry  (Translatiouj  ; Correspondence  : 
What  Constitutes  a 'Thinning?  letter  from  F.  Gleadow  ; 
The  Dimensions  of  Trees  ; letter  from  “ A P’ores- 
ter  ” ; The  Official  Designation  of  Poorest  Subordi- 
nates : letter  from  “ Miles  ” ; Review  : The  Forest 
Administration  Report  of  the  Jummu  and  Kashmir 
State  for  1895-96;  Extracts,  Notes  and  Queries: 
The  Grievances  of  the  Forest  Department  ; The 
Formation  of  Sand  Dunes ; Wealth  based  upon 
Elastic  Gum;  Wood  Paving  in  Rangoon;  Wood 
used  by  Cabinet  Makers  ; Rudyard  Kipling  on  the 
Indian  P'oresters  ; A Spider  that  cats  Birds  ; Timber 
and  Produce  Trade  : Churchill  and  Sim's  Circular, 
December  1897 ; Market  Rates  of  Produce  ; Average 
Soiling  Rates  of 'Timber  in  the  N.-W.  P,  in  November 
1896;  Extracts  Official  Gazettes. 
