644 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST.  [March  i,  1897. 
increase  of  yielil  obtained  by  iiiammng,  wliile . 
the  bushes  and  the  wood  stand  out  well. 
In  our  issue  of  the  ]lth  “ G.  T.  II.”  from 
Udapu.'s.selhau’a  strongly  favours  Cattle  Manure 
as  the  best,  hut  in  its  absence  arlilicial  has 
been  applied  M'ith  good  results,  and  primings 
were  buried  at  the  same  time,  and  he,  counsels 
the  inactice  1 The  interesting  question  he  pro- 
pounds is  whether  the  quantity  of  artiiicial 
may  not  of  necessity  liaA'e  to  be  increased  after 
repeated  apjdications,  but  will  not  that  depend 
greatly  on  the  soil  ? If  the  .soil  be  worn-out 
and  thin,  it  would  be  undoubted  gain,  to  ob- 
tain remunerative  returns  from  it,  albeit  only' 
for  a time-  “J.  B.  C.”  from  Kelani  Valley 
supports  the  ^erdict  in  favour  of  manures  on 
all  grounds,  and  regrets  that  shortness  of  labour 
prevents  larger  applications.  “ C.  H.  B.”  from 
Udajmssallawa,  is  also  an  advocate  of  manuring, 
but  judiciously,  and  he  especially  deprecates 
over-stimulating.  The  older  and  more  worn  spots 
show  more  appreciable  results.  “S.”  from  Ta- 
lawakele  takes  a rather  different  view,  and, 
pleading  the  shortness  of  life,  would  carry  on 
liberal  cultivation  everywhere  and  on  all  soils, 
thus  Securing  from  200  to  300  lb.  per  acre  more 
tlian  at  present.  This  aspiration  is  controlled  by 
the  lack  of  labour,  and,  may  we  add,  by  the 
fear  of  over-production ; but  the  problem  he 
sets  forth  is  one  worthy  of  attention,  whether 
we  are  not  justified  in  forcing  out  of  the  bushes 
in  30  or  40  years  what  they  will  take  55  to  60 
ye^rs  to  yield  naturally.  His  advice  as  to  cau- 
tion, however,  will  receive  more  general  support, 
ns  also  the  warning  against  cutting  the  larger 
roots.  He  scoffs  at  the  notion  of  flavour  being 
affected  by  a rich  soil  ; but  is  there  not  a 
diti’erence  between  a naturally  rich  soil  and  one 
artificially  stimulated  ? 
The  fifty-ninth  letter,  and  a very  suggestive 
one  it  is,  appeared  on  Saturday  last  from  “ C.  T.” 
from  Anibagamuwa,  He  strongly  advocates  bulk, 
fjuoting  results,  and  is  rather  suspicious  of  arti- 
ficial manures,  which  however,  is  a necessity  in 
most  cases.  Finally,  we  come  to  the  60th  and 
61st  letters  which  close  the  series  .and  are  by  no 
means  the  least  important.  Indeed  the  “ Homo,” 
who  signs  with  a very  proper  Latin  monition, 
and  to  whom  we  owe  an  apology  for  not  sending 
him  a circular  in  the  first  instance,  is  almost 
the  only  one  who  favours  us  with  tabulated 
results  of  experiments  carried  on,  evidently  after 
a fashion  that  will  delight  the  heart  of  Mr.  John 
Hughes  among  others.  “Homo”  very  ))roperly 
reminds  us  of  the  many  factors, — some  of  them 
apt  to  be  overlooked— that  ought  to  be  taken  into 
account,  in  cultivation  ; but  he  .and  “ J.  J.  ” agree 
— like  so  many  more — in  giving  the  ])ieference 
to  “ Castor  c.ake  and  Bones”  as,  on  the  Avliole, 
yielding  the  best  results. 
In  concluding  this  review  we  owe  it  to  our 
friends  to  thank  them  very  heartily  for  their 
contributions  towards  thesolution  of  a very  interest- 
ing and  important  prolilem,  with  whicli  is  inti- 
mately wound  up  the  prosperity  of  the  Island. 
"We  have  another  Circular  “in  pickle”  ! — indeedit 
is  already  in  circulation  and  most  valuable  in- 
form.ation  on  several  ])oints  connected  with  tea  culti- 
vation and  pre]i.aration  h.as  alre.ady  reached  us  from 
many  leading  members  of  the  planting  community. 
FIIODUCE  AND  PLANTING. 
Indian  and  Ckvi.on  'J'kas  in  tiik  Unitki)  Staics. — 
^Vo  referred  last  week  to  the  ineroasing  popularity 
of  Indian  and  Ceylon  teas  in  the  United  Stales.  A 
proiuiueut  Philadelphia  distributor  who  declined  to 
handle  these  teas  at  one  time  has  recently  published 
the  following ; ‘•During  the  year  1896  there  has  been  a 
most  marvellous  grow'th  in  the  consumption  and  sale  of 
Ceylon  and  Indian  teas,  principally,  however,  in  paekag.  s 
under  the  proprietary  brands  and  under  the  stimu- 
lus of  proprietary  enterprise.  At  the  same  time  the 
•ales  of  bulk  India  and  Ceylon  teas  have  largely 
increased.  This  is  one  of  the  strongest  proofs  that 
can  be  given  of  the  value  of  judicious  and  well-con- 
tinued advertising,  for  had  not  these  teas  been  adver- 
tised as  well  as  they  have  beeg  during  the  last  j-ear 
or  so  the  sales  probably  would  have  been  of  an  in- 
finitesimal character.  Now  there  is  no  question  in 
my  mind  whatever  but  that  the  Ceylon  teas  and  the 
Assam  teas  have  coma  to  stay.  Not  only  are  the 
people  buying  the  teas,  but  they  seem  pleased  with 
their  aroma,  their  strength  and  colour,  and  their 
gp'eatly  nourishing  qualities.  In  a blend  with  other 
teas  they  are  productive  of  the  most  marvellons 
results  in  producing  body,  character,  and  good 
drawing  qualities.  The  grocer  of  ’97  who 
does  not  use  to  a greater  or  less  extent  in 
his  business  these  machine-made,  carefully  pre- 
pared teas  will  surely  drift  to  the  rear.  If  the  planters' 
associations  keep  up  their  fight  for  Ceylon  and  Indian 
teas  they  are  bound  to  gain  a strong  foothold  in  the 
United  States.”  
White  Tea. — The  British  Consul  at  Meshed  (Persia) 
has  a note  in  a recent  report  on  this  subject.  He 
states  that  “white  tea”  is  really  nothing  but  com- 
mon Pekoe,  with  a sprinkling  of  the  unfermented 
sun-dried  tips  thrown  in.  Much  care  is  required  in 
preparing  these  silver  tips,  and  a pound  of  them  would 
cost  perhaps  15  rupees.  But  even  a sprinkling  of 
of  them  is  sufficient  to  impart  a very  delicate  perfume 
to  any  ten,  and  with  this  the  Persians  have  been  greatly 
taken.  The  brand  sold  is  poor  stuff,  with  only  a 
slight  odour,  but  the  upper  classes  now  use  hardly 
any  other,  especially  during  ceremonial  visits.  . 
“ Beautiful”  Ceylon  and  its  Tea  Industry. — In 
his  lecture  before  the  Society  of  Arts,  referred  to 
elsewhere.  Sir  Charles  Dilke  paid  a high  tribute  to 
the  planting  enterprise  of  Ceylon,  remarKing  that 
Ceylon,  which  was  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  one 
of  the  most  interesting  portion  of  the  earth's  sur- 
face, had  more  than  recovered  her  prosperity  through 
the  brilliant  enterprise  with  which  the  settlers  had 
turned  to  the  planting  of  a tine  tea. 
A Costly  Quakrel.— There  is  a nice  little  struggle 
now  in  progress  in  New  York  between  the  Sugar 
Trust  and  Arbuckle  Brothers,  a very  rich  firm  of 
coffee  roasters.  The  New  York  correspondent  of 
the  Grocer  describes  the  way  it  came  about.  He  says  : 
“ The  Arbuckles  bought  of  the  inventor  a macliine 
which  automatically  weighs  sugar  and  puts  it  up  into 
packages,  which  sugar  the  Arbuckless  sold  with  their 
patent  glazed  coffee,  put  up  in  sealed  packages,  and 
sold  under  a proprietary  label.  For  this  machine 
they  paid  £20,000.  They  offered  to  sell  it  to  the  Sugar 
Trust  for  £50,000,  but  they  refused  to  purchase. 
Then  the  Arbuckles  decided  to  build  a refinery,  and 
make  themselves  independent  of  foreign  or  domestic 
refiners  of  sugar.  In  retaliation,  parties,  in  the 
interest  of  the  Trust,  bought  out  the  Woolson 
Coffee  and  Spice  Mills  of  Toledo,  Ohio,  incorporated 
in  1882  with  a capital  of  £20,000.  'This  company 
made  enormous  profits,  selling  their  shares  at 
a price  reported  at  £230.  It  is  said  the  con- 
trolling interest  cost  the  Sugar  Trust’s  agents 
£252,000.  The  Arbuckles  managed  to  buy  in  a secret 
manner  sixty  shares  of  stock  (for  which,  it  is  said, 
£20,000  was  paid),  which  move  was  to  give  them  a 
position  to  demand  all  the  knowledge  and  such  rights 
as  stockholders  are  entitled  to  receive.  Some  years 
ago  the  Arbuckles  adopted  a recipe  of  their  mother’s 
for  keeping  the  flavour  of  coffee,  which  calls  for  a 
coating  of  the  bean  with  a substance  of  an  albumi- 
nous character,  giving  the  coffee  a glaze  and  practi- 
cally hermetically  scaling  the  bean.  The  sale  in- 
creased enormously,  and  their  brands  obtained  a 
foothold  that  no  one  could  dislodge.  Some 
idea  of  the  magnitudu  of  their  business  may  bg 
