828 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
tasters,  aud  has  been  sold  at  full  market  prices. 
It  need  scarcely  be  said  that  the  experiment  was 
due  to  British  enterprise  and  capital. 
AND  IN  VAIUOUS  COUNTRIES. 
Much  the  same  thing  is  going  on  in  Johore,  but 
it  is  obvious  that  such  undertakings  must  feel  their 
way  warily.  Natal  has  not  yet  entered  the  market 
as  a tea-producing  colony  ; hut  planting  on  a small 
scale  has  been  carried  on  there  for  some  years,  the 
output,  which  s of  good  strength  and  flavour,  being 
locally  disposed  of.  From  Java  to  Jamaica  is  a 
far  cry  ; but  while  most  persons  have  heard  of,  if 
not  tasted,  the  tea-grown  in  the  former,  few  are 
aware  that  the  plant  once  evinced  a considerable 
liking  for  the  soil  and  climate  of  the  West  India 
island.  Experiments  on  an  extensive  scale  are  now 
being  carried  out  in  Brazil,  the  planters  of  which 
country  are  said  to  be  fully  convinced  that  tea  can 
be  profitably  grown  there.  But  the  suggestion  ap- 
pears to  have  been  first  made,  and  the  necessary 
capital  found,  by  British  residents,  who  have  long 
had  the  subject  under  consideration,  and  who  appear 
to  have  satisfied  themselves  of  the  hopefulness  of 
the  prospect.  Both  soil  aud  climate  are  regarded  as 
exceptionally  favourable,  as  are  the  general  condi- 
tions and  cost  of  labour — the  latter,  indeed,  being 
commonly  the  crux  of  the  whole  question.  In  then' 
mere  “tea-producing  qualities”  the  provinces  of  Bio 
de  Janeiro  and  Sao  Paulo  are  spoken  of  as  being 
fully  equal  to  Ceylon,  and  satisfactory  results  have 
already  been  obtained  from  some  of  the  plantations. 
IN  CALIFORNIA. 
But  the  most  interesting,  and  not  perhaps  the  least 
promising,  of  recent  trials  in  this  direction  are  those 
which  have  for  some  time  been  in  progress  in  South 
Carolina,  under  the  auspices  of  the  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture.  Probably  the^first  tea- 
bush  grown  in  America  was  planted  near  Charleston 
by  M.  Michaux,  a French  botanist,  in  1801.  The 
failures  to  develop  from  this  starting-point  anything 
in  the  shape  of  a settled  industry  have  been  hitherto 
almost  continuous.  But  there  nevertheless  exists  a 
confident  belief  in  America  that  all  the  tea  required 
there  will  ultimately  be  produced  in  that  country. 
Every  fresh  effort  is  regarded  with  enthusiasm, 
though  the  main  hope  seems  to  be  based  on  the 
fact  that  the  flora  of  the  chief  tea-producing  coun- 
tries of  the  Bast  largely  finds  its  counterpart  in 
South  Carclina.  The  tea  grown  there  has  proved  of 
good  flavour,  but  somewhat  lacking  in  the  “ body 
to  which  the  wide  use  of  Indian  tea  has  accustomed 
ourselves.  This,  however,  is  considered  to  be  less 
due  to  climate  or  soil  than  to  a defective  method  of 
treating  the  leaf  during  the  manufacturing  stages. 
The  necessary  tea-seed  is  still  imported  from  Asia, 
and  the  American  Consuls  at  the  Eastern  tea  porta 
are  instructed  to  spare  no  efforts  to  secure  the  best 
that  can  be  obtained.  All  these  operations,  there- 
fore, can  only  be  regarded  as  still  occupying  the 
experimental  stage ; aud  the  same  must  be  said  of 
many  successful  trials  of  the  same  kin^  now  going 
forward  in  Australia,  Tasmania,  and  New  Zealand. 
THE  LABOUR  QUESTION. 
For,  to  quote  a local  opinion,  ‘‘  there  is 
labour  to  bestow  on  such  a cultivation  ’—that 
is  to  say,  no  labour  at  the  low  rates  of  pay- 
ment which  only  could  be  offered.  And  this 
is  the  governing  condition  of  the  entire  question. 
Considerably  more  than  a million  native  labourers  are 
employed  in  the  tea-growing  industry  of  India  and 
Ceylon,  the  pay  of  a coolie  being  about  8d.  ^hay 
Women  and  children  receive  from  4,d.  to  6d.  Jho 
rates  are  equally  low  in  China  and  Japan.  It  is 
obvious  that  Euroiiean — still  less  British  labour  can- 
not be  diverted  to  tea-growing  on  any  sou  with  the 
smallest  prospect  of  financial  success.  The  work  of 
planting  and  manufacturing  is  neither  heavy  nor 
exhausting,  and  may  be  regarded  as  almost  the  natural 
heritage  of  the  comparatively  puny  races  engaged 
in  it.  Anglo-Saxon  muscle  and  energy  must  find  an 
outlet  in  other  directions.  Whether  the  Bussians  \vill 
succeed  with  their  imported  Chinese  labour  is  an  in- 
teresting question  which  time  alone  can  answer.  A new 
Jaste  may  ultimately  prevail  in  regard  to  the  flavour 
[June  i,  1897 
of  tea,  and  more  delicate  growths,  yielding  perhaps 
less  body,  again  come  into  fashion.  Commercial  en- 
terprise can  be  trusted  to  note  any  such  change,  but 
the  close  of  the  nineteenth  century  sees  the  tea  in- 
dustry of  British  India  and  Ceylon  still  steadily  pro- 
gressing.— London  Standard. 
ECHOES  OF  SCIENCE. 
The  e.xploitation  of  the  “ Kickxia  Africana,”  a 
rubber-hearing  tree,  promises  to  be  important  for 
the  West  African  Colonies.  At  Lagos  the  milky 
juice  evaporated  gives  a superior  quality  of  rubber. 
All  the  colonies  of  the  Gulf  of  Guinea  possess 
this  tree. 
White  mustard  has  been  tried  as  a forage  for 
cattle  in  Tuni.sia,  and  found  to  do  w'ell.  It  is 
relished  by  cattle,  and  contains  a good  deal  of 
nourishment  (88  2 per  cent  of  water,  2 '6  of  proteic 
matter,  0 41  fatty  matter,  2’4  matter  soluble  in 
alcohol,  1‘7  of  starch,  and  2 i of  cellulose  with 
mineral  matters). 
With  reference  to  “ Manna,”  Mr.  Timothy,  of 
Tooting  College,  cites  a pa.ssage  in  Daniele  Bar- 
toli's  “ Asia,”  where  he  describes  the  island  of 
Ormuz  as  a barren  waste  without  even  thorns  or 
birds — “ bnt  every  morning  a dew  falls,  which 
congeals  into  grains,  has  a very  sweet  taste,  and 
is  called  “ Manna.”  The  tamarisk  (manifera) 
grows  in  Arabia  on  sandy  soils  and  brackish  shores; 
therefore,  Mr.  Timothy  thinks  the  manna  of 
Ormuz  may  have  been  blown  to  the  island  from 
Oman,  on  the  eastern  sliore  of  Arabia,  across  the 
Persian  Gulf.  This  appears  to  confirm  the  belief 
that  manna  comes  from  the  tamarisk,  and  is  not  a 
lichen. 

PRODUCE  AND  PLANTING. 
China  and  Its  Tea  Manufacture. — Every  rumour 
about  the  awakening  of  the  Chinese  to  the  task  of 
improving  their  position  in  the  tea  markets  of  the 
world  naturally  attracts  attention  in  India  and  Cey- 
lon. Is  China  about  to  start  on  a fresh  tack,  and 
use  those  imitative  faculties  with  which  the  nation 
is  credited  ? 
The  tea  market  has  been  won  by  Indian  and  Ceylon 
planters,  and  it  must  be  held  against  all  comers. 
There  is  undoubtedly  a movement  in  China  towards 
putting  the  commercial  house  in  order,  but  the 
Chinese  move  slowly,  and  every  day  lost  to  them 
strengthens  the  hands  of  those  who  now  have 
dossession  of  the  tea  market. 
Blended  Tea. — We  pointed  out  in  a recent  issue  how 
expert  tea  blending  has  become  a powerful  factor  in  the 
tea  trade,  and  that  the  art  of  judicious  blending  is 
cultivated  very  much  more  extensively  now  than 
formerly.  The  question  of  blended  tea  is  one,  says 
the  Produce  Markets  Iteoiew,  which  calls  forth  a con- 
siderable amount  of  attention  and  enterprise  on  tha 
part  of  the  grocery  trade,  the  demand  having  increased 
to  an  extent  little  dreamt  of  a few  years  since.  The 
phenomenal  growth  of  the  blended  tea  trade  as  a 
whole  shows  ihat  it  answered  a great  public  want. 
As  a matter  of  fact  there  is  an  increasing  necessity 
for  general  traders,  such  as  the  grocers  have  be- 
come, to  buy  everything  ready  for  use.  Further, 
the  great  fall  in  the  price  of  tea  aud  the  consequent 
dropqrtionate  diminution  of  the  retail  profit  upon  it, 
have  increased  the  disinclination  of  the  grocers  to  con- 
tinue the  disagreeable  operation  of  blending  in  their 
own  place.  Ordinary  buyers  also  find  that  a 
very  great  saving  in  capital  is  effected  by  ceasing  to 
hold  heavy  stocks  in  bond,  especially  as  the  latter  often 
deteriorate  in  value  as  teas  are  now  made.  Again  in 
former  years  people  had  only  to  consider  one  market— 
