THt TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[July i, 1897 . 
so small a quantity that one or two teaspoonfuls will 
color a whole package. All the prejudice which hereto- 
fore has existed against deleterious mixtures in teas 
W'ill hold good no longer, as every leaf imported is 
guaranteed to be pure, and there is not article of mer- 
chandise produced in our own country which can be 
mixed with it without transforming its character. 
And then we have the following statement from 
the editor; — 
It is interesting to note how the various sections of 
our country adhere to their different teas. For in- 
stance New York City and Boston take almost ex- 
clusively Oolong teas, and as the Amoy teas, which are 
the lowest grade, will probably be excluded ^largely 
under the new law, these cities will obtain Formosa 
Oolong principally in the future. The Fastern States 
are likewise consumers of Oolong tea, whereas in the 
Northwest covering Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa, and 
Wisconsin, the consumption is exclusively of Japan 
tea. Twenty-five years ago these same States 
took exclusively green tea, but owing to the 
greater uniformity of Japan tea, have gradually pre- 
ferred it to any other. The Middle States, such 
as Missouri, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio, are large 
consumers still of green teas, using principally Gun- 
powders, Imperials and Young Hysons. Likewise, the 
Southern States, with this difference, that in the 
South the consumption of tea is almost nominal, the 
whole South not taking as much as New York 
State alone. Congou tea is used principally by more 
recent emigrants and also by the descendants of the 
English and Irish races. Tbis was the tea used in 
England for many generations exclusively, and re- 
cently supplanted by India and Ceylon tea, which 
are similar to Congou, or English breakfast teas in 
flavour Therefore, while it is taken as a substitute 
for the latter in England, Ireland and Scotland, it 
moves much more- slowly in our country, as we have 
never been consumers of that description of tea to any 
extent, being described by most Americans as “weedy ” 
in flavor. It is a remarkable fact that while Russia 
has a very heavy duty on tea of over 40 cents a 
pound, she consumes the choicest Congou in the world' 
to the exclusion of all other kinds of tea. Hence these 
teas are frequently called “ Russian,’’ and obtain an 
indefinite ec at in this country from the unitiated. 
There is a duty of Scents per pound in England, but 
none whatever in America. Hence our tea is the low- 
est in price in the world, and hereatter will be the best 
in average quality. 
It ought to be brought home to our American 
cousins that tlie Australians, who are the larg- 
est consumers per head of tea (chiefly Ceylon and 
Indian) in the world, are also among the most 
athletic, excelling in cricket, riding, and other 
physical exercises ; and indeed our American friends 
have yet fully to understand that the properties of 
coft'ee (which they consume so largely) and of tea 
are, in the last resort, very much alike. 
A GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CEYLON. 
Fully twenty years have elapsed since vve 
first pressed this very desirable work on the 
Government of Ceylon. Sir Wm. Gregory and 
Sir Arthur Gordon most fully acknowledged its 
importance ; hut each procrastinated until the 
end of ills term of government was upon him. 
We trust better f jrtune is to attend Sir West 
Rido'eway who, we feel sure, from his know- 
ledge of the great value, in an economic point 
of view, of the Geological Survey of India, 
must feel the special need of such an investi- 
gation in Ceylon. Mr. W. King, Iiudher of 
the Government Agent for the North-Western 
Province, and who rose to he head of the Geo- 
logical Survey in India before liis retirement, 
was very eager, after several visits to the island, 
about a Ceylon Survey, and thought it could 
be managed by one or two officers lent by the 
Indian Government, at no great expense or loss 
of time. Tlie conditions in Ceylon over large 
districts make a Geological Survey compara- 
tively easy. Nevertheless, our Governor may 
plead that he cannot face a CadaMral and 
Geological Survey at the same time ; and yet 
the later is a far simpler and cheaper business. 
On the other hand, we learn from reviews of the 
India Geological Surveyors’ Report for 189(> — 
ivliich muxt have been publkhcd early in Bloreh — 
that the Indiai Stall is at pre.sent shorthanded. 
Owing to retirements, furloughs, etc, there 
were only six officers available for the whole 
of India. Rut, we suspect if it were made 
known that the Ceylon Government wished to 
liorrow a couple of Geological officers, men on 
furlough would gladly come forward on the 
chance of a spell in this interesting .and eom- 
parativelj' healthy island. Re that as it may, it 
is quite evident that a Geological Survey of 
the colony ought to be no longer delayed. The 
great industry in plumbago alone — our one 
mineral .so far of commercial importance — more 
than justihes such a Survey. ’I’he exports of 
plumbago have develoied as follows: — ISoO, 
28,823 cwt.; 1860, 7o,660 cwt. ; IST*', 85,219 cwt.; 
1880, 205,738 cwt; 1890, 392,577 cwt-; and 1895, 
326,754 cwt. Ru*- the exploiting of |dumhago 
deposits is done entirely by the Sinhalese with- 
out any scientific guidance. No one knows how 
great may be the rich deposits that a Geological 
Survey might bring tolight within certain untouched 
areas, and as the Ceylon Government draws a 
royalty of R5 on every ton exported, it has a 
most practical and direct interest in extending 
the industry. Secondly, there are gem deposits 
famous from the time of Solomon ; yet never 
surveyed nor mapped out, though one or two 
localities h.ave been examined and reported on 
most favourably by English expert.s. With the 
new' ]iatented machine of Mr. I.ockhart, which we 
saw tested in London, xve cannot see why there 
should not be a great development of gemming 
under European capital, if only the proper tracts 
of country on which to operate were au'hori- 
tatively pointeil out. Here again the Govern- 
ment, through licenses and leases, ought to get 
its full share of revenue. This may be said to 
belong more particularly to a Mineralogieal Sur- 
vey ; but a Geologist with Indian experience 
rtould lie sure to know' a great deal about 
Mineralogy. 
Still, a third incentive to commence a Geolo- 
gical Survey at an early date is found in the 
value of the iron ore deposits scattered throughout 
Ceylon. Dr. Davy, brother of Sir Humpliry 
Davy, found the ore in the Kand 3 ^an i>rovinees 
to be so rich in iron as to yield 70 
and even 90 per c.nt; and we liave 
most of us seen the remains ol Sinhalese 
smelting places notably in and about Nuwara 
Eliya. Rut it is in the Sabaragamuwa and 
Balangoda districts that commercial importance 
may be attaciied to our iron deposits, if it be 
true, as reported by Dr. Gygax more than fifty 
years ago : — 
“ The varieties of iron met with are six in number : 
viz., magnetic iron ore, titanate of iron, chromate of 
iron, iron with manganese, iron pyrites, and yellow 
hydrate and red peroxide of iron. The iron, however, 
in most of these is scanty, and the ore of little vakie 
except to extract the chromo a id manganese. But 
there is another description of ore found in vast abun- 
dance, brown, compact, generally in the state of car- 
