26 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST 
[July i, 1897 . 
this “new procsss” tsi from Foochow was received 
ill England and reported upon by leading distributors, 
states that there is a “ strong hungering for soiacthiiirf 
in tea which is iackiiig in Indian, and only partially 
found in Ceylon produce. This soiiethinri is tho 
‘flower’ flavour wliich only China leaf possesses, 
and our opinion is confirmed that China leaf made 
by machinery would be the ideal tea that is wanted. 
The mirkot is ready for it as soon as it is 
produced.’' These no doubt, are the opinions of 
those whose interests are chiefly centered in 
China tea ; but there can be little doubt, we think, 
that, given such a strong tea as that referred to, 
Indi i and Ceylon will have to look to their laurels. 
However, the time is not yet to despair— there is 
a peculiar excellence in the British-grown article 
which will require a deal of beating, and that is. a 
little goes a very long way, a fact which appeals 
Strongly to the public. 
That the method of manufacture in India and 
Ceylon is not perfect is shown in Messrs, Geo. White 
& Co.’s report, where they state that “ there is still 
room for the application of science to some of the 
stages of witnering, fermentation and drying.” And 
in view of the large quantities of leaf that are 
spoiled for want of knowledge in the details of curing, 
they repeat the suggestion which they made in 1885, 
that a specialist should be appointed to experiment 
with a view to afford information to garden managers 
in these points. The Produce Markets Review has 
also expressed the opinion that it would amply repay 
planters to engage the best scientific assistance to 
Sjudy the chemical constituents of the leaf under 
different conditions of soil, weather and blights, also 
of the various changes it undergoes in withering, 
drying, rolling, etc.' With reliable information on 
these points, uniformity of quality throughout the 
season might be secured, and violent fluctuations in 
Value thereby avoided. — M.Mail, May 13. 
MISSIONARY COFFEE PLAN lATISON. 
Bishop Hartzell, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
is now visiting the missionary stations established by 
Bishop Taylor on the west coast of Africa. In a letter 
tothe New York Christian Advocate, Mr. Hartzell says: 
“The movement inaugurated by Bishop Taylor ten 
years ago for a great advance among the native 
heathen of Liberia will stand out in liistory as one of 
the really heroic movements in missionary annals. 
In ten years fifty stations were opened and eighty- 
eight missionaries brought from foreign countries, 
most of them being from America. In the effort to- 
ward self-support fully 45,000 coffee trees have been 
planted, and large expenditures made in the way of 
stock, tencing, sugar mills, transportation, etc. Of 
the fifty stations opened twenty-nine are now occu- 
pied. Two which had been opened on the east side of 
the Cavalla River were abandmed because of the 
French taking the territory. Of the twenty-nine 
now occupied fully one-lialf, for lack of workers and 
means, are doing but little. Of the 45,000— probably 
.50,000 — coffee trees planted, scarcely 15,000 have 
been saved being choked to death by grass and 
bushes. American farmers can have no conception 
of the abundance and rankness with which vines and 
bushos grow in tliis country, or with what rapidity 
buildings will disappear. Leave a well-cultivated 
farm to itself three or four years, and every vestige 
of the buildings, except the stones and the few 
hard native timbers used, will bar gone, eaten by 
insects; and the land will be one mass of vines and 
bushes, so intertwined and tangled that to pass 
through them is impossible, except as natives out 
the way before yon. It requires much labour and 
expense, as well as business push and judgment 
open and maintain a coffee farm in Liberia. 
“I have visited our best stations, and made dilli- 
geiit inquiry of those in charge of other.s to find 
out how much coffee will probably be sold from 
the twenty-nine stations now occupied this year. 
The amount will certainly not exceed fli200, and 
half of that from .Barraka, our best station.” — 
Aiaerican Grocer, April 14. 
THE AMSTERDAM B.ARK M.ARKET. 
Oar Amiterd im corresnonisnt w.'itiug on A^iril 
27, states tlia'i at th i .Java cinohona-auctions to be 
held in his city on May rifli, 5,601 bales and 233 
c VS33, weighing in the 'aggregate 524.362 kilos of hai'k 
will be offered. They represent a total of 28,892 
kilos of sulphate of quinine, or an average fur the 
M innfactnring bark of 5 60 percent, which is above 
the average. The Pharmaceutical bark consists only 
of 17,255 kilos, representing 486 kilos of quinine. 
The general position is extremely firm, and it is 
expected that there will he a very good compaction at 
the sales, aud that the unit will again exceed that 
of the April auctions. Provided the April shipments 
from Java remain moderate, there will only be suf- 
ficient first-hand stock in Amsterdam to provide for 
small auctions in June and July. At present it would 
seem that there are only small Java shipments in 
prospect. The demand for quinine is said to remain 
very good and rumours are current that the price 
will again be advanced. The next cocoa-bi'jter 
auctions will consist of 40 tons of Van Houten’s, 
10 tons of Hamer’s, 10 tons of Dutch factory, and 7 
tons of foreign brands. The market is firm, but the 
demand is small . — Chemist and Drurjrjist. 

COFFEE MILLS. 
Brazil.— mills have a very wide sale in 
this country. Formerly they were largely ot 
French origin, but we have now been distanced 
by Germany, owing not so much to cheapness as 
to the active way in which the Germans imsh 
their trade. — French Consul at Sao Paulo, August 
30, 1896. 
ANNUAL REPORT OF TEA SALES IN 
MINCING LANE. 
A planter writes : — “Messrs. 'Wilson, Smithett & 
Compiany’s big list is very interesting reading, 
but there are evidently several rather large 
errors of quantity. Could not this be remedied 
by getting tlie quantities checked by the selling 
brokers for the several estates before printing’?” — • 
Certainly this ought to be done. 
COFFEE. 
Hawaiivn Islands.— Under the provisions of the 
Land Act, 1895, a large area of Governmeut land has 
been leased to small holders, with privileges ot home- 
steading and eventual purchase, principally in view 
of its probable adaptability to the cultivation ot 
coffee. The experiment is still in process, as a yeT 
or two more must elapse before any considerab'e re- 
sult of systematic planting can receive a fair test. — 
British Consul-General at Honolulu. Nov. 29, 1896. 
COPRA. 
Zanzibar . — The cultivation of copra i.s still 
gradually increasing, the owners of plantations 
probably finding that, in view of the very small 
amount of attention that has to be bestowed on 
the growth of the coconut tree, the increasing 
scarcity of labour, the absence of any duty on 
this commodity, and the low price of cloves, 
the production ot copra is as remunerative to 
them as that of the last named article. France 
takes practically the whole of the copra produced, 
a small quantity going to Germany and very 
little elsewhere. English merchants, who in 
former times ■! :dto transact an extensive business 
in this direction, state that they cannot attemj)! 
to compete with the prices that are no\v readily 
paid by French and German houses. — British 
Consul at Zanzibar, May 23, 1896. 
Thk Spirits of Cinchona Planters must be 
rising. Since February the price of the bark 
has gone up about 45 per Pioneer, 
