July i, 1897.] THE TROPICAL 
good cat's-eyes ; for these stones, of good tonality, 
are not procurable in the market, and it is almost 
an impossibility to buy a large emerald, as a 
large one free from flaws is rarely met with. 
The largest ruby in the world is not much larger 
than the egg of a pigeon.” 
Our correspondent’s letter is apparently not 
written in a purely literary spirit, for at the end 
he asks us to add that lovers of gems and curios 
who may wish to purchase the stones described by 
him are invited to address him on the subject. 
The communication, notwithstanding that it is a 
.sort of catalogue of his wares, is, however, 
intere.sting, so we are not unwilling to do what 
he requests, and forward him any letters that may 
be addressed to him at our office under the initial 
“T.” We know more of our correspondent 
than his name and address. — M. Times, April 29. 
CEYLON TEA IN THE STATES. 
Mr. Kenyon Parsons writing to our contemporary 
says : — 
“Since Mr. McKenzie has taken up the work of push- 
ing teas here there has been a great desire on the part 
of the trade to pay attention to Ceylon Teas. This 
is owing I am convinced to the way Mr. McKenzie has 
advertised the tea in the trade papers, and I may say 
also in the magazines and periodicals. The expendi- 
ture of money in this direction is just beginning to 
make itself felt, and if it were stopped now, it would 
be equivalent to throwing seven-eights of the money 
spent in advertising away. The value of' advertising 
is in proportion to the length of time you advertise. 
Every year will show a greater return over the previous 
year, and to stop now, would be like, after you have 
cleared and planted up an estate to withdraw your 
labor, and let the tea plants grow up as best they 
could, and though I have not had the pleasure of 
meeting Mr. McKenzie, I think the thanks of all in- 
terested in Ceylon tea are dire him. To my mind the 
best way to push tea in this market is to advertise 
in the trade papers and a few magazines as Mr. 
McKenzie is doing now. You will find that the trade 
will take bold of the tea. It is the ‘ trade ’ you wish 
to get.” 
This most fully confirm.s the view we have neld 
all along as to the greater value of advertising— 
rather than of subsidising. 
AMERICAN NATIONAL HOARD OF 
TEA EXPERTS. 
The American Government is deter-mined to 
secure the purity of the tea imported into the 
States, and having passed a law on the subject, 
it now follows this up in the following practical 
way : — 
The Secretary of the Treasury has appointed A. 
P. 'Dpham and E. A. Schoyer, of Chicago ; Herbert 
G. Woodworth, of Boston; T. A. Phelan and W. P. 
Boome, of New York; Andrew P. Irwin, of Phila- 
delphia. and Robert B. Bain, of San Francisco, as 
a Board of Tea Experts, under the act of March 
2, 1897, to prevent the import of impure and unwhole- 
some tea into the United States. The Board has 
held several meetings at the Appraiser’s stores, and 
is gathering information and seeking aid in order to 
fix a satisfactory standard. A report has been sub- 
mitted to the Secretary of the Treasury, which states 
that the Board has selected such standards as, in 
its opinion, will represent the intention of the bill 
regarding purity, quality and fitness for consumption. 
Tbe reports adds; — 
The Board recommends, first, that the comparison 
of standards with teas delivered shall be made not 
only with regard to flavor, but particularly with 
regard to the appearance of the leaf after infusion. 
AGRICULTURIST. n 
In color of infused leaf and in freedom from admix- 
ture with black and decayed leaf all teas should be 
equal to the standards, but any consideration of the 
make or so-called style of the dry leaf should be 
omitted. The leaf of the infusion must equal the 
standard in freedom from scum, gritty substance and 
leaf made up of dust and congee {i.e., rice paste) 
The Boa.rd further recommends that your Depart- 
ment issue instructions that all teas shall be labeled 
with their proper trade naines, so as to avoid palp- 
able fraud in the use of false labels. The importance 
of this point has been pressed upon it by the trade, 
and it cannot too strongly emphasize it, particularly 
referring to gi’een teas, of which the Pingsuey kinds 
have been heretofore labeled Moyune, the former 
being an inferior and the latter a superior tea. The 
Board therefore respectfully urges upon you as of 
supreme importance that the examiners should be 
not only thoroughly honest and trustworthy, but also 
experts in tea. That the present incumbents at New 
York and Chicago meet these requirements the Board 
has no question, but as the examiner at San Fran- 
cisco is not an expert iu teai, but a chemist having 
insufficient knowledge of the article, it is absolutely 
necessary that a person possessing the proper quail 
fications should be appointed at that port 
AN AERMOTOR FOR COLOMBO. 
The lir.st of tlie variety of wind mills known 
as Aerniotors in Colombo has just been erected at 
•Devon House by Messrs. W. H. Davies & Co. 
It is a wheel of 8 feet diameter, made of gal- 
vanized steel and mounted upon a galvanised steel 
tower 60 feet high. In an extremely light breeze 
it was pumping 200 gallons of w’ater per hour 
to a height of 30 feet, and as this was too great 
a quantity for the requirements of the bungalow 
the length of the stroke of the pump has been 
reduced by one-half. In Colombo we have an 
average diurnal movement of air varying from 
1.50 to nearly 300 miles according to the sea.son 
of the year. This means from 10 to 20 hours’ 
full work. The mills are so regulated that they 
go out of the wind when it exceeds 15 miles per 
hour and no danger therefore exists of their 
being blown over. The towers being of steel, 
galvanized after being made, are practically in- 
destructible, and their gracefulness and airiness 
greatly beautify the landscape. This is the first, 
as we have said, to be erected in Colombo; but 
Messrs. Davies have another of the same make 
in Chilawq presently being erected for the pur- 
pose of pumping water from a river on to some arid 
lands, and thus converting them into paddy fields. 
Tbe Devon House one supplies water for domestic 
and bathing purposes in the house, as also to 
the stable anci coach-house, duck-pond, fountain, 
and for sprinkling the lawn. In America there 
are small town water supplies consisting of wind- 
mills mounted on large tanks and capable of 
pumping and storing the water for 800 to 1,000 
inhabitants. This would be of great benefit in 
many towns in Ceylon: — Negombo, for instance. 
In America also these “ Aerniotors ” are erected 
at most railway stations, 
ARTIFICIAL MANURES. 
Bmzif.- -With a view to preventin i the numerous 
falsifications noted of late in chemical manures, 
imported from abroad or prepared in Brazil, the 
Farmers’ Association of the State of St. Paul 
have just petitioned the Congress of this State 
to pass a law for stopping the sale of these 
fraudulent makes. — Belgian Consul at Saint Paul. 
