Jan. I, 1898,] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
467 
TEEAIMENT OF TEA IN LONDON 
WAREHOUSE. 
and near months’ shipments was established, to the 
great dismay of the few bear operators. Some of 
T c • 1 these speculators have been caueht nicelv and havo 
INFOEMAIION of interest to planters appears to pay heavily for their speculative operations but 
in the proceedings of the latest meeting of the it is comforting to know that the number of these 
Indian Tea Association in Calcutta, from which luckless bears is a small one, consisting as it does to 
we quote as follows : — greatest extent of dealers. To London dealers 
iLe London Secretary stated that from enquiries somewhat gratifying to know that some of 
made he found that it was not now an uncommon * . hiiyei pool speculators are involved as well grati- 
practiee to leave the prccess rf bulking the lea to fy’ng inasmuch as they are accused by London deal 
. A', ., ers of having spoiled the market ' 
be done in London, notably by seven l well-known 
concerns, presumably with ihe object of avoiding 
claims, although in the opinion of the trade it had 
been avowed that a decided preference is given to 
teas bulked on the factory. He considered that it 
sions by nnjustifiably low“7ale7.'*UXrCst 
however riot fmget that Liverpool, with its large 
soap factories is a staunch supporter of the citronella 
development of the 
was much to be desired that a continued effort should J-^iverpool, or, rather, Birkenhead soap factories has 
be made to lay down tea in London in such a con- citronella oil attained the importance it now enjoys 
dition that it might be kept nntonched without risk judge from indications from Colombo, it would 
of deterioration owing to the humidity of the climate, appear that we have at last reached the highest 
In reply to a letter of enquiry on the subject of P^'®®> °“®vs under Is 5d c.i.f. are invited, and, although 
the use of machinery in repacking tea, the Managing ®®nie .sangninA ner,r,lA rniu . 
Director of Butler’s Wharf wrote to Mr. Tye as 
follows : — 
“We do not use any machines for repacking teas. 
It has been an utter failure at the London tea 
Warehouse. We fail to see how an average sample 
of tea can be drawn from any machine p,'’cked chest. 
All bulked teas are weighed gross, and nett, both 
under the supervision of Her Majesty’s Customs; 
teas not bulked are weighed gross, and average tare 
fixed by Her Majesty’s Customs.” 
In this connection the Secretary was |instructed 
9d c.i.f. we have 
little doubt that as soon as the bear accounts have 
been covered in Ceylon will recede quickly, and by 
the beginning of the new year, we shall see the old 
range of prices again.— <7om»iercmZ Eecord. 
PLAjNTING notes. 
‘‘Wara’’ Fibre.-A useful letter on this fibre 
and plant will be found on another page todav 
fi'om a planter who has experimented to some 
m writing to London to embody the remarks made purpose. It is quite evident that the ciiltivaf' 
by Mr. Traill, when the letter was in circulation, of calotropis gigantea is worth a trial . w "®” 
,rs.‘s Sf .irss-s o?."S ™ •" 
as at present, weighing the chest gross, deducting Royal Gaedens, Kew “Bulletin” of MiscellariA. 
fractions of a pounds, then turning the tea out and ous Information. Appendix HI, — 1897. Contents 
taring the chest, taking any fraction of a pound as List of Staffs in Botanical Departments at Horn 
a full pound. By this system it is quite possible for and in India and the Colonies. For Ceylon we havA ■ 
the Customs’ weight to show 1 lb. 15oz. less than is Ceylon. — Department of Royal Botanic Gardens; • 
in the chest. There is no doubt that many claims Director — John C. Willis, m.a. ; Peradeniya Cnmfo 
for loss in weight are largely due to this antiquated Hugh McMillan ; clerk, J. Ferdinandus ; draftsma^’ 
and unfair method of weighment. It was presumed W. de Alwis ; Hakgala— Superintendent Willio^ 
that the wholesale dealers could not reasonably object Nock; clerk and foreman, M. G. Perera •’ Henm- r 
to a system that would ensure their getting the goda — conductor, S. de Silva, Arachchi • ’Annm/iL ' 
weights of tea they paid for. pura-Conductor, D. F. de Silva ; Badulla-Con^nA' 
tor, D. A. Guneratne.— Appendix 1—1898 CnniA^f 
—Lists of seeds of Hardy Herbaceous^' Plants aL' 
of Trees and Shrubs. 
longer, ana unless rney nave mm oraers in nana Oerman COLONIES. 
they prefer to await the further development of Gesellschaff oi 
things. This is particularly the case in seme essi 11 - n®*!! Baganioyo, German East Africa, have 
tial oil markets, especially citronella oil. Theyesi- ^ large piece of land for the culture 
at present appears to puzzle most ™ vanilla. Part of this is already in bearing 
rade, and those supposed to be in nut the crop this year has been very noor on 
” can only surmise, only guess at, the account of the dryness. The plants'^ want« 
of the present spurt ir’ Ceylon. Prices moist soil and must have shade-trees siTaL ^ 
there have risen in au incredibly si ert space of time crotons or bananas to nrotect H,Ar». ’ r. 
from aLeut lid per lb in drmrns to Is 5d c.i.f and .sun and absorb the excess of moLure 
It IS extremely doubtful whether oil even at this fi„est vanilla-plantation in Geriimn ® 
fagure would be procurable m Galle, the piinopal . 1 , ' jlV- S'®"*ian East Africa 
port for citronella oil, whereas here in the open mar- -x 77 -, C-tliolic Mission at Bagamoyo. — 
ieet it would be difficult to flud a buyer over Is 2 id and Druggist. ^ •>' 
c.i.f. Abnormal circumstances only can have pi educed TeA-GROWING IN THE CAUCASUS -Tl 
such an extraordinary market in the East, for there tea plantations at Cliakva in tiie Os f^i"^ 
has not been a shortage of supplies or unfavourable Government in the Caucasus havA . 
crop report, nor has the equilibrium of the market excellent resnit,;; and a..aa..Va ^ niost 
been at all upset by a strong demand from Europe toA to engage a nnmhAr a 
or America. In fact, all along the belief has been inctrnct flfo 11 1 ^ experts to 
current that both dealers and consumers were well , tlie natives m all the intricacies of tea- 
stocked. This belief in heavy stocks, we are inclined R*®'ving. J he last tea crop yielded I lb. of tea 
■ 00 m now ^0*' '^«sh planted, or 1,500 1b from an 
THE POSITION OF CITRONELLA OIL. 
Buyers are afraid to purchase on speculation any 
longer, and unless they have firm orders in hand 
tion of this oil 
people in the trad 
“ the know 
real cause 
to think, is mainly responsible for the boom . , -- 
prevailing in Ceylon, inasmuch as it has induced Having 6,000 tea plants on it. 
some ’ ’ . :i-i i_ 7 . 
tactic 
0111 an 
shippers, and even dealers, to enter upon a hear available area for tea-grovvino- is ' up OOO "acvla 
, and the attempt of these bear operators to therefore the total yielded could wfth pssp 1 
their open engagements hasbeen instrumental brought up to near v 30 000 0(10 Ih 
in cr^eating the belief in Ceylon in a large bear ac- preselits more than I half of tL an, i^ a 
count. Braces rose rapidly, supplies were withheld sumption of tea imported into Ku!sir W 
from the bazaars, and a veritable corner for prompt Gawtte Nov 1 sxnssia,.—d^la)iiers 
