July i, 1891 .] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
S3 
he would read the resolutions he had drafted. 
(Attached Krsolutions read.) Mr. May added that the 
Oompiny had Kivcn a Kiiarantee to the Aasociation 
in Oeylon that they would n>'t blend— that they would 
fiell only yjwre Oeylon. (Oorrospond’ence read between 
the Plaatere’ Association and the Ceylon Plantera' Tea 
Oorapanv.) In the course of conversation Mr. May 
remarked that ha had been pavinit all bta own exoenses 
in connexion with the Company. Ho knew that 
Ceylon tea omld bo made a tremondoua auccesa in 
America — not on the Knuliah plan, nor on the 
French plan, but on a plan that would meet the 
peculiar cbaractarlatios of the American people. 
A great deal was done ir America bocauao it 
was fashionable. The Company could sell a largo 
quantity of tea at a sovereign a pound, and atill more 
at l' 2 s and 8 s. These prices wore for teas that would 
in England fetch only .Is, 38 6 1 and 2s 6 d respectively. 
Asked why tba orig nal Company had not been aueoess. 
ful, he said that they took a shop at HI, 500, having 
really no plan or system at all- He did not wish to 
make any reflections npon them, hut to his mind they 
went to work iu the w'roog way. They tried to got the 
tea into the hands of tho merchants, and this was a 
mistake. They should have gone to tho consumers 
direct. 
« 
WATERSPOUTS Ol'T THE COAST OF CEYLON- 
Aneut your recent remarks about watorspeuta in 
conn notion with the roraarkahle escape of the S. S. 
" America," a well informed friend reminds me that 
in November 1803 or 1861, the schooner “ Adee Let- 
chimy’’ was caught in a w.aterspont between Paura- 
beu and Mannar with a party of immigrants on board. 
Her sister sbips on tbe same voyage were the “ Sa- 
rah Armitage” and the " Oeraldina Alexandrina 
Hoche," both wellknown crafts in Colombo, the latter 
owned by Roobo Victoria— but they happily escaped 
the fate of the “ Aden Letchitny.” It appears that 
the tindsl, Ihaugh warned by some of the oassenpers, 
was apparently ignorant of the dancer impending and 
neglected to take the necessary precautions for the 
safety of tho vessel iu his charge. The result was 
most oulaniitous. The schooner aoeording to the tes- 
timony ol the survivors wsa aetuallv lift-td out of the 
water, coming down again witli such fosrful violonoo, 
that she became a total w-eok. Upwards of 20 of the 
crew and immigrants perished. Portions of the wreck 
were picked up near Kalpitiya. — Cor. 
♦ 
BARK .AND DRUG REPORT. 
(From the Chemist and Druggist.) 
London, May 7th. 
Cinchona Tho supply of hark nilorod at Tuosd.ey’s 
auctions was a moderate one, couslstfiig of ; — 
Packages Packages 
Oeylon omchona ... I'S of which 46a were sold 
East Indian eiuchoua 1,1H8 do l,l.S8 do 
Java oinclmua ad3 do a03 do 
Soutli American cinchona 19li do at> do 
Totol ... a. 06 .t do 1,872 do 
It will he soon from those flgnres thot nearly 91 per 
cent of the bark oftored was disposed of, a proportion 
much in exooas of the usual percentage. The assort- 
ment of bark was not a very superior oue, the bulk of 
the parcels consisting of Sucolrubtas, and there wore 
scarcely and go d Lodger barks. Competition thtonghout 
the sales was well maintained, end prloos advanced froin 
10 to 15 p®r cent on the provliius auction rates, the unit 
ranging from lil to ijd per 11)., tho latter ptioo being 
paid for some of tlie richer lota of bark. 
The following aro tho approxim ite quantities purchased 
by tko principal buyers 
Lbs. 
Agents for the Mannheim and Amsterdam works 
„ ntunswick works 
„ Frankfort o/Mi and Stuttgart works 
„ Auethaeh works ... ... 
Messrs. Howard A Sona 
Agents for the American and Italian works ... 
,, French works 
Sundry druggists 
94,739 
92.202 
70,312 
62, '87 
40.670 
39 .626 
.33,00.6 
10,847 
Total quantity sold 
Bought iu or withdrawn 
439,427 
34,0.60 
Total quantity oBeted 
173,477 
It should bo well understood that the mere weight of 
bark piirchasod nflords no guide whatever to the quiniuo 
yield represented by it, firms who buy a sm 11 quantity 
of bark by weight frequently take the richest lots 
and vice versa. 
QiriNi.VK. — The market is again decidedly stronger, 
and shows an advance of about id per oz. since our 
lost report. On Tuesday tberc wore Buyers of Gerniau 
ill bulk at lufd pet oz. This moruiug a sale of 6,000 oz. 
B & 8 quiuiue (socoud-hand), .May delivery, was reported 
at luid per oz. ; and lutor on In tho day ono of 6,000 oz. 
at lid per oz. 
Spicks. — Cinnamon: A parcel of 61 bales Ceylon, 
Imported in 1889, was offered without reserve this week, 
and sold at 7Jd to 8d for first, and 7id 'for second 
quality. 
CLEARING THE UNIVERSE:- 
RARli FLANTS. 
In one iasuo ot a newspaper the other day we 
remarked three paragraphs. The first announoEd 
that *' tho most prized of our orohiJa are reported 
to be rapidly disappearing from their native 
places”; the second, that “the only hope of 
preserving tho fur-seal from extermination is said 
to be to stay their slaughter for six or seven years ” ; 
the third, that “ nearly all the prinoipal animals 
indigenous to the United States are either sub- 
taotially extinct, or in immediate danger of becom- 
ing so.” These are the words of Professor L ingley, 
head of the National Zoologioal Park at Wash- 
ington. Three such stalemeute, published side by 
side, as it were, upon authority, give food for 
thought. Inoontroverlible in themselves, their sig- 
nificance might bo strengthened by endless illus- 
trations. As regards orohids. Messrs. Steves 
announced last month, at a public sale, that tbe 
Government of Ceylon has forbidden the gathering 
of a oortain species — Dendrobi-um McCarthya : — tor 
an indffinilo time, to preserve it from ext notion. 
Another, tho loveliest of all, ss some think, Lirlia 
elegant, would have vanished from this lower sphere 
had not sumo few spsoimons found a lodgment 
on cliffs absolutely inaooessible, where the Indians 
eye them with vain longing. Ol the grand variety 
of Lalia purparata, which enthusiasts call tho 
“true,” nut a x’^Ant remains in its native seat. 
The commonest ot fine orohids half a century 
ago were Catdr.ya't Mottia and Trianiv, as we per- 
ceive by the groat ijuautity still surviving in our 
greenhouses. At this time, they are classed among 
the rarest in Caraooas. The beat variety Odonto- 
(jlossiim crispum was found along the Paoho River 
in such profusion that early cuTleotors pronounced 
the supply inexhaustible; iba Journ d des Orchideet 
states that “ only o few plants are now left." 
Not to prolong the list, it may bo deolarotl that 
every species,, in every part ol the world, for 
which there is a great demand, begins to fail. 
They cannot be replaced unless Oovernment in- 
terfere— and vigoroualy too, for the profits of smug- 
gling, while they last, would be enormous. 
Orohids will become a royal fashion, indeed, whoa 
they cease to be weeds in their native home. 
.Among the hundreds of skilful horticulturists who 
have tried again and again in the last halt century, 
but one has been euocoseful in raising any mem- 
bet of the great Odontoglonsam family from seed ; 
this happy individual is M, Leroy, gardener to 
.M. Edmund de Rothsohild, and his plants have 
not yet flowered. Other genera less intractable 
demand five to sixteen years of moat careful cul- 
tivation before they produce a bloom, Whioli 
means, in brief, that tho grower would ask their 
weight in gold for his nurselings. 
But orohids are oommonly regarded, even now, 
as luxuries in which the general publio has no 
interest. That is a grievous mistake, but we may 
