128 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[August i, 1891. 
of a healthy beverage was prevented by the dnty 
placed upon it. It waa a eerious conaideration 
that the ollcot of a tax of this kind was to 
keep down below the uatunl level the oonaump- 
tiuu of an article of neceaaity. Ue thought it waa 
quite plain that the preaent or any auooeeiling Ohau- 
collor of theBTOhequer could not stop nt the preaent 
point, and that the whole tendency of opinion and 
of expedieuoy would urao them uu until the duty 
waa finally aboliahed. Apart from tbe incouveuiouco 
involved, there waa always an amount ol uneaaiueee 
oooaaioned among buainrsa men by the exiatenoe of 
tbe duty and its poaaible alteration. II>'. hoped the 
Chancellor of the Exobeqnec would bear tbia mutter 
in mind. It waa not only the duty that had to bo 
oonaidered, but slao the expenae of olleoting it; and 
both fell disproportionately on the poor, beoanao the 
teaa recently Bold at fabnlona prices did not pay and 
more duty than the oheapeat toaa. The Chauoellor 
of the Exoheqner jiaid the hon. member would not 
expect him to reply. There was aatisfaotiuu in rofiect- 
iug that the reduction ol the duty waa one of ih« 
causes of the inoreaaod consumption of tea. The Hill 
was thou read a third time. 
Tea and its Deinkbbb. — The Britiah people are 
doing their beat to maintain Ibeir pre-cmieenoe as 
tea drinkers, and this cironmatanco ehould con- 
cole in aome degree those who are worried by 
the vast extent to which rum, whisky, and olher 
intoxicants ooutribnte to the resources of the Oban 
cellor of the Kxchequer. For the aeavou ended 
on tbe 31st ultimo, the consnmp tion of tea in this 
oouniry was over 198,O0O,OfK)Ib. in weight, against a 
little over Hi millions a oentury ago. Of course the 
population has iiioreaaed in the interval, but tea con- 
aamption haa developed a great deal more, and ia now 
much more than three tiraoa what it was per head of 
population in the year 1700. 
Too Much Packet Tea.— That tho trade in packet 
tea hiiB been for sumo time overdone, la known both at 
home and abroad. There ia, nooording to the Grocers' 
Chronicle, too much Coylon packet tea in tho market. 
It aaya " The rapidly increasing popularity of Cey. 
Ion tea has, aa might bo expeoted, attracted all olaasea 
of dealers into handling it. Just as when aome years 
ogo, we were inundated with Indian packet tea com- 
pau'ies, ao almuat every week now wo find a Uoylon 
paoket' tea Company, ‘ breaking out in u fresh place.’ 
The ooneeq'ienoo ia that wo now have atriking titles 
ending ‘Wallei’ ' Yalle,’ ‘ Boddie,' and oo on. attached 
to ‘ iiTiioioua blends ’ of Ceylon and Indian teas, aoikil- 
fnlly blended and named, that they ate like the boy 
siolan hv aipslvs, who waa so oltered and disgmaed 
that his own mother did not know him. Many a Cey- 
Ion t« planter would, we .nspect, fim it difficult te 
sav what estate the contents of some of those Ceylon 
tea ’ packets come from, whilst the Cingalese might 
he forgiven if they failed to rooognise or understand 
their mother tongna * as she is spoke ’ by those res- 
ponsible for the titles they bear. It was to put a atop 
to the prnotioe ol palming off on tbe public Ceylon 
blends containing but a small percentage of the genuine 
article that the plantera proseoutod and obtained oon- 
viotioni Bgainat oertain tea paokera some lime ago, 
and from statements that bavo reached ua it aoema 
(bat tho praotioe waa only ‘ scotched, not killed,’ 
and we oommend tho matter to their attention. But 
another complaint which wo have heard ohoul this 
nacket tfO trade, and one which apecially affeota our 
rnadera is the way unprincipled dealers are treating 
„,",g'who become ageiita for them. An onterpriaiug 
traveller goes into a town end presently seonrea area- 
..uairhln Jrooer to undertake what is promised to be 
S aoffi'tgenoy for the • Bottewaddevallo Ceylon t. a. 
Under the belief that this arrangement will be adhered 
the agent puabes the article and works up a trade 
in it. But no sooner has he done so than ho finds 
tho firm for whom ha has A“’ 
appointed others in the aame town or district who 
thM reap the benefit of his efforts. Remonstrance 
with the packers is nnavailing, and at length the 
Biront gires up tho matter hopelessly, and resolves 
(hat be wiU wever again lake op a sole agency. 
Last Week’s Tea Sales.— The Produce MarkoU' 
Review says : — “ Owing to the poor assortment of Indian 
tea the demand continues inactive, and no improve- 
ment can be expected until more desirable teas are 
available. Tbo bulk of the aupply bronght forward 
mainly oonsia'.ed of the lower qualities, which met 
with a alow enquiry at about lata rates. For tho 
few Iota of the medium kinds, and particularly broken 
pekoes, tie coiiipetitioii, owing to the unusually small 
supply offered, waa fairly active at higher prioes. An 
iupreased quantity of Kew Season’s tea, ropreaent- 
ing several districla, baa boon placed on tho market. 
The <|uatity ia fairly represeutativo of early imports, 
tho iutusion generally being thin, and tho demand 
haa been only moderate. The quality of the Ceylon 
teas brought forward during tho last two weeks has 
happily been better than for the previous two months, 
blit this has evidently boon due more to the favour- 
able weather than to any extra caro in the manafao- 
tiire of the leaf. Wlien more attention is paid to 
this many Coylon plauters should easily obtain tlio 
rates froqiieutly commanded by Indian teas worth 
between la fid and 3 b 3d.” — if. and 0, Mail. 

A FwniDAPArEB sats there are “over thirty- throe" 
varieties of sweet oranges, not to mention tho 
“natural stock,” whioh is a larger and bandsoinet 
fruit than tho sweet orange, ond it is excellent for 
orangeade and marmalade, but, being very sour, ia 
seldom shipped North. The medium sixes are apt to 
bo the choicest and “ probably the very aweetest 
orange that is marketed ia the ruaty-ocatod aad rather 
ill-louking orange, whioh might be oonsidored inferior 
by an amateur,” Furthermore, “ the way to test 
oranges is to ‘ heft ’ them in your hands : pick out 
the thick skinned, heavy fruit, and you will bo right.’’ 
The light weight fruit ia apt to he juioeless— a 
condition caused either by slight freexing while on 
the trees, or mote probably by the poverty of the soil 
in which it grew . — Ilritish Quarterly Trade Review. 
The FaEJioa Oonsul-Goueral of Guatemala 
directs attention to tho great advanoe whioh ooffeo 
cultivation has made in that country during the 
last few years. Slaliatioal reports make it appear that 
in ton years production has m;>re than doubled, and 
the prices realised by tbo produot have more than 
quadrupled. It was calculated at the time the 
Consul-General wrote illtU February) that the 
harvest of ISyO would reach about 700,000 
quintals, representing tho sum of fUi, 100,000. Tho 
extraordinary high price of oeffea baa led to a 
transformation of the country ; email landowners, 
who drew from their harvest rcsouroea merely 
eufiioiont for working purposes, find themaolvea 
now ^ wiih considerable capital, with which they 
can improve their property. These good results 
have led to ^unbridled speoulation, and large com- 
panies, principally German, have been formed for 
creating vast “ exploitations ” ; “ they have bought 
for 7 to 8 hundred thousand piasters, or 3 million 
francs, properties that three years sinoe were 
estimated to be worth 2 to 3 hundred thousand 
dollars.” The impulse has become general, and 
every small artisan who was able to save a little 
has abandoned ^his first work and turned agri- 
culturist. “ This will last as long as the price 
of coffee rules so high, but a reaction may be 
produced shortly, and complete ruin will bo tho 
oonsequcDGO of ^ a large number of producers, Tho 
harvest of Brazil, whioh waa last year only ‘1,200,000 
bags, is 9 millions this year. The European 
markets will therefore ba largely supplied, and the 
Guatemala coffee will have to bear a fall in price, 
of which the reflex will make itself felt on the 
eoonomio ooudition of the whole country,”*— Zadiun 
AyricuUurUt. 
