November 2, 1891.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
359 
downward movement tEnt has caused tremendous 
lofses, and in many cases ruin, to those who have 
maintained faith in tho market price of the article. 
The large deals, tho excitement, and the (ioal failuri s 
ocourriug when a p-ioo of S3 was predictud as tho 
bottom figure in 1880 and tberoahouls, will no doubt 
bo vividly roraemberod by many members of the (read. 
A noteworthy featuro of tho market for large bulk 
here for some time past is the foot that our prices 
are beiow a parity with those quoted in London. 
There avu several iboorips tenable as to tho causes lend- 
ing to this condition of atTsirs, (duo of these is that the 
foreign manufacturers use this market asa dumping 
ground for their bulk good.s, preferring to sell here when 
thoy find it neci saary to reallzo, oven iit a lilt’o under 
current prices, rather thsn to dcmoral'zo tho markets 
nearer their own houses. Another Ihojry is to 
tho efliiot that owing to tho sp culativo spirit of 
Americans much larger quantities of quinine havo 
been carried by outside apoculaturs here than is the 
case in L'uidon. Whon one of these outside holders 
bccoinos disgusted and ooncludos to pockot his loss 
he is nearly always compelled to break the market 
in order to unload. Still anoth r factor iu the market 
is the change whioli has ncourred in the method of 
handling the alkaloid. While physicians' prc.scriptious 
formerly offcro.l sn outlet for tho hu k of the drug 
used, now tho prinoip .l dimsnd is from the public 
direct, who purchase the coated pil e in bottles of 
100 each. Where half a dozen or a il< zen pills were 
formerly ordered by tho phjaieiun ; he now merely saja 
“ got a bottle of quinine pills,” and as a conso- 
quenoe, the pill makers have come to be probably tlio 
largest purchasers of hulk goods, and purchasing in 
a large way, ihoy oome to he very close buyeis. 
The gradual inereaBO in tho percentage yi.dd of cin- 
chona barks has nlse tended to reduce the oo.st of 
manufacture, and the heavy production of bsrk has 
kept tho crude material at a low range of values for 
some time past. 
With those agencies miliialiug agaiest au auvauoe 
the future of the rlrog looks dull indeed, and it re- 
quires a saiiguiuo disposition to lie able to predict any 
material ebangc f r tlio better. It is true that a ooin- 
bioatiou ot the half duzon manulaotnri rs might bring 
about higher prices, but iu view of tho attitude as- 
sumed by aomo of the largest maiiiifaoturers such a 
cembination is scarcely to be counted amr ng the im- 
mtdiate i robabilities.— OrV, Paint and J> nig Reporter. 
^ 
A TALK ABOUT THA. 
(//y tha Pilgrim.) 
The abcurinal weather still aoems tho cliii f topic 
among ray Assam correspondents, h'ro u Dibnigarh 
a friend writes, “I really boliovc it gets hotter every 
day instead of cooler. We aro back again into the 
old blazing hurt, and X am nearly done up. 1 have 
not felt the luiit tho whole searou as rniioh as I 
have done the Inst few days. There his r ot heou 
a cloud iu tho sky lor a week; the aim jurt i/aics 
from (i a 111 . till 6 p.m.” 
Knergelio rushes round the Kanjari aro out ot the 
quoatiou under tuch circu.nslauocs ; ai d naturally 
there is a good deal of sickness amo igat the coolies. 
It is very hard to got a full day’s workout of them ; 
the uuii'iial heat disposes tliom to Bunk iut r shady 
spots under couvoniont trees wbonovec the "boia-oyo” 
is off them. 
From Nowgong it is tho samo atory ; everything 
very muoli in want of rain, and a very uuhealtby 
aeaaon is tho report. A oorreap.iudont writes : “ 1 lior- 
mometer at 96'^ iu tho verandah today, ami the who’o 
plaoe parched up.” One of iny Tezpur corre.spondonts 
aajs: “The weather 1 registered iu my list continued 
until tlio 23rd of Soplember, nhon we liad a fall of 
1-lL iucho.s, so wo have uow ha I .J-JS inches this 
month This witli a tots! of 5'99 inclieB for August, 
ab ut beats tho record. Surely wo mu.t hiivo eoiuo 
rain to co.iie yet : I am aure I Impu so.” 
The most cuiious pait of the matter is that, not- 
withatiiuding all this abnormal drought and bout, 
outturn does not seem to bo suffering, to any practical 
extent, so far, at least. The correspondents from 
whose letters 1 havo quoted above seem all pretty happy 
on tho subject of tbeir crap for the seasou. ’I'lie 
Dibrngsrh man is keeping well up to a revised increased 
estimate; Nowgong smilea cheerfully as ho says 
“done fsirly wl', novertbolcss; over .300 maunds 
chord of last year lo ilale;” while my Tezpuio 
fricud talks of tho isands in a lordly way, that takei 
the wind out of poor rnauage-s who struglc for teoa 
and only meutiou hundrelB when they aio •* balking” 
after dinner. A man wl.o can make 1,800 mauuda iua 
dry month like this Septembec has beeu, wlio ex- 
pected to close over 9,000 mauuda, aed who placidly 
romaika "that will average about 13J maunds per acre" 
—such a man ought to filter out his information iu 
inatnlmenla. It seema a size too large to grasp eii 
block. I am very much afraid, however, that nnlcsi 
(Jolol or turns out pretty wet which thero teems very 
little ubanca of it duiug at present, tiro dry weatlicr 
and heat ol tho p.vat mouth must tell ; and a rapid 
decrease in outturn and an early “ abut up" all round 
may be looke.I for. 
Priocs sro very far from being a ohterful 
subject jost now It is sigiiiffoaut of the slate 
of the market that not a single garden iu Assam 
and (Jachar, and only one iu D-arjiliug, got 
au average of two ligiires io last week’s sales. There is 
only one garden in Darjiling which Las soore.l up to 
elevon annas. And the solitary two figure Darjiling 
olr.vtn anna average is contributed by Pekoo and broken 
Pekoo no lower class teas. Tho average of the sale 
appears to ho shout six annus, ond this is nut exbilu- 
ratiug. The home sbIim aro a trifle more cheerful, and 
average of a shil ing and a half-peimy for Asstm on 
8, -181 packages having been attained, and some marks, 
notably tho well-known Jokai Company’s Panitolla and 
Uakanpukti marka showing up gradually with aver- 
ages ot 2-1^ to ij[, Oaoiiiir aim Sylhot do not eoine cut 
BO well, averaging. Bid. for 3,701 psekaius. Darjiling, 
as usual, tops tho list with 2,132 packages, avera- 
ging 1-li. 
One coiisolalion, as I remarked in my last letter, is 
that if this extraordinary weatlur co itiuues, ami imt- 
tiiru cousiqurntly aulftrs, prices must fu oly rise, as 
supply will fall below estimates cjiisiderably. Every 
sorrow Lai its twin joy. 
I see " Sam. Hogarth” is to the fore again on the 
labour question. Ho did yeomsn's setvico in tiro 
" brutal planter and poor eppressed coolie” business 
a ciuplu of years ago, when the Native press were 
tuffcruig from an unusually severe spasm ot righteous 
indignation; and Ids invitation to Oaiigoolj Habu, 
the secretary to some Association whoso august de- 
signation I forget, to oouio and seo things for 
liimself choked that goutlcmau and his colleagues 
off fora whilo. I think this ii "Sam's” first ap- 
pearance in print since his return from his trip 
homo. "More power to his elbow.” If he can by 
ftirriug up the Calcutta Tin Assooiatloii, the 'Dis- 
tricts Labour Afsooiation, or any Association at all, 
only succeed in getting that wretched arkaiti sys- 
ti ni of recruiting knocked ou the head, he will 
deserve a statue opposite the Di .rugarh Club. I 
fiar It is impossible, as has beeu alteuipte I, to re- 
tain thn system under proper checks and restricliou j 
tliesolook love y on papor, hut they don’t work, and 
third is nothing for it but to .ab ili.sli the arkatti, oxlir- 
palc him root ami hranch, ami roly upon sidari re- 
cruiting, pure and simpie. There may he, undoubtedly 
thr- e «oiiUi be. a great deal of difficulty at first. 
Oaide.'i sirdars sint do s'u to rocruit are often 
uttirly unsuooeBaful; hut that agaiu is ohiollf duo 
to tho mtohinalior.s of the arkatti. Lilourmustbe 
had ; and if sirdars can t get it, it must ho bought 
Bcmebow. Mr. Hogarth iu his pars. 3 and tho follow- 
ing one clearly shows the utterly cbjeclionable points 
ol tho arkatti systom, and the dillioiilties thu sidar 
labours under, as oppuisd to him. His last paragraph 
too, is deserving ot u.oat serious consideration. That this 
disgraceful sjslom ol •* man soiling ” has grown up 
and that Ilia pliiutur has to depemi ou [iiiogy for 
his labour supply, is no fault of his, but is directly 
due to the native agitations against tho then existing 
