December i, i89r.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST 
4lt 
epithet Applicable to such traiisaclionp, be the counters 
pharea or real estate, but when it ia with produce, and 
produce which la almost a iieceseitj’ oflite, it is weUuigh 
impossiido to employ too stroog terms in cotnmeuiiog 
on Buck dealings. Planters may congratulate them* 
solves that the corner cc)l»p:od when it did, for somo 
time will have olnpsfd hdore their crops reach tho 
London market, and confidt iice amongst the dealers will 
have bcon partly restcred. One of the most noticeable 
features ol the recent collapse was the way in which 
donlots held off, though it was well-known that the 
trade was poarly supplied, nnd for some months pre- 
viously had been carr 3 ing nn a band-U -mouth busi- 
ness. So soon as conlideuco is restored, we can sntici* 
pate a firmer tone in the markets and ss there aieab- 
bolutely no stocks of the superior grades of coffee which 
the Southern Indian plantations produce, the saUsrooma 
will probably witness keen competition at the begin- 
ning of the c-umiug year.— ^l/acZras TImcs, 
NOTES ON VRODVCR AND FINANCE. 
An Outcuv Aoainst Tba It is evident that 
a few fussy people who.se siaters, cousins, and 
aunts have at acino time or other suffered 
fiotn “ uorvo?,“ which Ih: y have been told is 
the result of too much tea, are trying to create a 
panic in tlio public mind nu tbc subject. It i-i quite 
tho proper ibiug in advanced female mroles to sneer 
at tea as utterly uusuitod lo the moJorn Miuervu. 
All cultured women should abhor ton. Ona of the 
journal 1 written especially for ladies lias called atten- 
tion to I ho enormities of t'.n-drlnkiug by Udioa — 
oxoessva which, in tho opinion of tho oooraies of 
tho tea-po^, are grievously aggravated when tho cup 
which cheers bnt not irubriales is accompanied by 
bums, scone.', sbort-biead, and espeoUlly by the dirk 
and dyspeptic pluuicake. Tbu foes of tea maintain 
that there is an utter lack of dignity in (he spectacle, 
of a bevy of ladies sitting at marble tables muuching 
iudigestiou-brediiing plumcako and sipping equally 
uuwbole-fome tea. Mrs. Fawcott is quoted as an 
authority on this matter, and in the article rofcrrtvl to, 
her opinion, real or alleged, is quoted nguiust the 
porniciouH habit. 
Tra ani> tub Kindbro Ccibsk.— B ut tho opposition 
to toa drinking does not come from the ladies alone. 
In tho J)aiii/ AVici of Tuesday last we find tho fol- 
lowing It is not ladies only who are slaves of the 
teapot. Aooordiug to a oorrdspvmdeut of The Oranta, 
the fascinating beverage — as Dr. JoUnfion called it — 
is working havoa with tho nerves and brains of Oaiu- 
bridge undergradnatos. They start tlio day by drinking 
Urge quantities— tho ‘ kindred curse ^ ooffco is coca- 
sionaliy substituted, but it is pretty much the aame. 
In the afternoon they havo tea again, and not oiico 
only, bnt many times. This witness has hinuolf 
partaken of five teas in oue afternoDn. After Kail, 
more ‘slops,’ and then, perhaps about eleven nt night 
if the vice has made sufficient progress, an aban- 
doned man will brew more tea, and ovoutually retire 
to root ‘ a limp, niiBcrable, (ea-^odden wretoh.* An 
instance is e.tcilod of an cxtiellent Rugby pla)er who 
came to Cambridge with a good chance ot * obtaining 
his bine ’ in his Hccond seison. But before that time 
a marked and painful ohango had set in. Jlis digestion 
was gone, bis liand — OMoe tho steadieht— trem- 
bled pitifully. IVoplo flM(l b,. hj^i given way to 
drink.’ Ho had only given way to tci. * Who,* 
askn this ardoiit reformer, ‘ will ho the first to join 
tho Light Blue H:bbon Army with a pledge against 
— TViy ’ ’• 
An Absuhi) Posi-riON. — The position seems to be 
this : Simply liccause a few people luve made thom- 
fielves blaves to tbecnatoin of afteanoon tea, and have 
carried it to excess in ©very way, a few more equally 
absurd people are crying^ that ail the evils iu the 
universe Arise troll) t'ja di inking. Because Mrs. Mm- 
Icvro doses her friends with tva and cake until they 
bcicomo ill, or Mrs. Gamp stews lier tea until she ia 
poisoned, therefore toa is goiiorally injuriouH. All this 
ia childish. As the Daili/ TeUi/roph romarka, at the 
lose of a recent article outea drinking ; — “ As regards 
England, we wholly Fail to see that the conaumptiou oi 
tea is immoderate, that it has injured the health of 
the community, or that it has diminished the native 
graoo and dignity of Eugiishwomon. Envy, mulieo, 
and all unoharitabloi ess arc much more conducive to 
indigestion than 5 o’clock tea.” If tea does not agree 
with rome people tho} should not drink it. Thure aro 
piboty with whom it does agree, and (heso arc not 
likely to give it up because a small minority rail against 
it. 
An Old Stoby.— But in addition to the strong, 
miudod ladies who abuse tea. and tho weak-nerved 
students who fay ditto, tea has enemies more subtle, 
witness the following paragraph talreu from the Echo:-^ 
“Thus Sic Edward Clarke:— *Tea to be useful should 
be, first of all, black Ohiuatea — the Indian tea which 
is beirg cultivated hns become so powerful in its elTeols 
upon the nervous system that a cup of it taken early 
iu tho morning, as many people do, so disorders the 
nervous system that those who take it aotuallv get into 
a state of tea iotozication, and produces a form of 
nerve disturbance which is most painful to witness.” 
If the reference in (he above paragraph is to 8ir 
Edward Clarke, the SSolioitor-Oeueral, it would be 
interesting to know when that learned gentleman 
became a tea expert. If tho paragraph is meant to 
refer to Sir Andrew Clark, it would be useful to loam 
how the cHebratod pbysioiau obtained hia iafortnaiion. 
It the paragraph ia inserted merely by somo friend 
of the Chinese importer who keeps a “bogey man’' in 
hH advertisement department, it is merely an instance 
of the vast resources of civilisation, and should bo 
taken warily and with much sarcasm. Tins attack on 
tea drinking has, howovor, to be reckoned with, and 
it would be useful if some sdentifio opinion were 
taken on tho subject, aud tho minila of consumers 
disabused once an J for all of the idea that toa drink, 
ing in mederatien is injurious. 
A Forecast in Tea — Iu an article on the “Ten Trade 
for 1801,' the indulges in prophecy. It fays : — 
“Viewing tho over-iucreaHingacrcagoin both ludian and 
Ceylon — and iu the latler colony a coffee estate of 300 
acres can at a pinch be converted into a toa garden 
iutbo space of a siugle season, so well supplied arc the 
planters with nurseries and skilled labour— wo oaimot 
but forecast a gradual reduction iu price ns a t atu’-al 
result of increased produolion. Ooylon alone, w’hen 
the Borcage at jnosent planted comes into full bearing 
four years hence, will bo iu a pouitiun to swamp tho 
markit with tea just ss she did first with coff »'0 
and then with cinchona. Tbe masses who but five 
years ago could buy very little toa worth drinking 
at anytiiiug under 2s a pound will soon be able to 
buy much the samo grade of tea ut a shilling. It 
now remains to see what other effoots this probable 
over-production will have. Proprietors of a group 
rf large and paying gardens, fearing) as they do, a 
fall iu prices, will bn auxious to rt^iso whilo their 
hqukK slow iiaiidsomo profits for a series of years. 
We I avo already heard the names of various properties 
destined for formath n iuto a company, to be regis- 
lered iu Lmdon, and which is to bo offered to the 
public at a price PBtiniated to pay 12 percent on the 
ordinary HharnS. At pre ent very few tea companies’ 
sharea arc offioiallv quoted in tbe London Stock E.t- 
ohnupe, aUbout^h in Calcutta such securities are dealt in 
tyery tluy, Thi K-^ that nre quoted here pay good 
div’douds and inaintaiu tb dr price quite sa wefi as 
oitht-r brewericH or irniuhtrial undertakings. Provided 
an allowcsuce he made for a fall in the price of tea, 
there is oo n ason wliy now plautlog companies should 
not prove a suitable aiivl renmuorativo investment for (ho 
public, proyidtd the direclofs rtceive tho built of their 
remunorntion from dividend rosnlls. If any such tlota- 
tionH mtike their anpeirMicc this autumn it maj’ be as 
w'ell if shareholders in t ie old cempanies, whose shares 
ore likely to loio rather than to goin ground daring 
1892, were to conaider the advisability ot realising with 
a view to tfHn.Hfrtr their mot oy to new ventures, Tho 
shares of tho A fiani, tiio Darjeeling, the Dooms Tea 
tho Jokai Assvm and (hu JoroUuufc Tea Cornjiames all 
command a good premium aud pay haudaomo dividends 
and tho field is still open for other promUing under- 
taking of a similar uatnro.” 
