54 ° 
THE TROPICAL AiaRTOWLTURlST. 
[February i, 1892. 
liOBseas a camparativol; la ge indigeDous popnlation, 
which BopplioH rice autl other food Htufl to the ccolieM. 
Apparcully tho averago rate of wages in lens 
popular districts ought to be much higher 
than in districts where food is cheaprr and 
easier to be had. This may aetm a hard sajing 
to the planters, who may object that it is in thcao rery 
districts that tho expeoso and ditticultyof importation 
become a croehing charge, “Whence,” he may not 
uuresaouably ask, “ am I to recoup myself for tho 
expense of importing fresh supplies i*” Perhaps the 
best reply is to turn to the Immigration iioport for 
concrete iustanoee. We look up the wage lists at page 
17, and confine onnolves, for siniplicity, to men's 
wages sloce. liithoSurmn Valley the aveiage wag- a 
of men uuoer tho Act, taking fire sub-diviaious from 
west to cast (the gardens furlbost cast bcirg more 
remote and probably le»s popular) is as follows : — 
R4-3-1, R6-IO.7, R3-14-10, R3-12-1, and finally in 
Caohar U4.8-6. But these ngarcs ate not so iulores;- 
ing as those of tho Assam Valley proper, where tho 
local conditions vary far more widely in ('.itToreut 
districts, and where, in Upper Assam, the ooolie popu- 
latioo bears a far larger proportion to the indigenous 
people. Lakbimpiir, at the head of the Valley, 
has an immigrant population of over 70,U0d 
out of a total of about 3UU,000. Tbs average 
wago in this valley, going again from west to oat I, 
is— Kamrup, R3-15-2; Dartoug, R.5-8-8 ; Nowgoiig, 
R4-13-8 ; S'.bsagar, R4-14 4 ; and Lakhimpur R6 4-4. 
It is plain on I he taco of it that wagea do not inert asa 
by leaps and bonnds as we travel into districts whole 
the ooolie is expensive to get end hard to keep. 
But the figures hardly shOiV bow equal the wages 
are throughout the Valley. In the districts of Upper 
Assam the average is plainly kept up by I he high 
wages paid to exoepiiunady useiul coolies. White iu 
Lower and Oentral Assam the highist wages paid to 
any Act coolie did out exceed K8 iu Bibsagar so much 
as R15-4 and in Lakhimpur au much as R13-l-t> was 
earned by exctptioually good men. It may be taken 
roughly that the average rate of wage is about 116 sumo 
coolies oarning two or three times as much, the majoiity 
earning less. Now iu 18i)0, tho district of Likhimpur 
imported7,fil38udultcoolieB (amuch smaller number inao 
that of tho previous year). This probably rep.-e- 
sented an ezpendi'uro of not less than R3,83,400, much 
of it spent on useless and unsaiisluotory coolies. Now 
tho annual strength of Act and nou-Aot adults and 
ohildrcii in that district iu 1890, was 73,128 einls. 
Assuming that eich and all of these earned an average 
of R5 a month, the total expenditure ouly comes to 
R3,60,640. In other words the wages of all tho exist- 
ing labour locco fur a momhare Icis, aud probably 
much less, than the oast of impurliug the year's supply 
of new ooolies. Aud we must bear iu mind that old 
and seasoned coulioa are infinitely better wortii paying 
than raw and unhealtliy new-comers. This is proved 
by the extremely high wages paid iu individual cases. 
It can hardly be denied that the effect of the labour 
law is to keep down wage*. Not only ate coolies not 
under the Act better paid as a rule, but the Act by 
reducing compelioion has a tendency to keep down tho 
wages of even free men. is tho advantage so oh- 
taioed compensated fur by tho t.'emeudous drain on 
the labour lorce, which would probably be tnurmously 
lessened if mure muney were spent uu the coolies who 
are slieady on the gardens. The question is per- 
haps one which can ouly bo autboritatively settled by 
professional planters, but the suggcqjiou is oue. whicli 
we think it behoves them to consider. Wo suggest 
that the ultimate effect of the labour law is to iucreaso 
the expeuse of impoi tatiou, aud that the money would 
be better spent in oouserviug the ooolies who arc uow 
in Assam than in paying arkatis aud ooiitracturs iu 
Madras, the North-Western Proviuoos and Chola 
Nagpur for locking for fresh labour. We are aware 
that large sums of money are spent on lines, wells, 
hospitals. But what the ooolie likes is good wages 
To higher wages As.sam must come at last ■ even rail, 
way oammnuicalinii will not avert that ueoessity. At 
present enotmoua sums are spent on importing labour, 
and otber sunis of which we have no account are spent 
Qu msuitaiuing useless and unprofitable hands. Could 
rot s p' rtion of Ibis bo divetlo 1 to atop tho drain of 
sca'Oued aud time-expired labour P We havo not gone 
into details: wo have drawn cur figiiria from the 
published olEoial reports, our argiiiuoiita from an im- 
paitial ami uninttristed consideration rd the Govern- 
ment statistic. ITautirs will be able to supply de- 
tailed oritioiam of ont conclusions. — Vioncer, 
BARK AND DRUG REPORT. 
(From the Chemist and Drui/gisi.) 
Loudon, Deo. 9. 
QiriNTNK.— Ko further transaction are reported today 
At tho auction^ .3,000 o/. Brunswick quinine in tins were 
ofTored. No oiio was heard to bid, except tho broker 
himse f. lie declared loudly, amid somo laugliter,i that 
tho lot was sold at ad per oz. 
London, Deo. 10, 
QuiNtNa,— Kemaiusinan exceedingly dull couilitlon. For 
German bcands in bulk Od per oz is still tho nOKieat 
quotation, and w hoar of small sales (about k, COO oz.) at 
that flgure this week, " It may interest you _ to know,” 
wiitcB a New York corresponUent, “that quinine is in a 
vory biol \va iiere. A well-known Loudon dealer has 
boon soudiug one ot the Gorman brands hors ou cou- 
Bigumoul (40,000 oz), aud is soiling it for any price it will 
aring. Nobody appears to know what his object is, but 
wo think tliat ho wants to git rid of tho stuff at any 
price, as the market is going lower, and ho cannot sell 
It iu Loudon. The price ho Is soiling at today nets him 
tho parity of hri, less 5 per cent in Loudon. That is, 
if we bought at Syd, less 5 per cent t.o.b. London, and 
sold here oC 18c, Jess I per cent usual New Y'ork terms, 
we would come out even 
Tub I'kKDviiN Mininu iNunsTiiviB likely toreoeive 
a lilip by the impdiinut disoovery madu b.y Dun 
Pedro Felix Remy, au omiiieni miueralogiat cl Lima, 
and Mr. H. Guillaume, the OonBUi-Uenerul Icr Peru 
at aomhampiun, has done well iu calling allention 
to tho Baine in the English papers. A largo number 
of Bilvur mines in Peru have inihcrto been unpro- 
ductive by icasoii of mo silver ores being mixed 
with kiuc, known as tho “ blende,” hut Dr. 
Ramy has uiscuvorcd a method by which tbs 
Sliver can be extracted from these ores, with the 
robuit that luntes which have hitherto houu looked 
upon as worthless ate how likely to turn out must 
Valuable piovert.es . — Colonics and India. 
Gooa-Pbodooiion in Java. — zYocordtug to a recent 
report of the Uiceelur of ihe Botanical Gardens at 
Buiienzorg the experiniontal cultivation of Eryth- 
roxylon bolivianum has been entirely abandoned 
there. 'The ii.lluoi.co of light, of manuring and of 
trimming upon the uoouiue paroeulaga of the loaves 
IS uow being studied at Ihs gatdens, but the 
experiments are not jot sulliuieiitly advanced to 
enable uunclusions to be drawn from them. Bo far 
it can ouly be slutsd that the experience at 
Builoozorg lully ootroUutales the conclusion arrived 
at by Messrs. Eimmer & Go., of Fiaukiort, that 
ihe now leaves, just developed, are far richer in 
cudaino lhau tho older loaves. According to Van 
Romburg the peroeniago is from 2*3 to 2 4 in the 
former and from 07 to 1-75 in the latter. But 
Eryihroxyion boiii’Umuin only contains 0 33 per cent 
cocaine, invesiigatious (fruitless bO tar) are also 
being made to hnd u simple method for the pro- 
paiatiouof cocaine . — Chcmisland JJrugyistiDtc, 12th 
Uow TO Bkno F'olwisus hv MAih.— Out them 
early in tho morning and let them stand in water 
sonic hours beluro packing, so as to abtorb moisture 
enough to prevent them withering, in which ease 
they wilt not need to bo sprinkled afier they are 
in tho box. Pack in a light wooden box lined 
with cotton batting aud covered with tissue paper. 
Lay tho ffowers not on top of each other, but in 
rows side by bide, the blossoms of each row on 
tho stems of their neighbours aud as olObC as possi- 
ble ; cover with paper aud cotton ; see that the 
lid of tho box is secure fastoned, and remember 
to write on one corner ‘ Gut Flowers,” as that 
will insure the package being ourefully and quickly 
handled.— ^/ttr^irr s XQuny People, 
