February i, 1892.] 
THE TROPIOAI. ACmitTOLTURIST. 
603 
tlieir ooriKumption that tho increased shipments were 
fully justified. Having forced their way through ilieir 
cbeupness, they bat^e still further strengthened their 
increasing hold apoti our markets. From Fnochow he 
figuns read 1B»500.00I) lb. against 12,750.000 Ib., an 
apparent increaso in trade, but there was a futth» r 
addition of 2.500,000 lb. last year to complete the 
season, as against the present on look of about 
1.000, 0()0 lb-, ‘bin foreshadowing a atili further deerf-aH^* 
in the exportt: from Foocliow, the cause of which is 
solely the improved demand for Indian and Ceylon 
teae. The qualities from Foochow have shown a 
marked change, there having been a heavy fal ingoff 
iu the demand for low commou oongon, as also for 
due aud ch »ioe congous and all scented kinds, with 
an improved demand for fair medium flavoury sorts, 
full flavoured good mediums, and sound liquorirg com- 
mon. Ail teasptoktid iu cut and odgioal boxes have 
Buff'ired almost to extiuctioii from locally-packed 
blends, now freely sold iu 5 lb , 10 Ih., aud 20 lb. tins. 
With the change iu the demand for sTongor t«‘as 
there has nt'Cessarily beeu a change iu the distributing 
channels, the con-iervative bouses rapidly losing 
grouui in favour of the advertising, single-packfig-*, 
and well-managed blending firms. The general outlook 
for the rest oi the setsju is a fair trade at sound rates, 
except in Now S >utb Wales, where the proposed 
abolitiuLi of duty has oomphtely diso rgamsed the 
trade for some mouths to come. 

Discovkkieb niado not long ago near the Stabiana 
Gate, in Pompeii, included the trunk of a tree which 
an Italian savant has identified as haiinm uolnH^. 
Some of its fruits were liUowiso found, aud from 
their size it is now said that tlio eruption which 
destroyed the city must have taken place iu 
November, and not, as previously believed, in August, 
—(Jimhn and Forest. 
Thk Tka Tkade at Foochow. — T he past 
year has (says the Foochow Echo) pnwed no exception 
to the retrogade movement iu the Tea trade of 
Foochow, which has been going on withoot intorriip- 
tiou Hinoa lb80. The supply of Congou io that year 
was approximately 850,000 ohe^its, and it fell off to 
345,000 ubosta in 1801. There has also boon a con- 
siderable decrease iu the supply of Souchong, Scented 
Teas and Flowery Pekoes thongh not a oorrespond- 
iug extent, Ouloug alone having maiotaiiu'd its posi- 
tion us far as yield is coocernod. The values too 
have sensibly shrunk in the eleven y'cars. Looking 
at the Kxport statistics, it is startling to note that 
to Great B itain we shippol 71i millions Ib. in ISr'O, 
and only 10 milliniiB in 1891. One noticeable foa'nre 
in the trade of 1891 is the export of Brick tea to 
the North which is far heavier then any year since 
1887. Amongst the events of the year we have to 
record the failure of two large firms, one English and 
one Amerioao, though wo should add that nei'her 
one nor the other occurred through umucessful 
trading at this port. Their places have been filled 
by new firms started on the rt mtiining bin-iness of 
the old ones. With the falling off of the trade it 
wan to be expected that there would bo st me dopre. 
elation iu the value of business premises, bnt the 
community was token by surprise in July to find a 
double propert}', wliioh was sa d to have cost S40,000, 
knocked down aft auction fur '$8,(100. Expiring leases 
of Hongs have been renewed at about the half of 
tbo previons rentals, and an abatement of a third has 
bean made to residents renting housps on the hill. 
The Annual Repokt of the Superintendent of the 
Koyal Botanic Garden at Trinidad has reached ns, 
and, like its predecessors, contains a largo amount 
of useful inforination about various tropical economic 
plants and several interesting and instructive 
illustrations, the most striking being that of a 
nol)le specimen of Coniphu. clufa, surmounted by 
an enormous panicle of fruit estimated to weigh 
over a ton. Mr. Hai’t calls attention to tho fact 
that the large crown of leaves borne by this Palm 
withered and fell flat to the stem soon after the 
appearance of tlio h-ugo panicle of flowers. As tho 
fruit, set and cqmmeuced to develop the leaves became 
dry, then hung down (as shown in the illustration) and 
finally fell off, leaving nothing but the crowning 
panicle of fruit. Mr. Hart remarks: “From tho 
early falling and drying away of tho leaves after 
the period of anthesis, it is fully evident that 
they cannot assist in any way during the period 
in ‘supplying or manufacturing the plant-food 
nocessory for the formation and development 
of the seeds, and that the supplies and material 
for such jiurpoBo must have been accumulated and 
deposited in an easily assimilated form in the 
stem itself. This will form an important fact 
for those who are discussing the movement of 
fluids in the colls of plants.” Ho points out that 
inorphosifi of this character, although rare in 
toiniKMUto climates, is a familiar feature in tropical 
vegetation. The Silk Cotton-tree, Kriodendron an- 
fractuomnny of which a portrait appeared in Garden 
and Fore-nt (iii., p. .’Ml), is citod as an illustration 
of this phenomenon. This tree produces its flowers 
and sets its fruit at a period of the year when it is 
en irely destitute of leaves, the seeds being distri- 
buted by means of tho cotton attached to them 
just as the tree is putting out the new set of leaves 
for the season. Mr. Hart, as he has in previous 
reports, deplores the want of interest taken in forost- 
preservatiou on tho island, and the inevitable destruc- 
tion, under the existing feeling on the subject, of 
the valuable forests which still occur in some parts 
of Trinidad . — Garden and Foreet, 
ORYLON EXPORTS AND DISTRIBUTION, 1892. 
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