May 2, 18512.] 
THF TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
843 
of being impri.soucd for orimping, iu India, to ^tart 
off with ; whilst over here it ia the duty of the Im- 
migration Agcat to b^ard eteamera and explain to 
Immigranta that they are quite free and under 
no sort of obligation to anjbody iinlcsa they have 
signed contructs of pcrvice before BOOiO duly autbor- 
iaed Govornnitnt ofhoia]. The nek ia too great to be 
ran, the influx of labour U atopped, end the estcnaion 
of agricultural operations ia grievously retarded. 
With the prospect of a rico fandr.o in India and 
consequently of a large aurplua population, and 
with such HU K1 Dorado for Tamila aa the Straits 
might easily become, close at hand, tho attitude 
of iho Madras Governmeut in this oomiection cannot 
auflioieutly be deplored. — I am Sir, yuurs faithfully, 
E. V. Carry. 
I have heurd it atat<‘d that the tniuimum rate of 
wages, was fixtd aa quoted previously, m order to suit 
sugar p’anters o( Province WelleBley who are paid 
to state that, were their cuoliea to bo paid at iho 
Biimo rates a* the free labourers on coffee estates and 
Governmeut works, they would be mined. The ques- 
tion Heems to me to retolvo ifaeU therefore into ibis, 
either the agricultural development of the Malay 
Penii sula must be retarded, or free immigrntiou must 
not only be sanctioned but supported by Ooverument 
at the risk of Province Wellesley being ruined, the 
latter course I venture to think will be of the greatest 
ultimate benefit lo the country, as if the sugar industry 
is being worked with such a very narrow margin for 
profit the 6i:ouer others interested in agriculture have 
some ’say iu the matter the better . — Straits TimeSi 
March 2Jlrd. 
FKOM TIIK METROPOLIS. 
March 18lh, 1892. 
rautj AB A FIELD FOB COFFEE AND CACAO PLANTEE8 I 
CINCHONA AND ME. CLKME.NTS MABKHAM, C.B., F.II.8. 
It will malie the mouths of old Ceylon coffee 
planters water to read all about the virgin XoreEte, 
rich soil of inexhaustible fertility, fine olimate 
and indigenous ctfffc bearing up lo 10 cwt. an 
acre, in the Coromifsiorers’ Riport on Peru when 
it appears. It will be out shorty ; but meantime 
the 28th is fixed for Mr. Koss’s “ paper," giving 
an aooount of the trip, before the Royal Geo- 
graphic al Society; while on laet Tuesday night we 
had a gathering at the Society of Arts to listen 
to a paper on “ Peru ■ its commerce and resources ” 
by F. A. Pezet, Peruvian Consnl Gcneral in London, 
Sir H. Truiman-Wood sent me tickets, snd 1 was 
glad 1 attended. You will see the full text of 
the paper and of the discussion that followed in 
the Society's weekly journal and will no doubt be 
taking over all of the same that bears on tropical 
Bgrioultura for the Oburver and Tropical AgricuUuriit, 
Mr. Pezet, a bright, young, ofiuoated Peruvian 
gentleman, speaking English well, but reading very 
rapidly, afforded a great deal of information in his 
hour ; and he bad for bis chairman a personage 
BO interesting to us as Mr. Clements R. Mark- 
ham, O.B., F.B.s. Arriving a few minutes late, 
I quite supposed for half tho time that the 
chairman was again the Attorney-General Sir 
Richard Webster, so great is the resemblance be- 
tween them— both are clean-ebaven, refined, healtby- 
looking gentlemen, past middle life with a look 
of geniality and benevolence almost Pickwickian. 
Mr. Markham, however, soon revealed his poi- 
sonality, by standing up to point out on a 
splendid map of Peru, the places, uiouniaiuB, 
rivers, districts, Ac. as referred to by Mr. Pezet. 
SiB Alfbed Lent led off the discussion in an 
interesting speech, showing how much the enter- 
prising Peruvian Corporation was doing to develop 
the country by railway exicneion, placing 
steamers on Lako Titickca, encouraging immigra- 
tion and how they looked, as the result of the 
reoeot CommiBBioo, (cr the deTelopmeot of bo i 
extensive industry on coffee, oaooa, tea. [“ Not 
tea," whispered in Ex-Ceylon planter beside me 
" protest I"] Sir Alfred Dent also alluded to the great 
value from a ccmmcreial point of view of young 
Englishmen learning Spanish, which was of more 
value to a merchant than even German. 
ConoNEii Harbib, a white-haired veteran who had 
spent 25 years in Peru, followed with extremely 
interesting particulars and more especially dwelling 
on the rich deposits of gold as yet outouched, 
mentioning on scientific authority that there 
were many streams the sands and waters of 
which, at certain points, would yield very hand- 
some returns. 
To him succeeded Colonel Cbubch. a true 
grizzled Yankee ard great traveller all over South 
America, who amidst much that was bietorioal 
and flattering told some plain truths us to the 
Peruvians having been demotalized in the 
past, cuttirg each other'e throats in revo'Dtion 
after revolution, everybody living on "guano” 
from tbe Government downwards, and doing no 
work, and then turning to tho Nitrate fields 
which, however, as the result of an unjust war 
were wrenched from Peru by Chili. A regular 
blessing this, in disguise ; for ever einoe the 
Peruvian community had begun to work, develop, 
and prosper in the true eensa. Rut as regards 
immigration. Colonel Church had to say Ibal 
better laws and better treatments must be given 
to strangers before there would be a rush. 
Mr. Alex. Boss came next in some well-choBen 
eentences referring to tho recent explorations, the 
ddigbtful climate of Lima ranging in temperature 
between G0° and 80° as extremes, while ho aad 
Mr. Sinclair lived as in England in all 
save the aupetliuouenees of an umbrella I Mr. 
Ross spoke highly of the progrese makiug in rail- 
way extension, of the several routes travelled, of 
the many products available, the fine eoil and 
forest land generally. 
Mr. J. Pf.ikiuson followed. I said that I rose 
beoauae of one word that had dropped from Sir 
Alfred Dent in connection with the future of Peru, 
namely " tea." But before dealing with it, I 
would mention for the information of the lecturer 
and other of hie countrymen and frieuda praaent, 
that the name of "Pern” was familiar in the 
Far East of India and Ceylon as well as in 
England acd was closely oouneoted with one of 
tbe greatest blessings ever brought to tbe millions 
of Southern Aeia, in oinobona. It was in 1801, 
the same year as I first saw Ceylon, that their 
chairman arrived with a tew plants of Peruvian 
oinobona at Bombay — half being aent to. the 
Nilgiris and half to the hills of Ceylon ; 
bnt no planter, while coffee was prosperous, 
would look at a " medioine plant,” and ao 
recently as 1809 only 20 onuoea of bark wore 
exported. But when coffee failed, cinchona was 
planted and Ceylon ran up to a maximum ouUi. 
vation of 54,000 acres and a maximum export 
of neatly 10 million lb, of bark, bringing down 
the price of quinine from ICs to 20a an ounce 
to (last year) le or 9d [Mr. T. J. Lawrance: — 
Lees than 9dJ per ounce in Mincing Lane, 
This was an ineetimabla boon to millions in 
India and elsewhere and one with which tbe 
namee of Peru and Markham would ever be 
associated : but it proved destructive to tbe Ceylon 
cinchona planter ; and he bad to plant tea inetead • 
and now we were fast becoming a premier tea’ 
growing country, exporting 08 million lb. last year 
with tho prospect erelong of teaching 100 millions 
while India was also going on. Now, I would 
warn plsnlets opening in Peru, to profit bv o... 
IcBSpn m cinchona and beware of tea But 
