October i, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



255 



with it, as we should keep our classes of different values 

 (or grades) separately, and a good break may be spoiled by 

 having one or two days inferior make mixed with it. Ac- 

 cidents sometimes happen also, such as overfermentation, 

 if there is much night work, and this can only be de1;ectecl 

 by infosing the leaf; burning also. Xo tea shoukl be 

 packed away therefore (mixed with the bulk) till it is ta.sted 

 and faults, if any, discovered, to be rectified in the future. 



Sorting.— This is best done by women- one womau to 

 every 100 lb. of tea. Ked and large flat leaf is first picked 

 out, and the tea is then passed through a No. 7 or 8 

 sieve, according to the size of leaf, i. e., tea of any 

 particular day, that which conies through is next put 

 into a No. 10 or 12— the higher the elevation the smaller and 

 more wiry the make— that that remains in the No. i or K 

 must be lii/ht!i/ broken through by hand ; and what still 

 remains in (very Uttle) is cougou and black fanuings ; 

 that broken through is broken tea and broken souchong, 

 which is mixed after removing the dust and broken tea 

 with the pekoe souchong pure, remaining in No. 10 

 or 12, and the mi.xture classed as pekoe souchong. 

 We then have left to deal with, pekoe, broken pekoe, 

 broken tea and dust, all of which has been passed through 

 a -No. 10 or 12— to extract as shown our pekoe souchong. 

 This we ai/ain pf ace in No. 10 or 12, lightli/ sifting it, to 

 remove broken pekoe, broken tea and dust, leavmg the 

 pekoe iu the sieve. "We then with an ordinary rice winnower 

 (" shologoo"), remove broken tea and dust from the 

 broken pekoe, the broken pekoe remaing in the wuinower ; 

 the broken tea and dust we then put into No. 24, passing 

 the dust through. To separate tea dust from pekoe dust, 

 we can use either muslin or the winnower again. We 

 have now sorted our teas into the following classes:—!. 

 Pekoe. 2. Pekoe souchong. 3. Congou (and fanuings with 

 large unrolled leaves). 4. Broken pekoe. 5. Broken tea, 

 tea dust and pekoe dust. I do not count as a make nor 

 yet fanuings ; the latter may, in most instances, unless 

 the plucking has got ahead of you, be mixed, after breaking, 

 with the broken tea. Fanuings we break through a 

 Reid's breaking mac) line, turning out a reddish make 

 about twice the size of our broken tea, which, if poor 

 iu liquor, we ship separately as fanntngs ; or, if showing 

 a fair liauor and not too much red leaf, mix with our 

 broken teas. Of congou, fani.ings, and the dust, wo have a 

 very, very small percentage each day. The numbers of sieves 

 we require are as follows :— No. 4 for sifting green leat 

 in rolhng by hand, to give more "tips." No. 3 useful 

 sometimes, when plucking has got ahead of you ; and Nos. 

 6, 7, 8, 10, 12 and 24. 



Packing.— As, according to the new rules, bulking on the 

 gardens is now accepted in Loudon and our tea saveil 

 from being all turned out. provided tares run pretty equal, 

 I recommend each class of tea to be packed as soon as 

 suflicieut can be bulked to make 25 half chests of 50 lb. 

 each. These should measure 15 n 16 x 16, and tare, on an 

 average 18 lb. including lead, do not require hoopmg, and 

 represent one coolv load. As soon as we have (lacked all 

 our teas to complete that particular break or shipment, 

 (which ought not to be under 5,000 lb. nett I think, and 

 the more the better), we may add our dust, fanuings, and 

 congou which will only amount to a halt chest or so ot 

 each. These teas will run from 5d. per lb. to lOid. and arc 

 as well shipped, if a half chest can be made up with each 

 break from which they have been made. I find a half 

 chest takes 3h lb. of lead and li oz. of solder— or cost oi 

 half chest with lead-hning, ie. ready packed cents 3'5fiO 

 per lb. of tea. Whilst ou this subject, I think it would 

 be uf great advantage to us all if we could arrange to use 

 one uniform package, and no package can be more con- 

 venient for us than the half chest as above— the majority 

 of us have to transport our chests to the main road ou 

 cooly's heads— this half chest represents just a full cooly 

 load. Whereas a chest takes two coolies to carry it, has 

 to be hooped— a costly work- and tliere is all the worry 

 of rope which is constantly stolen, and poles, to carry 

 it ; therefore, the saving iu draft iu London (under i-a-lb. 

 of' tea) and the slight difference in its favor in cost, in 

 the first instance, is more than counter-balanced by the cost 

 of hooping and transport, with the accessories of poles 

 and rnpe. I trust, therefore, that those interested in tea 

 in C'l ylon, will from this year,— our first great start al- 

 most,— arrange to use one uniform package which shall be 



peculiar to Ceylon, and become known as the Cei/lon chest 

 This for the bulk of oiur teas, but we m-ay also pack occasional 

 breaks in boxes ; these should weigh under 28 lb. gross 

 and thus save draft, say 10 to 15 lb nett. Any especially 

 fine make could be shipped in these, forming a small break, 

 and will often fetch fancy prices. Brokers at .home ac- 

 cept both half chests and boxes so tjiereis noinuovaton 

 hero. A coolie can pack cai-efully, 15,-shall I call them 

 Ceylon-chests y— in a day. „ n , ^ ,-, i i,„ 



I now come to yield and cost per lb. f. o.b. at Colombo. 



Y ELn.-In my own experience, at 4.700 to 5,600 lb. eleva- 

 tion, with fan- soil, orcUnarily featured land, as our hiU 

 country goes, fairly steep, I find the yield has been as fol- 

 lows, and I do not consider I am yet in full bearing :— 

 At 2i to 34 years old 165 lb. tea per acre. 



34 to 4i 



292 



44 to 54 

 5.2 to 65 



Gh to 7i 



202 

 450 



f pruned heavily in July 

 I last season, — .se.asou cuds 

 \ in Sept.— to shape bushes 

 1 which explains shortness 

 Lof yield. 

 „ year finishes end of Sept. 700 lb. per acre 



will be exceeded all round. , , , 



Bushes from the first have been under-plucked. 

 Again, I have yield given me at an elev.ation ot l.bOU to 



2,500 feet. 



Average age 3 years 224 lb. per acre. 



4 „ 380 lb. 



5 ■• 315 lb. .. „„„ . X ^ 

 And please note, on this garden of over 200 acres in extent, 



there was a considerable loss of leaf, from allowing large 

 areas to grow up during these three seasons for .seed, from 

 which little if any leaf was plucked; had the tul acreage 

 been plucked, the average would have reached 100 lb. more 



Agaiu', I have given me figures of an estate, at an aver- 

 age of 2,500 feet elevation, 4001b. per acre at 34 to 44 years 



° Another estate, at an average of 500 feet, gives for the 

 first sLvmouiks of this year, January to June being m June 

 4 ve.ars old, 400 lb. per acre, the estimate to December is faOO 

 lb per acre; and will probably be excoeded. Again, an estate 

 from 100 to 400 feet, showing an avarage age all lonud of 



4 years, gives 430 lb. per acre. This estate is widely planted 



5 X 6 'Jd 5 X 5, and had it been 4x4 would have given 

 a larger yield, as bushes do not cover the ground ; but 430 

 lb. at 4years is good enough, you willallow. 



I have again many instances of estates, up to 3,000 feet 

 giving 400 to 600 per .acre up to 5 y.ars of age; and at 4,000 

 to 5.000 feet, from 360 to 420 lb. per acre. 



We have all heard of Gallebodde and its 800 lbs. 

 odd per acre; also of the older portion ot Dunedin 

 with its 730 lb. per acre ; a portion ot one__ of my 

 fields 3 acres in extent has given me at ,i yeare 

 1 ''OO lb per acre at o,.i00 ft. elevation, well sheltered with 

 fiile soii— an exceptional field, I will allow. Those figures 

 are faii-lv representative of tea in Ceylon at this date, 

 and not one of the estates mentioned is in f uU bearing. 

 What irill the yield be when we ai-e m full bearing, trom 

 S years of age upwards ': We shall want lots of withermg 

 room, gentlemen, so be prepared in tune ' . ,, .„ 



Young as we are, and m the face of these yields at 6 

 years of age and upwards I feel perfectly safe m esfa- 

 matmg an average yield of 400 lbs. per aero from tea m 

 the coffee zone and ab ve it, say from 2,.)00 to ^,iOnit. in 

 sheltered situations and in saying .i,700 tt. I do not msh it to 

 be understood I draw the hmit even here, but the figures 

 I have had given me above this elevation viz. at b 300 

 ft are only from a very small area imder tea, which 

 however gave at 6 years old 4001b per acre at 4 m 4. For 

 lowcountry teas, that is teas at from 2,^)00 down 

 to sea level, at 6 years old and upwards, I shall be very 

 much surprised indeed if they do not show an nvcrai/e 

 vield of 6U0 lb. per acre. These estimates gentlemen may 

 seem excessive, looking at the average yields from Assam 

 and In-lia generally, but compare our jueld ui this our 

 very infancy with that in India and you will hud we 

 can even now show au average, from estates at 3, years out 

 ui> to 6 which wiU more than double theu's. Inclemency 

 of weather does not aftect us m the same way m 

 which it does our Indian fathers, as tvfe have 11 montlis 

 in wliich we pluck. If one month is too wet we bcuclit 



