December i, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



417 



TEA MANUFAOTUKE AND " CRITICS. " 



Dear Sir,— In a recent issue of your paper a cor- 

 respoudent signing himself " Adam's Peak" states 

 that Mr. Owen's figures for hand-manufacture are 

 " ludicrously incorrect," and comiilains plaintively 

 of his want of power to understand them, 1 have 

 referred to the remarks in question, and find that 

 Mr. Owen, quoting Mr. Armstrong's figures in a 

 brief form, gives rolling, &c., 6-5; sorting, &c., 4: 

 total for hand manufacture 10 "S. Perhaps, " Adain's 

 Peak " 's friends may be able to explain his in- 

 ability to grasp a simple statement, but, when he 

 credits your general readers with no better developed 

 mental power than his own, he is surely presumptu- 

 ous. I am one who has taken a great interest in 

 this and all other subjects relating to tea, but I 

 cannot see that captious criticism either adds to our 

 knowledge or to our confidence in the fads your 

 correspondent brings forward in a letter which is a 

 very marked contrast to the one signed " Propri- 

 etor " which follows it. — Yours truly, D. 



' INDIAN VS. CEYLON TEA SEED. 



No. I. 



27th Oct. 1883. 

 Dear Sir, — Your correspondent "Planter" (page 415) 

 Beems to been have singularly unfortunate in his Ceylon 

 tea seednurseries and veryl ucky in his Indian seed ones. 

 If the Ceylon seed which "Planter" bought was palpably 

 unripe, why did he accept it ? If the seed in question 

 looked ripe, withslood the floating test, and any seed 

 opened had a fully develop'.d kernel within, I do 

 not understand how such seed could be pronounced 

 unripe or fail to germinate, if put in beds within 

 a reasonable time after delivery. As to seed of in- 

 ferior j;U being sold in Ceylon, no one should buy 

 seed where trees are inferior or where they do not 

 know the superintendent has cut down the inferior 

 trees to prevent them bearing seed, as has been already 

 done on numbers of estates. Your footnote justly 

 condemns so sweeping a statement against Cejlon tea 

 seed in general. For one nursery (as in " Planter" 's 

 case) a failure with Ceylon seed, how many hundreds 

 of nurseries have been perfect successes ? Apologizing 

 for space taken, I remain, yours truly, 



CEYLON TEA SEED. 

 No. II. 

 Centriil Province, 28th October 1883. 



Dear Sir,— I am not as a rule anxious to ru-h 

 into print, but really such a sweeping assertion as 

 "Planter" 's (page 41.5) cannot be allowed to go unchal- 

 lenged. 



How does "Planter" arrive at the conclusion that 

 in 'J9 cases out of a hundred Ceylungrown tea seed 

 is sold unripe? Surely a man with an infinitesimal 

 amount of commonseuse could easily tell ripe from 

 unripe tea seed and so reject the latter. I have had 

 a considerable quantity of locally-grown tea seed 

 through my haiiels, and my experience of it is most 

 fafourable; of course, I "jaw that the seed was ripe 

 and of a good jat. 



To write as " Plauter" does at this time of day in 

 Ceylon is simply ABSUKD. 



P. S — Let a few more, who have as I have had, 

 fcuccetsful nurseries from lccaIly-gro«u seed, scud 

 you their opinions. Indian seed may I e good and 

 all that "Planter" says of it, but that 's no reason 

 to condemn Ceylon-grown, ripe and fiom trees of 

 mature age and good jilt. 



No. III. 



27th Oct. 1883. 

 DeaIi Sir,— 1 note (on page 415) a letter signed 

 Planter " that 99 per cent of Ceylou growu iswtl 



sold is " unripe." I am sure you will not allow 

 this rash and mendacious assertion to pass uncon- 

 tradicted. J. would ask your correspondent whether 

 he is foolish enough to purchase' white or red 

 coloured seed ; if not, how can he possibly tell 

 ripe from unripe seed ? I should have thought it in- 

 cretlible that any market could be found for unripe 

 seed, 60 easy It is of detection! " Planter " has ap- 

 parently some subtle method of his own, for distin- 

 guishing ripe and unripe seed. I have no wish to 

 ask him to divulge his secret. When your corre- 

 spondent states that all local seed is of inferior jat, 

 he displays the same brilliant knowledge and the same 

 startling untruth, that he exhibits in asserting that 

 99 per cent of the seed sold is unripe 1 — Yours faith- 

 fully, N. B. 



No. IV. 



27th October 1883. 

 Dear Sir, — Can your Dimbula correspondent (page 

 415) " Planter," tell us how to distinguish unripe 

 tea seed from ripe? I have no means of judging 

 other than by colour and weight ; but these tests 

 cannot be conclusive, or, if so, in the 99 cases out 

 of 100 where locally -grown unripe seed is sold, there 

 are an ec^ual number of cases of 



CAVEAT EMPTOK. 



No. V. 



27th October 1883. 



Dear Sir, — After your footnote to " Planter " 's 

 letter (page 415) it may seem unnecessary to notice his 

 views about imported versus locally-grown seeil. 



However, a fact, which I can adduce from my 

 personal knowledge, may cause him to considerably 

 modify his views on the subject. 



Mariawatte estate was planted by Mr-. Pilkington 

 in 1879, and I believe that it will give from six to 

 seven hundred pounds of made tea this present year 

 ending 31st December. Now, I believe, 1 am within 

 the mark when 1 say that not more than one-third 

 of the bushes on Mariawatte arefi'om imported seed. 



Does not " Planter " go a " leetle " too far when 

 he says that in 99 cases out of 100 the seed sold locally 

 is unripe ! 



Is it necessary that seed to produce good healthy 

 trees should be fuily ripe? Let "Planter" listen 

 to what Burbidge (no mean authority) says on the 

 subject :— 



" If seeds are to be sown as soon as they are 

 gathered, it is as well to observe that the germ or 

 embryo of the seed is fully capable of perfect germin- 

 toion long before the seed has arrived at that per- 

 fect state of ripeness or maturity, which is necess- 

 ary to insure its keeping properties." 



I do not see that Mr. Hay specially advocated 

 Indian seed. What Mr. Hay did say on the subject 

 of Ceylon and Inelian seed is as follows, viz. : — 

 " Locally-gi'own seed has elone quite as well as 

 Indian, when planted on good soil, but there is no 

 doubt that when seed from trees that have been 

 giving heavy crops for some years is put in poor 

 soil it becomes in appearance very low class. If Ind- 

 ian seed can be guaranteed and it arrives in good 

 oixler, I would prefer it myself to the locally-grown." 



Mr. Hay says " If." Ah ! there is great virtue 

 in an " if." 



Now, I will give "Planter" the reverse of this 

 picture. I know two cases of neighbours getting 

 Indian seed and its proving a failure. In one case 

 eleven (II) mauuds turneel out only about forty 

 thousaucl plants, and in tiie other case less than five per 

 cent of the seed came up. Of courso there is good 

 secel as well as bail sent out of India, anel 1 know 

 of a neighbour who got at least tiJEteen thousand 



