too 



THE TROPICAL ACJRICULTURIST. (Aug. 2, 1886. 



^^^^^^^?« 



and cinclioim threatened to collapse, seize upon a new 

 culture — that of tea ; and however alarming this new 

 rivalry may be for existing concerns of a similar nature 

 yet no tea-planter, whether he may have established 

 gardens in Assam, Darjeeling, the Nilghiris, in Cachar, 

 Bagclen, the Preanger-Kegencies, in China or Japan, 

 can take it amiss if his " fellow-planter," end- 

 eavours with courage, energy, and perseverance to 

 keep himself standing by tea-culture, when coffee 

 and cnichona leave hina in tlie lurch. If, how- 

 ever, the new culture in Ceylon really proves such 

 a boon to the embarrassed planter, we must ques- 

 tion whether the clatter with which the novel in- 

 dustry is trumpeted forth be not a great folly. 



Not only ni special papers, but in almost all other news- 

 papers and periodicals, we lind articles and comput- 

 ations to prove that the Ceylon tea possesses qualities 

 superior to all other existing teas : that the rapidity 

 with which the produce extends is amazing ; and that 

 in a few years, it will amount to forty millions pounds 

 English. The Englishman, otherwise so practical, 

 seems for the moment to be blind to the impending 

 danger of over-production : — " The more tea Ceylon 

 produces, the sooner we shall have sufticient to displace 

 the China-crop," I read lately in the Indian Planter's 

 Gazette. I hope they may ; but I am not so very 

 sanguine about it, after the ample experience of the 

 consequences of over-production, which the tea- 

 planters, too, have so amply experienced these ten 

 years. The present crop of tea out of China is re- 

 ally more than sufficient to render the competition 

 with that mighty tea-growing country very keen ; and 

 it is at any rate extremely dangerous to expedite the 

 natural course of production of any article whatever by 

 artificial stimulants. 



If Mr. Hamilton is seriously concerned for the wel- 

 fare of the tea-planters in Ceylon, and the prosperity 

 of their industry, he could pursue no more unad- 

 vised course than thus enticingly summoni ig all "men 

 of moderate capital " to repair to Ceylon and thus 

 increase the already great number of tea-planters. 



Indeed, the price of tea has declined so considerably 

 from the rates at which it stood some 10 or 12 years 

 ago, that, for planters who have not happened to 

 work under exceptionally favourable circumstances, 

 it has already become a question of "to be or not 

 to be "; and that they have only succeeded in hold- 

 ing their own by great exertion, judgment and parsi- 

 mony, or, as the saying is togetona little by hook or by 

 crook. If affairs flourish in Ceylon, . . . we cannot but 

 congratulate the good pLviiters on their success ; but 

 in their own special interest as well as that of other 

 tea-planters, we would hope they will have the good 

 sense of working on quietly, without any clamour, and 

 that they may thus be left at leisure to lay by something 

 against a rainy day, before the tea-business becomes, 

 like so many other businesses, a wild contention of 

 oii'ers at lower and still lower prices ; and ere not 

 only the present planters, but moreover the " men 

 of moderate capital," called upon by Mr. Hamilton, 

 pull each uthor to pieces, as we say, while the tea- 

 market itself is overwhelmed with tea. 



Tills boasting about Ceylon's tea-production, has 

 someti^ies led me to suspect whether there is 

 not a little mystification in the case. I must 

 candidly confess that the perusiil of the above- 

 mentioned pamplilet, " endeavouring to give a 

 short account of the rising tea-industry in Ceylon, 

 possibly destined, erelong, to make this island the 

 Tea-gardoii of the World " as the esteemed author 

 concludes his treatise, has not cured ine of my 

 doubt. What must a tea-planter think of a com- 

 munication, for instance, as that about the Maria- 

 wattie-estate, occurring in the work, which plant- 

 ation is said to have produced in the last two years 

 successively, upwards of 1,100 lb. of tea per acre; on 

 which he very justly observes, that it is " a feat 

 unequalled by any estate in the world ?" 



This produce would be equal to : 



1,703 half kilos per Balioe 

 or 2,400 „ „ per Hectare. 



Another article, viz, one in the Indian Planters' 

 Gazette of the lltth of .January 188(;, I found also 

 highly remarkable. It is entitled " Notes of a Visi t 



an Asr>am 



to the Planting Districts of Oeylon ; by 

 Planter " (signed) .T. O. Logan. From this 

 appears first of all, that the writer is an English- 

 man, then that ho is a tea planter and must there- 

 fore be considered as a competent judge ; the article 

 gives also the impression of being written without 

 any partiality. The writer relates, that he and 

 another tea-planter visited several tea-districts in 

 Ceylon ; and that each having done this by himself, 

 they finally compared notes. The opinion of the two 

 experts agreed in regarding the climate and rainfall 

 as very favourable to the tea-culture ; not so uncondi- 

 tionally favourable was their opinion of the soil ; at 

 least the conclusion is, that tea may succeed very 

 well in Ceylon, if the plant be judiciously cultivated 

 and carefully treated ata/l c rent s v hen manitre can he 

 njijjlied; "but, alasl" adds the writer, "at present 

 neither of these conditions are being fulfilled ; tea 

 is planted aw/where and ercrywJiere ; almost any land 

 is thought good enough to grow tea on, etc." 



The system of plucking and pruning as practised in 

 Ceylon is decidedly condemned by the planter from 

 Assam. The average wages of coolies throughout 

 Ceylon stated as being ,5 l-3rd amias ~ 33 Rupee 

 cents per day, or 'J Rupees per month. Women 25 

 Rupee cents or 4 annas per day. It is difficult to 

 deduce hence any comparison with our wages in the 

 Dutch Indies, on account of the uncertainty of the 

 comparative value of the Rupee to the Dutch cur- 

 rency, and the wages not being invariably the same 

 in our colonies. The 33 R. cents would make about 

 39 cents Dutch Currency. " A remarkable tone of 

 sanguine boastfulness runs through all the liter- 

 ature," observes our Englishman, " and much 

 of the conversation about tea in Ceylon." " There 

 is another aspect of the enterprise " he con- 

 tinues, " that struck me forcibly. Everyone seems 

 to be planting tea, with the intention of selling to 

 some one else, and clearing out of the island as 

 quickly as possible. This is speculation, not invest- 

 ment ; and is wanting in the elements of stability." 

 How far this may be true, the writer of the pre- 

 sent lines dare not decide ; but he believes that it 

 would be acting more in the veritable interests of 

 the Ceylon tea-planters and of all their " fellow- 

 planters " to warn them of the dark, ominous cloud, 

 gathering over their heads, than to write such 

 pamphlets as the one we have just discussed, by 

 which one may become an accomplice in the ruin 

 of others. 



The principle on which the writer would aver 

 us act is truly Dutch : if you have a good thing 

 keep it dark so as to secure a monopoly of its 

 benefits. About Ceylon and its tea, as about other 

 countries and tliei" products what is wanted is 

 the truth and what Mr. Hamilton quoted about 

 Mariawatte and its yield, is true. On the other 

 hand we have the statements of the Indian 

 planters. We in Ceylon do not overlook the danger 

 of over-production, but we have good reason to 

 believe that the quality of our produce will as- 

 sert itself in the sharpest competition. 



TEA PEOSPECTS. 



The fact that tea is now, as it has always been, 

 the most important article of a grocer's trade, is 

 sufHcient reason why those whose interests are so 

 materially affected by it should make it their constant 

 study, and seek to understand every aspect the sub- 

 ject may present. Of such vital cou.sequence is the 

 working up of a good tea trade to jjrocera that, if 

 they desire to succeed in their calling, too much atten- 

 tion cannot be bestowed by them on this department. 

 With regard to the prospects of the new tea season 

 1885-86, although things are still slow, there are signs 

 of rather more trade throughout the countrj", and it 

 will not be denied that tlie season has opened under 

 more hopeful auspices than did tlie last. Stocks are 

 down one-hulf, while consuQiption is on the increase, 

 and probably the only cause that militates against an 

 immediate rise iu prices is the uncertainty as to future 

 supplies. Another reason for tea remaining at present 



