Aug* 2, 1886.] 



THE TROI'ICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



11 



and tlicre Is conaeqivently less and less inducement 

 for them to t^ive the same care and attention to the 

 plants which'^they did in former years. The ponit 

 has already been reached in many districts when it 

 does not pay to plant more gardens, and it some re- 

 lief docs not come speedily we shall shortly hear ot 

 the tea gardens running wild, or of other crops be- 

 in^' substituted for tea. The greater part of the money 

 now paid as taxes would go to the grower for some 

 time to come, and would improve his position materi- 

 ally. It is for this that I crave the earnest atten- 

 tion of all who are interested in the trade, and not 

 with any idea that foreign buyers would reap any 

 innnediate benefit from the freedom of tea from ail 

 taxes. I want to see " a great deal more of the land 

 and labour of (.'hina employed in growing a great 

 deal more tea," and not that the trade should be 

 straagled by the hands that should be the hrst to 

 encourage it. In a very few years (four or five as 

 the outside) India will be exporting its ninety or a 

 hundred million pound, and Ceylon its fatty or sixty 

 millions annually. With such competition we can 

 only look for further decline in average prices, and 

 China will not be able to adhere to the present pro- 

 hibitive taxes if she wishes to hold her own in the 

 trade. Without taxation she can produce tea quite 

 cheap enough to meet any emergencies. One word 

 as to possible improvement in manufacture. One ot 

 the best of the rolling machines used in Ceylon has 

 been on exhibition for some months in Hankow, and 

 as it meets with the approval of all who see it, we 

 shall probably hear of others being ordered as soon 

 as this one has been tried in one of the tea districts. 

 Mr. Henry Hertz ot Shanghai replies:— 

 The theoietical view is that while the production is 

 iucreasing rapidly in other countries, this is not the 

 ca.se in China owing to excessive duties ; though I do 

 not find it attempted to be shown even by the use of 

 those complaisant instruments "statistics," that the 

 trade is actually going behind. Against this I main- 

 tain, as the practical side of the matter, that we have 

 more than a sutftciency of China tea to deal with, which 

 I consider to be conclusively shown by the fact that 

 it is impop.'^ible for anyone dealing largely in the article, 

 without having resort to the ruthless process of sell- 

 ing by auction '• without reserve," to be entirely quit 

 of old stocks before the arrival of the new. When 

 the day arrives that this is no longer the case, it will 

 be time enough to think of opening the floodgates of 

 supply by the removal of duties. In my opinion theu, 

 these act at present to some extent as a protection 

 to the merchant, while their afore.said removal would 

 in a measure supply the place of a system of boun- 

 ties to the producer. Not holding any brief on behalf 

 of the latter, I prefer to advocate xvliat I cou.sider most 

 beneficial to the interests of foreigners, and it was in 

 this sense that I endeavoured to express myself at the 

 recent meeting of the Chamber of Commerce. I was 

 very pleased to find that my remarks on that occasion 

 received substantial support from others well qualified 

 to speak from experience. 

 " K. C. Y." in replication : — 



It is unt the inland taxation alone which I maintain 

 is strangling the trade, but the whole of the taxes 

 on tea, Export Duty, Inland Taxation, Barrier Dues, 

 etc. It will be necressary to make tea absolutely duty 

 free before it can be on a sound basis, and any reduc- 

 tion of taxation will be only a temporary rehef . You 

 state* " there is more or less loss on every pound of 

 tea sold in London for less than nine pence." Nine 

 pence is the equivalent of sixteen to seventeen taels 

 duties paid, according as the estimate is made with 

 commissions or without commissions, but everyone who 

 has any practical knowledge of buyiug tea will tell 

 you that supplies of sound common Congou continue 

 to come forward when the price is Taels 9A to 10, 

 duties paid, and that they cease altogether when the 

 price falls below Taels 9 duties paid. I therefore 

 infer that thf cost of this class of tea is between Taels 

 9 and 9^ duties paid. If Tea can be brought to the 

 Shanghai market to sell at Taels 9 at 9^, fully half of 



""* AVe did not make any such statement.— Ed. N. C. 



which price goes in Duties and Inland Taxation, how 

 very much better quality tea could be brought to market 

 to sell at the same price, if free from all Taxation. Mr. 

 Hertz and Mr. Young appear to be afraid that if tax- 

 ation was removed Ciiina would swamp the consuming 

 markets altogether, but my strong conviction is that 

 instead of overloading tlie home markets witli a low 

 quality article we should be able to ship good 

 quality tea at such a low ])rice that it would at once 

 command the attention of buyers and compete success- 

 fully with the produce of other countries. The export 

 would right itself in a very short time. I should be 

 glad if you can publish any information as to the 

 relative cost of laud in the interior of OLina and in 

 India, and also give us the cost of labour in the two 

 countries. As to comparing the consumption of 

 250,000,000 Chinamen with 150,000,000 Western men. 

 I confess it is beyond my powers, but I would not 

 mind hazarding a statement that the Western men use 

 four or five times more Tea than the Chinamen do to 

 make a cup and the Chinamen continue pouring hot 

 water od the same leaves time after time whilst the 

 Western men consider them exhausted after the first 

 brew. Last season was a very exceptional one. The 

 very low prices realized for first crop Teas the previous 

 season and the unsettled state of affairs between England 

 and Russia made Chinese middlemen very cautious. 

 They anticipated that Russian buyers might possibly 

 be out of the market for the season and that Englisli 

 houses would buy only ou very low terms, but just as 

 the season opened more peaceful news arrived and 

 the middlemen reaped the benefit. The growers, how- 

 ever, suffered terribly and the first crop was some 

 70,000 ^-chests short of the previous season. This com- 

 ing season there are unusually large preparations for 

 making first crops, but it is yet too early to form any 

 idea of total yield for the reason. Like Mr. Hertz I 

 do not hold any brief ou behalf of the producer, but I am 

 desirous of seeing a fine trade put on a firm basis. 



INDIAN TEA TRADE. 



It is possible that you may have had sent to you 

 the Report of the Collector of Customs at Calcutta 

 on the River-borne trattic of Bengal &c. That 

 report contains, however, remarks bearing so forcibly 

 on the future of tea-cultivation in Ceylon, that it 

 will scarcely be deemed to be superfluous if I 

 give you an extract from it here. The officer 

 named thus wrote : — 



" The exports of tea have advanced, in comparison 

 with 1S83-4, by 7 i^ercent., with a decline in the average 

 declared value to the lowest point yet reached, for 

 with an increase in shipments of over four milhous of 

 pounds there is a decline in the total declared value of 

 over four lakhs of ruoef s. Tliere has been a steady 

 extension in the production of tea, owing principally, as 

 I mentioned in last j'ear's report, to the opening out 

 of new areiis iu Sylhet and the Dooars. These new 

 gardens having been started as economically as possible, 

 can produce at less cost tlian the older ones and make 

 profits while the latter are losing. Trices fell heavily 

 last year, and many of the older gardens were far from 

 remunerative. It appears likely that proprietors will 

 have to be satisfied in the future with lower prices than 

 they obtained in past years, for with a large increase 

 in production, unless the markets for it can be propor- 

 tionately extended, the value of tea in the ordinary 

 course must fall. I referred in last year's report to the 

 growing importance of the tea industry in Ceylon, and 

 to the competition that will ultimately be the result 

 of the lar»;e extension of tea-growing in that island. 

 The amount even now is iusiguiticant compared witli 

 the exports of Indian tea, but it will increase year by 

 year and the extension in cultivat ion already is said to 

 have been from between 2U0 and 800 acres in 187i!, to 

 •18,000 acres in 188 1. This is an ennormous advance, 

 andthu production wlicu tiio large available acreage, 

 said to be from 150,000 to l(iO,000 acres, has been opened 

 out and comes into full bearing will have a very sensible 

 ei¥ect on the tea market. It has been estimated that 

 about 7ft million pouudsjyearly may eventually be the 



