Aug. 2, 1886.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



75 



Oeylou tea is achieving ia due to the way tlieir pro- 

 duce is brought to the notice of tlie public. Tlic Uey- 

 lou people have, for instance, sent home a Conuuis- 

 sioner to see that their teas receive their full share 

 of attention at the coming Exhibiton. 



In addition to the Colonial and American markets 

 an endeavour should be made to push Indian teas in 

 other directions, and none is more likely to carry oft" our 

 low class teas than the native bazaars. This is a mar- 

 ket tluxt has never yet been practically tapped. Were 

 tlie Indian Government, too, to do away with the 

 amount of Red Tapeisni with regard to Commissariat 

 teas, they would nod only receive many more tenders, 

 but also a better article at half the money, or. at any 

 rate, rather more than half. 



It is practicallyimpossible on a tea garden to get boxes 

 exactly the same size and same vveight,and this is required 

 by « 'ommissariat contracts. Why shoulil the Govern- 

 ment not accept the same amount otdctmi/ tea packed 

 in any shaped case ? instead of laying down a re- 

 gulation as to the size, shape and form of the box. — 

 Indian I'laiiters' (Utzette. 



COFFEE, CINCHONA AND TEA IN JAMAICA. 



We have been iierniitted to take the following 

 very interesting extracts from the letter of an ox- 

 Ceylon i^lanter now in Jamaica, addressed to a 

 friend in Ceylon. We hope to have the same 

 privilege again or to hear direct, for it would he 

 very interesting to learn how the "tea clearing" comes 

 on and bears, as well as thews perience of coll'ee 

 and bark. We quote as folloma: — 



Jalica, lilth April. 



I think at the time I wrote ast, I had not long 



been living on . Frevious to that I had been 



living part of each week at an old coffee property. 

 The walking and riding backwards and forwards 

 and the moving of bedding, &c., was too much 

 trouble and expense, and so I prepared to live a 

 life in the bush entirely. Fortunately, I was never 

 without an assistant and so could not be very 

 lonely. At one time I had — , an Oxford man, 

 but he returned to England very soon. Then I 



had , a cousin of the two that used to be in 



Ceylon and at the same time . After the 



latter, , who is now planting tea in Ceylon. 



In fact, all my assistants have left Jamaica. Two 

 hadn't enough capital to invest comfortably and 

 the other two disbelieved in the stability of cin 



chona. As soon as left, I took sole charge 



of a cinchona clearing which gives me i^GO a year. 



In July last ■ came out and lived with me 



for three months. He was delighted with the 

 climate of the hills and appeared sorry to have 

 to return. As our Company were not advancing 

 money for extension in cinchona or coffee, I ap- 

 plied for charge of another cinchona clearing. This 

 place was to give me £5 per month, six months in 

 the year. The other six months it was to be 

 managed by one of the shareholders. As the Com- 

 pany had a large furnished house, in every way 

 superior to our own, I decided to go and live there 



for a time, taking with me. So for some time 



my hands were full with plenty of work in super 

 vising the three properties. This was in October 



and then said that sugar prospects being so 



bad and unsettled he thought if he could lease a 

 coffee property with a good house, he ouglit to 

 bring wife and children out. We had a try for Farm 



Hill but the proprietor would only sell and • was 



not prepared to lay out any large sum. After a 

 bit I thought of this place. I knew it had a fine 

 house and a healthy climate and had just been put 

 up to auction and withdrawn for want of a decent 

 bid. We came and looked over the place and de- 

 cided to make an off'er to rent the house, works 

 and eolTee for iJ'yQ a year with (at first) the option 

 of ))nrehase at t^l.OOO, Thi>5 «onnd'^ ridiculously 



small (does it not ?) but then the coffee barely re- 

 pays our outlay on it, of the most ecionomical kind 

 at present. The houseworks and barbacues must 

 have cost i;7,000 even in slavery times and they 

 could not be erected for that now. The garden, 

 house and barbacues cover three acres, the barbacues 

 alone nearly an acre. The estate consists of 1,171 

 acres from '2,K00 ft. to 5,000 ft. elevation. It has 

 about 400 acres fine forest,, 150 acres ruinate, 550 

 grass, scrub, Ac, and 5(] acres coffee, and even in 

 this 50 odd acres are so scattered and thin that 

 the average bearing is only 1| cwt. Our total crop 

 in bushels of cherry will be under 400. I can't 

 help smiling when I think of this /i)/ « nop, when 

 I have picked more in a day in Ceylon. But thia 

 estate nevertheless has been a very fine one in days 

 gone by ; and I have been to4d on good authority 

 that it has given its f7,000 clear profit in a year. 

 This property was settled in the middle of last 

 century. First as an indigo plantation and then an 

 a coffee estate. There are trees still growing in the 

 place neaily a hundred years old. 



Want of regularly pruning and handling, coni^tant 

 heavy hoe weeding and general mismanagement 

 have done their wojk and reduced these places 

 to what they ai'e now. As far as I can see from 

 old trees growing on different plantations, the lirst 

 planting resulted in as ffne coffee fields as one 

 could wish, quite as fine as the brut llaputalc coffee. 

 But the most extraordinary thing is that this want 

 of good cultivation does not appear to affect prices 

 in the slightest. Last year, for instance, 138s per 

 cwt. was touched in the Liverpool market by this 

 property. So you see it is only quantity we want 

 to make coffee planting in Jamaica an unqualified 

 success and not quiility. As I have shown, we 

 have any (|uantity of land for coffee or indeed 

 anytjiing else but we want money. I confidently 



believe that if could afford to put a few 



hundreds into this i^lace I could turn the money 

 so invested to good account very soon. He is willing 

 to do so and no doubt, will, if he can make any- 

 thing out of his sugar crop. No doubt, you all work 

 very economically now in Ceylon in these hard 

 times, but I fancy even now, we in Jamaica, 

 could give you a lesson or two in taking care of 

 the pence, lI-c. Take this place for instance, the 

 gross value of the crop will not exceed £335. Out 

 of this we have to work the estate and pay every 

 expense, you can think of, including broker's charges. 

 Of course, salary I draw none, but work for my 

 own interest. A Jamaica planter is contented with 

 very small proffts and how he lives, and lives com- 

 fortably too, is a wonder. I believe that tea would 

 grow well here. We have good land with hundreds 

 of acres of forest well situated for firewood, ex- 

 tensive buildings and a plentiful supply of water. 

 The only difficult ijuestion is the labour. We have 

 lots of people living all round us, but the men are 

 accustomed to get Is a day, the women ',)d and the 

 children from 4^d to 7d. Then again, we arc only 

 20 miles from a shipping port and that as you 

 know is not far from London. \Ve are only five or 

 SIX days from New York, three from i'anaina and 

 five from Honduras. I intend planting five acres 

 of tea for island consum2:)tion . We arc protected 

 by a very high duty Is per lb., and no good tea 

 can be bought here under 4s a lb. At the Gov- 

 ernment Cinchona plantation where there are some 

 1,000 trees or so a very good sainijlc has been 

 made by hand. It grieves mc to learn that so many 

 of my old Ceylon ' friends have been so completely 

 ruined. The most of them I suppose ruined 

 beyond all chance of making another start in 

 iiie. The Observer containing that most interest- 

 ing story the "Fifties and Sixties" I enjoyed 



