jvLV h me..] fHE tUOPlCAL AOHICULtURiri^ 



iy 



buy some of the same at once to take home : after he 

 has drunk a pouud or so of Indian or Ceylon tea, 

 he will never go back to the China. 



(To Ct'ijlon Ob.<ieircr, 16th May 18S1.) 

 I was afraid that my proposal to establish in Lon- 

 don a Tea Boom and Agency had quite fallen to 

 the ground. I see however that Sir "Wm. Gregory 

 comments favorably on my letter ; and as you yourself 

 have taken the matter up, I begin to hope that 

 something may yet come of it. I feel convinced 

 that such an establishment would be the best adver- 

 tisement that our tea planters could have ; and as 

 a considerable portion of our planting community is 

 now interested in tea, it would only seem natural 

 for the Planters' Association to move in the matter. 

 Wants of funds, of course, would be the serious 

 difficulty ; but surely the numerous gentlemen now 

 engaged in tea-planting could, if united, command 

 sufficient intiuence to start a company for the pur- 

 pose of establishing a Tea Koom and Agency in London, 

 with a view to stimiilating a demand for our teas. 

 It may be said by some that wc have no tea should 

 a large demand arise, and what is the use of creat- 

 ing a demand before we have the supply to meet 

 it ':* But if we wait to create a demand until we 

 have a large stock of tea, the market will be glutted, 

 and prices ruinously low. Ok^arly therefore the sooner 

 a start is maile the better. Apart from the benefit 

 of the tea rooms as an advertisement, the Agency 

 would be mos.t advantageous to planters, who by 

 shipping direct could realize a decent profit them- 

 selves, while ihey could put their teas in the market 

 cheaper than if they went through the broker's hands, 

 in fact the planter woulil sell at a low retail price, 

 and the consumer would get a good genuine article 

 at a cheap figure. 



{To " Ceylon Observer," -Mh June liiSl.) 



Your extract from the Home and Colunial Mail in 

 your issue of the 28th ultimo shows that what the 

 Ceylon tea planters ought to do in Loudon, viz., es- 

 tablish agency for the sale of their teas has already 

 been done in Dublin by an energetic Indian Tea Com- 

 pany with respect to its own produce, and that the 

 venture has been attended with success. If nothing 

 better can be done, by all means form a tea syndic- 

 ate to be affiliated with the Indian syndicate ; but I 

 maintain that by the establishment of such an agency 

 as I advocate a great deal better can be done than 

 affiliation with a syndicate whose j)ower is necess- 

 arily handicapped by having to find maikets for and 

 disprsc of .such large quantities. Another point in 

 our favour is that Ceylon tea is more readily appre- 

 ciated than Indian which, though as good, takes longer 

 than ours to accustom itself to the palates of people 

 who have beeu in the habit of drinking China tea. 

 Of course the whole secret of success would lie in 

 advertising, and this should be done not only at 

 home, but in the local papers bete, with, at the foot 

 of each advertisement, a '■'note'' to European resid- 

 ents in Ceylon: "Please cut"' this out and enclose it in 

 your next home letter ! Say 100 onlj- responded to 

 this' and each house used 2 lb. of tea a week, there 

 are 10,0001b. per annum disj^osed of at once. 



MARKS OF CEYLON TEAS IN MINCING"" 

 LANE. 



Matale, 29th May, 1886. 



Deaf, Sir, — In the list of tea sales published in 

 your paper from time to time I have frequently 

 noticed very large breaks sold under the mark of 

 Highlands. Can you or any of your con-espondents 

 inform me oi the whereabouts of this estate ? It is 

 remarkable that an estate putting in breaks into 

 Mincing Lane of over 100 chests at a time should 

 be so little known. Highlands estate does not 

 seem even to be mentioned in the Ceylon Directory. 

 Tea on this side flushing well. — Yours faithfully, 



INQUIEEK. 



[We take " Highlands," " Oya" and some others 

 to be Colombo marks, put on by buyers of tea in 

 small parcels at local sales in making up big breaks. 



CEYLON TEA IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA. 



29th May 1880. 



De.\r Sir, — Should you think these few lines 

 worth a corner in your valuable paper please 

 insert them. Feeling deeply interested in the wel- 

 fare of K, C. 13. (alas ! a title soon to be erased), 

 and particularly after persuing a letter of Mr. 

 Henry's in the Oh'>erver of the 25tli, induces rae 

 to pen a few lines, endorsing his sentiments with 

 regard to Australia being a good market for Ceylon 

 teas. I have as a bait sent a few pounds of 

 good tea to Western Australia, and I am glad to 

 say, it has been much appreciated ; and by the 

 last mail I heard from a friend, and quote his 

 words merely to show there is a demand for it : — 

 " If anyone would let me know what they would 

 sell tea a pound for and would send it over, I 

 could guarantee them ready sales, as people here 

 are paying 2s yd for real trash. I have spoken 

 to several of the merchants, and they are ready 



to buy at high prices. Mr. should send 



his tea here, to pay well." I have also forwarded 

 samples to a friend in Melbourne and am waiting 

 the results. I think the above will show Ceylon 

 teas will sell in Australia. K. C. B. 



Pkeserving Fish in a Fri-sh Sxatk uy 

 means of a mixture of salt and boracic aci-l, forms 

 the subject of a paper which has been sent to us 

 by the Madras Government. Deputy Surgeon -General 

 G. Bidie, M.n., c.i.e., ever on the watch lor im- 

 proving the resources of the country, was struck 

 with the abundance and cheapness of large sardines 

 at Tellicherry and desirous that a chdp means 

 of preserving the harvest of the sea and distrib- 

 uting it inland in a fresh state should be dis- 

 covered. He found what he wanted in a series of 

 articles in the Scvlsman on a chemical powder, the 

 constituents of which we have indicated, by means 

 of wliicli herrings sent from Norway in a fresh 

 state were underselling English herrings in the 

 English market. There should be two pounds of 

 salt to one of the acid, and the fish .should be 

 packed between layers of the mixture. The full 

 details appear on page 22. 



Of tjie Beche-de-jier fishing in Torres Straits 

 Mr. Douglas reports that it is passing into the 

 hands of South Sea Islanders who •■ will require 

 pretty close watching." He believes that " lliere 

 is not much margin of profit in it, unless very 

 cheap labour can be obtained. This, however, is 

 secured in the native inhabitants of the islands 

 in the Straits, who arc glad enough to Avovk for 

 small wages in order to earn what is called their 

 ' tucker,' " He estimates that there are 500 men 

 and boys employed, of whom probably a third, 

 though possibly a half, come from the mainland of 

 Australia, and he has reason to " believe that there 

 has been a good deal of quiet kidna,pping." In 

 one case especially he ascertained that a lot of mere 

 children had been purchased from their relatives on 

 the Jardine and Batavia river.'s. They were sub- 

 sequently brought from Darnley to Thursday Island, 

 in order to be entered on shipping articles, but it 

 was so evidently a case which required his inter- 

 vention, that Mr. Douglas " caused tlicm to be 

 taken back to their own people at the expense of 

 their so-called employers." This action had a 

 beneficial effect in checking the employment of 

 mere children, and also established more friendly 

 relations with the native inhabitants of the main- 

 land. Port Kennedy, the seat of Government on 

 Thursday Island, is a progressiva place. Tlic 

 revenue collected in 1885 amounted to ZA'lJ^'t'.) : 

 and the exports of pearl shells were valued at 

 £86,990, while the beche-de-raer sent away was 

 worth £,7,dbo.^Australasian, 



