SiiPT. i, 2 886,] 



THE) TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



iSi 



quarter of a niillion acres of each. — We may men- 

 tion that before Mr. Beck's letter appeared, we had 

 taken steps to procure information from reliable 

 correspondents in Java on the subject of Cinchona 

 Cultivation. In our last Hsmdbook, after carefully 

 considering the Eeports from Messrs. Moens and de 

 Bomunde and different Consuls, we put down 11,000 

 acres and 15,000,000 trees for Java. This may 

 be below the mark, but we shall want good evidence 

 before we credit anything over 20,000 acres to our 

 South-eastern rival. 



TEAS AND THE TEA MAKKET. 



That China teas can be turned out of the fines 



quality both for flavour and make, we had prac" 



tical demonstration some two years ago in the 



coast ports of the Far East. A Canton merchant 

 in showing us over his store, brought out from his 

 bins, samples of some of the finest teas exported 

 from China — teas which realized fancy prices and 

 the supply of which he intimated could easily be 

 increased, if only there were sufficient encourage- 

 ment in demand at a remunerative price. There 

 can be little doubt that under the stimulus of Sir 

 Bobert Hart's remonstrances with the mandarins, 

 "John Chinaman" in his tea districts generally 

 this past season, set himself to pluck tine and manu- 

 facture more carefully than usual. Here is what 

 Messrs. Bucker and Bencraft in their circular of 

 the 1st instant say on the subject of the new 

 season's China Teas : — 



"The ojjinion we formed of the quality of the Crop 

 has been confirmed, and it cannot be found fault with 

 except for a certain lightness in liquor. The leaf is 

 of remarkably flue quality, and we do not think has 

 been equalled since 1865. AVe learn that results have 

 been disappointing to the Chinamen who have been 

 urged to manufacture Tea of higher quality, and who 

 were encouraged by last year's prices to expect bet- 

 ter results this season. Seldom has a fine First Crop 

 come to a more apathetic market on this side, and 

 we doubt whether the Elections can stand as much 

 of the blame as last time." 



The question of profit therefore will not encourage 

 the Chinese to continue a large supply of fine teas. 



As regards Ceylon teas, before the ' new Season's 

 China' came into competition, there seemed to be 

 an inclination to bear hardly on our shipments and 

 as some believed, to endeavour to get ' Ceylon ' graded 

 permanently as inferior to ' India ' and very little 

 above 'Java' kinds. We have received information 

 from several responsible Ceylon planters which points 

 to deternrinedly prejudiced, raiher than equitable 

 criticism, and we are promised a selection from 

 the reports of London brokers and buyers ex- 

 tending over some time past, to show the in- 

 consistency and unreliablity of much of the testimony 

 against our teas which finds its way from " the 

 city" eastwards. Here is an extract placed at 

 our service from the private letter of a gentle 

 man who knows what good tea is and who has 

 followed the development of our Ceylon industry. 

 He writes from London under date 1st July to 

 a friend in Ceylon as follows : — 



" It is not the truth that the Ceylon teas have 

 gone off in quality. Every planter could not have 

 begun manufacturmg bad teas. The fact is, our 

 buyers see and know that a large lot of tea will 

 be produced in Ceylon, and they are determined 

 to lower the price. These buyers are banded to- 

 gether in a way and are, I fear, seconded by 

 others — men who buy in teas for grocers. The 

 question is : why do some of our selling brokers 

 value the Ceylon teas so low, and some selling 

 brokers write in their reports that the Ceylon teas 

 have deteriorated '? It seems to me as if some of 

 them were playing into the hands of the buyerg, 



I heard that at one sale the brokers who had 

 described the Ceylon teas as ' deteriorated ' were 

 cheered in a way. Other markets will be found 

 for Ceylon teas, and everyone who can must be 

 his own selling merchant. The merchant who sells 

 the tea to the grocer does not let the latter have 

 the tea any cheaper, although he pays so much 

 less for it now." 



Leaving the question of alleged deterioration of 

 Ceylon teas on one side, there can be no doubt 

 that the "budget scare" of April 1885, is a 

 good deal to answer for the disorganisation of the 

 tea market during the present year. The "Produce 

 Markets Eeview " discusses this subject fully and 

 shows that the fact of the stocks in the public 

 warehouses of the United Kingdom at the end of 

 June being 21,000,000 lb. greater than in 1885 is 

 due to the disturbance in the regular course of 

 deliveries last year by the fear of an increase of duty. 

 The same authority anticipates a steady improvement 

 now, because not only are prices unprecedentedly 

 low, but the stocks in the hands of the grocers "are 

 undoubtedly s)iialler than they have ever been 

 in proportion to the weight consumed." This is 

 cheering news to our planters, apart from the evi- 

 dence afforded that there has been a tendency to 

 persistently unfair criticism in reference to our Ceylon 

 teas and their alleged deterioration. 



One matter however must be specially guarded 

 against or Ceylon teas and planters must 

 continue to fall in the estimation of buyers. We 

 have before us documentary evidence to prove that 

 in a purchase of a parcel of teas through Messrs. 

 Wilson & Co., brokers, of Colombo in April last, 

 the whole aggregating some 150 lb., there has 

 been close on 20 per cent loss through «/((;/•« lueujht, 

 after making all the usual allowances. These teas 

 bore a recognised estate mark, and the buyers say 

 that in Calcutta, their claim for the value of 76 lb. 

 short weight would be at once recognised ; but in 

 Colombo, the Brokers find such claim is ignored. This 

 is a matter which ought to be looked into at once 

 by all the Brokers and the Chamber of Commerce ; 

 for the evidence that " short weight " is an ex- 

 perience attaching to teas bought in Colombo far 

 more than to teas bought in Calcutta, is over- 

 whelming. Planters must see to the fault being 

 rectified, or exposure of the careless, will have 

 to follow in the interests of the community. 



LIFE ON A TEA PLANTATION. 



The following interesting letter we have received 

 from Mr. D. Slimmou who is engaged on a large tea 

 plantation at Ciuuamara, Jorebaut. Our correspond- 

 ent was for some time before his present appoiutment 

 in the sale rooms of Messrs, Gow, Wilson and Co., of 

 Kood-lane, E O., tea merchants and planters. The 

 writer says: — The Assamese about om- district and 

 northern Assam are of a white sun-burnt complexion, 

 with a decided resemblance to the Mongols in their 

 features ; some may be seen almost as white as Europe- 

 ans. In habits, they are a very lazy, easy going people, 

 displaying very little intellectual power, and however 

 anxious the Government may be to emjjloy them in 

 public offices, the majority of the best posts arc filled 

 by Bengalese. In the working of our estates, very 

 little local labour can be obtained, and oven the little 

 we have is very uncertain : five to six hours is a good 

 day's work for an Assamee, and then you don't get 

 him every day. The only work they care for is 

 pruning, basket making, or other light work ; 

 hoeing and such other manual labour is out of 

 the question. As a rule they live iu villages, scat* 

 tered all over the country, each jat, or caste, having 

 separate townships ; for seldom do people of different 

 jilts live in the same village. A zigzag path (Eas' In- 

 dians could not make a straight one), a clump of bam^ 

 boos, and a grove of Pun Tamel trees is a sure sign of 

 A village op what was pace the site of a "Gaoo." These 



