Sept. h i88(3.J 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



I5S 



-♦- 



To the Editor of the " Ceijlon Observer." 



MK. AGAR ON THE ALLEGED DETERIOR- 

 ATION OF CEYLON TEA: REMEDIES 



SUGGESTED. 

 SiK, — There is a great deal in what " Experiontia 

 Docet " says in his letter to the local " Times " as to 

 " deterioration " of our teas, and no doubt one of 

 the principal causes for want of strength in liquor 

 is want of strength in our tea bushes. Some may 

 remember the cry out there was made years ago 

 about cinchona bark when the drop took place. 

 The Colombo merchants took the planters to task 

 for sending down stuff taken from 18 months 

 old trees ! 



What are we doing now ? .Just 'the very same, 

 only harvesting tea leaves instead of cinchona 

 bark ! Maturity is every thin;), coupled witlr a 

 judicimis selection of the seasons, for pruniny and 

 pluckiny. 



While on the subject of deterioration, and the 

 very poor prices realised lately in the local market 

 for our teas, I would suggest some alterations : 



1st. — Allow " breaks " to be put up at auction 

 as a whole, or in grades, to suit the seller as well 

 as the buyer. 



2nd. — Fix a day once in the month for tea sales. 

 My argument for the former is, that the owner 

 of a " break " object? to its being pulled to pieces 

 and peradventure, the " tit-bits " taken out. This 

 lands him with a " ragged lot," which is not by 

 any means desirable. For the latter I maintain 

 that weekly sales contribute but small parcels, 

 which have no attraction for Calcutta, or outside 

 buyers, who might otherwise be represented. 



If we could catalogue something like 300,000 

 to 500,000 lb. monthly, a " fillip." may be given 

 to the trade which it sadly needs at present. — I am, 

 sir, yours faithfully, SHELTON AGAR. 



MR, BECK AND THE FUTURE OF THE 

 CINCHONA MARKET. 



Sat, — A\"itb reference to a leading article in your 

 issue of tin; 18tli instant, and which treats of the 

 improbability of Java sending forward such quantitits 

 of bark as to materially affect prices, I (|uote from 

 a letter wLith was written by me ou May 30th, and 

 read at the last Committee meeting of the Dimbula 

 Planters' Association ou the 3rd instant: — 



'' Mr. G. Mundt, President of the Java Planters' 

 Association, stated to me that, within two years 

 from now, Java will practically supply the demand 

 of the woi 1 1 with high-class " cinchona bark ; that 

 the area under cultivation is equal to 175,000 of 

 our acres, and is planted with ledgers averaging 

 from 10 per cent to 12 per cent ; that 1,500 trees are 

 planted to the acre, and that the age of the 

 youngest planting of this vast acreage is five years, 

 the oldest sis years ; that the weight of wliat Java can 

 supply has never yet been felt because these enor- 

 mous plantations have not been operated upon, as no 

 tree in Java is shaved until its seventh year, and cmker 

 is almost unknown ; that in his (Mr. Mundt's) opinion, 

 when Java sent in its vast contribution, say in two 

 years from now, our three per cent barks would u:>t 

 fetch much more than branch now fetches." Mr. 

 Mundt said that he had no interest in the Companies, 

 who are alniO.«t the sole proprietors of the acreages he 

 named, his interest in cinchona comprizing only 70 

 acr^s of higli class ledyer, and that he had never 

 personally visited these great cinchona fields, as they 

 lie remote from him on the Southern side of Java. 

 Since Mr. Mundt left Ceylon we have beard of canker 

 shewing in Java, but this, if true, cannot benefit us, I 

 a? it would serve only to precipits-te the harveating of | 



bark, which under ordinary conditions, would not have 

 been exported for another two years. 



I proposed to the Association that a subscription 

 should be immediately started to enable these inter- 

 ested in the future of cinchona to send one of our 

 number to visit Java with the same object in view 

 which doubtless brought Mr. Mundt here, but the As- 

 sociation did not think this desirable, and proposed that 

 the Colonial Secretary should he communicated with 

 and requested to obtain through the British Consul at 

 Batavia the required information. I append a copy of 

 thp letter I wrote to the Colonial Secretary on the 

 subject, and to which, up to date, I have had no reply. 

 GEO. BECK. 



(True Copy.) 

 To His Honor, the Colonial Secretary. 



Sir, — I have the houor to iuform you that, at a 

 Committee meeting of the Dimbula Planters' Asso- 

 ciation, held at Dimbula Hall on Saturday, the 3rd 

 instant, a letter was read by me in which I pointed 

 out the great desiral)ility of finiling out what acreago 

 of land in Java is planted with cinchona, its variety, 

 and the probable quantity of bark which will be ex- 

 Ijorted from .Tava during the next two years ; as this 

 quantity, if ascertained, would greatly influence op- 

 erations on cinchona in Ceylon. I bad received 

 certain communications from Mr. 6. Mundt, Pre- 

 sident of the .Java Planters' Association, which 

 led me to believe that within the time mentioned, 

 viz., two years, Java would export so enormously 

 that the enterprize in Ceylon would be rendered 

 almost unprofitable, as Java possesses trees yielding 

 bark of such superior value to any grown in Ceylon. 

 Mr. G. Mundt said that he had made no personal 

 inspection of the part of Java where the great fields 

 of cinchona exist, but he had every reason to believe 

 that the acreage under that cultivation is enormous. 



A resolutijn was passed requesting me to com- 

 municate with you, and ask you to communicate 

 with the British Consul at Batavia, and through him 

 to obtain, if possible, thoroughly reliable inform- 

 ation on the subject, which is one of vital import- 

 ance to the generality of the planting community of 

 Ceylon I have, &c. Gho. Beck, Hony. Secy. 



Henfold, Lin dula, July 7th, 1886.— Local " Times.' 



INDIAN COFFEE: ITS USE AND 

 ADULTERATION. 



North Mysore Planters' Association, 



Koppa, Kith July 18«(;. 

 Deak Sir, —The enclosed pamphlet drawn up by 

 the Indian Coffee Planters' Committee comprising re- 

 presentatives from Mysore, Wynaad, Coorg, Neil- 

 gherries and Travancore, is now being largely dis- 

 tributed at the Indian and Colonial Exhibition, 

 I should feel much obliged if you could hud space 

 for it in one of your valuable papers.— I am, dear 

 sir, yours faithfully, ROBERT BUCHANAN, 



Hon. Secretary, 

 [We have already given the contents of the 

 very useful and timely ^-page pamphlet.— Ed.] 



CARDAMOMS IN CEYLON AND SOUTHERN 

 INDIA. 



Mysore, Hith July 188«. 

 Dear Sir,— As many Ceylon men greatly wished 

 to compare their prices with the two premier 

 brands of Southern India, I would draw their at- 

 tention to page 4 of " Ceylon Produce Sales List " 

 at the end of the July number of the T. A., 

 where by an oversight certain sales of the celebrated 

 M. M. M. (Munjanpulla) and C. C. C. (Cadamoney) 

 have found a place among Ceylon sales.* I have 

 often wished to give you a fair comparison and 

 vne opportunity has just occurred. Two and six- 

 pence is equal to seven shillings a few years ago, 

 and this shows the drop, the irrecoverable fall that 



has occurred in the cardainoni ma rket. 



U ©^eau to include India iu future.— 'Ep» 



