i64 



ITBE TROPICAL AORtCVLTURlSt. 



[ijiir/, J, 1886* 



S^BBmlBSSiSE 



other residents in search of the great desideratum 

 of Natal— a good export article — that this might after 

 all be found in tea, Mr. J. L. Hulett, m. l. c,, of 

 the Kearsuey Estate, Natal, was one of the first, is 

 not the tirst, to take the matter up seriously. 

 Mr. Green informed mc that Mr. ITulett is most 

 enthusiastic as to the future of the industry, also 

 that though M'-. Hulett is anxious not to allow it to 

 be inferred that he has any idea of parting with his 

 property, or even with un interest in his plantation, 

 he his ready and most willing to give every inform- 

 ation and reasonable assistance to auy one who may 

 feel disposed toj try tea-planting in the colony. It 

 apptvirs that there are no practical tea-planters 

 employed in Natal and therefore the reason for remarks 

 last week, re want of technical skill in sorting", as 

 evidenced by the samples on show, is not far to seek. 

 The estates are all apparently too small as yet to 

 pay for a skilled planter's supervision of the manu- 

 factiu-e, seeing that local science is fully equal to 

 the mere requirements of planting and cultivation. 

 So far as these are concerned, the numerous photo- 

 graphs on view at the Exhibition speak very favour- 

 ably, both as to the method adopted and the state 

 of cultivation. lu the manufacture, however, there 

 is much to learn. Need I say more on this point 

 than that a considerable number of samples were sent 

 over in brown paper packets — not by Mr; Hulett — 

 and as if this were not enough to make a planter's 

 blood run cold, without a particle of inner lead 01 

 foil lining I ! Tea has been tumbled into, and the 

 lessons of experience are all being acquired at first 

 hand. The marvel is that the estates should present 

 the remarkably neat and technically excellent appear- 

 ance they do. The Natal planters are decidedly men 

 of independent judgment and it is a trifle amusing 

 to note one or two evidences of this, as showing how 

 little beholden they are to Indian experience and 

 how completely they ignore trade prejudices. One 

 tea garden's proprietors, Messrs. Clayton and Ashwell, 

 of the Island Farm, Stanger, Natal, have a printed 

 circular for distribution at the Exhibition. I enclose 

 a copy for j'our own verification of the following 

 quotations. This circular is signed by the " London 

 Agent" of Messrs. Clayton and Ashwell, his name 

 being, "E. J. Clayton, Cobb's Court, Carter Lane, 

 London, E.C." This gentleman's name not being 

 familiar to me in the tea market here, nor his 

 address that of a Lane neighbourhood, I was puzzling 

 over the matter when my attention was attracted 

 to the imprint on the back of the circular, which 

 reads, " E. J. Clayton, Printer, Cobb's Court, Carter 

 Lane, London, E.C." Experience and trade prejudices 

 (may I assume from this) are deemed as of little 

 importance at the London as at the Natal end 

 of the string. My assumption will be justified in 

 planters' minds by the following quotation from this 

 interesting circular : — 



" In order to secure an independent \status for 

 their teas with the home consumers, OUyton & 

 Ashwell have resolved to dispense with the process 

 of sifting, and to pack but one qualitj', which will thus 

 combine the delicate flavour sand aroma of the finest 

 Pekoes manufactured, with the stronger (sic I ') and 

 colouring qualities of the Souchongs "(! !) Can't one 

 picture an Assam Ckabinii/alviv-aahih mu^iug, Oh ! Happy 

 land ! from all percentage free ! The idea is not original, 

 and for small quantities may pay, but for large quan- 

 tities the trade requirements as well as prejudices 

 will render the plan impracticable. The scheme is 

 conceived in error and will tell in the long run against 

 Natal, if carried out for some time by outsiders, as 

 it will prevent the tea becoming known in the trade 

 and will deprive it of the trade interest. This result 

 is fatal, in the present state of competition, unless 

 Natal proprietors are prepared to spend huge fortunes 

 in advertising. The next illustration of the independ- 

 ence of judgment to which I have alluded, may be 

 taken from the selection of machinery made by 

 Wr. Hulett for tea-rolling and drying. Instead of 

 acting upon the results of Indian experience he has 

 preferred to start with machinery practically unknowa 

 to tea-plauteifi except ia the ca^e ol oue Sirocco, I 



do not blame him for this, as his reasons may have 

 been good ones, and he appears pleased with hia 

 selection, according to my authority Tl/e NaUd Mercan- 

 tile Adxtrtiser of th^ 14th April. From an interview 

 published in that pap' r I cull the following items. 

 The Kearsney Estate, belonging to Mr. J. L. Hulett, 

 is 5 miles beyond Stanger. The massive block of gum 

 trees on the estate, situated on a prominent hill, 

 is a landmark for several miles, and is said to be 

 visible from Amatikula, Zululand. In the upper floor 

 of the tea-house which floor has a superficial area of 

 about 5,000 square feet, the withering is done, 

 assisted by a Greig's wthering and drying machine. 

 The tea is rolled in a Greig's roller. The other 

 machinery consists of a Sirocco and sieving machine 

 turning out four qualities. The engine is a horizontal 

 one of 12 H. P., the boiler being multitubular and 

 placed outside the building. The bushes appear to 

 reach an Assam growth. One tree measures 10 feet 

 across its flat top, others are close upon that size. 

 Mr. Hulett has about 130 acres planted out under 

 tea. About one-half of this area " has been plucked," 

 but most of it has been " tipped." Off the estate 

 Mr. Hulett had made at the time of the interview 

 34,000 lb. and expected to get 41,000 lb., estimating 

 the area of trees over 2 years old at 65 acres, which 

 is the age at which they appear to commence regu- 

 lar plucking I This gives an allround average of 

 600 lb. per acre for young and old, and leaves 

 2,000 lb. for the tippings from the under 2-year-old 

 bushes, on 65 acres. Not bad, and if true will take 

 the conceit out of some of the best Assam gardens, 

 age for age. The interviewer, however, somewhat 

 qualifies these figures by adding the note, that they 

 may be corrected by Mr. Hulett, so as yet they 

 must not be accepted as authorised. Eound the 

 Kearsney Estate is a complete ring of tea plantations, 

 the proprietors of which own among them some 800 

 acres of land, not yet, however, all under tea. Mr. 

 Hulett by no means confines his enterf)rise to tea 

 cultivation and the following quotation from the in- 

 terview alluded to above, will go towards proving the 

 suitability of the climate for tea. Mr. Hulett grows 

 in orchards, orange trees, lemon, loquot, Brazilian 

 cherry, apple, guavas of ail varieties, nectarine, peach, 

 vine, jack-fruit, mangoes (several kinds), roseapple, 

 pineapple, &c., while in the lower orchard are limes, 

 quinces, &c. Oranges and mangoes are produced by 

 hundreds of thousands, pine apples and loquots by 

 tons, and so forth. The preserved fruit industry of 

 Natal is making great progress and snme of the guava 

 jelly I have lately tasted is better than any I have 

 tried in India. Chutneys (mango and other) are also 

 well prepared. 



The following proprietors are also exhibiting samples 

 of Natal tea. Mr. J, Brickhill, Umbilo Estate; Mr. 

 S. E. Large, Mid-Illovo Estate; Messrs, Lyie and 

 Reynolds, Kirkley Vale ; &c., &c., 



I have been promised that three samples of tea 

 from Mr. Hullett's estate shall be packed and sold- 

 ered down, and banded me on my next visit to send 

 out to j'ou ; as I thought it might prove of inter- 

 est to your readers, were you to get three brokers to 

 taste and report upon these samples, in committee, 

 or independently, as you think best, with the object 

 or publishing their reports. For these samples, as 

 for much of my iufomatiou, I repeat, I have to 

 thank IMr. Green to whose energy and method the 

 chief credit of the excellent arrangement of the 

 Natul exhibits is also due. Natal Exhibitors have 

 certainly every reason to be satisfied with the hearty 

 and intelligent way in which he does all that 

 man can do with the utmost patience, to advance 

 their interest. He gave a glowing account of the 

 climate of Natal, which he described as not exces- 

 sively hot even in the districts suitable for tea, "and 

 then there are the highlands approachable by railway, 

 as far as Petermaritzburg, which is already at a 

 considerable elevation, and after that, the post-cart 

 will convey the traveller in search of a spell of 

 temperate climate to the hills themselves where wheat 

 is cultivated, and where frosts are not unknown." 

 Se further added that Mr. Uulett is of opinion tha 



