Oct. 1, i8S6.j 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



221 



pay, and pay handsomely. He bad been met with 

 the seemingly unanswei-ablc statement that tea did 

 not pay tlie investor wben much better prices were 

 obtaininl than could possibly be cominandeil now. 

 He (the lecturer) said that no investment paid in 

 which those responsible for results were persons not 

 thoroughly acquainted with their subject. Planters 

 in India were in this position at first, but by degrees 

 they increased their knowledge of tea-growing, and 

 at the present time there was no body of men more 

 intelligently devoted to the task than India tea 

 planters. (Cheers). Better communication existed bet- 

 ween the tea districts and Calcutta, and facilities 

 generally were greatly improved iu the 'tea industry. 

 The teas produced iu Assam had found their way 

 with the public up to this time owing to their in- 

 trinsic merits, and not by any combination either in 

 Inilia or at home. Indian tea might have forced 

 its way sooner in the world had planters, plantation 

 owners, and all those interested worked together. 

 But no, in Assam it was the same now as at the 

 beginning, no co-operation for the general good. Let 

 them look at little Ceylon and its planters, who 

 began after the Indian grower, and by dint of bard 

 work, and working together, they had pushed their teas 

 to the front of the tea industry. Tea-growing in 

 Ceylon had, comparing it with India, entirely out- 

 stripped the larger country. A great deal had been 

 written at various times on this question — a great 

 deal of sentimental writing. The surest way to 

 success was to give a better article, for less money 

 than others. In this Indian tea planters could come 

 to the fore. Indian tea generally, did not differ exten- 

 sively from China, excepting in two great points — 

 Indian tea was purer and gave a more pungent 

 flavour. This being so, it was more economical — in 

 addition to being better flavoured — because a smaller 

 quantity of Indian tea would give an equal result as 

 against a large quantity of China tea. Most house- 

 wives imagined that if the tea in the cup was per- 

 fectly black, they had obtained the best possible 

 results (laughter) and had got good value for their 

 money. One pound of Indian was worth at least 

 l|lb. of China tea. Indian tea was being sold in all 

 the markets of the world. At first people did not 

 take very kindly to it in Australia, but now a great 

 demand existed. In America it ha<l not made much 

 headway, but a friend of the speaker who was in 

 Canada, recently observed that the use of Indian 

 tea had grown enormously fron the time he was in 

 Canada, previously. Many private families were get- 

 ting it direct, and the article was steadily advancing. 

 When once India tea was used in a family, no one 

 would revert to China — he had never known an in- 

 stance. He knew of a case iu which China had been 

 imported, because some people could not stand the 

 strength of our own growth of tea. (Laughter.) 

 That was, however, very easily remedied. Now, 

 he wanted to revert, for a moment, to the 

 subject of finance. It seemed strange to him that 

 it was so difficult to get money for tea planting, not 

 for new plantations, but for those alreadj' established. 

 The banks shielded themselves with the plea that tea 

 was not known as an investment. One way iu which 

 the British public could very materially assist the 

 planter was, by helping to remove the ridiculous 

 kigislation which encumbered him at every step. The 

 labourer was fenced round with many absurd regul- 

 ations. The houses must have a window and a door 

 in a certain spot and of a size. These were to 

 meet sanitary requirements. He had no objection 

 to this; indeed he thought them very necessary, but 

 when the coolie shut his window for ever, barricaded 

 his door, and by way of company introduced his 

 cow into the family circle, he (the speaker) enter- 

 tained some doubts as to the wisdom of such legislation. 

 AN'hat the planter wanted was freedom of action. 

 There was so much that hampered him in connection 

 with the laws affecting coolie labour that radical 

 changes would sooner or later be necessitated. (Hear, 

 hear.) There was no fear that planters would neglect 

 the coolie. If only from self-interest the planter 

 would si"e tliat his laiiour was properly housed and 



cared for. It cost a great tleal to import the labour, 

 and when once there it was not likely the planter 

 would risk government interference through his neglect. 

 It was only necessary to mention one absurd ins- 

 tance. If the death rate on an estate exceeded 7 

 per cent, the Government could step in and shut 

 up the place entirely. No planter would object to 

 this rule, provided labour was allowed to come and 

 go freely, i'he extraodinary growth and importance 

 of the industry, rendered it essential that all such 

 rules sliuld be relaxed. In conclusion, he assured 

 them that Indian tea gave better value for money 

 than any description of China tea produced. 



Mr. Parker Thomson said he wanted to ask Mr. 

 Peter a question or two. It seemed to him that 

 Mr. Peter touched on the most important feature of 

 the tea question only at the end of his paper ; it 

 was — Would Indian tea pay? That question was to 

 him more important than any. Mr. Peter said they 

 must lower the prices. That meant, that the cost 

 of producing it must be lowered. He wanted now 

 to ask Mr. Peter in what direction the cost of pro- 

 duction could be reduced. There was no prospect 

 of the quantity from China being materially dimin- 

 ished, and it was clear to everybody that the 

 fundamental law of supply and demand must operate 

 here as in everything. If Indian prices were lowered 

 as suggested, the outturn must be increased, but be- 

 fore that increase could be utilised a market must be 

 fouud, and it seemed to him that the market for 

 Indian teas of the future would be discovered in 

 the decline of China growths. (Hear, hear). He could 

 imagine the answer Mr. Peter would give to his 

 (the speaker's) enquiry as to the direction in which 

 attempts to reduce cost of output would be made. 

 Eleven years ago (1874) the As.sam teas were sold 

 in London at an average of Is. ll^d. per lb., and 

 companies he knew of, paid on capital invested divi- 

 dends as high as 22g per cent. The average last 

 season (1885) was just under Is. Id. per lb. Dividends 

 amounting to 20 per cent, had been paid by the 

 same companies ; so that although there had been a 

 decline in price of over lOd., they were in 1886 yet 

 able to declare a dividend only 2^ per cent lower 

 than in 1875. (Applause.^ The cost of producing their 

 tea had enormously increased during tlie eleven years 

 named, and yet the tea was very much cheaper, so 

 that he was at a loss to understand in what 

 particular item of expenditure Mr. Peter hoped to 

 reduce. On this side he could not see any chance 

 of lowering. Duty and freight must be paid. 



Mr. Peter said he was glad to be asked .some 

 questions. He could not, however, speak definitely 

 at this moment as to the reduction or means of 

 reduction now being contemplated. As one .source 

 from which personally he expected unusually excel- 

 lent results he might mention Main's drier, which 

 he understood would wither the leaf in any cond- 

 ition of the elements, which, as he previously stated, 

 would be a Godsend to the planters. The process 

 of withering was one of the most expensive, and if 

 the consumption of fuel were smaller they would 

 be able to do with fewer hands. The " Sirocco No. ?>," 

 one of the latest out, had withered more maunds per 

 day than any other up to the present. 



Sir D. Forsyth asked whether Mr. Peter ■ would 

 give his experience as to manuring. 



Mr. Peter said his experience of manuring was 

 not very great ; when he found that one part of the 

 garden was wearing out he added 15 or 20 acres of 

 new cultivation to make up for the loss in the old 

 ground. He had not, however, the slightest doubt 

 that in the future as cultivation wore out they 

 would have to take to manuring and condensing 

 their areas. The subject of manuring had not up 

 to this time, received any or very little attention 

 from tea planters in India. 



Su- D. Forsyth asked what kind of manures would 

 be used. 



Mr. Peter said the manures would be those u.sed 

 on our English farms, bone dust and chemical 

 manures. He had tried them all. His experience 

 was that whereas bone dust would last well for two 



