i^O 



"THE TROPJCAL ACHICULTURISf. 



[Sept. i, 1886. 



cenis have no Calcutta agents, and they, of course, 

 give no returns to the Tea Association. 



The following table shows the yield per acre for the 

 Brahmapootra Valley, the Surma Valley, and the whole 

 Province respectively, according to the returns : — 



Yield per acre. 



T884. 1885. 



Ih. lb. 



Brahmapootra Valley 354 359 



Surma „ 279 305 



For the whole Province 323 335 



Here, agaiu, the figures of the Indian Tea Asso- 

 ciation are less than those of the district officers for 

 the reason noted above. Lnkhimpore stands first in 

 order of productiveness. The Deputy Commissioner 

 writes : — 



" I take the three largest concerns in the district. 

 I can vouch for the absolute correctne-s of the 

 returns from these gardens ; they are Hilika and 

 Hookunguri, representing an area of 1,560 acres of 

 mature plant in one unbioken expanse, Talap with 

 1,020 acres, and the gardens of the Doom Dooma 

 Company with 1,555 acres. The yield is as follows: — 

 Hilika and Hookunguri, 1,399,040 lb. Talap, 782,260 lb. 

 Doom Dooma, 1,0SL",287 lb. The average yield per 

 acre is 790 lb." 



The Commissioner of the Assam Valley district re- 

 marks that the printed reports made by Directors to 

 shareholders corroborate these figures. The Deputy 

 Commissioner gives the yield of three more gardens 

 in Lukhimpore as follows: — 



Average 

 lb. per acre. 



Khobong 282,720 589 



Panitollah 436,320 595 



Sookerating 224,800 702 



The average outturn of the whole district is 479 lb. 

 This outturn is, indeed, remarkable, if compared with 

 that of some otlier districts. In Kamroop, for instance, 

 the gardens managed by Europeans exhibit an average 

 yield of 189 lb., and the native gardens still less. 



The estimates as to cost of production are not alto- 

 gether trustworthy and vary considerably. 

 The following are some of the district figures :— 



Cost of Cost of 



cultivation manufacture 



per acre. per lb. 



Es.As. P. As. P. 



Cachar 67 5 



Sylhet 49 7 3 8 5 



DuiTung 25 3 



Nowgong ... ... 70 6 



Sibsaugor ... ... 95 5 9 



The Deputy Commissioner of Kemroop says the 

 cost of cultivation varies from E22 to R140, and of 

 manufacture from 5 to 9 annas. The Deputy Com- 

 missioner of Lukhimpore says the returns vary so 

 much thit it is impossible to say what the costs are. 

 There can be no doubt that the chief reason 

 why the figures under these heads are always so 

 unsatisfactory is because of the number of dif- 

 ferent interpretations put on the words " cultivation' 

 and "manufacture." Another re.ison is that no returns 

 Hr<' sent in or sejiarate accounts kept by managers show- 

 ing thf different expenditure incurred in each i)ha.se of 

 the production. In future, planters and agents will be 

 asked to give the average cost of tea laid down in the 

 sale room in Calcutta or London. This is in accordance 

 with the opinion of the Londoti Tea Association, who 

 consider that it is the only possible way of arriving at a 

 fair estimate of the cost. 



The prices obtained by gardens throughout 

 the Brahmapootra Valley were generally better 

 than in 1854, and seem to have compensated 

 for a bad outtuni. Those obtained by gardens in 

 Cachar, on the contrary, continue to range low. The 

 Deputy Commissioner of Sibsaugor writes as follows :— 



'• Prices were better than last vear to the extent of 

 about an anna-and-a-half per lb. Especially good 

 prices were obtained at the beginning of the season. 

 This was attributed by the London brokers to the 

 goofl quality of the tea. Later in the season the un- 



toward weather* produced its effect on the quality as 

 well as the quantity of the outturn, and prices waned 

 accordingly. The prevalent fears of over-production 

 were not, apparently, justified by the event. In spite 

 of the large supply throwTi on the London market 

 by Ceylon, the stock on the merchants' hands in 

 December was less than at the end of 1884. Al- 

 together firmer prices did much to compensate for 

 one of the worst season's production known for 

 many years past." 



The Deputy Commissioners of Dm-rung, Now 

 gong, and Lukhimpore all write in the same 

 strain, bearing witness that i^rices ranged higher than 

 in 18S4. Mr. Aitchison, of Dalu, Cachar, writes: — 



" Though the yield of Oachar gardens was generally 

 good and heavier than previous years, great complaints 

 have been made, both by the Calcutta and London tea 

 brokers of the quality of the teas, until towards the 

 end of the season, when some slight improvement 

 showed itself. Prices have, therefore, ruled lower than 

 in 1884, especially in Lon Ion market. The difference 

 in the prices between 1884 and 1885 in the Calcutta 

 market is hardly apparent from the figures given, but 

 the actual fall for the average of Oachar teas, I 

 should think, would represent about half-an-anna 

 per lb. The Calcutta market began strong for all 

 teas, and high prices were realised even for Cachar 

 teas for the first two or three sales, it then fell to 

 almost the lowest ebb it has ever been at for Cachar 

 teas. About the end of September it suddenly took 

 a spring, owing partly to some improvement in the 

 quality and lower exchange, as well as to a slight 

 hardening of the London market." — Indian Planters' 

 Ga:.ette. 



CEYLON UPCOUNTEY PLANTING REPORT. 



LOW I'EICES OF TEA .\ND MODEST TEA EACXOKIES — 



" GKEEK MEETIXC. OEEEK " FUEL .SUPPLIES AND 



TIJIBEE KESOUECES — CENXEAL r.\CTOEIES — CACAO — AD- 

 VANCES .\ND KANG.VNIES. 



20th July 1886. 



The rapid and serious fall in the Peice of Tea 

 which we all deplore, and which, although anticip- 

 ated by some wiseacres, has found us more or less 

 unprepared for, is having one good effect in putting 

 a stop to the absurd competition that was spring- 

 ing up in regard to Tea Factoeies. 



The Ceylon planter is all the better of a curb ; 

 for his nature is such that he puts into his work 

 all the heart and soul he has, and cannot rest 

 until he has gained for himself a place in the first 

 rank. When he takes up a new industry he 

 generally manages to knock his rivals into " a 

 cocked-hat " with the, alas I sorrowful sequel of 

 too often coming out of the struggle pretty much 

 in the same condition himself. When this sort 

 of thing happens with the outside world, it is not 

 hard to conjecture the nature of the friendly com- 

 petition which is engaged in when Ceylon planter 

 strives with Ceylon planter. Then it is " Greek 

 meeting Greek," and tlie heights and lengths to 

 which they will go in the " tug of war," are 

 measured very often by the fullness of the purse 

 or the extent of the credit. One man builds a 

 finely lighted and spacious factory, stocks it with 

 the best machinery procurable, oversteps his 

 estimate in a princely way, and to the planting 

 world for a little while, the building marks as it 

 were the highv.ater limit as to factories. 



Bye-and-bye, however, you hear of a bigger and 

 better than this, and the factory which a little 

 while before was regarded as a model, and to which 

 streams of visitors kept flowing, is looked upon aa 

 a matter-of-course, and the tide rolls elsewhere. 

 Now, however, that the fancy prices have dis- 

 appeared, and the necessity arises of girding for 

 the struggle which seems inevitable, this race for 



* N.B.— The effect of weather on the quaUty of tea, 

 —Ed, 



\ 



