Sept. i, 1886.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



r83 



To the Edi/or of the " Ceylon Observer." 



SYNTHETICAL MANUFACTURE OF QUININE. 



5th August, 188(i. 

 Dear Sir, — The July number of your valuable 

 Tropical Agrivulturisi contained an article re 

 Synthetical Manufacture of Quinine, your cor- 

 respondent raentioning an advertisement in the 

 Lniicct according to which a " Syndicate for 

 the above purpose was being formed. " Have you 

 not read any more of this interesting scheme ? 

 Quirine and quinine alkaloids possess a strong 

 rotatory power, and as it has proved an imposs- 

 ibility as yet synthetically to prepare any substance 

 which has the above property, planters and others 

 concerned may take the medical men's Syndicate 

 easy. Indeed a synthetical manufacture of quinine 

 has to be looked upon as impossible for the 

 presen t.— I am, dear sir, you s faithfully, M P. 



'We have heard no moie of the Jjavcet advertise- 

 ment. — Ed. ' 



ALT, ABOUT TEA AND 



ITS PROSPECTS: 



; " PLUCKIKG FINK " 

 QUALITIES FALLE; 



THE ALLEGED " DETERIORATION ; 

 l\ MEDIUJI PLUCKINC. ; FINE 

 'MOST IN PRICE ; THE SYNDICATE TO APPLY THN 

 REMEDY; NO " SECRETS " ABOUT TEA-MAKING XOWE 

 THE " OBSERVER " 'S FOUR HE^UDS OF ADVIOE RE- 

 CAPITULATED ; THE NEED FOR THE DRAG ON THE 

 COACH ; "ECONOMY IN WORKING " REQUIRED ; SAFE 

 AVERAGE PROFITS R15 PER ACRE ; THE FUTURE OF 

 LABOUR SUPPLY ; A WARNING TO PROPRIETORS. 



5th August ISSfi. 

 Dear Sir,— Some time ago you asked me to 

 give you my ideas about things in general and 

 especially Tea. I send you a rather hurried sketch 

 for you to do wliat you like with. — I remain, yours 

 truly. 



The most serious question at present is : " Has 

 Ceylon tea reached its lowest price or must we look 

 for a further fall ? " At present the fall is arrested, 

 and we hope our produce will soon command better 

 prices. Unless other markets are found besides 

 Mincing Lane, later on, we shall probably see a 

 still more serious and a permanent fall. How we 

 are to meet this outlook is the point we have 

 to consider. The reply of the London Broker is, 

 " Pluck fine and send home superior teas." The 

 Planter's answer, to this is, plucking fine does 

 not pay me so well as medium plucking, 

 which also tries the young bushes less, besides I 

 find the teas specially affected by the late fall 

 are the teas of better quality. To prove that this 

 is correct we have only to refer to the weekly list 

 of tea sales in London. Broken Pekoes and Pekoes 

 formerly worth Is 9d to 2s, now sell at Is to Is 2d, 

 whereas Pekoe Soucliongs formerly worth Is Id 

 to is 2d still realize lOd to Is : dust and broken 

 teas have fallen very little in value. The com- 

 plaint that Ceylon tea has fallen off in quality 

 is not generally allowed by planters. One of them 

 discussing this question with me lately said, ' l\Iy 

 opinion is, an attempt is being made by London 

 Brokers who are interested in Indian and China 

 teas, to class Ceylon Tea as an inferior article, 

 and rank it with Java produce and he suggested 

 fiT'it, that for a short time all proprietors should 

 pluck fine and thus compel an acknowledgment 

 that Ceylon tea equally witli Ceylon coffee and 

 cinchona is second to none ; fn'cond, that a 1 

 proprietors should support the now Syndicate and 

 show London Brokers that we can find other out- 



lets for our tea and thli? compel them to value 

 our produce fairly.' I would urge the Syndicate 

 not to forget to place Ceylon teas in London and 

 all large towns in the United Kingdom and the 

 United States, where, if proper agents are appointed 

 and good teas (guaranteed by the Syndicate) sold 

 large quantities of our produce will be absorbed 

 and we shall be rendered less dependent on Min- 

 cing Lane. 



That planters are anxious to know all about 

 and to make as good tea as possible is shown by 

 the way in which information is freely given ia 

 lectures, &e., and by the general exchange of 

 opinions that is always going on. Mr. Gow's 

 'secrets " are the only ones that I know of in 

 Ceylon. I hope they will turn out valuable 

 ones and if he can without plucking finer, raise the 

 price of tea on the estates he visits, he will benefit 

 himself and the Island. I fear it is hardly likely 

 he will divulge them— that is if they are worth 

 having — in his paper to be road in Dimbula. 



I believe Ceylon teas will improve as estates get 

 older, and that possibly climatic influences may 

 have caused a slight falling-off in quality, but 

 that every planter has been less careful in manu- 

 facture or that the stamina of the tree has been 

 affected I am unwilling to admit. 



You have frequently warned planters not to be 

 too sanguine and given them advice. It can do 

 no harm to recapitulate some of your past advice, 

 as even now it may be of use, as land is still 

 being opened for tea, and coffee is being inter- 

 planted. It will also be interesting to see if you 

 were correct. Advice No. 1 was. Not to put tea 

 into worn out coffee estates or into land where 

 soil was bad ; 2nd. not to use seed from young 

 bushes or bushes of an inferior jat;_3rd. Not to 

 rush estates into tea but to do the planting gradually 

 and carefully ; 4th, To have belts of gums and other 

 trees to keep off wind and break the expanse 

 planted in one product, thereby probably lessen- 

 ing the spread of disease if hereafter it attacks tea. 

 Inferior land has, no doubt, been planted by men 

 unwilling to acknowledge that the estate they had 

 Funk their money in and which failed in coftee 

 and cinchona would not grow tea; and by speculators 

 with a view to selling out when the rush comes 

 (but the rush never has come and now prices are 

 down probably never will). That tea from land 

 of this description proves inferior is not surpris- 

 ing. Many have rushed tea into their places and 

 been careless about seed because agents and mort- 

 gagees compelled them to plant large acreages at 

 once and now in yield and quality their estates 

 cannot come up to those of their more fortunate 

 neighbours. It may be that advice No. 4, may yet 

 prove to be sound but many belts put in for cin- 

 chona have been eradicated of late years showing 

 that the advice is not generally believed in. I 

 cannot believe poor soil will continue to give large 

 crops of good tea without cultivation, cost of which 

 may render keeping up of poor estates unprofit- 

 able. It is certain that prices will eventually fall 

 to say, 40 to 50 cent for all round breaks and re- 

 main at that price. Only estates where the yield 

 is high and quality good will then pay. If inferior 

 land is abandoned when this occurs, those who 

 have good land will benefit. The produce will be 

 superior and prices loss affected as the annual 

 outturn will be less. 



Economy in working must be the great aim 

 of the Ceylon planter : the man who gets the 

 highest average is not necessarily the best planter ; 

 but those who can combine cheap expenditure 

 and a fair average price for their teas will show 

 the best profits. When the , question among plan- 

 ters is what profit did your l&st break show?. 



