206 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[Sept. i, 1886 



country, but by a circulation of cowries — shells wortli 

 tweuty to the halfpenny, and used for small change. 



Such a digression may seem to take us far from Tea, 

 and yet brings us back to the point that, comparatively 

 slow thosgh they may be in their operation in India, 

 yet the laws of supply and demand will, in the long 

 ruB, if silver remains so low, raise pricesin India till 

 the present benefit of the Planters, through the ex- 

 change, is lost. It behoves them, therefore, not to 

 forget economj' in the hour of their apparent prosperity 

 but to prepare for the worse time coming by cutting 

 down expenses aud by not letting fixed charges grow 

 as the weight produced increases. 8imilar causes arc 

 at work in Oeylon, in Java, and above all China. The 

 production of Tea is being immenseh' stimulated, and 

 is increasing beyond the rate of increase of the con- 

 sumption. This, of course, means constantly falling 

 prices on our side, at a time when the cost of production 

 in the East tends slowly to rise, aud when, in addition 

 to other causes, the increased scarcity of gold i*; tend- 

 ing to lower the prices of commodities it England 

 and in most parts of Europe While this is so, there 

 appears, on the other hand, no apparent limii to the 

 progressive decline in the value of silver. The actual 

 cost of the bullion iu the rupee is said to be about 

 Is at present, and it is probably a good deal con- 

 vention and habit tliat keep it so much above that 

 price. The planters will therefore continue to profit, 

 if the rupee falls further, but by very slow degrees 

 the cost of production would rise in proportion, while 

 selling prices are likely to continue to drop here, 

 through an opposite cause — the "appreciation," or 

 rise in value, of the other chief circu'ating medium. 

 The e.Kactly contrary effects of these two currents in 

 prices, are thus likely to deprive the tea planters of 

 their present gains by the exchanges, sooner than they 

 would have otherwise lost them. 



Inevitable as they may be, these alterations in the 

 values of gold, silver and commodities, while they 

 .ire in progress, cause an enormous amount of incon- 

 venience, and a good deal of actual loss in some 

 branches of trade (tor though the tea planters happen 

 to gain, English exporters often suffer), especially as 

 the causes at work are so difficult to discern or 

 follow, that for a long time people are perplexed to 

 know the reason for what is going on. An iufiuential 

 section of the mercantile community is greatly con- 

 cerned at these fluctuations in opposite directions in 

 the relations of currencies and prices of gold, silver 

 aud other produce. It thinks that the various govern- 

 ments of the world ought to intervene, and to decree 

 that what is really worth Is 'id is not worth that, but 

 2s — in short, that humanity at large should accept 

 seventeen pence as being worth twenty- four. The task 

 appears a large one, and of the character of that un- 

 dertaken by Canute v^heii lin rebuked the sea for its 

 progress. After all, it will lie found that the main 

 difRculty of the Eastern exchanges arises from tlie con- 

 tinuous fall iu them, for once the rate is stable in 

 mercantile transactiuns, calculations are readily made, 

 and things equalise themselves. This instability in the 

 relatious between currencies and commodities no law 

 couid have altogether stepped. The part in favour of a 

 regulation of prices by the Uovernments of the world, is 

 greatly sw»;Iied by the Anglo-Iu'lian official fraternity 

 — a class that lose materially by the present statu of 

 the exchanges, because the (.iovernment has contracted 

 to pay thein so many rupees a month, and not so many 

 sovereigns. It would be well for Indian officials to 

 correct their ideas by asking any tea, iudigo, or silk 

 planters, or any exporters of corn, seeds, oils, or other 

 Indian produce, whom they may know, what would be 

 their opinion of the result of bringing exchanges to 

 par, if it could be done at a blow, bj' an arbitrary law. 

 The plantei'S aud exporters from lutiia would pro!)ab!y 

 point out that such a change would instantly ruin 

 theni. The views oven of the Simla authorities may 

 be coloured by the officials' sufleriugs through tlie loss 

 on home remittances and pay. For instance, a des- 

 patch has recently lieen uu-niioned iu the papers, in 

 which the Governor-Uenerars Council c,)mb.tt \hc as- 

 sertion, tluit the recent amazmg development in the 

 exterior trade of India is due to the state of the ex- 

 phanges, while, on the contrary, they put it down to 



improved communications. New railroads and .so on 

 have no doubt iminen.sely facilitated this result of 

 increased Indi>in exports, but Tea iigaiu disproves the 

 assertion of the exchanges having no part in this 

 result. There has been no particular improvement iu 

 the modes of transit of Tea from Assam, ami yet the 

 produetiou increases rajjidly, and is remunerative at 

 prices in England that would formerly have destroyed 

 the industry in a soasuii. —J'rodi"; Maikrls' lli rien:. 



THE DETERIORATION OF CEYLON TEAS 



OR THE USE AND A151 SE OF THE 

 KNIFE IN CEYLON. 

 No. I. 



(Bif tin Assrnii F/itiitcr.) 



19th August 188(). 



Before discussing this all-important subject, let 

 us examine the different agricultural implements 

 provided by the manufacturer tor all sorts and con- 

 ditions of growths, endeavouring whilst doing so 

 to select that best suited to the requirements of 

 the island and the subjects requiring to be oper- 

 ated upon. 



First let us look at the Assam churri. Is it 

 not a terrible-looking weapon, with its long, coarse 

 and sometimes horney handle, its heavy back and 

 crooked end? In truth it is as formidable as it looks. 

 Made of the best tried metal, there is nothing that 

 will turn its edge or break its point. When properly 

 handled and a drawing cut given, it will sever with 

 e(iual readiness a bambu stump or a* luihorc sapling. 

 Unfortunately it is a trifle dangerous, tlie makers 

 have neglected to provide it with a suitable sheath, 

 thus it is always open and ready for use. 8ome- 

 times coolies cannot resist the use of it in the 

 settlement of their disputes, so it may be found 

 advisable to collect them at muster. 



Next we come to a modification of the 

 above. It will suit our purpose admirably, for in 

 the first place it is inexpensive, whilst small and 

 light it is very strong and handy and well suited for 

 light work; it can give a big cut on the occasion : 

 this is what we want, but ol course it requires 

 having the knowledge where to cut, how and 

 wiien to do it. 



Lastly we have that with a rough sawHke edge: 

 let us dismiss this from our minds with the re- 

 mark that, being unweildy it is too slow in its 

 task, rough on the plant and tedious on the oper- 

 atoi- ; its use could only lie required as a last and 

 \ery desperate remedy ; in a now field like Ceylon 

 it should not bo necessary for many years. It will 

 be my object to show your readers how they can 

 best spare the knife with benefit to themselves. 

 Much of the deterioration one hears of is due to 

 its too liberal application ; at any rate, this and 

 the heaviest picking combined. Whilst repeatedly 

 advising the abandonment of the barbarous style 

 of plucking so conspicuous in the browsed bushes, 

 the abuse of the knife is a siill more crying evil. 

 And now let me urgently impress the absolute 

 necessity of giving the bushes a chance in the 

 coming pruning season. If you have young trees 

 let them rua, it can do -them no i)0ssible harm 

 until they begin to crowd each other, then it will 

 be quite time enough to prune them and there 

 will be no occasion (more especially with high-class 

 hybrid or indigenous) to do more than pass the 

 kiiife across as nearly as possible at the joint of 

 the main limbs, and as near the centre of the 

 tiunk as may be, the higher up one keeps with 

 the knife the better : positively no cleaning out is 

 ever necessary : some well- informed planters con- 

 tend that for every singio wiry twig removed, two 

 come to replace it. The so-called culling down 

 cannot he too strongly deprecated : it kills many a 



