tsOv. I, 1886.] 



tUE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



2S9 



CEYLON UPCOUNTKY PLAXTING REPORT. 



DLACK OR tlRKEN BUG ON THK TEA — THE " MOXAKCU" 

 TEA 3IACUINE — " ANOTHEU KICHARD IN THE FIELD." 



27th September, 188G. 



Most planters have seen a tea plant here and 

 there, especially when growing in the vicinity of 

 coffee, covered with black or green bug, and have 

 set the bame down to evil companionship. There 

 is always the fear, however, that the pest may 

 spread, and that tea may sutler as the coffee has 

 done. I was sorry to hear that in the Pussellawa 

 district a considerable extent of tea can be seen 

 now blackened with this plague. The effect en the 

 tea is not such as it was on our weakened coffee 

 trees, but if the bug follows the nation, and takes 

 a liking to our new product he may be rather hard 

 to satisfy. The effect of the bug in the meantime 

 is that all flushing is stopped. I have seen a 

 memorandum which Mr. William Gow has put out 

 regarding his "Monarch" Tea Leaf Withering and 

 Fermenting Machine, and which is about to be in- 

 troduced into Ceylon. This machine, it seems, tries 

 to do mechanically what the Chinese accomplish 

 by hand when they toss and beat the leaf about. 

 But it does more than this ; it withers and ferments 

 by means of a current of hot-air circulating through 

 a rotating drum of special construction. It is self- 

 acting, requiring only coolies to feed, and a man 

 to watch the fire. By its means the leaf is oxydised 

 and fermented be/ore luUimj, and can be 

 kept for a time — some hours — without deteriorating. 

 It is maintained that leaf withered by this machine 

 rolls well, and when fired is handsome and wiry 

 showing the requisite bloom, and being of a good 

 bright black colour. It further multiplies the 

 pekoe ends, by the convoluted leaf-buds opening out. 

 The rolled leaf is said to take a shorter time to 

 tire than is usually necessary and the expenditure on 

 fuel is small. Extensive withering space is rendered un- 

 necessary, and a machine 8'><8' at a trial on 

 Mohurgong estate, Sukna, prepared fourteen maunds 

 of withered leaf and six maunds of ' cutcha ' 

 leaf per hour, and did its work to the 

 satisfaction of some eight managers of tea 

 gardens who had come to see it working. A fill of the 

 machine is six maunds of unwilhered leaf, and 

 the time occupied to complete the operation depends 

 altogether on the quality and state of the leaf operated 

 on. From the above particulars it will be seen that 

 the " Monarch " promises much, and we will be 

 all interested in comparing the result of the com- 

 ing trial in Ceylon, with what took place in India. 

 This is how the planters there put it: — "The 

 meeting found that all these conditions were 

 fulfilled, and that a great pull was obtained, 

 namely, that oxydization and fermentation were 

 fully and chemically perfected before rolling : that 

 extensive withering space was rendered unnecess- 

 ary ; that tea made from even coarse leaf gave 

 a good black appearance and that generally it was 

 most favourably affected. The meeting further 

 found that a good twist was given to the leaf, and 

 that all superfluous moisture having been removed 

 the process of firing was much more speedily carried 

 out." 



The " Monarch " is however not be " mon- 

 arch of all he surveys," for 1 hear that there 

 is already " another Richard in the field," and 

 that a pushing upcountry firm is soon about to 

 launch another W itherer. But I have not heard 

 any particulars regarding it. except that the price 

 was to be moderate; which is a comfort. 



BRAZIL'S COFFEE EXPORTS. 



In the year 1722* the first coffee plant was 

 brought into Brazil, in the Amazon district. The 

 cultivation of the plant did not commence until 

 1761, extending to Maranhao in 1774, from which 

 province some plants were introduced in Rio in a 

 private garden. In 1820 the export of coffee wa;:! 

 97,500 bags of 162 pounds. Its cultivation rapidly 

 expanded, as the following table of exports from 

 Rio at intervals of ten years will show : 



Bags of 162 lb. 



1860 2,127,21!) 



1870 2,209,156 



1880 2,799,791 



Bags of 162 lb 



1830 391,785 



1810 1,068,418 



1850 1,343,184 



In 1874 bags to hold 132 pounds were substi- 

 tuted, and therefore we make the figures of 18t"0 

 to correspond with those used at earlier compar- 

 ative dates. The civil war disturbed seriously the 

 relation of supply to demand, and as the United 

 States was the chief market, very naturally its 

 trouble discouraged production in Brazil. The 

 yearly average exports from 1861 to 1870 were, 

 138,537 tons, advancing to 155,912 tons per annum 

 from 1871 to 1875. 



For the seven years 1874-1880 the annual aver- 

 age shipments from Rio and Santos were 229,149 

 tons, of which 48§ per cent, came to the United 

 States and 51g per cent to Europe. Adding local 

 consumption in Brazil, we had what was then 

 considered by tlie author of " Coffee from Plant- 

 ation to Cup" the "stupendous" average annual 

 production of 558,093,760 pounds, or 249,149 tons. 



Since then we have had a period of low prices, 

 and it still continues. The natural tendency of 

 such a state of affairs would be to check produc- 

 tion ; that such has not occurred is evident from 

 the following statement : 



EXPOKTS KIO AND SAXTOS COFFFK CROP YBAR END« 



IN« .TUNE 30. 



To United 

 States. 



1882 2,536,457 



1883 2,950,124 



1884 2,447,759 



1885 3,1.38,254 



18S6 2,952,-322 



To 

 Europe. 

 2,774,008 

 3,325,178 

 2,558,4(:)0 

 3,131,262 

 2,350,049 



Total. 

 5,310,465 

 6,275,302 

 5,006,239 

 (i,2i;9,516 

 5,302,371 



Total, five years 14,024,916 14,138,977 28,163,H93 

 Annual average 2,804,983 2,827,795 5X>32,77S 



This represents, allowing 30,000 tons for home 

 consumption and exports from Bahia, an average 

 annual supply of 360,752 tons, or Sl8,081,l.s0 

 pounds, against an annual average of 558,093,700 

 pounds for the jjeriod 1874-80. 



Therein lies the sequel of cheap coffee. It is 

 claimed that planters, whose plantations are free 

 from encumbrance, can profitably raise coffee on 

 the basis of prices ruling during the past three 

 years. Unfortunately many planters are paying 

 heavy interest on mortgages, and these have be- 

 come more or less discouraged. 



It is noticeable that stocks have bee)i growing 

 smaller for two years, giving strength to the be- 

 lief that new plantations are not being set out in 

 Brazil, and a survey in detail of the above table 

 rather supports that idea. Tlie 1883 crop was 

 about equal to that of 1885 ; that of 1882 was 

 abreast of 1886, and making allowance for the 

 variation in crops, the indications jjoint to the 

 Brazil production having reached a maximum 

 until some new stimulant is given the industry. 

 It this proves to be true we must, with a steady 



■^ 



P^rPEKCQBK, 



* One Jiaudred i^nd sixtyfoiir years agro,-=-Ki', 



