Jau. I, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



40:/ 



COCONUrS IN CEYLON: LOWCOUNTHY 

 IL ANTING REPOllT. 



COCONUTS AND COPRA— "THE VALLKY "— BULNING 



WEATHER. , , . , . 



Hapitigam KoaALE, Sul Jan. 1887.— iSbb has been a 

 good year for the stajile product of this district ; 

 theie has been no long dronglits— and ample of both 

 raiu and sunshine, the two chmatic wants of the 

 tree. A numerically average crop has thus been 

 well filled, and has resulted in more than an aver- 

 age weight of copra. Besides improving the quality 

 of the current crop, the fine season h:'s put a 

 crop on for 18S7, much above the numerical avtrage. 

 The proprietors have thus secured one good crop, and 

 have a fair expectation of a better coining. 



A visitor to the valley has lately informed you that 

 all the estates are in excellent order. It is true tliat 

 within the past few years thi re has been progress, 

 but progress is magical in different cases, and all 

 the estates cannot justly be classed as excellent. 



A fortnight of burning sun and dry acarclung wind 

 has had a sad effect on all ve;,etation ; tlie grass 

 is already withered down to the roots, and garden 

 stuffs are nowhere. Every thing is drooping, biown 

 and yellow leaves are falling in showers, with every 

 gust, as well as immature fruit of kinds ; and the 

 last planted coconuts are beginning to die. Fortun- 

 ately the drought has not yet affected the older trees, 

 but their time is coming if this weather continues 

 much longer. 



CEYLON TEAS -"BULKED UNASSORTED. 



We are heartily glad to see that our Circular of '21st 

 Oct. has at any rate attracted the attention of Messrs. 

 Wilson & Co., of Colombo, who favour us with some 

 comments upon it. With their permi.ssion we may state 

 broadly that though they do not altogether agree with 

 us, they go so far as to admit that Hulking unassorted 

 is in some cases beneficial. We i^hall show by and bye 

 they do not know when. We must be allowed to I-emind 

 their readers that we mo.st di.stinctly guarded against a 

 hasty conclusion being come to that " all planters are 

 advised to forward their Teas unassorted." On the 

 contiary, we stated emphatically, "it would be ab.surd 

 to lay down any hard and fast rule about it." Our 

 critics overlook this, and rather commit themselves to 

 a rule they immediately proceed to lay down. We 

 think it a little misleading to i-tatotbatwe were "only 

 able to point to one instance out cr the hundreds that 

 are sold in London." It is quite true that the parti- 

 cular case quoted by us, was the only iostaece we were 

 aware of in which the entire produce of an estate had 

 been divided and treated, as to one portion, by sub- 

 division into six breaks, and as to other by Bulking 

 unas.sorted, and sold side by side t^e same day; but 

 •we have repeatedly referred to the prices obtained for 

 unassorted parcels. We learn from an interesting 

 letter of Mr. Jas. W. Holt, of St. Leys, published in 

 the Ovcrhiiid Ceylon Obserrer, of November ISth, that 

 in his experience the figures were reversed, and the 

 assorted got Is 5jd, against the unassorted Is Id. ' Mr. 

 Holt, with the best intentions, publishes his letter for 

 our " benefit." We should doubtless profit mr>re by it 

 if ho had kindly taken the trouble to state the exact 

 proportions in which fine and common Teas entered 

 into his unassorted division. As it is, though his state- 

 ment is a fact, it benefits no one; we learn nothing 

 from it; not even from the Editor's foot-note: — 

 " Hear, hear ! It is evidently ridiculous to lay down 

 any hard and fast rule." Our own words to a tick. 

 We notice a differei co between the quantities when 

 divided in Mr. Holt's invoice. 1,.'J00 lb., he says, wore 

 assorted into five grades, and 1,000 lb. were blended. 

 The 1,.500 :h. f^dched Is ojd, and the unassorted Is Id. 

 We fear IMr. Holt's expeiience of blending Teas is of 

 little use to him if he cannot do belter tha's. that. U 

 he Were to try to write a Doctor's prescription con- 

 taining six ingredients he might achieve even more 

 startling rtsults not of course so easily expressed 

 in pt-nce. And here, in justice to out selves, we 

 may repeat what we said at the time we were 

 wriiing fully on this interesting subject. "Besides 



we do not advocate treating the entire crop of 

 Ceylon in this way. It is quite open to the ex- 

 pert to decide how much of this Broken Pekoe he 

 will ship as It is, and how much return to the bulk 

 to assist in giving tip and appearance to the re- 

 mainder of the parcel. // /roi//d be obviou^hi ubsurd to 

 laji do/ni aiiij hard and fust rule aboiif if. Experience 

 and judgment must guide the planter, after all said 

 and done, as to how he is to get the best return in 

 money, and we trust we have indicated one direc- 

 tion m which he may look for a reward for thought and 

 skill. There is no reason to be disheartened and dis- 

 couraged if first efforts do not bring out a much higher 

 result. The secret of the success of blending is that 

 the finer Teas, owing to their greater strength and 

 flavour overmaster a much larger quantity of isome- 

 what inferior Teas, and rai.se the quantity of the 

 bulk, but the exact limits to which to go without 

 making the fine Tea resemble the proverbial needle 

 111 a bottle of hay, can only be arrrived at by ex- 

 periment and practice.' The thanks of all bis rea- 

 aers are due to tlie editor of the -'Overland Times" 

 of Ceylon for his able and exhaustive leading article 

 on the subject. He at any rate discerns our desire 

 to further the interest of the Ceylon planter. Sup- 

 posing we were absolutely wrong in our views, is it 

 not much better that the matter should be thoroughly 

 ventilated and all the arguments pro and eo/i dis- 

 cussed freely so that the best course for all parties 

 may be arrived tit? But we are no theorists on the 

 matter of Tea blending. Ours is practical experi- 

 ence extending over many years, and leading us to 

 certain conclusions, but it was a long time before 

 we could dictate a blend of seven or eight Teas, as 

 we do to dealers every day, to get the best result 

 with least nio:cey. The " Overland Time^ " savs we 

 appear to hold very strong views on the subject. 

 We do, and we are glad to say we have succeeded 

 in impressing them upon some others. Messrs. 

 \Vilson iV.' Co., in theirs of -ISi-d November, sum np 

 "in short. Gardens producing medium Teas such 

 as Broken Pekoes selling at Is Id to Is 2d per lb. 

 Pekoe Souchong 9Ad to lOAd, Broken Tea 8d should 

 bulk unassorteil, and (lardens producing fine Teas 

 should not." To what advantage? What is the average 

 of Is Id, Is, 9.Jd, and 8d ? Where does the improve- 

 ment of the bulk come in ? Do Messrs. Wilson & Co., 

 or does any one suppose that by mixing Teas from 8d 

 to Is Id, they will get an average of., Is 21?—Ri(cker 

 l)' Bencraft, London, Dec. 17. 



THE LANKA PLANTATIONS CO., LIMITED: 

 COFFEE, CACOA, CINCHONA, TEA. 



DiKECTons. — R. P. Harding, Esq., Chairman, Geo. 

 Allen, Esq.. James Thomas White, Esq., Sir Herbert 

 Bruce Sandford, Horace George Hayes, Esq. Resid- 

 ent-Manager: — Sir. Edward Gonne Harding. Agents in 

 Colombo: — Messrs. J. M. Robertson & Co. Secretary: 

 — Mr. William Bois. 



Authorised capital, £200,000 in 15,000 ordinary shares 

 of £10 each and 5,000 reference shares of £10 each. 



REPORT 

 To be presented at the Sixth Ordinary General Meeting: 

 of the Lanka Plantations Company, Limited, to be held 

 at the offices of the Company, on the 30th Eecember, 

 188G, at 12 o'clock at noon. 



1. The Directors submit their Eeport for the twelve 

 months ending 30tb June last, together with theBalance 

 Sheet and Accounts of the Company made up to that 

 date 



2. The weather has again seriously affected 

 the coffee crop in all parts of Oeylou, the 

 outturn for the year in that Island being about 

 one-fourth of what it was a few years since. The 

 The Company has suffered with the rest. The cause 

 is to be fo„nd in deficiency of sun heat, superabund- 

 ai ce of rai[,^ kaf disease and new insect pests. Ex- 

 traordinary climatic efl'ects have occurred in most parts 

 of the worlH, and I ntil they cease and normal weather 

 returns giving well " ripened wood and go ■(! ripening 

 seasons, Coffee crc ps will continue to be short, ana 

 although short ciops result in better prices, such prices 

 do not c<),,iy,pnsate or short crojis. 



