Dec. 1, 1886.J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



395 



opportuDity to reprint the paragraph in its entirity. 

 The Company draw attention to the fact that they 

 are making Ceylon Tea their speciality, as will be 

 found in the accompanying Prospectus. The practical 

 knowledge which \''ill be brought to bear on the 

 business they uudertake, and their cloFe connection 

 with tlie Mincing Lane Markets, place the Company 

 in a position to make their selections most advant- 

 ageously from the entira importations brought into 

 London ; and by using all the extensive means at 

 their comraaud for publicity, the widest scope will be 

 afforded to participate largely in distribuling their 

 Ceylon Tea at prices which will show an appreciable 

 gain to the public, and in quantities to suit the most 

 moderate orders. 



Without indulging in any extravagant ideas, 

 :here seems no reason why the Company's^ sales 

 .xhould be Hmited to the moderately estimated 

 amount of a quarter of a million lb annually, and 

 it the profits be calculated, even at a considt-rable 

 ri duction, on the basis of those stated by " Stocks 

 and Shares," they would still yield dividends which 

 may be variously estimated from 20 to 30 per cent. 



CEYLON TEAS.—" BULKED UNASSORTED." 



In /. .4. nucker cf- Bcncraft's Weekly Tea Circular 

 October 21st, we read : — 



Last week we referred to this subject, faking as an 

 example of what we consider its importance the case of 

 an estate, which shall be uamele.'^s, the produce of 

 which we pointed out had apparently been experimen- 

 ted upon with a view to satisfying the planters as to 

 whether or no our advice on fhia ht ad was sound. We 

 Say our advice, as we have been hammering at it for a 

 year, and bave got some of our friends to adopt the 

 nu'tliod, while we are informed that in other quarters 

 our recommendations are discountenanced, and the 

 advantages we claim for the planter are denieil by some 

 who perhaps may not have had the time or inclination 

 to go as thoroughly into the matter of blended Teas as 

 we have in the last fifteen years. The proof in the pud- 

 ding is in the eating, and we should liave thought a 

 clear loss of £300 on the assorted portion of the estate 

 in question, even though only shown by our estimate, 

 would have been enougli to set people to wotk for them- 

 selvrs to see if there was " anything in it." For the 

 satisfaction of those friends in Ceylon, who have acted 

 ui)0u our suggestions, we have deti rmiii'd to goa step 

 further, and we now invite attention to the following 

 facts which may confirm thu-ii in adhering to the 

 decision to which we had led them, and which may 

 benefit those who have not yet had a lengthened prac- 

 tical e.xperience. It will be remembered that the " un- 

 assorted break" — wiiich, we may explain to the un- 

 initiated, was the portion of the yield, or picking, in 

 which the Broknn Pekoe, Two Pekoes, Pekoe fannings, 

 and Pekoe Souchong were blended together and sold 

 in one break — fetched one shilling and five pence farth- 

 ing per pound. The remainder of the invoice sold in 

 six separate breaks, averaged only one shilling and one 

 p nny farthing. We first heard it doubted whether the 

 Teas were from the same garden. To this we can only 

 say they are all marked with the estate name, and all 

 comprised in one invoice. There is a slight di'^crepancy 

 between the two lots which we shall allude to 

 further on. The proportions in which the Teas 

 came from the machine may be expressed thus: — 

 Broken Pekoe 1'4 ; 1st Pekoe 5 8; Fannings 1-9; 

 2ud Pekoe 06 ; Dust 00 ; Pekoe 8ouchong 0-3. 

 Toe dust, we take it, represents the entire quant- 

 ity of dust from the whole invoice, whether as- 

 B )rted or unassorted, for we cannot find the proper 

 proportion of dust in the Is r)Jd parcel. We have 

 t ken tho trouble to procure one of each of those 

 particular six Teas, and have had them carefully 

 blended in the same proportions as above, and with 

 this result, our blend of the six Teas which when 

 sold separately only avoraj^'ed Is l^d, is worth a 

 fnll haljpiiii.ii /»')■ If), iiio (' than the "unassorted" 

 which realized Is .^Jd. We account for this by tho 

 simplf fact that the dnst which of course sold by 



itself for a low figure — but has a grand pungen t 

 Pekoe flavoured liquor— assists to thicken and 

 " fetch up " the bulk when added to it. Being, 

 as we take it, removed from the entire parcel, 

 the " unassorted," minus the dust, was xn our 

 opinion depreciated to the extent of Jd per lb. 

 lleaders may recollect that in a less sprightly 

 market on March 1th, 1885, we called attention to 

 the sale of an entire invoice " unassorted " at Is tid 

 per lb. " Certain buyers want fine broken Pekoefi 

 and give long prices for them, and we have to 

 take that into consideration." To this we can only 

 say, why should you take out the Pekoes, Fannings, 

 and dust, to sell at a low figure in order that 

 some one may buy the broken Pekoes at a long 

 price and mix them again? "But then if every- 

 body bulks his Teas ' unassorted,' we shall soon 

 arrive at one dead level of price for Ceylons, and 

 there will be no range from 7d to .Ss 6d as formerly.'' 

 .John Chinaman has from the year 1840 adopted 

 this plan, and a glance at a China Tea Broker's 

 Circular wil'. show there is no dead level for China 

 Teas yet. Quotations for Congous still range from 

 'ihA to 2s (id in an average year, and this is for 

 millions of pounds where Ceylons are still thousands. 

 There is no doubt quality will tell in the price 

 obtained for the " unassorted " Ceylons just as it 

 does in the "unassorted" Chinas. Reflections will 

 bring to mind several recent sales of unassorted 

 parcels from different gardens selling same day and 

 side by side at lid and Is .5d per lb. Besides we 

 do not advocate treating the entire Tea crop of 

 Ceylon in this way, it is quite open to the expert 

 to decide how much of his broken Pekoe he wilJ 

 ship as it is, and how much return to the bulk, 

 to assist in giving tip and appearance to the re> 

 ihainder of the parcel. It would be obviously ab- 

 surd to lay down any hard and fast rule about it. 

 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 in- 

 dicated one direction in which he may look for 

 a reward for thought and skill. There is no reason 

 to be disheartened and discouraged 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, 

 which overmaster a much larger quantity of some- 

 what inferior Teas, and raise the quality of the 

 bulk, but the exact limits to which to go without 

 making the fine Tea resemble the proverbial needle 

 in a bottle of hay, can only be arrived at by ex- 

 periment and practice. It is perhaps worth whilq 

 to point out once more that when there are ten 

 millions of pounds of fine broken Pekoe the price 

 is scarcely likely to bo the same as now there is 

 one million. In nine cases out of ten this fine 

 broken Pekoe is blended — smothered we should per- 

 haps call it— with vastly inferior Teas, for the 

 drinkers of pure finest Ceylon broken Pekoes sel- 

 ling in the Rooms at 2s to Ss are few and far between. 

 The description " unassorteil " though perfeorly well 

 understood by the trade is somewhat misleading, and 

 we are inclined to advocate boldly marking such Teas 

 " Factory Blended." The planter may be sure of one 

 thing, be is far more likely to send forwird even 

 quality by Idending than by assorting. What planter 

 would contract under p^nilty to ship from an estate a 

 broken Pekoe of exactly the sim-^ quality six times 

 running!' yet by blendinsr, contracts here can lie taken 

 for a year at a time with no fear of having goods 

 declind as not up to muster. 



The Ckyt.on Cinchona Syndicate proposal 

 is discussed in the Madras Mail, in an article 

 whicli will be found on our last page. Althongh 

 a formal organisation is not likely to result now, 

 yet tlie discussion will probably iead to a good many 

 individual proprietors doing the work of a Syndicate, 

 by holding their bark in quantities under warrant, 

 rather than rushing it on the market. Advances 

 can be got on such stocks within n safe margin. 



