6 i6 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [March i, 1887. 



and after all the real cause of the decline may be found 

 in the unsettled state of the country between Afghanis- 

 tan and Persia, through which the tea had to pass owing 

 to the action of Russia, and now I come to think of it 

 I remember that our owu little war with Cabal in 1878-98 

 nearly put a stop to the trade, the Afghans saying it was 

 unsafe to try and pass through. This trade may, there- 

 fore, revive now that the Russian difficulty has been satis- 

 factorily settled, but if it does I would strongly advise 

 the planters interested to take care of the goose, and by 

 sacrificing a fraction of their profits provide airtight 

 and waterproof bags so as to insure their teas reach- 

 ing the consumer's hands in good condition, and free 

 from mildew and rot, and if they could send the tea 

 in small air-tight packets (such as are now being sold 

 in Ceylon) to suit the retail trade I am certain they 

 would be gainers in the end. 



Talking of small packets remind me of what a vast 

 field for the profitable disposal of their teas the In- 

 dian planters are neglecting at their doors. If we de- 

 duct the teas consumed by the troops [and Europeans 

 the consumption of tea in India is almost nil ; yet 

 the natives are fond of tea, and thousands of them 

 would become habitual tea-drinkers if they could always 

 procure it in a fresh state and in suitable sized 

 •packtii. 



At present it is only in certain large cities, that the 

 natives can purchase tea at all, and then it is either of 

 the coarsest description, (Eohea) in paper-packers and 

 of course musty as souchong taken from a box that has 

 probably lain open in the Buaiah's shop for more than 

 a month, and, which, besides being musty has become 

 impregnated with the smell of fish and all the other 

 various strong smelling articles with which the shop 

 is filled. Besides these China tea (so called being sticks 

 and bits of flat leaf) can be had in some of the prin- 

 cipal towns in J and \ lb. packets which are retailed at 

 the rate of one rupee per lb. If some of the managers 

 anil assistants of tea estates would only combine busi- 

 ness with pleasure, especially those who are fend of 

 shooting and devote some of their spare time to hawk- 

 ing tea about the country and introducing it into the 

 bazaars of small native towns and outlying districts, I 

 am convinced we should hear no more about the scare 

 of overproduction for years to come. The people of India 

 are capable of consuming every ounce of tea at present 

 produced by India, and two trips which I made with 

 the above object in view, convinced me that very little 

 care and trouble on the part of the planters to intro- 

 duce their tea would secure them a very extensive and 

 profitable market. 



As the OhserveT is a widely circulated paper, and 

 anything appearing in its columns affecting the interests 

 of Indian tea planters would probably find its way into 

 the Indian papers, a short account of the two trips 

 mentioned above and the experience gained by them 

 (of which my subsequently leaving India prevented me 

 reaping the benefit) might not be out of place here. 



1st — Each trip occupied nearly four Dionths,but as they 

 were accomplished during the cold weather, when there 

 is nothing to be done on a tea estate in India, it could 

 hardly be considered that any time was lost, and as 

 a good part of the journey lay through thinly populated 

 districts swarming with game of every description. I 

 was more than compensated for the loss of the usual 

 cold weather leave which was usually spent on a shoot- 

 ing expedition, but now for the experience gained, and 

 which'may be useful to any enterprising planter who 

 may wish to try the experiment. 



(1) — I found it easy to dispose of i and I lb. packets 

 at a profitable rate, but 2 lb. packets could only be 

 disposed of at a reduction in price, and 10 and 20 lb. 

 boxes were almost unsaleable. 



(2) Rich and even middle class natives frequently 



bought the highest priced teas preferring to pay K2 

 per lb. for good B. P. to buying souchong at 12 annas or 

 Boheaat 8 annas ; this shows the great mistake planters 

 make in thinking that natives are too poor or too stingy 

 to buy anything but the cheapest tea, hence they usually 

 reserve nothing, but the cheapest and worst teas for 

 the local markets, and this is either sold loo.se or in 

 rough paper packets. It is this mistaken idea of the 

 planters that has kept back the local sale of tea in 



India more than anything else. They could sell their 

 finest teas in the Indian bazaars for better prices than 

 they can ever hope to get for them in London ; only 

 they must be packed to suit the trade, i. e., in 1 and 

 J and even :| lb. packets lined with lead tinfoils or 

 other waterproof material. 



(3) — Although a good quantity of tea can be .sold to 

 individual consumers the hawker has to look chiefly 

 to small Bunnias of the native bazaars for the disposal 

 of his tea, and with these it is often advisable to barter 

 rather than stipulate for cash payments. As a casein 

 point, I may mention that one of these bargained with 

 me for 1001b. tea at 15 annas per lb., but offered to 

 take 600 lb. at Rl per lb., if I would take R150 cash 

 and the balance of R450 in goods from his shop. To this 

 I consented, and soon found myself the possessor of 

 two gnns, 100 cooly-blankets and other articles worth 

 for more to me than R450, as I intended to take them 

 to a district where such things are scarce and dear. 



(4) — Many of these native tea-drinkers asked me for 

 green tea, as they have a theory that green tea is 

 less heating to the system than black tea. Some 

 of them told me they drink tea regularly during the 

 cold weather, but have to give it up in the hot weather 

 as it is too heating, but if they could get green tea they 

 would drink it all the year round. I cannot pretend 

 to say how far this theory is founded on fact. Personally 

 I prefer black tea to green in the hottest weather, but 

 such being the belief of the natives of India, the planters 

 of the North-Western Province, who cannot now sell 

 their green tea to the Afghans, might take advantage 

 of the native belief and drive a good trade in the 

 plain of India, now that Asia seems closed against 

 them.— Yours faithfully, OLD PLANTER. 



The Society of Arts Journal records the largest Vine 

 in the World is one growing at Oys (Portugal), which 

 has been in bearing since 1802. Its maximum yield 

 was in 1SC4, in which year it produced a sufficient 

 quantity of Grapes to make 750 litres (165 gals.) of 

 wine; in 1874, 665 litres (146* gals.); and in 1884, 

 only 3t)0 litres (79j gals,). It covers an area of 494 

 square metres (5315 square feet), and the stem at 

 the base measures 2 metres in circumference. 



Extensive Tree Planting in Mexico is now being 

 undertaken by the Government, and a contract has been 

 made with Mr. Oscar A. Droege to plant 2,1)00,000 

 trees in the valley of Mexico within four years. The 

 respective numbers are — 80,000 Ash, 35,000 Willows, 

 120,000 Poplars, 60,000 E.icalyptus Trees, 60,000 Trcenos 

 japones, 60.000 Mountain Cypress Cedars, 60,000 Aca- 

 cias, and 120,000 of miscellaneous varieties. The trees 

 are to be in plantations of from 50,000 to 100,000 each. 

 — Jounwl of Horticu/ture. 



An American paper gives the following upon Sun- 

 flowers as fuel. A correspondent having tried " turf," 

 coal wood, and Sunflowers has settled upon the last 

 named as the cheapest and best for treeless D.ikota. 

 He says : " I grow one acre of them every year, and 

 have plenty of fuel for one stove the whole year 

 round, and use some in another stove besides. I 

 plant them iu hills the same as corn (only three seeds 

 to the hill), and cultivate same as corn. 1 cut them 

 when the leader or top flower is ripe, and let them 

 lay on the ground top for three days; in that time 

 I cut off all the seed-heads, which are put into an 

 open sbed with a floor in it, the same as a corn-crib ; 

 the stalks are then hauled home and packed in a com- 

 mon shed with a good roof on. Wlien cut in the 

 right time the stalks when dry are as hard as oak, 

 and make a good hot fire, while the seed-hc.ads with 

 seeds in make a better fire th.an the best hard coal. 

 The seed being very rich in oil it will warm better 

 and burn longer, bu'ihel for bu.«hel, than hard coal. 

 The Sunflower is very hard on land. The piece of 

 ground selected to plant on should be highly enriched 

 with manures. In the great steppes (prairie region 

 in the interior of Russia and in Tartary), where the 

 winters are more severe than here in Dakota, the 

 Sunflowers are, and have been for centuries past, the 

 only kind of fuel used."— Journal of Horticulture. 



