57<5 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [March i, 1887. 



The quantities compare as follows : — 

 July to December. 

 1886. 1885. 1884. 1883. 



Packages. Packages. Packages. Packages. 

 Oil Garden 



Account.. 271,374 226,972 192,183 160,394 

 Oil Paicbase 



Ac :ount.. 198,983 170.260 212,566 233,525 

 or 57| per or 57 per or 47^ per or 40i per 

 cent oil Garden cent. cent. cent. 



Account. 



QUALITY FKOM THE DIFFERENT DISTRICTS. 



Assam. — The improved standard of quality noted last 

 season has been fully sustained, and the high averages, 

 together with a fairly good, and in some instances, large 

 yield must have amply rejiaid managers for their skill 

 and labour. 



Oachae. — The quality has not been good, and has 

 shown a falling off from the moderate standard of last 

 sea on. and some of the well known marks have not 

 attained such a high standard. The inducement held 

 out by the market for common grades in 1885-86 has 

 in many quarters been too strong to be resisted. Where 

 teas have had quality, good prices were readily obtain- 

 able. 



Sylhet.— TLe slight improvement noted a year ago 

 has not been maintained ; it is to be hoped that the 

 rapidly increasing supplies from this district will soon 

 show good quality, when a ready sale may be looked for. 



Dar.ieeling and Teeai. — We have again to record a 

 disappointing season, so far, for these growths; very few 

 invoices have afforded any real quality, and the good 

 prices realized ought to stimulate growers to do their 

 utmost to produce teas with flavour. Dull or thin 

 flavour. ess Darjeeling teas invariably meet with very 

 poor support. 



DooARs. — With the largely increasing yield in this 

 district, it is surprising that excepting on one or two 

 gardens, that so few good liquoring teas are manu- 

 factured : the promise of a few years ago of fine quality 

 has not been borne out. 



Ohiftagong has produced some excellent teas, and 

 the very satisfactory prices obtained should be an en- 

 couragement to persevere in keeping up a good standard. 



Kangea Valley and Kumaon. — Almost all the tea 

 from these districts has been of indifferent character, 

 owing, we believe, to an unfavourable manufacturing 

 season. 



Dehra Doon. — Very few teas have come forward, 

 and these were perhaps as good as are possible to be 

 made in this district. 



Neilgherry. — Fewer flavoury Teas have been re- 

 ceived this season, and prices, consequently, have not 

 been so good. 



Travancore. — Judging from a few small invoices, 

 there seems no reason why this district should not 

 turn out very good Tea. A few such have sold well 

 at very satisfactory prices ; the character of the Teas 

 much resembles Ceylon makes. 



Java. — In the early part of the year arrivals were 

 large, and the quality being quite up to the average, the 

 Teas found ready buyers. Lately, the low prices of 

 Indian have checked Imports. 57,423 packages have 

 been offered during the 12 months. 



Sorting. — As a rule four, or at most five, breaks 

 in an invoice are all that are really needed, viz.: Orange 

 Pekoe or Broken Orange Pekoe, Pekoe, Broken Pekoe, 

 Broken Tea, and Pekoe Souchong, with an occasional 

 lot of Faunings and Dust. Such an assortment should 

 be practicable;if the leaf be plucked moderately fine. 

 When a garden is producing but a small quantity,, 

 there should be as few different kinds as possible, 

 with a view to avoiding small or non-sampling breaks. 



With the yearly increasing quantities at auction 

 the necessity of making larger breaks becomes greater, 

 in order to diminish the number of samples, often 

 more than 300, to be tasted each sale day before 

 12 o'clock, and so enable buyers to give proper at- 

 tention to the Teas, and thus ensure a full compe- 

 tition for them. This cannot be the case when Teas 

 go to auction hastily valued or perhaps untasted, and 

 to obviate this, in several instances lately, invoices 

 arriviuiT by the same ship from the same garden have 

 been bulked together here, thercbj^ reducing the num- 



ber of breaks, and also effecting a saving in time, 

 trouble and to some extent in expense, to all concerned. 

 As time goes on this course will no doubt be more 

 generally adopted, and buyers will be enabled to pay 

 fuller attention to the Teas when offered in large 

 and attractive breaks. 



Bulking in India. — Whilst this operation has on the 

 whole been well carried out with an equal quantity 

 of Tea packed in each chest, cases have occurred in 

 which these all-important conditions have not been ful- 

 filled, thas causing much dissatisfaction to the buyers. 

 Offing to this the Wholesale Tea Dealers' Association 

 have threatened after the present season ouly to buy 

 teas weighed gross and tare as formerly. This will not 

 ouly cause delay in selling, but expense to growers, be- 

 sides necessitating the additional cost of, and risk of 

 damage by, bulking here. It is to be hoped that the 

 Association may be induced to reconsider and modify 

 their intention, as much disappointment will otherwise 

 be caused to those growers who are successfully carry- 

 ing out the conditions by which separate weights and 

 bulking here are avoided. 



Unless the teas are thoToughly bulked and an eqxial 

 quantity packed in each chest of the ijvaA-, an extra ex- 

 pense of not less than Is Ifd "per chest will be incurred, 

 which has to come out of the Planter's pocket. 



Weighing Net. — This system has made fair pro- 

 gress, but there is still a want of accuracy in some 

 quarters, the variation often much exceeding the limit 

 of 2 lb. either way, i. e. above or below. 



Weighing Indian Tea. — The following are the 

 amended regulations which came into force Novem- 

 ber, 1885. 



The weight of Indian Tea for duty may, if desired 

 by the Importers, be ascertained under the following 

 regulations : — 



1. — The packages on arrival to be weighed to ascer- 

 tain the gross weight of each package. 



2. — The importers to give with each entry a state- 

 ment that the Teas in each break have been bulked in 

 India, and that the chests of each break contain even 

 net weights. 



3. — In order to test the accuracy of this .statement, 

 10 per cent, of each break to be turned out and 

 weighed net, but in no case are less than 3 chests to 

 be turned out. 



4. — If the variation in weight of the test packages, 

 from each other, be found to exceed 2 lb., the whole 

 parcel is to be tared. For instance, if the test pack- 

 ages weigh net 79, 80 and 81 lb. respectively, the vari- 

 ations would not exceed two pounds, but if one package 

 be found to weigh 79 lb., and any other 82 lb, or more, 

 then the whole break to be tared; unless the im- 

 porter and surveyor consider that an everage tare can 

 equitably be given, in which case the tarers must not 

 vary more than two pounds, as in the case of net 

 weights. 



5. — Duty is to be charged on the average weight of 

 the packages weighed net, provided that, when the 

 average of the packages weighed net amounts to so 

 many pounds and a half or more, the half or more 

 will be charged as a full pound ; when the fraction is 

 less than a half, it may be disregarded. 



6.— All Indian Teas bulked in this country are to be 

 weighed gross, and each chest tared. 



Marks on Chests.— Nothing .is wanted, or is of any 

 service here beyond (1st) garden mark, (2ud) descrip- 

 tion of Tea, (3rd) garden numbers, and (4th) bulked 

 (if such be the case). Gross, tare or net, are not of 

 the least use, and should be discontinued. 



Small Breaks.— Under eight chests or eight half- 

 chests, or twenty boxes, are called "small breaks," 

 and in order to save the time of the majority of buyers 

 such breaks, although catalogued, are passed over 

 until the conclusion of the day's auctions. 



Size of Breaks.— Progress can be reported on this 

 head ; but as quantities increase the number of chests 

 should be larger, buyers here paying greater atten- 

 tion to large breaks. 



Weight of Packages.— When a gross weight of 129 

 lb. is exceeded there is an additional charge of 53 

 per ehest up to 159 lb.; the following scale o f 

 charges fully explains this and deserves attention. 



