^94 



fun fmPtCAL AGRIC0LTUHIS1'. [MAftcii i, imy. 



INDIAN AND CEYLON TEAS IN 1886. 



The rapid advance in public favour made by Indian 

 aud Ceylon teas is the feature of the last year's trade. 

 The Grocer commentiug on this and the past aud 

 futuie of the trade generally, makes the following 

 ■ comment.^, which show a distinct prejudice, on the 

 part of the writer, against Indian tea :— " Now, with 

 ref( rence to quality, we are sorry to see that it is 

 being sacrificed in order to produce quantity. India 

 says, ' The Grocer, can't do without us, therefore let 

 us compete with China, produce the quantity, and 

 knock down the price,' They have knocked down the 

 price of the bulk of the Indian tea, and they are 

 now on a level with China, viz. 6|d to 9d per lb. ; 

 but, after uU this is done, what will be the result, aud 

 will Indian planters benefit themselves ? We decidedly 

 say, 'No.' The gardens may be, and we beheve are, able 

 to produce now even at present value, and still leave a 

 profit, but there is a limit to their consumption, as the 

 India teas are so raw and pungent that no retailer will 

 keep his trade long if he uses only Indian tea — 

 even now we believe it will be found that the home 

 consumption of Indian and Ceylon tea is on a par 

 with China congou, or say, half-and-half ; and it is 

 much to be feared that in time this striving to pro- 

 duce the quantity will have such an effect on Indian 

 and Ceylon teas that the public will turn against them. 

 The public like something pungent and flavoury, 

 hence the reason of the ever-increasing demand for 

 Indian teas instead of China teas, but if they are 

 only to be given a bitter nauseous compound and 

 no flavour (which the lower grades of Indian tea are 

 quickly coming to,) there will soon be a reaction in 

 favour of the more delicate and refreshing China 

 growths, and wlrch only require to be made properly 

 to be appreciated." It then goes on to say— " Indian 

 and Ceylon teas are fast becoming the principal 

 market in the trade. Dealers will neglect China sales 

 but the greatest attention has to be paid to Indian 

 growths. As fast as they are bought they seem 

 to be sold again in the country, and consumption 

 goes on increasing yearly. As regards Indian tea, 

 the results to the dealer cannot be so satisfactory 

 as would be imagined, owing to their increase in con- 

 sumption and favour with the public, for several 

 reasons. Firstly, owing to high firing, the teas taste 

 well on arrival^ but if they arc kept they soon lose 

 their quality and freshness, and become coarse and 

 bitter, . . The bulk of the teas that have come in 

 this season consist of teas under lOd. per lb., and under 

 the very heavy weight of sales each week prices have 

 fallen 2d. to 3d. per lb. within the last two months 

 for these grades; it can therefore be well understood 

 that dealers must be left with some bad stock. All 

 these teas have a good leaf and very fair liquor, con- 

 sequently the increase in the deliveries of Indian tea 

 for the last two or three months of the year has been 

 very large, as they now can more than compete with 

 the low China growths, and of course are taken in 

 preference. When fair grades of Indian souchong 

 and pekoe cost 9d to is, per lb. they could not be used 

 fio freely in cheap mixtures, but now that they are 

 jictualty cheaper, than common China ^.-rowths price 

 for price, an euormous trade in them is the result, a.s 

 "they have more point «nd (?trei)gth in a low-priced 

 miatufe," As regards Ceylon teas; they continue grow- 

 ing in great favour. The reasons for it are many, 

 Viz., that they have kept Up their quality this season, 

 *pbich both India and China have failed to do; again, 

 they draw a dark liquor, and posBess a beautiful soft 

 flavour, thus enabling them to be drunk alone without 

 &ny mixing.— 27ie Grocer. 



^ ^ 



COFFEE CURING. 



gif jMr. W.A. Lyrtle's rejoinder to Mr. Johnstone's 



letter in your paper, re the above subject, calls for a few 

 remarks from one, who was a Ceylon, and is now an 

 Indian coffee planter, of, 1 believe, of longer standing, 

 aud of greater experience in the " Spicy Isle " than Mr. 

 Lyrtle's letter leads me to think he has gained there, 

 Mr. W, A. L. writes about the exorbitant charges for 

 cming ou tUe part oftUe Colombo ageuts. Agaio te 



forgets, if ever he knew, that most estates were heavily 

 mortgaged from their very earliest infancy to, or through 

 their several agents, and that, consequently, the 

 proverb of" charity begins at home" might have been 

 not inaptly applied to the non-reduction of the agents' 

 curiug charges. I admit that when times were bad 

 the big curing firms did not respond, as they should 

 have done, to the proprietors of the vanishing coflfee. 

 It is possible to cure coffee at a lower rate than was 

 usually charged in Ceylon by the big curing firms, 

 who at the same time usually acted as financial agents 

 to the estates whose coffee they cured. The ordinary 

 rate wasR2-4-0per cwt. whilst Baker and Hall's rate 

 was 111-12-0, still I maintain these prices offer no 

 parallel. The big firms were mixed up in financial 

 estate transactions, and the latter firm were 

 merely curers pur et simpJr. Mr. W. A. L's. ideas 

 about sending down coffee to the coast at a ton a cart; 

 are absurd, in view of the state of the roads down the 

 ghats. He evidently has just woke Hp from a dream 

 of the Spicy Isle, and fancies that the peerless roads we 

 had there are duplicated in this or any of Her Majesty's 

 Dominions. There is one grain of wheat in W. A. 

 L's letter and I would strongly advise my planting 

 brethren to sift it for themselves, aud this grain re- 

 solves itself into " when once the color is established 

 in the bean, dry the latter no further, keep it turned 

 over in the store daily till despatch." He is perfectly 

 right when he says that long exposure will result in a 

 loss of color ; and with good sun, color, if there is any 

 in the bean will come out in five days ; but your cor- 

 respondent does not say that leaf disease effects the 

 color of the bean, as it undoubtedly does ; or, did he 

 reach Ceylon when leaf was at its height, and is the 

 color of the beau, under these circumstances his beau 

 ideal of what the color of a coffee bean should be? 



Salawakiellie. 



Sir, — For the information of your correspondent who 

 replies to my letter on coffee curing I may state that 

 I had ten years' experience in Ceylon, and though that 

 may not seem much beside the assumed hoary anti- 

 quity of this veteran, yet I submit that it is long 

 enough to enable one to understand what he writes 

 about with reference to coffee. Will your correspond- 

 ent kindly re.spond, aud state how long his "'stand- 

 ing " was ? I do not see thot the fact that our friend 

 of the strange signature is " acquainted with Mr. 

 Johuston " is made use of as an argument, or in sup- 

 port of an argument. I am glad that he supports ray 

 argument so well when he says " The latter firm (B 

 and H) were merely curers pur et simple." Yes, merehj 

 so. Hence their success. As for the difficulty in 

 sending a ton downtime ghats, I maintain that it is an 

 easy matter with the dry weather and dry roads during 

 crop in India. In Ceylon this load is almost universal 

 in rainy weather ; so the advantage gained by the 

 metal is counteracted by the weather, I may also in- 

 form the gentleman whose letter is under reply, that 

 I have procured a cart from Ceylon, which, with the 

 exception of extreme length of pole, forms a tremend- 

 ously favourable contrast to the Mysore jimcrack affair. 

 It is not because of inferiority of the roads but 

 rather because of inferiority of carts that makes_ a 

 ton seem a preposterous load, This leads me to point 

 out that your correspondent, while admitting the in« 

 feriority of the roads here, yet fails to notice what 1 

 8aid about the needlesi9ness of sending coffee down the 

 ghats. If leaf disease affects the colour of the beaH 

 then there was no call for Blr. Johnston's letter. I 

 merely stated what I considered to be the extent of 

 the planter's duty. I may now in addition state that 

 good cultivation in an Indian climate seems to coun- 

 teract to a great extent the evil effects of leaf-disease, 

 Hcmilcia vastatri.v, being a fungus, never ceased from 

 its deadly ravages on the food cells of the leaves in 

 the moist hot climate of Ceylon. In India the pro- 

 longed drought, as well as the sunless, ceaseless, drip 

 of the mousooD,— checks the reproduction and activity 

 of the pest, and gives the weary planter some respite, 

 some breathing space to prolong the heavy fight. Your 

 Cdrrespondent flippantly refers to mortgages, and ad- 

 mits he waa not alway.^ used to " Mysore Curry»" I, 



