Peb. 7, :§87.;f 



fHE TROPICAL AGRiCOLTaRiST, 



55S 



CEYLON UPCOUNTEY PLANTINU EEPORT. 



ADVERTISING TEA AT HOME — ABSURDITY OF DELAYING 

 THE SALE OF GOVERNMENT FOREST LAND AT KALUTARA 

 — SMALL BREAKS OF TEA — CULTIVATION OF COCA IN 

 CEYLON — COFFEE AND CACAO CROP PROSPHCTS 



31st Jan. 1887. 



Judging from the tea advertisements which have 

 appeared at homo, by parties desirous of pushing 

 the Ceylon tea trade, and which have from time 

 to time been copied into the Observer columns 

 that portion of the public which receive their 

 knowledge of Ceylon and its teas from such sources, 

 have had for mental food rather " confused 

 feeding." It is a pity that this educational agency 

 cannot be rendered more effective, and that when 

 knowledge is being imparted it should not be more 

 exact. The article which calls it forth is good, 

 and it were well that the information were also 

 as good. Still as long as the teas sell, and get 

 into general use we need Hot perhaps be too 

 particular on this scors. Besides, there seems to 

 be a demand on the part of the public for in- 

 formation regarding Ceylon and its teas, which is 

 spreading even to the provincial towns and those 

 who supply it evidently do the best they can, 

 dr wing pretty much on their imagination for the'r 

 facts. A friend of mine writing from one of the 

 towns in Scotland says that a grocer there has a 

 bill in his window stating "that the finest tea 

 that comes to Europe is grown in Ceylon on mount 

 ains 7,000 feet high!" This high class article 

 was sold at the moderate price of 2s (id a pound. 

 " We got some of it," says my correspondent, 

 " and found it good." 



Begarding the forest land at Kalutara — the 5,000 

 acres which you referred to the other day — it does 

 seem absurd that the G-overnment should delay the 

 Belling of it, or indeed that they should not put 

 it up in smaller blocks. If it be the case as is 

 generally supposed, that all this land is to be put 

 up at once, the I'esult will be an unfortunate one 

 for the Government. Why should not, say the half 

 of it have been sold before now, instead of 

 delaying ? Better prices would certainly have been 

 got for this than can possibly be secured if the 

 limited demand for land is to be glutted by this ex- 

 tensive area thrown in the market all at once. 

 I suppose that it is hopeless to expect that the 

 principles which regulate ordinary business, can 

 be found operating in such things as the sale of 

 Crown lauds. Even yet, although the surveys 

 have been for some time completed, no plans 

 can be got, whereas if the Government had 

 gone in for a 2,000 acre lot, the work might 

 have been all finished, plans issued, land 

 Bold, and in all likelihood at better rates than 

 will be got later on if the whole be put up at 

 once. I suppose it must be known to some of 

 the officials that the S.-W. monsoon is generally 

 considered to be the best for planting ; but the 

 knowledge of this fact does not seem to stir them 

 any in regard to the Kalutara lands, indeed one 

 might question whether they were aware of it. 



The combination among tea buyers to neglect 

 the small breaks is not likely to lead to much 

 good. Indeed, I suppose, it has even now come to 

 nothing. I already know of some who say that 

 If they ar3 forced to store their teas until they 

 have what may be termed a good break, that 

 they will ship it, rather than oft'er it locally. If 

 they cannot get fair value in the local market 

 for such breaks as they can send, they will adopt 

 the other course. One of the chief advantages of 

 the weekly sales in Colombo has been that the 

 planter has been able to turn his lU'oduce into 

 pioney at once, and get a fair value even although 

 70 



the breaks were small, but if he is to be kept out of 

 this advantage, by any kind of combination, he may 

 as well have a trial of the Ijondon market at first 

 hand. A parcel of tea was reported on lately by 

 some Colombo authorities, and the result was a very 

 poor report. It was a pleasant surprise to the 

 shipper when the break was sold in London to 

 find that it realized Is Id a lb. ! 



The cultivation of coca in Ceylon is not ex- 

 tending very rapidly, nor likely to. And yet you 

 do hear of it growing here and there, and the 

 plants which were for sale at the Peradeniya 

 Gardens, at 12i cents each, all found buyers. I 

 understand that its use as a local anaesthetic, 

 is bringing it more and more under the attention 

 of scientists, who are studying its nature and will 

 in all probability extend its use. It is quite 

 within the range of possibility that this concen- 

 trated attention, may lead to some important dis- 

 covery regarding it, which will induce a demand 

 for the coca leaf such as does not exist at present. 

 Even as it is, I have heard of one who has beon 

 promised a shilling a pound for all he can send 

 home, a price, I understand, which will pay well 

 enough. 



Last week's rain did a lot of good, and brought 

 out a scattered blossom on what coffee was in 

 heart. There remains a promise for something 

 better later on. 



The cacao crop is winding up, and it has been 

 a very good one. The new blossom for the next 

 crop is somewhat tardy in parts, but there is plenty 

 of time yet. The trees are particularly heallhy, 

 most of the pests which plague and worry are in 

 abeyance, and long may they so continue. 



Peppekcokn. 



TEA. 



The following is the annual report of the tea trade by 

 Messrs. W. J. and H. Thompson. 



The past year has again been unsatisfactory to tbe 

 importer, while statistically for the first time for nuiny 

 years the total dtiliveries show only a fractional increase, 

 the most serious feature being the falling off in horiK; 

 consumption, a decrease of Ig million compared with 

 last year. 



This possibly may be accounted for by some dis- 

 arrangement with regard to the deliveries in 1885, con- 

 sequen: upon the expectation of an increased duty or to 

 the largely increased use of Indian and Ceylon teas, 

 which possess much more strength than those from 

 China, and at the present mome'it contribute to the 

 extent of one-half of the total cousumption. The export 

 is satisfactory, being two millions in excess of last year. 

 China: Prices early in the year were well maintained 

 in prospect of reduced stocks, and the commoner gr..des 

 advanced in value. On the receipt of n^ws of hu-ried 

 and heavy shipments, combined with the large incicase 

 from India and Ceylon, a general decline took place. 

 The new crop met with little attention, and the finer 

 qualities showed a reduction of 4d to 8d per lb as cou)- 

 pared with the current prices of former years. The 

 medium grades were not eipially affected, an I the cjffi- 

 mon kinds maintained compar.itively a high ringe, 

 owiu^toa moderate supply. The lowest point reached 

 was in October, but since that period there has been 

 some slightrally. The total exportfrom China isexpedel 

 to be about the same as last year. Indim t^a: the 

 year opened with stocks of high aver/ige value and 

 only a small supply of low-priced Tea, the effect of 

 which was to restrict business and cause a decided 

 decline. When the new crop arrived in the autumn, 

 the market being in a sound position, a good busi- 

 ness at steady prices resulted, until it became ap- 

 parent that the crop would be a heavy one and con- 

 sist largely of low grades, when rates began to fall 

 for all but the best qualities, and at last reached 

 a lower range than has ever been Ijuown, Thig full 



