May 2, 1887.J 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



lit 



induce a slight degree of incipient fermentation or ere. 

 me'uusi.s which isa process of slow co'ubu no-.. In cer- 

 tain con iitioiis of weather it is next t im - s^ib :' to <>b- 

 taiu the required" witlier," wituout which teas of first 

 quality caunot be produced. From our own observation 

 it occurs to us that the "jute he-sian tats " have much 

 to answer for. They imbibe ana retain moisture, and 

 leaf which in liiie weather beconns partially withered 

 by the evei ing, may be found, if the humidity ot the 

 atmosphere has increased, to be quite fresh the next 

 morning, and totally uufit for manufacture. This is a 

 serious difficulty to combat, and we would suggest a 

 trial of something which is less li>ilile to absorb mois- 

 ture. A free current of air is absolutely necessary, iiud 

 all leaf lofts should be (jerfectly veuiiuited aud liave 

 au opening along the ridge to allow th i partiiiily satu- 

 rated air to escape. 



Rolling. — This operation requires attention as much 

 as any of the other stages of manufacture, but without 

 efficient steam or water-power it is hopeless to expect 

 justice to be done. Many pence or pounds are lost in 

 consequence of this part of the manipulation not being 

 fhoroiiyli. 



SoiiTiNG. — A uniform standard should be maintained, 

 and every Tea should be good of its class, i>/^^^ 

 should be carefully avoided, as it seriously depreciates 

 the value of Broken Pekoes ; even small Ptkoe Fan- 

 nin£;s should have the dust removed with a muslin 

 sieve. Small Brolcn Pehoe.-i say under a No. 14 wire 

 sieve if pos.'^easiiuj liquor and qualiiij are much sought 

 after by the Irish trade, but leaf Bro. Pekoes under 

 a No. 12 are more suitable to the English market. 



On estates producing only a small quantity of Tea, 

 we would suggest that, in order to meet the require- 

 ments of the trade in respect to size of breaks, the 

 bulk should be sorted into two classes only, viz.: 

 Broken Pekoe (or Broken Orange Pekoe, if very 

 tippy) and a Pekoe Souchong ; the former, sorted 

 through a No- 12 wire sieve, and packed in boxes, 

 iiinh I- 28 lb. ijrosK, or in half chests ; the latter graded 

 through a No. 8 and packed in lialf chests. 



Bulking. — We incline to the belief that some of 

 the deterioration of the tea may l)e traced to the 

 system of " binning," for it staiidjs to reason that 

 unless the bins are alisu/ulcl;/ air tiijlit the tea must 

 imbibe a hirge amount of moisture, to be driven off 

 in the hi al tiring when owing to the " steaming " 

 which naturally takes place, it must lose " point," 

 and to some extent fla\ our. In many instances we 

 think it would be betto;r to sort and to puck the 

 tea as made, /faruii/ the hiilliiii/ to he perfurmcd in Lon- 

 don. Gow, Wilson ano Stanton. 



24th M'lrch, 1887. Tea Brokers. 



Coffee and green bug and its remedy. 



A planter in charge of good coffee who is na- 

 turally very anxious to do it justice and to pre- 

 serve so valuable a culture for the proprietor, 

 favours us with the following notes. They were 

 written before he had read the recent remarks 

 on the subject in the Obtierver: — 



" April 17th. — I am sorry to say that green bug 

 which has been the ruin of so many estates on the 

 Kandy side, is now spieadiug over Dimbula, Dikoya 

 and Maskeliya. Now that coffee is up to 90/ and 

 rising, now that blos.soms have been more like those 

 of old times and that leaf-disease is not so prevalent 

 as it was, this spread of a new pest is serious indeed. 

 It affects the growers of coffee directly and the 

 growers of tea indirectly, as the more coffee laud is 

 converted into tea, so much the more is the chance 

 of overproduction incriased. The question, therefore, 

 of battling with this new enemy is one of interest, 

 more or less »o all, and as from the reports of 

 .'•uccessful expeiiments carried on by Mr. Green, it 

 appears that there is a rrmed,y. I think no 

 time should be lost in ventilating the quest n. 

 To my thinking this can be best done by the Observer 

 calling on some of the oldest planters to give you their 

 opinidii-. I Mill sure much good would come of it. Many 

 plant, rs (iuid there are experienced V. A.'s among 

 them) look upon the attack as fatal and consider snjr 



expense incurred in combatting it, as so much time and 

 money wasted- 'They tell you of the disastrous effects 

 in Matale and else^'here and will not «dmit any argu- 

 ments suggestive of exhausted soil, overcropping, or 

 climatic intlui nets— 'No, it was greon bug pure and 

 simjile did it.' These opinions have influenced some 

 planters to such an extent that, fearing their credit 

 might suffer, they have kept the fact that their estates 

 were attacked, to themselves. Others again say that 

 tea i.f doing so well, that they don't care if coffee does 

 di.sappear— to them the lesson of not having all their 

 eggs in cue basket will never be taught. 



" I refer to these two classes of fatalist", to 

 show how difficult it will be to carry out atay 

 common line of action — and yet, if the remedy is 

 not jointly carried out and heartily supported in 

 each affected district, the cure will be difficult and 

 expensive, if not impossible. I have not yet ascertained 

 the particulars of Mr. Green's treatment, but I believe 

 it was by applying a solution of Phenel by the roots. 

 If the cost were reasonable, I am sure many would 

 try the experiment. Would Government allow 

 the materials to be imported duty free and charge a 

 low rate of railway freight ?* These are questions 

 which ought to be raised aud without any loss of time 

 too. The pest spreads very rapidly. I know an estate 

 where not three months ago, green bug could hardly be 

 found. It was then only on the backs of a few leaves 

 scattered here anu there. It is now not only all over 

 tliise leaves, but :ill up the green stalk as well, and 

 the trees are beginning to turn black. 



" Some hope tbat at the higher elevations, where 

 the coffee is still young and vigorous, where the soil 

 is good aud where we are free from excess of drought, 

 or rain, the blight may pass away, just as in olden 

 days black bug did. But the suddenness of the attack 

 and the rapidity with which it spreads, makes me 

 begin to feel doubtful aud unless some common action 

 is very speedily resolved upon, and it is not too late 

 yet, it very soon will be." 



We can only urge all our coffee planters to tell us 

 what they can of this fell enemy — what they are 

 doing to fight it and with what result. Let no 

 false delicacy stand in the way of publicity. 



REVIEW OF THE CHINA TEA TRADE 



FOR 1886. 

 London, E.G., 23rd March 1887. 



The past season has been full of incilentsand mor? 

 or less eventful. Yet the lessons to be learned ar ; 

 difficult to demonstrate and in many cases unpalat- 

 able to the scholar. The Hankow crop was reported 

 of unquestionable excellence and he was con.sidered 

 fortunate who secured many parcels of it. It has not, 

 however, borne out this character. The Tea arrived 

 home to a poor market the result of general depres- 

 sion and political complications — pronounced fine by 

 connoisseurs in Mincing Lane it was condemned by 

 the Old Lady in the country and shelved and discarded 

 for Indian and Ceylon Teas, the lower Chinas being 

 considered good enough for mixing purposes. Through- 

 out the last five months of 188t!, holders continued to 

 "Bull" the market for firs crop teas without even 

 provoking enquiry of any importance, month on month 

 passed away until February when it was thought best 

 to be " getting on '' and the Auctions were pretty 

 freely resorted to and prices realized for teas costing 

 in China from Is 5d to Is 9d little over the price ob- 

 tained in July for Shuntams. 



To speak of the Teas themselves, no doubt they were 

 fine, hut they were thin and weedy showing no mettle, 

 indeed scarcely a tea fit to drink by itself. There was 

 a great want of point no enquiries came for counter- 

 parts ex this ship or that, a. sign we take it that but 

 little satislaction was obtained from a purchase at the 

 supposed low price.s ruling in Julj'. 



To say that the English taste for China Tea is des- 

 troycdis not accurate. A Rich Kaisow, Souchong, or 

 Moiling of ancient days would still hold its own with 

 either Indian or Ceylon Teas, but this dead levid of 

 weak ()ualitv (insipid hot water with some llavour) has 



* No doubt if the P. A. applied in due form. — Ed. 



