July 



52.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



53 



the quality of theii- tea. This they have clone witli 

 such success that ludiaii tea is uow recoguizt:d as tlic 

 best ill the Londoii m irkut, and the iinpnrtaticm of 

 Indian tea has largely increased, while that of Chinese 

 is almost stationary." 



I do not know whether it has occurred i o Ceylon 

 tea-growers that a very large market is open to 

 them for the disposal of the cheaper kinds of tea in 

 the native baziais. I am told that t)ie native coffee- 

 gardeus, from which tlic people have been throughout 

 the islauil supplied with the riatiutiual cup of cotFee, are 

 all but extiuct. Would it not be possible lo replace 

 the fup of coffee by a yup of tea, if low-priced teas 

 made up into quarter lb. packets with showj paper, 

 coverings were introduced into the " kadeis " ? 



I know of one not inconsiderable station in Ceylon 

 at which tlie only tea procurable was akin to senna 

 by reason "f its mustiuess and nastiness, and the price 

 was PA per lb. — Yours truly, T. 



[The "Fair Trade" idea of free tea from India and 

 the colonies, with a protective duty of Id. per lb. on 

 China tea, is. of course, too absurd to be seriously 

 considered. The tea dutj' is simply a revenue impost, 

 and if the ta^c is l-nvered, or, what is not unlikely at 

 an early date, abolished, all tea will be treated uqudly. 

 Attempts in India to supply native bnzaars with tea 

 have nut been very successful, but if planters could 

 dispose of their larger and broken leaf pnd their dust 

 tea on the spot, it would be very desirable. But 

 native dealers must buy from the planters and manage 

 the sale. — Ed.] 



TO KEEP BUFFALOES OUT OP A CLEARING. 



Dear Sir,— What would be the best thing to plant 

 under a wooden rail fence, which would grow into a 

 thick hedge sutfioient, to keep out buffaloes, by the 

 time the fence had fallen to pieces (say in 2^ years)— 

 elevation 2,400 feet ? LEDGERIANA.. 



[The green aloe, Fourcroya (jlgantea, would probably 

 fultil the conditions desiderated. Sapan, being a 

 thorny plant, makes a hedge whicli, if planted close 

 enough, would resist even "hnfl'aloes, but we doubt if 

 it would make sutiicicnt gmwih in two yearsi But 

 planters, (few we suspect) who have tried hedges may 

 be alile to give a more dehnite reply. A sunk dyke, 

 if of sufficient size, would be the most effectual guard, 

 but it would be very expensive. — Ed.] 



SUCCESS OF NEW PRODUCTS IN CEYLON. 

 Dumbara, 27lh May 1882. 



Dear Sir,— Some time a-o I saw a letter in jour 

 paper saying that Liberian coffee did not grow well 

 from stumps. 1 now beg to inform the writer that 

 I have been very successful with Liberian stumps — in 

 fact, they area great success, not twelve months old, 

 and a liner clearing you could not see, requiring no ^bade, 

 and growing rapidly. 



The Liberian coffee is very much fonder of throwing 

 out .^ucker3 near the roots than C. Arabica. Thisany one 

 c:in see, and knows, who has aujtiiing to do with the 

 new variety. 



Fine weather again after the short burst of the S. 

 \y. monsoon. All new products are doing well in this 

 district, cocoa, and Liberian bearing at a tremendous 

 rate, when we have aged trees. No doubt there is a 

 great fortune for new products in the lowcountry of 

 Cevlon yet. 



If a reaction would only set in, and capital flow 

 into the country, we would go ahead at a pace which 

 would a-itonish you. They say when things get to the 

 worst they must mend, but they are long in mending 

 this time.— Youra faithfully, ' NEW PRODUCTS. 



LEAF-DISEASE OR UNPROPITIOUS RAINFALL 

 1 .S'. SHORT COFFEE CROPS IN CEYLON. 



28th May 18S2. 



Sir,- I have just received your supplement, " Public 

 Works Department Return of Rainfall during 1881 " 

 and I find that, in Deoendjcr of last year, tlie figures 

 relating to the coffee districts in the Central Province 

 are far away in excess of the figures given represent- 

 ing "mean, during 10 years." 



Well, we shoulrl probably not have suffered from 

 having double, or, as has been the case in some of 

 the Kandy districts, even treUu the amount of run 

 usually apportioned to December, if th;it month had 

 been followed by something like an average rainfall 

 for January, February and March. I believe, how- 

 ever, that it is a fact we were overwhelmed in' tliese 

 months, and if you tind such to have been the case 

 (1 have not the figures to refer to), small wonder say 

 it the blossoming season this year, on the Kaudv 

 side, sliould have proved such a disastrous one 

 to propriethors. Yet we are told by the editor, " C 

 Times," tat the weatlier was "simply splendid"! 

 Perhaps you will be able to throw some light upoii 

 this question— either by the P. W. D. returns or by 

 those of the Surveyor-tieneral, say, for the 'months 

 indicated, comparing them with the mean of previous 

 10 years for December, and of 11 years for January 

 February and March. 



Looking at the returns for the N. W. Province I 

 see Kurunegala is credited with a rainfall in Decem- 

 ber last of no less than 40-1.5 inches against for that 

 month a mean during JO years of tJ'Oo ! 



In the Central Provuice, Dikoya would appear to 

 be an exception, havmg had apparently only an average 

 raintall in December, say, 1070, against a mean of 

 0-13 for 10 years !— Yours. DELUGE ' 



OPERATIONS OF THE CALCUTl'A TBA SYNDIC 

 ATE: AMERICAN TEA. 



Calcutta, 10th March.— Since the issue of the 

 circular of the 26th January, the Committee of the 

 tea syndicate have received some valnable information 

 from New York, which they think will be of use in 

 guiding shippers with reference lo the preparation of 

 their teas for the American market. 



You are probably aware tliat, in the opinion of the 

 Committee and the members gemrallv, our Indian 

 black teas should stand upon their own intrinsic merits 

 and that it would hardly be an advisable policy to 

 manufacture a speciul class of tea for a particular 

 market. On the other hand, our friends in America 

 strongly advocate the shipment of snmeijarcels of .r,een 

 t,-a, and their views on this point are worthy of 

 consideration. 



lu a letter dated 9th January 18S2, from Messrs 

 John C. Phillips & Co., of New Y'ork, to Messrs' 

 Whitney Brothers & Co., of Calcutta, an extract 

 from which has been kindly sent to the Committee 

 thty write ;—" Wb note that you find very little 

 disposition among planters to make green teas, but 

 we trust you will not relax your efforts in this 

 dir ction, for from even a small beginning of 10 

 15, or 25 packages, which could not g.ve any of 

 them much trouble, great results might come in 

 timo. It would not prevent our work at the same 

 t:m? uion the black teas, and we take it planters 

 «o,dd not be sorry to fiml a d. mand for the 

 green if not for the black. We have sent to Mr 

 Mi.gor complete tamples nf green teas lately .sold heie 

 fr.m only an average class in qualiiy, with prices 

 obtaineil for each line, and we feel confident that the 

 value will in many lines show a good margin for profit 

 if made from Indian teas." ' 



The samples of green teas i, lerrtd to above have not 

 yet oome lo hand, but a va;u..tion report upon them 

 will be circulated in due course. 



