September i, 1882.I THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



237 



TEA IN CEYLON. 



Ceylon tea is begiuiiing to attract its due share 

 of attention In business circles at home, and there 

 ought to be little difficulty now in obtaining the 

 support of mercantile capitalists to extend an Industry 

 which, accorrdiug to Mincing Lane authorities, has 

 everythmg in its favour m this island, save a suili- 

 ciency of skilled supervision for the preparation of the 

 leaf. The want can be readily supplied from India 

 to the satisfaction of capitalists, so that the promoters 

 of a Dolosbage, a Yatiyantota, Ambagamuwa, Maskeliya 

 or Adam's Peak Lunited Company for the cultivation 

 of tea should be readily patronised among the men 

 who have so liberally developed the tea districts of 

 Northern India. Ceylon presents to home capitalists 

 very ijnportant advantages, and, as we said, the only 

 alleged drawback is one which time is steadily recti- 

 fying, but which can be removed at once by a well- 

 managed Company. 



In addition to the supply from India, we may 

 shortly receive an increased quantity of tea from the 

 new field now being developed in Ceylon. To the 

 present, the quality of teas from this quarter has not 

 proved so satisfactory as could be desired. Ceylon 

 ought to do well, as it has the advantage of a climate 

 equal to that of Darjeeling or Assam, it being pract- 

 icable to have plantations on the higher ranges as 

 well as in the valleys. Owners of estates, must take 

 care not to repeat the mistake made by the first 

 planters in Assam. This mistake was the employment 

 of managers, who, if competent to p^ajji tea and 

 manage the estate- in other respects, failed to recog- 

 nize the absolute necessity of care in manufacturhig. 



The unsatisfactory prices recently obtained, arise 

 plainly from neglect of the first principles of manu- 

 facture. We offer the suggestion, that owners of 

 estates in Ceylon should insist on a rectification of 

 the neglect. It is a well-known fact that teas yield- 

 ing a thick malty* liquor will sell anywhere in the 

 United Kingdom at fairly steady prices, whereas 

 teas of a thin but fine and delicate flavour ore 

 subject to violent fluctuations in piice, and even 

 when there is a demand for such qualities, it is 

 but temporary and local. The aim of all managers 

 should be the production of a sound, useful tea, not 

 coarsely plucked however. For tlie purpose of mixing 

 with China sorts, there is always a large demand for 

 thick malty teas. 



Capital alone is wanted to give a proper impetus 

 to the extension of tea cultivation in this island : 

 virgm forest-laud at a higli or low elevation is avail- 

 able ; labour can be had in abundance ; planting 

 .supervision of the best on moderate tenns ; skilled 

 supervision for manufacture is at hand ; transport is 

 very convenient and cheap and climate is vastly 

 superior to that of most of the Indian tea districts. 



THE CINNAMON TRADE. 



It is evident from the recent correspondence in 

 the local Cejlon papers that the prices at which ciu- 

 Damon has been si-lling in this market, especially at 

 the last few quarterly sales, have not been remunerative 

 to growers. This is the case even with those who 

 ship din ct on their own account, while to those growers 

 who sell to merchants on the other side, the present 

 values must be even less prolitablc, as the merch- 

 ants to whom tlicy sell can ouly make ofl'ers to show them 

 a profit on public sale quotations, after taking into 

 consideration the expenses of freight, loss in weight, 

 dock charges, and so on. In this, as with all other 

 commercial productions, the price realized is of course 

 simply a matter of supply and di-maud, and the pre- 

 Eciit statistics e\u)yi that the former is far in excess 



of the lotter. The stock here has increased gradu- 

 ally year by year, and is now no leas than 7,292 

 bales of Ceylon, 1,412 packages of China cin- 

 namon, and 4,641 packages of chips, against a total 

 last year of 5,994 packages of Ceylon and China 

 cinnamon and 3456 packages of chips. This very heavy 

 stock, of course, greatly depressed the market, and 

 at the last quarterly sales in May prices dropped to 

 the extent of 4d. to 6d. for fine to superior qualities, 

 and 2d. to 3d. for inferior to good sorts. The sj^s- 

 tem of quarterly sales, which survives as a relic from 

 a former state of things, no doubt materially aggrav- 

 ates the evils from which the growers in Cejlou suB'er. 

 They are kept out of their money for an unnecessary 

 period, and the stocks accumulate over a period of 

 thirteen weeks, until they reach an immense total. 

 When the sales finally take place, a crushing quantity 

 is offered, and prices are unduly depressed, to the 

 benefit of speculative buyers and the injury of planters. 

 The sales of cinnamon, in the interests both of the 

 growers and of the home trade, ought to be held 

 from week to week, just as is done .with any other 

 commodity. There is no virtue or peculiarity in 

 cinnamon that necessitates its being sold in a dif- 

 ferent way to other things. Even monthly sales, 

 instead of quarterly ones, would be decidedly a step 

 in the right direction, for the present system of 

 quarterly sales only multiplies speculative buyers, 

 who buy largely to supply orders that come into the 

 market during the three months without sales, and 

 thus obtain a profit which the planters ought to 

 get. For instance, export orders that cannot be 

 held over for the quarterly sales have to be ex- 

 ecuted at a profit from second-hand parcels in the 

 market. Dealers also have to buy largely for a 

 three months' stock, to avoid having to buy between 

 the sales, and have thus to hold more cinnamon 

 than they would need under a more reasonable system. 

 Here, again, it is the planter who has to pay. Some 

 of the correspondents of the Ceylon Obseivcr re- 

 commend that chips should not be sent to this 

 market. This, however, .ippears a short-sighted policy, 

 which would simply stimulate the demand for cassia 

 and China cinnamon if the prica of quill Ceylon 

 should rise, wliich appears very doubtful, though 

 broken cinnamon might do so. If weekly or monthly 

 sales were established they could not in any way 

 tend to decrease the demnnd, but they would render 

 it more even, would make realizations more prompt, 

 would save interest and dock charges, would throw 

 open a sort of small monopoly ; and while bringing 

 better prices to the planter, would be beneficial to 

 the dealers and shippers by interfering with the 

 operation of the speculative buyers. — Produce Markets 

 Review. 



CHINESE AND CEYLON TEA. 



Very considerable attention is being attracted in 

 Chinese quarters to the present condition of the tea 

 trade, and those who know most about the subject 

 will he the least surprised to hear that for several 

 reasons it is not regarded as perfectly satisfactory. 

 In the first place, whereas China long enjoyed a mono- 

 poly of the trade in this article, she has now to cope 

 with more than one enterprising competitor. India 

 has for some years competed with her on not unequal 

 terms in the London market ; and, unless the present 

 signs are totally misleading, Ceylon will very shortly 

 be in a position to challenge the superiority of Orange 

 Pekoe or Flowery Congou. In the United States, 

 Chinese tea has also been ousted to a great extent 

 by that of Japan. Many say that China h.as seen the 

 worst in this matter, and that the foreign demand 

 for her tea is not likely to decline any further. This 

 belief may or may not prove well-founded, but the 



