198 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [September i, 1882. 



superior position in regard to labour ; while by tbe in- 

 troduction of such niachineiy as rollers, driers, &o., 

 a much smaller number of labourers will suffice. While 

 agreeing with Mr. Shand that, as a general rule, it 

 costs less to bring an ai're of coffee, tea, or cinchona 

 land into cultivation here than is the case in India, 

 we cannot help suspecting that cmr correspondent iias 

 taken an extreme instead of an aveiage, in putting 

 down 11900 to Pil,000 per acre as the rule in India 

 for tea estates. Some of the older estates have, no 

 doubt, cost even more than R1,000 per acre, but re- 

 cently opened plantations stand at a much more mocler- 

 ate sum. In most of the estimates we have seen, liJJOO 

 per acre for tea in full bt-aring, that is when the 

 biiBiies are over four years old, has been the average 

 figure adopted. There is tins to be said, hnwever, that 

 greater expenditure must be incurred in India, even 

 where terracing is not resorted to, in clearing away 

 all timber so as not to provide food for the white ants 

 which subsequently attack the tea bii.shes. There is 

 anotiier diffiM-t-nce in tbe neces.^;irily expensive process 

 of clearing streams running through estates, not only 

 of timber but of large stones. No doubt a good deal 

 of the expense '<<i this procfss is recouped by the 

 additional space on the banks of streams gained for 

 planting purposes. Our soil in Ceylon may not 

 be eeiual to that of the Terai or Dooars in absolute 

 fertility, but we have compensation in a climate 

 which, while sufficiently moist and forcing, is generally 

 far more salubrious than that iu which our competitors 

 in India are compelled to work. As regarels soil, 

 indeed, it is most important to know that in stiff 

 ferruginous clay, not favouralde for coffee and very 

 adverse to cinchona, tea will flourish. Considering 

 that the average yield per acre in Ass.am and Cachar 

 is not more than 280 lb of elried tea, * it is gratifying 

 to hear of 500 lb per acre being gathered on an estate 

 of medium altitude iu Ceylon. Indeed Mr. Shand feels 

 himself justified in taking 500 lb per acre as 

 the Ceylou average, in his argumfut that h;df that 

 yielel on reclaimed laurls will pay well. There can 

 be no c|uestiou that, all abatements maele, Ceylon 

 seems eiestined to becomp one of the great tea pro- 

 ducing countries of the world. India has had the 

 start in the r.ce, but we are following enprgetioally 

 in her wake. We are not aware of any elements of 

 superiority in the case of Japan, while, as regards 

 China, there are not oulv the internal imposts to 

 which Mr. Shand alludes but an onerous export duty 

 to handicap the tea industry. In his desire to be 

 reassuring, Mr. Shand mav have somewhat iinderstaled 

 the cost of producing tea in Ceylon both on virgin 

 soil and replanted land — those who have gone care- 

 fully into all tlie elements of expenditure will be able 

 to judge, — but even supposing an appreciable percentage 

 is added, the case is still gooel attd most encouraging, 

 aud the planting community will fei^l grateful to Mr. 

 Shand for his timely words of cheer, based as they 

 are on considerable experience. In July 1879, Mr. 

 C. H. Hay of Delosbagie was good enough to send us 

 the result of his experience so far in Ceylon in a 

 form which we regret to fay has not vet s^'en the 

 light. Better late than never and perhaps the pub- 

 lication of the statement now may induce criticism 

 and bring us the results of further experience : — 



" I send you the working out of lialf a month of this new 

 ye.ir beginning July 1st, as you ask if any one can say ivhat 



1 lb. of tea costs to make. This i.s just copied from my tea book. 



1 ct. a lb". 

 Grfeu Pluck- Wither- Roll- Dry- Sift- Charcoal 



*2S01b. i.s the official return wliich includes young clear- 

 ings.— Writing to us in January 1879 with the Government 

 statistics, Mr. Baker of Assam said : — " Taking aver.age 

 gardens iu fair cultivation over three years old and upward, 

 820 lb is about the outturn. But a 10 year old aud upward 

 gai-den is doing its 500 lb per acre I tliink all over the pro- 

 vince, aud this without m.anure, to which nobody seems to 

 take at all." 



Date. 



2 



3 



4 



7 



8 



SI 



10 

 11 

 15 



Leaf. 

 310 



67 

 121 

 3lj4 

 477 

 410 

 4'20 

 400 



91 



ers. 

 10 



5 

 10 

 43 

 47 

 4.T 

 44 

 3!l 



6 



nifj. 

 1 

 1 



1 

 2 



1 



ing. 



4 

 10 

 14 

 10 

 13 

 11 



ing. 

 4 

 3 

 2 



6 

 13 



20 



77 



used. 



80 

 171 



74 

 1.30 



82 

 209 

 295 

 342 

 297 



Tea 

 made, 

 76| 

 21 

 ■29 

 881 

 118| 

 lOOf 

 1034 

 lOOi 

 21 



2,603 25S 12 74 23 77 1,680 6S8f 



Plucking 2.55 at 36 cents ... ... ...E91'80 



Withering do do ... ... ... 4-33 



Eolliug do do ... ... ... 26*64 



Drying do do ... ... ... 8'28 



Charcoal at 1 cent per lb. {veri/ dear) ... ... 10*80 



.Sifting, redrying, packing, soldering, lining in 



boxes and general work at 36 oeuts ... ... 28*02 



R175-86 



Average rate of pay 36 c. 



The boxes for holdmg 80 lb. pekoe, 100 broken pekoe, 70 p 

 souchong. 



23 M 18 X 18 cost to make, wood, work, nails, hoop iron 

 everytljing E2*69 per box. This does not include the carriage, nails, 

 aud hoop iron, but this is very small. Of course, the charcoal 

 used is for heating house, drying tea and also for redrying other 

 t^a before packing. I have not exactly found out what a sheet 

 of lead costs, as I have not been able to coenit 1 cwt. yet. Of 

 course, the longer tea is made the cheaper it must become, be- 

 cause all new appliances have to be taken into consideration, but 

 this, as you will see is the bare amount expended iu making 658 

 lb. or 8 mauuds 9 sears costing Rl?5*86 or 26*7264 per pound. 

 I may have made some mistakes but hope yon will correct me. 



I am sorry I cannot send more minute details but later on I 

 may fiud a reduction iu some thing. For making about 5,600 lb. 

 I find last year it came to 40 cents closed in the box but then 

 so many things came in this account. — July 24th, 1879. 

 We hear it said sonietimes that the pioneer of tea 

 among Ceylon planters — Mr. Taylor of Loolcondera — 

 has not made the cultivation a profitable one ; but we 

 are in a position to state on the best authority that 

 this is a mistake for the tea-plantation in question 

 is giving " a very fair return." 



Oranges in Florida. — Reports from Florida show the 

 orange crop of the past season to have been very large, 

 the number of oranges shipped being 28,941,760. A still 

 larger yielel is looked for next season, — Public Opinlnn. 



Eit'E. — The following as to the Louisiana Rice crop 

 is from the New Orleans Sugar Planter of the Gth 

 May: — "We cannot recall a previous season when 

 the crop of this cereal presented such favourable 

 conditions as at present, anel we have no doubt that 

 the product this year will be the heaviest in the 

 history of rice culture in Louisiana." 



Jade Stone. — In the April number of the Monats- 

 sdirift fiir den Orient Lieutenant Kreitner writes on 

 jade stone. It is found, he says, so far as we know 

 at present, only iu three places on the globe: — in New 

 Zealand, on the northern slopes of the Karakorum 

 mountains, and in northern Burmah. The fact that it 

 is found in Europe aud America among archa?ological 

 remains gives the stone a peculiar interest. It has 

 not the value in miueralogy that Asiatics, and es- 

 pecially the Chinese, give it. It is of various colours : 

 ■white, grey, brown, red, and green — the last being the 

 most common. China is supplied by the Burmese 

 mines, through Bhamo, which is tbe entrepot for the 

 trade. The stone must exist there in large quantities, 

 for it is discharged in cargoes from boats at Bhamo. 

 Quality, not quantity, is the test of value. The cut- 

 ting and shaping of the rough stone into ornaments is 

 in the hands of single artists all over Uhina. In 

 Canton a whole quarter of the city is ocoupieel by 

 workers iu j ide. It is univer.sally iu use as an orna. 

 ment by all classes, from the highest to the lowest. 

 Occasionally it is exceedingly expensive, a small 

 bracelet in some instances costing as much as fiOg 

 dollars. This it is that makes it overprized in China. 

 — Japan Qazrtte. 



