t94 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[September i, 18S2. 



moitly due? Theee causes were: — (1), the inferior 

 quality of the supplies arriving from China ; (2), the 

 unusually fine quality of the Indian teas, and (3), 

 the extremely low prices ruling for Indian teas, during 

 the preceding two years. The prospects of the cuniing 

 season, and indeed of the immediate future of tea, 

 depend on the more immediate cause of the recent 

 high-ruling rates. If the first o£ these three causes 

 has had a predominitin;; influence, or, if, even the third 

 has had a controlhng effect on puishases, and con- 

 sequently on rates, then we may look forward to the 

 future with considerable misgiving. If, on the other 

 ha':d, the second of the above-noted causes has been 

 the ruling power in the change, investors may look 

 to the future with confidence. A general feeling is 

 abroad t" the effect that the real cause of the suddi-n 

 advance made by Indian tea was the abnormally low 

 prices ruling during the last two years, which induced 

 a wider sale. This, it is felt, was assisted by the low 

 quality of China teas arriving during the same period. 

 We are not prepared to endorse this view, as we con- 

 sider the real operating cause to have been improve- 

 ment of Indian tea itself, helped certainly by the 

 inferior quality of China tea in the market, and we shall 

 endeavour to prove our position. That the low prices 

 of Indian tea prevailing for sume time is not the c^iuap, 

 is, we think, proved by the fact, that the demand did 

 not cease when these abnormally low prices gave place 

 to the higher— much higher — rates of which we are 

 speaking. Again, if the previous prices of Indian tea 

 were abnormally low, those of China tea were even pi-o- 

 portiou.illy lower still, and we do not find that the 

 result was an increase in the consumption of the latter. 

 We shall now give the actual figures for the pa^l 

 three years, which will put Ihis in a clearer light :— 



Indian Tea. 



lb. lb. per head 

 Consumption, 1879 ... 35,242,800 1-02 



Do. 1880 ... 41,605,200 1-20 



Do. 1881 ... 48,862,296 1-39 



China Tea. 

 Consumption, 1879 ... 125,409,728 3-63 



Do. 1880 ... 116,965,642 336 



Do. 1881 ... 111,363,493 318 



In Indian tea the annual increases were '18 and "lOtti 

 per head, whereas, in China, the dpcreases were "27 and 

 ■181b per head. It will be seen from this that wliat we 

 call the great increase iu the consumption of Indian tea 

 in 1881 was really not greater than it had been in the 

 previous year. This seems to us to dispose of the 

 remark that the low prices caused the iucreased demand. 

 These figures prove that the cnnsumjjtiou of Indian tea 

 has been steadily improving, while tliat of China h.'is 

 been as steadily declining. We are thus forced back 

 ou the second cause as the real one. The tea m,ade. la^t 

 year was very much better, and immediately, in con 

 sequence, comninuded a h-tter price. It is also worthy 

 of note tliat the sudden increase wliicli took place in the 

 home value of Indian tea was synchronous with the 

 materially decreased manufacture of under-fermentid, 

 under-fired, pungent tea which we had been making 

 for several ye ir- past. Indian ten was thus adapted to 

 be drunk alone .ind unmixed, and the true flavour of 

 good tea scio'i had the natur 1 effuct of increasing its 

 popularity. We hold, therefore, that, barring accident, 

 tne tea shareholder cui look ahcid with considerable 

 confidence. — Indigo Planters' Oazcile. 



DARJEELING TEA COMPANY, 

 (From the Planters' Gazette, May 15th ) 

 The 17th annual moetirg of the above Company 

 was held at the office, in London, on the 1st inst , 

 when the directors presented a very satisfactory re- 

 port of the Comipany's position and prospecis, which 

 waa unanimously adopted, and a dividend at the 



rate of 8 per cent declared. The following extracts 

 will be rtad with interest by all who are engaged 

 in the tea industry in the East, and we may point 

 out iu passing that the example set by the directors 

 of this Company in giving full information to their 

 shareholders might with advantage be followed by 

 those of other concerns occupied in tropical cultiv- 

 ation : — 



" The directors consider, that, on the whole, the 

 result of the past season's operations has been of a 

 very satisfactory character, exhibiting, as it does, a 

 nett profit of £12,088 17s 8d, which is equivalent to 

 very nearly nine per cent ou the paid-up capital of the 

 Company. 



" The weather during the past season was unfavour- 

 able for the prodnotion of large flushes of leaf, and 

 consequently the total quantity of tea manufactured 

 amounted to only 48), 674 lb, being 38,326 lb below the 

 outturn which was estimated by the manager at the 

 commencement of last year. 



"The alterations in the treatment of the plants 

 during the spring, and in the system of plucking the 

 leaves, as described in the directors last .annual report, 

 have been generally approved and although the quantity 

 of tea may have been somewhat diminished thereby, 

 nevertheless there is no doubt of the fact, that the 

 quality of the tea was vastly improved and the proportion 

 of broken and common descriptions greatly reduced 

 by the alterations which were carried out. In addition 

 to which the condition of the plants has been much 

 improved, they h;iv8 increased in ^ize, and have now a 

 fine growth of young wood upon them, which must 

 make them capable of producing larger flushes of leaf 

 than formerly. 



" It is satisfactory to state that an average price of 

 Is 7.64d per ft was realized for the crop of tea, which 

 is 2id per lb in excess of the average price for the 

 previous year's crop. 



" Fur the information of the members the following 

 statistics are given, showing the operations of the 

 Company during the last four years : — 



Total Outturn of Tea and Co^t at Plantations. 



In 1878, 1,.393 acres, f>il,849 tb. at 367 lb. per acre, E189,115 



„ 1879, 1^96 „ 475,593 „ 318 „ „ 185,822 



„ 1880, 1,534 „ 540,606 „ 352 „ „ 186,982 



„ 1881, 1,534 „ 481,674 „ 314 „ „ 191,222 



Gross Ea'pemJitnre and Cost par 11k of Tea, after deductiny th 



difference in the Rates of Ed'chan.f/e. 



In 1878, £20,695 ... cost per Ih., Is 0-69d 



., 1879. £26,123 ... „ Is l-42d 



„ 1880, £27.337 ... „ Is O'Sld 



„ 18S1, £26,646 Is l-58d 



Account Sales lVei(jlit of Tea, Avei'aqe Prices, and Proceeds 

 In 1878, 504,619 lb. at Is B-19d, £38,259 

 „ 1879, 407,014 „ Is 5-23d, £33,550 

 „ 18SU, 532,783 „ Is 510d, £37,977 

 „ 1881, 470,863 „ Is 7-64d, £38,538 

 Dividends Declared. 

 Ou 1878 crop of tea, 9 per cent. 

 „ 187tf „ 6A „ 



„ 1880 „ 7i „ 



„ 1881 „ 8 „ 



Dividend. 

 "The directors beg leave to recommend that a 

 dividend at the rate of 8 per cent., clear of income 

 tax, be now declnred, and that the same be made 

 payable on and after the 1st May instant, which will 

 absorb the sum of £10,833 12s, and that the balance 

 of £1,255 5s Sd be carried to the credit of the reserve 

 fund. 



Tea Season, 1882. 

 "The estimates for 1882 have been carefully pre- 

 pared by the manager, and nil hough it must at all 

 times he a difficult matter to estimate with accuracy 

 what large numbers of tea plants, covering an area 

 of 1,634 acres, are likely to yield from April to 



