January i, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



567 



TEA AT LOW AND HIGH ALTITUDES IN 

 CEYLON. 



An Indian tea planter who has added more than 

 a year's close connection with the cultivation and 

 manufacture of tea in Ceylon, to considerable experi- 

 ence in India, and who, — his living being dependent 

 on the management of and reports on estates, — has 

 his character at stake, gives very encouraging reports 

 on the position and prospects of the tea enterprize 

 in the low country and in the mountains. We ven- 

 ture to make some extracts. He WTites to us :— 

 " With care in the plackug and manufacture of the 

 Abljotsl'onl tea it should sell second to none in 

 Ceylon. I have just been round tlie low-country 

 again and from the way the tea is Hushing I would 

 not be surprised to see some of the estates work up 

 to SOO lb. per acre in fnll bearing. I enclose you a 

 broker's report on one of the low-country estates that 

 you may see what kind of teas are being manu- 

 factnred. " The broker's report values the Ceylon 

 teas at from Is Id to 23 3d per lb. and states : — 

 " These teas taste as if made from Assam plant and 

 come out remarkably well in liijuor. The colour of 

 the infused leaf, however, is sliglitly too dark, Lnt in any 

 case tbey are teas that sliould sell well in any market." 

 " I am i»lad to note that the jungle is now begun 

 to be cut fursf'Vtral new tea estates to be opened next 

 year and nearly .ill the 1 iberian coffee will be planted 

 up with tea. Several new lots were bought for tea at 

 last sale, so tea is looking up ill the low-country." 

 We give the public the benefit of passages from a 

 formal report on the above property just made by the 

 Indian tea-planter referred to : — 



"Soil and Lay of Land. — i he soil is a perfect tea 

 soil and the lay of Imd is nearly all that could be 

 wislied for the siicceesful and profitable growih of 

 tea, being wonderfully free of slab rock for a Cey- 

 lon estate ; the whole area could be forked on this 

 estate which cannot be done on all Ceylon estates. 

 "Clas.9 of Plant. — Is mostly a fairly good class of 

 Assam Hyhrid with a mixture of the Chinese variety, 

 which I think is well to have on estates at tlie 

 elevation of Abbotsfnrd as the China plant is more 

 hardy tlian the hybrid and the leaf can be manu- 

 factured into a very nice looking tea. 



"Cultivation. — The whole tea area seemed to be 

 oarefnlly weeded and was in good order. I think 

 forking would improre the yield. 

 [Forking is g-'ing on.] 



" I exppct that Abbotsford broken pekoe when, care- 

 fully manufactured, should sell at from 23 to 23 6d 

 per lb. 



"Roads and Drains. — Tiie whole estate seems care- 

 fully roaded and drained and all are in very good 

 order. 



" General Appearance. — Considering that the tea 

 ou tlds estate is fro.i 5,600 [4,600] to 6,000 feet 

 above .sea level, the growth is very fine and the 

 ditforent fields are as perfect and regular sheets of 

 tea as could be found in the low-country and I 

 see no reason why the area could not be worked up 

 to 550 lb. of tea per acre in fnll bearing. The 

 superintendent gave me the area and age of the tea 

 as follows viz., '20 acres 5 to 6 years old and 70 

 acres 4 to 5 years old. I estimate the 20 acres to 

 give 400 lb. ptr acre and the 70 acres to give 

 350 lb. per acre and had the estate been carefully 

 pruned I would have put the estimate 100 lb. per 

 acre higher. This gives a total for the year of 

 32,500 lb which should sell at an average of 75 

 cents per lb. if the manufacture is ca'elully attended 

 to. The whoie estate should bn carefully plucked 

 round ev-ry 8 days to eij>ure good te.t being made. 

 Bi;sides the above area there is a lot of tea pUinted i 

 along roads and drains, which I suppose would 



make up another 10 acres however I would advise 

 leaving a lot of this for seed as the sooner the 

 whole of Abbotsford estate is planted up with tea 

 the better it will be for the proprietor. T should 

 advise planting tea all through the coffee and 

 cinchona. X am of opinion that the tea will improve 

 the growth of cinchona and will do the coffee no 

 harm. The growth of the tea left for seeds is the 

 finest I have ever seen on any tea district consider- 

 ing the age of trees and elevation of estate. I should 

 advise any one who does not yet believe in tea to 

 go and see for themselves. 



" I value the 20 acres 5 to 6 years old at £65 per 

 acre and the 70 acres 4 to 5 years old at £55 |ier 

 acre. " 



This report is simply a fresh confirmation of what 

 is beyond question, that from sea level to alpine 

 height, the south-west and central portions of Ceylon 

 are eminently suited in soil and climate for the 

 production of abundant crops of tea of good quality. 



THE COOLIE QUESTION FROM AN INDIAN 



STANDPOINT. 



(The Qtieenslancler. ) 



The following letter on the question of coolie la- 

 bour for Queensland has been written by a gentle- 

 man who've experience as a Government official in 

 the central districts of India, extending over several 

 years, gives weight to his opinions on the matters 

 of which he treats. His attention was directed to 

 the subject during a recent visit to this colony : — 



On reading the recent debates in the Queensland 

 Parliament and elsewhere upon the coolie labour 

 question, it has occurred to me that possibly you 

 may not be uninterested to learn how the matter 

 presents itself to an Anglo-Indian visitor in your 

 colony, who has had several years' experience of 

 official work among the coolies themselves. 



It seems to be pretty generally assumed that, un- 

 less rules are framed to regulate the importation of 

 coolies, there will be no check upon the influx of 

 tiine-expirrd coolies from the West India Islands, or 

 of Sinhalese, or of Indian coolies hired under the 

 guife of domestic servants. I cannot help doubting 

 whether this danger really exists. Certainly it would 

 not be possible to continue the shipment of quasi do- 

 mestic servants from any Indian port for any length 

 of time. The Indian Government would prohibit the 

 practice as soon as it was detected. I remember, in- 

 deed, a case in point where the Government of Madras, 

 acting under instructions from Calcutta, interferred 

 to prevent a nrecisely similar trade in coolies with 

 Singapore, and obviously the objections to the Queens- 

 land trade would be much stronger. As for time- 

 expired coolies, the Government of India usually co- 

 operates with the colonial authorities in maintaining 

 a watchful care over their interests. It is now three 

 years since an attempt to hire coolies from Jamaica 

 f"r labour in the tobacco and sugar plantations of 

 Cubx was frustrated by the colonial Government, 

 while a warning w.as sent to Calcutta to prevent the 

 recruiting of coolies in India for the same purpose. 

 The Cuban recruiter (I think his name was Dr. Antonio 

 Sacchi) succended in getting off with a couple of cat- 

 goes of coolies, but his further operations were 

 stopped, and the coolies were ultimately reshipped to 

 Jamaica. About the Sinhalese I cannot speak with 

 certainty. I have a recollection of certain official cor- 

 respondence between Ceylon and Calcutta, which lerf 

 on my mind ihe impressinn that the Ceylon authorities 

 took a somewliat less parental view of their duties to- 

 ward- their subjects than quite sati-fied the Govern- 

 ment of India, yet I can hardly believe that tliey 

 would allow Sinhalese to be systematically exported 



