62 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[July i, 1884. 



the owner shipped this stuff himself or, as is more 

 likely, sold it to some dealer who has tried his 

 chances in the London market, the price resized 

 certainly could not pay the exporter, even if he only 

 paid 2d per lb. Like a great, deal of the twig cin- 

 chona bark exported of late years, it would have been 

 more profitable to have buried or burnt the stuff 

 called "Ceylon Tea." Every person interested in the 

 reputation of Ceylon tea is bound to do his best 

 to prevent this sort of thing from being repeated. 

 The exclusion of all inferior tea from an invoice 

 gives the owner of that invoice au unfair advantage 

 over competitors, while all Ceylon tea is damaged 

 in reputation by the low figure against rejected 

 stuff which is called " Ceylon Tea." What is 

 wanted here as well as in India is a local 

 market amongst the natives for teas, which, 

 although classed comparatively as inferior, are good 

 and wholesome. Indeed there are many European 

 tea-drinkers who give a decided preference to dust. 

 The difficulty would be that persons purchasing pro- 

 fessedly for local retail sales might follow the ex. 

 ample already set and try the English market. The 

 miserable price realized, however, ought to prevent 

 this. Some day the Sinhalese and Tamils of Ce\ Ion, 

 as well as the Hindus and Mubammadans of India, 

 will be a tea-drinking people and consume the so- 

 called inferior teas, and meantime a writer in the 

 lndiyo and Tea Planters' Gazette indicates that it 

 wouid pay the tea planters to unite and agree to 

 sell their inferior teas at a loss locally rather than 

 load the London market with them. The arguments 

 used are as follows : — 



Our correspondent T. considers that little or no help 

 can be gained from selling teas in the local Indian bazaar 

 at four annas. "We beg to differ from him, and we feel 

 assured that if Indian tea is to pay at all in the future, of 

 which we have no doubt, a considerable proportion must puss 

 the hammer at four auuas. The planter, the agent, and 

 every one connected with tea must make it their aim and 

 object to be able to lay teas in Calcutta at an average of 

 six annas [say 36 cents.— Ed. 0. O.] per lb. In order to ef- 

 fect this and to thoroughly discuss the matter, it will 

 perhaps be best to divide the expenditure into local 

 and Calcutta charges. To enable the planter, there- 

 fore, to lay the teas down in Calcutta at six annas 

 per lb., the local expenditure should not exceed 4 

 annas (say 24 cents) per lb., and this leaves 2 annas 

 (6 cents) for Calcutta charges which we mean to include 

 all agency charges, brokerage, and in fact everything that 

 is necessary to be done in connection with the article m 

 Calcutta. In order to effect this end the planter will 

 have to give a very large outturn per acre. Assuming 

 that it takes from 80 to 100 rupees per acre to cover kv:d 

 expenditure, and another 25 per cent, for Calcutta ex- 

 penditure, taking the former calculation of R80 per acre 

 for local and 25 per cent, for Calcutta expenditure, the 

 total expenditure would run to say R100 per acre, and 

 with tea at six annas per lb. would necessitate a crop of 

 very nearly four maunds per acre to cover expenses and 

 to give a profit at least 5 maunds per acre. This out- 

 turn is we believe considerably over the average sup- 

 posed yield of existing tea gardens, although many in- 

 dividual gardens give considerably more. In order to 

 give such a large yield naturally the plucking cannot be 

 very fine, and there must be a considerable quantity 

 of tea sold out of such a crop at 4 to 5 annas per lb., 

 and we ask our readers if we are to go on this basis 

 whether a considerable relief would not be felt, were, say, 

 10 million pounds of these lower grades passed off in 

 Indian bazaars? It must not be left out of consideration 

 that all brokers have invariably given it as their opinion that 

 the lower grades of Indian teas are always held down to a 

 certain level in price by the grocer, dealer or middleman, 

 always being able to supply himself with equally good 

 values in China lines. It is to the higher grades of Iudian 

 tea which are unobtainable in China teas that we must look 

 to run up our averages; so that to get rid of our lower class 

 teas, which come into more immediate contact with China, 

 must be our chief aini and object. We think that there is 



little doubt but that for the finer lines of Indian teas a better 

 market will always be obtainable in London than any other 

 market. Our correspondent T. considers that four annas 

 would not pay for our low class but " sound" teas. "We 

 do not contend that it " will pay," but we think it might 

 be made to cover expenses. However, we doubt if it 

 would ever be sold at anything like that amount. We 

 ourselves have bought China tea in one of the up-country 

 bazaars done up in a neat little box, with Chinese 

 characters, but for two ounces we had to pay 3 as., allow- 

 ing for the usual commission, which all servants will 

 take, we imagine the cost would be at least 2§ as., and 

 this for two ounces, or at- the rate of one rupee four 

 annas per lb. For another kiud a lower class much re- 

 sembling snuff 6 pice, from all that we conld learn, 

 was the bazaar rate, so that even taking that, it gives a 

 return of 10 as., per lb. No doubt the native Mahajan expects 

 a very large profit, but if even 6 as., per lb. could be gol For 

 sny 10 per cent of our Indian crop, what would the 

 effect be upon the London Market? At present stocks 

 are something like 29 millions, and if ten per cent of 

 the Indian tea crop were deducted from that, it would 

 reduce these to something like 23 millions or a little 

 over 4 months' supplies, which would leave a compara- 

 tively small quantity. It may appear to some of our 

 readers that we are taking a peculiar view of matters, but 

 we would beg to refer them to our contemporary, the 

 Home and Colonial Mail of the the 25th April, where they 

 will see that in an invoice of the Assam Company "Our 

 Commissioner in the Lane " reported 2,300 chests Assam 

 Compauy sold from 6Jd to Is 5d 50 per cent being broken 

 tea. If it pay the Assam Company to ship and sell teas 

 at 6Jd per lb., putting freight, boxes and other charges 

 against the ext.-a trouble of setting it up in four ounces 

 packets to be sold in our local bazaars, it would have 

 paid, we contend, better to have sold it here on the spot 

 rather than ship it to London, because it would have 

 saved the London Market, aud we think that probably a 

 little better values would have been obtainable for the 

 finer lines. "Wo are as anxious as any of our readers to 

 see full and good values for Indiau teas, but we are con- 

 vinced that better values are only to be obtained by open- 

 ing up markets for our lower grade teas. China aud 

 India are now running a race, and if China teas can be 

 sold in Loudon at 4d per lb., we see no reason why 

 Iudian with superior appliances for turning out the 

 article in the. way of machinery, should not be able 

 to run in the race and win. It seems rather absurd 

 for China to send an ounce of tea to India, still 

 it. does it, and if natives take to China tea, 

 why should they not take to Indiau tea ? We feel con- 

 vinced that it has only to be pushed to become a success. 

 "Were the India Tea Syndicate to ask the agents of tea 

 concreus in Calcutta, we feel sure that they would con- 

 tribute in as liberal a manner as they did to the Aus- 

 tralian venture. There can be little doubt that the amount 

 of tea seut to Australia had an excellent effect on the 

 London Market, aud although at the time it seemed in 

 a manner to be sacrificed, good fruit was borne from it, 

 yet we did not send our best lines to Australia. We 

 believe that with a little fostering care a larger amount 

 could be moved off in the Indian bazaars, not to speak 

 of the Commissariat, in one season than Australia will 

 take in two, and we feel that anything we can write 

 •on the subject cannot be too strong if it tends in the 

 smallest degree to hasten the much wished for result. 



Wo commend the statements above made to the 

 attention of tea planters in Ceylon. When we men- 

 tioned average yields of 700, 600, and 5001b. per 

 acre the otiier day for estates in Ceylon at various 

 altitudes, we of course referred to flush-picking on 

 the ordinary principle of the bud, the two leaves 

 next below it and half the leaf below those two. Any. 

 thing less than this must be regarded as fancy picking ; 

 anything more as coarse. Of course, there are 

 occasions, such as a plucking before pruning, where 

 a more severe process than ordinary is likely to be 

 indulged in — a "stripping" process That we know 

 was the case as regards a large invoice for which 

 prices at a recent sale varied from 2s (id for tine pekoe 

 to T'.d for dust. The average of Is Id in that case 



