December i, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST 



479 



transplanter. The plant having been put in bole, be careful 

 the cooly fills in soil all round the plant and presses this 

 soil down, but on no account should he be allowed to touch 

 the soil taken up and put in with the plant. It is al- 

 ways well, especially during the changeable weather, to shade 

 plants : some usecadjan hoods ; others, terns or cuttings from 

 mora or other trees. Next you have to contend with white- 

 ants.whitegrub, jungle rats and porcupines: you will find wood, 

 ash, lime and the powdered shells of croton-oil husks a check 

 on ants and grub ; rats and porcupine, you must catch either 

 by traps or poison. You should supply vacancies every 

 three months. The thicker the shade the more rapid is 

 the growth of plant above ground : some planters like the 

 plants to fork out. low; some prefer to see them grow high be- 

 fore forking out : if thin shade, the plant will not grow fast 

 upwards but makes good roots first, then it will grow up all 

 right. 



The cost of planting cacao estate has been given by Mr. 

 Jardine and the curing by Mr. Tucker in the Tropical 

 Agriculturist so fully, that I will not take up those subjects 

 again. Water trenches, bulky manure, wood-ash and lime 

 dusting are useful. The scare about hdopeltis, fly and borer 

 I treat with contempt, as these can be kept well checked 

 — what produce has not its enemy? Our cacao in this 

 valley is bearing very heavily, and trees are in good heart. 



J. HOLLOWAT. 



lb., is an instance of what a Sylhet garden can do. Viewing 

 these facts in the right light we may well bid planters 

 he of good courage, even though the price of tea is destined 

 to fall somewhat lower than we have yet seen it. 



ALTERED CONDITIONS IN THE TEA 



MARKET.— A RETROSPECT. 



[The following article from the Home and Colonial Mail 

 is well worthy the attention of tea planters in Ceylon as 

 well as India. Lowered prices, in view of keen compet- 

 ition, are inevitable, but can be compensated for by economy 

 in production and increased demand. — Ed.] 



There is scarcely any fact connected with the history of 

 the Indian tea industry more remarkable than the manner 

 iu which those interested in it have accommodated them- 

 selves to the necessities of the position. We refer especially 

 to the depreciations in the value of the article, and to 

 the consequent demand for increased economy in the cost 

 of production. Without looking back so far »s ]S62when, 

 to take the case of the Assam Company, an average of 

 nearly half-a-crown a pound was obtained for a crop of 

 over a million lb. often, or even to 1S75 when that company's 

 crop of 1| millions lb., realized over two shillings a lb., and 

 cost a proportionate high rate to produce, we may refer to a 

 period but five years ago, from which to point the moral 

 which we wish to lay before our readers. In 1879 before 

 the lesson of economy had been thoroughly learnt by all 

 those concerned we find that few gardens in Assam were 

 working profitably, and taking again the leading company as 

 an instance we note that although its crop realized Is. 5id. 

 per lb., the cost of its production was as high as Is. 4d., 

 leaving a margin of only ljd. per lb. as profit. It is true 

 the company hoped to be able to lay down the following 

 year's crop at Is 3d. per lb., but scarcely any one looked 

 in the right direction viz., reduced cost of working, as a 

 remedy for the evil of a low market. Meanwhile the 

 Borelli Company showed even in 1879 that tea could be 

 laid down in London at a cost of lljd. per lb. and we now 

 see that the old Assam Company in spite of the conserv- 

 ative character of that institution contrived to put its crop of 

 last season into the market at the comparatively low cost 

 of 1 1 id. per lb. In the meantime we find that a well managed 

 concern like the Borelli Company has been able to reduce 

 its cost of working from llfd. per lb. in 1879 to 10jd. per lb. 

 in !8S3, thus producing a profit by adapting its expenditure 

 to the necessities of the position. Nor is it alone in this envi- 

 able condition. The Brahmapootra Company has also solved 

 the difficulty, and lays its teas down at 10|d per lb. 

 Two concerns whose working is shown in the valuable 

 table of statistics published by us have proved that it is 

 possible to put their crop of tea in the London market 

 at a rate which if it had been spoken of a few years ago 

 among planters would have heen pronounced impossible. 

 But facts are stubborn things, and we may point to the 

 Tiphook Company producing 345 lb. of tea per acre at a 

 cost, inclusive of all charges, of 9kl per lb. as a model 

 Assam concern, while the Chargola Company, making the 

 same quantity of tea per acre at the low rate of 9d per 



JAMAICA AT THE NEW ORLEANS EX- 

 HIBITION 1884-85. 



There is an intimate relation and increasing trade 

 between the West Indies and the United States, 

 and it is no wonder that Jamaica, Trinidad and 

 British Guiana are making an effort to be repre- 

 sented at " the World's Exposition atNew Orleans." 

 For Jamaica Mr. D. Morris (ever to the front) has drawn 

 up a catalogue of articles illustrating the agricultural 

 and industrial products of the island, including 

 premium list for fresh tropical fruits : intended as a guide 

 for the use of persons preparing exhibits. This was com- 

 piled at the request of the Governors of the Institute 

 of Jamaica, and Mr. Morris, whose official title is 

 Director of Public Gardens and Plantations, is good 

 enough to send ns a copy. Of the Exhibition we read : — 

 The exhibition promises to surpass in size and number 

 of exhibits that of the London Great Exhibition of 1862, 

 as well as the recent Centennial Exhibition The London 

 buildings of 1862, which up to that time was the largest 

 exposition structure ever erected, contained 1,400,000 

 square feet. But the main building at New Orleans will 

 contain 1,656,000 square feet. The centre of the hall will 

 be devoted to an international fruit display, presenting 

 20,000 varieties. This is nearly double the quantity of any 

 previous fruit exhibit. 

 Further : — 



New Orleans, as the great metropolis of the Southern 

 States of America, is admirably connected by River and Rail- 

 way communications with all the chief centres of indus- 

 tries to the West and North. New Orleans has been 

 happily termed the " gate- way" of the United States to 

 and from Mexico, Central America and the West India 

 Islands. And the immense resources and commercial inter- 

 ests of these countries are being greatly expanded under 

 the influence of the increased facilities and ready markets of 

 recent years offered for their produce. To the British West 

 India Islands, and especially to Jamaica, this World's 

 Exposition at New Orleans affords the means of placing 

 their rich aud varied tropical productions in all their fresh 

 ness and luxuriance before the world ; aud they should 

 be among the first to supply the tropical fruits and raw 

 tropical produce which are in keen demand by a popul- 

 ation numbering over fifty million souls. With a large 

 and well-appointed Jamaica Court, and with a judicious 

 and generous display of our tropical productions, there 

 might be created a permanent impression of her capabil- 

 ities amongst the prosperous communities of the Great 

 Republic. This would naturally serve to develop trade and 

 bring tlrs Island and the Southern States into much closer 

 communication than exists at present. During the last 

 ten years the export trade of Jamaica with the United 

 States has nearly trebled ; in 1874 it was £122,041, while 

 iu 1883 it was £310,274. The chief increase iu this item has 

 been iu the exportation of fresh fruit which in 1874 was 

 only of the value of £10,208. In 1883 this had reached 

 the total value of £153,108, .shipped principally, if not ex- 

 clusively, to the Northern ports of New York, Philadelphia 

 and Baltimore. The great demands of New Orleans, which 

 supplies all tropical produce to the Central and Western 

 States have hitherto been exclusively supplied by the Central 

 American States and Mexico ; but there is no reason 

 why Jamaica should not supply a large proportion of the 

 best class of tropical fruits and so increase her exports 

 under this head to an aggregrate of half a million sterling 

 annually. 



The Catalogue of articles, which may be exhibited 

 from Jamaica under groups "Agriculture," " Raw and 

 Unmanufactured Products " and " Alimentary Pro- 

 ducts," is of interest. Thus for coffee : — 



Class III. — Coffee — (C. arabica, 0. Hberica). — Being the 

 next staple commodity after Sugar aud Rum, samples 

 of Coffee are invited to represent all grades. Sam- 



