April i, 1885.] <THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



78S 



(JOL. 



E. MONEYS LETTERS ON TEA. 

 No. I. 

 [We have arranged for a monthly lotter from tho 

 Trine Essayist on Tea. The following la tho first or 

 the series. — Ed. 1 



East IudiaClub, St. James' Square London _ S. W, 



Feb. 20th, 1S85. 



The loss of S. S. " Justitia," wrecked oil' the coast 

 of Ceylon, with 8,000 chests of Indian Tea, has some- 

 what helped to raise prices. The market is decided y 

 better. I incline further to the belief looking to 

 the figurea, Import?, Deliveries and Stocks, that we 

 shall see much better yet. Late deliveries are in excess 

 of anything previously realized. The war, which, in the 

 opinion of some, would affect prices so materially, lias 

 not done soup to this, but, should it continue, it 

 is quite on the cards that it may do so, eventually, 

 to an extent not dreamt of today. 



Will Indian Tea (I include Ceylon) be the tea of the 

 future, as some, prophecy ? He would be a bold man 

 who said " Yes " decidedly ; equally bold he who 

 denied it. What are the figures for the last 20 years .' 

 1 give them here in pounds. — 



Year China. Indian Total. Percentage. 



(Ceylon included). China. Indian. 



1864 85.704,000 2,796,000 88,500,000 97 3 



1874 118,806,000 18,528,000 137,424,000 87 13 



1884 110,880,000 64,212,000 175,092,000 63 37 



The above shows also, that, in the last decade, China 

 tea has diminished by 8 million, India has increased 

 by 46 million ! We now supply more than one-third 

 of the total consumption. How long will it be before 

 we give half! I may be wrong, but I would back my 

 opinion, that, within five years of this time, the excess, 

 if any, will be on the side of Indian and Ceylon. 



How enormously, besides, does the total consumption 

 increase. What was 881 million, in 1864 is close 

 on the 176 million in 1884, that is to say the con- 

 sumption has doubled in 20 years. Will it double 

 again in the next twenty ? Certainly not, I say, but 

 it will increase largely, and if Indian planters are 

 wise and lay on their oars, if Ceylon extends gradu- 

 ally and not iu the mad way it is doing now, we 

 may yet see the day when demand will overtake 

 supply, and decent prices result. Not the prices that 

 ruled formerly, that can never be, but still prices 

 considerably ahead of what are quoted now. 



One great cause of low prices is due to the way 

 the home market is flooded at particular seasons. 

 Could the supply be more evenly distributed through- 

 out the year, a great advantage to producers would 

 result. It is early I admit, to urge this poiut on 

 Ceylon planters today, for tho quantity you supply 

 now, as compared with India, is small, under H 

 million pounds I see from 1st June to end of December 

 last year. The real help, if help do come, must be 

 from India. It is a very difficult question how it is 

 to be done, so many and conflicting interests are at 

 stake, ami Indian planters are not wise enough yet to act 

 unanimously. Still no harm in ventilating the subject 

 thus early both in Ceylon and India, with a view to 

 joint action eventually. 



Looking at it from an Indian point of view, it is 

 sad for India that Ceylon has proved such a good 

 tea-field. But though, donbtless, your yield is very 

 slarge per acre, and the quality of the tea very good, 

 there is one point not proved yet, which Ceylon 

 planters should not shut their eyes to. In India 

 they give the plant rest, a holidaj for three or four 

 months, less in the plains, more in the hills, and it 

 may bd, .nay it is probable, this rest is a necessity. 



99 



In Ceylon you pick more or less all the year round. 

 Is this wise? Will the tea-plant stand it? I do not 

 say it will not. Manuro may do much to mitigate 

 this evil. But the chance of a collapse should not 

 bo overlooked, and wero I a tea-planter in Ceylon 

 today, I would, in spite of the climate which enabled 

 me to pick all the year round, not do so. 



Take it all in all, during this last year, 1884, I 

 must admit that Ceylon has in a measure beat India 

 in quality. Will it always do so? Is there any 

 reason why it should? I think not. The soil is cert- 

 ainly no better with you. The climate may be more 

 forcing, but that do"S not argue better tea. If any- 

 thing in India, the least forcing climates produce the 

 best though weaker teas. In my opinion the ex- 

 cellence of Ceylon teas is, in a measure, due to the 

 fact that the gardens there are young. I mean that 

 a tea plaut, say four years old, produces cceteris paribvs 

 better tea than an old bush. 



There is yet another point about Ceylon I would 

 notice, but I will not do so today. I await further 

 information. Do not you or any of your readers, 

 be they in Iudia or Ceylon, imagine I wish to decry 

 vour island and throw doubts on its success in the 

 tea-line. 1 quite believe it is destined to be a very 

 serious rival to India, and more than that I hope 

 so (why, it would be out of place to state he. e). But 

 I think Ceylon is going too fast ahead, and its 

 eventual success will not be diminished, nay increased, 

 by caution. 



There is no doubt Ceylon has achieved a great 

 success, and that its future as regards the tea in- 

 dustry seems a bright one. I quite believe it will 

 be so, but the "tide taken at the flood" must be 

 taken reasonably, and from all I hear this is not the 

 case. Large areas quickly planted are not always 

 planted well. How many gardens, good gardens, in 

 India have failed financially, owing to hasty and un- 

 advised extensions. Again and again have I heard 

 planters regret they were not satisfied with a reason- 

 able area, in any case satisfied until the reasonable 

 area paid, and put them in funds for increased cultiv- 

 ation. They regretted their mistake when too late; 

 let Ceylon planters be wise and gain experience at 

 the expense of others, and not at their own cost. 



You have asked me to write occasionally on tea matters 

 to your paptr. I shall be glad to do so and study 

 the interests of Ceylon Teas. Both in the " f^ane " 

 and outside, I shall often hear much that your 

 planters ought to know. But I shall always writo 

 honestly, if even what I write is not welcome. 



Do you know anything in Ceylon.about " Black- 

 man's Air-propeller " which was exhibited at the 

 Calcutta Exhibition ? We have tea manufacturing 

 machines of many kinds, but in my opinion a leaf 

 withering machine has yet to be invented. I think 

 this Air-propeller may possibly solve the problem. 

 Why, I think so would take a couple of columns to 

 explain, and would then be only a repetition of 

 what I wrote in 1SS4 to the Tea Gazette* It 

 I would, I am sure interest your readers if you sent 

 for and reproduced the article. f I may add that I 

 I think now, as I wrote then regarding the probable 

 i advantages of the Air-propeller to inaugurate a new 

 system of leaf withering. We all know what an im- 

 I portant feature in tea manufacture withering is, and 

 I how difficult it is to carry it out successfully in 

 wet weather. We also all know (though some iu- 

 ventois assert the contrary) that no tea-drying machine 

 will do the withering work satisfactorily. We do 

 not know yet what the success of the plan I have 

 sketched in the article aforesaid would be, but 1 

 am sure the idea deserves attention, anil I believe 



* The article appeared in llio issue of 18 th April lit!, 

 t We copied a portion at the time. — Ed. 



