April i, 1885.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



797 



least, a marked difference between our busy and Black 



months : — 



TEA SHIPMENTS FROM OEYLON IN 1884. 



January ... ... 13,738 



February ... ... 97,595 



March ... ... 116,248 



April ... ... 188,540 



May ... ... 319,969 



June 161,657 



July ... ... 501,943 



August 125,060 



September ... ... 309,501 



October ... ... 147,188 



November. ... ... 85,375 



December. ... ... 171,381 



1885. 

 January 

 February 



2,238,195 



291,266 

 161,735 



PLANTING IN THE LOWCOUNTRY OF 

 CEYLON. 



GENERAL REPORT: THE DROUGHT — TEA— RUBBER — 

 PEPPER VINES. 



Henaratgoda, 20th March 1885. 



The drought broke up on the 12th instant, and for six 

 days more or less rain fell daily. During the long dry 

 weather the tea did not altogether cease to grow, but the 

 progress was very slow, and every leaf developed, hardened 

 before another bud opened and though the rain has 

 fallen daily for a week past there is no vigorous start yet. 

 The drought lasted seventy-sis days, broken only by four 

 or five light showers with long intervals, and it has tried 

 the tea very severely. The vacancies in last year's plant- 

 ing are in some places very numerous and many of the 

 plants pruned in January look bare and stunted ; there is 

 however now no doubt that tea can stand a good deal 

 of drought without serious or permanent injury where 

 the plants have got a firm hold of the ground. 



The new field of 16 acres is a very fit lay, but the 

 soil is mt all that I could desire. I got the last section 

 burned off three days before therein came ; the laBt felled 

 portion would have been better for a few days more 

 sun, but I dared not toj wait, and the clearing up has 

 consequently been a stiffer job than was desirable. The 

 lining is well advanced and holiug begins on the 23rd. 

 I have the belts of bamboo in the old field nearly all down 

 but they will want constant attention to keep them down 

 so long as a bud remains on the stumps. In another 

 week the tea-house will be ready for the roof. I will 

 begin filling in the failures in the tea fields as soon as 

 the little monsoon begins, but I cannot venture just yet 

 The nursery of Assam indigenous will not be ready for a 

 month, but the older nurseries are now ready for operations. 



The Rubber harvest is over for this spell, and some- 

 thing has been learned, but not enough to decide the 

 question of " Will it pay '/" Individual trees have in the 

 course of two mouths yielded over one pound, but others 

 that hnve been operated on have not given an ounce and 

 some none at all. The result from twenty-five trees is 

 14 lb. perfectly clean, and its value iu the European market 

 must decide whether it will be worth while dealing 

 further with it One-half of the trees may be destroyed 

 with advantage ; the causes: stunted growth, scanty yield, 

 and low quality. The most productive trees are mostly 

 those that have branched low and are not crowded : I 

 jhould say 20m 20 feet apart or 108 to the acre would 

 be about the thing. On this occasion the single boy I 

 employed in collecting has averaged somewhat under half 

 a pound daily, but this first attempt has not been got 

 into a regular system before the passing away of the 

 proper season. 



I have partially succeeded in getting Pepper Vines to 

 run on the rocks, but unfortunately they do not yield 

 fruit in that situation however luxuriant the growth, while 

 those attached to living trees give very scurvy crops : the 

 only real success with pepper is on dead stumps. 



The imbul trees are getting on and cropping where it 

 has been possible to protect them from cattle. 



Sentence of ^termination has been pronounced against 

 the Liberian coffee. 



THE POSITION OF 

 Was thus noticed by Mr. D. 



INDIA TEA 

 Cruickehank at the 

 annual meeting of the" Calcutta Tea Association:— 

 From th: brokers' sale lists I find that the average prica 

 realized for the portion of the past season's crop sold in 

 Calcutta is 8as. 9 pie per lb., and wo may take this to 

 represent also the value of the teas sent direct from the 

 gardens to London, where the range of values will not be 

 found, I think, on the wholo, to differ materially from 

 that current here. Taking then the value of the crop of 

 1884 at 8as. 9 pie per lb., and tho average yield at 3J 

 mauuds, in order to obtain a return of say 10 per cent, 

 on a capital of R500 per acre, thore should bo a margin 

 of fully 3as. per lb. between the cost of production and 

 the price realized for the teas. This would necessitate the 

 teas being laid down in Calcutta at less than has. per lb., 

 and we all know that very few gardens have hitherto 

 done this. The average cost of Assam, Oachar, and Sylhet 

 teas in Calcutta including charges for selling, is probably 

 about Sas. per lb. for 1884. In some concerns the cost of 

 production may have been less, but in a great many cases 

 last season I fear it was more. 



I have troubled you with these figures as they help to 

 show the critical position in which the tea industry at pre- 

 sent stands and the absolute necessity for a reduction of 

 expenditure iu the absence of any prospect of a material 

 rise in prices, which the increasing production that may 

 be expected from the large extensions carried out of late 

 years both in India and Ceylon render very improbable. 

 Without taking an alarmist view of the situation it is 

 evident that gardens cannot go on for any length of time 

 producing tea at a cost greater than the price obtained 

 for it, and unless a remedy can be applied, many estates 

 will eventually have to be closed with disastrous con- 

 sequences to the proprietors and those employed by thorn. 

 Attention has for some time past been directed to this 

 subject and efforts made to reduce expenditure, but more 

 remains to be done. Managers have much in their power 

 in connection with this matter. The bulk of the outlay 

 for working a garden is for labour and stores, and upon 

 the careful use or the abuse of these by a manager may 

 depend the question of profit or no profit. Managers must 

 recognize this and act accordingly. 



We find one manager making his tea at a local cost 

 of 4as. per lb. while his neighbour, working under similar 

 conditions, but with less attention to economy and to tho 

 judicious application of his labour to the work requiring 

 to be done, runs up his expenditure to oas. and 6as. per 

 lb. The cost of importing labour has, by tho extension 

 of the system of recruiting by garden sirdars, been con- 

 siderably reduced during recent years. Prices of manu- 

 facturing and other stores are also lower and considerable 

 reductions have been made in the rates of freight to and 

 from Assam. Machinery is still a heavy item of expense 

 more especially since the introduction of tea dryers some 

 of these machines with the frequent renewals they require, 

 alterations and improvements, entailing a heavy outly on 

 gardens in addition to their original cost. The principal 

 expense on garden is for labour, and attention must be dir- 

 ected to the possibility of effecting a large reduction under 

 this head. This may be done by a more economical use 

 of the labor available and by getting better work from 

 the coolies so that fewer hands will be required. 



There is one other matter to which desire to allude 

 briefly, and that is the question of the alleged falling off 

 iu the quality of Indian teas. In a review of the Indian 

 tea trade for the year 1884, published by a firm of brokers 

 in London, I find the following remarks : — 



" The trade generally are commenting freely and with 

 regret at the gradual but market deterioration year by 

 year in the quality of Indian teas, and it is commonly as- 

 serted that Indians from Is downwards cannot now com- 

 pare as they did in value with Chiua of the same price. 

 This assertion we consider to be only too true, and a 

 most unpleasant fact for the contemplatiou of those in- 

 terested, and we believe it points to the fact that we have 

 not yet witnessed the lowest prices in such descriptions 

 of teas." The assertion here made that Indian teas show 

 a marked deterioration in quality is not generally sup- 

 ported by the opinions of those here who are in the best 

 position to judge, and I do not find any such sweeping 

 condemnation expressed by any other London linns. I 

 think it will be admitted that as a rule the care and at- 



