S40 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



[May 1, 1885. 



so as to avoiil the us '. ; is which otteo oc- 



cur between the sale samples there and the i ■ 



after being turned out ami mixed in the London ware- 

 hoases. It stands to reason tbiit it must be, difficult to 

 produce a fair sample to sell a parcel by in Calcutta, 

 if it is so irregular in quality as to necessitate its being 

 bulked on arrival in England. 



Purchases in Oalcutia.— Rather more thau half the 

 crop has been shipped on garden account this season ; 

 the quantity sold in Calcutta to 24th February having 

 been 322,000 packages against 344,000 packages to same 

 date last year. Early purchases gave good results to 

 shippers ; 'later imports, on the other hand, did very 

 badly, but arrivals since December and January have 

 again proved profitable, especially in the case of lino 

 Pekoes and finest descriptions generally. Buying in 

 Calcutta, as in most other places uow-a-days, is overdone, 

 and the competition is so keen that great caution is re- 

 quired, owing to the very sensitive market there, which 

 is influenced by teleg.-ams sent from this side. Buyers 

 who have confined themselves to fine and finest steadily 

 this season, will probably have very little to complain ot : 

 but purchasers of common kinds, until recently, have had 

 a bad time of it. 



Assam— Estimated Crop 1884-85. lb. 32,500,000. Season 

 1884-85. — Similar to previous season, many well made, but 

 light in cup. During August and September, some very 

 desirable teas were received, quite up, if not superior to 

 those of the past tew years. 1883-84.— On the whole rather 

 below the average, well-made leaf but large proportion, 

 light in cup. Few strong ones with quality realized high 

 averages. 1882-83.— Quality very poor at first, then better 

 but again fell off ; towards the close a few very good, es- 

 pecially brown leafed (autumn tint ones.) 



Oachar and Stlket. — Estimated Crop 1884-85. lb. 

 17,500,000. Season 1884-85.— Early part of season undes- 

 irable as a rule, with the exception of several favourite 

 marks which have kept up quality throughout. Later 

 arrivals were much better. 1883-84.— First arrivals un- 

 desirable, but later on considerable improvements, towards 

 the close some very useful. 1882-83.— Poor at first, then 

 great improvement, especially 011 Sylhets, some very fiue. 



Darjeeling, Kursiong and Teeai. — Estimated Crop 

 1884-85 lb. 10,500,000. Season 1884-85.— Quality very ir- 

 regular, but on the whole disappointing. Early arrivals 

 I'ood, especially some sold in August, but September 

 imports shewed a great falling off in the cup. Towards 

 the close some choice parcels were received. 1.883-81.— 

 Fairly good all through the season, some really choice 

 flavoured lots commanded high rates. 1S82-83.— Crop gen- 

 erally much inferior to last season, chuice flavoured teas 

 in great request and a few really fiue parcels realized 

 very full prices as compared with inferior sorts. 



Dooaks.— Estimated Crop 1884-85 lb. 10,500,000. Season 

 1884-S5— On the whole good, and a great improvement 

 on previous year. Some very desirable full flavoured 

 parcels, especially the autumn pickings. 1883-84. — Dis- 

 appointing as a whole and gradually fell out of favour 

 as compared with last season, through lack of keeping 

 quality A few full autumn flavoured towards the close 

 sold well. 18S2-83.— Fairly good at first. Drop generally 

 above the average, some very choice parcels towards the close. 



Kancha Valley, Kxtmaon, and Dehba Doon.— Esti- 

 mated Crop 1881-85 lb. 3,250,000. Season 188 1-85— From 

 the former some very choice iuvoices received at early 

 part of season. The quality fell off later, owing to the 

 unfavourable weather, l'.ecent shipments have again 

 been good. From the last two districts quantity re- 

 ceived was very limited. 1883-84— Several of former very 

 fine but crop on the whole below (lie average. Kumaon 

 Teas rather better, but Dehra Doon in very short supply, 

 18S2-S3.— Disappointing throughout, very tew line, though 

 much wanted; last two in very short supply, and quality 

 poor Chiefly used for local consumption and Asian trade. 



Chittagong— Estimated Crop 18s t-85 lb. 1,250,000. Sea- 

 son 1S84-85.— On the whole fair, but quality irn alar, 

 similarly to that from other districts. 1883-84.— A few 

 choice parcels especially at beginning of the. season, but 

 later shipments rather disappointing. 1882-83. — Fair at 

 first, then some exceptionally strong teas with fine flavour 

 of desirable kind, which commanded very high prices, 

 similar to teas produced some years ago. 



NeiebhebbIES.'— Estimated Crop 1884-85, lb. 1,250,000, 

 Season 1884-85. — Iu short supply, ami quality with a few 

 exceptions below the average. These teas, like Kangras, 

 command very lull prices wheu really fiue. 1883-84.— 

 Quantity limited, but quality rather improved, 1882-83. 

 Short supplies, quality of those received generally un- 

 desirable. 



Ceylon.— Estimated Crop 1884-85. lb. 3,000,000. Seasou 

 1884-85. — Still in favor owing to their useful qualities. 

 Some undesirable shipments however have realized low 

 averages. Demand likely to continue for all parcels with 

 full flavor. 1883-84. — Iu considerable request at steadily 

 improving rates thoughout the season, the demand for 

 these growths having become general from all parts of 

 the United Kingdom. 1882-83.— Outturns and shipments 

 to Great Britain much larger, quality generally good, 

 and fast gaining favour with retail buyers for "self tea," 

 and mixing purposes. 



Total Estimated Crop 1884-5 lb. GS,000,000. From which 

 deduct say one-and-a-half millions for local consumption, 

 and two-and-a-half millions fo.- shipment to the Colonies, 

 America and the Continent, which will leave about sixty- 

 four millions available for Great Britain. 



Geo. White & Co., Tea Brokers. 



Cultivation has been so greatly neglected in Upper 

 Burmah, ou account of the disturbed state of the 

 country, that over 7,400 tons of rice, husked and 

 uuliusked, were imported across the frontier from 

 British Burmah iu the month of February. — Madras 

 Mail, 



Statistics of some interest to India have just been sup- 

 plied by the Secretary of the State of Michigan, one of 

 the great wheat-growing centres of the United States. 

 From these figures it will be seen that farmers are not 

 suffering quite so much over there as we would imagine 

 from the low price of wheat, and it would be interesting 

 to know how the Indian wheat-grower fares by compari- 

 son. Here are the figures : — 



Cost of ploughing 

 Cost of fitting tor peed... 

 Cost of fertilisers 

 Cost of seed 



Cost of drilling 



Cost of harvesting 

 Cost of stacking'... 

 Cost of thrashing 

 Cost of marking... 

 Interest at 7 per cent 

 Cost of repairs ... 



Total cost of producing 

 marketing one acre of w 



The Economist, remarking on these, says:— 

 Subtract from the above totals the value of straw per 

 acre, and there remains as cost of producing and market- 

 ing the wheat grown upon one acre in the southern four 

 tiers of counties 14*25 dollars; in the northern counties, 

 12*20 dollars; and 1367 dollars as the average for the 

 State. Dividing these amounts respectively by the average 

 yield per acre, the cost of producing and marketing one 

 bushel of wheat in the southern four tiers of counties is 

 found to be 7 17-10 cents; in the northern counties, 70 3-lQ 

 cents; ami the average cost in the State, 71 cents. The 

 average price of wheat on -Ian. 1, 1885, was, in the south- 

 ern four tiers of counties 71 5-10 cents per bushel, and 

 in 'it- n irthern counties 7" 9-10 cents per bushel. The 

 crop of 1S84 sold at these prices would bring the farmers 

 State vi tv nearly the amount of their expenditure 

 for fertilisers, seed, and repairs, 7 per cent interest on 

 the value of the land on which the cr^p was raised, and 

 day wages for their labour.— Overland Mail. 



