July i, 1SS5.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



29 



Inn" writes Mr. Moeas, "bears the palm amongst 

 Asiatic possessions for quantity of the product." We 

 shouKl Uiiuk fo, indeed. Mr. Moens gives figures in 

 kilogrs. sliowing a moie than niuo-fold increase in 

 tbe supply from our island in four years, the rise 

 being trt.m544,00U kilograms in 1881 to .^i,21u,000_iu 

 1884 * No winder if prices of bark and quinine 

 went down in s-ynipathy in the face of an iucroase 

 so enormous and so rapid. But there will, infallibly, 

 be lessened exports from Ceylon as the process goes 

 on of ousting cinchonas as well as coffee to m.ike 

 room for tea. This year, however, ivnd perhaps next, 

 we suspect there will be a still further mcre.iso 

 rather than a diminution. Mr. Moens states that the 

 percentage of quinine in Ceylon barks is estimated at 

 an average tf 1^ or 2 per cent, while Java bark (a 

 hirge proportion of which is Ledgeriana) averages 

 from i'Sa to .3'5. The highest percentage was 98 in 

 the air dried bark of government Ledgeriaua, the pro- 

 duce of private plantations competing closely. For 

 instance, L'.dgor stem bark from Hjekenagara gave 8 

 per cent; and the lowest from other estates was 5 '3. 

 Officinalis barks from estates also ranged high, from 

 4'3 to 5'S. As regards l.edgeriana, Mr. Moens de- 

 duces the result that the successive generations of 

 trees have improved upon those derived from American 

 seed. As far as high quality is concerned it seems 

 certain that Java will be the leading cinchona coun- 

 try of the future-. As a result of heavy sales of 

 Ceylon in consequence of low prices, we suppose, 

 as well as checked supplies from South America, 

 stocks of bark in Lundon, France and North 

 Am.-rica wont down from 129,000 bales in 1883 to 

 yt),UOO m 1SS4. Mr. Moens calculates that of the 

 bark in stock over one-third is of poor quality or 

 useless. Counting by bales is deceptive, for while tlio 

 American packages average only (JO kilogrs . each, 

 those from Ceylou were 110 in 1SS3 and 112 in 1884. 

 The stocks in London at end of 1884 consisted 

 mainly of South American, of which 04,000 bales 

 were cuprea, only . '5,800 bales being E,a8t Indian. The 

 prospects for IsSj seem better than thnse for 1884, but 

 ibr. Moeiis, taking our figures that 1'28 millions of cin- 

 chonas must have been planted in Ceylon, of which 

 22 millions were 2 ycau old aad upwards, in 1884 

 gives a needed warning that Ceylon is not likely 

 soon to bo an iusignificeint factor as bark-producing 

 country. Our own opinion is, that, nfUr 1887, Ceylon 

 will decrease as Java increases in the production of 

 the f-iver bark. There has not been and there 

 does not seem likely to be any sacritioe of cinchonas 

 to tea in Java, while in Ceylon the giaut 

 " GnA " demands and receives his holocausts of cin- 

 chona and cjff^e victims, even young cinchonas being 

 immolated. A gojd deal of cinchoua exists in Travan- 

 core and Wynaad, which tea will not, probably, 

 supersede. Java ;ent 453,000 kilogrs. into the market 

 in 1884, ol wh ch only 2 7,000 were frum the Gov- 

 ermeut gardens, and the quantity from the Dutch 

 colony will speedily increase, although it will be 

 long before it overtik s the astounding Ceylon figures — 

 figures which have tiken producers and consumers 

 equally by surprise. Mr. Moeus enters into a 

 laboured argument to prove that Amsterdam is as 

 good a market for .Java bark as London can be, but 

 he mentions the one great attraction of sales in London 

 being fur cash, while 1 per cent is deducted for 

 cash at Amsterdam. The auction charges are " very 

 heavy " at both place^i, being more onerous the lower 

 the prices obtained. Direct sale by analysis to manu- 

 facturers exists in some cases. Mr. jNIoens dwells on 

 variations in analyses, owing largely to the differing 

 qualities of bark in the same bale. Besides the cash 

 principle, London has the advantage of frequent 



* All coutinental India added less than 5,000 bales, 



auctions, once a fortnight, while at Amsterdam only 

 eight were held in 1884. Mr. Moens dissuades from 

 any attempt at sorting quills of Ledgeriana aud other 

 "chemist's bark." which sells on its merits as shown 

 by analysis, in whatever form it is received. Such 

 bark should be broken into small pieces and thoroughly 

 mixed. Indeed, to save a multitude of analyses, ho 

 advises the thorough mixing up of bark of all qual- 

 ities and all ages, root, stem, branch and twig of the 

 various kinds. Wood should not exist in parcels of 

 b.ark, aud succirubra bark (for druggists, of course) 

 should be from trees at least seven years old, or rather 

 older, so as to have the white silvery appearance 

 outside and reddish brown inside, so much desiderat- 

 ed. Then he tflls the Java planters to mark the 

 tare of their bo.\e3, and after alluding to two so-called 

 substitutes for quinine which reduce the heat of the 

 system but are not febrifuges, the writer brings his 

 able aud interesting paper on the present condition 

 and future prospects of the ciuchoua market to a 

 close. The details which will appear in the Tro- 

 pical Aijriculturst will well repay perusal and be use- 

 ful for reference. 



MR. JAMES lUVlNE ON TEA. 



TEA AND COFFEE TOOETIIEK NOT A SUCCESS — TEA AT LOW 

 .^ND HIGH ELEVATION'S — TEA PHEPAUATION — OVElt-FBODUC- 

 TJON — THE FUEL QUESTION AND KAILVVAI EXTENSION TO 

 HiPUTALE — THE HAPUTALB-BADULLA TRACE— SUITABILITY 

 OF UYA FOR TEA. 



{Extract from Idler ) 



Nuwara Eliya, 2oth May 18S5. 

 * * * There is no doubt, tea is now the great 

 planting industry of Ceylon, and where it is planted 

 coffee must come out. You w ill see lots of tea and coffee 

 growing together, but lam convinced that wherever tea 

 has been planted in coQee, not only muat the coffee 

 come out ultimately, but it is iu my opinion best 

 that the coffee come out at onco, as the growth of 

 the tea is greatly retarded. Tea grows freely from 

 Nuwara Eliya to Awisawella. I do not yet feel in- 

 clined to give a hard and fast opinion as to elevation, 

 but will probably adhere to my origin.al opinion that an 

 elevation of from 1,500 to 2,000 feet will be most 

 productive when climate and rainfall are suitable. On 

 the other hand, I wa^ greatly pleased and I may also 

 say surprised at what I saw on AbbotsforJ : not so 

 much with the large "Riant Trees" as with the 

 new fields at the top of the estate at an elevation 

 of say 6,000 feet. They are far more rapid in growth 

 than I expected : thebushe; Hush freely and have stood 

 cose plucking as no low-grown tea would do. I 

 fully believe that the Mgures for Abbotsford manu- 

 factured tea per acre, if not exceeded, will at least be 

 realized on many high estates. I am also confirmed in 

 my opinion as to the durableness of tea under cultiv- 

 ation^ more especially at high ih-vations. .4.3 to the pre- 

 paration of tea by machinery it is only in its infancy 

 as yet and will gradually be improved : the "revolv- 

 ing web" for drying is one step forward, but the 

 whole work of the tea-house may be so systematized 

 as not only to lessen the cost of production but to 

 do away with much night- work. What we Ceylon 

 planters have most to fear is over-production. Wo 

 will certainly send into the London market within 

 the next five or six years not loss than fifty million 

 pounds of good tea. 1 was of opinion that 300 lb. good 

 tea per acre would be a fair average for the Island, 

 admitting that exceptionally good estates will give a 

 very largo yield : there will also doubtless be failures 

 perhaps many, but the acreage of really good tea 

 land is Eo large that I feel convinced a larger yield 

 than 300 lb. per acre will begot as an average for tea 

 land in full bearing. The fuel diflSculty has praotio- 



