igs' 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [S^;^, 



probably be lotally neglected unless bulked. In 

 cases where it U printed on the catalogue ' factory 

 bulked,' the merchant takes the risk of after disijutes. 

 In China bulking seems to be thoroughly understood, 

 and with a little more experience, and with a larger 

 quantity available for shipment, I am convinced the 

 (Jeylou planter with his readiness at acquiring infoim- 

 ation and unmindful of trouble will soon overcome 

 all difficulties in the matter. A sufficiently large 

 shipment, evenness of character, and not more than 

 three assortments, seem to be the essential^ points to 

 note. 



It is in many respects an advantage to have a 

 fixed scale of charges, and should lead to a more 

 healthy tone throughout, but it behoves us especially 

 to look at the matter from a Ceylon point of view. 

 The charges on tea already are more than trtble 

 those on coffee and cocoa, dealers as well as shippers 

 being affected alike. There must be a reason for 

 this being so, and a remedy will have to be found. It 

 is more than likely that in these days of rapid pro- 

 gress with an extending trade like tea, and one occupy- 

 ing a more important position owing to the 

 vast cultivation being carried on in India and Cey- 

 lon, that every facility for simplifying tea sales will 

 be adopted when sufficient pressure has been brought 

 to bear on the subject. One or two clever articles 

 in the Produce Markets' Iieuiew at (MSereut times have 

 gone very fully into the matter, thoroughly ex- 

 posing the absxjrdity of the present system of weight 

 notes, deposits (a precaution not enforced with any 

 other article of pi'oduce), and the necessity insisted 

 on by the Inland Revenue of affixing a penny-stamp 

 to every separate sub-delivery order used for tea, 

 although this is not detmed essential on deliveries 

 made from the weight note, the 3d. warrant stamp 

 being considered a composition for them. But what 

 is this ' weight note ' that appears to cause so much 

 complication ? The weight note is the key of the 

 whole system. It contains full particulars of the 

 goods, forms a contract, an invoice, and a delivery 

 order. The broker having sold the tea makes up the 

 weight note, and gives it to the buyer who deposits 

 £1 per chest on the value on the Saturday following 

 delivrry. To take the calculations in the above men- 

 tioned liei'iew as an lUustratiou, 600 chests of tea re- 

 quire 100 warrants and 100 weight notea with 15 

 separate identification marks and particulars on each, 

 and 100 invoices. 1,200 weights have to be copied 

 on the dock documents, and 400 additions of weight, 

 and deductions of taie have to be made, net weights 

 are turned into pounds involving 100 more calculations. 

 Sold price has to be copied 100 times, and .300 

 calculations, subtractions and arid itions made before the 

 invoice is completed, warrants and weight notes requite 

 600 signings and stampings. Before 600 chests of tea 

 are ready for delivery to the bujer, 5,000 clerical oper- 

 ations have to be performed, or say SO operations to 

 every chest of tea in addition to lull descriptions on the 

 landing account, I have quoted sufficient to show bow 

 cumberfome aud unnecessary all this detail is and 

 how expensive it is, in additiou to the ritk of ibo de- 

 livery of the tea being stopped ow ing to a single error in 

 these ceaseless operations. In the ca e of eUjjar or 

 coffee the importing merchant gives the buyer an order 

 for so many bags orhogs-hsads as he may want them, 

 for which he paj 8 fo much on account, the balance 

 being settled at the prompt, after deducting interest. 

 Tea gives thirty times the amount of work that sugar 

 does, aud why? — in order to continue a system that 

 modern requirements are burdened and hampered by. 

 Whether it is the weight note or the ttsnip on the 

 separate sub-delivery order that causes the clritf ob- 

 stacle to a reform is not of the smallest consequence, 

 for both of these forms must be swept away, and 

 tea must be worked at the eame rates aud on the eame 



EPTEMBEK I, 1885. 



system as coffee, sugar and other at)x 

 is this to be accomplished ? Simply '..jHicles. But how 

 and bit by bit the wall of prejudict by combination, 

 away ; but who is to bring it about? E«r . will crumble 

 ested in tea plantations both in India atseryone inter- 

 backed by the local Press as a commenceiiC.ud Ceylon 

 has been done in cinchona where the interestCJient. It 

 nominal compared to tea, and it has to be done i s were 

 tea trade where the interests are widespread ^an the 

 stupendous. To those intei ested in tea plantatidaoand 

 when the move is once made, the sense of the trade -"is 

 itself will be added. 



I hope you will pardon me the space this 

 letter occupies in your paper, but the ob- 

 ject of it is an important one, aud onn which 

 cannot be taken in hand a day too soon. Five years 

 hence certainly the voice of Ceylon will be weijjhtier 

 in the tea trade than now, but the present is the time 

 to take up the matter, and help to smooth the way 

 for the great future that is before us. — 1 am, yours 

 faithfully, JOHN HAM I LTON. 



PLANTAINS OR BANANAS IN CEYLON. 

 Nawalapitiya, 17th July 1885. 



Deae Sir, — I beg to submit the following regarding 

 fruit. Your Directory for 1884 fays there are only 

 10 varieties of plantain or banana in Ceylon. If you 

 can insert in this year's book, please note there are 

 21 varieties of best bananas in Ceylon ; all of these 

 21 varieties I have cultivated in my garden, and 

 they are quite different from each other iu appearance 

 aud in taste. — Yours obediently, 

 J. P . ABRAHAM. 



A RARE BIRD, THE "INDIAN HOBBY" 

 (FALCO SEVERUS): A FALCON SEEN 

 IN UVA IN JULY. 



Dear Sir, — The following occurrence of a very 

 rare bird may be of interest to some of your readers. 

 On 7th inst. (July 1SS5) I was standing behind my 

 store when the alarm notes of various small birds far 

 and near attracted my attention ; a robin with a nest 

 brimful of young under the eaves of my store 

 gave utterance to notes indicating intense alarm, 

 which told me the enemy was near, yet I could see 

 nothing. Suddenly, like a rocket, a dark object topped 

 my pulping-house a few yards in front of me. No 

 mistaking the dashing little marauder : it was a male 

 Hobby, Falco sevents, in beautiful ndult plumage. 

 The pace that little fellow was going at would 

 enable it to catch with ease any bird in the air that 

 I- am acquainted with, not excepting the spine-tailed 

 swift, which can do something in the way of 

 clearing epacel It fell to my luck to obtain the first 

 recorded specimen of Hobby captured iu Ceylon 

 (in 1867), since which till now 1 have sem no other, 

 unless a small falcon I saw a few years since dash 

 across a paddy-field near Wellawaya, was of this 

 species; it wae too far off to identify properly, but in 

 my own mind I felt fairly sure that was a young 

 bird of this species and I asked some friends to look 

 out for it when snipe-shooting in that direction. 

 In the present instance there is no room for 

 doubt, and its occurrence early in July adds 

 additional interest to its appearance here. Though 

 a species of fairly wide distiibution in the East, 

 it seems to be nowhere numerous and not. much 

 is known of its habits. Lpgge eays : " AVithout doubt 

 the species is migratory here in the cool season," 

 which means the N.-E. morsoon. Now there ig a 

 great difference between the 7th of July and the N.-E. 

 monsoon '; so I am strongly inclined to di ubt very 

 much the above assertion, and to believe it more 

 likely to be a resident probably to the extent of r few 



