jANiARY I, i886.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



449 



THK PRODUCTION OF TEA AND THE 

 V/VLUE OF HUMAN LABOUR IN CHINA 



AND JAPAN. 

 The effects of the continued existence of that 

 ci-ime against humanity, slavery, in Brazil, in 

 swamping the coffee markets of the world— bring- 

 ius» down prices indeed to so low a level, as not 

 only to injure competitors emplo}'ing free labour, 

 but working retribution on the slaveholders them- 

 selves,— afford fresh proof, if proof were wanted, 

 that none of us can say: "Am I my brother's 

 keeper?" even though the brethern referred to 

 should be " Imlians " in Peru, Mongolians in 

 China, or slaveholders and their human property 

 in the South American F.mpire. Japan, we are 

 glad to see, by our exchange papers, is going 

 ahead with railways; and, happily, there is now 

 reasonable prospect that in China the era of the 

 iron highway and the iron horse is at hand. Bnt 

 why should we, in this " utmost Indian isle, 

 Taprobanc," specially and fen-ently desire that 

 railway construction, on a scale as gigantic as 

 the Empire is vast, should at once become the 

 policy of China ? For all reasons of general phil- 

 anthropy and for the one special reason that 

 the retrieval of the past and the prosperity of 

 the future in Ceylon depends on the success of 

 her tea enterprise. Railway construction in China 

 on anj-thing like an extensive scale, would at once 

 raise the value of human labour in that densely 

 peopled country, where so many millions of almost 

 stariing toilers" continually send up the equivalent 

 of the cry, — 



•' Oh Ood ! that bread should be so dear. 

 And flesh and blood so clieap 1 " 

 Wliat with the burdens in the shape of export 

 duties and " squeezes " imposed on tea in China 

 and the low net prices which the vast bulk of 

 China tea realizes in the consuming market, the 

 reasonable cabulation seemed to be that, at length, 

 even the wretchedly poor peasantry of China would 

 cease to cultivate the tea-plant and gather its 

 leaves. It may be that the time for such a re- 

 sult is at hand, comparatively near, because there 

 is ever a natural reluctance to abandon a pursuit 

 which has, heretofore, been profitable. But cert- 

 ainly the figures representing exports of tea from 

 China and Japan for the expired portion of tlie 

 season show no sign that the tea-growers of the 

 Far East have begun to slacken in their industry 

 in face of the competition of teas grown in India, 

 Java and Ceylon (it will soon be India, Ceylon 

 and Java) ; on the contrary, after deducting a 

 small decrease on exports to Continental Europe, 

 there is this season, so far, an increase of ex- 

 ports on the same period of last season, of no 

 less than seventeen millions of pounds. In the 

 severe competition, therefore, which seems ap- 

 proaching, our reliance must be on the superior 

 quality of Ceylon tea. 



CEYLON UPCOUNTRY PLANTING REPORT. 



K.>;vcFKBiA onNATA.— This is a Borr.ean introduction 

 of the Compag ic C'ontineutale of f Shent, and ftgured 

 at t. .137 of the Illnstrniion llnrlicole. The |)laiit has 

 long-stalked, lanceolate leaves, bright green above, with 

 a central band of white. The lower surface is wino- 

 purple. and the margin somewhat undulate. It is a 

 handsome stove foliage plant, the general habit of 

 which is chown in our illustration, which wi; owe 

 to the courtesy of the <Jompaguic Continenlale. — 

 Gard'-ners' Cliit/iticlc. 



TFST1M0SI.UJ1 Foil TEA-MAKINO MACHISES — THE " COLO.S- 

 IAL" — COMI'ABATIVK FAILURE OF THEI- RESENT CROP OF 

 TEA SEED— LOCAL AND DIl-ORTED SEED— THE WBATHE.l 

 — TEA ON THE KANDY SIDE. 



23rd November 188.5. 

 These certainly seem to be the days of testimonials 

 • for tea-making machines. They arc about every- 

 where : you SL'O them in the most prominent page of 

 the public prints in large .staring letters ; and in the 

 form of hand- bills these testimonials come to you by 

 post. To the budding teii-maker who wants a machine, 

 this plethora of excellence is somewhat confusing. 

 He has little to buy with, and ail of them have 

 nuich to offer, and when he contrasts their fullness 

 with his emptiness, he is inclined to say: 



" How happy could I be with either.'' 

 This sort of thing will, I fancy, in time work its own 

 cure, like those gushing addre.sses which in the early 

 days of the Canal, every steamer captain had pre- 

 sented to him towards the end of the voyage. No 

 shin like it; no such superexcellent skipper, odicers 

 and crew; no such passengers ever sailed together 

 before; no such joy when the circle was iinbroken; 

 no such grief when the parting came. After a bit the 

 ' monotony of tone became tiresome and ridiculous, and 

 the practice died out. There is one thing aljout these 

 testimonials to the new tea machines, that they don't 

 do the thing by halves. AVhen a planter is satisfied, 

 he is heartily so, and about that there can be no mis- 

 take. It is just the other day that I heard a planter's 

 report on the Eaiulla firni's tea-roller, " Frater's 

 Colonial," which had this superlative ring in it, so 

 cheering to the heart of those concerned. It was 

 said to give "perfect satisfaction" and " it will drive 

 every other machine out of competition." This is 

 surely more than the inventor ever dreamt of, and 

 if not satisfied, — well, he ought to be. 



The multiplicity of rollers, and especially good rollers, 

 is all for the benefit of the planter, and I for one 

 hail the "Colonial " with pleasuie and bid it welcome. 

 Studying a tracing of it I am able to see that the 

 machine consists of three discs with concave faces 

 of wood bolted to centres of iron. The two outer 

 discs go in one direction, and the centre disc and 

 barrel in which they -Aoik in the opposite one. The 

 opposite motions are got in rather an ingenious 

 way, and one which, if I mistake not is, quite a novelty 

 in tea rolling machines, or in fact in .any other 

 machine. It is an inverted spur wheel, with teeth 

 inside the ran, instead of outside. This works into 

 a small brass pinion, and it in turn works a spur 

 which is connected to the outer discs. The leaf is placed 

 between the revolving faces which are corrugated, 

 through a door in the barrel or outer shell. Pressure 

 is applied to the leaf by means of two screws, and 

 hand wheels, which are placed in front of the 

 machine. Altogether it is very compact, roller occupy-- 

 ing a space of only H ft. x 2 ft. 'I'he iouttuni i.^ said 

 to be about 80 lb. of leaf an hour. The price asked 

 for the "Colonial " is R.'iOO. When this new roller 

 has been longer in the licld, and has had a more 

 ex-tended trial, it will be interesting to see how it 

 will compete with its rivals. In the opening market of 

 Ceylon there is "a fair field and no favour" for all. And 

 let testimonials gn.sh as they like, they won't eventually 

 do any more for a machine thjm the machine will do 

 for itself. But numerous as ttre tlie rollers ranging from 

 R40() and upwards, there are many planters who would 

 be pleased to see a ser\iceablc machine for say half that 

 price, something to carry an estate over its first year 

 or two of bearing, and who would gladly go in for the 

 ; bigger and hotter article later on. when nior(' able 

 toafford it. l!ut the inventors and engineers of Ceylon 

 ' are all believers in the day of big things, and tho 

 I planter who is committed to the new hope has to 

 dance to their measure with what gr.aci; he may. All 

 I tho same, there is room fur the small cheap niacfaiiie 

 I speak of, and a public willing to buy it. 



The comparative failure of the present crop of tea 

 ) seed is sending our planters far afield for a suiiply of 

 ! their wants. 'This failure seems to be pretty general, 

 I and has had a tendency somewhat to raise prices for 



