jANirARv I, 1886.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



4^7 



CEYLON TEA. GA-BDENS. 

 Ftom I. A. liiicker iC- liencraft's jint lint of Ceylon 

 Tt'ti " Gtirdcns " or Estatcii. 

 Annexed i» a List of Ceylon Tea "Gardeus," so far 

 aa our present information goes. For the benefit of 

 tliose interested in the Planting. Shipment, or Im- 

 portation of Ocvlou Tea. we purpose adding to this 

 List from time to time, so as to show the growtli of 

 Tea Cultivation in the Island. We take this oppor- 

 tunity of asking those friends who arc aware of our 

 Ion;; conneetion with Ceylon Produce, and our deep 

 and sterling interest in the prosperity of the Colony, 

 to enable us to make these t;'.l>les as full aspossible, 

 by Gsadiiig for publication the names of any New 

 I'lautations that they beeonio aware have been put 

 under Tea, and if they will add estimates of the 

 fttreage present and prospective, we shall be able to 

 give Planters and Importers valuable information as 

 to possible e.vtent of yield, course of markets, itc, Ac. 

 Roughly speaking, we may look for about li.OOO.UllO lb. 

 from Cevlon during the twelve months commencing 

 1st October, hvst season's shipments having reached 

 3,800,000. From the greater number of the Gardens, 

 whose names we append, we have not seen any 

 samples as yet. Those plantations yielding more or 

 less during the past season, the produce of which has 

 passed under the hammer, are marked with an as- 

 terisk. The other names are those of Gardens or 

 Estates, we understand are in course of cultivation 

 of ■■ The Loaf. " V/e have to acknowledge our in- 

 debtedness to Mes-rs. A. il. A .T. Ferguson, whose 

 able .and most comprehensive " H.andbook " of l.SS.^-1, 

 we have laid under heavy contributions. Where 

 marks are given we do not know the District or 

 Plantation, and any information on this head would 

 be giatefuUy received. It would be a great convenience 

 to the trade if Planters would adopt Mr. .Vrmstrong's 

 suggestion, and simply mark the packages with the 

 name of the CJarden or Estate. We do not mean that it 

 is any comfort to anyone to have to say " Gikiyana- 

 kanda ' instead of "D in a diamond," but at any 

 late the name of one Garden is not likely to be 

 confounded with that of another, wliile for purposes of 

 tracing sales and following country orders, marks 

 arc likely to confuse both Dealers and Brol.-crs. 

 When figures are subject to immediate correction and 

 alterstion by those to whom we ad.lress this very 

 imperfect li.>-t, it would obviously l)e futile to give 

 c.\act additions or to base any "ice calculations on 

 the results of our work. Suffice it to sav thai there 

 were apparently some 43.000 acres set aside in 18S3-S4 

 fur tlie cnltivatiou of tea in Ceylon. To bring next 

 .season's (1»85-.SG) .shipments up to 6} million pound.s. j 

 we should only require 150 lb. from each acre. As 

 many of our readers are aware, it is by no means 

 unusual to get 500 to 800. and even in favouiable 1 

 circuuistanccs 1,000 lb. of tea per acre, so it will be i 

 .se. n that K-ilhou' fiirlliff aildinij to the are.a of i-nllir- 

 uil,\i, the acreage comprised in our list is capable of 

 sending forward at 500 lb. per acre, at least 21 .500,000 lb. 

 of tea. Since Mcs.srs. Fergusons estimates were made, 

 planting has been ra]>i.lly pu.shed forward, and pri- 

 vate ailvices arc to the effect ihat something like 

 70,(IOii acres are in cultivation. This would point to 

 an ultimate exjxjrt of from ,50 to 60 million pounds. 

 This, Ii(i»-.-ver, is n..t in the near future, and at 

 p^esfnt the <lata we have to go upon only warrant 

 the a.'i<uniptiijn that the Ceylon tea business will in- 

 cre;i8e with a rapidity that "may early introduce a 

 cluDge in the standard of values of tea generally. 

 It woui.l be well to bear in mind that the great 

 bulk of tea consumed is purchased from the Grocer's 

 "is canister," and that this means a Mincing Lane 

 basis of not over Is per lb. We are not of those 

 who think China teas are to be ousted from Ibis 

 market. Indeed it ii quite conceivable that there might 

 be even a partial revulsion of public taste fnim the 

 strong and piiiifdit Indian tea in favour of the lighter 

 and more delicate China. Sh uld this come about 

 Ceylon wo.i'd hold their position in the consump- 

 tion, beiug \a our taste more like a blending of the 

 better classes of India and China. 



[It is a pity Ihat our London friends should not 

 Usvp waited for our Directory li^t now priuliug.— Ed.] 



PLANTING IN BURMA, AND WAB ON 

 THE FKONTIRR. 



{From all ex-Ceylon Planter.) 



TIIE WAR WITH BfRMA UPPKIl BUKSIA I.IKK LOWER EOVPT— 



THE IKKAW.\nDV — UBPEIt IIUIIMA : ITS I'EOI'LF. AND NAT- 



IIRAI, WEALTll^COAL — GOLD AND lUBIES WASTE L.4ND 



FIT I'OK THI)P.ICAL AGnH^tlLTVHE — LABorR— EXPEHIME.NT- 



AL Cl'LTl'ItES VOLVNTEEKING — THE ANXEX-4TI0X OP 



rPPElt nUUMA — MR. C. E. BEIiNAltD. 



Tavoy, British Burma, Gth Nov. 18S5. 

 I am sending you a budget of information by 

 this mail for the T. A. — all the ditfovent e.\periincnts 

 in new products and also silos and ensilage in 

 all parts of the world. 



War to the knife sure enough. The Indian soldiers 

 have now arrived, and will be on the borders of 

 Upper Burma by tomorrow and ready to strike. What 

 a splendid country U. Burma is. When I first ar- 

 rived in Burma, I took up a trip to within 30 

 miles of U- Burma. It reminds one of Lower Egypt 

 20 years ago. The magnificent Irrawaddy reminds 

 yon of the Nile, and the great expanse of land is 

 exactly like the cultivated land in EgyiJt. The Irra- 

 waddy at some places is several miles in width 

 and the climate is a nice dry bracing one. 



The natives of the country themselves seemed 

 to be in good health, hut, poor creatures, to see them 

 huddled together like so many animals in tlieir 

 villages would make anyone sorry, and the small 

 pieces of ground cultivated ; in fact, the 

 whole of thispeople'senergy islostto this line country. 

 By the time you get this letter the' people will 

 be freed from' the li/rKnl-mnrilerer, and we will be 

 in Mandalay and we shall be in possession of one 

 of the richest countries to England in the wide 

 world. You will be s.T,ying: "Hold a bit." No, not one 

 inch will I hold, but rattle on, :ind I am able to 

 inform you that I have seen the trees growing 

 with their roots entwined in pure carbonized 

 coal, coal that burnt down to pure carbon almost. 

 Now, can you tell me of a greater wealth to the 

 euergy of England than coal '? Coal is one of the 

 greatest energies of the world, and it has been 

 predicted by experts that we have not coal in 

 England to last more than forty years. In Burma 

 there are whole forests gro\ying on coal, with no 

 mining required — only to go up a creek with your 

 boats and fill them with pure carbonized coal. 

 When I went up to U. Burma, I brought down 

 with me a great lump of pure coal from " Gala 

 Creek " and presented it to the Chief Commissioner, 

 and you could see the roots entwined in the veins 

 of coal. I also brought down a splendid specimen 

 of petrified wood ; I saw the stumps of ti-ees turned 

 into stone. Of course, there is gold in any quantity 

 and ruby mines ; but I look upon the coal in 

 U. Bui'ma as of more importance to England than 

 all the other things put together. 



Then there is the great expanse of " waste 

 land "ready for the steam plough and grubber. There 

 is a chance for those who may try their hand at whe.at- 

 farming and raising of stock. Buy a few thousand 

 acres and import a few good bulls and stal- 

 lions, also the best varieties of seeds of kinds, and 

 a man is bound to get on. 



The great ranges of hills are suitable for tea 

 and coffee, cacao, cinchona, cardamoms, and in 

 tact all tropical fruit, grapes and mulberries.^ Silk 

 is now manufactured to a certain extent. Thei-e 

 is also a field for the indigo plant, jute and fibres. 

 I think I hear you say : " Oh, but where is your 

 labour got ?" Mr. Editor, will you believe me when 

 I now inform you that I am only paying six 

 annas (about 37 cents) for able-bodied men, and 

 they arc coming now to Burma by the thousand 

 monthly. 



The chettics of Madras have bought a 



