64.8 



XffE, TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [March i, 1886. 



continues to fall, checking further extension oi the 

 acreage under this valuable product, the exports of which 

 during 18S5 amounted to 184, 1-12 lb., against 177,163 

 lb. in 18fM. Your Committee regrets that there is no 

 advance in rubber cultivation to chronicle. The trees 

 grow well, but it is difficult to obtain from them at 

 a moderate cost a sufficient quantity of rnbher. 

 Liberian coffee has in many districts been cut out 

 to make way for tea. This year it shows a large 

 increase of exports over 1S84, but as the price obt,^ln- 

 able for it is very low, and there is no likelihood of 

 a better, it will probably shortly cease to lie an im- 

 portant export. The exports for ISSr. were ■:>.'Ai:i ewt., 

 against .S,412'crwt. for 1884. 



.TEA STATISTICS. 

 "'• Messrs. (tow', Wilson <t Stanton send us theirvfthi- 

 able Ahrinal Bepdrt on the Tea Trade, illustrated 

 by diagrams which at once appeal to the e.ye 

 a-nd show the exact position of India and China. 

 In the second quarter of ia78, the average price of 

 fftir medium pekoe. was Is 9d per lb. ;. in the fourth 

 quarter of IHR.t, the figure was down to Is 0|d. 

 liu.t the average monthly deliveries which were 

 itnly '2,HfiO,000 in the third quarter ol 1«78, went 

 iip'to (i,'.t40,000 in the tirst tluarter of last year, 

 it will be seen that, while the home consumption 

 fff Chin^tea is lower now than it was in 1871, the 

 cppsutoption of Indian (including Ceylon) tea now 

 exceeds by nearly 500 per cent the amount taken 

 fonfteen years ago. We should think that seldom Or 

 never has there bpen such an advance as (his in 

 any one article of commerce, hut the atlvaiire of 

 Ceylon tea alone in the next decade will jirobably 

 leave even such a percentage behind. 



The two kinds of Indian tea taken by the au- 

 thors ol the Circular are fair medium pekoe and 

 useful pekoe souchong. In 1879 pekoe began at 

 la 7d, rose to Is lid, went down to Is (id and 

 closed at Is 8d. In 187it prices varied ♦Vom Is :id 

 to Is 8d ; in 1880 there was a descent to Is, with 

 a rise in 1881 to Is (id; in 1882 the price went 

 down to Is OAd. rising to Is M in IHM; rising 

 from Is 2d -to Is :!d in 1884 and going dowii 

 below Is ; while 188.i began at Hid, rose to Is 2Jd 

 and closed at Is n.Ul. In round numbers fair 

 nu-dinin pekoe was cheaper by 30 per cent last 

 year than in 1878. Estates, therefore, wliich have 

 jiot been able to reduce the cost of producing 

 tea must have suffered severely. Much the same 

 process has marked the history of useful pe!;oe 

 souchong which began ia 1878 at Is 3d; sunk to 

 !)M ia jPS2-83, and closed in 188r, at lO.'.d. The 

 dcUvorics in the period included rose from 1 million 

 to 7 millions of pounds per month. In Uie duty 

 scare period of last vear deliveries went up to 

 8,(;54,000 in March and 8,703,000 in April, fol- 

 lowed, of course, by a reaction. The deliveries 

 calculated on for the first six months of 18H(i are 

 .'),750,000 per monlli, but we have Utile doubt the 

 round fi millions will be reached before the year 

 is out. The percentage ot Indian and Ceylon teas 

 to the whole consumpdon rose from 3 per cent 

 in 18t)l-(iri to 17 in 1k7(1 and 3!) in lH8;-i. The 

 ")0 per cent is not far off, and then China will 

 rank No. 2 as a source of tea. (Iiina tea culmin- 

 ated with .a. monthly delivery of 10 milluuis of 

 pounds in 18711, but the deliveries have since re- 

 ceded to a fraction over It millions in 188r,. From 

 a mere modicum in 1801 Indian tea has steadily 

 advanced, until in 18C,.'') the monthly delivery of 

 Indian tea was r,\ millions of pounds. Cevlon 

 adding another quarter ot a million. 



We only regret we cannot reproduce the very 

 suggestive coloured diagrams, but the main facts 

 are patent enough. Indian tea has risen rapidly 

 in production and public favour, and the progress 

 of Ceylon tea promises to be still swifter in every 

 respect. 



INDIAN TEA STATISTICS. 



13, Rood Lane, Loudon, E.G., January 27th, 



Below we beg to submit a few facts bearing on 

 the statistical position of Indian Tea, which may be 

 of interest to you, 



Gow, Wilson * Stanton, Tea Brokers. 



Diagram sliowing the Monthly average Deliveries 

 of Indian and Ceylon Tea in each (Quarter, and the 

 Comparative Course of Prices of Liditm Teas (Pekoe 

 and Pekoe Souchong), for eight years past. [Here 

 follows the diagram. J 



The pr'ces ofthe two descriptions named are given, 

 as practicitUv the useful Teas, from lOd to Is 6d. 

 cover about" three-fourths of all the Indian Teas 

 produced. 



In the diagram above, the average monthly de- 

 liveries of Indian and Ceylon Tea foi; the past year 

 show fluctuatio.is which are more striking than tho'Be 

 of anv year depicted upon our chart . 



These irregularities are to be accounted for by the 

 abnormally high clearances which took place in 

 Mfirch and April last in anticipation of the Budget: 

 the market was then influenced by unusual excite- 

 ment occasioned by the fear of an addition to the 

 Tea. duty. This happily proved to be unfounded, but 

 nevertheless caused a substantial rise in prices, es- 

 pecially of the lower grades of Tea, as will lie noticed 

 by a reference to the Chart. 



This disturbing influence coming so near ihc end of 

 the season yeai' naturally affected figures to such an 

 extent as to cause tlie usual statistics taken at the 

 end of May, to appear somewhat misleading. Wi' 

 therefore, for purposes of comparison give below, a 

 table calculate'd from 1st .lanuary to 31st December 

 — thus to avoid anv erroneous concl-.ision. 



1883. 1884. IS.S;.. 

 Import of Indian 



and Cevlon . . (;i.ti(37,iJ00 67,152,000 66,86.1,000 



Delivery" „ „ .. .'>1>.096,000 64,217,000 68,89.-.,0<iO 



These extraordinary clearances appear to have un 

 favourably influeuceS deli\-eries for some months 

 after the 'excitement —until the close of September, 

 as shown by the following table, when \\-e again find 

 an excess over the corresponding period of 1881. 



January (1,388,636 ; February j,77i.778 ; March 

 8 6.'i4 180": April 8,703,8110; IVIay 4,213.,-.s6; June 

 :i,. '•.76,122 ; July 3,893, LIS : August 4,477.7 i2 : Se)iteinber 

 .■■|,i.">3,!l22; October 6,452,874 ; November (i.uiul..s'.l;; ; Drc- 

 ouibcr .'),r>07,578, tot.al 68.894,962 lbs. - 



For the whole period under review it is gratifying 

 to iijiice an iucvtas;^ of 4.679.000 oundsp. It is also 

 a significant fact- and ou" upon which we shMlI h.avi; 

 occasion to comment hilcr— thai the delivcri s I'or Ihe 

 past twuhe months have exceeded blie imports by 

 2,03.-i,<(oi; nounds— the first inHta,»co of any exct,ss sincu 



1881. , , ,. . 



Turning our attention now to the total deliveries, 

 including export, of all Tea for the past twelve months 

 and comparing them with the two preceding years, we 

 liud a coutstant increase viz;— l,'i.->3, 21 l,lil7,0(X); 18,84, 

 219,6;i3000; 188), 220,771,0<IO. 



Tiie figures for lioiiu coMiiiiijilinii in 18S.i reach 

 the enormous total of 178,655.000 lbs.,— the largest 

 ever recorded, as against 17."),097,000 lb. in 1884, and 

 l'.0,812,(KX)lb. in 1883— and the annual amount of lea 

 consumed per head of the population in the United 

 Kingdom has now reached the unprecedented (igure 

 of 4 90 pounds. The eutire increase in the hoiiu- 

 consumption has been made up of Tea from India 

 and ('evloii, at the expense of China, and it is a 

 curious fact that the home consumption of this latter 

 description is lower than it has been since 18,1 

 fourteen years ago— while the consumption of Indian 

 Tea exceeds by nearly .500 per cent, the amount taken 

 in that ye!»r— so vastly has the popularity of Indian 



