March i, 1886.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



645 



and Ceylon Tea increased. The total home con- 

 siuiiptiou ill that year was only 123,529,«)0 lb. just over 

 twothiicis of its present amount. 



Taking all these points into consideration the pre- 

 sent stock of Indian and Ceylon Tea appears none 

 too mnch for our requirements, and tins becomes 

 even more sit;uitieant when we observe that tlie 

 present stock "of all Tea i9U,-2ir>.U(JO lb.) is lower 

 than It has been at any corresponding period 

 since ItiTO, when it stood at <.»5,;«S,000 lb. Our 

 market, therefore, seems in no position to 

 stand another sir:un of such sevevity as 

 that to which it was subjected to during March 

 and April last, without a^ain undergoing consider- 

 ;ible disturbance anfl inflation of prices m the event 

 of I hero being any ground for ahirm on account of 



duty. , ,■ . ,, 



( »"n the other hand should there be no unusual disturb- 

 ance in the ordinary deliveries we are likely to find 

 the supply of tea from India and Ceylon during the 

 next six mou;hs sufficient, but in uo way too largo for, 

 the probable demand. Taking the Calcutta estimate 

 of tea avaUable for London as 05,000,000 lbs., and the 

 total import for the same period from Ceylon 

 as G,ni)ililOO lbs.,* this gives us 71,000.000 lbs. 

 (If this ah-eady 4:i,-'SO,000 lbs. have anived 

 from India, and •2,iJ12,0o0 lbs. from Ceylon, 

 making together nearly lr,,0TO,0(X1 lb.— and thus 

 leaving 25,(X)0,0lXI to come forward. Adding the pres- 

 ent Stock of Sn.nOO.fiOO lb. there will be a total of 

 5l,000,tX«) lb. to deal with until tl:e end of June. 

 Assuming now that the deliveries during the next 

 six months will be maintained at an average of 

 5,7.5i ,000 lb. per month, we arrive at 34,500,(X)0 as 

 tbe probable total of the outgoings, and this should 

 leave us \iith a stock sufficient but not too large 

 for our gradually increasing rei]uirements. 



An important feature of the present season, and 

 one which planters would do well to remember, is 

 the continued and steady demand which has set in 

 for the lower grades of i/ood stioii;/ liijuoriny teas. 

 The British public have become accustomed to pay 

 a certain price for their tea, and are every year trying 

 to obtain a better article without additional cost. 

 I'.etailers are compelleJ to meet this want by purchas- 

 ing larger quantities of sucli teas as give the itrmi/est 

 and »if',-/ seiviceah/e hquors for the least appeaiance. 

 This end is most easily attained by the substitution 

 of Indian ar Ceylon Pekoe Souchong or Souchong, 

 and broken tea for the usually weaker liquoring 

 ("hiua variety. Ketailers now are also meeting the 

 public demand by introducing Indian or Ceylon tea 

 into many of then lower priced mixtures. 



KxcoET. We remarked upon a previous page that 

 the deliveries for the past twelve months showed a 

 substantial preponderance over the imports, and we 

 now wish to offer some further remarks upon this 

 subject. It is to be regretted that no official Bgures 

 are recorded whinh show the amoimt of Indian Tea 

 e.tported from this country, especially so as there 

 appear to br- .strong grounds for believing that this 

 branch of the trade is capable of most important 

 extension, and indeed there is substantial reason for 

 suppo.^ing that a marked expansion is even now in 

 progress. At any rate, it is certain that large quant- 

 ities of In.lian Tea have been consumed during the 

 past Iwelvu nitmths where but a short time since its 

 use was confined to the smallest proportions. This 

 subject of Export is one which merits close attention 

 from the trale, but is too exhaustive to deal with in 

 the limiteii space which yet remains to u^, and we 

 11,1- ^for: hope to treat of it more fully at an early 

 date in a circular bearing njioii Ceylon Tos. 



Cevion Tfi. — In the diagram upon the last page it 

 wiil be noticed that the red blocks which show the 

 average monthly cou.iumption of Imlian tea are tipped 

 with black foe the year ISSO an<l the following years, 

 to represent as nearly as can be tstimated the conBump- 

 tion of Ceylon tea, when uo seiiarate figures were 



» The actual figure will he nearer 9,000,000 lb 

 —Ed. 



S2 



recorded to show the movements of this article. Small 

 though these deliveries have been, avera^iing even in 

 1S85, for which year actual ^tatistics are published.only 

 62(J8.10 lb. per month, there is no doubt they nr,i the 

 harbinger of an influx of tea so enormous that before 

 many years are over, its influence upon uur market 

 will be of the weightiest descriptinn. Considering 

 the great popularity of this article and its well nioiited 

 reputation for high class quality, it must be gratifving 

 to t!ic British public to hear of the likelihood of so 

 abundant a harvest. 



E.KiiiBiTiox, IS8(i. There is uo doubt that the 

 coming Exhibition will do much to further the ediic. 

 ation of thepubhc taste in thedirecticn of both Indian 

 and Ceylon tea, and we are glad that such steps li.nve 

 been taken as will secure to these articles a consider- 

 able amount of the attention they deserve; and let lis 

 hope that the benefits will extend t.i the encourage- 

 ra-'nt of their use in other countries besides our own. 



MANUK.tcruEE. The importance which attaches to 

 the process of withering, upon which we have com- 

 mented in previous reports, is becoming more and more 

 fully recognised, and has recently been the subject of 

 much able treatment both practically and scientifically 

 in a well known periodical, so that there is a fair chance 

 of the various new methods being thoroughly tested, 

 and of the acquisition of more intimate knowledge of 

 the chemical nature of the tea leaf. 



Size of Breaks. The importance of making large 

 breaks and avoidifg the division of tea into too 

 many varieties cannot be too strongly insisted upon ; 

 the public sales are now frequently so large that 

 many buyers are compelled to pa.ss over, all the 

 siiial'ler lots, wliich thus meet with but little com- 

 petition, 



BuLKiNfj UPON THE Gabdens must be effected with 

 the greatest care that the tea in each chest may hs 

 e.iartli/ similar in character, otherwise all the expenss 

 is thrown away, and the gardens arc subjected to 

 the additional cost of rebulking in London , 



Gn.nPTH's Tea Packer.— We have received 

 the following communications ; — A trial ot ^[r. 

 Gilruth's tea packer was made here (Kiutyve 

 Estate, Maskeliya) today (February 5th), which 

 you will see by annexed description, by three other 

 witnesses was satisfactory. Mr. Walter Agar and 

 Doctor Berry White, the latter an Assam planter 

 witnessed the packing of the first box and were 

 pleased with the result. Had it not been for a de- 

 fective screw a larger quantity of tea would have 

 been operated on, but I am so pleased with the 

 machine that I have ordered one to be made (for 

 power or hand use) at once for tliis factory and 

 when made fuller reports shall be given. 



By the courtesy of Mr. H. D. Deane, Mr. Gilruth's 



Tea Packer underv/eut a trial at Kintyre Factory. 



The machine is very ingenious and compact, and, 



worked bj hand on this occasion, packed four chests 



(3/8ths No. 2.Japan boxes; of broken pekoe 001b. e.ach, 



in 22 minutes, a second trial of coar-er tea resulted in 



two chests of 86 lb. each being packed iu U iniiuites 



each chest, but a screw giving way furtiinr trial li.id 



to be suspendo 1. The toa packed compareil favorably 



with that packf:d by coolies in the ordinary way and 



showed no sigus of being brol-.en. With the few alicr- 



atiuus which Mr. Gilruth will now carry out, the 



packer will prove of great value, in th.at it wiil pack 



tea in the stuU- it Iciives the sines unbroken and free 



of foreign matter. The machine operated with was 



constructed for power, but was worked by band lor 



this occasion, and under these conditions proved itself 



capable of packing 1,000 lb. per hour. We understand 



from Mr. Gilruth that the machines will in future be 



constructed by Messrs. John Walker & Co. and tba- 



the cost will not exceed liSOO.— (Signed) A. E. B. 



Stiven, Alfred Scovell, Thos. Xorth Christie, H, D. 



Deane, 



