38 -i r..\ 



Minimally increased the cost of production : hut the 

 mischief as regards tea had already been done. When 

 the exchange dropped, large tracts of land were 

 planted up in the belief that the value of the rupee 

 would be regulated by its intrinsic value, and the 

 rise to over Is. 4d. was a severe blow to tea production, 

 owing to the greatly increased expense in cultivation." 



It has been frequently stated that tea was found to 

 he already exist ing in Ceylon by the Dutch, who occupied 

 the island before the advent of the British ; but this 

 statement lacks any really satisfactory confirmation. 

 A very small amount of tea was originally planted out 

 in Ceylon as early as 1839 ; but the first regular planta- 

 tion was not opened out until 1867, when Messrs. Keir, 

 Dnndas & Co. started to raise tea at Yoolcondura. 

 The area was about ten acres, and for some few years 

 the industry made no great strides : in 1877 some 2,720 

 acres were under tea, which ten years later had increased 

 to 170,000 acres. In 1897 the area had grown to 

 350,000 acres, and in 1908 the official returns showed 

 an area of 392,000 acres. 



The area recorded for 1905 included a certain acreage 

 which had been interplanted with rubber, and in Fer- 

 guson's Ceylon Handbook it is estimated that the 

 actual area under tea was about 380,000 acres. One 

 of the most noticeable facts borne out by a study of 

 Ceylon tea statistics is that whereas during the period 

 up to 1890 the acreage had increased by leaps and bounds 

 during the last ten years or so the area planted has been 

 practically stationary, and it is the opinion of those 

 best able to judge that, for the present, at any rate, the 

 growth of the tea industry has reached its upper limit. 

 The average size of an estate in Ceylon is about 300 

 acres. As in so many industries in all parts of the 



