Tea 



161 



important of the European cultivations, but in the sixties a terrible fungal disease commenced 

 its ravages in the coffee plantations of the island, and after a comparatively few years it was 

 evident that the industry was doomed. The enormous losses, widespread consternation, 

 and distress occasioned by this calamity will be referred to in the article dealing with 

 coffee, and need be no more than mentioned here ; but in spite of the blow which had been 

 dealt them, the planters with commendable pluck and energy turned all their attention to the 

 discovery of other crops suitable to the climate and conditions of Ceylon, with which 

 their broken fortunes might be restored. Attention was given to cinchona, cardamoms, cacao, 

 and other crops without any great measure of success ; but it was not until they seriously 

 turned their attention to tea that the panacea was discovered. It was found that the warm, 



TEA PLANTATIONS NEAR BATOUM 



damp climate of many parts of the island was pre-eminently suited to the cultivation of the 

 new crop ; moreover the hardiness of the tea-plant when compared with coffee soon raised 

 the hopes of the planters and encouraged them in their new efforts. ,. 



It has been frequently stated that tea was found to be already existing 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 plantation was not opened out until 1867, when 

 Messrs. Keir, Dundas & 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 last year (1905) the official returns showed an area of 

 390,000 acres. 



The area recorded for 1905 includes a certain acreage which has been interplanted with 

 rubber, and in Ferguson's Ceylon Handbook it is estimated that the actual area under tea 

 last year 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 



