EN ROUTE TO A CEYLON TEA ESTATE 19 



those who are only ooncomed about its welfare because 

 tliey prefer the taste of Ceylon tea to that of varieties 

 grown in other lands. She points to the fact that while 

 she has been building up a trade in a new pn^duct, her 

 annual export of tea has continued to increase. 



Nevertheless, it must be remembered that Ceylon is 

 a small island. Its area is less than half that of its 

 great British rival, the Province of As.sam ; infinitesimal 

 in comparison with that of China ; and very much less 

 than that of some other countries which are making 

 great elTorts to popularize their tea. extending the area 

 under cultivation to meet an increasing demand, or 

 contemplating plans for winning their way into markets 

 where their particular variety of the product is not yet 

 known. Although Ceylon has, up to the present, more 

 than made up for diminishing the area under t( a in the 

 lowlands and uplands by increasing the area under tea in 

 the highlands, there is an artificial, as well as a natural, 

 limit to her possibilities of making virgin highlands com- 

 pensate for the traiisforniation of old tea plantations 

 into new rubln'r plantations. The tea-bush will grow on 

 heights up to about 7,000 feet. But nowadays, when the 

 Ceylon Government sells land, the stipulation is made 

 that no clearing shall be done above the height of 5,000 

 feet. The wholesale clearing of jungle was threatening 

 to affect the rainfall, and as the prosperity of agritul- 

 tural Ceylon depends so largely on rain, it was con- 

 siderecl of the utmost importance to protect the forests 

 even at the expense of agricultural expan.sion. 



However, obviously Ceylon is confident that she can 

 continue to increa.'^e her annual export of tea ; for she 

 is making a novel bid for new customers. Her latest 

 appeal is being made straight to the public, through the 



