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Ihe Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



community has absorbed during the year largely 

 increased quantities of most of the important 

 linns of food products that are imported. Ex- 

 cellent value is still (thanks to competition) 

 obtainable and there is no beverage except 

 water that anywhere nearly approaches Tea in 

 the liberal supply of healthy liquid that can 

 be obtained in return for a small expenditure. 

 Indian Tea. 

 The decline in the importations shown during 

 1910 has been more than made good and the total 

 used for home consumption is the highest on 

 record. The quantity taken by Russia from 

 Great Britain shows a considerable decline, but 

 the United States of America and Canada have 

 increased their demands so much that the re- 

 exports differ little from those of last year. The 

 quantity printed for auction in London in- 

 creased by 34,000 .packages, and was exceeded 

 only by that for 1906. The total production for 

 the whole of India in 1910 wa3 261.681,0001b., 

 which compares with a total of 263,000,000 lb. 

 furnished in the Government returns for 1909. 

 The latter figure has, however, now been cor- 

 rected to 257,800,000 lb. There wastherefore an 

 increase in yield of some 4,000,000 lb. The re- 

 corded exports for 1910 were 256,435,000 lb. and 

 this left only 5,200,000 lb. for internal consump- 

 tion, a quantity considerably under what pro- 

 bably was used. The average rate of production 

 per acre remained the same as in 1909, viz., 46'6 lb. 

 The Dooars showed a declinefrom 642 to 582 lb., 

 but Travancore advanced to the second place in 

 the list with an average outturn of 567 lb. per 

 acre. This district has forged ahead in recent 

 years, but is still probably far below its maxi- 

 mum possibilities. 



Ceylon Tea. 



The unfavourable weather, which was the 

 cause of restricted production in 1910, was again 

 a factor throughout a large portion of the year, 

 and in consequence the supplies available for 

 London fell off considerably. The rainfall in 

 some portions of the island was considerably 

 below the average for recent years. The defi- 

 ciency took place chiefly in the early part of 

 the calendar year, and the tea yields, where 

 the drought took fullest effect, were very short. 

 In the later months, however, the rainfall was 

 heavy, and in consequence there has been a 

 fair increase in the year's crop. As the direct 

 off-take, so far as latest advices show, has only 

 slightly increased, most of the excess crop falls 

 to be dealt with, as usual, in London. The 

 quantity brought to auction in London was only 

 1,184,000 packages as against 1,210,000 and 

 1,290,000 packages in the two preceding years. 

 The increased yield goes to prove that either the 

 fear of loss of tea crop because of rubber 

 cultivation was exaggerated, or that the more 

 thorough application of manurial methods of 

 culture is proving fully effective. The time 

 cannot now be far distant when the rubber 

 interplanted amongst tea will have had its full 

 effect, and the demand for tea seed in recent 

 years indicates that a fairly large addition must 

 have been made somewhere or other in the 

 island to existing tea-bearing areas. 



The total crop for the year should work out 

 at about 188,000,000 lb., of which 113,250,000 lb. 

 have been shipped to the United Kingdom. 



Java Tea. 



No country of origin has made more relative 



progress during the year thau the Island of 

 Java. The development in production appeared 

 for several years to beslow, but the crop for 1911 

 looks like being almost double that for 1905. We 

 are beginning to reap the results of the exten- 

 sive planting operations of recent years, and the 

 probability of constantly expanding yields of 

 useful quality teas will act as a steadying factor 

 in the Tea TrarJe. The total export for 1910 was 

 stated by the Thee-Export-Bureau in Batavia 

 to be 40,639,000 lb, and for the first 11 months of 

 1911 to be 44,000,000 lb so that a crop of 

 48,000,000 lb is not at all improbable. Had 

 the whole of ihe increase in yield fallen to be 

 dealt with by Holland and the British Isles, 

 the effect on the general level of tea prices might 

 have been appreciable. The producers in Java, 

 however, have realised their proximity to the 

 great Australian markets, to which a supply 

 has been sent down representing a good deal of 

 the excess. It has been suggested that much 

 of the tea in question was sold forward by con- 

 tract at rates lower than could now be ob- 

 tained in the open market, and should that 

 be so, there may, during 1912, be a rever- 

 sion to the previous outlets. The consump- 

 tion of tea from this island must however 

 have become well established in the Australian 

 Colonies, where the demand has always been 

 very largely one that did not call for the choi- 

 cest qualities. The diversion of so much of the 

 crop has not given opportunity for much gain in 

 consumption within the United Kingdom. 

 China Tea. 



The peculiar circumstances in regard to avail- 

 able supplies of lower-grade Teas rendered the 

 China growths of more importance than they 

 have for many years assumed on the London 

 market. It is necessary to go back to 1903 to 

 find such large deliveries of this growth being 

 made for home consumption, and that this fact 

 has been made use of those interested in push- 

 ing specially the sale of the China production, 

 to secure a good deal of cheap effective ad- 

 vertising. There is evidence that the campaign 

 so skilfully conducted in favour of a reversion 

 to China Tea is having the effect of increasing 

 the consumption of choice high priced grades, 

 but, so long as those are retailed as fancy arti- 

 cles and surcharged when supplied in Tea shops 

 and restaurants, the effect upon the trade figure 

 can be but a relatively insignificant one. 

 Japan and Formosa Teas. 



The latest official statistics indicate that there 

 has been a moderate increase in the production 

 of both these growths, but practically the entire 

 export trade in them is for the United States 

 of America and Canada. The efforts to intro- 

 duce the use in England of the delicate and 

 light-drawing Formosa Teas have not yet had 

 much success, and it will be a matter of difficulty 

 to get English consumers to drink what is so 

 entirely different from their usual ideas of what 

 a cup of Tea should be. 



Green Teas. 



There has been a considerable addition to 

 the production of Green Teas in both India 

 and Ceylon during the year and it would 



