Miscellaneous. 



162 



[Feb: 1908. 



There is a good demand for Tea Seed 

 which means an increased area under 

 cultivation, and in Rubber clearings in 

 Uva we hear of tea being planted as a 

 catch crop. 



The quantity of Ceylon tea sold on the 

 London market in 1907 Avas practically 

 identical with that for 190(5, but the 

 average price was nearly Id. per lb. 

 higher, viz :— 8g-d. against 7J. 



On the Colombo Market the record 

 quantity of over 1,000,000 packages were 

 offered for sale, and the year has been 

 remarkable for the high rates ruling for 

 common teas, and for the fact that not- 

 Avithstanding this there has been no 

 weight of really undesirable low class 

 tea manufactured: quality, generally, 

 although not so good as the previous 

 year, has been fair throughout, but 

 really fine standout teas have been con- 

 spicuous by their absence. 



The feature of the year has been the 

 greatly increased Russian demand, this 

 country having taken in all about 

 26,000,000, lbs., of which about 9,000,000 

 lbs. were dusts and fannings, conse- 

 quently the latter have been higher than 

 ever before, and fine kinds realized extra- 

 ordinary high rates, the average price 

 for these ranging from 66 cents to 76 

 cents. 



This demand is anticipated again next 

 year. 



The average prices have been consis- 

 tently above those of the previous year, 

 the average for the whole year being 

 40-87 cents against 31-82 cents for 1906. 



The year closes with a very strong 

 market, the statistical position showing 

 that consumption is gradually overtak- 

 ing production, and if no coarse plucking 

 is resorted to, there is every prospect of 

 as good or even a better market generally 

 during 1908. 



Bonded stocks in London are low and 

 duty-paid stocks are reported to be 

 very small. 



The estimated tea crop for 1908 is 

 178,000,000 lbs. distributed as follows :— 





lbs. 



United Kingdom 



103,000.000 



Russia 



22,000,000 



Other Countries 



2,500,000 



America 



14,000,000 



Africa 



1,250,000 



Australia 



24,000,000 



India 



1,250,000 



China 



10,000,000 





178,000,000 



GREEN TEA. 

 This year has shewn marked progress 

 in this branch of the Ceylon Tea In- 

 dustry, notwithstanding the fact that 

 prices have been very much higher, in 

 sympathy with Black Teas. 



Production has shewn a distinct in- 

 crease, and what is still more pleasing is 

 the fact that shipments have also shewn 

 a corresponding increase. The higher 

 prices have somewhat curtailed the 

 amount of business which might other- 

 wise have been done in the United States 

 of America and Canada, where our teas 

 have come into competition with Japan's 

 and China's, and it is indeed gratifying 

 to note that American shipment figures 

 show that we have more than main- 

 tained our footing in these markets, even 

 although conditions have been somewhat 

 adverse. Fortunately, the shortage iu the 

 Japan crop and the consequent higher 

 prices for these growths assisted some- 

 what Ceylon Greens to hold their own. 



Russian shipment figures are extremely 

 encouraging, showing an increase of 

 over 100% against the previous season, 

 and a steady increase is looked for in 

 this direction in the future. 



The total production of Green Tea for 

 this year is aproximately 6£ million lbs., 

 against 4i million lbs. for 1906. It is very 

 gratifying to note that increased atten- 

 tion is being paid to manufacture, and 

 this has undoubtedly helped to bring 

 Cedlon Green Tea into favour. 



Steady perseverance in this direction 

 will go a long way to ensure further suc- 

 cess in the future. 



PUBLICATION OF DETAILED TEA PRICES 

 AT COLOMBO SALES. 



Only the averages of the invoices sold 

 are now published. 



Cocoa. 



The crop for the year was 92,500 cwts. 

 being the largest yet shipped in any one 

 year by 23,000 cwts., but this was in some 

 measure due to the late ripening of the 

 1906 crop and the consequent inclusion 

 of a larger proportion thau usual in the 

 shipments for 1907. 



Prices have been satisfactory through- 

 out the year occasionally reaching a 

 very high figure, and although it is un- 

 likely that these fancy prices will be 

 maintained, still a study of the figures of 

 production and consumption point to 

 the fact that it is probable that prices 

 for some time to come will rule higher 

 than they have done in the past decade. 



The agricultural position of the pro- 

 duct is sound and the damage now done 

 by canker and disease is of a trivial 

 nature though constant care is still 

 necessary. 



