and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society. 



187 



prices again fell, and the last quotations for the 

 year were 98s to 110s for fair to good Arriba 

 and 96s to 99s for Machala and Caraquez. 



The receipts for Guayaquil for 1907 were 

 398,500 quintals, against 454,250 quintals in 1906, 

 a falling off of 55,750 quintals. The transactions 

 reported in London amounted to 18,100 bags, 

 1,700 bags loss than the previous year. 



Cocoa in Africa. 

 The receipts of St. Thome Cocoa at Lisbon 

 for the year 1907 were rather less than those 

 of 1906, but on the other hand there has been 

 a considerable increase in the exports of Gold 

 Coast and other West African Colonies. The 

 transactions reported in London, although 

 larger than last year, form no adequate guide to 

 the extent of the business in African Cocoa, as 

 by far the largest trade in this Country is done 

 in Liverpool, and Hamburg also absorbs a con- 

 siderable quantity. The fluctuations in the 

 price of Accra Cocoa have to some extent in- 

 fluo iced the prices of other growths in London, 

 mora especially of commoner grades. The 

 highest prices recorded in London were 120s per 

 cwt. for St. Thome, and 112s 6d per cwt. for 

 West Coast Cocoa. In Liverpool the price of 

 Accra ranged from about 62s to 109s per cwt. ex 

 quay. The receipts of St. Thome, &c, at Lis- 

 bon were as follows, viz. : — 



1907. 1906. 1905. 



402,176 bags 407,951 bags 425,196 bags 

 Transactions on the spot in other Foreign 

 descriptions amount to about 8,000 bags, but 

 with the exception of Costa Rica and Java the 

 separate quantities are unimportant. Business 

 reporled in Bahia was small, as this growth has 

 been chiefly sold to the Continent on cost aud 

 freight terms to arrive. Costa Rica, the quality 

 of which is much liked in our market, has gene- 

 rally found ready buyers, both for fermented 

 and unfermented kinas, and prices have been 

 guided principally by the value of Grenada. 

 Transactions in Java comprise about 2,000 bags, 

 the greater proportion of which has consisted 

 of medium and lower grades, values being about 

 on a par with Ceylon of similar quality. 



C. M . & C. Woodhouse. 



LARGEST YIELD PES? ACRE OF 

 TEA IN CEYLON. 



MARIAWATTE PLANTATION. 

 For many years our Directory recorded the 

 wonderful yield of tea from the famous Maria- 

 watte garden of the Ceylon Tea Plantations 

 Company, and more especially from the special 



aud oldest held of 101^ acres on which plucking 

 first begau in October, 1880, and which was 

 regarded as in full bearing in 1884 when the 

 crop equalled 1,078 lb. made tea per acre. This 

 was increased to 1,384 lb. in the bumper year 

 1890 and again rose to 1,357 1b. in 1900, the 

 minimum yield so far from 1884 onwards being 

 1, 0441b. per acre in 1897. For the whole 17 years, 

 the average was 1,357 lb. Through the courtesy 

 of the present Manager, Mr. Bliss (and with 

 the sanction of Mr. Talbot), we are now able to 

 give the return from 1901 onwards to date, from 

 which it will be seen that, while the yield fell off 

 a good deal from 1903 to 1906 inclusive, last year 

 showed a great improvement, and there is much 

 assurance that the next two years will give 

 equally favourable returns. Here are the 

 figures : — 



Yield old tea 101 acres 1 rood. 



Made Tea. Per Acre, 



lb. lb. 



1901 ... 110,302 1,092 



1902 ... 101,991 1,009 



1903 ... 87,668 868 



1904 ... 80,901 801 



1905 ... 87,264 864 



1906 ... 87,163 863 



1907 ... 97,768 968 



It must be very satisfactory to the management 

 to see that since a regular system of more or 

 less up-to-date cultivation was adopted, as op- 

 posed to the former method of occasionally ap- 

 plying manure carted from Gampola, the vigour 

 of the old tea has been gradually built up and 

 the yield increased. 



As regards the whole estate of 458 acres 

 1 rood 17 perches; the result for 9 years from 

 1892 to 1900 was an average yield of 822 lb per 

 acre — the maximum being 996 lb in 1900 — mini- 

 mum 643 lb in 1892. Here are the figures up 

 to date : — 



Yield of whole Estate 458a lr 17p. 





Total 



Per 







Tea Crop. 



Acre. 



Rainfall 





lb. 



lb. 



inches. 



1901 



362,952 



792 



84-38 



1902 



411,392 



898 



128-31 



1903 



343,145 



749 



84-01 



1904 



314,205 



686 



123-79 



1905 



342,819 



749 



108-13 



1906 



363,045 



792 



92 33 



1907 



346,469 



756 



110-56 



The average for the whole 16 years 1892-1907 * 

 equals 801 i lb made tea per acre for the 458J 

 acres; and for the 24 years of the old field 101;| 

 acres, the average is l,08u lb. We take it that 

 such figures are without parallel in the history 

 of Tea Cultivation in India or Ceylon, and long 

 may Maria watte and our Premier Tea Company 

 continue to break the record. 



