and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.— Sep,, 1910, 



267 



the figures of import into various countries, e.g., 

 the United Kingdom. But the discrepancies 

 tend to balance one another in a series of years. 



The most striking features of this year's 

 trade are as follows. Exports by sea increased 

 by 15,441,458 lb, as compared with 1908-09. 

 Direct shipments to the United Kingdom 

 increased by over 12 million lb. Direct ex- 

 ports to Russia decreased by over S million lb. 

 or some 44 per cent ; those to Germany expan- 

 ded by some 1,119,000 lb while shipments to 

 Austria-Hungary fell off by some 164,000 lb 

 or 87 per cent. The exports to Denmark, Swe- 

 den, Holland, and Belgium also declined consid- 

 erably ; but Norway, Italy. France, Roumania, 

 and Turkey-European took larger quantities. 

 Some 600,000 lb less were exported to Egypt, 

 while Canada's imports declined by some 200,000 

 lb. The United Statos took some 400,0001b more. 

 China increased her imports by about 1,376,000 

 lb and Ceylon by 11,302,000 lb. The shipments 

 to Australia and New Zealand contracted by 

 nearly 392,000 lb. 



In order to obtain a true account of the ulti- 

 mate destination of Indian tea it is necessary to 

 take into consideration re-exports of Indian tea 

 from the United Kingdom. These are shown in 

 a statement. The total re-exports increased 

 by some 6 million lb, Russia taking 3| million lb 

 more than in 1908. 



During the five years 1903-04- -1907-08 the 



Eercentage of the Indian tea crop sent to the 

 fnited Kingdom steadily diminished; but there 

 was a slight recovery in 1908-09 and the im- 

 provement was sustained in 1909-10. On the 

 other hand, direct exports to other countries in 

 Europe, which have improved from year to year 

 during the same period, received a set-back in 

 1909-10. A feature of the year's trade is the 

 considerable advance in shipments to Asiatic 

 countries such as Ceylon, China, and Straits 

 Settlements. 



The following statement shows the quantity 

 (in lb.) of Indian tea shipped from Calcutta, 

 Chittagong, Bombay and Karachi, South 

 Indian ports, and Rangoon, respective^', during 

 each of the last five years. The shipments from 

 Calcutta in 1909-10 increased by over 9 million 

 pounds, and those from Chittagong by over 5 

 million pounds. 

 Quantity (in lb.) of Indian Tea Shipped. 



1905- 06 



1906- 07 



1907- 08 



1908- 09 



1909- 10 



From Bombay 

 and Karachi. 



From Calcutta. 

 158,201,438 

 175,889,290 

 167,783,368 

 169,904,598 

 179,077,332 



From Chittagong 

 41,535,870 

 42,041,600 

 42,924,0)3 

 4«, 131, 672 

 '51,849,143 



From South In- From 



dian ports includ' Burma 



ing Travancore. Porta. 



12,842,884 57,000 



14,189,285 43,688 



14,127,805 73,688 



16,620,945 3',190 



17,094,518 7,409 



1905 1,749,926 



1903 1,699,679 



1907 2,286,39a 



1908 1,282,073 



1909 1,384,534 



A table shows the reported exports of tea by 

 sea and land from India, Ceylon, and China 

 for each of th last thirteen years. 



The quantities of each kind of tea entered for 

 home consumption in the United Kingdom in 

 each of the last five years and the consumption 

 per head of the population were as follows : — 



Indian tea. Ceylon tea. China tea. Tea of other 



countries. 



lb lb lb lb 



1905 150531208 69386724 6659017 12513433 



1906 159228055 91946312 5671553 13277569 



1907 162489491 87073314 9729142 14692103 



1908 157441706 92960405 8920731 16092297 



1909 160146748 95133920 8190545 20078274 



Consumption per Head. 



Indian tea. All tea. 



lb lb 



1905 .. 3'48 .. 5 - 99 



1906 .. 3'65 ... 619 



1907 .. 3-68 .. SHI 



1908 . 3'53 ... 6'18 



1909 . . 3'60 . . 6'38 



Exports op other Foreign Countries. 

 The latost official figures for exports of tea 

 of other foreign countries are as foliovvs: — 



Japan. Java. Natal. 

 Exports a Exports Exports 



1905 

 1906 

 1907 

 1908 

 1909 



lb 



37703343 

 39778193 

 40564871 

 35269069 

 40664131 



lb 



25795973 

 27517615 

 29286402 

 36579941 

 36679003 



lb 



2057 

 584299 

 276558 

 136495 



a Mostly green tea to the United States of America. 

 Foreign Tea in India. 

 The imports of foreign tea into India in 1909-10 

 were 6'7 million lb, nearly a million lb less than 

 in 1908-09. About one-eighth was re-exported as 

 foreign tea chiefly from Bombay to Persia, 

 Turkey in Asia, Muscat and Bahrein Islands by 

 sea, and by land to Afghanistan, leaving some 

 5 4/5 million lb for consumption in India. Part 

 of this no doubt was used for blending with 

 Indian teas, and the blend, when exported, was 

 perhaps treated as Indian produce in the Cus- 

 toms declaration, A table shows the figures for 

 five years. 



Consumption of Tea in India. 



Net exports to 



Production, foreign countries. Balance, 



lb. lb. lb. 



1905- C6 .. 221712407 211816620 9S967S7 



1906- 07 .. 241403510 232425598 8977912 



1907- 08 .. 241668973 2232019l'5 2146706S 



1908- 09 .. 247364750 2287639S4 1S600766 



1909- 10 ... 262806943 244677255 18129688 



This table gives the balance of leaf tea, green 

 and black, available for consumption. As al- 

 ready explained, the reported figures of pro- 

 duction are far from accurate and consequently 

 any estimate of the consumption per capita in 

 India as a whole is vitiated at the outset. There 

 are, however, reasons for thinking that internal 

 consumption is generally increasing. 



In Burma, in addition to leaf tea, about 20 

 million pounds of pickled tea (letpet), mostly 

 imported from the North Shan States, are con 

 sumed annually. The consumption per head 

 of population is estimated to be about 2 pounds. 

 Calcutta Sales. 



The following statement illustrates the varia- 

 tions in the prices of the three principal grades 

 of tea sold at the auction sale since 1888. The 

 figures represent the average of the prices of tea 

 from all districts at each sale. The prices of all 

 three grades in 1909 show a substantial increase 

 as compared with the prices of tho precoding 

 year : — 



a Represents the average price of Souchong, Pekoe Sou« 

 chong, Pekoe Fannings, and Congou from 1901 onwards* 



