and Magazine 0/ the Ceylon Agricultural Society. 



283 



June 8th) in a letter published in July issue 

 furnishing authentic particulars for nine typical 

 estates, the best of which only gave one-third 

 the yield and profit of Malabar, and the average 

 was 476 lb. per acre. He compared Java and 

 Ceylon methods, too, with much to advance in 

 favour of the latter ; and said if there were any 

 estates in Java even approaching Malabar, he 

 did not know them. This has roused Mr Toin- 

 linson again; and inithe letter we print hereafter 

 he promises to give us figures for four or five 

 estates in different districts, each with acreage 

 in bearing producing 900 lb. per acre. Mr 

 Tomlinson suggests to us methods of editorial 

 courtesy, in whichhe is asking a little too much: 

 Mr Bingley gave tabulated figures at once, of 

 typical estates, when taking a different view 

 from Mr Tomlinson. The latter is only now about 

 to produce such figures, instead of backing up 

 with them, in the first instance, his statement 

 about " other estates." We shall certainly be 

 glad to publish the figures when they arrive. 



Mr. Tomlinson's Letter. 



Bandoeng, 27th July, 190S. 



Sir,- -1 only heard from Mr Bingley, during 

 the races here last week, that he had written 

 you a letter on " Tea in Java." Yesterday I 

 managed to procure a copy of the number in 

 which his letter appeared. If I had seen this 

 earlier, there would not have been this delay 

 in my reply. 



Dealing with Mr Bingley s letter first — I 

 cannot understand Mr Bingley when he writes 

 that he does not know of any other estates 

 shewing ''nearly as wonderful results as Mala- 

 bar." The wonderful part about Malabar is of 

 course the crop per acre, (the financial results 

 are the outcome of a very conservative policy 

 in the past) and I hope shortly to be able to 

 supply you with the figures of four or five 

 estates all situated in different districts and all 

 more or less young, whose gardens in bearing 

 are producing 9001b. per acre. 



I have re-read my former letter and fail to 

 see where I suggested that Java methods are 

 superior to Ceylon — I merely stated that the 

 estates giving wonderful results were run on 

 Dutch lines — that, and nothing more. 1 have 

 only had the pleasure of visiting one Ceylon 

 estate, (in the Kalutara district), so I cannot 

 speak with much confidence about Ceylon, but 

 apparently cultivation and manufacture here 

 have to be suited to conditions entirely different 

 from those prevailing in the English colony; e.g. 

 it would be hard to find a planter here who 

 would plant Wild Manipuri tea seed, as that 

 jat, suitable in Ceylon, is unsuitable here, whilst 

 in manufacture few estates wither more than 

 •JO to 35 per cent, against the 40 to 45 per cent, 

 usual in Ceylon, I believe. Mr R C Wright, 

 when he was actively planting here, with all 

 his Ceylon experience and who was to teach 

 Java planters something, managed with some 

 regularity to be near the bottom of the list at 

 the sales. From what I saw, I certainly agree 

 that with the material at his disposal the 

 Ceylon planter performs miracles, but that 

 Ceylon methods ought to be transferred here in 

 globo, I beg leave to doubt; though, if modified 

 the same could be applied with advantage. None 



of the foregoing alters the fact that many Java 

 soils are giving more wonderful results so far 

 as tea is concerned than those of any other 

 country, which was all I wished to draw your 

 attention to originally. For results from a 

 small acreage, I may tell you that I have seen a 

 field of 80 acres which last year produced 

 1,900 lb. per acre. 



As to the available laud being limited, Mr 

 R C Wright only told me this spring that during 

 his visit ne had boen offered over 50,000 acres of 

 really first-class land. 



Turning to your Editorial — surely it had been 

 more courteous to have offered me the chance of 

 proving the statements which made axi impres- 

 sion " requiring correction'' ? 



I must apologise for the length of this letter, 

 but i did not consider it fair to myself to wait 

 until I had collected the information I require, 

 without letting you know that I will prove 

 what I state. In conclusion I cannot help re- 

 marking that it is amusing to find Mr Bingley, 

 at this time of day, championing Ceylon.— 1 am, 

 Sir, yours faithfully. 



HUGH TOMLINSON. 



TEA NOTES. 



" Yerba Mate"— Who can tell us about the 

 enormous trade in South American States over 

 this peculiar form of so-called tea ? In 1880, it 

 was estimated that 60 million lb. of "mate"t6a 

 was consumed in South America — half of this 

 in Argentina ; and that Brazil supplied half or 

 30 million lb. But we now find that in 1906, Brazil 

 exported no less than 57, 796 tons of " Yerba Mate" 

 valued at £1,846,301. A trade which now amounts 

 from Brazil alone, to 130 million lb. of mate tea 

 is worth looking into, even though the Brazilian 

 Customs valuation seems to be about 3hd a lb. 



Tea Drinking in Burma. — It will be interest- 

 ing to tea planters to note some figures on 

 tea-drinking in Burma given in the seventh 

 triennial report just issued on Burma's 

 trans-frontier trade. Taking the population 

 of the province as at the last census, the 

 quantity of tea consumed annually is about 2 lb. 

 per head of population. The advance in the 

 consumption of wet or pickled tea was 398,000 lb. 

 During the financial year 1907-8 the quantity or 

 pickled tea imported from the Northern Shan 

 States was 16,359,878 lb., and dry tea 2,477,952 

 lb. besides 1,389,000 lb. imported by sea. The 

 wet or pickled tea is considered a luxury by the 

 Burmaus. — Statesman, Aug. 13. 



FIBRES. 



Sida Fibre,— A Bengal sample of sida fibre 

 (a variety of the Sinhalese Bevila) recently sent 

 to London was submitted to commercial experts, 

 who described it as a beautiful specimen of fine' 

 silky, well-grown fibre, very white in colour, free 

 of root, strong and well prepared. They stated 

 that it could probably be used for mixing with 

 silk; but, even if only employed for the finest 

 purposes to whioh jute is applied, it would eell. 

 rery readily in large quantities at from £25 to 

 £30 per tou (with " good "to " fine " jute at 



