The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



The Russian market is of particular interest 

 and importance. Its development dates from 

 the discovery that Indian dust gives a greater 

 strength to ' tablet' tea than Chinese. Indian 

 tea reaches Russia not only by direct ship- 

 ment, but also across the land frontier of 

 India and by re-export from the United King- 

 dom, Germany, and China. It has been esti- 

 mated that Russia in the nine months ending 

 September 30th, 1907, absorbed 30,542,081 lb. 

 of Indian and Ceylon teas as compared with 

 •2-1,566,329 lb. for the same nine months of 

 the previous year. These figures exclude 

 imports of brick tea from China, in which 

 Indian dust has been blended, estimated at 

 8,000,000 lb. in 1907 or proportionately 

 6,000,000 lb. for the period January — September. 

 India is encouraged to direct importation into 

 Russia by the preferential duty on her tea 

 and that of Ceylon carried by the Trans- 

 Siberian Railway, and it is announced in this 

 connection that a double service of steamers 

 will be established next season between Cal- 

 cutta and Vladivostok to save transhipment 

 at Colombo. The duty on tea in Germany was 

 reduced in 1906 to ljd per lb., and this, aided 

 by a vigorous medical campaign against beer and 

 coffee, is likely to encourage imports. Holland 

 and Belgium are two other promising markets. 



As regards the competition with Ceylon, it 

 remains to be seen how far the introduction 

 of rubber there will ultimately affect produc- 

 tion, for the cultivation tends to oust tea 

 from lower levels where the yield is generally 

 greater than at higher altitudes. 



The results of improved prospects in the tea 

 trade are illustrated by the appreciation of 

 shares in the market. Mr George Seton has 

 calculated that the shares of 170 tea companies 

 registered in London have enhanced in value 

 from £14,400,000 to £21,600,000 or by no less 

 than 50 per cent, between January, 1905, and 

 November, 1907. China supplied half the re- 

 quirements of the United Kingdom twenty years 

 ago : in 1907 the proportion had been reduced 

 to 6 per cent and is only sustained at that level 

 by the competitive price for lower grades of 

 Indian and Ceylon teas. The imports of tea into 

 the United Kingdom in 1907 were as follows 



1006. 19U7. 



Million lb. Percent. Million lb. Percent. 

 India 183'8 57-2 171-4 54 



Ceylon 106-3 33"! 107'5 33-9 



China 13-2 4'1 lS'S 5-9 



Java 12-0 3-9 9-1 2'9 



The consumption per capita in the United 

 Kingdom in 1907 was 6 - 19 lb as compared with 

 6 - 13 lb in the previous year. 



The following figures shew the quantity and 

 value of tea exported from India in the last 

 live years : — 



Quantity. Value, 

 lb. H. £. 



1903- 04 207,159,793 8,55,79,327 = 5,7i'5,288 



1904- 05 211,887,158 8,46,54,867 6,643,658 



1905- 06 214,223,788 8,84,76,037 5,898,402 



1906- 07 233,653,637 9,85,77,642 6,571,843 



1907- 08 227,021,657 10,30,03,486 6,866,899 



The figures for 1906-07 represented a record 

 both in quantity and value, but the progress in 

 quantity was not maintained in 1907-08, when it 

 declined by 6 - 63 million lb or 2'8 per cent, 

 though the rise in value was of R44-26 lakhs 

 (£295,000) or 4 - 5 per cent, the increase in 

 specific value being one of about 7'6 per cent. 



The quantities of tea exported to the princi- 

 pal countries in the last three years have been 

 as follows (in thousands of lb.) : — 



1905-06. 1906-07. 1907-08. 



United Kingdom 166,591 176,17u 169,325 



Canada 15,019 14,515 4,731 



Russia 9,988 13,761 15,407 



Australia 7,729 9,499 11,090 



Turkey in Asia 3,543 3,101 3,504 



Ceylon 2,101 4,818 8,881 



China 3,076 4,820 7,502 



Persia 1,10! 929 1,578 



United States 2,175 1,739 2,086 



Other Countries 2,900 4,302 2,919 



Though the tigures for the United King- 

 dom tend proportionately to reduce, as 

 direct shipments take the place of consign- 

 ments to London on optional bills of lading, 

 her share of the total exports stands at 74 - 6 

 .per cent. The 



EXPANSION IN THE CEYLON AND CHINA FIGURES 



is due to Russian requirements, and the heavy 

 decline in direct shipments to Canada should 

 not be regarded as an index of contracting 

 market. Russia and Australia have made 

 marked advances. The tigures to Australia were 

 swelled by a replacement of the shipment of 

 750,000 lb lost by fire on the ss, " Fortunatus." 



Another feature of the year's trade which 

 should be noticed is the increase in the volume 

 of sales by auction in 



CALCUTTA IN PREFERENCE TO MINCING LANE, 



and London has further suffered as the 

 emporium of imports into the United 

 Kingdom by the competition of lower freights 

 with Glasgow and Liverpool. About 73,200,000 

 lb were auctioned in Calcutta during the past 

 season, of which only about 20,000,000 lb went 

 to London, and of the balance Russia (direct and 

 through China and Ceylon) absorbed 272 mil- 

 lions and Australia 10J millions. The prices 

 realised in Calcutta have shewn a greater ad- 

 vance on those of the previous year than those 

 in London, and several of the London Assam' 

 Companies have found it profitable to auction 

 their lower grades of tea here rather than at home. 

 Prices at auction in Calcutta. 



Broken 

 Pekoe, 



Pekoe. 



Pekoe Souchong, 

 Souchong, pekoe 

 fannings and 

 congou. 

























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o 



".2 



_o 





y 



cS 





Varia 



to. 



9 



.5 



ft 



.2 





£ 



ci 

 t> 



£ 



£ 



cS 



eS 



> 





A. P. 





A. Pi 





A. P. 





A. P. 





1904-05 



5 10 



100 



5 i 



100 



4 6 



100 



S i 



100 



1905-06 



6 3 



107 



5 2 



97 



4 2 



93 



5 4 



100 



1906-07 



6 8 



114 



5 7 



105 



4 7 



1C2 



6 5 



102 



190/-08 



7 2 



123 



10 



128 



6 2 



137 



6 8 



125 



The average price realised in 1907-08 in London 

 was8'21 per lb, as compared with 8 - lld per lb. 

 jii 1906-07. 



In spite of the efforts of the Indian Tea Asso- 

 ciation, estimates of production continue under 

 suspicion of great inaccuracy, and for this the 

 planters must be held chiefly to blame. The 

 crop in 1907 was generally considered to be 

 better than that of the previous year, except in 

 Bengal. The table below gives approximate 

 tigures of the area, production, and land exports 

 duringthe last live years and the actual figures 

 of exports by sea during the same period : — 



