NOVEMBER, 1908.] 



475 



Miscellaneous. 



the coutents and the origin of the 

 produce, your Committee requested the 

 Government to take steps, through the 

 Secretary of State for the Colonies or 

 otherwise, to have the sale of blended 

 teas labelled Pure Ceylon stopped in 

 France. 



Rejection op Ceylon Green Teas 

 by the American Customs.— The rejec- 

 tion by the United States Customs 

 authorities of certain Ceylon Green Teas 

 has received considerable attention from 

 the Planters ' Association, and was before 

 the Chamber last year. The subject was 

 brought to the attention of your Com- 

 mittee by a communication from the 

 Government asking for information re- 

 garding the teas thus rejected. 



Your Committee were able to report 

 that in their opinion the teas rejected 

 were, as a rule, Gunpowders made from 

 Fannings and Dust and improperly 

 described as Gunpowders, and that Gun- 

 powders manufactured from whole leaf 

 were not rejected. 



Ceylon Import Duty on Indian 

 Tea. — Attention is directed to the corres- 

 pondence between the Government and 

 the India Office. Your Committee, it 

 wilLbe seen, were not in favour of any 

 modification of the present restrictions 

 on the import of tea into Ceylon, as the 

 Government were unwilling to grant 

 preference to Indian Teas over those 

 from China, Japan and Java. 



International Rubber Exhibition.— 

 Your Committee have taken an active 

 interest in the forthcoming Rubber Ex- 

 hibition in London, where it is hoped 

 that Ceylon will be adequately repre- 

 sented. A Special Committee was 

 formed of members of the Chamber, 

 the Planters ' Association and the Govern- 

 ment Officials, under whose direction a 

 large and representative exhibit is being 

 got together from all rubber-growing 

 districts of the Island, and will be 

 forwarded to London, where the 

 arrangements are in the capable hands 

 of the Ceylon Association in London. 

 Towards the expenses of the exhibit the 

 Government have liberally contributed. 



Mr. F. M. Simpson, having been 

 ordered home for a change by his medi- 

 cal adviser, was granted six months' 

 leave from April last, and during his 

 absence the Secretarial duties have 

 been undertaken by Mr. Ivor Ethering- 

 ton. 



Trade Report. 



Tea.— The total exports of both Black 

 and Green Tea amounted to 9(5,399,778 lbs. 

 compared with 90,860,437 lbs. for the 

 same period last year, 



The figures show a decrease for this 

 year of 466,659 lbs : — 



January to January to 



June, 1908. June, 1907. 



Black Tea. ..94,027,143 lbs. 94,210,493 lbs. 



Green Tea... 2,372,635 ,, 2,655,944 



96,399,778 lbs. 96,866,437 lbs. 



The increase was principally in ship- 

 ments to Russia, India, and the Contin- 

 ent, while Australian shipments fell off 

 to a small extent. The quantity offered 

 in Colombo at Auction has exceeded that 

 of last year to date by about 4h million 

 lbs. 



Pbices.— The average of teas sold in 

 Colombo was 39£ cts. compared with 40 

 cts. for the same period in 1907. During 

 the months of January and February 

 the average was 2 cts. or so above last 

 year, but during March and April it 

 ranged from 2 cts. to 4 cts. below, while 

 in May it regained the lead, falling back 

 again in June. 



Good Fannings and Dusts continued in 

 very strong demand during the first 

 three months of the year, and the fine 

 descriptions realised extreme rates 

 though they fell in value later. 



Quality was about fair on the average, 

 and there was an absence of "rubbishy" 

 teas, the plucking on the Estates having 

 been apparently carefully done. During 

 May and June the usual large propor- 

 tion of plain and poor liquoring teas 

 made their appearance, but in spite of 

 this, lowcountry Pekoe Souchong kept 

 up to 33 cts. until the end of May and 

 only fell below 30 in June. It is worthy 

 of note that this product has kept its 

 position well in the face of the fact that 

 trade has been so universally restricted. 



Distribution.— The Russian buyers 

 were a feature in the market, while 

 buyers for the United Kingdom and 

 other countries were general, though 

 Aurtralians showed a slight falling off. 



Green Teas.— The quantity of green 

 teas was much the same as last year, and 

 the quality generally has been satisfac- 

 tory, but prices have ruled considerably 

 lower owing to an absence of orders. 



Rubber — This year's exports show 

 a large increase over those during the 

 same period of 1907, the quantity being 

 338,411 lbs. against 242,370 lbs. last year, 

 an increase of 96,041 lbs. The shipments 

 for January to June, 1900, Avere 122,284 lbs. 



The two largest buyers are the United 

 Kingdom and America, and both these 

 countries show large increases over last 

 year, Germany comes next in order, 



