288 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



Almost all the bounty goee to green tea pro- 

 duced in the Surma Valley (Gaohar and Sylhet) 

 which is shipped from Calcutta and ChAta- 

 gong. But a little green tea from these dis- 

 tricts and from other districts in Assam and 

 Bengal is sent across the North- Western 

 Frontier. The greater part of the land trade 

 in green tea, however, is supplied by the 

 gardens of Northern India, particularly those 

 of the Kangra Valley. 



The figures of reported production particu- 

 larly for past years are not accurate. It was 

 discovered in 1907 after a special inquiry that 

 in past years black tea was in certain cases 

 erroneously returned by planters as green tea. 



The chief foreign markets for green tea aro 

 the United Kingdom and Russia for exports by 

 sea, and Afghanistan for exports by land. 



Exports. — Table No. 3 shows the quantity (in 

 pounds) of Indian tea exported direct to each 

 country during the last five years. The destina- 

 tions given are those declared on export, and 

 owing to the useot optional bills of lading it must 

 be assumed that the true quantities differed 

 in some cases from those stated. The result; 

 is that the figures of export from India do not 

 agree with 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 STK1KING FEATURES OF THIS YEAR'S TRADE 



are as follows : — Exports by sea increased by 

 (J,795,57^ lb. as compared with 1907-08. Direct 

 shipments to the United Kingdom increased 

 by nearly 7| million pounds. The proportion 

 taken by the United Kingdom has also slightly 

 increased (see Table 6 — page 10). Direct ox- 

 ports to Russia have increased by over 3 rail- 

 lion lb. or some 20 per cent, and those to Ger- 

 many and Austria- Hungary by some 841,000 

 lb. (128 per cent) and 122,000 lb. ( L85 per cent) 

 respectively. The exports to Denmark and Swe- 

 den also increased considerably, but most 

 other countries in Europe took less, the largest 

 decreases being in the case of Belgium and Rou- 

 mania. Some 600,000 lb. more were exported to 

 Egypt. Canada's imports increased by over 

 2 million lb., and the United States took some 

 52,000 lb. more. China decreased her imports 

 by about 732,000 lb. and Ceylon by 4,600,000 lb. 

 The shipments to Australia and New Zealand 

 decreased by nearly 2 million lb. 



Foreign Tea in India. 

 The imports of foreign tea into India in 

 1908-09 were nearly 7"6 million lb., just over a 

 million lb. more than in 1907-08. About a sixth 

 was re-exported as foreign tea chiefly from 

 Bombay to Persia, Turkey in Asia, and Bahrein 

 Island by sea, and by land to Afghanistan, 

 leaving nearly 6 1-3 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 Customs declarations. 



Consumption of Tea in India. 



Net exports 



Production. 



1804-05 



1905- 06 



1906- 17 



1907- 08 



1908- 09 



Lb. 



221,56o,631 

 221,712,407 

 241,403,510 

 248,020,397 

 247,477,324 



to foreign 

 countries. 



Lb. 

 209,640,079 

 2ll,816,6'20 

 232,425,598 

 223,201,905 

 228,765,984 



Balance. 



Lb. 



11,925/52 

 9,895,787 

 8,977,912 

 24,818,492 

 18,713,840 



As already explained, the reported Jiguros of 

 production are far from accurate and conse- 

 quently 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, especially in Sou- 

 thern India, is increasing. 



In Burma, in addition to leaf tea, some 17 

 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. 



Persons Employed in the Indian Tea 

 Industry. 



The number of persons employed in the in- 

 dustry in 1908 is returned at 509,488 permanently 

 employed and 74,719 temporarily employed, 

 making a total of 584,207 persons or about one 

 person to the acre. Compared with the return 

 of the previous year there is an increase of 

 27,786 permanent emyloyes and a decrease of 

 3,933 in the number of temporary hands. In 

 South India the work is sometimes done by 

 contract, and in this case no record of the labour 

 employed is available, and the figures are 

 therefore not complete. 



Capital Employed. 



According to the returns of the Registrars of 

 Indian Joint Stock Companies and the accounts 

 of the companies registered in London as re- 

 ported by the Indian Tea Association, the 

 capital of joint stock companies engaged in the 

 production of tea amounts to nearly R24 crores 

 or £16 millions, viz. : — 



R. 



Companies registered in India . . 3,36,44,146 



Do do London 



£13,487,383= .. 20,22,80,445 



Particulars are available concerning the pre- 

 sent position of 75 companies registered in India 

 which have an aggregate paid-up capital of 244 

 lakhs. Of these companies 65 companies de- 

 clared dividends for 1907 amounting to 10.3 per 

 cent on their aggregate capital of 217 lakhs and 

 9 per cent on the total capital of 240 lakhs in 

 1907. Fifty-eight companies have up to now 

 declared dividends for 1908 amounting to 

 8.8 per cent on their aggregate capital of 

 191 lakhs. The total dividends so far declared 

 for 1908 on the average amount to 6-9 per oent 

 on the total capital of 244 lakhs in 1908. 



The value per H100 of joint stock capital as 

 calculated on the prices of the shares of 68 com- 

 panies quoted in the Calcutta market was R106 

 in March, 1908 and R100 in March, 1909. 



Similarly particulars about the 67 companies 

 registered in England with sterling capital of 

 £10 millions (1,488 lakhs) are available and show 

 that the total dividends declared in 1907 by 61 

 companies out of them with an aggregate capital 

 of £8 millions (1,199 lakhs) amounted to 7.9 per 

 cent, which means 6.1 per coat on the total 

 capital of £10 millions (1,473 lakhs) in that year. 

 This year the dividends declared up to now by 

 the 32 companies come to 6.4 on their aggregate 

 capital of £4 millions (or 604 lakhs). —Frederic! 

 NoSl-Paton, Director-General of Commercial 

 Intelligence, India, Aug. 12th 1909. 



