January, 1909.] 



29 



Edible Products. 



quence through the circulation of the 

 sap the absorption of moisture from the 

 ground. The root of the tree should be 

 in favourable soil with easy access to 

 running water. 



We find the coconut tree flourishes 

 into an average rainfall of 80 inches as 

 in the Negombo district, and of about 

 50 inches as in the Puttalam district, but 

 if the occasional torrential downpours 

 which go to make up the total of 80 

 inches in the Negombo district are 

 allowed for, the average would be about 

 50 inches — even 40 inches are not too low. 

 It is necessary to avoid the extreme and 

 prolonged saturation of the soil by 

 drainage, when necessary, and the ex- 

 treme dryage of the soil by tillage and 

 mulching and also to increase the vigour 

 of the trees by fertilizers to enable the 

 roots to penetrate down in search of 

 moisture when the surface supply is 

 scanty in times of extreme drought. 



The drought this year has been excep- 

 tionally severe, but when the land has 

 been well tilled and mulched I do not 

 think any serious harm has been done. 

 In the Negombo district I can only trace 

 the present effect of the drought in the 

 thinness of the kernel we have been 

 desiccating lately. Where the coconut 

 roots have had access to water I do not 

 anticipate any shortage of crop three 

 years hence, but quite the contrary. 



If owners of coconut gardens would 

 even till their lands well (by ploughing 

 or turning on the soil to a depth of 5 or 6 

 inches) and spread coconut fibre refuse— 

 a cheap and satisfactory mulch to be 

 had for the cost of transport — or use 

 some other mulchy substitute, they will 

 not even suffer the loss of tender nuts 

 dropping in consequence of any drought 

 that may prevail. Mulching has this to 

 recommend it, that it not only prevents 

 rapid loss of the moisture in the soil by 

 capillary attraction, and so conserving 

 it for the use of the tree, but by obstruct- 

 ing evaporation prevents the cooling 

 down of the soil, which always requires 

 to be warm for production of fruit 

 blossoms. 



THE INDIAN TEA TRADE IN 1907-08. 

 A Prosperous Year. 



The following particulars are extracted 

 from the I" Review of the Trade of India " 

 in 1907-08 :— 



The Indian tea trade has enjoyed 

 another prosperous year. The World's 

 consumption has apparently caught up 

 supply, and everything points to its 

 increasing in the f uturejat a correspond- 

 ing ratio. The only 



Disquieting Features 



of the year's trading were the temporary 

 inflation of values for lower grades of 

 leaf, which have appreciated by 70 per 

 cent, since 1906, at the expense of the 

 better teas, and complaints of a general 

 decline in quality ; but the principal 

 excuse for coarse plucking has been re- 

 moved, now that the market seems to 

 have recovered its sense of proportion. 

 In any event India could not hope to 

 have benefited long by the extravagant 

 rates for her poorer stuff, for they would 

 have provoked the competition of the 

 cheaper China tea and encouraged in- 

 creased cultivation in Java. 



The Advance in Consumption, 



which followed the reduction of the 

 import duty in the United Kingdom to 

 5d. per lb., has been maintained. In- 

 ternal absorption is increasing and tea 

 shops are now a common feature of many 

 bazaars, particularly in Southern India ; 

 but it is in the expansion of the Con- 

 tinental markets that the prospects of 

 the Indian industry centre, and of these 

 the Russian market in particular is 

 showing remarkable development. The 

 following table illustrates in the last 

 three calendar years, compared with the 

 year 1890, the astonishing growth in 

 absorption of teas from India and Ceylon 

 on the Continent :— 



1890 ... ... 14,001,824 lbs. 



1905 ... ... 129,881,250 „ 



1906 ... ... 162,461,824 „ 



1907 (estimated) ... 171,500,000 „ 



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 

 shipment, but also across the land 

 frontier of India and by re-export from 

 the United Kingdom, Germany and China. 

 It has been estimated that Russia in the 

 nine months ending September 30th, 1907, 

 absorbed 30,542,081 lbs. of Indian and 

 Ceylon teas as compared with 24,566,329 

 lbs. 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, lbs. in 1907 or proportionately 

 6,000,000 lbs. for the period January- 

 September. India is encouraged to direct 

 importaion into Russia by the pre- 

 ferential 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. 



