3 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [Jult i, 1&89. 
been impossible to tell to what plant they belong, 
the leaves having been punched out of larger ones. 
The wholesale merchant denied any knowledge of the 
frauc, and stated that the bogus tea had been sold 
by an importer, whose name he gave. The latter says 
that he received it directly from an English firm of 
Canton.— II. # C. Mail. 
COST OF PBODUCTION OP TEA IN CEYLON. 
A tabular statement issued by a local contempo- 
rary affords estimates of the cost of tea on an 
estate of 250 acres in full bearing having good 
factory, adequate machinery and fuel on the estate, at 
various rates of yield. The results arrived at are 50 
cents per lb. f. o. b. Colombo at a yield of 150 lb. 
per acre ; 46 cents at a yield of 200 lb. p<>r acre ; 
40 cents at 250 1b.; 37 cents at 3001b.; 35 cents 
at 350 lb.; 32J cents at 400 lb.; 31J cents at 450 lb.; 
and 29j cents at 500 lb. per acre. — On a larger 
estate, say of 400 acres, the cost might be reduced 
1 to 2 cents per lb. — The average yield for Ceylon 
may, we suppose, be taken at 300 to 350 lb., so that 
35 to 37 cents or the equivalent of 6d per lb. may 
be taken as the average cost of Ceylon tea f. o. b. 
Colombo. We have received from an experienced 
planter a letter and tables — to appear in our next 
issue — which go to show that at 8d per lb. average 
it will require 500 lb. per acre to give a profit of 
E50 per acre; 4001b. sufficing if the average, as 
at present, be not below 9d.— An average of 6gd at 
500 lb. per acre will merely cover the expenditure. 
♦ 
The Coconut Palm. — The following para- 
graph appears in the " Kew Bulletin" for 
January : — 
Oocos nucifera. Coconut. At an elevation of 3,000 
feet and 200 miles from the sea the coconut palm is 
scarcely worth cultivating. It is, however, here and 
there in several varieties. [In other parts of Mysore, 
especially when water is near the surface, the cultiv- 
ation of the coconut is said to be fairly profitable. 
The export of fresh coconuts from Mysore State in 
1880 — 81 was valued at 10,452?., and of cocouut oil at 
666Z. Imp. Gaz. of India, vol. x. p. 102.] 
In Ceyion, there are flourishing coconut topes or 
groves near Matale, Gampola and Badulla from 
1,400 to 2,200 feet above sea level : in the Matale 
Valley there are quite large fields bearing very well, 
we believe, and about 100 miles in a direct line 
from the sea. Solitary coconut palms are grown 
at 3,500 feet altitude in Ceylon, but they do not 
bear fruit. And yet in the Western Province 
planters 40 to 50 miles from the coast are 
supposed to have gone too far inland. The proper 
coconut belt, we suppose, would not be reckoned at 
over 10 to 15 miles from the shore 
Eice Growing in British Guiana. — Mr. 
Hon. W. Bussell is the subject of a long and 
interesting paper in the local quarterly Timehri 
which we are reprinting in the Tropical Agri- 
culturist. Mr. Bussell shows that if a proper 
use were made of the well-watered rich waste 
land in this British South American colony, there 
would be no need to import any rice at all. One 
estimate he gives shows a profit of 12 dollars an 
acre in C months, another under more favourable 
circumstances shows 53 dollars profit per annum. 
Instead of two crops a year, the Guiana fields 
can give three crops in the year, or five if ratoon 
crops' are also counted. This paper is followed 
by one by Mr. Gilnean giving interesting details of 
practical experiments in rice-growing made by him 
with his labourers. He shows a profit of 21 
dollars an acre in three months. 
Cotton Cultivation.— The place to cultivate 
cotton successfully on a big scale would seem to 
be on the wide expanse of fine soil — some 10,000 
to 15,000 acres to choose from — available under 
the Wallaway irrigation works. We believe that 
Mr. Ward speaks in high terms of the fitness of 
the soil both for cotton and tobacco; but in 
respect of the latter product we understand that 
a visit to the spot by two of the Directors of 
the local Tobacco Company resulted in their 
rejection of the site— perhaps, for the reason that 
it was exposed to the North-East monsoon winds 
so much dreaded in connection with tobacco curing. 
This would not apply however in reference to cotton. 
Coconut Culture and its Enemies. — On dit, 
that the Government Agent, Western Province, is 
to call a Conference of the Mudaliyars and other 
leading headmen of his province, together with 
some of the oldest representative planters, to see 
if there is anything in the persistent rumours of 
leaf-disease in coconuts. Specimens will be pro- 
duced and the headmen can compare notes while 
the oldest planter will be able to say how many 
years back it is since he saw the pest in ques- 
tion. It would be well to have specimens of the 
beetle enemies of the palm, in case of a new 
one turning up. Mr. Saunders cannot but recog- 
nise the duty devolving upon him in reference to 
what is the most important agricultural industry 
of his now contracted sea-borde Province. 
Government Tea Factory at Perak. — In the 
Perak Government Gazette, for April 19th we notice 
the following advertisement : — 
Tea. — One thousand pounds of tea for sale. Manu- 
factured at the Government tea factory, Perak. Pri- 
ces : Quality, Unassorted, 65 cents (Mexican dollar,) 
or 3s sterling, per lb. delivered in Europe, Colonics or 
America. Quality, pekoe souchong, 60 cents (Mexican 
dollar,) or 2s 9J sterliug, per lb. delivered in Europe, 
Colonies, or America. Higher qualities of tea as well as 
tea of lower grades obtainable. Tea packed in lead, 
in one or two pound packets. A reduction in price 
on orders exceeding 2U pounds. Orders booked and 
further particulars supplied by the superintendent, 
Government plantations, Perak, Straits Settlements. 
The Hermitage, August 20th 1888. 
At present there is very little tea in Perak, 
but the Government appear to be determined to 
encourage its cultivation. 
The Tea Association, we (Pioneer) are glad 
to see, is awakening to the rapid development of 
the Ceylon trade. The exports from that island 
have made phenomenal leaps within the last 
few years, and the total outturn next year is 
estimated at 45 million pounds, or close on half 
that of all the Indian gardens in 1888, though 
the latter have a start of over thirty years. At the 
same time the exports from India thie year have 
risen by from ten to thirteen million pounds. So 
extraordinary an advance in production must very 
quickly outrun the increase in demand due merely 
to the growth of population in the United Kingdom, 
and a fall in prices, with a shrinkage in the 
profits of the planters, must result unless the cost 
of production is reduced and new markets are 
found. In this latter regard the Assam planters 
have heretofore been somewhat apathetic : but the 
remarks of Mr. Stuart on Friday justify the hope 
that in the future they will exhibit more of that 
enterprise and push for which their Oeylon brethren 
are so honourably distinguished. To drive foreign 
teas from India and establish Indian teas in the 
comparatively virgin ground of liussia, Australia 
and the United Stat s, these are objects which, 
in these days of keen competition, must needs 
occupy a first place in the attention of the Tea 
Association, if the traditional prosperity of the 
Assam gardens is to be maintained. 
