September 2, 1889.] THF TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
163 
to burden themselves with an excessive proportion 
of teas of that class. There ought to be no 
difficulty by wisely concerted aotion among our- 
selves in obviating the continuance of this obstaole 
to free sale, one which Mr. Shand has but lately 
also strongly condemned in his speech to the 
members of the Ceylon As»ociation in London as 
mainly contributing to keep down prices. Mr. 
Roberts evidently thinks that the remedy for 
present evils lies largely in our own hands; and, 
aided by the efforts making by our representatives 
at home, there can be no reason why we should 
not successfully adopt it. Indeed the conclusions 
arrived at by Mr. Roberts on a former occasion, 
and repeated very much at present, coincide exactly 
with the opinions of the large majority of our 
most experienced, oareful planters who will have 
no more to do with sooalled " tine" than with 
"coarse'' plucking of their tea-leaf , but who believe 
thoroughly in " medium " plucking giving such a 
proportion of the lower grades of tea as Mr. Roberts 
— in contrast with some other London would-be 
authorities — conaiders to be right and natural. The 
low average established for Ceylon teas by the pre- 
sent mail, caused by the cheapness of pekoes and 
Bouchongs, induces a local revival of the advice to 
do away with the "inferior grades"— and then how 
good an average could be established ! No practical 
planter can, of course, accept such a view of the 
situation ; while Mr. Roberts would be the first 
to call out that we were distinctly and deliberately 
playing into the hands of the China dealers. Let 
our planting readers note what is said in another 
place about the stock of tea at Foochow being 
"3011,000 ches's, half of which is only worth 4d 
in London." Ly plucking '' fine " and sending 
home only the higher grades — if that were possible 
— we should soon make an opening for every chest 
of the Foochow lourpenny tea in London. 
<u 
CEYLON TEAS IN THE UNITED KINGDON. 
(From our London Correspondent.) 
MR. ROBERTS (OF S. RUCKER & CO.) ON CEYLON TEAS: 
GOOD PROSPECTS. 
London, June 28th. 
You will readily understand that the alarm finding 
expression in your columns in consequence of the 
constant fall in the price of tea in the London market 
has found a serious echo among Ceylon men now at 
home. Even the most hopeful of these with whom 
I have discussed the matter have confessed that the 
outlook was a grave one, and under such conditions 
it appeared to me most desirable to ascertain the 
views entertained on the subject by Mr. Roberts of 
Messrs. S. Rucker & Co., whose opinion have so 
often been quoted by me, and which have on several 
occasions received full confirmation by after events. 
There is no one among the experts to whom it is 
customary for me to resort, when questions connected 
with Ceylon matters arise, as to which it is desirable 
for me to obtain the dicta of such well-informed and 
competent persons who is more willing than is Mr. 
Roberts to oblige me to the full extent of his power, 
and my obligations have repeatedly had to be 
gratefully expressed to him for his great kindness. 
On the last ocoasion of the kind therefore, viz. 
when within the last few days I once more re- 
sorted to " my guide, master and friend " on 
the Hiibject 01 teas, I found him as u^ual 
most ready to bid me. Plaoing before him fully, 
and in as much detail as was at my command, 
the situation in which Ceylon tea planters find 
themselves as the result of the depressed price 
of thoir product, Mr. Roberts offered me in 
substance tho following reassuring romarkd:— "I 
am sorry to soe people in Ceylon tako rathor a 
gloomy view of tea, as I gather from what you 
have mentioned to me. I do not think you will 
have Ceylon teas lower ; I fancy we have seen 
the lowest. It has only given way in price owing 
to simultaneous arrivals ; but we oannot get over 
the positive fact that day by day, the public 
are getting to appreciate more and more the qual- 
ity of Ceylon tea as being far supperior to China 
and even the bulk of Indian, and they reject 
these for Ceylon, a fact which must tell in time. 
The difference between the prioe of China and 
Ceylon will not stand in the way of consumption. 
Shopkeepers mix common China and strong Indian 
teas so as to get a larger profit, but the price they 
sell at to do this is only a shade under Cey- 
lon, on which they do not get so much profit : 
but loads of other ohannels, besides the ordinary 
shopkeeper are springing up and introducing 
Ceylon tea in a more direct form from producer 
to consumer, by which means the consumer can 
get this better article at the same price as the 
inferior mixtures sold by most shopkeepers ; and the 
public taste will learn, and is learning, to taste 
the better article, and the more there is to handle 
and deal with, the more chance there is to get it into 
more general consumption. Besides all this, China 
at its present price is, I hear, losing quite six- 
pence per pound — and if even only fourpence — it 
is not likely that the shipments from that quarter 
will increase. Give the public China and India 
mixed, and charge them Is 6d per pound and 
Ceylon at Is 9d per pound : the public will prefer 
to pay Is 9d for the better article ; and a retail 
price of Is 9d per pound to the public means 10 
pence in bond for Ceylon, This is just a rough 
way of putting it. I have every confidence in Ceylon 
keeping up and even improving in value. Every 
economy must be used in the island to keep down 
expense, but pray don't sacrifice quality." Re- 
mark in addition to what Mr. Roberts has said by 
myself would be, of course, superfluous. You should, 
however, bear in mind bow great are his oppor- 
tunities for forming a reliable judgment, and how 
constantly his views have been substantiated in 
the past. Those to whom these views of his 
have been mentioned by me acknowledge the good 
reason there is to found hopefulness upon that 
gentleman's conclusions. It is natural, of course, 
that the shoe should pinch you in Ceylon at 
present rates, but these are not so hopelessly low as 
to deprive your planters of some profit, even if 
this be somewhat unpleasantly restricted ; while 
they must ten 1 in a far greater degree to break 
down the success of that competition to which 
you are at present exposed. Reading Mr. Roberts' 
remarks by the light of what Sir Robert Hart has 
but recently written, the conclusion seems to be 
but fair, that as Ceylon imports to this market 
increase, we shall find those of China quite re- 
latively diminishing until competition by that 
country is quite broken down. Altogether, we think 
here that there is a consensus of evidence to in- 
duce the belief that, while Ceylon planters can yet 
for some time to come stem the tide against 
present low prices without danger to their enter- 
prize, neither China nor India occupy the same 
favourable position. China tea is already being 
diverted into quite unacoustomed channels of trade 
in which as yet Ceylon does not need to enter into 
competition, while in India the large Companies 
find themselves compelled to refrain from breaking 
much of new ground, being satisfied if they oan 
only just hold their own with the area they have 
under cultivation through the present era of low 
prices. Some suoh course as is being adopted in 
India would appear to us to bo judioious to coun- 
sel as regards Coylon, but you will obsnrvp that 
