March i, 1890] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
further, and though it would at first sight seem that 
a reduction of duty wouid be favourable to both pro- 
ducer and consume]', I believe in this case the effect 
would be directly opposite. 
It is doubtful whither a reduction of dutyj would 
be followed by largply increased consumption, because 
the average retail price of tea is probably threepence 
or fourpcnce per pound lees now than it w.is four 
years ago; but consumption remains almost stationary, 
though, as the Chancellor of the Exchequer has twice 
pointed out, the increased consumption of Indian and 
Ceylon teas mean, on account of their greater strength, 
an increase iu number of cups of tea, and the standard 
of much of the ti a which reaches the poor is already so 
low that, as an article of human food, it is abtolutely 
valueless. The immediate effect of reduction or removal 
of duty would be that a large quantity of refuse tea, 
which the Chinese decline to consume themselves, 
would be forced on the market to the detriment of the 
British tea grower, who, whether in India or Ceylon, 
has invested largely in machinery or app'innces for 
manufacturing good tea. The secondary result of re- 
duced Customs vigilance would be that the hedgerows 
of Southern Europe would largely contribute to the 
breakfast tables of England, and than the tea market 
would become so demoralised that if it wa3 treated by 
Act of Parliament as coffee has been, admixture would 
be legalised, and beech tea, sole tea, and a hundred 
other teas would be freely sold, and with the death- 
knell of coffee still ringing in our ears we should 
await the doom of tea. 
When I was honoured with an invitation to read a 
paper before this Society I hesitated, my first thought 
being, what can I say that has not been more ably said 
before ? Believing, as I do, that Imperial V,. deration 
can only be firmly founded on mutual commercial 
advantage, and that the extension of knowledge is the 
first step towards federation, I gratefully accepted the 
opportunity of drawing attention to great colonial in- 
dustries. And how rapid the changes in these industries 
are ! When the Ceylon figures were compiled for the 
Colonial and Indian Exhibition, but four short years 
ago, the maximum export shown was 3,796,884 lb., and 
this year we have to deal with more than 40,000,000 
lb. In 1885, the consumption of British-grown tea 
was 38 per cent, of the total, last year it was 67 per 
cent. ; and this displacement of China tea by British- 
grown tea means a very large annual draft upon the 
mother country for machinery, lead, iron, a>ul many 
other articles of British manufacture, besides a large 
bill for piece goods of various kinds, the clothing of 
the million and a half British subjects direc'ly depend- 
ing on tea cultivation. 
The Indian and Oeylon tea industries represent an 
investment of British capital of probably £30,000,000 
sterling, and to possess within ourselves the power of 
producing and consuming is our very strongest Im- 
perial bond, though so far but very scantily recognised: 
A description of special industries in special localities 
is necessarily narrow and lacking in general interest, 
but I venture to think there is much in the agricultural 
history of Oeylon capable of profitable application to 
other parts of the Empire. 
There are lessons to be learned from the failure 
of coffee, and the various products which succeeded it, 
which may directly benefit many parts of our tropi- 
cal empire, and there is the great general lesson 
from which all may learn teaching how the planters 
of Ceylon manfully met difficulties which seemed 
once insuperable, and by their efforts have restored 
prosperity. 
I append to these remarks a Table showing the 
average consumption per head of population of our 
non-alcoholic drinks, and the progress they have made ; 
and while the figures for 1889 show tea and cocoa 
os almost stationary, there is again a considerable 
falling off iu the consumption of coffee and chicory. 
I specially commend to the workers among the 
poor the task raising the standard of these drinks, 
and I trust my brief and necessarily imperfect sketch 
may stimulate interest in colonial enterprise, and 
tend to the fulfilment of the moral obligation which 
the mother country owes the colonies, 
Statistics as to the Non-Alcoholic Drinks 
op the People op the United Kingdom. 
Population, 
Years. 
United 
Kingdom^ 
1856 
1857 
1858 
1859 
lfcGO 
1861 
1862 
1863 
1864 
1865 
1866 
1867 
1868 
1869 
1870 
1871 
1872 
1873 
1874 
1875 
1876 
1877 
1878 
1879 
1880 
1881 
1882 
1883 
1884 
1885 
1886 
1887 
28011,034 
28,188,280 
28,389,770 
28,590,224 
28,778,411 
28,974,362 
29,255,015 
29,433,918 
29,628,578 
29,861,908 
30,076,812 
30,334,999 
30,617,718 
30.913,513 
31,205,444 
31,513,442 
31,874,183 
32,177,550 
32,501,517 
32,838,758 
33,199,994 
33,575,941 
33,943,773 
34,302,557 
34,622,930 
34,952,204 
35,297,114 
35,611,770 
35,961,663 
36 331,119 
36^709,409 
37,091,564 
37,440,505 
Average Consumption per 
Head of Population. 
Tea. 
Coffee. 
Cocoa Total. 
lb. 
lb. 
lb. 
lb. 
2-26 
1-25 
•13 
3.64 
2-45 
1-22 
•09 
3-76 
2-58 
1-24 
•10 
392 
2-67 
1-20 
•11 
3'98 
2-67 
1-23 
•11 
4-01 
2-69 
1-21 
■12 
4-02 
2-70 
1 18 
•12 
4 00 
2-90 
111 
•13 
4T4 
3-00 
1 06 
•13 
4-19 
3-29 
1-02 
■13 
, *'44 
3-42 
1-02 
•14 
4-58 
3-68 
1-04 
•14 
4'«6 
3-52 
1-00 
•17 
4'69 
3-63 
•94 
•19 
4'76 
3-81 
■98 
•20 
4-99 
3-92 
•97 
.23 
5-12 
4-01 
•98, 
.24 
5-23 
4-10 
•99 
•26 
5-35 
4-22 
•96 
•27 
5-45 
4-43 
•98 
•30 
5-71 
4'49 
•99 
•31 
5-79 
450 
■96 
•30 
5-76 
4'64 
•97 
.29 
5-90 
4-68 
■99 
•29 
596 
4'57 
•92 
•30 
5-79 
4-51 
•89 
•31 
5-78 
4-67 
•88 
•34 
5-89 
4-80 
•89 
• 36 
6-05 
4-87 
•90 
•39 
6-16 
5-02 
•90 
•40 
6-32 
4'87 
•86 
•41 
6- 14 
4-95 
•81 
•43 
6- 19 
4-95 
•82 
•49 
6-26 
DISCUSSION. 
Mr. Hyde Clarke said the paper dealt so exhaus. 
tively with the subject, that no one not being a 
specialist, or connected with the Island, could venture 
to add anything to it. It was very gratifying to 
listen to such a paper, which gave the whole history 
of the subject from the beginning, and dwelt especially 
upon its most interesting aspects, showing the bene- 
fits which had been conferred on the local popu- 
lation on the one hand, and on the other the way in 
which the enterprises referred to had made an opening 
for numbers of joung men in England, who, after 
spending some years in Ceylon, had come home to 
enjoy the prosperity which they had acquired by their 
enterprise and energy, and to spend the remainder of 
their lives in their native land. One very interesting 
feature, though a melancholy one, was the history of 
the coffee industry, the failure in which, however, 
was not limited to Ceylon, for in many parts of the 
world similar plagues had made their appearance in 
such virulence that all the coffee trees had to be 
rooted up as the only means of checking the progress 
of the disease. Happily, however, their countrymen 
in Ceylon, when their efforts were foiled in one 
quarter turned to another, and had raised the produc- 
tion of tea to such a height of prosperity, that the 
history of the cultivation was almost a romance. He 
cordially congratulated Mr. Shand on his paper. 
Mr. Folkaed said all who were connected with 
Oeylon ought to feel indebted to Mr. Shand for men- 
tiouing so prominently the question of the possible 
reduction of the tea duty, which many people hoped 
might be announced in the forthcoming Budget. He 
thought those who considered the matter from all 
points of view would agree with Mr, Shand in his con- 
clusions. Sir Ropei Letbbridge had recently addressed 
a letter to the Times, in whioh the enunciated very much 
the same views ; but though be perfectly agreed with 
