*Mi fmmtAL AmiCtifttilMM. (July t, 1867. 
proprietors of Mariawatte have decided to keep the ex- 
perimental machine erected in their Factory. This is 
in fact the best practical testimonial which could 
be paid to the machine. The London report is as 
follows :— 
Results of the Wokkino of the Machine on 
Mariawatte Estate. 
Prices realised for Mariawatte Estate Teas. 12,320 
lb. One-half made by Gow'a "Monarch Witherer," 
oue-half by the usual method of manufacture. The 
Teas were made with alternate days leaf pluckings. 
Gow's Witherer. Mariawatte Method. 
1)90 lb. Bro. Pek. Is 4£d Is 5id 
600 |, Or. Pek. Is 7d Is 7d 
3040 „ Pekoe Is lid Is ljd 
1 530 „ Pek. Souc. 0s Hid 0s Hid 
Average Is 2d Is 2id 
Regarding the above the Secretary of the Ceylon 
Plantations Company writing to Mr. Rutherford 
says : — 
" Messrs. Cow, Wilson and Stanton expressed their 
obligations to us not only for risking the experiment, 
but also for shipping the tea under another mark as 
it might have made a difference in the returns bad 
not there been a strong demand for Ceylons at the 
time. Buyers prefer to follow up a well-known 
mark rather than buy stray ones like these. I think 
Mr. Gow was also pleased that we should have 
taken such precautions to avoid even the possibility 
of any one saying that he had anything to do with 
running the tea manufactured by the Witherer above 
its value." 
We shall now await with great interest, a re- 
port on the "Witherer" erected in Carolina Factory 
to which (in respect of the accessories to the with- 
ering portion,) further improvements have been suc- 
cessfully applied. 
♦ 
INDIAN AND CEYLON TEA. 
Our London Letter by this mail contains several 
references of much interest with regard to our new 
staple product, both in respect to the position 
1 t has now acquired with the home trade, as also 
as to the view taken by Indian tea-growers of the 
effect of the competition to which they are sub- 
jected by our own production of the article. The 
cause assigned by the Economist, the journal 
largely quoted by our correspondent, for the recent 
sudden leap into popularity that has been taken 
by Ceylon tea, may be, to some extent, a correct 
one, although it is to us comparatively novel. 
We are told that importers from China of the 
finer teas, have been so long used to a superior 
position in the home market, that, feeling secure in 
it, they held out for prices, for which those 
Who dealt in Indian and Ceylon teas did 
Jfcrt feel inclined to reserve their stocks. As 
* '•oi'.-.e'iocncc, during that period of suspended 
Sale of China teas, the retailers bought extensively 
of. o«r own and Indian varieties. The wide dis- 
tribUtloU of these among their customers, to the 
comparatively total exclusion of China teas, gra- 
dually educated the public taste- The relative 
Btrength and resulting economy of the British 
grown varieties soon became acknowledged, and 
China lost— piobably never to regain- -the com- 
manding position she may be said to have 
always hitherto occupied. To the cause quoted 
may, however, undoubtedly, be added the wide dis- 
persion of Indian and Ceylon teas at the Indian 
and Colonial Exhibition, besideB the very strenuous 
efforts made by special agents— ex-Ceylon planters 
especially — to bring their claims op the public 
taste well forward. We may, we think, con- 
clude that as the joint imports from India and 
Ceylon must soon be on a parity as to quantity 
with those from China and Java, there is little 
prospect of the teas from the two latter countries 
ever again competing on the advantageous terms 
they had formerly enjoyed. There further appears 
to be every reason for concluding, according to the 
Economist, that China at all events will not be able 
to profitably compete with British growths at 
the scale of prices now ruling. If these could be 
forced up again, doubtless the produce of the 
Celestial Empire could be imported with profit to 
the merchants ; but with the large annually increasing 
export to be expected from Ceylon and India such 
a rise is hardly to be counted upon. In fact, in 
the opinion of experts, there is little chance of any 
increase on present prices of an appreciable 
character. 
We are therefore reduced, it may be said, to 
regard the chances of competition in the future 
to be divided mainly, between India and Ceylon. The 
gardens of the former are already beginning to feel 
the competition of those of the latter ; and, as our 
exports must continue to increase, while at rates 
ruling there can be but scant inducement for any 
considerable extension of the cultivation in India 
there can be little doubt that the pinch is likely in 
every succeeding year, to be more and more severely 
felt by our neighbours. As to this point our London 
correspondent tells us of a conversation he has 
had with a gentleman ©f experience who but lately 
returned from a long residence among the tea estates 
of Darjiling. Even in that district, and on estates 
the most favourably situated both fcr profitable 
cultivation and for the production of the highest 
class teas, the effect of the competition of Ceylon is 
beginning to be felt, As we have seen by the report 
of the Darjiling Tea Company, it is but barely 
able to show a decent profit, although its teas have 
realised very considerably higher prices on the 
average than the bulk of those sent home from 
India generally. The gentleman referred to as- 
serted, however, that the Indian tea-planters put 
a bold face upon the matter, and declared their 
capacity to outlive the competition of Ceylon, a 
competition to which they assign but a compar- 
atively short life. Well, those that live longest 
will see most, and let those laugh that win ! 
Something like a boom in Indian and Ceylon tea 
and tea shares may be expected. Investors are at 
1 'tigth beginning to realise the importance of the 
industry, and are looking very favourably upon in- 
▼astments in tea shares. The wonder is that they have 
b°en so slow to perceive the advantages which shares 
of this kind offer by comparison with many purely 
speculative undertakings in which they foolishly 
embark- We reproduce an article from the Economist 
which has an important bearing on the financial posi- 
tion of tea companies. The Economist is a paper of the 
highest class, and carries much weight. Its comments 
are therefore very valuable : — 
The season now drawing to a close has been an 
eventful one for importers and producers of tea; as it 
has witnessed what is possibly the climax Of the 
struggle between China and India* now, supplement* 
ed by Ceylon, for supremacy of the home market. 
Early in the autumn, when it became known that 
the receipts from all sources would be little short of 
230,000,000 1)),, whereas the highest estimate of require* 
ments was about 240,000)000 lb., it Was evident that 
whenever the pressure to sell became heavy prices 
would give way, and the dealers consequently adopted 
a most cautious policy, endeavouring as far as possible 
to throw the onus of carrying stocks upon importers. 
The China shippers, encouraged by the prevailing opj* 
njon that their teas were of good average quality and 
