284 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, [October i, 1888. 
THE CHINA. AND INDIAN TEA. GEOWEttS. 
The following, from the Calcutta Englishman, is a 
report of the minutes of a meeting of the committee 
appointed to inquire into the state of the Tea trade 
at Canton: — 
Present:— Messrs. E. Deacon (in the chair), K. D. 
Adams, E. W. Mitchell, and R. B. Allen (secretary 
to the meeting). Mr. F. O. Deacon was unavoid- 
ably absent. The Chairman having read the notice 
convening the meeting, invited the members of the 
committee to give their views on the subject under 
consideration. A prolonged discussion then ensued, 
and it was finally decided to put the following on 
record as being some of the points worthy of the 
consideration of the Chinese authorities, unless the 
Tea trade at Canton is to be seriously crippled, if 
not altogether annihilated, by the yearly increasing 
competition with India: — 
Section I, — Ganton Scented Caper. 
This description of Tea, of which the bulk of the 
Canton export consists, competes more keenly with 
Indian kinds than any other class of China Teas, being 
especially useful for mixing purposes. The competition 
with India is now however growing so severe, and 
home prices have reached so low a range, that un- 
less some steps are shortly taken to relieve the pro- 
duce of the excessive burdens of likin and export 
duty, a time must arrive when scented Tea will cease 
to be an article of consumption altogether. As regards 
quality, the districts from which the best descriptions 
of leaf arrive, being the most remote from Canton, 
suffer must heavily from inland taxation; and this 
induces native merchants to admix inferior leaf grown 
nearer to Canton, and suffering in consequence lighter 
dues. One of the greatest complaints, however, that 
buyers have to make is in respect to the large pro- 
portion of dust found in the Teas. The dust should, 
if possible, not to be sent to Canton from the dis- 
tricts at all, as the Peking dues have to be paid 
on it as well as on the whole leaf; and this, of 
course, increases the ultimate cost of the Tea. This 
complaint is specially to be made about leaf arriv- 
ing from the Loting and Hoyuue districts. 
. Section II.— Canton Scented Orange Pekoe. 
It may almost be said that this class (both the long 
and short leaf descriptions) has already been beaten 
out of the field by the success of Indian Teas; this 
is amply proved by the significant fact that, during 
the past ten years, the export from Canton has fallen 
from 3,870,000 lbs. to 1,100,000 lbs. This decrease in 
export continues year by year; and it now seems 
impossible that this class of Tea can regain its lost 
positions on the London markets. 
Section III Congous. 
Of this kind, the best Teas arrive from the Tay- 
shan districts; and, as a rule, there is a steady mar- 
ket for these in London. The only suggestion that 
might be made is that better quality would be ob- 
tained if growers were contended with fewer pickings 
during the year. Experience has shown that Teas 
plucked in the months of August and September are 
deficient in every quality except "make," and the 
picking of the leaf in these months affects these supply 
as well as the quality , of the autumn orop, which 
is th,e best produced from the district. 
Section IV.— Weights. 
'it is worthy of remark that Teas shipped from 
Canton waters invariably lose in weight on the home- 
ward voyage, where as those shipped from Poochow 
and the northern ports always show a distinot gain. 
The remedy of this is in the hands of the Imperial' 
Maritime Customs, for native packers are prepared 
to allow an extra J lb per box, provided no export 
duty is charged on it— 9, concession which the Im- 
perial Maritime Customs will not grant. 
Section V. — General. 
The nteady f-'l' in exchange during late years has 
been of material ...v-istance to the China grower, for it 
has enabled tea shippers to lay down their purchases 
in London at lower sterling prices year by year, while 
paying almost the sume baei prices to the Chinese as 
formerly. The native grower must be looked to for 
aoy iujprovemsut in manufacture or production ; and 
as long as he feels no necessity for such improvement, 
it need not lie expected. The members of the com- 
mittee have read with much interest the correspondence 
which has already been published by the Shanghai 
and Foochow Chambers of Commerce relating to the 
decline of the China Tea trade, and they heartdy con- 
cur in the opinions expressed by these bodies, and 
consider that the only real remedy for preventing the 
total extinction of the trade is the abolition of all likin 
and export duties, so that the China article may be on 
the same footing as the Indian, Oeylon, and Java, all 
of which are free from tax. — Produce Markets' Reiien-. 
♦ 
PLANTING IN DELI. 
(Translated for the Straits Times.) 
Old experienced hands have a good time of it in 
Deli, now that estates in the neighbourhood spring 
up like mushrooms. Their owners keep a lookout 
for any Deli planters inclined to undertake the man- 
agement of these new ventures. But, unhappily, the 
needful discrimination ia th» choice of managers 
seems often to be lacking. ISvidently, in Java and 
Holland, where reside the moving spirits of these 
enterprises, the lequucmenis that go to make an 
efficient manager are misunderstood. The opinion 
appears to be that all will go well with tobacco 
growing, provided there be liberal supplies of men 
and money. The local Courant enumerates the 
qualifications that characterise a good manager : — 
fod* years experience at least in field labour and 
tobacco curing, a practised eye in judging land, some 
skill in planting matters, practical business know- 
ledge, and sufficient tact and discretion to get along 
with Chinese labourers. Any one equipped with 
these quaUticatiuus has every chance of turning out 
to be a good planter, as well as an efficient manager. 
Bat people muit not run away with the idea that 
all persons who call themselves managers in Deli 
possess these qualifications. The peculiar qualities 
that at once mark them out do not, in all cases, im- 
plant themselves in every one who has the good 
luck to stand at the head of an estate. Many never 
get them at all. Those who do, require more than 
four years' experience to qualify themselves. Too 
many never succeed in getting hold of the practised 
eye and the lucky hand, which alone can bring 
planting operations to a profitable conclusion. 
These are mostly inborn qualities, which meeting 
with a favourable environment in one's early years 
blossom in due time. Persons brought up as traders, 
officials, or soldiers can never acquire them. 
The Planters' Association in Deli have taken 
steps to further the direct immigration thither of 
coolies from China. The long established system 
of engaging them through brokers in the Straits 
Settlements had resulted in raising the price of 
coolies intolerably high to the planters. The coolies, 
too, fared ill owing the lion's share of the advances 
they got falling into the hands of the brokers. The 
Planters' Association have established an immi- 
gration bureau at Medan, at which employers will 
be bound to eugage coolies. The members of the 
Association have bound themselves to turn the 
bureau to account in recruiting labourers. It all 
depends now on how far they are prepared to act on 
the principle that union and strength must go 
together. 
Siak has come, of late into prominence as a held 
for tobacco growing. The Sultan of the country 
does his best to encourage plantation enterprise 
there. The first planter from Deli who tried his 
luck in the new land of promise, grew tobacco 
which experts found no difficulty in pronouncing to 
be as good as the best Deli kind in the market. 
The natural consequence is a rush for planting 
concessions in Siak. The soil in Siak is said to 
be quite equal to that of Deli. The burning quali- 
