March x, 1889] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
605 
TEA CONSUMPTION, AND THE PROSPECTS 
OF PLANTERS : 
IS i'lllfi IMPERIAL DUTY LIKELY TO UK 11EDUCED TO 4d 
IIY MB. GOSCHEN? 
A Colombo merchant calls our attention to a 
remark of Messrs. 1. A. Ruckor & Bcncraft in their 
Market Roport of Jan. 10th to the effect that " somo- 
" times we almost fool we have reached the 
" end of our tether as regards consuming power," and 
thinks that it is important such an opinion should 
bo duly considered in Ceylon. Ho adds : — " thero 
"should bo no mincing of the position in Ceylon, 
"unpalatable though it may be." Most certainly 
thero has been no shutting of our oolumns against 
unpalatablo facts. Wo think wo havo put every 
side of the tea question very fully before our 
readers, and although we by no means accept 
tho opinion of the Mincing Lane Brokers ua correct 
or linal, it is ono that ought to bo duly weighed 
especially by capitalists who feel inclined to extend 
the area now plantod with tea. 
And here, we may notice a remark made by Anglo-In- 
dian tea-planting authorities, to the effect that Ceylon 
with 180,000 to '200,000 acros under tea may, at least 
be considered to have reached its maximum, as 
there was no more land available to plant. Never 
wa3 a greater mistake ! Tho gentlemen who— laying 
this " Uattcring unction to theirsouls " — would fain 
extend cultivation in Assam ought to be told that 
thoto is land in Ceylon sufficient to double tho 
present area of cultivation provided only that tho 
margin of profit can be maintained at a rate to 
encourago the investment. Assam men should 
also know that large tea oonoorns in Ceylon now 
estimate the cost of their crop as low as 25 cents 
per lb. laid down at tho shipping port, that is 4 
annus, or wo suppose at about G.Jd per lb. in 
London. This, of course, is exceptionally favourable; 
but wo suppose thoro are owners of a considerable 
area planted on viiyin soil who are confidently 
aiming at keeping down outlay and charges to 7d 
or at most 8d delivered in London, and with largo 
' i of loaf, there is a margin (one ponny to 
kvopraoc pel lb.) sufficient, wo suspect, to induce 
a oerUM area of planting of forostland every season. 
Unless, therefore, Anglo-Indian capitalists interested 
in Assam can competo at above rates they had batter 
not plant am moral It if, quito true as noticed 
by a London morcharit (" Morcator") elsewhere, 
that hitherto a vory largo proportion of the tea 
planted in Ceylon has boen on old coffee land, 
and it is certain that nil this will not pay if the 
averago for our teas falls to 9d or bolow ; but in 
our lust Directory we counted that oven in private 
hands there wcro still as many as 100,000 aores 
roHorvo tit for tea. 
Now as to Consumption, we do not seo why 
in the caso of the Unitotl Kingdom, wo should 
not look for an increase until tho same rate per 
head [g attained as has alroady been reaohed in 
the Australian Colonies. This would mean an 
enormous increase For Australasia, wo havo now 
about H lb. per head per annum of toa con- 
KUMd: in the United Kingdom, tho rato is 
still under 5 lb. p cr head. Why should it not 
go on progressively to 0. 7. and 8 lb. per head ?— 
especially if ooffeo id to become a soarce and dear 
article, and great philanthropic and tcmperanuo 
agencies go on extending tho popularity of 
Tho cops 
... TUat eheez but uot inebriate. 
All this apart from tin. reasonable hope that in 
Auionca especially, wo ought to uuo the oonbuinption 
of tea annually increase while the Indian and 
Ceylon pure product both there and throughout 
Australasia, takes the place of the inferior and 
often adulterated, and " faced " China and Japanese 
article. 
Returning, howuver, to tho United Kingdom, 
there is another element to be counted on in 
considering the question of an increased consump- 
tion. It was referred to by a contributor the other 
day, and we have had the 3ubjcct for some time 
under our attention. We refer to the possibility of a 
reduction of the imperial Customs tea-duty in March - 
April from Gd to Id per lb. It will be remembered 
that Mr. Picton, the member for Leicester, in 
the last Budget discussion, moved to leave out 
" Clause 2 which imposes a duty of 6d per lb. on 
tea." This was a thoroughly radical proposition 
towards a free breakfast-table. In the debate 
which followed, after Messrs. Picton, Vincent, 
Gray, and Illingworth, Sir Geo. Campbell and others 
had spoken, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, 
in the course of a long reply, distinctly indicated 
his strong desire to reduce the duty on tea, although 
be could not consent to its total abolition ; and 
Mr. Gladstone while declining to support Mr. 
Picton's amendment — "he had never given a vote 
" which would roduco the income of the country 
" below tho expenditure and he never would " — 
said that if the proposal were to reduce the 
duty from 6d to 4d, it would have his ready support. 
There is therefore a good deal of reason for the anti- 
cipation that the next imperial budget will provide 
for such a reduction. True, there is a great call for 
extra expenditure on Defences; but there are other 
means of providing for such special outlay and Mr 
Goschen, we feel sure, will be strongly inclined- 
to fulfil the implied promise in his speech last 
year. And it should be noted that the anticipa- 
tion of such a result may possibly have an unsettling 
effect on the London Tea market during March. 
It is argued however, that a reduction of tho 
British tea duty would likely benefit the cheap 
China teas more in proportion, than the dearer 
produce of India and Ceylon. The higher the duty, 
the moro aro the cheaper teas supposed to be 
handicapped. We cannot accept this view as alto- 
gether correct, or anticipate that the benefit to 
China teas would be moro than temporary ; 
for, the cheaper the price of tea generally,becomes, the 
morn likely the working-classes are to ask for a really 
good artiole ; and when once the taste for India or 
Ceylon tea is acquired, the hold of the poor China 
stuff will bo gono for ever. At any rato, there 
is thi plain inference that a reduction of the duty to 
4d pel lb. would mean an immense impetus to con- 
sumption in tho Unitod Kingdom, so that tho 
total figures por annum, in placo of being 184 
million lb. as in 1888, would probably soon reach 
250 million lb. Wo may well look forward therefore 
with spocial interest to Mr. Goschen's next budget 
in the hopo that it may contain good nows for all 
interested in tea. 
NEXT SEASON'S TEA. 
Tho following lotter appears in the X.-O. Daily 
News : — 
To the Editor of tho " North-China Daily Nows." 
Dour Sir, — As thoro appears to bo eomo danger of 
ovcr-sauguino viowa being tnkon by both foreigners 
and uatiwa (bnt cspocially tho latter) as to the pros- 
poota for the next crop of Black Tcm, I -hould bo 
lm 1 if y 0U will kiudly afford mo space to givo as 
roucinu a report as possible upon tho exceptional in- 
llueuccu which havo caused tho trade ti> be profitable 
dariug the past Hcasou. I find that not otilyiiativ. 
but homo itnporlvrd are beginning to believe tbu 
