6i8 
THF TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [March i, 1889. 
so again, with a sigh doubtless, but without an effort 
India has got to learn all this by bitter experience 
and, in doing so, Ceylon can gain much and lose 
nothing. Let everyone make up their minds to 
a desperate battle with the giant, low prices, 
born of over-production. Let us not go into battle 
with a faint heart, but gird on the " buckler 
of determination," take up the '' shield of careful 
management," and grasp the "sword of economy." 
May He who watches over our destinies grant 
us favourable weather during the next decade, 
and stay the bloody European war with which 
we are now threatened and Ceylon planters can take 
"heart of grace." D. 
No. 2. — ECONOMIES IN PREPAuING TEA. 
14th Feb. 1889. 
Dear Sir, — "Mercator" in your issue of 9th in 
putting the average factory charges at nearer 10 
than 8 cents per lb. tea brings up the larger 
question of economies in tea manufacture, which 
does not always receive the consideration it demands, 
and which, in many cases, represents a difference 
of 2 to 3 cents per lb. in the cost of production. 
Rolling and firing machines are to be seen in 
most factories with any pretension to the name, 
but there are green roll breakers, green roll sifters, 
tea sifters and tea cutters, all which tend to reduce 
to some extent the cost of manufacture, and I 
might hint to those of an inventive turn of mind 
that there is still room for additions to the machinery 
which simplify and cheapen the process of tea-making. 
A factory fully equipped with all the newest 
labour-saving appliances will put the tea outside 
the building at a cost of from 4 to 5 cents per 
lb., including teamaker's pay, chests, lead, factory 
sundries &c. On the other hand a factory starting 
on a small scale will require from 7 to 8 cents 
for the same items : the wonder is that so many 
planters still deny themselves these necessary ad- 
juncts to the factory — when — with the present low 
prices, every cent saved on the cost of producing 
the pound of tea is of vital importance. A study 
of the table on page 51 of Rutherford's Notebook 
opens one's eyes to the fact that with tea selling 
in London at 9d, exchange at Is od, and cost 
of production at 35 cents, the profit to the grower 
is only 7 cents per lb. I have taken cost of pro- 
duction at 35 cents, but how many estates are 
there at the present time putting their teas f.o.b. 
at that figure? and how many sales lately have 
shown figures under 9d? There is indeed great need 
for strict economy in factory and field especially 
on estates composed of old coffee land. 
OLD HAND AT TEA. 
AGRICULTURAL WORK AT NIKAWERATIYA. 
Office of the D.P.I., Colombo, 14th Feb. 1889. 
Sib, — I am directed to forward for publication the 
enclosed copy of a report on the work of the Agri- 
cultural Instructor at Nikaweratiya, — I am, &c. 
H. W. GREEN, Director. 
Result of paddy cultivation by the Agricultural 
Instructor at Nikaweratiya. 
Sir, — I have ths honor to report that the following 
are the results of the cultivation of paddy for the 
recent harvest by the Agricultural Instructor at Nika. 
weratiya in the North Western Provinoe : — 
(1) Sowing Broadcast. — li acres were sowed with 
2 '2-7 bushels of paddy, but without manure, and realised 
a crop of b0 bushels after using the improved plough. 
This is equivalent to rather over 53 bushels per acre 
(or, reckoning by folds) to 35 fold. The neighbours 
cultivating 2 acres in the nativo style realised a crop of 
,0 5-7 bushels per acre. The only difference in the mode 
of the cultivation was in the use of the improved 
plough by the Agricultural Instructor, and in its not 
being used by the natives, no manure was used in 
either case, 
(2) Planting out.— By " planting out " after using 
the improved plough, 3 lieddas amounting te 14 perches 
planted with one-fourth of a seer gave 2 6-7 bushels, 
about 33 bushels to the acre, which is about 364 
fold. By " planting out " without using the improved 
plough the same amount transplanted on 12 1-13 
perches gave only 2-7 of a bushel, or 3 5-7 bushels 
per acre. 
(3) The Government Agent reports that the In- 
structor's cotton is looking very well, but it is not 
yet cropped. — I am, &c, 
(Signed) H. W. Green, Director. 
The China Tea market unfortunately has fallen 
into much duller times. Though the majority of 
operators during the season now drawing to a close 
have — as we pointed out a few weeks since — done 
better than for the previous few seasons, the position 
has fallen away again somewhat. Soomoo seems to 
have given way considerably, and teas of this class 
have been sold during the week at public auction at 
4d per lb. reduction on the rate prevailing last 
August. Hitherto teas of this description were noted 
for their make, but, like several other Foochow 
chops during this season, they have not been up to 
the usual mark, and dealers who got them from im- 
porters are said to have had much trouble in getting 
them off their hands. — L. <£• 6'. Express. 
Progress in Brazil. — The Economise Frangais 
publishes some very interesting figures showing that 
since the abolition of slavery, there has been a marked 
increase in the number of immigrants arriving in 
Brazil, and also points out several facts, such as 
the increase in the number of banks, which show that 
the financial condition of the Empire is rapidly im- 
proving. In the year 1887, previous to the abolition 
of slavery, the number of emigrants who landed in 
Southern Brazil — that is to say, in the temperate zone 
of the Empire, was 55,986, as against only 25,741 in 
1886 ; but the total for last year at the two ports of 
Rio de Janeiro and Santos alone was 130,056. These 
immigrants all found immediate occupation upon the 
fazendas in the provinces of Bahia, Espirito Santo, Rio 
de Janeiro, San Paulo, Minas Geraes, Parana, Santo 
Catharina, and Rio Grande, where the coffee plant, the 
sugar cane, and tobacco plant are grown, and where 
there is a great abundance of live stock. It may be 
added that M. de Grelle, the Belgian Minister in 
Brazil, has addressed a very favourable report to the 
Belgian Foreign Office as to the condition of his com- 
patriots who have emigrated of late years to Brazil, 
this report being to the effect that " the Bel- 
gians whom I have met with in the great colonial 
centres assure me that they have no complaint 
to make as regards their material condition. They 
dispose of sufficient resources for their subsistence 
and for the maintenance of their families. They 
have, moreover, the prospect before them of be- 
coming in a few years' time owners of not less 
than 25 aores of land and of making a small 
fortune by the subsequent profits of the ground 
they till." The Economiste Frangais goes on to 
point out that in the three coffee-growing pro- 
vinces of Brazil — Rio de Janeiro, San Paulo, and 
Minas Geraes — there are 19 banks, two of which 
are English and one German, with a subscribed 
capital of nearly £15,000,000, and that one of these 
banks last year paid a dividend of 15 per cent., 
another of 12 per cent., six more of 10 per 
cent., two of 9 per cent., four of 8 per cent., and 
three of 6 per cent. Moreover, the paper money, 
which six months ago was much below par, is now 
at a premium as compared with gold, and it is 
anticipated that the new law as to banks of issue, 
which came into foroe at the end of last year, 
will lead to the calling in of paper money and 
to the establishment of a fixed monetary standard. 
— London Times, Jan. 22nd. 
