Avril i) 1889.J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
657 
HOW TEA SHOULD BE PACKED. 
From Court's "Instructions to William Johnson, 
Esquire, Supracargo of the Ship " TVentworilt" hound for 
Canton in China, and Mr. John Hiller, Merchant, 
Ms Assistant." Dated 10th Nov. 1699. 
" 10. Tea is a Commodity of that generall use here, 
and so nicely to be managed is its Package to pre- 
serve its flavour and vertue, that you can't bee too 
careful in putting it up. Take special care therefore 
it be well closed in Tootanague, then wrapt up in 
Leaves and so put up in good Tubs of dry well-season'd 
Wood, made tite and close enough to preserve it 
from all manner of Scents, which it is very Subject 
t<> imbibe, and thereby become of no Value here. 
But you must be sure that the wood of your tubs 
have no Scent, whether sweet or unsavoury, that will 
Spoil the Tea, So will Oamphire and other strong 
Scented Commodities, wherefore no such Smell must 
come into the Ship: For the like reason put up no 
Tea iu Potts or Tootenague, till the smeli of the 
Soldering Oyl or other like smells be perfectly cured, 
Be sure the Tea you buy be very new and the best 
of its sort, Kemembering that in this and every 
other Commodity, the worst pays as much freight as 
the best, and many times the same Custom, Keep 
the Tea in the Coolest places of the Ship, for other- 
wise the greatest Care in its Choice and package will 
be rendered ineffectual], aud therefore what is put in 
the Hold open the Batches in fair AVeatber to give 
it air as often as you have Opportunity. But you 
will see by the Captain's Instructions We have re- 
quired that our Tea be stow'd between Decks abaft 
the after hatchway with a bulk head and a little gang 
way made for Passage, which do you see done accord- 
ingly. It being now peace, We being resolv'd to 
dispense with our old order in this particular of stow- 
ing no Goods between Decks, when so great an ad- 
vantage will accrue, as the preserving the Tea, a very 
considerable Article in the profit or Loss of the 
Cargo." — Diary uf William Hedges, ed. by Col. Yule, 
vol. II. 
TOBACCO AND RAINFALL AT KITUL- 
BOKKE. 
We stated recently that the German Tobacco 
Syndicate had some thoughts of trying the vicinity 
of the KiUulbokke Irrigation Works for tobacco 
cultivation, and with that object in view Mr. Schappe 
recently paid a visit to the Kolonna korale, but gave 
up the idea when he ascertained that the rainfall 
experienced there chiefly fell in the N. E. mousooD, 
Waduwanwella Ratamahatmeya has kept the rainfall 
return since February last, and it has been kindly 
placed at our disposal, and reads as follows: — 
February ... 0'90 August ... 0'42 
March ,.. 7-24 September . 3-27 
April ... 2-22 October ... 19-07 
May ... 4-44 November... 9 - 7S 
June ... 5'04 December .. 13-02 
July ... 0 32 
Total ... 65-69 
This is only for eleven months of the year, but 
January is a month with but a very small fall, and 
ihe total for the year is not likely to be raised very 
much when it is included. It will thus be seen that 
almost all the rain falls in the North-east monsoon, 
and as the German S3 ndicate refuse to have any- 
thing to do with land when this is the case, they 
have abandoned all idea of taking up land iu this 
locality. 
We lirmly believe they are grievously mistaken in 
thus laying down such absurdly hard and fast rules 
regarding tobacco or any other cultivation in Ceylon. 
To start with the assumption that land must be 
secured on this or that side of the island, and that 
in any case it must be under the influence of the 
south-west monsoon, seems to us absurd, and for 
two good reasons. First, because if a certain dry 
season be required, this can only be secured in 
districts where the N. E. monsoon chiefly prevails, 
and secondly, because tobacco so far has always been 
found to grow best iu Ceylon iu such distriots. The 
S3 
Jaffna and the Trincomalee disfricts both grow tobacco 
very successfully, and they get little or no south- 
west monsoon. We believe that of the Planting 
districts, Dumbara, Matale, and Badulla will be found 
to grow tobacco the most profitably. — "Local Times." 
THE POSITION OF COCONUT OIL. 
Holders of cocdnut oil are surprised lhat large 
consumers of Ceylon coconut oil are not disposed to 
anticipate their wants some distance ahead and take 
advantage of present prices, as various circumstances 
seem to favor a higher range of values. The fact 
is that soap makers have been covering their future 
wants, as recent large transactions in goods on the 
way would indicate, but that there are many con- 
sumers in the interior who are not acquainted with 
the true situation of the market, is evident from 
the requests that come to us for information and 
the slow movement of spot goods is no doubt at- 
tributable to a lack of confidence and desire 1 f st me 
prospective buyers to continue their policy of pur- 
chasing oil as needed. Every feature of the market 
seems to favor a higher tendency, and the hardening 
of tallow values is assisting the upward movement. 
There is a diversity of opinion concerning the actual 
amount of Ceylon coconut oil on spot. Holders 
decline to give information on that point, and es- 
timates therelore can only be based on guess-work. 
The highest estimate is placed at eight hundred tons, 
but the majority of dealers believe that the total 
amount will not reach over five hundred tons, while 
others place the amount at three hundred tons. The 
next arrival is the " Reporter," due early in January 
with six hundred tons, all of which has been taken 
out of first hands, and the "Mohur" is due in 
February with five hundred tons, a considerable 
portion of which is sold. Then comes the "Gloam- 
ing" a month later, with five hundred tons. If the 
average consumption is four hundred tons per month, 
the visible supply would be sufficient to last five 
months, but in case of accident or leakage, which 
is a common occurrence among vessels from 
Ceylon and Cochin, the trade would be in a dilemma. 
During the year considerable damage and delay were 
caused by disasters to such vessels, but stocks happened 
to be in better condition than at present to withstand 
the consequences. 
There is another feature of the market which 
should not be overlooked, and that is the effect of 
tallow prices on the movement of coconut oil. It 
is acknowledged that since the important advance in 
tallow, there has been more demand for oil which 
would indicate the substitution of one for the other 
by soap makers, As the position of tallow favors 
still higher figures and the market is now in a very 
sensitive condition, the outlook lor coconut oil is 
correspondingly improved. During the reign of high 
values, therelore, no accurate estimate of the amount 
consumed can be lormed. English oil on spot is 
quoted at a higher price than the product of Ceylon, 
but the outlet in this market is small, being limited 
to about five hundred tons per annum. — Oil, Paint 
and Drug Iieporter. 
PLANTING IN THE ANDAMANS. 
The area of cleared land is some 17,000 acres, of 
which 10,000 are under cultivation, and 4,000 used 
for grazing; the remainder consist-, of roads, tanks, 
and village sites. About 500 acres are uuder tea, in 
charge of a European manager and an assistant. The 
tea is excellent in quality and has great strength and 
body, and when mixed with a Mnall porpoitiou oi 
high class hill tea, for flavouring, it cannot be sur- 
passed. TeAgrowing is now an assured success in 
the Andamans ; ami it is to be tegretted that the.se 
fertile islands cannot as yet be thrown open to 
private enterprise; for it is doubtless a State ne- 
cessity to keep the Penal Settlsment as isolated as 
possible. 
