June i, ifcfy.'J tnc TROPICAL 
ber of your readers. — Yours faithfully, 
JAS. 'BLACKETT. 
Liverpool, 15th April 1889. 
Messrs. Antony Gibbs, Sods & Co. 
Gentlemen., — In reply to your valued favour of 11th 
instant, handing us samples of two parcels of Ceylon 
cotton, we now beg to enclose description and value of 
same, if for sale in Liverpool today. In a very long 
experience these are the first samples we have seen of 
Ceylon cotton, we have therefore taken the liberty of 
showihg them to severaj of the best judges of tine cot- 
ton in this market, and taken their opinion as to its 
merits generally compared with the established growths 
with which it would have to contend. The opinions 
confirm our own that both samples represent cotton 
which would be valuable additions to the growths now 
in common use and might always be relied upon, to 
realize a comparative value as follows, viz. : — 
No. 1. Grown from American seed about Jd per lb. 
less than fiue medium Sea Islaads, grown in America. 
No. 2. Grown from Egyptian seed, about the >aoie 
value as good white Egyptian ; or good fair rough 
Peruvian. 
Th«se are both well ginned and carefully cleaned 
cotton being free from dust, sand, leaf or neppy cut 
cotton, all of which is injurious, particularly in the fined 
qualities, with which these would rank. The No. 1 qual- 
ity if white instead of creamy would be worth Jl per 
lb. more. — We are, gentlemeu, yours very respectfully, 
(Signed) Edgar Mosgkove & Uo. 
Eepobt and Valuation on Two Samples op 
Ceylon Cotton. 
.9 
£ o 
Desc 
tio: 
d 
<a 
Clas 
cat 
Sample No. 1 Grown from } Very long,! 
Sea Island > fine and > Good 14d to 14|d* 
Amcan. Seed J strong ) 
Sample No. 2 Grown from 1 Paiilylongl 
. White Egyp- [ but rather > Good 7§df 
tian Seed ) coarse and ) 
brittle 
General remarks : 
* Very clean, free from nep or cut cotton, but slightly 
creamy in color, 
t Very clean, free from leaf, dust or sand. 
(Signed) Edgab Musgrove & Co. 
Liverpool, 15th April 1889. 
TEA : QUALITY AND QUANTITY. 
Dear Sib, — The replies so far published to the 
questions under 3 heads circulated by you are of 
very great interest and value, and are likely to 
do more to diffuse a knowledge of tea growing and 
making than anything that has been published 
yet. While you were about it, it is a pity the 
questions were not better formulated and more in 
number. As it is the most valuable remarks are 
voluntary additions the occasion suggests to the 
various writers. I am making a careful abstract of 
all these replies and formulating the lessons they 
teach under various heads. For instance one only 
has touched on " pruning,'^, as yet, and he says : — 
"For quantity prune low ■ for quality prune high." 
Here is a lesson in nut-shell. 
I notice that as yet none of the writers venture 
to speak authoritatively on ''quality" as might 
have been expected— the words " I am of opinion " 
not being of much value. But against opinion let 
us set a recently published facts. See the Kadi, 
enlena return made to and published by Messrs. 
W. H. Davies & Co. as follows : — 
Tea made. Pekoe sold for. 
lb. c. 
July ... 6,922 57 
Aug. ... 11,898 69 
f-ept. ... 9,716 65 
Oct. ... 15,035 1 00 J 
Nov. ... 10,668 55 
Dec. ... 8,427 10$ 
AGRICULTURIST. 855 
These figures show that the best flushing months 
produced a rather better quality of tea than 
the other months, in opposition to the generally 
expressed opinion. We have much yet to learn. 
A PLANTEB. 
JAPAN TEA BOXES. 
Dear Sir, — Kindly give me space for a few lines 
in reply to Mr. Deane's letter of 9th instant. 
As Mr. Deane has only now mentioned that he 
can import either Momi or Suji wood boxes, I sub- 
mit that it was by no means obvious to the im- 
partial reader on seei'og his first letter that he had 
no personal interest in cracking up cedarwood boxes. 
Wood of | inch thickness, no matter whether 
Momi, Suji, Ceylon or any other kind, is quite un- 
suitable for chests, and in my opinion for half- 
chests also, but is excellent and sufficient for boxes 
of smaller sizes. 
Live and let live — a most excellent motto — though 
I fear not well understood by the people of Ceylon 
in these degenerate days. It is evident Mr. Deane 
himself does not act up to it, for he tells us his 
share of the profits after working five years is B300 ! 
This scarcely fits in with '"live." As his agent in 
1885 " let live" worked out in the same proportion 1 
It is paradoxical to say that the more com- 
petition there is the better for Mr. Deane, although 
it certainly is for other planters, as also to say 
that he looks for his profits not in the Bale of the 
boxes, but in the reduction of prices ! If this is 
really the case, why did he wait till I commenced 
regular imports before he came down in his prices, 
and why not now go lower and according to his 
calculation make, more profit? 
. For myself, it is also immaterial to me whether 
my constituents buy momi or cedar boxes. I am 
ready to import cedar boxes to any extent, for 
anyone who wants them at the same price that I 
charge for Momi. I contend howevar that Momi 
is better than Suji, as there is no risk of taint. 
The question of taint can be easily tested and 
settled. Let those interested take a box of each 
kind of wood, fill them with tea, without lining, 
previously sampled and tasted. Keep the boxes 
closed for 24 hours and then retaste and note the 
result 1 — This should set the question at rest ? — 
Yours faithfully, E. B. CBEASY. 
THE PLANTING PESSIMIST PAR EXCEL- 
LENCE ONCE MOBE ON " THE SITUATION." 
Dear Sir, — Whenever anything happens, such, 
for instance, as the fall of tea, it is pitiful to 
observe how straws are clutched at to prove every 
reason, but the right one, to be the cause. Ten- 
nis and cricket were made the leaf disease scape- 
goats and, now, they are, once more, called upon 
to do duty. Neither has the slightest connection 
with the present state of things, although those 
who see nothing in tennis and who regard tennis 
conversational "shop" as an unutterable bother, 
would not break their hearts, were it blamed, 
justly or unjustly. One would have thought it 
would have been within the competence of a 
fool to have foreseen that what is now happening 
was inevitable and that the present fall in prices 
is mere child's play, compared with what has still to 
follow. The real cause is that the supply is far be- 
yond the demand, caused by a comparatively novel tea 
being rushed, to glut the market, years before it 
has been given sufficient time to be adapted by 
the multitude. The estimate for this season is 
only 34 million lb. and has already worked the 
damage which we see ; so that, what on earth is 
to happen, when 100 millions come in ? And 
there is enough tea planted in Ceylon to produce 
