THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[August r, i88r, 
reserve. — Meantime, we append the Reports handed 
to us by Mr. Bruce : — 
Melbourne, 25th Nov. 1880. 
Dear Mr. Bruce, — I have now the satisfaction of 
sending you elaborate reports on the Ceylon Tea Ex- 
hibits, the importance of which to the interests of the 
colony, I think it will be admitted, cannot be exagger- 
ated ; and 1 trust information such as I am obtaining 
with reference to this new indusiry will justify a 
larger expenditure on the Ceylon Commission than was 
anticipated. The Australians are, even more than the 
English, a tea-drinking people, and with the advance 
of population and wealth there will be an increased 
demand for tea, and for really good tea such as it is 
now certain Ceylon can supply. You will see that 
Messrs. Henty & Co. report that some of the samples 
examined by Messrs. Moody and Sibthorp " cannot 
be surpassed," while others are reported to be " worth 
any money." It may be true that some of the samples 
are fancy teas, but it will be observed that ordinary 
teas which have preserved their condition are pro- 
nounced very good and, when properly prepared, well 
fitted for this 'market Already the Australian Colonies 
consume a quantity of tea fast advancing from 15 
millions to 20 millions of pounds, and it seems clear 
from the information I have sent and am now send- 
ing that, if the planters and merchants of Ceylon do 
themselves and the article justice, our tea should enter 
largely into the Australian market. Not ouly will 
this be a gain in itself, but I would repeat the remark 
that a demand here will be sure to react favourably 
on the London market. But the tea must be prepared 
and packed to suit this market. It is no use saying, 
as 1 have told people here, that largeness of leaf is 
a sign of superiority of the hybrid Assam tea over 
China. The large-leaved tea must be cut, and this 
can easily be done with Savage's machines, costing 
quite moderate prices (under £7 for a 2-roller machine), 
in Eastcheap, London. A few days ago I made one 
of a party to visit the extensive and very interesting 
works of the Oriental Tea Company here, in order to 
see all the processes of cutting and mixing. Much 
large-leave 1 Indian tea is cu^, in order to be mixed 
with small-leaved China. I feared that our teas, if 
cut before being packed, might be classed as broken, 
but Mr. Moody assured me that of this there is no 
fear. The large leaves are usually cured straight ; it 
is only when they are curled that there is danger of 
their being crushed. Mr. Sibthorp said, however, that 
much might be done in the direction of gathering 
quite young "flushes." In India, he told me, it is 
quite common at certain periods of the year to go 
over the bushes every eight days. You will see the 
importance which attaches to opinions offered by Mr. 
Sibthorp from the fact that he is the chosen Agent of 
the Government of India and the Tea Syndicate. He 
was originally a tea-taster in London and then in 
Calcutta. From the latter place he was sent to assarn 
to teach the planters how to make tea such as woiiid 
command the London market. Mr. Moody has had 
long experience, in connection with Messrs James 
Henty k. Co.'s firm, of the Melbourne tea market. 
You will observe that while Mr. Moody, with his 
knowledge of the local market, attaches considerable 
importance to appearance of leaf, Mr. Sibthorp dwells 
sprcially on "liquor" as the test for the London 
market. But there seems no reason why the two 
qualities of good-looking leaf and strong fine liquor 
should not be combined. To help to the attainment 
of this end, I hope you will move the Chamber of 
Commerce and the Planters' Association to take the 
best possible measures to enable all interested in the 
young but rapidly advancing tea industry of Ceylon 
to see the typical packets made up by Messrs. James 
Henty & Co. and which I have addressed to you, 
to go by to-morrow's mail. I much regret that a few 
I samples of the tea sent from Ceylon to the Exhibition 
! should be found out of condition, but I am ture that 
Messrs. Lee, Hedges & Co., Mr. C. Shand, and also 
Mr. Nelson of the Botanical Gardens, will approve of 
the discretion I exercise in withdrawing from the Court, 
before the visit of the jurors, the teas which, good 
enough, no doubt, originally, have got spoiled, prob- 
ably from damp. No good would accrue to the ex- 
hibitors from submitting the spoiled teas to examina- 
tion, while the very high character of the Ceylon 
teas generally would be, without good r< ason, lowered. 
" Better luck next time," for I can but repeat that 
it is now certain Ceylon cau produce teas unsurpassed 
in quality, provided they are properly prepared and 
packed for export. In this connection it is cu ious 
that the sample of under-fermented tea prepared as 
an experiment by Mr. Jame3 Taylor, and regarding 
which he wrote a letter expressing the fear that the 
experiment would result in falure, is pronounced by 
Messrs. Moody and Sibthorp lo be as near perfection 
as is possible. Such a judgment and indeed the rank 
generally assigned to the teas prepared by Mr. Taylor 
are very creditable to him, considering that, with the 
exception of a visit to Darjeeling, his experience has 
been all, gained in Ceylon. The importance of train- 
ing in Assam is shewn by the character of the teas 
prepared by Mr. Hay, either on the properties on 
which he is regularly employed or on those which 
have received the benefit of occasional vizi's from him. 
Men like Mr. Hay are the best judges, but certainly 
this experiment of Mr. Taylor'3 and the result eem 
to justify an opinion which has been forcing itself 
on me from what I have seen and read, — that our 
Ceylon teas are often weakened by over-fermentation 
aud burnt by over-roas ing. That the tea should be 
thoroughly dried over charcoal fires is, of course, 
essential ; but it seems to me that, too often, the 
coolies are allowed to follow their natural desire to 
hurry the work, by means of fierce fires with the 
roasting sieves too close to the coals. I commend 
this matter to the most serious attention of all 
engaged in tea makiug. It is clear that on the quality 
of the teas we send to the Australian market within 
the next couple of years will depend the retention or 
oiherwisti of the high character our teas have already 
acquired. We must also try and redeem the character 
of our teas in the London market, to which, I fear 
we have beeu sending an article as much over-roasted 
as it is over-fermented. The information I now send, 
I am sanguine enough to believe, will largely aid in 
bringing about the desired results. As regards packing, 
I suppose it holds good that for the London market 
large packages as well as large breaks are desirable ; 
but tea planters of Ceylon who send their produce 
to the Ausiralian market will do well carefully to 
note what Messrs. Henty Sc Co. say about packages 
. not larger than 381b. or 40. lb. net, with a fair pro- 
portion of packages half and quarter this size. I 
naturally asked what the local reasons were for pack- 
ages not much exceeding 401b. in weight, and Mr. 
Moody told me that in the early days of the colony, 
be r ore railways existed, and even now in so much of 
the country remote from railways or good roads, 
packages were and are desiderated which could be slung 
on packhorse^ 1 , " tavalam " fashion. And not ouly so, 
but country purchasers do not understand and are 
not ready to give the higher sums charged for packages 
double the weight of their no imal one. Even to pre- 
judices at which we may feel inclined to smile, trade 
must adjust itself. I need scarcely add that we in 
Ceylon must do our best not only to produce good teas 
but to produce them economically. The v;>st majority 
of Australian tea drinkers have been accustomed to 
cheap Foochowfoo teas, and the strong high-priced 
Indian and Ceylon teas will, for a long time, be 
mainly used for mixing, and their consumption will 
be restricted in proportion, unless we can afford to 
