206 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[August r, i88r. 
up as mere loaf, in consequence of the poorness of 
the liquor. Now looking at the fact that the soil of 
Java is rich in decomposed lava, I asked Mr. Sibthorp 
how this poverty of extract was to be accounted for. 
He at ouce laid it to the account of the email-leaved 
tea they grow. "How can that be,'' I enquired, 
" when, as you know, some of your own Darjeeling 
teas which fetched the highest prices at the lnte sales 
were the product of China tea bushes?" "The climate 
makes the difference " was the reply. I ventured to 
suggest that perhaps the volcanic soil of Java might 
be wanting in iron and possibly some other substance 
necessary for tea? He could not say, but he stated 
as his experience after having had the oversight of a 
score of gardens in Assam, that the goodn< S3 of the 
tea made is generally in proportion to the richness of 
the soil in which the trees are grown, the topsoil being 
supported by a subsoil of rich, rather, stiffish clay. I 
underline the words, which describe the soil in Dikoya, 
Yakdeesa, Ambagamuwa, Dimbula, and other districts 
in Ceylon, where tea is being largely grown : — flour- 
ishing in ciays too stiff for cinchona roots to penetrate. 
Mr. Sibthorp added that all his efforls, continued for 
several seasons, to get tea of strong liquor from a 
group of estates opened at the upper end of Assam 
in light sandy soil had proved fruitless, and he had 
to advise that the best must be made of the light 
teas yielded by such soil. The bearing of all this in- 
formation on the enterprise in Ceylon is obvious and 
important. The vast bulk of the trees we grow are 
of the very best Assam or Hybrid-Assam kinds, and 
ferruginous clay is only too plentiful in our mountain 
regions, as cinchona growers know to their loss. Hav- 
ing the right kinds of soil, the right climate (witness 
the refults of the chemical analyses), and the best 
species or varieties of tea, what remains is that we do 
our new product justice in the preparation. I caunot 
but feel sanguine that the information I have trans- 
mitted to Ceylon since my arrival at Melbourne will 
largely aid in this direction. If Mr. Sibthorp, whose 
engagement with the Tea Syndicate, so profitable in 
result*, terminates at the end of this month, goes back 
to India at the end of the Exhibition, I have urged 
him to give Ceylon a visit. But there is a probability 
of his settling here. 
P. S. — The following are replies to queries put by 
me to Mr. Moody :— Melbourne, 23rd Dec. 1880. 
A. M. Ferguson, Esq., Commissioner to Ceylon, M. 1. E. 
Dear Sir, — We will endeavour to give the informa- 
tion you ask for by answering the queries put to us, 
Java teas were largely imported into Melbourne a few 
years back, but are now entirely out of consumption. 
The teas are somewhat like Indian descriptions in 
leaf, but are thin in liquor and the bulk of them in- 
clined to be herby in flavor. At first extreme rates 
were obtained for the handsome leaf Pekoe and Pekoe 
tips, but th3 trade found them of little use for mix- 
ing purposes, and prices steadily declined, till in Sept- 
ember 1878, the last sale of any importance took, 
place, say 1,131 packages offered at auction: 
Congou realizing 5|d to 9d per lb. in bond. 
Pekoe Souchong realizing 8^-d to Is 6d do 
Souchong do lOd do 
Pekoe and Broken Pekoe Is OJd to Is l£d do 
Flowery Pekoe Is 3£d do 
Java teas will stand no chance againtt Ceylon and 
Indiin teas in the Melbourne market, and we do not 
think they will be shipped here again. Consumption 
of tea in Australia : by last accounts from China, 20 
million pounds weight had been shipped to the Colo- 
nies : this is in excess of previous season, but so far 
it has caused no downward tendency in prices. 
Victoria will probably require for home 
consumption... ... ... 4,500,0001b. 
Do. export trade and stock 
purposes ... ... ... 4,000,0001b. 
or say 8^ million pounds for the year. I 
Tare is not of so much importance as in London ; 
we do not weigh every package, but strike an aver- 
age from 6 or 12 hf. chts.— If hf. chts. are fdk-d in 
38 lb. nett, the customs here would pass them at 
that after turning out and proving the nett weight of 
some 4 packages of each mark. 
A 20 lb. tin is a mere question of expense, because 
for shipment to the Colonies the tin would require a 
wooden box for protection. In many parts tea is 
mixed to suit the public taste and packed in 1 lb. 
and 4 lb. fancy tine, and a 20 lb. tin would stand 
no chance against these; a 12 lb. tin tea would be 
far better. 
We intend Bending to Ceylon a consignment of 
wooden cases suitable for packing tea in. These will 
be branded, and full particulars supplied to you when 
they are ready for shipment. 
Will give you some information about the Foochow 
tea trade when the mail has left. — Your obedient 
servants, J as. Henty & Co., per J. O. Moody. 
(From the Ceylon Observer, 1st February 1881.) 
There is one point to which we desire to call special 
attention, namely the question of opening up tbe 
American as well as the Australian markets for Ceylon 
teas. It strikes us that, for several years to come, 
our tea-planters will have to put forth all their energies 
in order to ma'ntain the favourable impassion already 
made on behalf of their produce in Melbourne, Ade- 
laide and other adjacent towns. There is no U6e 
making the name of Ceylon tea widely and favour- 
ably known if there is not produce enough to keep 
up a supjjly adequate to the demand created. So far 
from sending any of our tea to America, we would 
say, stop all shipments to England and concentrate 
all our exports on the Australian market, the most 
favourable as regards prices, for the present, until an 
appreciable share of the total consumption is supplied 
by Ceylon tea. Out of the twenty-five millions of 
pounds weight of tea annually consumed in Austral- 
asia, it is surely not too much to hope that one- 
tenth would, in the present year, be made up of Ceylon 
kinds provided the tea were available. It is not im- 
possible that our planters may eventually secure the 
lion's share of the Australian tea trade, but there is 
the danger of our losing the good impression now 
made through the small quantity sent forward during 
the present year and even the next two or three 
years. What is the use of proclaiming to the Aus- 
tralians that Ceylon tea is the best in the world, if 
we cannot give them a continuous and fairly adequate 
supply. It surely behoves tea-planters and shippers, 
therefore, to devote all their attention to the Aus- 
tralian trade. The miserable prices recently paid for 
Ceylon teas in London — 7d to Is Id per lb. — will surely 
put a stop to any further consignments from this Colony 
to Mincing Lane for some time to come. One shilling 
in Melbourne is as good to the Ceylon planters as 
a shilling in London, and so far as we can judge the 
maximum price obtainable in the English market is 
likely to be the minimum in Australia. We hope, 
therefore, that a general effort will be made to direct 
all our tea crops, limited as at best they must be, 
during 1881, to the Australian makets in the hope of 
confirming the name already secured, and of main- 
taining the continuity of the demand already created. 
What the present demand for tea is in Australia 
and what the future expansion of the trade in this 
one article is likely to be, the statistics collected at 
my request by Mr. Moody of Messrs. Jas. Henty & 
Co. will shew. Mr. Moody writes : — 
Re China Teas. 
Melbourne, 15th Jan. 1881. 
My deae Mr. Feeguson,— As requested I will en- 
deavour to give you some account of our Tea trade 
with China. 
