214 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
[August i, 1881. 
THE AUSTRALIAN TEA MARKET : 
CEYLON TEA IN MELBOURNE. 
THE COMMISSIONER'S WORK. 
The following is Mr. Moody's letter referred to in 
the Commissioner's communication to Mr. Bruce 
published yesterday. This letter should, in fact, have 
preceeded the extracts from price currents, &c. , given 
by the Commissioner : — 
Melbourne, 3rd June 1881. 
Dear Ferguson, — I am serving on the Jury of 
our Supreme Court for a few days, so must write 
you regarding some matters, which might otherwise be 
communicated verbally. 
Enclosed you will find thejollowing marked Auc- 
tioneers' Catalogues, say of 
Ceylon Teas offered on 10th May 1881. 
Ceylon Exhibits do 10th „ 
Calcutta Syndicate's Teas do 26th ,, 
Other sales of both Ceylon and Indian teas have been 
made at auction and privately, but only of trifling 
extent in comparison with above. 
In imitation of styk adopted for the Calcutta Tea 
Syndicate, I endeavoured to make an attractive Cata- 
logue of Ceylon Teas for sale by public auction on the 
10th of May, and you will observe th6 result in the 
11 lots offe/ed by Jas. Henty & Co., which the 
auctioneers supplemented by seven other lots, so making 
the catalogue more imposing in its character. 
The lots were certainly a long way off from Exhi- 
bition Standards, but 10 of the lines offered by us 
sold at fair prices, leaf considered : the rest of the 
teas did not sell. 
If your planters would now send regular supplies of 
good leaf teas to Melbourne, our market is ripe to 
take a fair quantity, at similar prices to what the 
same quality of Indian teas sells at. In fact, ^two 
of our leading grocers are most enthusiastic in favor 
of Ceylon teas. 
Owing to the small quantity of individual exhibits 
to be offered by auction on the 10th inst., I directed 
the auctioneers, on your behalf, to show no samples 
and so prevent the waste consequent on the usual 
method of selling, viz., by giving the trade samples 
of each lot offered. This I must admit was a great dis- 
advantage to the exhibits offered, but there was no 
other course open, and, after all, nearly every one in 
in Melbourne had carefully examined the exhibits 
in the Court, and knew all about the respective 
merits of each grower. To give samples would have 
absorbed the entire lot of some of the smaller lines 
offered. 
Considering this novel mode of selling tea and coffee, 
the prices realized may be considered satisfactory. 
For Loolecondera tea, there were many bidders, it 
being finally knocked down at 6s per lb, duty 3d paid. 
The bidding for coffee was free and brisk, some lots 
selling up to Is 6|d per lb, duty 3d paid. Cinnamon 
realized from Is 5d to Is 8d. Vanilla was eagerly 
competed for and sold at 33s per lb. We have enquiry 
for more : what is it worth?* 
The show cases, carboys, etc. sold at wretched prices, 
but Melbourne is glutted with these goods since the 
closo of the Exhibition. 
Catalogue uf 26th May will show you we have again 
placed a large lot of Indian teas on the Melbourne 
market. The quality was inferior to previous ship- 
ments. There was no fine tea and a good deal of broken 
and dusty samples, so prices may seem low, but 
are really as good as could be expected, especially 
;,s we are just at the end of our season. 
* The f nest Bourbon vanilla realizes no more than 
37«. (as a, maximum), so that Mudaliyar Jayetilleke's 
p;.rcel has got a tiptop price. The average price in 
London is 15s. to 25s. per lb. — Ed. 
In 1879, the season opened on the 6th July by 
the arrival of the "Brisbane" steamer direct from 
Foochow. In 1880 the "Killarney" arrived on the 26th 
July. This year the arrival may be delayed to 
early in August. Our Tea Buyers usually try to clear 
off old stocks before arrival of new teas; so this 
makes May to July bad months to sell in. 
If during the coming season teas of a desirable 
quality are steadily shipped from India and Ceylon, 
I expect to see them take a very firm hold through- 
out Australasia. 
The auctioneers hope to have account sales ready 
for you by Saturday, and this will close up our con- 
nection together in Exhibition work — an event I deeply 
regret, for your uniform courtesy and genial nature 
has endeared you to me and a very large circle 
of Melbourne residents. 
Your zeal on behalf of Ceylon is undoubted. The 
newspapers throughout the Colonies testify to your 
untiring energy in bringing Ceylon and its products 
prominently before the public of Australia, and Sin- 
halese names and terms now slip as glibly from the 
tongue, as our Australian native names do. — I re- 
main yours most sincerely, J. V. Moody. 
AUSTRALIAN FRUIT FOR CEYLON AND 
INDIA. 
The letter which we published on Wednesday from 
Mr. A. M. Ferguson, Commissioner for Ceylon at the 
International Exhibition, gives an encouraging account 
of an experimental shipment of Australian grapes 
made to that island. A box containing 40 lb. of fruit, 
packed in " nice, clean sawdust," was placed in the 
ice-room of one of the P. and O. boats, and arrived in 
perfect condition. The voyage from Adelaide to Co- 
lombo occupied 25 days, but ' not a single berry showed 
" the slightest sign of injury or decay." "Superlatives," 
says Mr. Ferguson, "are resorted to in order to de- 
" scribe the perfect condition in which the fruit had 
" arrived and its deliciousness." No doubt conveyance 
in a cool chamber had a good deal to do with the 
success achieved, but the absence of such accommoda- 
tion, as a rule, need not discourage those who think of 
engaging in the trade. Before very long, we shall prob- 
ably see all large steamers fitted with a refrigerating 
room to accommodate the fresh provision trade. It 
will be a part of the provision for carrying ordinary 
cargo. People in Australia are vitally concerned in 
promoting the business alluded to, as the productive 
powers of the country in every way are far beyond 
the requirements of any population we are likely 
to have for a century or more. It appears to us 
that they might do a great deal towards obtaining 
the sort of accommodation spoken of at an early date 
by a little organisation. Steamship Companies would 
be more likely to fit up their vessels with the neces- 
sary cold- producing appliances if they knew that there 
were several associated bodies ready to commence 
shipments of various articles of food, than if tbey 
were left to incur expense on an uncertainty. Our 
reason for thinking that they would prefer dealing 
with associated bodies is that certain losses are gener- 
filly incurred in obtaining experience in a new trade, 
and when these fall on individuals they are apt to 
become discouraged, or unable, from want of means, 
to continue operations. Those engaged in producing 
articles suitable for export, we submit, lose a great 
deal through want of co-operation. We should like 
to see the wine producers, the dealers in dairy pro- 
duce, the fruit growers, and those prosecuting other 
food-producing industries, associated for the purpose 
of sharing the expenses inseparable from the estab- 
lishment of a "name" in the English and foreign 
markets. If they were to go to work intelligently 
and liberally, always bearing in mind that a little 
