July i, 1893.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
47 
been finer and teas have been made with greater care 
than when prioea for these high-grown teas were 
Gd to 8d better than now. 
The qaestion is purely one of supply and demand 
and immediately the demand arises for broken 
pekoes, the price will rise and likewise the opinion 
of the brokers and dealers. The outcry from the 
Lane by this week's mail is for stronger teas and as 
pekoe souohongs have not, judging from the sale 
lists, deteriorated in quality nor fallen in valae we 
must conclude that the finer sorts are meant and 
that the object is to secure a still better tea for the 
miserable prices paid since November last. — A. F. S. 
No. XII. 
Deab Sib,— What does " Bitter Crier " want ? 
and how much will he pay for it ? 
Amongst many others one might name the follow- 
ing marks :— Kotiyagalla, Holmwood, Wsverley, 
Ouvakkellie, Kandapolla, Goatfell, Labukellie, Nor- 
wood all of which have fine flavor and combined 
in some with body, others pungency, others softness, 
others good appearance of dry leaf; yet the Lane 
does not give an all-round price of Is per pound 
for them. Throughout Ceylon, excepting on very 
few estates, plucking is being done for quantity by 
allowing leaf to grow beyond the point at which 
it produces tea with body and flavor. When the 
Lane can pay say Is 4d per pound averapies for 
shipments of fine flavored teas with good body^ they 
will be supplied with them. 
" MANAGER OF SEVEBAL EST.iTES. 
No. XIIL 
May 3l3t. 
Dbae Sib, — I took the letter signed " Philpot" to 
be nothing more or less than " a draw" and that 
at no other time of the year could such a letter 
have been written or received. It is well known 
that prices are always lowest and reports less satis- 
factory at this time of the year than at any other; 
and it suits Ceylon that it has most " quantity" 
when the demand is most for tbis and not for " qua- 
lity." This demand is proved by the better teas not 
realizing anything like their value of late, and home 
reports and valuations clearly show this. I have 
one just received, valuing some of my tea at 2d a lb. 
more than it sold for &o. I do not see that 
" Philpot" deserves further explanation or that we 
are oalled upon to take notice of bis attempt to 
draw us out or explain for his benefit the "why 
and wherefore" of fluctuations of markets or quality 
of tea. He knows the reason for the first and we 
know the reason for the last, and that what Ceylon 
has done before, it is most certainly capable of doing 
again. There is no doubt difference of experience 
on different estates; but Ceylon covers a lot of young 
tea still coming on, and full of fiavour and life. 
Indian teas generally show better averages than 
Ceylon at one season of the year and again Ceylon 
is highest at another. There is nothing new in all 
this and only by finer plucking can Indian keep 
up their higher prices and ail this is just a question 
of profit or 1.03a. The estate pays best which gives a 
large yield and fair average prices and any " fancy 
price" means simply finer pluckings from good 
estates. In giving credit for " higher prices" the 
yield of the estate should always ba considered acre 
foi acre, and the nature of the leaf manufactured 
for other estates — and the profit given for the whole 
year will prove what is the most profit for the 
planter, and Mincing Lane must look out for itself, 
and make it pay for planters to give better quality 
it they want it. 4,200 to 4,50u ft. 
No. XIV. 
Dbak Sib,— I think the best plan ia to lay ae 
] little as possible on the subject of " Philpot's " 
letter. It cciuld only be answered by a Mincing 
Lane man and then probably ther^ is a grain of 
truth in it. It is not that the noil refuses to 
grow the same leaf as formerly imd there is a 
great deal of y ung tea coming in, grown on rich 
young Und ; but the manufaoture has altered in 
good dtal io euit the wants of the packet-men 
at home who do not pack on ths estates. They 
want a strong pungent, sharp tea which suits 
their purpose. Hence the unfernentation which is 
the fashion. It produces a sharp what they call a 
stand-out tea; but it is not nice tea to d ink by 
itself, but no doubt it bends and mixes well. T.P, 
No. XV. 
Deab Sir,— In reply to your letter asking for my 
opinion on the letter signed " Philpot," I thiiik 
the question raised therein a somewhat difiicult 
one to answer fairly and impartially. 
It is poisible, as some contend, that as the 
tea bush grows older and draws its food in en 
increasing degree from the lower soil, instead of 
mainly from the surface soil, the made tea be- 
comes porer in flavour and quality. So far 
however as my observation goes this is purely 
conjectural : I cannot find that there is more 
flavour and quality in tea made from young bushes 
— say four to stven years old— than in tea made 
from older bushes. On the contrary teas are very 
similar in both oases, whereas, were the theory 
alluded to a true one, there ought to be a marked 
difference between them. 
While it is undoubtedly true thnt "the weather " 
can be made a convenient scapegoat at any t'm«, 
it does not follow that it is always put forward 
to cover other faults : and my own conviction 
is that during (he past twelve or eighteen mouths 
the weathir has not been favourable to making 
good teas. If it be urged that this a post hoc 
ergo propter hoc argument I can only reply that 
applies equally to " Philpot " 's oontention. 
I'he cne certain fact is that to get first-rate teas 
requires careful (if not fine) and expensive 
plucking, and a smaller yield than would be 
otherwise obtained ; and so long as ordinary teas 
obtain almost equally good prices with firstrate 
teas, so kng it will pay the producer better to 
go in for quantity rather than qaality. 
If oonauraers really want firstrate teas, they must 
bo willing to pive a fair price for them ; they 
cannot expoot the owner to make them at a loss. 
—Yours faithfully GILES F. WALKBB. 
No. XVI. 
Dear Sik, — In reply to your inquiry I think the 
quality of Oeylon tea has fallen off, although to 
nothing like tha extent " Philpot '' would have us 
believe : — 
1st. In response to a demand in the trade for 
common forts at comparaiively higher prices. 
2nd. Owing t j the exhaustion of some consti- 
tuent in thb aoil, as the teas from nearly every 
estate seem to fall off in a few years ; and to re- 
medy this we require the agricultural analyst 
badly. 
3rd. Owing to ineuflSciert factory supervision, 
as a man cannot give the same bttention to the 
large quantities being turned out, as he could when a 
small quantity was being made. 
But thi3 worst feature in the case is the way Assam 
it) licking us out of time. Somt ^.^oplc o„y ;hcy 
pluckjd fine ; hence their good prices last year, 
rieite append a foot-note showing the crop pec 
acre and the rate per lb. for Assam and Oeylon for 
last few years, which will show our position clearly. 
