54 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST [July i, 1853. 
riobnees above all those round and about it, a 
tea that would cause every one taeting ittOBtop 
for a second sip, to be cure that they gave moh 
a tea the attention it would deserve. - Yours 
THE LANE. 
No. XXL 
June 5tb. 
Dear Sir, — " Philpot's " letter taken as a whole 
is simply blatant sensalionaHem acd seeing be bae 
been tasting fine China Congous for the last 30 
years I should say the sooner he follows his 
Congous to the realms o£ well merited oblivion 
the better it will be for all concerned, as a tea 
taster with such an antiquated worn-out palate 
must be about as big a nuisaooe in the trade an 
our present Premier and his Home Kule Bill in 
the House of Commons. 
In my opinion the (Jc-ylon teas shipped during 
the past 12 months have been every bit as good, all 
round as those shippei years ago ; but Lipton, 
Mazawatte &o. & Co., must Lave teas at a certain 
price and the consequence is our lower grades 
have been fetching enhanced prices and our finer 
teas have sold comparatively for pence per pound 
under their value as all private advices will I 
believe bear out. L. M. &c. & Co., handle no 
mean proportion of the whole tea trade, end it 
therefore stands to reason if they will have none 
of our finer tens, the market for these is conti- 
derably circumscribed and they suffer accordingly. 
That estates gtnerally have gone in for coarser 
plucking I do not for a moment believe, though 
undoublelly a very few stand-out estates have done 
so as a fair quantity is found to pay better than 
extra fine quality ail the year ruund. 
If coarse plucking generally had b(en adopted 
increased shipments would have shown up long ere 
this. 
I do not think we ever produce really fine teas 
in the second ha f of the N. East moi,soon, and it 
is these teas which start the well known yearly 
outcry at this sfaeon. Moreover when these tees 
reach the rfarket, trade as a rule is dull, and our 
worthy Brokers having little else to do, sit down 
and amuse themselves abusing us till first arrivals 
from India and China give thetn som-ithing more 
to do and pot them in a good humour i^gain. 
Brokerage and Commission on an eight penny 
tea compared to what it is on a shilling a\erage 
is sufficient in itself to justify our meet respectable 
London friends in fometimcs saying swear. The 
main point is our tea continues to pay very well ss 
lodged by the dividends paid by cur i'ea Oompatiies. 
—Yours faithfully, SCEPTIC. 
No. XXII. 
June 3. 
Deak Sib,— Referring to the letter signed " Phil- 
pot " on the dtt'rioration of Ceylon teas I am 
(ifraid there is much truth in what he writes, and 
I do not see, accordiijg to the laws of nature, how 
any other result could be reasonably expected. Here 
in Ceylon we have tei grow ng chiefly on old 
oofiee land ; and with f. w ex' eptious the soil is ex- 
hausted ; but (he won'ltrful ciimai^ tias stimulated 
a vigorous growth and tea has fl urished. Still 
climate cannot do everything : we must have soil 
and elevation to sustain the quality of the tea. 
You remember a letter to the editor of the Financial 
News which I sent to you in London signed "Tropical 
Eustio "; just a year ago, he wiote : — ' I am im- 
pressed with the fact that the arei in Ceylon tt pre- 
sent in bearing which can produce the fi e=t teas is 
limited in proportioa to the area yielding good 
medium, medium at d common teas, and that it is 
a fallacy to tiy and force the latter to compete 
'■ with thfi estates at high ahiiude." In fact all 
1 through that letter be cal!ed attention to the more 
or less (xbau^t^d eu'I ; and I frequently reoibrk as 
I travel about Ceylon, *• How tea grows on such boi). 
I Cannot underelat d, in Darjeeling bui h po r Bioff 
would not even grow weeds," 
The estates in Ceylon which produce high olses 
teas arc all favoured with natural advsntage-s, viz., 
elevation, climate, soil, and good jit. Some of tbe 
fortunate managers who are lucky enough to manage 
estates thus .situated, flatter ihemselves that their 
especial ability in the direction of the factcry, iheir 
ccreful pruning, i&o. influecce tbe good prices , but 
experienced men know such is not altogether the 
! case. 
I In my opinion (h re 's a great 'u'ure for men 
who have the oipital to open out suitable land at a 
biih elevation; but cnn tuch li-nd be (roi in Ceylon ? 
Yours Binoenly, "INVESTOR." 
No. XXIII. 
Agra Patana, June 6ib. 
Deab Sib, — Ceylon can make as good if not far 
better tea now than ever it could ; we have more 
and better machinery and our tushes are more 
matured. But v,hcn the trade will hardly give 
more for tbe finest high-grown tea than for a 
commr n grade from the iowcouniry, it turely cannot 
[ expect a proprietor to be so financially mad aa to 
{ interfere with his own interests to gratify tbe 
I notions of " Pbilpot" or any one else — taking 
my Ja t broker's repoit3 1 see each break with 
I reference to the frrmcr is eaid to be quite fqual in 
I quality, but my broken pekoe goes down in valitation 
{ (ne^t VB.ue) from Is 7d to Is ^d. Yulcanisid india- 
{ rubber, raw potato, leathery and so forth is mere 
I bosb. Possibly tea tasters ere a good deal over- 
I woiked and their tongues bave got leathery their 
j digestions vulcanised. I don't know tbe taste of a 
raw potato as " Pbilpot" seeme to do. In dread 
i of overproduction I notice everywhere I bave been 
I upcouatry finer plue;king and many of my neigb- 
Lours speak of reduced yields. I know some tastere 
like 4 high fired somewhat burned flavor which 
would be condemned in jolombo, but I am con- 
{ fidint the lower fired flavoury high grown tea' is 
■ as good now as evpr it was. I rather incline to tbe 
j belief thht familiarity bieeding contempt has a 
I good deal to do with tbe complaint. Moreover tbe 
I China men whose occupation there is gone, cannot 
but be jealous and some of that jealousy must bave 
I its expression and couEcquences. That is my 
i opinion wh:Uever it may be worth. — R.tV.W. 
P. S.— While we condemn the sale of China tea 
under the name of Ceylon the suggestion of calling 
our teas Darjiling even with Ceylon added la simply 
audacious. I eoneidtr it would subject us to prose- 
cution under the " Merohandiee Marks Act." Let 
i us stand or fall on our own merits and not march 
ur.dir borrowed plumes from Datjiling tr any- 
where e'se. There is tea made in the Darjiling 
terai worse than anyibing sent from Ceylen— and 
the elevation of many of the so-called Darjiling 
1 gardens is under 400 ftet. — B.W.W. 
No. XXIV. 
Dfar Sir, — I don't fancy you will ever get all 
the planters to band tbemeelvee togetber to make 
fine tp.fts. They all have so many theories and fads. 
I But I maintain it would pay. I don't thick markicg 
j che^t« as Dirjeeling Ceylon wotl'd pay one way or 
! other apart from the fact that we scarcely bave a 
I right to mfske use of Darjeelirg'a good name to eii- 
' haiice cur own prictf . CouMn't Darjeeling objtct ? 
] Put Ueylon and say Ceylon- Java's or Ceylon-China's 
j in the »&me form and whit should we saj' ? 
I I see you disagree with me about making fine 
