July i, 1893.] TriE TROPICAL AoRlCULTtTRtST. 
27 
sun been shining I would have tried to fix it with 
my Kodak — if but to show how the stalwart descendant 
of " the fiddling clan " embraced my poor friend 
" Fat-un." But as it was raining, I passed on — next 
wondering what on earth was the matter with the 
man who traced the lines for tea on yonder hill- 
side. Does the " creeper " whose duty it is to put the 
coolies in lines over bless this man ? And have tha 
coolies invented any special slang for this unique 
field? Probably the lining was done by 'the Boards' 
in London who instructed the Superintendent to 
"place the pegs 3 feet apart and dig the pits 18 
inches on either side of the peg." "And where am 
I to put the soil?" said the puzzled dorai. But lines 
or no lines, pits or no pits, plants or seed at stake, 
tea is altogether a phenomenal success lohere the 
jat is good ; but there are a lot of bastard bushes 
about, and the marvel is, that it took so long to dis- 
cover the paramount importance of "good jat." 
A very large proportion of the tea I passed through 
is not yet in full bearing. 
Seeing this, few things surprise me more than the 
recent declaration of Mr. Rutherford indicating that 
Ceylon is near 
THE LIMIT OF ITS OUTPUT, 
and nea»ing the end of its tether as to extent of 
suitable landl 
He would indeed be a bold man who would limit 
the capabilities of Ceylon to 
DOUBLE ITS PRESENT EXPORT OF TEA, 
and no one who has for ten years travelled over the 
length and breath of the island will eay that there 
are less than 500,000 acres — l-32nd of the island ! — 
eminently suitable for the growth of tea. Difficult 
as it may be to dispose of the produce, and pleasing 
as it might be to our Assam friends to hear of our 
limited powers of production, it is better to face 
facts ; and these facts are, that after the 500,000 
acres have been planted, the further extension will 
only be limited by the demand. 
NOTES ON PRODUCE AND FINANCE. 
More Tea Than Beer. — The writer of an article 
" On the Consumption of Tea and other Staple 
Drinks," in the March number of the Economic 
Journal, published by Messrs. Macmillan and Co., 
makes the statement, and gives statistics tending to 
prove it, that tea has become as much a national 
drink in the British Isles as beer, and that more 
of the former is consumed than the latter. Not that 
tea has taken the place of beer and spirits, but it 
has been a net addition to the comforts of the people. 
The Flavour of Ckvlon Tea.^No further corres- 
pondence OD this subject having appeared in the 
Morning Post, a member of our staff called on Mr. 
Hawes with reference to the oontroverny. That gen< 
tieman mentioned that some further correspondence 
had paaacd between himself and Mr. Isham, but the 
letters had cot been sent to the papers. Mr. H«wes 
handed our representative a copy of a letter received 
fiom Mr. Isliam; In it he says: "Yonr opinion in 
yoar letter of 6th inst,, ir> reply to mine, 
oatinot be gainsaid, bnt what I quoted from your 
newspaper report had a prospective as well as 
retroepeotive feature, and I still decline to believe 
that ' Ceylon can no longer produce the choice pekoe- 
flavoured teas that the island became famous for a 
few years ago.' Those who wish to sell Cejlon tea as 
proprietary articles are ever arsuring uk of the me- 
mory of the delicious flavours of thirty years ago, 
and the public verdict, borne out by Board of Trade 
Btatiatice, showa that the tea grows in favour daily. 
Depend cpon it, Ceylon is not played out yet, and 
will produce the choicest teas, the tea-taster to the 
contrary notwithstandinf;:." Mr. Hawes, in hia reply, 
claims to have fully expUined and eobstaDtiited the 
poaitioD he took up in his mark'^t report. 
The New Sbabon's China Tea.— Comparatively 
there is little interest now taken in the newa from 
Chigt K^out the new season's ten, Th« ee»>oa is 
reported to promise fair, and the arrivals of tea at 
Hankow for shipment are very heavy. There is 
believed to be a heavy supply of low-priced tea. Tha 
Russian buyers have the market all to themselves, 
while L3ndon importers are for the moat part just 
looking oil. 
Ocean Freights.— A largely attended meeting of 
the Indian Tea Districts Aaiooiation was held on 
Tuesday, when the question of ocean freights was 
fully discus'el. The following resolution was un- 
animously adoptsd: — 'That the draft agreement 
received from Ct'cutla does not meet with the appro- 
val of this meeting." 
An Action About Oofieb Shares.— In the Lord 
Mayor's Court, recently, before the Assiatant Judge 
and a jury, the case of Look v. Ross came on for 
trial. This was an action brought by the plaintiff, 
who ia secretary to the Ceylon Land and Produce 
Company, Limited, to recover from the defendant 
damagea for breach of contract in not delivering 
tihareH at certain ptioea to the plaiutiS. The defen- 
dant had pleaded that there had been a mistake 
made in the price given by the defendant to the 
plaintiff for the ahares, and that he was there- 
fore not bound to fultil the contract. It appeared 
that in NoTember last the plaintiff was anxious to 
obtain some shares in the Company, to which he was 
the secretary. The Company waa one that had been 
formed for the purpose of working a coffee planta" 
tion in Ceylon, and the plaintiff applied to the defen- 
dant, who held a nnmber of shares in the Companji 
and who was one of the original vendors to the Com- 
pany, to supply bim with the shares. On Nov. 23rd 
the defendant gave the plaintiff the priee of £5 
preference shares at £4 6s 3d and the priee of ordi- 
rary £5 shares at £4 lis 3d, Thia offer was to stand 
over nntil the defendant found out how many 
ahares he uould sell. Oa the 25th the defendant 
asid he could let the plaintiff have forty 
of each kind of share', and waa aboat to give 
an acknowledgment of the bargain, in whioh he 
wa^ putting down the price of preference shares at 
£5 68 3d, being £1 difference per share to that which 
the defendant had previonsly given bim la the price 
he could BoU at. Plaintiff remoDstrated and told him 
he was putting down the wrong price, when the defen- 
dant said that the price he bad given to the plaintiff on 
the 23rd was a mistake, and be oould not let tha 
plaintiff have the shares at that price. Plaintiff had 
been unable to obtain the shares, and in coneeqnence 
be had lost a profit of 2-* 6d a share which he would 
have made if he had been able to supply the shares to 
bis customer. At the end of the plaintiff's case, on the 
sngsesiion of the learned judge, the parties were able 
to come to terms by the defeadnnt agreeing to pay the 
plaintiff the sum of £10 and costs. A verdict was 
entered for that amount for the plaintiff, and the jury 
were discharged, — fl. and C. Mail, M»j 19. 
TEA SHARES AS INVESTMENTS. 
Indian Tea shares ofe in many esses really good 
investments; bnt owing to the fast that so few of 
them are quoted on the London Stock Market, and 
that thoee few are not easily and freely dealt 
in, they do not seem to attract so mnch ittentioa 
I as they deserve. We are informed on good authority 
that owing to the recent good crops, and to an iosida 
demand, prices at whioh the shares can be obtained 
must be regarded as being rather high, and that there 
ia therefore some risk of rtaotion. This may be true, 
and so far aa epeonlatora are eoneerned, ia a deterrine 
factor ; jjut the investor who finda that these seeurit>e» 
1 return him from 6 to 6 per cent, on their preseni 
prices will not be debarred from buying by any fa»r 
of a speculative reaction. 
A few words about the more promising riiarMmay 
be useful to investors who find it difficult to obtain 
1 a suffioienti rate ot interest on their moo ey for their 
1 de sires^ The following selection of Tea stocks that 
. are all quoted cum dividend, and whioh, in the opinion 
of a market expert, are not considered to be too deat 
' •* their present pri««s, may prove iniltactiye 
. ' 1 
