82 
FINE TEA AND HIGH DISTRICTS. 
Mr. Talbot sende ua a v»ry interesting and eug- 
geetive oontribulion to th? JisouBEion on fioe 
teaB ; but it is eurely an unduly disoouraging one ? 
If we only take a few leading plantations nnd the 
results for 1892 according to Messrs. Wilson, 
Smithett & Oo.'s list, we think it will be seen that 
the trade do give good prices for fine Ceylon teas, 
and the only question is whether the average of 
the following, and a lessened quantity of tea, 
would pay the rest of the estates in the highpr 
districts if tbey went in for equally fine teas ? 
We quote as follows : — 
QUANTITV A.N1> AVHIUGE IN 1892 : 
lb. d 
Ormidale 3».50O 1 4* 
Norwood (B. P. & E.Co.) 15:^000 1 21 
Waverley (C. T. P. Co.) 29i,000 1 l} 
Portswood 80,000 1 \i 
TonainagoDg 43,000 1 ij 
Silverkandy 21,000 1 X 
Diyagama 457,000 1 Oi 
Henfold 258.500 1 of 
Edinburgh 78.000 1 oj 
Mocha «:5,5CO 1 0| 
Kotiyagalla 11)9,500 1 of 
Portmore 113 500 1 Ol 
Mooloya 107,0 0 1 0} 
Kaudapola 2.-0, •'^Oo 1 Oi 
Hauteville JS'JOOi 1 <J 
luveiy (S C TCo.! 1C8..')C0 1 OJ 
Ouvahkellie 163,000 1 04 
P. D M .■<B.500 1 
Kew I'JG.OOn I 0 
Gleudevon (O B K C) . .181 500 1 0 
Elbodile 117 .'-,00 1 II 
Frotoft 90,000 I II 
Bloorafield 50,5' o 1 n 
Middl&ton 25,500 1 o 
Total 3,454,000 lb. 1 0? (aver.) 
We have sdrcted all estates with an average last 
year, of Is and upwards, and it is noteworthy that 
tboEe (24 estates in ali) represent tlie following, 
(among other) districts : — Maskeliya.Dikoya (includ- 
ing Bogawantalawa), Dimbula (with the Agre- 
patanas), Nuwara Eliya, Udapuesellawa and Hewa- 
beta. Perhaps the most notable case is that of 
Waverley belonging to the Company of which Mr. 
Talbot is Chief Manager and which sold in 1892 
BO large a quantity as 294,000 lb. at so good an 
average as Is Ijd. Now of course, Mr. Talbot is 
by far the best judge as to whether it is feasible, 
or would be profitable, to bring all the plantations 
under his influ nee in the higher districts, up 
to the same average. Nearly as important is 
the case of the Diyagama plantation turning 
out eo much as 457,000 lb. at an average 
of Is 0|d — which is also, it will be obecrved, 
the average for the total quantity 3,454,000 lb. 
sold by the 24 estates we have quotad. Now, 
the praotioal point is, can Ceylon not send from 
her . higher districts, 20 million lb. intt'ail of 
3^ million, of a quality which would ensure 
a stearly demand for such " fine teas " and an 
average of not less than Is Id per lb.? If 
this is possible — and profitable — there can be no 
doubt of the good it would do in raising the 
reputation of Ceylon teas in the estimation of the 
trade. Tbia result, of course, would also come 
from a general improvement in plucking all over 
the country so as, if possible, to improve on last 
year's miserable average of 9^d for the island. 
Mr. Talbot, however, supplies one ver^- striking 
fact in the experience of tea from the young estate 
of Mudumana. How is it to be explained ? Does 
it indicate general neglect of Ceylon teas on the 
part of the trade ; or, otherwise, why should this 
carefully prepared tea, — virgin crops from virgin 
soil, — not be prized as much as were precisely 
similar teas a few years ago 7 This is a quebtiou, 
which we would call on "Pbilpot" or some other 
member of the home trade to answer. 
CEYLON TEA AND THE " BITTER CRY:" 
No. XXVI. 
FINE TEAS AT HIGU ALTITUDES. 
Nuwara Eliya, 14tb June, 1893. 
Dear Sir,— Referring to Tour suggestion that 
estates at hipb altitudes should make finer teas and 
mark them Darjeelinj^-Ceylon, — 
I do not think it would bad to any good : the 
Suporintendtu s of ettites in the Nuwara Eliya 
district have gauged pretty well the London market 
as is seen by the prices realized by such ebtates 
as Portfiwocd, Kandapolla, Court Lodge and Hether- 
sett and no alteration in style would, in my opinion, 
get higher prices. The idea that there ie not 
enough fine tea sent from Ceylon is, I think, a 
mistak'jn one as a greet deal of well-made flavory 
tea goes from tbe Nuwara Eliya. Agras and Bog <■ 
wantalawu, districts : my experience of tbe London 
market is that tbe more fine tea you eend Ibem 
the K'Es they pay for it. 
With regaid to the try that Ceylon tea baa 
deteriorated, this is I think without foundation ; for 
there is not the least doubt that leaf is more 
carc'ully plucked and better manufactured than it 
was 4 and 5 years ago : it is true that the If-uf 
from tea that has not bsen pruned down, makes 
tea of better quality than old pruned tea, but there 
is still a great deal of lent from young basbes 
being put in tbe market and it doen not fetch 
good prices ; for instance our young estate of 
Mudamana which is just coming into bearing and 
which is partly p'uckei do?s not fetch perceptibly 
higher prices than the older estates in the 
neighbourhood, and not within pence of what 
Dunedin and Dewalakanda fetched when tbey were 
the pame age. 
TLeri is no refemblance bftwren the Darjeeling 
flavour and that of our high diatriots ; and it ia 
probable ihst if we took the name it would set 
the trade against us.— Yours truly, — 
G. A. TALBOT. 
B.Miuoos AT Kkw. — An interesting feature in the 
Koyal Gardens is a plantation of Bamboos in the 
lower part of the grounds near the Khododendron 
walk, aud a few types have stood the recent severe 
weather. The well-itnown Banibusa Metake is fnll 
of health aud vigour, and represented by several fine 
mosses. B. Simoni is also uninjured, the large 
examples of this graceful Bamboo havii g been little 
touched by winter frosts. The heavy mosses of rich 
green growth are remarkably effective, and in the 
variety striata we get a distinct variegation. This 
is a tine hardy Bamboo, aud the same may be said 
of B. viridis glaucescens. A large group of this is 
delightful in the garden, and hardy. It is one of the 
most elegant and pleasing of Bamboos. B. nigra is 
very dense in growth, and seems little touched by 
the weather. Although less elegant than such a 
form as B. viridis glaucescens, it is a handsome 
kind, the leaves of a full green colour. One labelled 
Phyllostachys bambusoides has made splendid growth, 
the leafage pale green, spreading, aud very hand- 
some. It is apparently very hardy. A graceful 
Bamboo is B. Quilioi, compact, and forming a fine 
mass. Two of the most interesting kinds are B. 
tessellata (synonymous with B. Ragamowski) and B. 
Veitchii. Both are dwarf in growth, spreading out 
in a dense mass. The former has superb leaves, 
fully 4 inches broad, and 14 inches in length, the 
colour full rich green. At Kew the plants form a 
bold group, and have a telling appearance. Those 
who wish for a good dwarf Bamboo should make a 
careful note of this kind. B. Veitchi is of similar 
habit, and a charming species. The leaves are broad, 
not so long as in B. tessellata, rich green, with deep 
creamy-white margin — a distinct and bold contrast. 
Its variegation is not weak, as we get a rich 
contrast — deep green against creamy Twhite.^tr«/-<ifcM- 
ers' Chronicle. 
