Dec. 1 1893.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 4r^ 
LnndoD market of the above pickings was valued as 
foUowfl : — 
19 i cheats Orange Pekoe Is 23. 
5 1 chests Broken P. koe Is Gd to Ib 8d, 
I usually Fell 2d Liprher than valualions. 
The value of the above figures chkflj hangs on an 
experiment I have been making with regard to the 
final firing. I pack them in the chests straii^ht frrm 
the driers and do not ' bin' them es is usual. These 
valuations show a distinct advance on former prices. I 
hope to send you shorth' some further details about the 
' final firing' quest. on. 
[We must concratulnte " Red Spider" both on h's 
yield and his prices and shall await with great interest 
tbe further details in r<? the "final firing" experimeat 
he has promised us.— Ed.]— /S'ci«(/i of India Ob-server, 
EEGULATING THP: SUPPLIES OF 
INDIAN TEA. 
The followiog oommunioations explain themselves 
and may be rea.-l in the tight of a sequel to the meet- 
ing held last week : — 
Indian Tea DistrictiAssooiatioc , 14, St. Mary Axe, B.O 
November 13th, 1893. 
Referring to the accompanying lotttr, which I 
nm asked to circulate, my committee will be glad 
if you will do all you can to assist the brosers 
in giving effect to the reBoliitioD.—EriNEsT Jye, 
Secretary. 
The Tea Brokers' Association of Loudon, 
118, Dunster House, Mincing Lane, E.G. 
Nov. 10th, 1893. 
Dear Sir,— 1 ami desired to acquaint you that a 
a meeting of Indian tea brokers, held this day, the 
following resolution was adopted :— 
" That whilst feeling it altogether impracticable to 
lay down any hard-and-fast rule in the matter of 
regulating supplies of Indian T?a at auction, this 
meeting is of opinion that about 45,000 packages per 
week to the end of the year wonM be a fair aver- 
age supply, and will endenvour, so far as indivi- 
dually able, to keep within this limit, meeting 
again in jHUuiry to consider the quantities for the 
epring months. 
I am also to ask you to ba good enough to com- 
municate this resolution to the members of your 
a«sooiatinn, and am, dear sir, youra faithfully, W. G. 
Price, Secretary.— ZT. and 0. Mail, Nov. 17. 
"TANOCCA": TEA-TONING TABLETS. 
A week scarcely passes by without wa hear of a 
new occupation evolved out of her inner oonaciousness 
by some enterprising and ingenious woman. Today 
a letter reaches me from the country, containing 
a packet of rather strange -looking little lozenges 
of a mauve colour, neither smelling nor tasting ot 
anything particular under heaven or earth, so I 
read the letter for an explanation. Tea we know 
does not suit our digestions*. Every doctor, even the 
least of faddists, tells us this. We shut our eyes 
to the fact - I know I do— and boldly declare that 
our four or five cups a day are rather good tor us 
than otherwise. It so, why then that obscure beating 
of the heart when starting for a walk after the 
last cup at r> o'clock ? Why that tight little' feeling 
across tho chest? But to continue about the mauve 
lozoug.'3— by name •' tamicca," or tea-toning tablets. 
A doctor, after some years' careful investigation, 
has discovered exactly the right ingredient to neutra- 
lise the harmful properties ot tannin, not by any 
means a patent medicine, but merely some simple 
thin'' in daily use iu our kitchens (I am dying to 
toll you what it is, but at present am bound to 
aoorocyi, Throo ladies living in tho country, sisters 
9£ g^QOtoi; v?hg bag maiio the diacovery, w\y 
spend their time in making up the tea-toning tablets, 
of which they send me a sample. You add one or 
two of the tablets with every teaspoonful of tea in 
your pot. The flavour of the tea is improved, and 
besides this, the tannin is so completely neutralised 
that you may drink several cupfuls without feeling 
any of the unpleasant after-effects, to which I have 
been so treacherous to womankind as just to allude. 
Tea treated in this way may stand as long as you 
please without becoming bitter. — Evfjlishwo-nian. 
CEYLON COFFEE AND TEA. 
Within the last fcwyeare, as many of our readers 
are doubtless aware, tea planting has largely taken 
the place of coffee planting in Cejlon. We gather 
from "The Cejlon Handbook and Directory," 189.3 4, 
compiled and edited by Mr. J. Ferguson, of the 
Ceylon Observer, and published in England by Messri". 
.7, Haddon& Co. and Messrs. Kagan, Paul & Co. that 
inmarjy large districts once flourishing with coffee not 
a single acre under that shrub now remaiuB. The 
island h»8 many staple proflnct", but chief among 
them for many years was coffee. There hag been 
a good deal of controversy as to who was the first 
coffee p an'er, bu: ;he late George Bird is spoken ol 
as " the father of Ceylon planter," and to him, ap- 
parently, belonged the honour of forming the first 
coffee pUntation in the island. Mr. Bird accom- 
panied bis brother (Colonel BirJ) to Ceylon in 1823, 
and Sir James Oamjibell, then lieutensnt-governor, 
promised a grant of land lor the purpose of coffee 
plantin.'. Mr. Bird opened the first coffee estate ia 
1824. The first ardent adventurers pioneered their 
way through pathless jungle; the tracks they made 
were in course of time converted into highways, and 
comfortable bungalows took the place of rude huts. 
In 1845 the "coffee mania" may be said to have 
been at its height. Aristocratic immigrants poured 
into the island bopicg to add to ttieir riches by en- 
earing in tbe profitable industry, but they were in« 
experienced. Their expenditure was prodigal, and the 
inevitable crash cime. It is s >id that five milhona 
etrrling were sunk in as many years. Estates were 
forced into the market, ami were sold off for a twen- 
tieth part of the outlay incurred in forming them. 
Others that could not find purchasers were deserted, 
and allowed to return to jungle. For nearly three 
years the industry was almost paralysed, but those 
planters who combined judgment with capital sue- 
cppded in restoring energy to the enterprise. In 
1874-5 the coffee exports amounted to 988,328 owts., 
but siucc) 1883-4 there has been a graduil decline, the 
lowest reached being those of 1891-2, which were only 
42,256 cwt. Those of 1892-93 were 55,000. Thus in 
the latt two years the exports of coffee aveiaged 
less thin 50,000 cvvt, — or only about equal in quantity 
to the exports at the beginning of the enterprise. 
This decline is chiefly due to the supersession of 
coffee by tea. Last August there were 273,000 acres 
planted with tea. The exports last year amounted 
to 72,279,985 lb., valued at 32,527,136 rupees. It is 
estimated that this year's exports will be about 
80,000,000 Ih. The imports of tea (chiefly from India 
and China) have been reduced to a very small quantity, 
the native product beiag used almost universally by 
tea-drinkers on tho island. Buyers and consumers 
iu the Uuited Kingdom hive taWen realily to Oeylon 
tea, find there is a large demand for it in the 
Australian Coloniee and also in Uussia, and a consider, 
able trad-i with America is expected in conseqneooa 
of the exhibits of the tea planters at the Uhioago 
Exhibition. The average price obtained by the planters 
if about 9d. per lb., which yields (hem a profit of 
2d. or 3J. In 1SS5 the price was Is. 3d. per lb., but 
tLiere has been a gradual decline since then, owini?, 
no do\ibt. to the greatly increased auppliaj, — Mancli<i(«'' 
Fjaniinei', 
♦ 
Sehvioe in East ArmcA.— Three experienocd O0n> 
duQtoi'B a;o ^vaaled lit Eta,si Mt'm, 
