Jan. 1 1894.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
455 
NEAV PRODUCTS IN CEi'LON : 
RUBBER AND LIBERIAN COFFEE. 
When, practically, the whole planting and mer- 
cantile world of Caylon are devoted to tea and 
seem tohave little thought or care to give to anything 
el e, the colonist who will stand up for other ptoduot3 
can 'be called no less thaa a public hemfactor. 
As suoh we class our friend "J.RI." who gives 
U3 a further encouraging letter el-:ewhere on what 
Castilloa and Para rubbers are likely to do, and 
BtiH more what he himseif has done, and is doing, 
with Liberian coffee. We have never ceased re- 
gretting during the past five years, the premature 
condemnation under which " Liberian" passed at 
the time " the rush into tea" began as a full 
tide carrying everything else before it. Now, that 
it is very evident, tea is to be planted both 
in India and Ceylon to the very outside 
hmit of pablia re quirementa, we sincerely trust 
that not a few will b'gin to follow "J.M.' 's 
example and to give special attention to 
Rubber and Liberian Coffee as well as Cacao. In 
a private note, our correspondent says:— "Both 
Para and Castillioa rubber will appear in our 
export returns some day to the advantage of the 
Colony I hope and believe." And most heartily do 
we re-echo both the hope and the belief. 
OUR TEA SOILS : ANALYSES. 
Mr. .John Hughes, writing by a recent mail, says :— 
" I am very disappointed that the Planterb' 
Afsooiatioa oonnot see their way (o take up my 
nicd^bt suggestion to expeud £50 in extending 
the analyses of genuine Caylon soils representing 
(lid and new eetfttes, high and low altitudes and 
different methods of manufacture according to 
the time of year and the varying humidity of the 
season. I cannot spare any more time for 
gratuitous analytical work as my own work in 
London is fully established and requires constant 
attention." 
Surely for the sake of £50, our Planters 
Asfociation will not hesitate to have this useful 
work done. Even if the time has not come for 
" manuring " tea generally ; yet surely it is well 
to know what chemical analysts have to say, if 
only with reference to future action. We trust 
that the Committee may see their way to recom- 
mend the necessary vote at the next General 
Meeting. 
4. 
TEA CULTIVATION; CROPS AND PRICES. 
We direct attention to the letter of " Twenty- 
five Years a Planter" and to certain extracts from 
the South oj India Observer given further on. 
it would be extremely interesting to learn 
Jrom Mr. Rutherford, at the end of h's visit, the 
result of hia observations in our Tea Districts. 
For, wo ktcw that Mr. Rutherford believes that 
there is a great deal yet to be learned in respect 
of Tea Cullivatiou and Preparation and that there 
are reasons not yet made clear in explanation 
of the wide differences betw9en the prices realized 
for teas from neighbouring estates, while the jilt, 
the cultivation and preparation on them do not 
materially difier. Our correspondent today is 
firm iu ihe belief that good soil, good jat of 
lea and a certain altitude for the plantation are 
indispensaljle in Ceylon to tha proiuc'.ion of 
fh-c't-class teas ; and wo suppose, the vast majority 
of our thinking and observing planters will agree 
ia the view thus put forward. Perhaps, it there 
ia a diaciepaaoy at all. it will be with icfeieuoc 
is 
to the " good jilt." In the first place, our cor- 
respondent should define what he means by this 
, term. He ia not likely to include any China tea, 
or a hybiid approaching to Cbina ; auJ yet wa 
bad the pro^jrietor of one high estate whose teas 
are regularly " galleried,'' declaring to us a week 
or two ago that he attributed part of hia 
success in the home market to the judioioua 
admixture in his teas of a ctrtaia proportion of the 
product S-leat gathered from a fisld he has of 
pure China tea ; and here wa have " a valued 
ocrrespcndent" of our South of India namesake, 
i inr idling that well-plucked China tea carefully manu- 
I factured should beat Assam, in appearauca and as 
j 'full of lip,' though not of course in s'rength. 
I Still this same writer gives his voice for a really good 
hybrid as best for hill ouliivation— superior both to 
China and Indigenous Assam. We know that on a 
p'aaiatiou approaching to 5,000 feat on the Eastern 
slopes sharing eomewhat iu an Uva climate, Indi- 
genous tea has not done nearly so well as Hybrid. 
What ma-3y people would like to know is the 
exact class of hybrid with which certain plantitions 
— in Dimbu'a for instance— distinguished for heavy 
crops as v/ell as high prices,— have been planted. Wa 
suspect it will be found, as Mr. Beck has indicated, 
in his own case, to be a Hybrid only one 
step off Indigenou?. But higher up still and 
especially in the Nuwara Eliya and adjacent 
districts, which are liable to touches of froEt, a more 
decided Hybrid is probably the most suitable plant 
to use. It wuold no doubt be very instructive to learn 
the experience of managers who have had to do with 
fields of " China "—there are two or three in the 
districts we refer to;— but we shall be surprised 
if we are told that the leaf is mixed with that 
of go:d Hybrid tea. VVe chould suppose that 
separata preparation is indispensable to buq- 
I cess ; and we suspect the proprietor we 
refeired to above, meant that a judioioua 
mixture of the fully prepared tea from his 
China field, with its abundance of tip, added to 
the value of the rest of his tea ? In any case 
we should be glad to have the opinions of 
planticg authorities on the question now raised, and 
its discussion might be one way of informing 
Mr. Rutherford and others interested, of the varying 
opinions held throughout the country. 
« 
"CREEPERS" GALORE. 
NO MORE TEA ASSISTANTS WANTED IN CEYLON. 
An experienced planting autbotity feels constrained 
to deliver himself of the following Protest against 
the wholesale importation of " paying pupils" ■ 
otherwise known as creepers"— in some of our 
planting districts : — 
"I hear eleven nevi creopsrs are cxpf cted at once- 
all to pay premiums to, and bulcher bills for, their 
importers— and all to live 111 a sm»II corner of tbe 
DUoya district. It is really ti uo our Press, and the 
London Presa too, exposed this tmdlng iu toodk 
men. I think I may safely say (hat no father 
kuoMog how little chance there Is of hij sou's gottiu r 
profitable employmeut here or of I uyin- an estate 
where no one will sell at a rea-onable ti^ur would 
pay a premium to have tiis son takea to Ceylou as 
a ' Creeper.' 13ut touts aud agents are employed, 
and glowiug accounts giveu, with the result of tbe 
golden burvi>.ns of a hundred guineas ! Si.ci j(j that 
proprietors do not multiply, while creepers arrive in 
scons, if not huudreiie, t'je chai.ces of employmeut or 
purchaie are poor indeed. The trade \v:ii until reoeutly 
iu the hands of s. very few, and a rioh living i| 
brought them. But their example is now bt)im 
followed by many. I pity tho po^ji deluded youug 
men who arc tho viotims." 
