Jan. 1, 1894.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 
461 
TEA. 
(From William Moran d Co.'s Market Report.) 
Calodtta, Nov. 29'h, 1893, 
On Thursday, 23rd inst., 16,500 chests were sold. 
For the better grades, aud good broken pekoes es- 
pecially, the market was somewhat irregular ; but 
prices on the whole tended downwards. For Bombay, 
there was a strong demand for suitable breaks of 
pekoe and pekoe souchongs. All common kinds 
were very firm. 
Tomorrow 15,000 chests will be offered. 
CEYLON TEA IN AUSTRALIA. 
Tea in Melbourne.— The principal events in th- 
tea market have been the auction sales on Tues 
day and Thursday. Considerable catalogues of China 
tea ex " Taiyuan." Of low common 70'j half-chests 
were sold at TJd. Sales of common at 5d to 5jd 
amounted to 2,693 half-chests, and 4,200 boxes com- 
mon at 6d to 6id showed relatively full value to 
buyers. Cataloges comprising 340 chests and 112 
half-chests Ceyion were sold as follows :— Broken 
pekoe, 32 chests at Tgd to Is ; pekoe, 47 chests at 
7d to 9id ; and pekoe souchong, 17 1 chests at 6Jd. 
Since the auction close upon 2,000 half-chests con- 
gou, then withdrawn, have been placed privately 
at prices a shade firmer. Sales have also been 
made privately of 700 quarter-chests S. O. pekoe at 
up to 9d. The Custom-house statement of receipts 
and deliveries of tea at the bonds for the week 
ended the 11th inst., together with the stocks in bond 
at the close of the week, is as follows 
Deliveries. 
Receipts 
For Home 
For 
Stocks 
into 
Consump- 
Export. 
on 
Bond. 
tion. 
Nov. 11. 
lb. 
lb. 
lb. 
lb. 
China 
412,080 
46,804 
47,022 
3,162,910* 
India 
123,183 
23,421 
24,350 
991,305 
Ceylon ... 
10,281 
5,834 
6,466 
209,7411 
Totals.. 
546,550 
76,059 
77,838 
4.363,956 
* Exclusive of a portion of shipments ex " Taiyuan." 
t Exclusive of shipmeats ex " Australia" and 
" Qi'izaba." 
At the corresponding date last year bonded stocks 
consisted of 3,147,387 lb. China, 779,539 lb. Indian, 
and 317,569 lb. Ceylon ; total, 4,244,495 lb. 
Tea at Sydney has been rather slow of sale. 
Several large buyers are away, aud importers of 
Indians have not cared to go on at the low prices 
which were accepted at auction last week. Sup- 
plies of Indians aud Ceylons have been more than 
sufficient for immediate requirements, and the market 
consequently is weak. The position as regards 
China teas is unchanged. The demand has been 
principally for descriptions ranging from 6.jd to 74^. 
There has been no important auction sale this 
week, but the market will again be tested on Wednes- 
day next. 
Adelaide. —The tea market is well supplied, and 
while small lines of Ceylon and China sorts are 
selling no big business has matured during the 
week. Markets in Melbourne are easier, and loc.l 
cellers are not so firm as a week or two a^o. 
Coffee business is small ; value of prime higU- 
growu samples Is 34d ; low-grown inferior, Is 2jd to 
la 3d per lb. d. p. 
New Zealand, Nov. 11.— The trade in cocoa aud 
coffee is le.ssening under the change of season, aud 
caudles arc quiet. Tliero has been a trade sale of 
Indian and Ceylon teas during the week. Bidding 
was epiritleas, and although several parcels were 
placed the tone of the market was dull, and prices 
lu favour of buycra. 
TEA CULTIVATION : HOW TO GET GOOD 
CROPS AND GOOD PRICES-" 
We have been looking over the letters o{ our 
correspondents (see further on) signing:—" A Planter 
since '59," "Kalutara," "Altitude," "D.", " M. H. 
T." M.", " F G.A.L.", " An Old Planter," " 18 Year.s," 
" W. M.", "Planter," " F. 0. G.", " Manager," " 30 
Years' a Planter,'' " Geo. Beck," "M." and " W. J 
A.' — representing altogether a ftreak variety of prac- 
ticil experience. The discussion on this subject 
was commenced by a planter who laid down three 
conditions :— good soil, good jat and a good or 
high elevation above sea-level. To these a well- 
known Dimbula planter {" W. X. B") added a 
good, commodious, well-fitted and clean Factory 
(including a good teamaker) as not the least of the 
indiepensables to the turning out of good tea : 
indeed he would consider the factory more inportant 
than jat, above a certain altitude e:-pecially. In the 
vi»,w that Indigenous or closely allied jiitB were 
not £0 desirable as a Hybrid it a high elevation, 
or even than a good China in the highest fields, 
a number of planttrs concur. But there is another 
point on which all seem to agree and it ia one 
to which perhaps a suGScient amount of attention 
has not been given hitherto in Ceylon. It is 
the great drawback attendiug a mixture of jats 
and the attempted manufacture of leaf of varying 
size and quality at the same time. Now in how 
many places iu Ceyion— planted in the years 
when not so much was known about jats or when 
men were too poor to be particular about their aetd — 
do we see bushes and fields showing a great variety 
of jat from a really good desirable Hybrid down to 
something worse than any ordinary China tea bu-h. 
Ho n impossible it must be to manufacture even, nice- 
looking or good teas under such oiroumetanoes ? 
And therefor, evenness of j.T.5 as well as quality, might 
well be classed among the conditions already name^. 
We remember hearing from an Aseam planter, a gcoi 
many years ago, how careful they were to get 
rid of plants from their nurseries and even from 
the fields, that indicated an inferior jut and how 
each manager prided himself on the evenness of 
his show of tea-bushes. We do not know of 
the practice of pulling out inferior bushes is still 
in vogue ; but as a Ceylon proprietor (now on a 
visit to the island,) with much pioneering experience 
in our industry, confessed to us the other day, there 
is no question of the superiority of Assam teas for 
make and appearance over " Ceylon's " as a ichole. 
We have little doubt that much of the success of 
Henfold is due to evenness of jat and basidea 
good crops, Mr. Beck, we learn, is not to be 
content till he brings his average up to la 6d! 
All success go with him in the attempt. 
There can be no question as to the iofiuence of 
fine aud careful plucking on good prices ; but 
there is still a difiierence of opinion as to the 
advantage of only taking off 200 lb. an acre and 
getting a price among the highest averages, instead 
of 500 or even 600 lb. with much lower prices. 
There is nothing like the actual test of experience 
and one proprietor we know whose teas are 
regularly " galleried " is fully content with the 
profits which a limited gathering and high prices 
give bim. On the other hand, some who have tried 
both systems insist that very fine plucking, — taking 
c'lY the immature bud, itj. — ia far more trying 
in the end to the bushes than ordinary mcJiuoi 
plucking. It was found to be so at least in ilie 
early days in the Kelani Valley, where fine 
plucking was tried on one plaotaiiou for a 
long time. But we are not olesr that the aama 
experience will hold good at a higher elevation. 
