46e 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Jan. I. 1894, 
There is no question of the Buperiority of Indi- 
genous tea for the lowoountry. It giveB " double 
the profit " yielded by ordinary Hybrid, is the 
way one enthusiast puts it, and tbe tea eecms 
less liable to insect attacks. Then one or two 
of our correspondents thoroughly believe in the 
good results from manuring, not only a? to yitld, 
but as to quality of tea; but this latter must 
depend a good deal, we should, say on the kind 
of manure applied. In one case, at leaet, we 
remember an experienced planter attributing a 
fall in price to the ranker leaf produce 1 by 
certain manures. We are gUd to find not a few 
writers urging the analyses and aid which Mr. 
Hughes has been eo long advocating, and we 
trust to see the Planters' Association vote the need- 
ful £50 at an early date. The discussion is 
by no means at an end, — we have several 
letters to follow,— and we trust, among the 
rest, " Old Planter" will continue his useful 
practical hints for the benefit of the younger 
generation of his brethren. We shall probably 
reprint the whole of the letters in a small 
pamphlet as a useful means of reference to vtry 
varied and valuable eicporience at this stage in 
the history of The Tea Planting Enterpkise in 
Ceylon. 
TEA SHORT LANDED ? 
Considerable dissatisfaction has been mauifcsted 
for liome lime past in tlio tea calea owing tu 
breaks of attractive tra being given out from tlie 
chair as two picknges short, or one package etori, 
as tbe ca~e might ba, the inference desired ) eiiig 
that tbe said packages were not to be found. For a 
time no snepxion of aujtbing to the coLtrsry was 
aroased ; but it is no s ortt now that sime gentle- 
men in brokers' offices are in the habit of supplying 
their friends with tea, and the presumptiou ^aiiied 
ground that instead of buying single packages of the 
wholesale dea'ers they were quietly getting behind 
tbe backs of both the wbi legale and retail trade and 
abttraoting as mftny chests from the cale as they re- 
quired, and paying the import) r the same price as the 
break sold at under the hammer. "When the practice 
was firtt commenced a more straightforward policy 
was pursued, and the auctioner used to announce '"We 
take back three at a penny per pound prtfit," utd 
immediate'y a brisk competition ensued, the piv fit 
being humoroukly termed a " gratuity." But the 
da^s of gratuities have pasced away, and for a con- 
siderable time the sellers hnve helped themselves to 
whatever tbey wanted at cost price. But in these 
days of publicity it i3 not easy to keep anytbiug 
private, and the practice has at list got " I'lown 
upon," acd, as we tbitk, very much to the impor- 
dtera' interest. It is well known that many of tbe 
largest busera feel very strong upon the subject, 
and simply refuse to bid for any break of which 
the quantity is diminished by one or two pack- 
ages ; and if the seller kuocks the break down 
in sale, and then states that it is one package or 
two packages short, tbey decline to take delivery, 
and throw it back on the s Hers' hands. We con- 
fess we are not surprised that buyers should feel 
Btiongly upon this matter, aud importers will do well 
to insist on their brokers enti e'y discontiouicg the 
practice. Whatever annoys the buyer damages the 
price, and, on the contrary, whatever pleases the 
bu}er, even to a very limited extent, makes him bid 
up to his valuation, and thereby benefits the seller 
Tbe immense quantities of tea that have cow to be 
dealt witb in Miooiog Lace make tbe seller more or 
less the servant of the buyer, and it is su admitted 
faot that in every instance in which the bnyera have 
maintained any proposition it hss been found judicious 
to meet them. The case at present under considsra- 
tion is one in which immediate concession is the only 
wise courite, and it is to be hoped that the importer 
will see the justice of iX.—H, and C. Mail, SHov, 24. 
NOTES ON PRODUCE AND FINANCE. 
Indian Cowee.— The efl.'Ct of the revolu ion in 
Brdzil on iha Cj/TvC Market h^s not been great at 
present. 0.vin^ no doubt to the f^ct that la'aes of 
Itio and SaiitOB coffee are too high alrea 'y, or that 
no importauc>) wt atevtr is attached to these commu- 
nications, tbe market has remained exceedingly flat. 
However bitter the war may ra^e b^tweei the two 
contesting parties, one tbing ia cert liu— neither tbe 
arrival of supplifS cur the export of ouffit' seemi 
to be effected by it in any way, f r both cuottuoe to 
arrive iu tbe osuul manner. Business in these coffees 
has practically come t) a siaiidetill, hold< rs ' ideas 
havinif becoue qui;e probibitive. Tbe pn'p'irtiou 
ill value between Brazilian and fine-coloured c^tibtr. 
such us Bast ludiao and Oeylon sort*, has 
tow become so exceedingly email that the trade 
has given up buyiug ih'i former, and hag directed 
its attention more to thi latter, and prices which ■ 
short time ogo were unobtainable for tbese fine torts 
are now offwrid in several quarterr. We hfar, eaya 
the London Comnurnal Jhcoid, of the Neilgherry crop, 
'• Ferndale," havitg realised the full valne of lOOa c.f. 
Trieste, and of thy Mysore estate, " Murgaddy," 
having been disposed of at lOOi e.i.f. for tbe same 
port, Furttier Ws arc made for various other estates 
ou tbe bacis of the above prices; ba'i bueinefx »o far 
ha.s not resulted, owinff to the firmiess witb which 
planters adhere to thfir hi^h prices. Particu^ 
larly tbe owners of coffee estates ia the southern dis- 
tricts of Etst Iiidin, such as WvnsB<1, Neilgberry, 
ShfvarojF, N ranpathicp, Puln-ys, Ac., iic, arc 
exceedingly obstinate, as their crops, owing to an 
nnsatisfactory south western monsoon, are small, 
and will hardly come up to the yield of those in 
18il2-yH, whereas the more favourable prospect ins 
Coorgh and Mysore, where crops of about '25 per 
cent, over those of last year are expected, make 
planters.less extravagant in their ideas. It is estimated 
that the total yield in all the coffee-growing dis- 
tricts in East India will reach about the same 
figure as that of last year, and under most favour- 
able cirrumstances may even exceed this total by 
about 10 to li) per cent. If a better spot demand 
here would set in to clear otrr somewhat heavy 
stocks of tinecolory coffee, a good business on arrival 
terms in these sorts woud doubtless result.— /f. andC. 
Mail, Nov. 24. 
Blending Tea in Bond.— We anderstand that, at 
the nest meeting of the committee of the Planters' 
Association, the subject of blending imported tea in 
bond will be broaght up for discussion. The local 
agent of Mr. Lipton has, we learn, addressed the 
Planters' AssJciaticn Committee witb a view of 
obtaiuicg its assistance m securing from Government 
the privilege of blending tea in bond in Colombo 
under proper restrictions. As already pointed oat by 
us, Mr. Lipton has decided to take up the work of 
pushing Oeylon and Indian tea in Australia, but, 
owing to the import dn'y on tea imported into the 
islcnd, he is unable to carry on the business in Oolnrobo. 
Instead of that, all the Oeylon tei intended for the 
blend has actually to be shipped from here to Calcutta 
before it can be sent to Australia. Iq this way 
Ceylon is losing all the business, and. in tbe course 
of ooDvereation with Mr. Duplock we were 
told that, if Mr. Lipton be compelled to work bis 
Australian business to a great extent from Louden 
he will Le compelled to make use of the same bleeds 
88 are now in use there, and this mesns, ia the 
case of the chetpeet blend (sold for Is per lb.), that a 
certain proportion of it would be China tea. On the 
other hand, if facilities are given for blending ia bond, 
the whole of the tea would be either Ceylon or Indian. 
There ought to be no difficulty in arranging this with 
the local Customs provided Grovernment will acquiesce, 
and we do not suppose that the Plantera' Association 
will raise any objections. Mr. Duplock will go up to 
Kandy on Friday (8th Dec.) to as to be reaiy to answer 
any qaeetiona required by tbe Planters' AisooUtion. 
