Ma? I, 1894.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
7 73 
To the Editor. 
TEA LEAF PRESSING : THE SILO SYSTEM. 
Northern India, April 13. 
Dear Sir, — My salaamg to Messrs. A.B.O. who 
confabbed on the railway on Maroh 15tb, and go 
out at Talawakele. I am thankful to Mr. A. for 
etarting the disoussion— although be oalla me "a 
man," — Now any one can be "a man," but few 
are planters and ewer still " Tea Planters." In 
this matter I want to be reoogaized as a " Tea 
Planter." Mr. B. is evidently the conservative 
element, he will come in by and by when all is 
proved 8uffioiently, and I trust that his manure 
heap will not grow too large. It is possible that 
Mr. 0. will get eemebody to try the new thing. 
I wanted at one time to get it taken up by our 
Aasociation and have it tested by their expert ; 
but I suppose that the danger of benefitiing 
a private individual is a suflScient bar to any pub 
lio endeavour. Bide a wee 1 some one will get 
those chestnuts out of the fire. Mr. 0. put all in 
a natehell : it would save a lot of expense, bother, 
danger, and time ? I have set the nuts roasting, 
and I am not going to burn myself in getting 
them out. They ought to be awfully good I assure 
you; they will save heartburn, indigestion, Doctor's 
bills. Do have a try. And as Mr. C. says you 
can try only a small quantity— say you try 3 maunds 
of leaf and you happen to be one who gets 4d 
average, your risk is losing 60 lb of tea at 4d=240 
pence, £1 Bterling. No, not eo much, you will 
see if you fail moderately get 2d per pound, so 
you would lose half-a-sovereign. If your tea sells 
at better prices than 4d you riek losing £2 or so. 
Times are bad, Horatio, and here is a new philo- 
sophy going begging for £2 or bo, 
I admit that you may fail (I am supposing that 
I am on that railway getting on rapidly to Talawa- 
kele). I showed the plan to a neighbour; he 
was delighted, going to try it at once. I went to 
his place a few days later. I found about a foot 
of burnt leaf all over the floor, a tea-box with 
Beams balf-an-inoh open, the lid of the box bigger 
than the top of the box and a chest of tea lead 
weighing 2 cwt. 
The man (I say man now, not planter) had 
jammed 2 maund.s of leaf into a leaky box, and 
put the tea lead on to hold it down in case it 
wanted to swell and burst, and he had taken out 
the leaf to get cool and he thought that be had 
carried out my instructions near enough, and I 
think that he would have gone on cursing me, 
bad I not fortunately turned up at the proper 
moment. [I now imagine a dead silence and a 
long sigh as Tala, t&c, &c. is heard from the 
platform, and as the train starts (I am going 
on to the asylum farther on ) I hear, "Glad that 
flbap iB going on 1" I suppose that the late Mons. 
Vaillant, when he wanted to change the aspect of 
the Chamber of Deputies, asked his frienda to 
ondertake the job. I don't want all the glory, 
Bays bo. Bat he had to work alone at last. And 
so he got into the illustrated papers. My idea is 
" to regenerate the manufacture of tea." Kindly 
take the bomb — hold it so I let it fall just there. 
Please don't compel me to do all the work and 
take all the glory. PBESS. 
CEYLON TEA IN RUSSIA. 
Wq have received for publication (rom the 
leuBlAiy of tbQ Btkndiog (lommitteQ of the Tea 
Fund the following correspondenoe from Mr.Bogivue 
to Mr. Giles Walker : — 
MR. ROGIVUE'S REPORT. 
Mv Dear Walkek, — I duly received your kind 
letter of December 20th last and tbsnk you very 
sincerely for same, also for what you have done 
for me in bringing the committee of the Tea 
Fund to vote me a further grant of 5,000 poanda 
Ceylon tea for advertising purposes. 
I have received from the Secretary to the 
Planters' Aesociation the official notification of 
the minutes and resolution passed thereon by the 
Standing Committee of the Ceylon Tea Fund, 
but up to this time I have not heard from the 
Ceylon Tea Company, Limited, that the shipment 
of this tea has been effected ; no doubt, I eball 
however, have this advised before long. 
I am exceedingly sorry that some of my previoua 
remarks have been found offensive to the members 
of the Tea Fund Committee ; they were not 
meant with such an intention, and, although I 
feel that I had eome right to complain, I do 
apologise for them, and it remains me to thank 
your committee for what they have done and for 
the further support they promise to give me aa 
far as the funds they have will permit. 
As regards a " Company," it is perhaps too 
early to think of starting one just at present ; 
but later on, when Ceylon tea has made further, 
progress in Russia, the task will be easier, and 
I have no doubt that some Ceylon men will then 
find their interest by supporting BUoh a concern 
and taking shares in a Company which could 
eventually be floated in London. 
With reference to " consignments", I herewith 
beg to hand you 5 pro forma account sales of teas 
which I bought in London at different periods 
during the last year and sold here in packets, from 
which you will observe that the good and medium 
standards A B C D give very fair returns and 
compare favourably with London prices, whilst 
the loiver sorts (Pekoe Souchong) of standard A B 
are mostly sold at a loss. The higher and 
medium grades of tea (giod, well-made, nicely 
twisted, tippy, of a fine blackish colour, strong 
and fine flavoured in cup. Broken Pekoes an^ 
Pekoes) are therefore preferable for this market 
and will leave good profits, and I must remark 
that my best selling numbers are the No. 6, 6, 
and 7 at B2, Rl-80, and Rl-60 respectively; I also 
send you by this same post, registered parcels 
the five standard samples referring to abovemen- 
tioned accounts, and I trust you will be able to 
induce some of your friends to send me trial con- 
signments of their teas. Remittances of proceeds 
could be made in Bterling by cheques on London 
Banks ad libitum to the planters themselves irt 
Ceylon as to their agents in London. 
Shipments direct from Colombo to Odessa would 
be preferable, and i( passible, loith through bills of 
ladinij to Moscow made out to order of which one 
copy should be sent to Mr. Alexander Pappe, Odessa, 
who will do the needful there for forwarding iu 
transit to Moscow, and another copy to me — Marine 
Insurance to be covered in Colombo all the way 
to Moscow. 
Strorifj cases should be selected for packing; 
Russians taking very little care of the goods, and 
the transit from Odessa to Moscow being very heavy. 
Since my last letter to you of Oct. 39th, 1893, 
Caylcn tea has made further desided progress, 
the more so that now and besides K. S. Popoff. 
other large tea firms are advertising it for sale 
pure, and I hear from London that bhipmenCa 
of Ceylon tea (from London to Russia) am gaining 
importance, You must have noticed in Messrs. 
Oow, Wilacn ii BtkOtOD'e London Qiroolir (te| 
