Aug. I, 1894.] THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
133 
■» 
To the Editor. 
LARGE EGGS FROM AN ORDINARY 
CROSS-BRED HEN. 
Dolosbage, July 13. 
Dear Sir, — I' ma y interest you, or some cf 
your readers, to know of a very unusual forma- 
tion of eggs. l a 'd by an ordinary crofs bred hen. 
The first of 'hem was laid cn the 10th, and was 
larger than t Qe aversg-i goose egg. The shell was 
Blightly broken, and 0 n being opened further, a 
complete egg was seen enolosed within it. This 
egg was of the ordinarv size, with hard shell, 
and on being broken had the usual yolk and white. 
Again on the 12th sne lai <.! aoother egg equally 
large ; but on the lath one of the ordinary size; 
and seems well ana " healthy. I send you the egg 
that was laid on the 12th to make any use of 
it you like. It weighs 5J oz. — Yours truly, L. R. 
[Unfortunately, although oarefully paoked in two 
oases, the egg got broken en route : it must have 
been a very fine specimen : it would certainly carry 
off the prize at a Poultry and Egg Show. The ohiok- 
enB from such eggs] Bhould be valuable. — Ed. T.A.] 
THE PALLAGAMA CO.'S PLANTATION : 
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SHIELD. 
July 15tb. 
Sir, — Having onoe before addressed you on this 
matter, I have been naturally muoh interested in 
the leading artiole on page 123. And I agree 
with you that you are wrong in calling it an 
" experiemental" plantation, Erpo why the 
grant ? You were not able in reply to my last 
jptter on the subject to give me the particular 
terms of the grant, and I am still in ignorance 
on this point, but I take it that the land was 
conceded by Government on other and more favour- 
able terms than those in force at an ordinary 
Kaoheheri sale. And I want to know why. Was it 
beoause — as you say — in that fertile region well 
developed cooonut palms begin to bear fruit in 
five jears, and that " fine coffee and cacao 
Bhrubs of 2i to 3 years of age are found in 
the native gardens." that it has been though 
necessary to protect thisjpart ofjthe country at the ex- 
pense of growers who have probably paid R20 to R30 
per acre for their land, and find that their cooonut 
palms don't begin to bear fruit till nearer ten years ? 
After all, one mipht view with equanimity the 
prospeot of another 5,000 aores of oooonuts, Libe- 
rian coffee and cacao coming in, within a measur- 
able time, and under protected or subsidized condi- 
tions to swell the already bloated exports of Oeylou 
produoe : but it doesn't mean that. It means tea. 
One of the avowed objects of the Pallagama Grant 
Association (see Memorandum) is to plant tea, and 
the ohanoes are they will and with that as a product 
in ohief — no matter what they begin with. Exoellent 
business for the grantees - not bad for the Company 
who will doubtless get satisfactory dividends— but 
rough, very rough on the poor devils who still in 
many caeca have to pay 8 per cent or more for their 
money, and who are in danger of being ruined by 
OVER-PRODUCTION. 
PROSPECTS OF TEA: THE BRIGHT 
SIDE. 
Lawienoe, Norwood, July 17. 
I'i-\R Sir, — In thee times of rampant pessi- 
mal H, re future rf tea, it in refreshing to read | 
.Mr. 11 try Wbi'e'e speech which I enolose for 1 
reproduction in Observer if you oonsider it worth 
while doing so. — Yours faithfully, 
WALTER AGAR. 
[Wo quote the portions of Mr. Berry White's 
speeoh as Chairman of the Jokai-Assam Company 
whioh are of local interest.— Ed. T.A.1 
We imported durins? the year over 1,500 ooolier-, and 
the (utlay under this bead formed a conquerable 
portion of the Indian expenditure. I am very hopeful 
that this bai now very nearly come to ai end; for 
although, no doubt, we shall have to go on importing 
on a smaller scale for some yara t"> come, we hsd 
moat gratifying evidence when my colleague aud I 
were out last January and February, th*t in the near 
future our labour requirements would, in a grent 
meesure, be supplied Ioca'ly. Large number's of 
time-expired coolies have a tiled down on or te^r 
the company's properties, and, as far as we couM 
judge, have regularly taken root in the country. 
When we oan onoe obtain sufficient labour without the 
expense of importation as a drawback, we in Upp r 
Assam must inevitably stan ! in a superior position to 
all the other tea districts of the world. We mate by 
far tbe finest and most valuable t n, an ! our outturn 
per acre is larger than thit yieldeil by any other tea 
district except the Bheel lands of the Surma Valley. 
The only disadvantage we have to r ont<n l with is the 
cost of labour, and I am very fangnine that this draw- 
back is rapidly disappearing. It appers that a great 
increase in the consumpt : on oft a took place between 
June 1 and May 31 last, t!ie deliveries fjr th\t period 
being 112,000.000 lb. of Indian "tea, instead of the 
109,000,000 1b. given in the report for the caleid\r 
year; so that on June 1 list there was an increas d 
consumption ot nearly 6,000,000 lb. ovor the previous 
year, and stoeks were diminished by nearly 2,000,0u0 
lb. Although very little tea h is yet arrived, and it is 
always hard to forecast the quality of a season by the 
first arrivals, still, the reports and valuations we have 
received from India indicate that there is an unmis- 
takable improvement in quality, and, without being 
unduly sanguine, we m&y look forward to considerably 
betttr prices ruling this season. Surgeon-General de 
Renzy and I inspeoted the estates in January and 
February lis', and we were greatly pleased with all we 
saw. 
I had not inttnded referring to the prospeots of tho 
Indian tea industry on this occasion ; but on Monday 
last I received a moat interesting oircular, illustrated 
by a diagram prepared by Mesa's. Gow, Wilson and 
Stanto", to whom the tea industry ii indebted for 
much valuable statistical information ; bnt although 
I admire and appreciate their indus ry and enter- 
prise, I ent ; rely dissent from their 001 elusions. It is 
shown that in the deoade ended in the year 1892 the 
consumption of tea in the world (eiclusive of the 
Chinese Empire) had increase by 94,000,000 lb. while 
in Great Britain along during the same period the 
increa«e was no lots than 37,000,000 lb. or about 
3,500,000 lb. a year. This, I think, is a highly eatis. 
faotory increase, especially wheu it is considered 
that the increase has been wholly in British-grown 
tea, whirh, according to the Ute Chanoellor of the 
Exchequer's estimate, should be put down at 33 per 
oent. more, as the same quantity of Indian te* gives 
one-third more, beve r a.e of the fame st ength tba:i 
Chioa t*a. I have just returned from India and 
Coylon, and I think it v,ry doubtful that the inore- 
asetl production of tin n'Xt decade will amount to 
94,000,000 lb. and probabK will be much less. I think 
there is very little doubt that the next decalo will 
see the last 4d. per ronnd rus'oms c'uty on t a re- 
movod, as tho ndvocatesof i> free breakfast txble gain 
strength annually. Free tea Would mean much more 
than a reduction of 4d per pound iu the re'ail fell- 
ing price, as it woul I then b^ released from all the 
miny coafs and charges involved by customs super- 
vision. This would immensely increase the cont-ump- 
liou iu the United Kingdom; so that I cousioler tho 
foar of ovor-produotion a mere phantom, and not worth 
discussing. Messrs. Gow, Wilson and Stunt 11 aro also 
greatly alarmed at the continued fa'l ia the valqe 
