i66 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Sept i, 1894. 
is 3,757,500 lb. heavier than at tbe begini.n g oi last 
July, m that the existing surplus would h»ve to dis- 
apie&r before any substantial or durable improvement 
could tnsue. 
Tea and Coffee Adulteration. — It was stated in 
the report of ooo of the general i'lppectors of tbe 
L'jcal Government Board, before the Select Oommittee 
of the House of Commons appointed to eontiifez the 
question of foo > adulteration, that lea bad been 
adulterated in pa^t ye ia, l ut not bo much recently. 
Nearly 1,600 simple* had been examined <luriog the 
lait four years, nn<J nrnc had been r< parted agairst, 
This, the inspector ( xplaine I, was i.o doubt partly 
due to the feet that tea w ia subjected t > a special 
provision which enabled the Commissioners of Gus- 
toms to examine it in bond and to rifuee to allow 
its importation if adulterated. They bad power to 
coifiscute, and in the few cases which bad occurred 
some were confiscated and some were stnt back. 
It was s'ated that there hud been some diminution 
in tbe percentage of samples of coffee reported 
BgHinet. The percentage was about eighteen in tbe 
ten years from 1877 to 1886 and tiuce th u it had 
been about 3 5 per cent. In many cases the propor- 
tion of chioory had been enormously large, 70 or 80 
per cent. In one case the seller advertised bis "Fine 
French coff< e, a blend of the finest East India and 
other coffee, carelully prepared by the new French 
process, whereby the aroma and properties are fully 
developed." Tbe process, it was found, consisted 
solely in mixing 90 per cent of chicory with 10 per 
cent of coffee. — H. and ft Mail, July la. 
LOW PRICE OF TEA. 
My last letter.informed you of the opinion held 
by one such expert, and these have been made 
the basis of my further erquiry. In most of the 
instances of such consultation the condition haB 
been imposed upon me not to give the names of 
those favouring me with their views. In one such 
oaee my interviewer said that he knew that the 
Colombo tea sales exercised no inconsiderable in- 
fluence upon the biddings on this side. He 
remarked:— " You see the buyers here watoh the 
published accounts of the sales in Colombo very 
closely. They know every markput up atthim, and 
if they have been withdrawn and are subsequently 
put up at auction here, the buying-in price is 
made the basis of the biddings here. Xhe buyers 
note that perhaps this price has been sixpence. 
They make it a rule, therefore, no! to go beyond 
fivepenoe for it, holding that the local men must 
have 'seen some reason for not increasing their 
offers. And even if it be sold in Colombo and 
subsequently tent home by speculators for resale 
the price paid for it in Colombo governs the 
offering on this tide. There is no doubt that for 
this reason the Colombo sales operate adversely 
upon prices here, and it would be better, in my 
opinion, if there were none of these local publio 
sales. Of course it will be said that we on this 
side have a selfish reason for this, that we desire to 
have tho entire bulk of Ceylon tea passing through 
our hands. We are, however, above such a selfish 
consideration. We honestly believe that for the 
reasons above given these sales offer suoh a test of 
local value as cramps the bidding on this side. 
Do not give my name as associated with this 
opinion," 
In another instance wherein tbie . abject was dis- 
cussed by me, on my mentioning the cost at 
which 
TEA CAN BE PRODUCED 
it was said to me : — " The fact is that the limit 
at which tea can now be produced is not generally 
known. You state 3|d per lb. as being the 
rule assigned for this in Tea Company prospeotuses. 
I believe it is often produced at a muoh lower 
figure. Only the other day was in 
my offioe, and he said he would not venture 
to say what his last season's Ceylon teaa 
cost him, For, he remarked :— " Yoo would 
ecaroely believe me it I told you." The fact 
is that now that the whole acreage of estate* 
has come into full bearing, and that all tbe 
machinery requisite has been erected and paii 
for, the cost per pound bag beoome extraordi- 
narily reduced. I can't pretend to quote a figure, 
but I am sure that in numerous instances it 
might be placed materially lower than 3£d." 
The next expert Been by me on tbie topie 
was my old and highly reputed mentor, 
MB. BOUXET8 
of MeBsrs. 8. Rucker 4 Oo. This gentleman 
raised no obieotion to my mentioning hie name. 
On my referring to the effect above assigned to 
tbe Colombo sales, Mr. Boberts observed that 
without being prepared to fully endorse all that 
had been mentioned to mo, he must admit that 
these local Bales were not without their effect 
upon prioes here. He scouted the idea raised 
by a former interviewer of mine that tbe 
knowledge of producing cost limited the offers of 
the buyers here. Tbe question, he said, waa 
entirely one of supply and demand. That, and 
that alone, he said, controlled the rates ob- 
tainable here. Nor would he give his assent 
to tbe explanation offered by many that over- 
production had anything to uo with tbe mailer. 
" It is quite a bugbear," he remarked, " to sop. 
pose that there is, or can be within present limits, 
any such thing as overproduction to the extent of 
effecting prioes. We oan place any amount of 
Ceylon tea that reaches ue, for the taste is too 
well-established to fear a diminution in the sale. 
This can continue until Oiiiba Ua is eventually 
driven entirely from our market. Just now, of 
course, and for the last year or two, China tea 
bas been able to maintain some place in this 
beoause of tbe bonus tbe China growers obtain 
through the difference of exchange rales. But I 
certainly believe that the enormously increasing 
production of gold will ere long deprive them of 
this advantage, and that tee a the reduction 
formerly experienced will again recommence. 
Then many people here call out that it is a ques- 
tion of quality, atd one large buyer said in my 
office tbe other day that he would willingly give 
an average of 10 pence instead of 7 pence for a 
better quality of tea than Ceylon now sends us. 
I must admit that the quality is not all tbat we 
should like, tbat we find it almost, impossible 
to obtain the gtade of Ceylon teas tbat we used 
to get. But, as I pointed out to the objector 
mentioned, it is more than likely that the extra three 
pence per pound would not remunerate the grower 
for fine plucking, and that it must pay tbe latter 
better to send home quantity rather than quality. 
We can't expect the Ceylon planter to sacrifice 
this advantage. It is quite true that people here 
begin to be very particular about their Ceylon 
tea. Their palate is becoming highly apprecia- 
tive. Thus with the small distributing Company 
with which I am connected I find that there is a 
distinct preference for Bogawantalawa teas. If 
we send certain customers teas grown in other 
distriots, however good they may be, those that 
had once had tea from that district recognize 
the difference at once, and demand to be supplied 
from it. This shows how curiously educated the 
public palate has become. The fact is that in my 
judgment the real cause of low prices of tea is 
general dullness, Everything is suffering owing to 
the ruling depression in trade, and it is not sur- 
prising that tea suffer in common with most other 
