26o 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Oct. r, 1894. 
When the fermenting process is completed, the 
beans are spread out in a layer to dry. At ruii- 
day, if the «un is too str<ng, they a r e shaded. 
Occasionally they are turned over and rubbc- 1 be' ween 
the hanos and the tr ish is picked out. If the weather 
is favourable the beans are usually driel in four or 
hvo da^s; if unfavourable, a little more time is 
required, and they are sometiir.es dried by artificial 
lieat. When artificial heat is not avail. ble there is 
risk of their being epoilt by mildew, but if they are 
partially dried and the clwip does not penetrate to 
the interior, but only affects the ex'erior, the 
mildew is easily disposed of by rubbing. Tue dry 
is carried on in houses of special construction. One 
type of house consists of a prepared floor covered 
with a movable root placed on rollers. The beans are 
spreal on the floor, a-.d the roof is rolled off « nils', 
the sua is out and rolled ou BRam during rain aud 
at nights. Another type of house is fitted with a 
series of movab'e trays, one above the other, over 
which is fixed a roof of sufficient size to cover all 
the trays when they are " run in." No machinery 
is required for the curing of cacao. Tns only niccs- 
enry works are a Sweating-House and a Drjitg- 
House, and it is estimated that for an e<ta!e of 
300 acres the cost of th^sj bull iings nee 1 not exceed 
£160. The cost of labour in drjing is also very 
small, as one man can tuke charge of a considerable 
quantity of cacao, and the work involved is net 
arduous. — Mr. Crowther's Report. 
o _ 
PLANTING OF SHADE TUEES. 
The following is a tabu'ated statement of the 
number of shadi and fruit trees aotually growing, 
all of which bavo been planted eioce tbis meritorious 
work was bejun in 1890 : — 
Shado-g 
iving Treop. 
Fruit 
Trees. 
a 
I si 
* si 
CO 
Province. 
a 
d 
i £ 
■1.1 
be 
•^.^ 
u ~ 
a a 
t> 
Western 
3,4*9 
5 
1,309 
Central 
Northern 
2,674 
16,166 
2,024 
Southern 
2,836 
2 
566 
■Eastern 
4,637 
207 
727 
North- Western 
6,346 
4 
231 
North- Central 
3,640 
1,377 
Uva 
.. 4,173 
30 
36 L 
S.ibaragamtrw* 
.. 2, "239 
3 
777 
Tolal .. 
29,974 
16,417 
7,372 
— Gazette. 
THE PUTUPAULA TEA ESTATE 
COMPANY, LIMITED. 
The Gazette, contains the memorandum of As- 
sociation of this Company formed to acquire the 
estates of Putupaula, Wattekande, and Crurie, 
situated in the Kalutara District for the purpose 
of farming, manufacturing, or cultivating tea, and (or) 
any other products or trees, plants, or crops which 
may hereafter be approved. The capital of this 
Company is R2OO.O0O. divided into two thousand 
shares of H100 each (of which the shares numbtred 
one to two thousand shall be called ordinary shares 
and shall be deemed fully paid up), with power to 
increase or reduce the capital. The memorandum is 
subscribed by H. J. McCall, Holmwood, Largs, N.B., 
by his attorney W. B. Paterson; Robert McCall, 
Glasgow, N,B., by his attorney W. B. Paterson ; 
P. G. Spence, Colombo by his attorney W. B. Pater- 
son ; E. Aitken, Colombo, by his attorney W. B. 
Paterson ; W. B. Paterson, Colombo ; G. W. 
Suhren, Colombo ; Gordon Spence, Colombo, 
NEW MARKETS FOR INDIAN AND 
CEYLON TEA. 
The following letters have appearei in the 
Times : — 
The Indian Tea Share Exchange, 126, Bishops- 
gate-street, E.C., Aug. 10. 
Sir, — The Indian and Ceylon tea industries are 
indebted to you for the able article in your issue of 
Monday last under the heading of " Indian Affairs." 
I would venture, however, with your permission, 
to make one or two remarks upon some points in 
the article which might occasion misapprehension 
on the part of your readers. I quote your own 
words : — 
You say (1) :— "Whether the Indian soil and climate 
are really better suited to the growth of the fine 
qualities of teas has not yet and probably never will 
be determined.'' 
This matter of suitability of soil, so far as the prin- 
cipal Indian tea district is concerned, is beyond all 
question. It is truH that certain lauds, more notably 
on the tcelahs of Cachar aud in the Terai, as well aa 
in Bengal (in Chota Nagpore), on wbioh tea was 
planted 20 years ago proved unsuitable, and have 
now, in grest part, been abandened. Hut. as regards 
the greater part of the As 'am province, including 
Sylhet an ! a la^ge port of Cachar, as r« garde Dar- 
jeeliug, ar d a< regards the more lecently opened Dooarg 
di-tr cts, from a qu.rt-r to half a c -ntury'b eip<Tien"e 
ha;, proved O at the iacd it eminently 6ai(ed for the 
pio-.uctioD of tie finest teas, the question of ihe 
d«gr^e of fineries'* being only mainly a mat'er of the 
fineness of th- i> lucking and of the weather conditions 
i.revailug at different times ihrongbout the teaton, 
which Wets, roughly, from Apr>l t > November. 
Yon Bay (2):—" The decline (dowa to an average 
of '.(Jd.) ha* bten steady, acd it ht> kept pace with 
the extrusion of China teas. 
It is true that the ge .eral tendency of tea prioes, 
1 ko the prices of nearly every other article, has, on 
the whole, been dowowarJs, but the decline has not 
been steady and regular. Prioes have generally ruled 
high and low year about, the result of (a) supply 
and demand and (h) differing quality of the crops ; 
and, in regard to the latter point, where quality has 
been inferior and prices been lower this has almost 
always been largely comieosated for by a large 
increase in the quantity produced. Notably the season 
1892-93 was remarkable for a short crop, exceptionally 
good quality, aud high prices, while the season 1893-94 
was equally remarkable for a very large crop, poor 
quality, and, con.-equently, low price'. Tbe present 
Kenson's orop gives promise of following clof ely on the 
liu>-s, in these respects, of that of two yeara a*o. 
You s*y (3):— "In markets other than Eagland. 
as a who'e, China has been more than able to main- 
tain her po-hion. . . . Ohina has, therefore, actu- 
ally increased her tea exports to the re^t of the 
world (excluoing England) by 20 million pounds in 
13 years." 
But this is an increase which is really a decrease, 
because you make no allowance for the enormous ex- 
pansion which in other countiies, jus! as iu Eagland 
though in a lesser drgree), has Lean in progress. As 
(a matter of fact aud tor proof I appeal to the valu- 
able figuies of exports to different countries compiled 
by Messrs. Gow, Wilson & Co., from which you your 
stK quote in jour article. Aa increasing displace- 
ment of China by Indian and Ceylon tea has been 
going on progreEsiv. ly iu nearly every foreign and 
colouiil country, tince the total consumption of all 
these countries has undoubtedly increased to a far 
greater extent than by 20 milliot s. Russia and 
America al ne h^ve each increased its lotal consump. 
tion by more th n 20 miJioas in ire last 13 years. 
In regard to the pusbiug of new markets by the 
Indian aad Ceylon planters, you correotly say that 
their efforts at Chicago represent the first really 
powerful attempt to force consumption in a fresh 
market. But this is not the first of such attempts. In 
addition to a great many isolated private efforts made 
by Indian and Ceylon planters, and by commercial 
