June i, 1895.] THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
797 
TEA PUBLIC SALE CONDITIONS — 
CLAUSE 4. 
To the Editor of the Home and Colonial Mail. 
Sib, — We consider the hearty thanks of the trade 
are due to Messrs. Hawes and Co. for the way in 
which they have ventilated the above subject. People 
unconnected with the tea trade could never credit the 
slipshod and unbusinesslike way in which the trade 
is conducted ; for instance, would it be believed that 
for a public auction comprising tiOO samples lying at 
differenc warehouses (some two miles from each other) 
there is no actual rule as to a latest time when tast- 
ing samples should be " on show " to admit of the 
parcels being eligible for sale ? Yet such is the fact. 
We recently sent our sampler four times to a ware- 
house in Wapping for an invoice of Assam teas which 
were printed for sale on the following Monday. The 
last call our boy made was on the Saturday at 
2 o'clock. 
" Not ready," was the cool reply. 
This invoice was actually sola on Monday at 12 
o'clock at a halfpenny under its value, simply be- 
cause dealers could not obtain the samples. The 
owner of the tea no doubt commented to his selling 
broker upon the low prices realised, little knowing 
that 90 per cent, of the buyers had never seen 
the goods at all. This is an extreme case, but there 
are hundreds of such cases occurring every week of 
the same kind, though the degree may vary some- 
what. Many merchants think to protect their in- 
terests upon this point by seeing that samples are 
up from the warehouse, little knowing that ware- 
housemen persistently send up samples to the selling 
broker and to them and then laugh up their sleeve 
and have no packages in the show-room for two days 
afterwards. 
Now what does such a rotten system as this mean 
to the trade ? 
The grower gets lower prices (often a halfpenny 
les .) all round against which the most he can gain 
ic one week r interest on money. 
The scllhv; broker baa 10 bear the brunt of dozens 
of cornnlainr from the trade, and is blamed by his 
merchant foi not having made a good sale. 
The buying broker has to keep a staff of samples 
twice as large as would be required under any rational 
system, and he is constantly buying lots which run 
quite irregularly in consequence of the bulking having 
6een scamped. The dealers and shippers also have 
their sampling expenses doubled and are unable to 
obtain delivery of what they buy. As a consequence 
shippers frequently miss important steamers, and in 
some instances have the tea rejected in a foreign 
port because shipment was not made by the first 
steamer. Now, we believe that all these evils are 
the natural result of Clause 4. Years ago 
Olause -1 only insisted upon delivery of goods within 
seven days, but this monstrous proposition became 
too much for the unbusinesslike tea trade, and dealers 
made a big stand against it, insisting that tea should 
be ready " on the day of sale." A big fight was made 
between the brokers' and dealers' associations upon 
this point, and after some weeks of wrangling the 
present ridiculous Clause 1 was agreed upon, which 
practically reads as follows : " We will give you de- 
livery upon the day of sale if required and if we can ; 
if we cannot it matters little, as we are only compelled 
to deliver upon the fourth day." In practice, as all 
dealers know too well, most deliveries are only made 
within the last legal hour. 
When the dealers made a stand about Clause 4 
they should have settled the matter for ever by 
insisting on delivery within one hour after sale, not 
only of tho weight notes but of the warrants too, 
and any selling broker who is unable tu give the 
warrants against payment offered within one hour after 
sale should be liable to have the parcel rejected. 
All these sale conditions, trade customs, and 
arbitrations are very interesting in their way. bat 
it would be far more so to see a sturdy buyer 
take a case to a court of law, in which ho has 
bought a certain lot, has offered his money directly 
aftor sale, and has been refused delivery. It is 
100 
quite a question whether such a buyer could not 
compel delivery under penalties, be the interpreta- 
tion of Clause 4 what it may. 
Criticism is all very well, but unless one has a 
remedy to propose it does not amount to much. 
We believe that all the foregoing troubles would 
cease if all teas had to be bulked, weighed, inspected, 
and coopered up before the catalogue was issued:. The 
selling brokers should send particulars of the pro- 
posed lots for auction to the warehousekeeper, and 
until he returned the same with endorsement that 
the above overations are finished, it should be agreed 
in the trade that the catalogue does not go into 
print. 
No catalogue should be issued at a less interval 
than the third morning before sale. This would 
cure all evils, but if considered too radical, then 
the dealers should combine to have a small office 
in Mincing Lane in telephonic communication with 
each warehouse. No lots to be by them considered 
as "on show" until they have been notified to that 
effect ; and if Monday's teas are not so notified by 
the previous Thursday evening, or Tuesday, by Friday 
evening, or Wednesday's by noon on Saturday, or 
Thursday's by Monday evening, the lot or lots not 
so notified should be struck out of sale and not be 
offered for by any dealer. 
There is another remedy which is much the best 
of all. The growers, brokers, and dealers should 
form an association, sharing expenses, and should 
obtain a very large floor in the vicinity of Mincing 
Lane, to which show packages of all tea should be 
sent by the warehousemen, such packages to be de- 
livered at times described above, or shut out of the 
sale. We believe any of these reforms would save 
the trade quite £5,000 a year. When business could 
be done smoothly and easily, why go through all 
this unnecessary wear and tear ? — Yours faithfully, 
Shippers. — //. C. Mail. 
CEYLON TEA PLANTATIONS COMPANY. 
This is the most important of the Ceylon tea com- 
panies, and it has been unusually prosperous, divi- 
dends at the rate of 15 per cent having been dis- 
tributed each year since its start. Unfortunately, in 
spite of this record, the information supplied by the 
reports is meagre compared with the figures of even 
an average Indian company. An improvement, how- 
ever, was seen in the report for 1893, which gave a 
few details as to average yield and selling prices 
since 1887, when the Company was formed. These 
figures we tabulate below, with a few other interest- 
ing details : — 
Year. Mature Yield per Sale price Net 
acreage. acre. of tea. profit 
lb. d. £ 
1887.. 1,251 403 130 13,3(56 
1888.. 1,405 394 10"5 10,011) 
1889.. 2,773 338 11 0 22.593 
1890.. 3.947 387 11 0 30 284 
1891 . . 5,l(iS 414 9-27 31 *)5 
1892.. 0,584 876 9 38 38,018 
1893.. 7,167 419 8'86 44,073 
Capital. 
' -1 Dividend on 
Ordinary. Preference. Ordinary. 
Year. 
1887.. 
i88S. . 
1889.. 
1890.. 
1891 . . 
1892.. 
1893.. 
£ 
75,090 
76,190 
122,040 
143,970 
146,590 
147,140 
167,380 
30,000 
70,000 
73,440 
81,080 
15 
15 
15 
15 
15 
15 
15 
The Preference Shares receive 7 per cent interest, 
and must be an admirable investment at present! 
The ratio of profit has well-nigh kept pace with the 
increase in capital, which is a very good record; but 
we have no information as to how much develop- 
ment in the past has been met from revenue, and 
how much by capital issues. Some £80,000 has' been 
placed to reserve from revenue, and £4,984 from 
premiums upon new shares, and of this £12,569 is 
invested separately in high-class securities. In addi- 
tion, some £14,042 has been written off for depre- 
ciation, of which sum $6,976 camo from premiums 
