t HF  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST, 
l25 
August  i,  1892. | 
Green  Tea  ia  the  only  other  article  of  any  importance 
of  which  the  export  appears  to  be  groyning.  In  1890 
the  quantity  exported  had  risen  from  3,244  lb.,  valued 
at  £172,  in  1889,  to  47,641  lb.,  of  the  value  of  £1,617, 
a very  notable  ad,ance;  and  in  1891  there  was  a 
still  further  improvement,  the  export  having  been 
67,261  lb.,  valued  at  £2,521.  This  is  still  far  short 
of  what  the  export  of  this  article  used  to  be  in  the 
early  years  of  loreign  trade  at  this  port,  bnt  it  shows 
a steady  tendency  to  return  to  the  former  level.  Black 
tea,  on  the  other  hand,  continues  to  decline,  the  export 
having  fallen  to  242,470  lb.,  valued  at  £11  363,  from 
256,412  lb.,  valued  at  £13,135  in  1890,  in  which  year 
there  had  already  bi  en  a considerable  fa  II  from  310,133  lb. 
valued  at  £20,278  in  1889.— L.  and  C.  Express,  June  3rd. 

PLANTING  NOTES. 
In  the  Grocer  Mr.  Janies  Llewellyn  Hughes,  once 
a tea  planter,  and  still  kindly  remembered  in  the 
tea  districts  of  India,  points  out  that  from  an  analysis 
of  the  accounts  of  eighty  joint  stock  companies  regis- 
tered in  Calcutta,  and  representing  au  aggregate  in- 
vested capital  of  112,54,58,150,  a total  net  profit  for 
the  year  1891  was  made  of  El, 252, 605,  or  4 88  per  cent, 
on  the  capital.  "This,’’  he  8«ys,  “compares  with 
2 54  per  cent.,  or  larely  2J  per  c uts.,  paid  in  1890 
and  418  per  cent,  in  1889.’’  We  believe  it  is  no  stcre 
that  Mr.  Lloweilyn-Hugues  is  not  enamoured  of  tea 
planting  as  a n muuerative  occupation  aud  he  points 
out  with  something  like  triumph  that  there  were 
eighteeu  companies  that  made  an  actual  loss  of  from 
2 per  cent,  to  3 62  per  cent.  Mr.  Llewellyn-Hughes, 
in  his  reference  to  the  poor  return  paid  by  maDy  of 
these  Calcutta  companies,  omits  to  mention  certain 
gardens,  like  the  Bargang  Company,  Acsam,  the 
Nedeern,  Western  Dooare,  which  have,  aocordmg 
to  the  Pioneer,  paid  steady  dividends  of  20  per  cent, 
and  the  Matelli  Company,  which  has  paid  as  much 
as  40  per  cent,  to  its  shareholders.  But  Mr.  Llewtllyn- 
Hnghes  might  with  advantage  turn  his  attention  to 
the  Loudon  Tea  Companies  lor  the  other  side  of  the 
picture.  A table  supplied  by  Mr.  Ernest  Tye,  giving 
the  results  of  woking  in  1891,  shows  that  the  fifteen 
companies  who  have  published  their  reports,  with  ai. 
aggregate  oaprtal  of  £1.094,057  and  a planted  area  of 
22,814  acres  of  tea  have  realised  net  profits  which 
amount  to  £89,204,  or  equivalent  to  a dividend  of  8 15 
per  cent  on  the  whole  capital  iuvested.  This  indicates 
conclusively,  Mr.  Hughes  notwithstanding,  that,  by 
economy  of  working  and  careful  manufacture  of  really 
good  teas,  tea  planting  in  India  as  an  industry  can 
hold  its  own  aga'nst  any  country,  and  is  not  to  be 
despised  as  a remunerative  investment. 
I am  glad  to  Bee  from  “Planter’s”  letter  that  in 
South  Wynaad  tea  cultivation  is  being  extended.  I 
did  not  feuow  that  the  particular  Cumpany  referred 
to  had  any  intention  of  go  ng  in  for  new  clearings. 
I cm  only  hope  that  their  example  may  be  followed 
by  others  more  timid,  and  still  doubting.  I have  also 
heard  that  activity  in  tea  cultivation  has  again  com- 
menced in  another  part  of  Wynaad.  Very  glad  was 
I to  get  this  nows,  as  it  is  hence  that  I expect  to 
see  the  facts  and  figures  come,  which  shall  convert 
Didymus  and  his  following. 
During  the  year  1891  the  number  of  emigrants 
(coolies  almost  entirely)  from  the  Madras  Presidency 
was  146,554.  This  number  does  not  include  5,203  who 
proceeded  from  the  Gaujam  district  to  Assam.  I men- 
tion these  facts  incidentally,  in  case  any  should  say 
it  is  impossible  to  got  labour  in  Southern  India. — 
“St.  Louis”  in  Madras  Times. 
ANNUAL  REVIEW  OF  INDIAN  AND 
CEYLON  TEA. 
38,  Mincing  Lane,  June  1892. 
The  completion  of  the  twelve  months  ending  31st 
May — which  custom  and  convenience  have  made 
the  limits  of  the  season— affords  an  opportunity  of 
reviewing  the  position,  and  of  publishing,  with  the 
permission  of  Proprietors,  a tabulated  statement  of 
results. 
Progress,  more  or  less  uniform,  marks  the  record. 
A larger  area  under  plant : increased  productiveness 
both  in  India,  and  in  Ceylon : a somewhat  lowered 
cost  of  production : and  a marked  advance  in  con- 
sumption at  home  and  abroad, — stand  on  the  credit 
side  of  the  account.  On  the  other  side  must  be 
set  the  reduced  average  of  market  rates  due  partly 
to  the  fact  that  heavier  crops  have  only  been 
secured  at  some  cost  of  quality,  and  partly 
to  the  movement  in  the  direction  of  lower 
value  which  has  of  late  affected  so  many  other 
kinds  of  imported  produce.  Over-production  there 
certainly  has  not  been,  as  yet ; for  we  carry  forward 
stocks  smaller  by  18  million  lb.  than  existed  10 
years  ago,  on  which  to  work  a business  larger  by 
42  million  lb.  per  annum  than  it  was  then ; and  in 
none  of  the  world's  markets  are  there  supplies  in 
reserve  for  contingencies. 
But  while  there  has  been  progress,  it  has  not  been 
entirely  in  one  direction  : there  have  been  backward 
movements  also,— still,  at  no  time  has  there  been 
stagnation ; and  we  place  on  record  the  growing 
interest  which  attaches  to  Indian  and  Ceylon  tea  as 
a sign  of  vitality  auguring  well  for  the  future. 
The  attention  which  has  been  directed  to  British- 
grown  tea  through  the  public  press — whether  by 
the  accurate  comments  of  the  Chancellor  of  Exchequer 
in  recent  Budget  statements  ; by  those  who  re- 
present the  planting  community  ; or  by  other 
whose  business  it  is  to  gauge  the  public  taste 
and  feed  it  with  lavish  advertisement — beyond 
question  is  a contributory  cause  of  the  life  and 
movement  in  our  markets.  A more  substantial  reason, 
some  think,  is  to  be  found  in  the  policy  adopted 
by  producers  of  selling  with  a free  hand  on  arrival, 
which  practically  compels  those  engaged  in  the  trade 
to  fix  their  attention  on  the  market.  At  times  it  is 
true,  this  cannot  be  done  without  disturbance  of  price, 
but  in  the  long  run  it  attracts  operators  and  retains 
them.  The  seller’s  necessity  is  the  buyer’s  opportunity ; 
and  neither  capital  nor  industry  will  be  drawn  into 
a market  offering  few  chances  for  their  profitable 
employment. 
On  the  other  hand,  there  is  a cause  operating  to 
div  rt  Dealers’  capital,  and  to  lessen  tho  number  of 
those  willing  to  carry  stocks.  We  refer  to  the  gradual 
gravitation  of  the  trade  of  the  country  into  the  hands 
of  great  Co-operative  Societies,  Packet  Companies, 
and  large  retail  distributors  who  make  a speciality  of 
tea.  Their  business  bus  been  acquired  at  the  expense 
of  the  grocer,  and  therefore  of  the  Wholesale  Dealer  ; 
bnt  unlike  the  Dealer  they  are  not,  as  a rule,  stock- 
holders, preferring  to  follow  rather  than  to  anticipate 
the  market.  It  is  obvious  that  this  may  evei  tually 
have  resu  ts  not  yet  contemplated  : it  is,  therefore, 
necessary  for  those  who  realize  the  important 
function  fulfilled  by  the  Dealers  as  holders  of 
sock,  to  consider  how  their  position  can  be 
strengthened,  in  order  that  the  buying  power  of  the 
Trade  may  be  kept  up  to  our  requirements.  The  profit 
divisible  among  those  engaged  in  re-selling  and  dic- 
tributing  is  not  what  it  used  to  be,  and  it  is  unequally 
divided — a very  small  profit  being  made  by  those  who 
strictly  confine  themselves  to  wholesale  trade,  the 
retailer  taking  all  the  test.  This  is  a result  out  of 
proportion  to  the  capital  and  experience  brought  into 
the  business  by  old  and  wealthy  firms  ; and  it  is, 
therefore,  not  surprising  that  some  are  either  retir- 
ing or  ceasing  to  operate  as  formerly  One  difficulty 
is  that  their  purchases  being  ear-marked,  so  to  speak, 
by  the  Public  Salo  record,  excessive  competition  com- 
pels them  to  deal  at  the  barest  margin  of  profit  : the 
remedy  would  seem  to  lie  in  the  development  of 
business  by  private  contract  as  well  as  in  the  Sale 
Re  m.  Some  large  Importers  encourage  this,  others 
prefer  to  keep  entirely  to  Publio  Sale — it  is  a subject 
on  which  opinions  naturally  differ — but  the  volume 
of  supply  is  now  so  vast  that  sellers  could  create  a 
market  outside  the  Auct'on  Room,  and  at  the  same 
time  keep  in  touch  with  the  new  olass  of  buyers  tvho 
have  become  such  an  important  element  in  the  Trade. 
We  pass  from  considerations  which  press  more 
directly  upon  those  whose  duty  it  is  to  safeguard 
