144 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST 
[August  i,  1892. 
we  quote  what  olir  contemporary,  alluded  to  above 
has  to  say  on  tbe  subject,  ana  with  which  we  en- 
tirely agree:  — 
“We  ODce  more  ask  our  tea  planting  brethren  to 
realise  the  fact  that  they  have  a big  chance  in 
front  of  them  which  one  aud  all  should  combine  to 
back  up.  We  do  not  hold  a brief  for  the  Agency 
houses,  but  are  purely,  ns  we  ever  have  becri,  tbe 
advocate  of  planting  enterprise.  Unity  is  strength, 
and  disaffection  the  worst  of  weakness.  What  Oeylou 
has  done,  sorely  India  can  do  ten  times  over.  China 
tea  is  getting  more  and  more  out  of  favour  every- 
where. Ceylon,  in  a very  few  years,  wi'l  have 
to  meet  the  heavy  handicap  of  an  overstrained  soii, 
and  now  or  never  is  the  time  for  us  all  to  unite 
in  advertising  and  pushing  Indian  tea,  and  not  to 
wait  till  worse  times,  brought  on  by  our  own  inani- 
tion stop  Banks’  coffers  from  flowing,  and  Age-fs 
close  advances  to  all  but  gardens  with  monied  pro- 
prietors bfhind  them.  Let  all  and  each  connected 
with  the  industry  put  their  hands  in  their  pockets, 
Proprietors,  Companies,  Agents,  Shipping-Companies, 
Managers,  Assistants  and  all;  and  while  we  are  about 
it,  do  the  th  ng  well,  and  if  America  can  be  opened 
out  as  a market  for  Indian  tea,  let  it  be  no  fault 
of  those  interested  if  it  be  not  tbrroughly  tapped." 
The  following  remarks  by  the  London  correspon- 
dent of  a contemporary — which  have  an  indirect 
bearing  on  the  matter  rei'ei red  to  obove-will  be  read 
with  somewhat  mingled  feelings: — 
“ Much  surprise  has,  been  caused  in  England  at 
tbs  apparent  indifference  of  the  Government  of  India 
to  the  advantage  of  advertising  Indian  products  at 
the  forthcoming  American  Exhibition.  The  matter 
has  been  taken  up  in  Parliament  by  General  Golds- 
worthy, the  Conservative  Member  for  the  Hammer- 
smith division,  who  will  fsk  Mr.  Curzou  fora  little 
information.  The  gallant  Member  in  the  first  instance 
inquires  whether  India  is  to  be  represented  at 
Chioago,  and  if  so,  whether  the  Government  of  India 
proposes  to  give  a grant-in-aid.  There  is  a rumor 
abroad  that  the  Americans  themselves  rather  tban 
leave  India  out  altogether  are  prepared  to  vote 
£20,000  to  securing  exhibits  from  our  Eastern  Empire, 
but  I mention  the  report  under  reserve." — 31,  Mail, 
July  1st. 
THE  CEYLON  TEA  INDUSTBY. 
A dozen  years  ago  Ceylon  appeared  to  be  in  a very 
bad  way.  Disease  had  killed  tbe  coffee  industry,  mul- 
titudes of  the  planters  were  ruined,  vast  amounts  of 
capital  were  lost,  and  land  was  almost  unsaleable.  It 
looked  then  as  if  tbe  future  of  the  island  would  be  a 
gloomy  one;  but  the  planters  were  aroused  to  new  endea- 
vours. They  substituted  tea  for  coffee,  and  their  suc- 
cess bas  been  ono  of  the  most  marvellous  in  recent 
economic  history.  So  late  as  1881  Ceylon  sent  to  tbe 
United  Kingdom  barely  lg  million  lb.  of  tea,  out  of  a 
total  consumption  of  over  175  million  lb.  Practically 
that  is  to  say,  Ceylon  supplied  only  about  1 per  oenf. 
of  tbe  total  consumption.  Last  year  Ceylon  sent  us 
very  nearly  51i  million  lb.  of  tea,  cut  of  a total  con- 
sumption of  202A  million  lb.;  so  that  whereas  in  1884 
we  got  only  about  1 per  cent,  of  our  tea  from  Cey- 
lon, 66ven  years  later  we  got  about  25  per  cent.  Her 
supplies  to  us  have  been  iu  the  interval  multplied 
about  thirty-five  times.  She  has  made  all  this  extra, 
ordinary  progress  at  tbe  cost  of  China.  In  1884  China 
sent  ns,  in  round  figures,  uearly  111  million  lb.  of  tea; 
last  year  she  sent  ns  only  about  491  million  lb. — 
that  is  to  say, while  in  1884  Chiua  sent  us  about  seventy 
five  times  as  much  tea  as  Ceylon,  last  year  she 
actually  sent  us  less.  Our  purchases  from  Ceylon 
in  the  intervening  seven  years  were  multiplied 
about  thirty. five  times,  while  our  purchases  from 
China  fell  off  more  than  50  per  cent.  That  is  a 
marvellous  record  of  progress.  It  shows  how  much  may 
be  accomplished  by  courage,  skill,  enterprise,  and  capital 
and  it  encourages  very  great  hopes  for  the  future  of 
Ceylon.  Of  course,  tea  is  ruinously  cheap  at  present.  It 
is  not  likely  that  tbe  Chinese  would  allow  themselves 
to  bo  driven  from  the  British  market  without  a 
stiuggle.  Tbey  are  fighting  desperately,  and  in  their 
c mpciition  they  have  forced  pricis  down  ruinously. 
The  Chinese  teas,  however,  have  fallen  rou'-h  more 
than  either  the  Indian  or  the  Ceylon  tea-.  But  as 
tbe  figures  cited  above  stow  that  China  bas  been 
utterly  defeated,  and  Ceylon  is  decisively  victorious, 
for  the  future  there  can  be  no  doubt  at  all  of  the  result 
of  the  struggle,  and  there  can  be  equally  little  doubt 
that  there  will  be  an  improvement  iu  prices. 
Taking  India  and  Ceylon  together,  we  get  now  over 
70  per  cent,  of  cur  tea  from  those  two  countries,  and, 
as  shown  above,  we  get  about  25  per  cent,  from 
Ceylon  alone.  China  bas  fallen  to  quite  an  unimpor- 
tant position.  But  outside  of  the  United  Kingdom 
there  is  a vast  scope  for  Indian  and  Oevh  n en- 
terprise. It  is  roughly  estimated  that  tbe  consump- 
tion of  tea  outside  of  the  British  Empire  is  about 
250  million  lb.  per  annum:  that  is  to  say,  the  consump- 
tion outside  of  the  Briti-b  Empire  is  larger  than  the 
consumption  of  tbe  Unite  1 Kingdom.  This  vast  market 
has  yet  to  be  conquered  by  India  aod  Ceylon, 
and  there  is  little  reason  to  doubt  that  it  will  be  con- 
quered. The  Ceylon  planters  are  pushing  their  trade 
in  Australasia,  and  they  have  now  made  up  their 
minds  to  push  it  also  in  the  United  States.  They 
have  secured  a good  position  at  the  Chicago  Exhibi- 
tion. On  the  Continent  also  they  are  intent  upon 
competing;  and  as  they  have  so  completely  wod  at 
home  there  seems  no  reason  to  doubt  tbet  they  will 
win  abroad.  Of  course  it  is  hardly  probable  that  tea 
will  become  as  favoured  an  article  of  food  abroad 
as  it  is  in  this  country.  But  its  use  may  be  greatly 
extended  aDd  even  if  it  is  not  extended,  the  dis- 
placement of  Chinese  tea  by  British-grown  would 
mean  an  enormous  increase  in  the  demand  for  Ceylon 
and  Indian  tea.  Therefore  the  prospeot  is  that  the 
production  of  tea,  both  in  Ceylon  snd  in  India,  will 
be  augmented  year  by  year,  that  the  tea  plantations 
will  rise  in  value,  and  th  *t.  consequently  investment 
in  tea-planting  seems  a favourable  outlet  just  now. 
The  very  depression  is  itself  an  advantage.  In  the 
first  place,  the  low  prices  compel  the  planters  to  exert 
themselves  to  the  utmost  to  make  known  their  wares 
aud  to  gain  a foothold  in  new  markets  ; and  in  the 
second  place,  the  depression  in  the  trade  enables  the 
investor  to  place  his  money  on  better  terms  than  be 
oc.nid  do  if  the  immediate  prospects  were  brilliant. — 
Money. 
The  Japan  Tea  Season.— From  the  commencement 
of  the  new  tea  season  up  to  the  14th  inst.  13,106,600 
l;in  (one  Jein=  13  lb.)  of  tea  arrived  in  Y’okohama 
from  the  interior,  and  12  575, > 00  kin  were  sold 
to  foreign  merchants.  Tbe  tea  trade  returns  of 
the  port  for  the  15th  were: — Arrivals,  190,00  • kin; 
and  sales,  228  900  kin. — Japa/i  Weely  Mail,  June  18. 
Malacca  Tea. — There  have  been  submitted  some 
specimens  of  tea  grown  in  Malacca  by  Tan  Hin 
Guan,  a Chinese  cultivator  of  tapioca  and  many 
ether  products.  This  Malacca  tea  is  prepared  after 
tbe  Chinese  fashion,  and  has,  of  course,  the  flavour 
that  we  associate  with  China  tea.  It  is  of  good 
quality,  and  is  wholesome  and  pure ; and  might 
with  advantage  be  put  upon  the  European  market 
in  the  Straits. — Straits  Times. 
Eucalyptus  in  Cape  Colony. — The  eucalyptus, 
which  now  forms  a prominent  feature  in  Cape 
scenery,  wss  introduced  into  the  ColoDy  by  James 
Backhouse,  a Quaker  missionary,  who  paid  a visit 
to  the  Cape  in  order  to  look  up  the  various  mission- 
stations  in  1838,  and  brought  with  him  seed  from 
whioh  the  first  tree  was  raised  in  a garden  behind 
the  market-place  at  Graham’s  Town,  iu  the  Eastern 
Province.  Sir  Lowry  Cole,  duriDg  his  term  of 
office  as  Governor  of  tbe  Cape,  brought  six  or 
eight  young  plants  from  Mauritius,  two  of  which 
are  still  standing  in  the  Botanic  Gardens.  Thus 
far,  eucalyptus  oil  bas  not  yet  been  distilled  in 
South  Africa  for  commercial  purposes. — Chemist 
and  Druggist, 
