206 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Sept,  i,  1892. 
outlay  and  careful  attention,  rather  than  in  extend- 
ing the  cultivated  area.” 
In  1890  report  it  is  remarked  : — “ During  the 
past  season  it  has  not  been  deemed  advisable 
to  extend  the  area  of  land  planted  with  tea.” 
When  recently  passing  through  some  of  the 
estates  belonging  to  this  Company,  I noticed  very 
considerable  preparations  for  planting  both  forest 
and  [other  land,  when  the  price  of  tea  is  fully  3d 
to  4d  per  lb.  lower  now  than  in  1889  and  1890  1 
Have  the  Directors’  private  and  confidential  in- 
formation that  a boom  in  prices  is  to  be  looked 
for  later  on  ? If  not,  how  do  they  explain  this 
change  in  their  views  ? 
A lot  of  the  land  that  is  now  being  opened,  I 
am  sure,  would  have  been  planted  long  ago,  had 
it  been  left  to  the  visiting  agent  and  managers  of 
the  estates,  and  had  there  been  a practical  Ceylon 
man  on  the  Board  he  would  have  insisted  on 
having  it  done. 
Large  shareholders  should  join  together  and 
insist  on  having  a Managing  Direotor  who  has 
practical  knowledge  of  the  cultivation  of  Ceylon 
estates,  or  I fear  shares  will  become  unsalable. 
After  comparing  this  balance  sheet  with  those 
of  other  companus,  in  whioh  I am  interested, 
I can  only  sign  myself 
A DISGUSTED  SHAREHOLDER. 
WANTING  TO  KNOW  RESULTS  OF 
EXPERIENCE  IN  CEYLON,  IF  ANY.  WITH 
' “ TEA  PLUCKER.” 
Kotagala,  Aug.  16th. 
Dear  Sir, — Some  time  ago,  a circu^r  was  issued 
by  Mr.  E.  B.  Creasy  nlong  with  the  Observer  adver- 
tising a “ Tea  Plucker  ” or  leaf  cutting  shears  for 
tea,  claiming  amongst  other  advantages  that  20 
coolies  with  these  pluckers  could  do  as  much  as 
100  by  hand  that  the  bushes  was  greatly  improved 
etc. 
Will  any  of  your  readers  who  have  used  these 
shears  kindly  give  their  experience  ? 
Heavy  rains  here  at  present. — Yours  faithfully, 
M. 
[We  hope  some  planter  will  be  able  to  answer. 
—Ed.  T.A.~\ 
LOWERED  ESTIMATES  OF  TEA  PRODUCTION. 
Sir — I feel  sure  the  news  you  publish  as  to 
probable  reduction  in  output  of  tea  from  Ceylon 
for  the  current  year  will  be  hailed  with  satisfaction 
by  all  interested  in  its  production. 
The  continrency  that  Ceylon  is  likely  to  run 
“ thirtien  million”  lb.  short  of  your  estimate  should 
help  to  strengthen  the  tone  of  the  London  tea 
market.  This  information  should  be  circulated  and 
sent  all  over  the  world,  as  soon  as  possible,  and 
I feel  6uro  it  will  help  prices  up  a bit. 
From  the  higher  elevations  we  hear  of  oold  winds 
checking  “flush.” 
We  also  bear  of  “ finer  plucking,”  which  means 
reduoed  yield  per  aore. 
Summarizing  these  statements  with  the  figures 
you  have  given  of  quantity  already  harvested,  I 
would  go  lower  than  your  latest  record  and  place 
the  total  yield  for  the  year  from  Ctylon  at 
SEVENTY  MILLION  LB. 
[The  more  generally  accepted  estimate  was  80 
millions,  and  London  brokers  in  their  circulais 
now  mention  70  as  the  revised  estimate.— Ed.  T-A. J 
TEA  IN  KASHMIR. 
(From  a Vocab idan/  of  the  Kashmir  La/n/uar/e,  hi/  IF. 
j.  Elmslie.) 
Chai.  Tea. — Two  kinds  of  tea  find  their  way  into 
the  market  of  Kashmir.  These  are  called  Surati  and 
Sabz.  The  Surati  tea  is  like  English  tea.  The  Sabz 
tea,  on  the  other  hand,  is  the  famous  brick  tea  which 
reaches  Kashmir  by  way  of  Ladak.  The  Surati  tea 
reaches  Kashmir  from  Ladak  and  Panjab. 
There  are  two  ways  of  preparing  tea  in  Kashmir. 
The  first  is  called  Mogul  Chai.  For  every  tola  of 
tea  five  cups  of  water  are  poured  upon  it  in  the  Bho- 
gun  or  teapot.  It  is  then  boiled  for  half  an  hour, 
when  more  cold  water  is  added,  along  with  condiments 
and  sugar,  after  which  it  is  boiled  for  half  an  hour 
more.  Milk  is  then  added.  It  is  now  ready  for  drink- 
ing. The  colour  is  reddish. 
The  second  mode  of  preparing  tea  is  called  Shiri 
Chai.  The  tea  is  placed  in  the  teapot  with  a little  soda 
and  water  and  boiled  for  half  an  hour.  Milk,  salt 
and  butter  are  then  added,  after  which  it  is  boiled 
for  another  half  hour,  when  it  is  ready  for  drinking. 
Tea  imported  from  China  via  L'hassa  is  a state  mono- 
poly. 
Burj. — The  inner  bark  of  the  Betnla  Tartarica.  It 
keeps  out  damp  admirably,  and  so  is  used  as  an 
under  covering  of  the  roofs  of  houses.  It  is  used  as 
paper  for  rolling  up  fruit,  tea,  sugar  and  such  like 
things. 
Drab.  The  Toon  tree  (Cedrela  tooua). 
Tuni.  Do  do. 
Phul.  A salt  used  in  the  infusion  of  tea.  It  is 
found  in  the  Nubra  Valley  in  Ladak.  The  “phul 
contains  the  carbonate  and  the  sulphate  of  soda,  and 
a little  of  the  chloride  of  sodium. 
CONSULAR  REPORTS  : YOKOHAMA. 
Mr.  James  Troup  writes  to  Mr.  Fraser,  H.B.M.’s 
Minister  in  Japan,  on  April  30th,  on  the  trade  of  the 
port  during  the  year  1891,  as  follows  : — 
The  returns  transmitted  are  compiled  from  the 
revised  Customs  returns  ; the  returns  of  shipping 
and  of  foreign  residents  ami  firms  from  information 
supplied  by  the  various  foreign  Consulates  and  by 
the  Customs.  I am  also,  as  last  year,  indebted  to 
the  statistics  compiled  by  the  Yokohama  General 
Chamber  of  Commerce  and  to  private  sources  for 
various  information  respecting  the  course  of  trade 
in  different  articles  during  the  year. 
Exchange. — In  the  valuation  of  imports  the  Customs 
figures  are  converted  into  sterling  at  the  rate  of 
3s.  4d.  per  dollar,  being  the  average  for  the  year  of 
the  quarterly  rates  used  by  the  Customs  in  their 
conversions  from  gold  into  silver  ; in  the  valuation 
of  exports  and  in  other  calculations  in  this  report  the 
dollar  is  taken  as  equal  to  3s.  2g-d.,  being  the  average 
bank  sight  rate  here  for  the  year. 
Gross  Trade.  — The  total  value  of  the  foreign 
trade  of  the  port  for  the  year  amounted 
to  £12,803,455,  being  £4,830,469  value  of  imports, 
and  £7,972,986  value  of  exports.  The  total  value  of 
the  trade  in  1890  was  £12,077,808  being  £6,604,946 
value  of  imports,  and  £5,472,862  value  of  exports.  It 
thus  appears  that  the  total  value  of  the  trade  of  the 
port,  as  expressed  in  gold,  was  last  year  greater  by 
6 per  cent,  than  that  in  1S90  ; that  the  import  trade 
had  decreased  nearly  27  per  cent,  in  value,  and  that 
the  export  trade  had  increased  45  2-3rd  per  cent. 
The  relative  position  of  imports  and  exports  last  year 
was,  it  will  be  observed,  the  reverse  of  that  in  1890, 
exports  figuring  last  year  largely  in  excess  of  imports. 
According  to  the  estimate  of  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce deliveries  of  stable  imports  had  fallen  off  by 
about  7 per  cent.  It  may  further  be  remarked 
that  the  total  value  of  the  trade  of  the  port  last 
year  was  greater  than  in  any  previous  year.  This 
result  arises  from  the  large  export  ; on  the  import 
side  the  trade  was  smaller  than  in  any  year  since  1886. 
Specie  has  been  imported  to  the  value  of  £411,670, 
being  £34  in  gold,  and  £411,636  in  silver;  and  exported 
to  the  value  of  £165,330,  being  £8,912  in  gold  and 
£156,418  in  silver. 
