Oct.  i,  1892.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST; 
239 
colon’es,  which  took  six  million  lb.  last  year.  Now 
it  has  resolved  to  seek  possession  of  the  United  States 
market  by  taking  advantage  of  the  comiDg  Chicago 
EihibitioD.  The  Tea  Districts  Association  in  London 
is  to  co-operate  with  it.  The  great  firms  of  Calcutta 
and  gardens  of  Assam  have  rated  themselves  so  as  to 
raise  large  funds  for  this  purpose,  and  for  a through 
system  of  advertising  the  merits  of  Indian  tea.  But 
it  is  felt  in  Assam  itself  that  Government  ought  no  ( 
longer  to  neglect  the  development  of  the  resources, 
by  public  works,  of  a province  which  may  now  be 
described  as  a Sooto-Irish  colony.  Mr.  P.  Playfair 
at  the  recent  annual  meeting,  reminded  the  Go- 
vernment that  the  late  Lord  Napier  of  Hag- 
dala  most  appropriately  called  the  province  of 
Assam  the  Elen  of  India;  yet  it  is  still  a laud 
of  roadless  jungle,  at  least  on  the  south  or  Soorma 
Valley  side.  The  Brahmapootra  with  its  affluents 
— the  third  river  in  India  next  to  the  Ganges  and 
the  Indus — supplies  with  a splendid  natural  highway, 
but  there  is  no  oiviiised  means  of  reaching  if,  or, 
of  dispatching  from  its  steamers  the  labour  and 
the  goods  which  its  waters  can  carry  up  to  the  very 
frontier  of  China  from  Caloutta.  “ The  manner 
in  which  large  factories  have  been  established  and 
equipped  with  heavy  machinery  transported  through 
jungle  and  across  roadless  tracts,  is  nothing  short 
of  a marvel,”  said  Mr.  Playfair.  The  late  census 
reveals  tho  number  of  Christians  in  Assam  and  North 
Luehai  as  16,884,  not  many  of  whom  are  natives  as 
yet.  At  last  there  is  a prospect  of  the  early  opening 
of  the  Chittagong- Assam  railway  Work  is  to  be  begun 
by  Mr  Buyers,  the  contractor,  simultaneously  all 
along  the  sections  from  Chittagong  by  Comilla  to 
Silcbar,  and  the  completion  of  the  line  in  three  years 
is  promised.  What  is  wanted  besides  that  is  an  ex- 
tension of  the  Central  Bengal  Railway  beyond  Jessor 
through  Madaripura  to  a point  opposite  Chandpur, 
where  the  train  could  be  ferried  across  the  great 
river,  so  that  the  produoe  of  Assam,  Cacbar  and 
Sylhet  may  reach  ship  at  Caloutta  without  breaking 
bulk.  The  rivalry  of  India  and  Ceylon  in  their  eff  rta 
“ to  make  the  Americans  drink  cur  tea”  will  givens 
a prscticT  interest  in  the  Chicago  Exhibition  , and 
we  wish  both  the  most  oomplete  success.  The  pro- 
duce of  Ceylon  must  always  be  limited  by  its  small 
area,  but,  as  the  great  firms  of  North-Eastern  India 
boast,  the  resources  of  Assam  and  tho  Hima- 
layas are  capable  of  prorinoiDg  the  world’s  con- 
sumption of  tea  as  it  is  at  present  known,  as 
regards  both  the  quality  and  the  quantity  required. 
Certainly  the  Scoto-Irish  settlement  of  Assam  has 
a great  future,  to  which  Lord  Landeown9  and  his 
successors  should  do  justice,  too  long  delayed. — 
Scotsman,  July  13. 
■ — 
QUALITY  IN  TEA. 
Quality  in  Tea  may  be  said  to  be  the  question  of  the 
honr  in  Ceylon,  and  it  is  one  that  has  to  be  approached 
with  oare.  Numerous  complaints  from  many  quarters 
have  reached  Colombo  that  the  quality  of  Ceylon  tea 
is  deteriorating,  and  sweeping  assertions  are  often  in- 
dulged in  that  this  is  a Bure  sign  that  the  soil  is  be- 
coming exhausted,  and  that  unless  heavy  manuring  is 
constantly  practised,  the  history  of  the  tea  industry  in 
that  Island  is  likely  to  be  but  a repetition  of  the  history 
of  the  cinchona  industry.  Such  sweeping  assertions 
oan  only  bn  ascribed  to  ignoranoe,  because  though,  un- 
doubtedly , the  average  quality  of  Ceylon  tea  is  not  as  high 
as  it  used  tote  many  estates  continue  to  export  leaf 
not  a whit  inferior  than  when  the  tea  bushes  were  two 
or  three  years  younger,  nnd  on  other  estates  it  has  beeu 
found  more  profitable  to  pay  less  attention  to  quality 
than  to  qnantity.  On  tho  other  hand,  there  is  but  little 
doubt  that  in  the  rush  that  followed  tbe  successful 
cultivation  of  tea  in  CeyloD,  a large  number  of  acres 
were  opened  out  in  a reckless  mauner,  and  by  men 
devoid  of  capital,  who  have  been  unable  to  bestow  on 
them  the  cultivation  that  the  bushes  required.  To 
this  fact  is  in  no  small  measure  due  tbe  abuse  that  is 
being  freely  showered  on  Ceylon,  and  it  will  be  to 
the  advantage  of  the  te>  industry  in  general,  and 
CeyloD,  in  particular,  when  such  gardens  have  re- 
turned again  to  jungle.  Besides  this,  and  it  is  a fact 
that  mnst  not  be  lost  sight  of,  there  is,  undoubtedly, 
Eome  constituent  in  soil  which  has  never  before 
known  tea,  which  produces  certain  qualities  in  the 
cup,  which  land  two  or  three  years  under  cultivation 
cannot  furnish.  This  was  the  case  in  Ceylon,  and 
again  in  Travancore,  and  when  early  consignments 
of  tea  from  both  these  countries  were  put  in  the 
London  market,  the  most  common  phrase  to 
be  met  with  in  brokers’  reports  was  that  6iiah 
teas  were  n t to  be  met  with  anywhere  else. 
Whether  these  qualities  were  due  merely  to  tbe 
taster’s  imagination  or  in  reality  to  something  in 
the  soil,  which  becomes  exhausted  after  a short  while, 
is  a question  which  hardly  needs  asking,  but  because 
an  estate  cannot  continue  to  produce  fancy  qualities 
for  a long  Eeries  of  seasons,  it  does  not  follow,  by 
any  meanB,  that  with  proper  cultivation,  good  machi- 
nery and  careful  superintendence,  its  produce  will 
not  continue  to  be  of  very  high  excellence. 
There  is  hut  little  doubt  that  there  are  many  ep- 
tates  in  Southern  India  where  cot  nearly  sufficient 
attention  is  paid  to  quality  and  where,  with  more 
care  and  intelligence,  prices  might  be  considerably 
improved.  A Ceylon  contemporary  writes  ; — “The 
quality  of  tea — that  is  to  say,  its  main  characteristics 
— are  snbjeet  to  but  Blight  control  ; they  are  inhe- 
rent in  the  leaf  itself  when  it  is  plucked  and, 
though  they  may  be  modified,  they  cannot  be  eradi- 
cated.” We  do  not  question  the  truth  of  this  for 
an  instant,  but  it  happens  not  unfrequently  that 
blame  is  cast  on  the  inherent  quality  of  the  leaf, 
which  rests  rightly  on  the  factory.  It  may  sound 
somewhat  foolish  to  ask  how  many  managers 
and  superintendents  really  know  what  is  the  inhe- 
rent quality  of  the  leaf  they  grow,  what  is  due  to 
climate  influences,  and  what  characteristics  can  be 
modified  or  controlled.  It  is  only  by  tasting  daily 
for  several  years  that  this  knowledge  can  be  arrived 
at  with  certainty,  and  special  note  has  to  be  taken 
of  the  liquor  at  the  various  seasons  of  the  year,  and 
after  different  works  in  the  field.  But  if  the  manu- 
facture of  tea  can  be  only  brought  to  the  highest 
pitch  of  excellence  after  a man  has  been  cn  an 
estate  for  a number  of  years,  great  improvements 
may  be  made  by  special  care  in  the  manipulation 
of  the  leaf.  Machinery  of  the  best  is  a sine  cjua  non 
if  proprietors  wish  that  the  quality  of  the  tea 
should  be  of  tho  highest,  and  it  is  useless  for  them 
to  expect  big  prioes  when  (heir  factories  are  lum- 
bered with  antiquated  rollers  and  driers.  In  this 
connection  we  cannot  do  better  than  quote  the 
words  of  a well-known  tea-man  of  Colombo,  Mr. 
Francis  Street,  when  writing  a short  time  ago  about 
the  lack  of  quality  in  Ceylon  tea : “ Teas  with 
quality  were  again  conspicuously  absent.  We  have 
never  known  a season  before  when  fine  teas  were  so 
scarce.  Our  home  critics  are  entirely  in  error,  in 
my  opinion,  when  they  attribute  this  falling-off  in 
quility  to  exhaustion  of  the  soil.  In  a very  largo 
majority  of  cases  it  is  due  to  inadequate  factory 
accommodation  and  machinery  for  the  leaf  to  be 
treated,  or  to  some  defect  or  defects  in  .manipulation 
— more  often  tbe  latter.” 
Having  touched  lightly  on  the  effect  of  soil  and 
manufacture  on  the  quality  in  tea,  we  came  to  that 
question  which  has  been  the  cause  of  much  heart, 
burning  in  many  tea-gardens,  both  in  India  and  CeyloD. 
When  should  quality  give  way  to  quantity  ? We, 
of  course,  take  for  granted  that  the  leaf  pos- 
sesses quality,  and  to  this  cud  it  is  of  vital  importance 
that  the  bushes  shou'd  have  been  raised  from  seed 
of  good  jat.  Elevation,  soil,  cultivation  and  manu- 
facture are  powerless  to  turn  out  good  quality  if  the 
jat  be  bad,  snd  we  urge  on  all  who  are  opening  out 
new  tea  estates  to  pay  the  very  greatest  heed  to  this 
point.  But  to  revert  to  the  question  of  quality  and 
quantity,  it  is  merely  a matter  of  pounds,  shillings 
and  pence,  and  so  long  as  the  manager  and  proprietor 
of  a tea  estate  are  identical,  or  both  are  planters, 
we  hear  but  little  of  it,  but  when  it  comes  to  dealing 
