30b 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Nov.  r,  1892. 
Jaffna,  February  9,  1892. — Returned  to  Jaffna 
last  night  after  making  an  inspection  of  a part  of 
the  town  of  Point  Pedro  which  is  being  cleaned  up 
and  cleared  of  the  mess  left  by  the  late  floods,  Mr. 
Strong’s  fibre  factory,  and  extending  the  warrants 
of  the  police-vitanais.  Mr.  Strong  is  agent  for 
Messrs.  Vavaseur  & Co.,  who  introduced  the  new 
palmirah  fibre  industry,  which  no  doubt  has  given 
the  people  of  the  peninsula  and  islands  about 
R100,000 — 300*  tons  of  fibre  having  been  exported  last 
year.  At  the  same  time  it  cannot  be  denied  that 
the  trees  are  being  injured  by  the  manner  in  which 
the  stalks  are  torn  off. 
Mr.  Strong’s  factory  is  well  worth  a visit.  It  is 
very  interesting  to  see  the  processes  gone  through 
in  cleaning,  sorting,  and  packing  the  fibre  ; most  of 
the  work  appears  to  be  done  by  women,  of  whom  a 
large  force  is  employed  by  Mr.  Strong.  Messrs. 
Vavasseur  & Co.  paid  at  first  16  cents  a pound  for 
the  fibre  ; they  now  only  pay  11  cents.  The  fibre 
is  now  purchased  up  in  the  bazaars  and  villages  by 
petty  traders  and  hawkers,  chiefly  Moors,  who  bring 
it  to  the  agents  of  the  firm  in  Jaffna  and  Point  Pedro  ; 
they  pay  from  6 to  9 cents  a lb.  for  it. 
The  following  is  the  quantity  and  value  of  palmirah 
fibre  shipped  from  the  different  ports  of  the  Pro- 
vince for  Colombo  in  1891  : — 
Quantity.  Value. 
Cwt.  qr.  lb.  R.  c. 
Jaffna  . . 1,942  0 17  19,629  20 
Kayts  ..  150  3 8 2,070  0 
Kankesanturai . . 3,129  3 1 51,380  0 
Point  Pedro  . . 3,806  1 0 49,480  0 
Total..  9,028  3 26  122,559  20f 
NATAL  TEA  INDUSTRY. 
LIST  OF  ESTATES. 
How  the  tea  industry  is  satisfactorily  progressing 
in  this  colony  is  well  illustrated  by  the  particulars 
given  below.  The  total  estimated  acreage  is  1,900 
acres ; out-turn  for  1891-2,  360,0001b  , being  a short 
crop  owing  to  the  long  drought.  The  estimated  out- 
turn for  1892-3  is  560,0001b.,  of  course,  assuming  that 
the  planters  have  a good  season.  It  will  probably 
not  be  known  to  many,  even  in  Natal,  that  there  are 
so  many  growers  of  tea,  or  so  many  tea-gardens,  in 
the  colony  as  the  subjoined  list  shows.  Those 
opposite  whose  name  an  asterisk  appears  make  their 
own  tea : — 
•Kearsney — J.  Liege  Hulett,  m.l.c.') 
Kirly  Vale — Ditto 
Island  Farm — W.  Clayton 
Michelham — B.  Baloombe 
Glenwood — G.  Clayton  | K>a”sney 
Sprouston — T.  Peachey  )>Central 
Merindol — Capt.  Malan  1 Factory. 
Tsivundu— H.  Balcombe  | 
Highlands  - Sohram 
Balgownie — Sime 
Ashley  Hill — F.  Thring  I 
Oecan  Lodge — Behrmann  J 
•Bulwer,  Jas.  Hulett,  1 Teas  made  at  Bulwer  ; 
junior  > but  sorted,  sifted,  and 
Orwell — Capt.  Barker  J 
•Aroma— Ladyboer 
Hermmelo — Oolonbrander 
’Clifton— W.  R.  Hindson. 
*0obham — Ditto. 
•Nonoti — Ditto. 
•Simton — Ki  tob  ie. 
•Bonnie  Doon — Davis  (changed  hands— now  Mr. 
Flower). 
packed  at  Kearsney, 
| Aroma,  C. 
* I have  since  ascertained  that  the  quantity  exported 
is  450  tons,  and  its  value  over  11122,600. 
+ Of  this  R62,000,  at  least,  has  gone  into  the  hands 
ol  the  poor  people  who  extracted  the  fibre,  and  the 
rest  into  the  hands  of  the  middlemen,  hawkers, 
and  agents.  All  those  bringing  fibre  for  sale  whom 
I have  questioned  on  the  subject  have  informed  me 
that  they  received  9 cents  a lb.  I am  told,  however, 
that  7 and  8 cents  only  have  been  paid  by  Moorish 
traders  in  the  more  distant  villages. 
*Upfon  Park — Robbins. 
♦Prospect— Brickhill. 
•Barrow  Green,  Bisset. 
*Ruthville — Aiken. 
♦Bozaino — P.  Wilson  (not  started  manufacturing  yet). 

TEA  INDUSTRY  IN  NATAL. 
A SUCCESSFUL  CONCERN. 
PRIVATE  COMPANY  FLOATED. 
Mr.  Hindson,  whose  name  is  so  familiar  in  connec- 
tion with  tea-growing  in  this  country,  returned  to  the 
colony  yesterday,  after  a visit  to  England.  While 
there  he  succeeded  easily  in  floating  a private  com- 
pany, with  a capital  of  £50,000  in  £10  shares,  to 
carry  on  the  business  of  tea  and  coffee  merchants  and 
planters,  and  the  style  adopted  is  that  of  W.  R. 
Hindson  & Co.  The  concern  is  not  a speculative 
one,  the  whole  of  the  capital  being  privately  sub- 
scribed, with,  in  addition,  £12,000  in  debentures, 
and  none  of  the  shares  can  be  sold  for  seven  years. 
The  object  of  the  company  is,  of  course,  to  pro- 
mote extension  of  the  enterprise,  and  that  there 
is  ample  scope  is  sufficiently  apparent  from  the 
following  facts.  There  are  three  estates,  viz., 
Clifton,  Cobham,  and  Nonoti,  on  which  there  are 
450  acres  under  tea,  16  under  coffee,  and  with  other 
products  the  total  cultivated  area  is  500  acres.  The 
whole  area  of  the  estates  is  3300  acres.  The  output 
of  tea  for  the  past  year  totalled  80,0001b.,  and  it  is  ex- 
pected the  yield  for  the  season  1892-93  will  be  100,000 
lb.  Mr.  Hindson  (through  Mr.  R.  W.  Evans,  of  West 
Street,  the  company’s  agent)  has  been  singular’y  suc- 
cessful in  disposing  of  his  tea  in  the  local  market.  In- 
deed, it  is  very  doubtful  whether  the  supplies  will  last 
till  the  new  season's  teas  come  in.  One  reason  for  the 
growing  popularity  of  this  Natal  tea  is  doubtless  due 
to  the  fact  that  none  is  sent  to  the  market  until 
it  has  matured  for  three  or  four  months.  As 
colonists,  taking  an  interest  in  our  colonia 
products,  it  is  exceedingly  gratifying  to  note  the 
favour  with  which  Natal  tea  has  been  received  both 
in  the  colony  and  by  the  neighbouring  states.  Mr. 
Hindson  had  further  proof  of  the  excellent  quality 
of  his  own  growth  while  in  London.  He  took  with 
him  about  170  lb.  of  tea  of  different  qualities,  which 
were  put  on  to  the  Mincing  Lane  market,  with 
the  result  that  the  commonest  kind  was  valued  at 
7d,  and  the  highest  at  14d,  brokers’  prices — this 
in  a market  where  the  average  quotations  for  teas 
from  Ceylon  and  India  was  not  above  9Jd.  It  will, 
therefore,  be  seen  that  the  newly-formed  company 
has  good  prospects.  The  first  subscribers  are : — 
Messrs.  J.  W.  Arrowsmith,  J.  F.  Browth,  J.  Brown, 
J.  Adams,  and  J.  R.  Pascoe,  and  there  are  to  be  not 
less  than  three  or  more  than  seven  directors.  The 
first  are  the  gentlemen  above  named,  who  are  per- 
manent directors,  their  qualification  being  £5,000 
each.  Subsequent  directors’  qualification  is  £510. 
Remuneration  is  to  be  fixed  by  the  company  in 
general  meeting. 
NATAL  TEAS. 
In  our  references  to  the  formation  of  a company 
to  work  Clifton  and  other  tea  estates  we  omitted  to 
mention  that  Mr.  W.  R.  Hindson,  the  original  owner, 
is  in  the  list  of  subscribers,  and  that  he  is  the 
managing  director,  a post  he  undertakes  to  retain 
for  seven  years.— Natal  Mercury , Aug.  17th. 
NOTES  ON  PRODUCE  AND  FINANCE. 
It  Can  Be  Done — Indian  tea  planters  have  good 
reason  to  know  that  the  retader  plays  a very  impor- 
tant part,  not  only  as  a distributor  of  produoe,  but 
in  pushing  certain  articles,  if  he  be  so  minded.  At 
one  time  the  grocer,  having  decided  that  tea  should 
come  from  China,  and  that  it  was  very  wrong  of 
th6  oonsumer  to  desire  the  teas  of  India,  preferred 
to  sell  Indian  tea  blended  with  China.  Later  on, 
when  the  consumer  insisted  on  having  his  Indian  tea 
pure,  the  grocer  krndly  gave  way,  and  the  result  is 
that,  owing  to  the  magnitude  of  the  trade  in  In 
djan  and  Ceylon  teas,  China  is  practically  out  0 
