4io 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Dec,  i,  1892. 
introduction  of  Ceylon  tea  into  Amerioa  through 
the  ordinary  channels,  and  that  it  would  be 
necessary  to  ‘‘go  round”  them,  Mr.  May  was 
certainly  right  when  he  said  to  me  : — “ You  don’t 
know  my  countrjmen,  sir,  If  you  did  you  would 
see  that  you  can’t  deal  with  them  as  you  do  with 
Britishers.  My  people  are  peculiar,  you  see.”  It 
is  very  certain  to  my  mind  that  Mr.  May  knows 
what  he  should  do  tar  better  than  anyone  here 
or  in  Ceylon  can  do  or  suggest.  Every  day  seems 
to  bring  to  light  Borne  fact  demonstrating  the  t in 
view  you  have  an  agent  who  does  not  require 
any  diotation  as  to  his  methods  of  working.  As 
he  has  said  he  knows  his  countrjmen,  and  he 
knows,  1 suspeot,  how  to  humbug  them  for 
their  good.  To  do  so  may  be  somewhat  cri- 
tical, but  it  seems  to  be  the  only  way  of  working 
successfully  in  approaohing  Brother  Jonathan, 
who — he  may  say  what  he  likes — hates  all  Britishers 
and  everything  they  produce  in  opposition  to 
him.  But  certain  things  he  must  have,  and  so 
is  willing  to  take  them  if  he  can  obtain  nothing 
of  equal  quality  elsewhere. 
THE  NEW  BROCHUBE  ON  CHINA  VS,  CEYLON  TEA. 
The  pamphlet  sent  you  by  the  last  mail  entitled 
Theine  vs.  Tannin  ” has  been  the  subjeot  of  a 
good  deal  of  conversation  in  various  circles  since 
its  issue.  The  dealers  and  others  interested  in 
China  teas  of  oourse  weloome  it  warmly,  and  predict 
that  it  will  have  much  effect  in  remaking  a taste 
for  China  tea.  This,  however,  is  much  to  be 
doubted  ; for  it  is  hardly  likely  that  the  work  will 
reach  the  hands  of  any  large  number  of  con- 
sumers, its  oircu'ation  being  certain  to  be  almost 
entirely  confined  to  those  who  make  their  living 
by  dealing  with  tea.  And  with  such  the  interests 
they  have  acquired  of  a promising  character  are 
likely  to  weigh  muoh  more  than  any  abstract  ques- 
tions as  to  quality  or  healthfulness.  Besides  this, 
the  fact  is  now  established  that,  rightly  or  wrongly, 
the  public  at  large  will  have  strong  teas,  whether 
the  strength  be  due  to  the  presence  of  an  extra 
quantity  of  tannin  or  not.  That  this  is  so  is  evi- 
denced by  the  prices  attaohed  to  a table  of  analyses 
of  different  qualities  of  tea  drawn  up,  we  hear, 
by  Mr.  John  Hughes.  This  shows  that  tannin 
rules  the  markets,  for  the  rate  of  price  obtained  follows 
the  amount  of  tannin  existing  in  the  various  samples. 
That  there  are  many  whose  digestive  organs  cannot 
stand  the  strong  teas  of  India  and  Ceylon  there 
is  no  manner  of  doubt,  though  if  these 
wou'd  only  drink  first  infusions  and  those  of 
not  longer  than  three  minutes’  duration,  there  is 
every  reason  for  the  belief  that  they  would  not 
suffer  from  after  ill-effects  however  muoh  of  tannin 
may  be  yielded  by  analysis  of  the  tea  they  con- 
sume. 
CEYLON  TEA  : AN  EXPLANATION  BY  THE  WIFE  OF  A CEYLON 
TEA  PLANTER. 
Modern  Society  has  recently  published  a consider- 
able amount  of  correspondence  dealing  with  the 
foregoing  topic,  and  in  its  isEue  for  the  29th  Oct. 
there  appeared  the  following  — 
“ The  wife  of  a Ceylon  Tea  Planter”  writes: — 
“ A copy  of  your  valuable  paper,  Modern  Society, 
dated  Oct.  1st,  having  come  into  my  hands,  I 
note  particularly  the  remarks  of  a correspondent 
in  reply  to  ,an  article  from  ‘ Alice'  of  the  17th  ult. 
Will  you  allow  me  to  say  that  if  ‘Alice’  and 
all  your  readers  will  try  the  Ceylon  and  Indian 
teas  they  will  find  them  perfectly  pure  and  un- 
adulterated. The  tea  after  being  plucked  from  the 
trees  is  prepared  entirely  by  machinery,  and  no 
colouring  matter  is  used,  and  ‘ Alice’  will  find  it 
only  necessary  first  to  warm  the  teapot  with  a 
little  boiling  water,  which  she  should  pour  away, 
then  put  in  the  tea  and  add  boiling  water.  Care 
shoulcl  fre  taken  not  to  allow  the  tea  to  stand  too 
long  on  the  leaves  to  draw  out  the  tannin,  which 
is  most  injurious.” 
THE  FALLING -OFF  IN  THE  QUALITY  OF  CBVL0N  TEA. 
Speaking  with  an  expert  this  week  he  told  me 
he  thought  it  must  be  conceded  that  the  quality 
of  the  Ceylon  teas  now  received  was  distinctly 
below  the  average  of  those  upon  which  the  publio 
taste  for  them  had  been  educated.  He  attributed 
this  falling-off  to  the  larger  proportion  of  low- 
grown  teas  now  reaching  us  from  Ceylon.  In  his 
opinion  these  were  decidedly  inferior  in  every  way 
to  the  teas  grown  at  higher  elevations,  and  ho 
feared  that  the  increasing  yield  of  these  would 
be  likely  to  somewhat  damage  the  publio  estimation 
of  Ceylon  tea.  He  also  thought  that  the  large 
receipt  of  such  growths  had  done  a good  dea  1 
to  depress  prices,  and  deemed  that  it  would  be 
worthy  the  whilo  of  dealers  in  packeted  teas  to 
name  on  the  labels  the  elevation  at  which  these 
were  grown.  He  regarded  this  matter  so  seriously 
that  he  even  went  so  far  as  to  EBy  that  efforts 
should  be  made  to  oheok  the  extension  of  your 
cultivation  of. 
TEA  IN  THE  LOWCOUNTRY. 
and  that  your  Government  should  refuse  to  sell  land 
in  districts  so  situated  unless  a guarantee  be  given 
that  they  should  not  be  devoted  to  tea  planting. 
It  is,  of  course,  out  of  the  question  that  I can 
offer  ycu  advice  in  such  a matter  ; but  really  the 
opinion  expressed  relative  to  the  evil  result 
apparent  from  the  indiscriminate  offering  for  sale 
of  high  and  low  grown  teas  is  so  strong,  that  it 
would  probably  be  well  to  give  some  consideration 
to  the  matter. 
THE  TEA-GROWING  INDUSTRY  IN  BBITISH  INDIA. 
It  quotes  particulars  as  to  thirty-four  companies 
engaged  in  the  pursuit,  and  states  that  of  these 
six  paid  no  dividend  whatever  in  1891,  while  the 
average  result  of  twenty-eight  dividend-payiDg 
concerns  was  a return  of  7-44  per  cent,  represent- 
ing the  mean  between  tte  maximum  17  per  cent 
of  the  Brahmapootra  and  2 per  cent  of  Noakachara. 
In  1890  tweDty-seven  companies  sent  to  market 
23,824,328  lb.  of  prepared  tea,  gathered  from 
55,752  acres.  The  gross  price  reahzed  was  11  9ld 
per  lb.  against  a cost  of  9-33d,  leaving  a profit 
of  2-58d.  In  the  year  following,  1891,  thirty  five 
companies  sent  31,300  259  lb.  to  market,  gathered 
from  69,566  acres.  The  average  price  realized 
was  9.84d  against  a total  cost  of  8-29d,  leaving 
a prtfiD  of  T65d.  The  difference  between  the 
two  years  was  probably  on  a rough  calculation 
about  £100,000,  or  about  3 per  cent  on  the  capital 
all  round.  A comparative  statement  given  shows 
that  in  1890  24  companies  paid  an  average  divi- 
dend of  8 69  per  cent,  three  companies  payiDg  nil. 
In  1891  28  companies  paid  7’44  per  cent,  seven 
oompanies  paying  nil.  The  article  states  that  there 
are  about  sixty  tea  oompanies  working  in  India 
in  tea  cultivation,  and  that  the  sterling  capital 
of  these  aggregates  5£  millions,  with  a debenture 
liability  of  three-quarters  of  a million,  and  owning  a 
cultivated  area  of  about  125.000  acres.  The 
average  production  in  1890  of  27  companies 
was  448  lb.  per  acre,  and  in  1891  for  35  com- 
panies 450  lb.  The  editor  of  the  Capitalist  re- 
marks that  ‘‘the  unevenness  of  results  is  one  of 
the  most  important  points  to  be  investigated  in 
the  search  for  a judicious  purchase.”  He  remarks 
further  that  the  prospects  for  1892  are  muoh 
brighter,  although  there  will  be  a short  field,  and 
he  adds  ‘‘the  rapid  increase  of  production  in  Ceylon 
has  now  come  to  a standstill.”  Your  readers  will 
probably  find  the  few  figures  above  quoted  of 
considerable  interest  to  them, 
