424 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Dec.  i,  1892. 
was  at  mid-day,  and  the  book  said  they  ought  to  be 
left  to  ferment  till  they  attained  a “ bright  copper 
colour.”  About  every  ten  minuses  the  manager  went 
to  look  at  them,  but  he  could  see  no  trace  of  anything 
approaching  “ copper  oc  lour,”  only  a nasty  olive  green, 
which  kept  getting  darker  and  darker.  It  was  still 
the  same  when  the  day  waned,  so  he  left  those  little 
cones  with  his  blessing  till  the  foil  wing  morning. 
He  was  up  early  the  next  day,  and  hurried  to  his 
primitive  little  glass-built  tea  house.  He  did  hope 
that  long-delayed  “copper  colour”  bad  come  by  that 
time,  aud  with  trembling  finger  lifted  the  corner 
of  the  black  that  covered  the  cones.  But,  alas  1 his 
nose  was  assailed  by  a horrid  sour  smell,  and  his 
gaze  fastened  on  a revolting  sight  of  black  rotten 
putrefaotion,  and  all  that  first  attempt  at  tea-making 
had  to  be  thrown  into  the  manure  pit. 
They  are  very  funny  to  look  baok  upon,  those 
old  experimental  days,  and  it  is  wonderful  to  think 
what  difficulties  ignorance  managed  to  introduce 
into  what  is  really  a very  simple  process.  But 
experience,  though  dearly  bought,  came  at  last,  and 
thanks  to  this,  and  also  very  greatly  to  kindly- 
given  hints  from  tea-planting  friends  from  ottur 
Districts,  good  marketable  tea  at  length  found 
its  way  from  Travancore  to  MinciDg  Lane.  About 
1883  tea  planting  began  to  be  general  through- 
out Travancore,  but  it  was  oarried  on  gradually 
though  steadily.  There  was  no  violent  rush  to  plant 
up  large  acreages  with  borrowed  money  and  mort- 
gaged title-deeds.  The  Travancore  planter,  as  a rule, 
prefers  to  keep  these  in  his  safe,  and  to  go  steadily 
and  cautiously  ahead  as  far  and  as  fast  only  as  bis 
means  permit.  But  the  industry  has  now  grown 
from  small  beginnings  to  goodly  proportions,  and  is 
still  increasing.  The  following  is  about  the  acreage 
under  tea  in  each  District  in  Travancore  : — Ashamboo, 
1,500  acres;  Fnnmudi  District,  1,180  acres;  Northern 
District  2,260  aores ; Pecrmaad  3,400  acres ; High 
Range  600  aores  or  a total  of  nearly  9,000  acres. 
Of  this  a large  percentage  is  not  as  yet  in  bearing  ; 
but  when  the  whole  arrives  at  maturity,  the  tea 
exported  from  Travancore  will  probably  exceed  three 
million  pounds  annually.  The  yield  varies  exceedingly 
as  it  is  affected  by  soil,  climate  and  elevation.  Individual 
fields  have  given  as  much  as  1,100  lb.  of  made  tea 
per  acre,  while  it  is  difficult  to  persuade  others, 
where  the-  soil  is  poor,  or  the  situation  exposed, 
to  rise  to  a greater  effort  than  300  lb.  >5 ■' ill  judging 
from  what  the  older  tea  produces,  it  is  safe  to 
estimate  an  annual  average  yield  of  400  lb.  per  acre 
over  the  whole  of  Travancore  when  all  the  tea 
now  planted  comes  into  full  bearing.  The  cli- 
mate oioseiy  approaches  that  of  Ceylon,  and  tea  thrives 
at  all  elevations,  from  nearly  sealevel  to  the  breezy 
heights  of  the  High  Range,  about  5,000  feet  above  the 
sea,  a finer  flavour  at  the  higer  elevations  compen- 
sating for  a smaller  yield  than  is  obtained  lower  down. 
The  coat  of  production  is  small.  Wuh  an  estate  in 
good  order  and  yielding  400  lb.  per  acre,  tea  is  placed 
on  board  ship  tor  under  4 annas  per  lb.,  and  unless 
the  market  be  hopelessly  demoralised,  this  leaves  a 
good  margin  of  prfit.  Prices  bave  lately  been  very 
bad,  though  they  are  now  showmg  signs  of  a welcome 
rise.  But  though  the  good  old  days  when  we  were 
sure  of  Is  a lb.  and  were  rather  angry  if  we  didn't  get 
Is  2d,  seem  to  have  gone  for  ever,  we  cun  still  show  a 
satisfactory  result  in  the  annual  balance  sheet.  Clever 
inventors  bave  been  vieing  with  each  otner  in  in- 
troducing machinery  to  lessen  the  cost  of  labour;  aud 
low  exehange  which  means  drawing  more  rupees  against 
our  produce  with  which  to  pay  our  coolies,  is  almost  cur 
salvation.  I have  heard  it  said  that  if  the  rate  of  ex- 
change rose,  prices  would  follow  suit.  It  may  be  so, 
I don’t  pretend  to  understand  these  things.  But, 
personally,  I should  be  sorry  to  see  the  experiment 
tried,  and  would  prefer  letting  sleeping  d'g»  lie,  and 
leaving  things  as  they  are.  In  many  possible  iguoranoe, 
the  prioe  of  tea  seems  to  me  to  be  muoh  more  a 
question  of  supply  and  demand  than  of  the  different 
values  of  sovereigns  and  rupees. 
I must  conclude  with  a tribute  to  the  character 
of  my  brother-planters,  among  whom  I have  spent 
to  otan;  years  of  my  life.  A planter,  if  you  come 
to  consider  him,  is  re  dly  a most  talented  person. 
He  mast  know  something  of  almost  everything — 
huildiog,  engineering,  book-keeping — and  the  more 
he  knows  of  the  subjects  the  better — besides  all 
the  detai's  of  planting  and  manufacture.  He 
must  be  able  to  speak  the  language  of  tbe 
people  he  works  among,  and  have  tact  and  tem- 
per to  manage  them  properly.  Where  will  you 
find  a more  hospitable,  generous,  kind  hearted  body 
of  men,  more  unit,  d in  trying  to  attain  any 
desired  object,  or  more  ready  to  forget  their  lit'.le 
private  differt  nees — which,  alas  ! must  arise  in  any 
community— and  stand  shoulder  to  shoulder  in  repel- 
ling any  infringment  of  their  rights?  Who  are 
keener  sportsmen,  pleasanter  companions,  better 
friends?  Twenty-one  years  is  a big  slice  out  of  one’s 
life.  I might,  perhaps,  have  turned  them  to  better 
advantage  elsewhere.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  I might 
have  done  far  worse,  and  if  I had  tbe  power  1 would 
gladlv  live  all  those  twenty. ore  years  over  again 
among  the  planters  of  Travancore.  Totum. 
— M.  Mail , Nov.  14. 
4 
Cotton-Spinning  in  Japan. — The  cotton-spinning 
industry  in  Japan  had  a period  of  extraordinary 
aotivity  during  the  first  half  of  the  current  year. 
The  mills  in  that  period  produced  41,000,0001b.  of 
yarn  Bgainst  44,000,000  during  the  whole  of  1891 
and  42,000,000  during  the  whole  of  1890  and  the 
total  production  of  the  year  is  expected  to  reach 
a hundred  million  pounds.  Of  the  ten  largest  mills 
only  two  paid  dividends  under  10  per  cent,  for  the 
six  months,  while  others  paid  25,  20,  19,  18,  16,  12, 
and  10  per  cent.  The  explanation  of  this  sudden 
prosperity  is  said  to  be  a succession  of  good  rice 
crops,  accompanied  by  high  prices  for  grain  and  a 
great  improvement  in  silk  culture  and  the  prices 
in  foreign  countries  for  Japanese  silk.  The  agri- 
cultural classes  have  profited  by  these  and  have 
more  money  to  spend  in  purchasing  yams.  The 
main  advantage  of  the  Japanese  cotton  spinner  is 
the  low  price  of  labour,  whioh  is  only  6d  a day 
for  men  and  3J  for  women  ; the  great  obstacle  to 
permanent  sucoess  is  defective  organization.  Tbe 
cotton  industry  in  Japan  does  not  depend  on  pro. 
teetion.  There  is  a small  revenue  duty  on  imported 
yarns  and  on  imported  raw  ootton,  while  the  mills 
receive  no  Government  assistance,  but  are  wholly  the 
outcome  of  private  enterprise, — Times  Weekly 
Edition,  Oct.  28. 
Chinese  Ginger. — The  Superintendent  of  the 
Botanioal  Department,  Hong  Kong,  writtiDg  to 
the  Royal  Gardens,  Kaw  expresses  his  belief  that 
Ohinese  ginger  is  muoh  more  succulent  than  West 
Indian  ginger— so  muoh  that  it  is  impossible  to 
dry  the  rhizomes  sufficiently  to  render  them  fit 
for  export  in  the  usual  commercial  form, — or,  if 
it  had  been  otherwise,  dried  ginger  would  have 
been  exported  from  China  long  ago.  So  far  as 
he  has  been  able  to  learn,  preserved  ginger  is 
made  at  Canton  and  Hong  Kong  only.  The  Im- 
perial Chinese  customs  returns  for  last  year  show 
that  in  junks  alone  the  quantity  of  fresh  ginger 
exported  from  Canton  to  HoDg  KoDg  was  over 
6,000  piculs  (a  picul  is  133  lb).  Preserved  ginger 
is  manufactured  in  Hong  Kong  to  a large  extent 
for  export  to  the  United  States.  “ Preserved  giDger 
as  understoo  1 by  us,  is  not  made  in  Swatow. 
What  is  preserved  there  is  made  for  native  oon- 
I sumption,  to  be  used  medicinally  or  for  cooking, 
and  13  exported  largely  to  the  Straits  Settlements, 
and  never  to  Hong  Kong.  This  is  kind  of  ginger 
is  oalled  Ng  Mai  Keung.”  This  is  an  Alpinia,  but 
it  does  not  resemble  the  Canton  ginger,  and  is 
not  preserved  in  syrup.  The  rhizomes  of  true 
ginger,  Alpinias  and  Curcumas,  are  all  classed 
generically  by  the  Chinese  under  the  name  Keu-ng, 
—Grocer, 
