Feb.  i,  1893.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
535 
We  have  now  to  refer  to  the  Distribution  during 
the  past  year  as  compared  with  1891  with  euch 
references  as  we  may  make  to  the  distribution 
in  earlier  years.  And  first  in  respect  of  tea,  it  i3 
certainly  a striking  fact  that  although  our  total 
shipments  for  last  year  give  an  inorease  of  nearly 
3 million  lb.  the  quantities  sent  to  the  United  King- 
dom in  the  two  years  show  a differeaoa  very  little  in 
excess  of  a millionlb,,  thus:  — 
Ceylon  tea  to  the  United  Kingdom. 
In  1892  . . = 64,815,075  lb. 
In  1891  . . = 63,744,987  „ 
Inerease  . . 1,070,088  lb. 
The  great  rise  in  our  shipments  home  was,  of 
course,  in  1891  as  compared  with  1890  when  only 
43,756,912  lb.  were  sent  and  but  32,510,747  lb.  in 
1889.  A rise  of  100  per  cent — nearly  32  million  lb. 
— in  two  or  three  years  is  entirely  phenomenal.  It 
would  have  looked  better  perhaps  had  last  year 
shown  shipments  to  LondoD,  of  53  to  54  millions 
out  of  a total  export  of  58  to  60  millions  and 
as  bearing  out  such  an  anticipation,  we  have 
before  us  as  we  write,  a letter  which  we  sent 
on  17th  Dec.  1888,  to  a high  official  who  was 
seeking  information  as  to  the  prospects  of  tea, 
and  on  that  date  we  only  ventured  to  put  the 
probable  crop  of  1891-92  at  58  million  lb.  1 On  the 
other  hand,  as  regards  shipments  to  London,  Mr. 
J.  H.  Roberts  of  Messrs.  Rucker  & Co.  has  held 
consistently  to  the  view  for  many  years  back  that, 
if  we  take  the  permanent  benefit  of  the  Ceylon  Tea 
industry  into  account,  the  sooner  we  sent  to  the 
London  market  80  million  lb.  of  tea  in  one  season, 
the  better.  Mr.  Roberts  of  course  means,  that  only 
with  this  quantity  can  we  get  such  a hold  of  the 
market  a3  to  Bhut  up  China  effectually  and  also 
take  the  pre-eminence  over  India.  But  then  the 
planter  who  is  dependent  on  each  season’s  return 
as  it  comes,  will  ask  what  would  the  throwing  of 
80  million  lb.  from  Ceylon  in  the  present  year 
mean,  if  it  were  possible,  in  regard  to  prices  ? 
There’s  the  rub  1 If  it  meant  a further  fall  in  the 
average,  most  certainly  we,  in  Ceylon,  will  feel  it 
to  be  to  our  advantage  rather  to  encourage  the 
direot  shipments  to  our  Southern  Colonies, and  to  the 
European  and  American  Continents  and  to  lessen 
as  far  as  we  can,  the  direot  shipments  to  London, 
lest  the  prices  should  fall.  And  yet,  it  is  possible 
that,  even  in  the  interests  of  current  prices,  this  may 
not  be  the  wisest  policy  if  it  encourage  China  buyers 
during  the  approaching  season  to  trade  freely  for 
the  London  market.  On  this  point  our  London 
Correspondent  may  be  able  to  get  ua  the  opinion 
of  Mr.  Roberts  and  other  experts  on  the  present 
situation  and  prospects. 
In  respect  of  the  Distribution  of  our  Tea  last  year, 
assuredly  the  most  satisfactory  feature  is  the  great 
inorease  in  the  direot  shipments  to  Australasia  (not 
“Australia”  beoause  New  Zealand  is  inoluded). 
These  have  mounted  up  as  follows  during  the  past 
four  years : — 
Tea  from,  Ceylon  to  Australia  and  New  Zealand. 
the  year 
1889 
equal  to 
1,120,044 
lb. 
do 
1890 
do 
2,559,901 
lb. 
do 
1891 
do 
3,210,598 
lb. 
do 
1892 
do 
5,166,154 
lb. 
Is  it  too  much  to  expeot  that  from  7 to  8 millions 
of  our  crop  may  thiB  year  be  taken  off  for  the 
Southern  Colonies  ? Even  then  we  shall  not  con- 
trol one-third  of  their  annual  tea  consumption. 
If  we  turn  now  to  America  including  Canada 
as  well  as  the  United  States,  the  comparison  is 
a very  unsatisfactory  one  ; until  we  remember  that 
" direct  shipments  ” thither  are  no  test  of  the 
total  quantity  of  Ceylon  tea  taken  ; for  it  is  notorious 
how  freely  the  trade  of  re-export  from  London 
across  the  Atlantic  has  been  expanding  of  late.  The 
figures  for  the  four  years  are  as  follows  ; — 
Ceylon  Tea  direct  to  America  : 
In  the  year  1889  . . equal  to  42,252  lb. 
„ 1890  ..  „ 204,223  1b. 
„ 1891  ..  „ 163,137  1b. 
„ 1892  ..  „ 100,893  1b. 
This  is  progress  backwards  with  a vengeanoe.  Let 
us  hope  that  the  next  Export  summary  of  Messrs. 
Gow,  Wilson  and  Stanton  may  far  more  than  make 
amends  for  the  deficiency  ; while  we  all  look  to  the 
£20,000  spent  on  the  Chicago  Exposition  as  bound 
to  bear  fruit  in  a largely  increased  demand  for 
Ceylon  tea  as  well  as  other  staples. 
Strangely  enough,  “ India  ” shows  up  largely  in 
our  Tea  exports,  but  the  produce  sent  to  Bombay 
must  be  intended  chiefly  for  the  Persian  Gulf.  The 
figures  runs  as  follows  : — - 
Ceylon  7 ea  to  India : 
1889  . . . . equal  to  289,637  lb. 
1890  ..  ..  „ 144,631  1b. 
1891  ..  ..  „ 620,161  1b. 
1892  ..  ..  „ 528,037  1b, 
“China”  too  is  our  oustomer  to  au  appreciable 
extent— can  the  tea  be  for  blends  and  re-export  or 
mean  a local  consumption  of  Ceylon  tea  ? To 
China  we  may  add  Singapore  : — 
Ceylon  Tea  to  China  and  Singapore : 
1889  . . . , no  separate  return 
1890  ..  ..  equal  to  100,6661b. 
1891  ..  ..  „ 166,659  1b. 
1892  ..  ..  „ 115,369  1b. 
“Africa”  which  probably  means  Egypt  more  than 
Cape  Colony,  takes  from  60,000  to  70,000  lb.  of 
Ceylon  tea  and  little  “Malta”  got  its  18,326  1b. 
direct  (mainly  for  the  troops)  last  year. 
And  now  we  have  left  the  Continent  of  Europe,  of 
which  Germany  stands  for  the  largest  quantity 
123,077  lb.  last  year,  followed  by  Austria  with 
93,743,  The  total  direot  to  the  European  Continent 
for  the  four  years  aooording  to  the  Chamber’s 
tables  stands  as  follows  : — 
Ceylon  tea  direct  to  the  Continent  of  Europe. 
1889  . . . . equal  to  54,743  lb. 
1890  ..  ..  „ 92,839  „ 
1891  ..  ..  „ 227,677  „ 
1892  ..  ..  „ 255,458 
This  shows  a satisfactory  increase  on  the  whole  ; 
but  we  look  for  a much  greater  development  shortly. 
^ 
A RUSSIAN  TEA  BUYER  IN  CEYLON. 
Mr.  A.  Maligin  of  Moscow  was  much  pleased 
with  his  inspection  of  tea  samples  in  Colombo  (at 
the  office  of  Messrs.  Somerville  & Go.)  and  with  a 
trip  to  Nuwara  Eliya  where  Mr.  Cross  took  him  to 
Naseby  (of  which  tea  he  got  some  samples)  and  after- 
wards to  the  big  Company’s  estate,  “The  Scrubs.” 
Mr.  Maligin  hopes  to  be  baok  in  April  on  his  way 
out  to  China  again  ; but  meantime  he  is  to  try  to 
get  orders  for  Ceylon  tea  from  the  great  Russian 
dealers.  He  added  though,  gravely  enough,  that 
it  is  a very  difficult  matter  to  get  the  Russians 
to  take  to  a new  tea  and  that  progress  in  introduc- 
ing Ceylon  tea  must  neoessarily  be  slow.  He  is, 
however,  hopeful  of  making  some  impression.  The 
visit  of  Mr.  Ropoff  and  his  party  some  years  ago  to 
Abbotsford  had  been  much  talked  of  in  tea  oiroles 
in  Russia  and  the  samples  then  sent  home  were 
the  subjeot  of  a good  deal  of  speculation.  Mr. 
Maligin  is  to  interview  the  Planters’  Agent  M. 
Rogivua  while  at  home,  to  estimate  the  progress 
made.  Personally,  Mr.  Maligin  would  be  well 
pleased  to  ba  sent  to  Colombo  to  buy,  in  plaoe 
of  Fooohow  or  Shanghai  ; but  the  Russian  buyers 
of  the  East  have  to  obey  orders.  In  timowehave 
no  doubt  muoh  Ceylon  tea  will  be  taken  direot  to 
