580 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST.  [March  i,  1893. 
THE  CEYLON  PLANTERS’  TEA  CO. 
Dear  Sir, — The  “ C.  P.  T,  Co.”  of  America  have 
sent  me  an  interesting  New  York  publication  in 
which  a couple  of  their  advertisements  appear.  Not 
long  ago  I received  a batch  of  the  leaflets  issued 
by  themselves,  and  that  just  after  the  Company 
was  reported  to  have  gone  into  liquidation  ! I do 
not  know  what  proportion  of  shares  are  held  by 
Ceylon  men,  but  I thought  at  the  time— having 
had  a good  deal  of  experience  of  Companies  myself 
— that  if  as  I understood  all  the  capital  sunk  in 
the  preliminary  working  and  establishing  the  busi- 
ness had  been  found  in  America,  the  winding-up 
move  was  rather  a sign  of  prosperity  than  of 
failure — prospective  suocess  of  course  but  pretty 
certain  1 For  why,  thought  I,  should  the  two 
American  firms  spend  their  money  and  time  only 
to  share  the  profits  with  people  here  with  whom 
they  were  so  profoundly  dissatisfied  ? I suppose 
they  can  out-vote  all  shareholders,  and  quietly 
done,  suoh  a winding-up  would  only  mean  a slight 
change  in  the  Company’s  name  for  a new  one, 
which  would  be  the  same  minus  the  Ceylon  share- 
holders. A dodge  of  this  kind  would  be  a trifle 
for  any  ordinary  company  promoter.  But  nothing 
of  the  kind  has  taken  place  or  been  contemplated 
it  would  seem.  The  late  award  of  tea,  let  us  hope, 
has  removed  the  discontent  and  that  all  concerned 
will  now  share  in  the  coming  boom.  I am  not  a 
shareholder,  and  this  I fancy  is  why  I am 
being  looked  up  ! as  I do  not  see  how 
otherwise  I can  serve  the  Company.  I think,  the 
Company  is  on  the  high-road  to  success,  their 
strong  card  is  the  “ nervousness  ” induced  by  the 
bad  tea,  badly  made,  in  general  use  in  America, 
It  is  an  argument  founded  on  unimpeachable 
truth  : the  Amerioans  do  injure  their  health  by 
drinking  badly  made  China  tea.  Teach  them  to 
cultivate  a taste  for  a delicate  flavor  and  a mild 
stimulant  in  place  of  a coarse  raspishness  and 
temporary  excitement  (followed  by  the  inevitable 
resotioD)  and  they  will  be  the  gainers  both  in 
enjoyment  and  health.  This  fact  is  slowly  but 
surely  asserting  itself,  as  a vast  number  of  testi- 
monials by  people  of  sense  and  position  in  letters 
to  the  Company  prove.  By  beir.g  successful,  the 
Company  will  do  all  America  as  well  as  themselves 
much  good.  The  New  York  publication  referred 
to  is  an  interesting  one,  and  affords  a glimpse  into 
New  York  life  and  architecture  very  instructive 
to  a stranger.  It  is  a book  of  160  pages,  of  which 
fifty  are  full-page  pictures  of  the  most  prominent 
churches  in  the  city,  including  the  projected  new 
Cathedral,  There  is  also  a directory  of  every  plaoe 
of  w'orsbip  in  New  York,  pastors’  names  and 
hours  of  services  ; the  remainder  is  all  advertise- 
ments. I see  one  grocer  says  : “ The  Ceylon  tea 
so  much  advertised  lately  we  have  been  selling  for 
the  last  ten  years  ” ! 1 ! 
Ceylon  planters  are  not  medical  men  and  therefore 
cannot  be  expeoted  to  know  all  the  virtues  in  their 
tea.  There  must  be  something  to  account  for  the  hold 
it  has  taken  on  English  and  Australian  tea  drinkers, 
and  a very  important  part  of  this  explanation 
comes  from  Amerioa.  E.  Valentine  Buck,  m.d., 
writes  to  the  Company  in  these  words;  “The 
tonic  effect  is  distinctly  apparent,  and  is  explained, 
no  doubt,  by  the  fact  that  the  soil  upon  which 
it  is  grown  is  rich  in  iron.” 
Another  “M.  D.”  (A.  Van  Der  Veer)  writes:  — 
“ It  is  a good,  nutritive  tonic  drink.’’ 
We  now  know,  therefore,  the  professional 
authority,  that  our  tea  is  not  only  a gentle 
stimulant  and  food,  but  it  is  also  a “ tonic.” 
Dr.  Buck  has  hit  the  right  nail  on  the  head 
in  guessing  at  “iron”  in  our  soil.  He  should 
see  the  red  iron  deposit  staining  the  stones  and 
beds  of  all  our  streams  to  convince  him  of  that. 
Query:  is  it  not  this  “iron”  which  causes  the 
milkiness  in  the  cold  infusions,  which  no  China 
tea  ever  shews?  J. 
NATIVE  EMIGRATION  FROM  CEYLON. 
Jan.  31st. 
Dear  Sir, — In  your  editorial  notice  in  yester- 
day’s issue  there  are  one  or  two  points  which 
I think  require  some  explanation,  although,  as  I 
remarktd  in  my  letter  of  26th  inst.  I am  not 
yet  at  liberty  to  disouss  the  matter  fully. 
In  tho  first  place,  as  regards  the  inducement 
offered,  you  quote  the  shipment  of  Sinhalese  to 
Queensland  some  teD  years  ago.  The  native  agent 
who  engaged  these  people  (maDy  of  them,  as  you 
say,  old  jail-birds)  received  R5  per  head  as 
commission  ! In  the  present  instance  no  commis- 
sion has  been  offered  to  any  agent,  and  no  notice 
whatever  has  been  published,  but  information  has 
somehow  leaked  out  that  there  is  employment  to 
be  got  in  East  Africa,  and  for  months  past  I 
have  had  applications,  written  and  personal, 
almost  daily,  for  work  there.  No  questions  asked, 
in  most  cases,  as  to  wages,  and  many  applicants 
have  oome  from  a radius  of  20  miles’  dietance. 
And  this  in  spite  of  the  notices  posted  up  by 
somo  of  the  Kandyan  headmen.  Is  this  due  alto- 
gether “ to  a love  of  travel  and  adventure”  ? I 
do  not  think  so. 
In  the  second  place,  as  I have  little  experience 
of  employing  resident  Sinhalese  coolies,  I am  not 
qualified  to  speak  as  to  their  treatment  on  estates, 
and  I merely  said  that  “ they  seeui  in  many 
districts  to  prefer  a life  of  semi-starvation  to 
regular  work.”  In  some  cases  this  is  doubtless 
due  to  their  dread  of  leaving  their  homes : their 
nearest  friend  and  neighbour  may  sell  up  their 
property  or  burn  down  the  house ! In  other  cases 
the  style  of  the  cooly-lines  and  the  exposure  to 
wet  weather  acoount  for  a good  deal  of  disinclina- 
tion to  go  to  work  on  estates,  at  even  a few 
miies’  distance.  But,  as  I hinted  before,  I think 
there  is  another  reason. 
So  much  as  regards  the  native  labourer.  As 
regards  the  educated  class,  comprising  conductors, 
clerks  and  skilled  mechanics,  the  applications  for 
employment,  are,  in  proportion,  much  more  nu- 
merous. It  would  shock  the  heads  of  depart, 
ments  if  I were  to  reveal  the  cumber  of  applica- 
tions received  from  their  subordinates.  Every 
branch  in  which  education  and  technical  skill  are 
of  use  seems  to  be  overcrowded  and  promotion, 
in  consequence,  very  slow.  You  have  lately,  I 
believe,  advised  the  transfer  to  British  East 
Africa  and  other  Colonies  of  surplus  Civil 
Strvants,  and  I feel  sure  I may  rely  on  your 
pressing  the  claims  for  employment  in  German 
East  Africa,  under  sufficient  guarantees,  of  all 
natives  of  Ceylon  who  may  wish  to  work  there. 
The  opening  up  of  the  German  Protectorate 
is  likely  to  materially  aid  in  the  suppression  of 
the  slave  trade. 
A railway  inland  is  to  be  begun  in  Maroh 
(the  trace  is  already  oleared,  I believe,  for  sixty 
miles),  and  I hope  that  the  early  sanction  of 
His  Exoellencry  Sir  Arthur  Havelock  will  enable 
B itish  subjeots  from  Ceylon  to  help  forward  the 
work. — Yours  faithfully,  B. 
From  a leaf  of  the  Gazette  for  Zanzibar  and 
Last  Africa , sent  by  “ B.,”  we  quote  as  follows: — 
Mr.  H.  M.  Stanley: — In  Uganda  we  have  a magni- 
fii  ent  objective  point.  We  h .ve  that  immense  lake 
the  second  largest  fresh-water  sea  iu  the  world 
(Lake  Victoria),  and  round  about  it  are  other  large 
