584 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST 
[March  i,  1893. 
At  the  present  price  of  fibre  5 per  cent,  per  lb. 
taking  3 cents  as  the  cost  of  production,  and  acre 
yielding  1,287  lb.  would  give  a net  profit  of  25  dollars 

NOTES  ON  PRODUCE  AND  FINANCE. 
The  Sales  of  Indian  and  Ceylon  Tea. — The  sales 
of  Indian  and  Ceylon  teas  during  last  week  and 
this  are  the  heaviest  on  record,  and  the  work  entailed 
on  the  brokers  in  consequence  must  be  very  great. 
Of  course  this  state  of  things  cannot  last,  and  the 
sales  will  adjust  themselves  again  soon.  Outside 
Mincing  Lane  there  is  very  little  doing  interesting 
to  the  tea  industry.  In  a few  weeks  now  the  reports 
of  some  of  the  companies  will  be  looked  lor. 
Ceylon  Tea  in  America. — From  a ba  ch  of  news- 
papers received  from  New  York  a:.d  elsewhere  we  see 
that  the  business  of  advertising  Ceylon  tea  in  the 
United  States  is  conducted  on  very  enterprising  liDes. 
If  our  cousins  do  not  take  kindly  to  Ceylon  tea  it  will 
not  be  for  lack  of  clever  advertising — hut  they  will 
take  to  it. 
Cardamoms. — The  trade  once  done  on  arrival  terms 
in  Mysore,  Aleppy,  and  other  East  Indian  cardamoms 
is  only  a memory  now,  and  the  Commercial  llecord, 
discussing  this,  says  : — “ It  is  curious,  and  at  the 
same  time  distressing,  to  notice  how  a trade  which 
once  proved  remunerative  to  all  parties  concerned 
could  almost  entirely  disappear.  For  years  people 
in  the  trade  followed  a hand-to-mouth  policy,  buy- 
ing their  requirements  in  the  open  market  in  small  lots 
at  the  time,  instead  of  contracting  ahead  for  larger 
quantities,  until  last  year  an  attempt  was  made  to 
revive  the  arrival  business,  but,  although  every 
inducement  was  held  out  to  purchasers  to  support 
the  movement,  the  transactions  done,  as  far  as 
Malabar  berries  were  concerned,  never  acquired 
any  importance,  and  this  year  they  will  in  all 
probability  be  less.  Ceylon,  who  entered  the  market 
last  year  in  competition  to  the  coast,  was  to  some 
extent  more  successful,  a fair  quantity  finding  buyers ; 
but,  as  these  purchases  mostly  showed  a loss  already 
on  or  even  before  their  arrival,  owing  to  large  sup- 
plies being  thrown  upon  our  market  by  Ceylon 
shippers  and  native  consignors  labouring  under  the 
delusion  that  the  demand  for  arrival  stuff  was  the 
outcome  of  an  actual  scarcity  in  London,  buyers  have 
so  far  resisted  all  temptations  put  before  them  in  the 
shape  of  cheap  offers  by  eager  Ceylon  shippers,  and 
there  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  last  year's  ventures 
in  Ceylon  berries  will  not  be  repeated  this  season. 
In  the  meantime  the  reports  from  the  Malabar  Coast 
regarding  the  prospect  of  the  growing  crop  continue 
to  sound  highly  unfavourable.” — II.  $■  C.  Mail,  Jan.  20. 
PRACTICAL  ADVICE  ABOUT  TEA. 
Mr.  Ernest  Tye,  the  secretary  of  the  Indian  Tea 
Districts  Association,  writes  us : — “ 1 send  yon  for 
publication  a most  interesting  letter  just  received 
from  one  of  the  largest  London  wholesale  dealers 
in  Indian  tea.  i suppress  his  name,  but  you  will 
reuder  a service  to  the  industry  by  giving  its  con- 
tents due  prominence.”  The  letter  is  as  follows  : — 
“ It  must  be  evident  to  those  who  have  made  a 
study  of  the  tea  trade  that  on^  of  the  greatest 
hindrances  to  success,  either  as  growers  or  importers 
of  tea,  is  the  exoeBsive  fluctuations  which  ocour  in 
the  value  of  the  different  grades.  For  instance, 
during  one  season  good  iuI  fine  qualities  command 
extreme  ptices,  whilst  common  descriptions  sell  at 
heavy  losses.  The  next  season  this  will  be  reversed  : 
Good  and  fine  teas  will  be  sacrificed,  and  common  teas 
pay  good  profits.  It  is,  of  course,  alwavu  the  class 
which  is  in  largest  supply  that  involves  the  loss,  the 
depreciation  arising  from  the  very  abundance. 
The  question  is,  Can  the  cause  of  these  ruinous 
fluctuations  be  removed  ? 
To  prevent  flue  uations  in  the  value  of  tea  as  a 
whole  is  imposs  ble,  bat  in  my  opinion  the  lose  from 
the  cause  above  noted  can  be  very  considerably 
reenced  to  the  great  advantage  of  all  ooncerued  in  the 
trade. 
If  I am  not  wrong,  the  greatest  cause-  of  these 
fluctuations  is  the  faot  that  growers  of  tea  in  India 
and  Ceylon  now,  as  formerly  in  China,  strive  to 
produce  the  largest  supplies  of  those  qualities  of  tea 
wbich  paid  best  during  the  previous  season,  and  to  re- 
duce the  supply  of  those  which  did  not  pay  ; when 
this  is  done  it  necessarily  reverses  the  conditions, 
hence  the  great  losses.  The  only  remedy  that  canba 
found  for  this  ruin. us  mistake  is  by  a general  ar- 
rai  gement  amongst  plauters  to  supply  the  various 
classes  of  tea,  year  by  yesr,  as  far  as  possible  in  the 
same  proportions.  Take  for  instance  this  rough  cal- 
culation, that  about  3-6ths  of  the  tea  consumed  is 
under  lOd.  per  lb.,  2-6th  between  lOd.  and  Is.  4d.. 
and  l-6th  above  that  price. 
If  the  large  growers  would  agree  to  produce  tea 
year  by  year  as  nearly  as  possible  in  these  propor- 
tions the  fluctuations  in  the  value  of  the  various  sorts 
would  be  comparatively  sma  1. 
Of  course,  tbe  price  of  tea  as  a whole  must  always 
be  regulated  by  the  supply,  but  the  fluctuations 
would  balanoe  one  another,  aDd  would  not  be  nearly 
60  serious  as  the  perpetual  fluctuations  which  now 
take  place  in  the  various  claeses. 
This  is  a question  which  affects  all  persons  in  the 
trade,  and  tfle  past  year  offers  an  example  of  the 
great  injury  these  fluctuations  iLflict. 
The  extreme  depression  in  “good  common”  to 
“ medium  ” tea,  which  culminated  iu  August  last  when 
Pekoe  Souchong,  worth  on  an  average  9d  per  lb  was 
sold  at  5Jd  encouraged  some  of  the  cuttiog  retailers 
to  offer  very  low-priced  canisters,  which,  as  the 
quality  was  so  good,  threw  the  consumers  off  the 
higher  priced  teas,  to  the  great  detriment  of  growers 
and  dealers. 
I am  quite  aware  that  the  matter  is  a difficult  one 
to  arrange,  as  it  necessitates  combination,  and  un- 
fortunately there  Bre  always  some  objectionable 
persons  who  take  a Darrow  view  of  their  own  in- 
terest, but  it  is  of  such  importance  to  the  tea- 
growiug  indus'ry  that  it  is  worth  while,  at  any  rate, 
to  make  a strong  effort  to  put  production  npoa  a sater 
basis.  Another  cause  of  great  loss  to  growers  and 
importers  arises  lrom  their  placing  too  great  quan- 
tities on  the  market  at  ooe  time.  It  does  cot  seem 
yet  to  be  realised  that  neither  wholesale  cor  retail 
dealers  will  now  held  the  stocks  they  used  to  do,  and 
any  excessive  offerings  unduly  depress  prices.  As  an 
example  I may  quote  the  unnecessary  fall  of  15  per 
cent,  which  took  place  in  November,  entirely  owing 
(o  the  large  amount  of  tea  placed  on  the  market  at 
a favourable  time,  which  must  have  cost  growers  and 
importers  some  thousands  of  pounds,  simply  because 
about  20,000  packages  too  many  were  put  up  for  sale 
in  one  week.” — S.  and,  C.  Mail,  Jan.  20. 
— <$- 
Coffee  Land  in  Jaw — Landed  proprietors 
in  Java  are  evidently  waking  up  to  the  probability 
of  capitalists  from  Ceylon  taking  up  land  for  coffee 
cultivation.  It  will  be  seen  by  an  advertisement 
in  our  columns  today  that  no  less  than  20,000 
acres  of  first-class  land  are  now  on  offer,  either  in 
one  block  or  in  divisions.  It  would  be  suitable  for 
a strong  coffee  cultivating  Company. 
Coconut  Planting  in  Mirigama  District. — 
We  have  had  very  glowing  aocouots  of  the  success 
which  has  attended  Mr.  W.  H.  Wright’s  cultivation 
of  his  fine  Mirigama  property.  He  has  brought  many 
of  his  trees  of  a fine  large  growth,  into  bearing 
within  six  years,  and  the  whole  plantation  of 
some  350  acres  is  quite  a picture  of  luxuriant 
growth  and  vigorous  palms.  Mr.  Wright  himself, 
now  in  his  70th  year,  is  as  fresh  and  vigorous- 
looking  as  the  first  day  we  saw  him  in  Haputale 
opening  for  ooffee,  over  25  years  ago.  Few  more 
active  or  muscular  planters  are  to  be  found  in 
Ceylon  or  better  able  to  get  through  a hard  day’s 
work.  But  Mr.  Wright’s  delight,  since  he  began 
life  aB  a lad  in  Peradeniya  Gardens,  has  been  in 
an  outdoor  life  and  as  a cultivator  and  planter. 
May  his  useful  career,  so  valuable  as  an  example 
I to  his  oountrymen,  be  prolonged  for  many  more 
' years. 
