May  t,  1893.3 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
671 
his  been  engaged  in  tea  culture  for  some  15  years, 
and  the  gardens  have  grown  and  the  output  in- 
creased until  Mestri.  Hulett  <6  Co  , now  employ  350 
Indians — men  and  women,  and  boys — in  tea  produc- 
tion. About  a million  and  a quarter  bushes — 2,000 
to  the  acre,  yielding  in  maturity  6oz».  each  of  tea 
from  the  18  pickings — have  to  be  despoiled  of.  their 
flushings  from  October  to  May  ; and  the  pickers  may 
be  seen  eaoh  day  in  picturesque  colours  among  the 
regular  green  rows  on  the  hillsides  filling  their  baskets 
with  the  delicate  shoots,  the  biggest  loads  of  which 
average  70  b.  per  diem.  When  the  bell  rings,  the 
coolies  hasten  home  and  spread  out  their  leaf  upon 
tables  to  welter,  the  process  manufacture  which  en- 
sues being  under  the  superintendence  and  manage- 
ment of  Mr.  Drummond.  The  Kearsney  factory  receives 
the  product  of  some  10  estates,  altogether  1,200  acres, 
and  so  can  realise  the  conditions  of  good  blending. 
The  withered  leaf  is  placed  under  steam  rollers  for 
half  an  hour,  and  the  brown  mass  is  then  allowed  to 
ferment  for  an  hoar,  turning  purple  in  the  process. 
The  leaf  now  passes  into  dryers,  loDg  revolving  cylin- 
ders in  a current  of  hot  air.  The  fine  t tea,  the 
bud  of  the  plucking,  falls  through  perforations  in 
the  pan,  and  is  called  Golden  Pekoe.  The  rem-inder 
is  taken  to  a series  of  sieves,  each  with  a narrower 
netting  and  through  these  the  tea  is  sifted  until  the 
lowest  shelf  reoeives  the  tea  of  second  quality,  the 
first  and  smallest  leaf,  Flowery  Pekoe  ; the  next, 
the  second  1 af,  Pekoe  ; third  leaf,  Pekoe-SouchoDg  ; 
fourth  leaf,  Souchong.  Thus  Kearsney  produces  five 
varieties  of  tea,  of  which  Golden  P<  koe  is  the  choicest, 
and  Souchong  the  coarsest,  another  brand,  the  Popu- 
lar, being  made  by  mixing.  The  final  stage  is  reached 
in  the  packing,  in  which  a dozen  lads  make  up  a 
ton  of  lib  pickets  in  a day.  The  factory  work  is 
especially  suited  to  children,  and  many  are  employed, 
and  the  premises  exhibit  a hot  and  aromatic  and 
animated  scene.  Tons  of  tea,  in  Cellar,  chest,  and 
garret,  are  on  every  hand— reduced  to  one-fourth  in 
weight  since  it  came  from  the  fields.  Five  of  Mr. 
Hullett’s  sons  are  engaged  on  the  estate  and  in  the 
works,  and  splendid  maohiuery  is  in  use  whereby 
rough  logs  are  transformed  into  boxes,  and  the pinus 
insignis  is  being  planted  to  supply  the  box  wood  of 
the  future.  This  sea°on  will  result  in  over  400,000'.bs. 
of  tea;  but  the  present  premises,  whioh  have  been 
enlarged  from  time  to  time,  are  becoming  too  small 
for  the  purpose,  and  Mr.  Hulett  intends  shortly  to 
ereot  a faotory  which  shall  contain  three  or  four 
stories,  and  measure  150ft.  x 75ft.,  so  that  he  may 
be  able  when  necessary  to  deal  with  upwards  of  a 
million  pounds  of  manufactured  tea  per  annum.  The 
pioneer  of  tea-planting  in  Natal  will  thus  keep  pace 
with  the  development  of  the  industry,  and  remain  in 
the  forefront  of  promoters  of  colonial  enterprise. 
THE  DUTCH  MARKET. 
Amsterdam,  March  9. 
The  oinchona  auctions  to  be  held  here  on  March 
23rd  will  consist  of  73  cases  and  6,796  bales,  or  about 
577  tons,  Java  bark  divided  as  follows: — From  Go- 
vernment plantation  12  cases  and  394  bales  (about 
37  tons);  from  private  plantation  61  oases  and  6,402 
bales  (about  540  tons).  This  quantity  contains:  Of 
druggists’  bark — Succirubra  qnilla  9 bft’es  73  cases  ; 
broken  quills  and  chips  640  bales;  root  43  bales. 
Of  manufacturing  bark— Ledgeriana,  broken  quills 
and  ohips  4,448  bales  ; root  1,069  bales.  Officinalis  — 
broken  quills  and  ohips  33  bales.  Hybriden— broken 
quills  and  chips  423  bales  ; root  124  bales.  Calisaya — 
root  7 bales, — Chemist  and  Druggist. 
FOOCHOW  TEA  NOTES,  &c. 
March  4 . 
According  to  the  returns  made  by  the  Tepaus  of  the 
different  districts  in  this -prefecture,  as  many  as  600 
beggars  fell  victims  to  the  snow  and  frost  during  the 
severe  weather  of  January  and  the  early  part  of  Feb. . 
We  learn  from  the  tea  districts  that  the  late  frosts 
have  had  the  effect  of  stripping  all  the  tea  shrubs 
of  their  leaves.  In  consequence  of  this,  the  coming 
tea  crop  is  expected  to  be  a good  one,  both  in  quality 
and  quantily,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  for  the  sake  of  the 
trade  that  there  expectations  may  te  realised.  It  is 
said  'hat  the  crop  will  be  later  than  usual,  but  this 
drawback,  if  it  if  o le  at  all,  would  be  a matter  of  small 
importance  as  compared  with  the  distinct  benefit 
that  would  accrue  to  the  trade  from  an  improvement 
in  qu  lity.  The  latest  borne  advices  hold  out  the 
prospect,  at  this  juncture,  of  a revival  of  the  trade 
with  improved  quality. — Echo. 
THE  CHINA  TEA  TRADE  : 
DEGREASE  BY  ONE-THIRD  IN  10  YEARS. 
Shanghai,  March  10. — (From  Messrs.  Welch,  Lewis 
& Co.’s  repert) — No  business  has  been  reported  in 
either  B'uck  or  Green  Tea  durirg  the  interval.  Stock 
of  Black  Tea  586  half-chests.  The  Customs  Trade 
Reports  lately  published  show  that  China  has  lost  one- 
tiiird  of  its  trade  in  Tea  during  the  past  five  years.  In 
1888  ti  e exportation  direct  to  Foreign  countries  was 
321,731  000 In.;  in  1892  it  was  221,112,000  lb., a decrease 
of  i 00,619,000  lb.,  or  nearly  equel  to  the  total  Indian 
crop.  With  the  finest  raw  leaf  in  the  world,  tbia  de- 
crease is  only  to  bo  attr.buted  to  exoessive  taxation  and 
to  faul  s in  preparation,  which  between  them  are  ruin- 
ing the  trace.  This  decrease  has  taken  plaoo  whilst  all 
other  Tea  producing  countries  have  greatly  increased 
their  exports,  aid  whil-t  the  consumption  of  tea  in 
Foreign  countries  lias  been  steadily  advancing. 
EXPORT  OF  TEA  FROM  CHINA  TO 
GREAT  BRITAIN. 
Canton  and  Macao... 
Amoy... 
Foochow 
Shanghai  and  Hankow 
1892-93.  1891-92 
lb.  lb. 
...  9,615,819  11,441,713 
771,639  732,636 
...  14,469,999  17,887,484 
...  30,126,338  32,692,059 
Total  to  dale..  54,982,794  62,753,892 
EXPORT  OF  TEA  FROM  CHINA  TO  UNI- 
TED STATES  AND  CANADA. 
Cannot  and  Macao  ... 
Amoy... 
Fooohow 
Shanghai  and  Hankow 
1892-93,  1891-92. 
lb.  lb. 
...  3,225,358  2,224,566 
...  17,545,672  16,030,042 
...  5,409  569  4,051.595 
...  33,162,255  20  558,703 
Total  to  date..*  49,342,854  42,864,906 
EXPORT  OF  TEA  FROM  JAPAN  TO  UNI- 
TED STATE!  AND  CANADA. 
1892-93.  1891-92. 
lb.  lb. 
Yoke  hamo  ...  ..  28,414,987  27,993,948 
Kobe  ...  ...  18,292,787  22  976  779 
Total  to  date ...  46,707,774  50,970,727 
—Hongkong  Weekly  Press. 
VARIOUS  AGRICULTURAL  NOTES. 
Pbice's  Patent  Candle  Company  (Limited) 
etato  that  the  profit  for  1892  was  about  £65,009, 
to  which  must  be  added  the  balanoe  brought 
from  1891.  making  together  about  £72,100. 
After  deducting  the  dividend  paid  in  Sep'ember 
last,  appropriating  £12,500  for  depreciation,  and 
placing  £5,000  t > a reserve  fund,  there  will  re- 
main about  £31,000,  out  of  whioh  the  direotors 
recommend  a dividend  of  12  6d  per  share,  making  a 
distribution  of  £15s  per  £16  share  fortheyear,  leaving 
£7,700  to  be  carried  forward.— Chemical  Traje 
Journal,  Feb.  18. 
