Aug, 1, 1900.] 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTUEIST. 
99 
THE MANUFACTURE OF '-GREEjS TEAS" 
IN CEYLON. 
No one has. a better right to discourse ou the 
subjeerM)f pure " green " teas in connection with 
our Ceylon industry than Mr, Druuiniond Deane ; 
for tlie pages of our Tropical Agriculturist bear 
witness to the fact, of Mr. Deane having been 
about the very first to experimeu ; in tlie manu- 
facture ot green te^s and to offer to instruct his 
brother planters in regard to the same. If we are 
not mistaken, Mr. A, E. Wright got his first 
lesson from his neighbour, the whilom "laiid of 
Kintyre.'' 
We direct attention to the long letter on the 
subject which has reached us from Travancore, In 
it Mr, Deane refers to his early experience as a 
maker of green tea ; to the great praise given, 
both locally and in America, by experts as to 
the quality of his product, and to the fact tiiat 
he had brought out a small patent in connection 
with the preparation. But when all is said and 
done, we may ask what came of the industry 
which was then the subject of so much encourage- 
ment and praise? It is quite evident that it would 
not have been abandoned, even temporarily, by 
Mr. Deane, or Mr. Wright, had it shown much 
profit; and that of course must continue to be 
the practical test to apply at the present time. 
Apart from the " bonus" which, even if renewed, 
cannot do more than provide for a very limited 
quantity, the individual planter will be sure to 
ask, " If I make green, in place of black, tea, am 
I likely to get Id, id, or even more per lb."? 
If, on the other hand, he finds tiiat, while for his 
" black " tea he can get G^-d a lb., for tiie green 
he can at most secure 6d, no amount of persuasion 
is likely to change his course. We speak of the 
individual planter. The case is rather different in 
respect of large Companies or extensive proprietors. 
It may be very good policy for such to make a 
pro|iortion of "green tea" even if it fetches a 
))Oor pi ice comparatively, in order to relieve the 
pressure on the bUcli tea " market ; and it is 
here where the Colony will look for a good lead 
from some of our mo e extensive and prosperous 
Tea Companies. In Travancore, too, a good deal 
of green tea ought to be made to supplement the 
shipments from Ceylon, 
OUK PEARL FISHERIES : 
THE NEED OF SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGA- 
TION ; AND OF A MARINE BIOLOGICAL 
STATION ON THE COAST OF CEYLON. 
We direct attention to a long and thought- 
ful letter on the above subject from Mx, 
Oliver CoUett, of Lower Dikoya, who is well- 
known to scientists, as well as his brother- 
planters, as an entliusiastic Naturalist of no 
mean attainments in the Department which 
he has made more peculiarly his own. We 
say so much in order that his lettei' may 
receive the attention it deserves from the 
local Government, and that it may especially 
come under the notice of His Excellency ttxe 
Governor, vSir West Ridgeway is aware of 
the important scientific, as well as practical, 
work performed at the Marine Biological 
station at Port Erin in the Isle of Man. We 
had the pleasure of learning a good deal 
about this station in 1896, with a party of 
the British Association, guided, if we re- 
member rightly, by Dr. Herdman, F,ji,s, &c., 
13 
Professor of Natural History in University 
College, Liverpool. We are "not going into 
an;/ details ; but curiously enough we find 
that Professor Herdman, along with Pro- 
^ssor R. W, Boyce, Mr, G, C, Bourne, and 
Professor C. S, Sherrington, was appointed 
in 1895, " to report on the Elucidation of the 
" Life Conditions of the Oyster under Normal 
•' and Abnormal Environment, including m 
"the latter the effect of sewage matter and 
" pathogenic organisms," This' investigation 
was carded on— and was the subject of suc- 
cessive Reports to the British Association a!' 
through 1896, 1897, and 1898, We may, there- 
fore, conclude that Professor Herdman— who, 
from his connection with the Isle of Man, 
is. probably, well-known to Sir West Ridge- 
way— would be about the very best scientilic 
authority to advise the Ceylon Government 
at this time on what should follow on Sir 
^Vm, Twynam's History and Report, and 
whether a scientific investigation and the 
establishment of a Marine Biological Station 
near the site of our Pearl Fisheries is justi- 
fied by the circumstances. Professor Herd- 
man is too busy and important a man to 
come to Ceylon himself— except it were on 
allying visit- and therefore our Government 
may be sure of an impartial opinion on the 
Papers placed before him. 
We have no doubt there are some amongst 
the community who entertain strong doubts as 
to science being able to help us in this matter, 
and that our proposition, if carried out, 
would simply mean a waste of public money 
without any practical results ; and they 
point to the mission of Mr, Holds wortli, 
p.z,s., with its absolutely negative result, 
and still later to the investigation held by 
Mr. Edgar Thurston for the Madras Gov- 
ernment. Now, it is quite true that Mr, 
Holdsworth's inability to help us, after five 
year's' labour on our shores, was a bitter 
disappointment to Governor Sir Hercules 
Robinson and the whole community ; and 
served to cast discredit on scientific aid from 
that day to this. But what does Sir Wm. 
Twynam show (as repeated by Mr. CoUett) 
—that Mr. Holdsworth never saw a Pearl 
Fishery and never even during his fiye years 
as Ceylon Naturalist, had the opportunity 
of joining in an inspection of a bed of pearl- 
oysters on one of the banks off our shores. 
His five years were absolute blanks in these 
respects. Then let us think of scientific 
progress since 1865-1870 ! Why, Marine Bio- 
logy was an unknown study thirty years 
ago. Sir Wm. Tv/ynam, oo, is ignor;int of 
the fact that, apart from Mr. Thurston's 
Monograph, there is much useful informa- 
tion to be gathered from other Colonies 
and countries bearing on Pearl Oysters. 
We have before us, as we write, for instance 
a Report by W. Saville Kent, K.L.s,, F.z.s, 
Commissioner of Fisheries. Queensland" on 
" Oysters and Oyster Fisheries of Queens- 
land" dated 30th June, 1891, which deals 
with pearl-shell fisheries and is illustrated 
by coloured plates of the various oysters 
and of some of their enemies, and' with 
pictures of oyster banks, collections of spat, 
and plates illustrating the Embryology of 
the oyster. This Report we received from 
Dr. Haddon, of the Royal College of Science, 
