172 
THE TROI'ICAL AGRlCULTUKIst. 
[Sept. 1, 1900. 
rule poor prices for want of pushing our floods by 
means of advertisement. Take the averuge Bri- 
tish public, what do they know of Indian tea? 
After all these years hardly anything. They know 
there is ascrongteawhicli conies from a place called 
"Assam," and perhaps a few people know that a 
fine flavoured tea conies from "Dai jeeiing,' but 
other districts are practically unknown to the 
public, and their produce therefore is only bought 
by the wliolesale blender for his blend, Witli a 
tea cess fund carefully adminislered much might 
be taught (not only the British public, but foreign 
nations) about the largest tea industry in the world. 
I, for one, object to the foreign market fund 
and shall not continue to subscribe to it. It is a 
happy-go-lucky system which falls hard on indi- 
viduals. For instance, take an estate of 500 acres, 
giving, s!ry, on to 350 lb. per acre : it can hardlj', 
make" ends meet, while an estate of 250 acres 
giving say 600 lb. an acre, and making good 
prolits, would, under the present system of an 
acreage taxation, pay less where it cau afford to 
pay more. That the "cess" will be hard on 
all planters at first in these days of poor prices, 
goes without saying, but with an energetic Cum- 
iuittee and a working Secretary, helped by Gov- 
ernment, without more " red tape " than is neces- 
sary, I feel sure in a year or two we should find 
our reward in the shape of increased consumption 
and better prices. 
Before closing this letter I will add a line in 
reply to A.C.'s letter to yourselves on "green 
tea.'' I do not think the method he suggests a 
good one, as he would start by making an in- 
ferior priced gieen tea, viz, an "Oolong," 
which is, as far as I am aware, the only kind 
of green tea yet made in India in any quantity. 
"What I would suggest as a commencement, 
where two or three can be got to work to- 
gether, is for one factory, on which there must 
be a steam engine, to get a steaming machine 
from Ceylon (the largesc size only costs h650, 
the smaller K450, including all the information 
necessary for the manufacture of choice " Mo- 
yune," or pure Japan green teas) and for that 
factory to undertake the manufacture of a per- 
centage of two or thiee neighbours' leaf, as 
well as a percentage of its own, bulking the 
teas together and shipping under one mark, lor 
a factory equipped with two or three rollers and 
two firing machines this could easily be done 
Vithout in any way interfering in the manufacture 
of its black tea. 
It is known by actual experiment and sales 
that teas made on this method do suit the 
Amcricanmarket, and this process has been adopted 
lately by 8 to 12 large concerns in Ceylon, the 
Ceylon Tea Plantations Company showing the 
way. Therefore, if A. C. and his friends make 
their tea^- on this principle, they ensure them- 
selves being put in the same class as the bulk 
of the Ceylon green teas, which have hitherto 
in a small way proved suitalde to tiie market 
they are intended for. 
(Jicen leas may be divided into two alassos — 
Oolongs or semi-green teas, which are partially 
fermented, and true green teas, which are wholly 
unfcrmenled. These latter are the most popular 
class of teas in America, as shown by the fact 
that out of a total export of some 51,000,000 lb. 
of China and .Japan teas to the United States, some 
14 000,0001b. are (J>olongs and of the uafermeuted 
class, whileover 30,000,0001b. areof the unfermentecl 
Clar-I whiclJ arc the tnie jjieen teas of Q^mmerce. 
Oolongs consists of tea leaves withered either 
artificially or naturally by hot air, pans, or on 
hot plates tuiilieii-nOy to enable them to be rolled j 
the result of iliis process is that the effect called 
by some fei uientation and by others oxidisation is 
partially pi O' I need, and this effect prevents the in- 
fused leaves from being uniform in colourand causes 
them to v iry from an olive green to alight brown. 
True green teas are made of leaf which has never 
been ferun-nced or oxidised, and when infused 
should show a uniform yellowish green colour, 
which could never be obtained had fermentation 
or oxidization taken place. 
If, Sir, you think it advisable to cut out this 
discourse on green tea as savouring too much of 
an advertisement, do so. My only object ia 
mentioning the above facts is to prevent men' 
from coming to grief by sending teas not quite 
suitable for the American market. — H. Drummond 
Dex'NE, Starjbr oak Estate, Peermaad, Tranvancore. 
— " Indian Gardening and Plantinr/,'" August Ifi. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
Florida Pin i; apple Crop. — E. P. Porcher, 
general agent of the Indian Kiver and Lake Worth 
Pineapple Growers' Association, has gathered ex- 
haustive statistics relative to the Florida pine- 
apple crop, and from them he estimates it at 
135,000 crates for the mainland. Last year's crop 
was about 16,000 crates which netted an average 
of $2.35 per crate. Another report says that tUe 
size of the fruit being extra large this year, 
150,000 crates will be the minimum of the Florida 
pineapple crop, - t/ou)'H«^ of the Jamaica Agn- 
cultural Society. 
"Manuring with Brains"— is tbe title of 
pamphlet sent us by Messrs, Freudenherg & 
Co. (Sole agents in Ceylon for the Syndicate 
of Potash Works and German-Austrian 
Thomas Phosphate Syndicate) which takes 
for its motto this saying of the Marquis of 
Salisbury : — 
If farmers would only manure their land with 
brains, as the paiuter mixes his paints, there would be 
much less heard about agricaltural depression." 
Very useful information is given, more 
especially adapted, of coui"se, to farmers in 
Europe ; and it is showri how "potash" is not 
only the dominant manure for leguminous 
crops, for potatoes and for grain crop.s ; but 
is also valuable for the prevention of Clover- 
Sickness, Tulip-Root and other Crop Pests. 
Bombay Mangoes for London.— An effort is 
being made to bring the Bombay mango to 
England, and, indeed, for a few hours a small 
show of this fruit recently made an unwonted 
sight in a Bond Street fruiterer's window. "Bub 
they were all snapped up as soon as the Anglo- 
Indian got to know of it," said JSIr. George Adam, 
who luul exhibited them. He sho^-ed a DoAly 
Mail representative a' letter lie had received froBi 
Kathiavvar, India, proposing to export Bombay 
mangoes to London as a regular article of com- 
merce. Messrs. Adam and Company hftpe to 
import them in quantities. It w.is a. Daiii^ 'Mail 
representative who described it as of " a green 
colour," and then wrote : " Smell it, and visions of 
Eucalyptus and influenza, benzine, and motor-cars, 
with a distant suggestion of a half-decayed pear 
float across your mind. This compound fruit is 
the mango." Looks as if mangoes were going to 
be popular in London, now that a beginning has 
been made.-- -/ndion Gardening and Planting. 
Aujj. 16. 
