Sept. 1, 1900.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
173 
To the Editor. 
GREEN TEAS AND MR. DRUMMOND 
DEANE. 
Stagbrook, Peermaad, 
Travancore, July 28. 
Deae Sir,— Iu re your remarks re " Pale 
liquor beiuK a desideratum for {;reen tea " I 
can assure vou that I aui not at all "mixed 
on the subject as your planting friend sug- 
gests. But there is "Pale liquor" and "Pale 
liquor." What I was always told to strive for 
was a 'pale strcno color, and if you refer to 
Mr. Street's report and valuations published in 
Tropical Agriculturist, 21st January, 1890. 
you will see' that I about hit the mark. I 
may add that the valuations in that report 
turned out about 2d below the prices fetched. 
The only interest in publishing these oid 
valuations will be when some of the newly- 
made greens on my system are reported along- 
side of them. 
But with that report and all subsequent 
reports I was always asked to get a little more 
color into the liquor if possible as they were 
a trifle too pale in appearcmce, though the 
flavour was excellent and infusion all that it 
should be. 
This I failed to do with the " Kintyre " leaf, 
but with a few small experiments with " Ruan- 
wella" leaf mai'e by hand, I got the darker- 
liquor, and at the same time a favourable re- 
port from America on the sample, which re- 
port unfortunately I have not preserved— as just 
at that time I gave up the manufacture. 
" Oolongs " always draw a much darker liquor 
more of an amber color owing to a certain 
amount of fermentation taking place when the 
leaf is rendered pliable for rolling by "hot 
air ; " and though the outturn is more or less 
green, yet some signs of fermentation will be 
apparent. 
I have quoted from your letter under reply, 
to Mr. Street, and asked him to reply to it through 
your papei if he will be so kind. I do not pro- 
fess to be a green tea expert, but a manufacturer, 
who has made teas that at that time apparently 
satisfied the trade requirements. 
If Mr. W. MacKenzie is correct in saying that 
the liquors cannot be too pale to suit the American 
taste, then it will be pretty certain that high 
grown Ceylon teas are sure to " boom " ;— for 
pale they will assuredly be. 
I tancy only about a dozen men are at present 
going in for this new departure. But I feel pretty 
confident that if care is taken in the sorting 
and in get-up of the packages to suit American 
ideas, remunerative prices will be the result. 
And it must be remembered there being no 
draft allowance in America, the planter has the 
price of a pound of tea in hand which will go 
a long way towards extra cost of packing the 
finest teas in neatly marked small hessian or 
mat covered packages.— I am, yours truly, 
HOKACE DRUMMOND DEANE. 
GREEN TEAS: -THEIR COLOUR AND 
QUALITY : THE NEED OP EXPERT 
ADVICE. 
Colombo, August 3. 
Dear Sib,— Mr. Deane has asked me to 
hand you the enclosed letter* and to reply 
through your columns. 
The "well-known planter" referred to has 
made the mistake of takingMr. W Mackenzie's 
remark that Green Tea liquors " cannot be 
too pale " too literally. Of course the liquor 
color may be too pale, just in the same way 
as it may be too dark. Mr. Deane in a recent 
letter to the Observer rightly says thene is .a 
paleness and a paleness or literally that 
there are degrees of paleness, dncs to manu- 
facture, one of which would be perfection 
and the other degrees of faultiness and 
uselessness from a Green Tea point of view. 
It is not necessary to refer to color from 
degree of elevation as this is simply a ques- 
tion of quality. The quality of Green Tea 
varies with elevation as with Black. I am 
not going to lay myself open to be 
misunderstood by entering into a 
description of what Green Tea should oi' 
should not be. The proper and safe medium 
for such description is between the individual 
planter and the expert in connection witli 
his own estate teas. I cannot too strongly 
emphasize, and I would also wish you to 
add to the emphasis, that an enormous 
amount of harm may, and I fear some will, 
be done to the future reputation of Ceylon 
Greens made withoid expert advice. Although 
the revival of Green Tea making in Ceylon 
is only a few weeks old, I have had several 
samples sent to me which clearly indicate 
the absolute yiecessity of expert criticism and 
advice. I need hardly say that all the faults 
which have come under my notice can 
be corrected by changes in manufacture. 
I strongly advise PUxnters not to begin 
manufacturing bulk until their experimental 
manufacture is entirely approved of by an 
expert. They would do well to remember that 
the future success or otherwise of Ceylon 
Greens depends upon the individual excel- 
lence of their manufacture particularly at 
first. 
Apologizing for having taken up so much of 
your valuable space, which I should not have 
occupied at all had not Mr. Deane asked me 
to reply through you,— Yours faithfully, 
F. F. STREET. 
RAINFALL AT TELLICHERRY, WEST 
COAST OF INDIA-ROADS, &c. 
Tellicherry, Aug. 13. 
Dear Mr. Editor,— In accordance with your 
editorial foot-note to a recent communication of 
mine, I have pleasure in handingj you a memo of 
the Tellicherry rainfall from 1st January, 1899, to 
date, which "l trust may be of .interest. It is 
pouring as I write, and eyery thing is more 
or less damp and nasty. However, we are 
getting fairly good news now from the 
famine-affected areas ; so must not grumble. 
The road at the top of the Tambercherry 
* This is very much the preceding letter. 
—Ed. T.A, 
22 
