19^ 
tHE T^ROPICAL AaRtCULTUElS^.' i^EPt, 1, I90i 
— . . . . » 
To the Editor. 
GliEEN TEAS AND GREEN TEAS 
IN CEYLON. 
Stagbrook, PeermaacI, S. India. 
Sib,— in your footnote to a letter signed 
Willing to Learn," in yours of] 18th July 
you refer to "Green leas" as ^'manufac- 
tured " at Ambewatte Mills. I have again 
to point out to you and such of your readers 
as are as hazy on the subject of " Green 
Tea manufacture" as is " Willing to Lenrn," 
that " Green Teas are " not manufactured at 
Ambewatte Mills ; but that manufactured 
Green Teas are coloured and restored there. 
There isno secret about theprocess. Itismerely 
SI matter of extra expense. " Willing to 
Learn" can see the process for himself as 
adopted in Japan on ))ages 12 and 27 of the 
Keport of the British Vice-Consul at Yoko- 
■liama iipon the Japanese Tea Industry, 
printed at the Observer Printing Works. 
Machines can be bought for colouring lai'ge 
quantities quickly instead of using the 
Panning Process described in above report 
for about £375 f.o.b.; but probably after 
reading the article on Colouring of Tea on 
page 27, lie will bide a wee before follow- 
ing Messrs. Finlay, Muir & Co.'s example, 
— I am, sir, yours faithfully, 
H. DRUMMOND DEANE. 
P. S, — If experts in colouring green teas 
are wanted, there are many men in India who 
have nothing to learn from the Japanese. 
[It is very good of Mr. Drummond Deane 
to enlighten us ; but we have yet to learn 
that he has been inside the Ambewatte 
Mills to see all the process. Here is what 
Mr. A. K, Muir said in England the other 
day :— 
A factory has been erected in Colombo and 
equipped with the necessary machinery for makine; 
greeu teas in the Chinese and Japanese fasliiou. 
This factory is capable of turning out abouc 
3,000,000 lb. of green tea per annum. About one- 
fourth of this quantity is at present being manu- 
factured there, and if it proves that 3,000,000 lb. 
can readily be sold in the United States and ( 'auada 
the output will be increased accordingly, 
—Ed. 2. a.] 
THE "MANUFACTURE" OP GREEN 
TEAS IN COLOMBO ; 
MR. DRUMMOND-DEANB EXPLAINS. 
Stagbrook, Peermaad, S. India, Aug. 2. 
Sir,— With reference to your footnote 
to my letter in your issue of 28th instant, 
it is not necessary for me or anyone else 
to go inside the Ambewatte Mills to know 
that any large quantity of green tea leaf 
could not be ti-ansported to Colombo and 
manufactured there. On the other hand manu- 
factured leaf can of course be transported 
there and sorted or coloured in any way that 
is foimd paying, and I for one wish the 
enterprising firm in question every success, 
though I doubt the desirability in the long 
run of colouring Ceylon and Indian Teas. 
Mr. A. K. Muir, when he spoke (in the speech 
you quote) of " making " green teas in the 
Chinese and Japanese fashion, was not 
talking to manufacturers but to consumers, 
and, if he had used the words " turning out'' 
instead of the word " making," he would 
have been absolutely correct ; or had he 
used the word " into " instead of " to " he 
would again be correct. Not that such a slip 
would matter at all to the general public, but 
here in India and Ceylon it is a different matter 
because many men are thinking of " manu- 
facturing green tea" but reluct^ant to begin 
so long as from your editorial chair the fiat 
goes forth that to " manufacture " greeu teas 
on the best Japanese lines, intending manu- 
facturers must either obtain an entry into the 
" Ambawatte " factory or be out in the cold. 
This is a fallacy. If any gentlemen wish 
to colour their green teas I have no doubt 
Mr C Judge of 47, Free School Street, 
Calcutta, will, for a small remuneration, give 
them every particular for doing so by hand. 
If they wish to do it by machinery it is a mere 
question of a very expensive machine. Two 
very large gardens in India are colouring 
their teas with great success as regards ap- 
pear.ance, to my personal knowledge, though 
their teas are made on the system first intro- 
duced into Ceylon and India by myself.— 
Yours faithfully, 
H, D. DEANE. 
[The above letter, we take it, was written 
before Mr. Drumond Deane saw Mr. Leslie 
Rogers' report on Ambawatte samples ? Our 
latest news is of a leading Ceylon planter 
who was, in confidence, taken through 
Ambawatte and who expressed himself cis 
perfectly satisfied as to no extraneous sub- 
stance being added to the teas. At the same 
time our correspondent is right about 
planters having to continue on liis plan of 
turning out green teas. — Ed. T,^.] 
"THE CONSOLIDATED TEA AND LANDS' 
AND "AMALGAMATED TEA 
ESTATES" COMPANIES. 
In re " commissions "— AN example 
TO BE FOLLOWED ? : 
July 21. 
Dear Sir, — There is a down among some 
Ceylon tea planters on what are called the " Muir 
Companies"; but it seems to me, Sir, that much 
occurred at the Glasgow meetings of the " Coa- 
solidated" and "Amalgamated" Companies 
deserving of praise from outside planters. There 
are Planting Companies in Ceylon that pay no 
dividends ; but the remission of fees and corn- 
missions is rave ? Here is the Chairman's reference 
in Glasgow : — 
" With a view to enabling the directors to make up 
the full sum drawn from the reserve account last year 
end thus place the company again in a divide:jd-paying 
position as soon as possible, the Calcutta and Colombo 
agents liave agreed to give up to the company, for the 
benefit of the revenue account of 1901, the whole of 
their commissions for that year ; the directors have 
returned one- half of their fees, and the London agei^Jg 
have also returned one-half pf their commissioBBj" 
