Jan. 1, 1903.] 
THE TROPICA!; AGRICULTURIST. 
46.5 
nierce, and it would be absuid for anyone to set 
up as an arbiter of t^'.ste to decide wliich should 
or should not bo drunk. In Ainericx, at all 
restaurants and hotels it is u^ual to offer both 
black and green tea. It is a delusion to suppose 
that green tea, as manufactured in India and 
Ceylon, contains anytiiing in the slightest decree 
resembling poisonous ingredients, and it is some- 
what asioundino; to ht'ar such an idea mooted. 
I regret to see that one of the shareliolders at the 
meeting (Mr Fjrd North) gave countenance to this 
idea by remarking that " unquestionably green 
tea is less wholesome than black." 
It is unfortunate that meeting of shareholders 
interested in the production of tea should vote 
against a cess that has been, and is likely to still 
further be, an instrument in extending the know- 
ledge of tea and opening up new markets in foreign 
cnniitries. 
I quite enc'orse all that was said by Mr 
Pettit on thesuliject. He was right in expressing 
bis opini"n that the whole of the cess should be 
used to encourage the nianufactare of green tea, 
wliich, as he said, was not jiII unwholesome, and 
no one need drink it unless they liked it. 
I trust in a year or two we shall obtain as 
considerable a share of the demand for green 
tea as we alreaily have for black tea. — Yours 
faithfully, Shareholder. 
London, November ISih, 1902. 
—H. and C. RIail, Nov. 21. 
♦ 
THE CEYLON POULTRY CLUB 
MAGAZINE 
lias now (in its second number) fnlly de- 
veloped and apart from the interesting 
and profitable matter taken over from the 
allied Indian journal, there is a practical 
Ceylon article on "buying and selling" — 
eggs, chickens, full-grown birds— well-worth 
reading. This is followed by local notes 
and comments and some short "fowl "ads. 
Mr. M J Cary is acting for Mr. S P Jeffery, 
as Hony. Secretary and I'reasurer. All who 
jjave poultry should get and study this 
little journal, 
<> 
THE INDIAN TEA CESS. 
Indian Tea As.sociation, Calcutta, 8th Dec, 1902. 
To all proprietors and agents of tea estates. 
The proposed Tea Cess. The subjoined letter 
upon this question is publisiied for information, 
W. Parsons, Secretary. 
No. lOOI-O., dated Calcutta, 28th Nov. 1902. 
From the Secretary, Indian Tea Association. 
To the Secretary to the Government of India, 
Finance and Commerce Department. 
I am directed by the General Committee of the 
Indian Tea i^.ssociation to address you, in con- 
tiinuation of previous correspondence, upon the 
question of the proposed imposition of a compulsory 
Cess upon Indian tea. 
2. This question wns raised in March last by 
the representation to His Exrell ncy the (xovei- 
nor-General in Council of a Memorial praying for 
the imposition of the Ces^. The Memorial was 
sifned by tea proprietors representing 416,140 acres 
of it^a bearing land. It received tlie favourable 
consideration of Government ; and a resolution 
upon it was published by your Department on tlie 
1st August last, la this resolution it was stated 
that the request of the in^niorialists would be ac- 
cedetl to if the tea indnstry were of siii)stanti;illy 
one mind on thesuljoct. It; was added that the 
necessary legislation would be undertaken, during 
the fortlicoming Calcutta session of the Imperial 
Legislative Council, provided tliat no weiglny or 
widely etitertalned objections were raised iu tho 
nieaiitimc. 
3. I ani now to express to His Excellency the 
Governor-General in Council the lespectfiil ac« 
knowledgments of the memorialists for the sym- 
pathetic manner iu which His Excellency thus con- 
sented to meet their request. They are fully sen- 
.sible of the fact that legislation of the character iu 
question cannot be undertaken without that practi- 
cal unanimity to which reference is made iu the 
Resolution. li;it the General Committee, speaking 
on behalf of the memorialists, are convinced that 
they are entitled to claim that the Cess has 
received the conf enb of practically the whole of the 
Indian tea industry. The acreage represented by 
the memorialists is equal to about 80 per cent, 
of the wdiole aiea under tea cultivation in Itnlia. 
But in the principal producing district.^-, taking 
theit separately, the percentage is higlier. In 
Soirthern India it reaelies lOD per cent. ; in the 
B'.'Dgal-Dooars 86 percent; in the Braiimaputra 
Valley — the most extensive tea district in Imlia — 
83 per cent ; aird in the Surma Valley 84 per cent. 
And even in those districts where the percentage is 
lower the movemei:t is, nevertheless, strongly sup- 
ported. Nor would it be right to assume that those 
proprietors who have not signed the Memorial are 
in even covert opposition. Indeed, the General 
Committee have good reasons for believing that 
an additional ten per cent, of the whole area niay 
be safely regarded as, if not favourable, at least 
as neutral. The remainder would seem to be land 
which is chiefly in the occupation of small pro- 
prietors, both European and Native, who have 
expressed no opinion, The Committee regret that 
they are unable to furnish Government with 
statistics of the weight of tea annually produced 
by the supporters of the Cess. But, seeing that a 
majority of the best estates in the large districts 
are represented by the memorialists, it may be 
rightly inferred that, measured by this standard, 
the i-upport given to the Cess reaches a higher 
percentage than when measured by the standard 
of area. 
4. To snmmariss the position then it may, the 
Committee think, be s lid with conlideiiCe that 
practically the whole industry is in favour of 
the Cess being tri^d. Some proprietors may still 
be doubtful as to whether it will be, in the 
result, as successful as others anticipate ; but 
the general opinion seems to be that the experi- 
ment should t)C made. Indeed, so far as the 
Committee can learn, no objections are enter- 
tained by any considerable, or in fact by any, 
section of tea producers. It is true that, in the 
course of the lona; discussion thai the movement 
has provoked, something has been w'ritien on 
the opposite side. But it; has been written anony- 
mously for tho most part, presumably by those 
who, not being themselves tea producers, are in 
the fortunate position of being able safely to give 
advice upon matters with which they are but 
imperfect y acquainted, 
5. Believing, therefore, as the General Committee 
do, that the conditions laid dowu by G vernnienc 
n the August resolution aie sub.>.tamially fnKilled, 
hey will now take the liberty of briefly ex- 
