34 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Juw 1, 1899. 
been, by a considerable advance in value during the 
last few weeks, whilst the whole tendency of the London 
market is, if anything, still towards higher rates. The 
severely reduced stock in Loa-'on, whittled down, to 
71,129,450 lb. in contrast with 82,251,10J lb. on Miy 1, 
1898, is suffi'iieat proof of the povfirty of the present 
situation in respeot of not having at command an 
adequate and inmediate supply of suitable teLs for 
home consumption ; and it can har.lly be doubted that, 
when the new IVIonings arrive about the end ot Jane, 
they will come upon what is significantly called a 
' hungry market.' 
The Tea Duty.— Last night in the House of Com- 
mons, during a discussion of the Budget Bill, Mr. 
Broadhurst boldly moved to reduce the tea. duty by one 
half. The Chancellor of the Exchequer pleaded that 
that involved the loss of a sum of between a million 
and a half and two millions. He really could not face 
Buoh a contingency. On a division the amendment was 
negatived by 2i6 votes against 12.5, so that there need 
not be any further discussion about the tea duty out- 
side the House of Commons for a time at least. — //. and 
V. Wail, May 12. 
rAGILTTlES FOR MAKING GOOD 
TEA— VIII. 
One letter from Nuwara Eliya, and two 
from the adjoining little district of New 
Galway, may well be considered together. 
The two last are agreed that the chief 
drawback to the outturn of a better average 
tea, is the rush of leaf during March, April 
and May generally ; while Nuwara Eliya 
complains of the lack of "detail factory 
supervision," by which is meant, we sup- 
pose, that higher intelligence than that of 
the ordinary tea-maker is wanted in the 
factory, if full advantage is to be taken of 
soil, climate and elevation — all of which favour 
the manufacture of high-class teas. While 
the jat in New Galway ia medium and the 
soil the same, Nuwara Eliya, being of more 
recent planting, undertaken when experience 
had taught the need of the utmost care in 
the choice of bushes, claims a decidedly good 
jat, with a soil which, though not uniform, 
is generally above the average. There are 
no worn out estates in these districts ; but 
patches in the steeper and more exposed 
parts are giving way ; and for these grevil- 
leas are recommended, equally useful for 
firewood and for timber. From New Galway, 
we have one opinion absolutely in favour 
of manuring if ijrices kept up, and another 
favouring manure, if lai'ge yields are wanted, 
bat prophesying a poor quality of tea. 
Why the tea which follows the application 
of manure should be poor, we are not 
told ; but we thought that notion had been 
exploded by widespread experience. If not, 
it would be interesting to find out which 
manures are prejudicial to quality, and then 
to trace out the causes by the aid of scien- 
tific analysis. Nuwara Eliya, on the other 
hand, favours manures where transport is 
easy, but does not think the district reqiiires 
refreshment just yet. 
Nuwara Eliya commits itself to the declar- 
ation that all its estates are deficient in 
witherijig room, though factories on the 
whuh^ are well supplied with machinery, 
and also with motive power, so far as water 
ii concerned. New Galway, though _ in a 
more guarded manner, gives expression to 
the same complaint, one writer noting the 
deficiency of withering space in wet weather, 
and the other declaring that more accom- 
modation v/ould be a decided advantage in 
the be.st flushing months and in wet weather. 
Some estates in this district ai'e deficient 
in machiuerv, but the motive power, being 
water, is always available. From all three 
planters we have testimony of the abund- 
ance of labour, and one specially notes the 
advantage it offers in permitting of careful 
plucking even in the months of biggest 
flushes. AVhile New Galway tells us that 
there has been but little of severe pruning 
.so far, the general opinion favouring 
light prunitig once in two or three years ; 
Nuwara Eliya insists that severe pruning 
must be resorted to once in nine or ten 
years, after three or four light prunings. 
In neither district has pruning l)een too 
long neglected ; but while tlie pruning at 
first, of bushes planted on virgin soil, was 
practised once in three years, every other 
year is the rule now. Nuwara Eliya claims 
to be tlie most suitable district ftir tea in 
the whole Island, and New Galway declares 
that there are thousands of acres of forest 
in the locality, equal to any in Ceylon ; but 
these are not available at present. " It looks 
forward to the time when, lowcountry es- 
tates having replaced their tea with some 
more suitable and more jirofitable product, 
the Government will see the Avisdoni of 
removing present restrictions, and offering 
alternate blocks of .300 acres to public com- 
petition, above tlie present elevation limit 
Though we ourselves look forward with hope 
to that time, we cannot agree in the whole- 
sale condemnation of the lowcountry. But 
for its teas. Chinas would be once more in 
the ascendant; and, while there is a cer- 
tain demand for low-grown teas, their re- 
munerativeness cannot be questioned. And 
has there been any otter to beat that which 
has been made for the property of a low- 
country Company, whose shares stand at a 
premium of 300 per cent, and which has 
been declaring dividends of 25 per cent with 
astonishing regularity ? Per contra, one of the 
letters from New Galway, while claiming 
that soil and climate are exceptionally goodj 
laments the failure of the bushes in the 
vigorous appearance which characterized them 
some years ago ; and it desires the aid of 
experts to ascertain the Qause of the de- 
cline. We trust the explanation will suggest 
the remedy, and that upcountry and low- 
country estates alike will continue to con- 
tribute to the general prosperity by their 
teas of distinctive flavor and body. 
RUBBER PREPARATION. 
India-rubber prepara.tion or separation, 
with all the improvements which are " in 
the air," is likely to be an importanc ques- 
tion for many Ceylon plautei^s for some 
time to come. Mr. Willis has been telling 
us a good deal that is new and he and 
Mr. Parkins are likely to give us a good 
deal more erelong. Meantime, we have an 
interesting communication today from Mr. 
Hart of Trinidad in criticism of a paper by 
Mr.Biffen, which we copied into our monthly 
periodical some months ago. Everything 
