98 
THE TKOiOAL AGRICULTUKLST. 
[AUGC8T 1, 1898 
be steady until the price came down to an average 
of Cd per pound, and at tliat time a rupee average 
was iKjt coiiKidered out of tlie way, and a rupee 
was worth two shillings. That this saying was 
true can be seen l)y the course of events, and 
the nearer we come to Od. the better pro.-pects 
for tea. "Tea" in those days was " planting :" 
now it is a regular and well founded industry, 
and a recognised Ijiisis for forming companies 
and dealing in shares. At tlie present moment 
there is great faith in those concerns which pay 
steadily. One company which i)!iys steadily '20 
per cent for three yeais consecutively sells its 
KiOO shares at K375, which means that the pur- 
chasers are willing to take a return of Ho-9-8 
per cent, so that they can have little d<jnbt ot the 
stability of that concern. But should it ha|)pen 
that this concein ultimately jiays h) per cent, 
then the prer^ent purchasers of shares will have 
to be content to get R-2-1'2-6 per cent, and this 
is not brilliant. Of course it all de))ends on 
whether one invests for a |)ermanent income, or 
with a view to taking advantage of a rise in 
the price of shares. 
For those who want a pei inanent, or at least a 
long investment the (jnestion comes, " How long 
will tea pay 20 per cent? We can see that very 
many people are against such monstrous profits ; 
they rush in and open new estates, they struggle 
for the already insuthcient sup|)ly of labour; they 
increase the amount anil ilecrea.-<e the ])rice of 
tea, they are content to get 5 jier cent and hope 
for 10, and this struggle will go on incessantly 
until a certain 5 per cent is assureil. This set- 
tling down will not lake very long now, because 
we have almost reached our limit in the way of 
economy and labour-saving devices, and the 
output of tea swells rather more rapidly than the 
markets expand. It is almost a certainty that 
there will be another boom or two, exchange ni.ay 
go down again, and duties may be taken oft" in 
several or all the countries with which we deal. 
Both of these may give tea another spurt, which 
will show large dividends from some of the best 
companies. 
THE IMPROVEMENT IX MACHISICRV, 
and everyyear shows very great advance in this di- 
rection, will be one of our greatest factors of safe- 
ty. It is very iniportant to keep one level quality 
and character in the tea made, so that the buyers 
may be fairly sure thattheycan get what they want 
and at t he time they wane it. This result is now 
attainable by those estates which use the best 
machinery. This equalising ot the quality and 
character of tea will enable the buyers to make 
up bigger lots and they will also be able to keep 
the prices steady. We are gradually eliminating 
the influence of weather on manufacture. Form- 
erly one of the greatest hindrances to making 
good tea was the difficulty of " withering." 
Withering is the process by which the leaf is made 
ready to be rolled- When the leaf is fresh from 
the bush it is crisp and any pressure breaks it. If 
the leaf is placed on a tray for several (from 12 
to 48) hours it get withered and it can then stand 
severe pressure in all direction without breaking. 
In wet vveather the leaf will not wither properly, 
and so Avhen there is a long spell of rain the tea 
made is distinctly bad. We are now gettinc ma- 
chines which will wither the leaf in all weathers. 
Withering by the help of heat is feasible, but 
it is admitted that the best quality of tea is made 
from leaf withered in cool dry air, but it is also 
a fact that withering ettected by hot air is better 
than insufficient withering, and consequently less 
bad teai will be placed on the market. I am still 
looking at tea from the investor's point of riew, 
and I have meniioned one procesB called wither- 
ing, because it was proliahly the greatest cause 
ot uncertaint J', and of pii- bald |iriiiitti (white 
one year and black the next), and the greatest 
desire of the investor is to have bteadinesc. 
1 noted above the probable bene'it to tea from 
THH HKMISSION OF "DUriEK"' 
and there can be very little doubt 
that those countiies which have the hea- 
viest "duties' will lessen them out of self- 
interest. Good tea at low prices is Bure of 
favour in all countries from pole to jiole. It has 
paid England to lower the duly to four pence 
and othei countries will find tliis out. With a 
heavy duty it is only possible to eupidy the very 
worst kind of tea, and even then the price u 
prohibitive, so that the consumption cannot in- 
crease rapidly. People prefer chicory to bad 
tea at five shillings a pound, but they will cer- 
tainly give up the stuff which ought to be called 
"coughy" when they can get good tea at one 
shilling a pound, 'lliere is a great argument 
against the benefits of free tea, that it Uhh not 
made much way in America; and the answer is 
that American has as yet had very little good 
cheap tea. They have had a lot of indifferent 
cheip tea which could not be disposed of in 
England, but even this has bee" found better 
than the stufl' obtained from China. In cource 
of time we planters will be able to turn out great 
bulks of really good tea ; it will cost n» no 
more because we improve our appliances for manu- 
facture ; so that the surplus which we dump into 
other countries will be good, honest tea, and it 
make its way on its own merits. Then each re- 
mission of duty will enable it to spreail further 
and further until (as in England) it becomes the 
national drink. The^e causes of steaJiness (bet- 
ter and more even quality) will increafie the con- 
sumption of tea in England itself to a very ^reac 
extent. Altogether our lookout is liopefnl and tea 
should remain a safe investment for those who 
form comi)auies and start new ventures. But for 
tiiose who buy at high figures because of the 
present inflated returns, the prospect is liarily 
so attractive. Looking up and down 
THK LIST OK TEA COMPANIES 
I see one of whicli the closing quotations 
are four and a half times the price of the 
shares. The last profit was 12J per cent, there- 
fore the closing purchasers reckon on a dividend of 
K2i' per cent. The dividends for two pre- 
vious years had been more than double. The 
capital of this company is R500 per acre. 
Another company shows 155 as closing quota- 
tions and 15 per cent profit, so the purchaser got 
R9-10-11 per cent, and its capital is R;j25 per 
acre. I confess myself a perfect novice as regards 
investment in tea. I know that people jump at 
large returns, but 1 always fancied th'at when a 
return of only 5 per cent is required there is 
usually also a demand that the investment shall 
be steady, and I hardly think that tea has 
proved itself steady up to now. It is perhaps 
hard to understand why concerns which pay 
about 10 to 0 per cent now should remain at 
that figure while others which now pay from 20 
to 50 will (as I stated before) come down to 
from 10 to 5, but one cause may be that the 
prices of tea will "et more equal. There are 
roughly three kinds of tea in demand. The 
lowest is bought in large quantities and brought 
up to a certain level of quality by mixing in a 
little of the highest priced tea. This highest 
tea is itx demand, because the lowest requires 
