154 
THE TROPICAL AGIilCULTUlilST. 
[Ski'T. 1 1898. 
The Tea market is in a rotten condition, wliich is 
to be regretted, but that neither chemical nor bac- 
teriological investigations, etill less " crying stinking 
fish" will improve it is the humbln opinion of, 
yonrs faithfully. CHAS. IT. BAOOT. 
St. Leonards, Nawara Eliya, Aug. 7tli, l89b. 
I. 
Sib, — I am glad to see Mr. C. H. Ba^ot has pro- 
tested against the harm done by your frequent re- 
ferences to the alleged falling-oilT iu quality of our 
teas. That your remarks have done harm, 1 have 
proof in the shape of letters from friends in England 
who are interested in Ceylon estates, asking my opi- 
nion as to the question raised in your paper, of 
the altered character of Ceylon teas. I replied that 
there must ^be differences in the quality of tea made 
under varying climatic influences ; as with the vin- 
tage, so with tea, one season's crop differs from 
another; that the teas manufactured this year were 
well made in the factory, and of better quality than 
last year's, as comparison with 1897 teas fully 
proved. 
The absence of competition on the market owing 
to the altered conditions of the tea-trade at home, 
the statement tliat " the finest tea the world pro- 
duces" can be bought at a figure that, to anyone 
who thinks, carries contradiction on the face of it, 
the over-supply of one type of tea ; these are some 
of the reasons for the fall in price. 
I beg to differ from you as to the " whole tea- 
trade " opinion on Ceylon teas. I have valuations 
and reports of sales before nio which contain the 
following remarks : " These teas are the best we have 
seen from for some time, but we do not value 
them higher owing to the depressed condition of 
the market." Again — " we regret not to have obtained 
more for the Pekoe, the market is over-supplied 
with this grade, the tea is fully up to invoice ex s. 8. 
— ,' sold early in May at Sjd. per lb. higher." 
It you would cease your unjustifiable comments on 
the character of Ceylon teas, and do all in your 
power to advocate their consumption in new coun- 
tries, you would further the interests of the planting 
enterprise. — I am, sir, your obedient servant, 
W. P. METCALFE. 
Dunsinane, August 10th, 1898. 
n. 
Sin,— I quite agree with all Mr. B»got says on 
this subject. The teas on most estates have im- 
proved with the nge of the bushes, showing more 
strength, and still have fine flavour. Thin flavoury 
teas made from young tea, u lucli used to .sell so irell 
do not command any price in the present market. 
They are too thin. 
Could we go back to the market we had five years 
ago, even mith our increased yield per acre the teas 
would fetch as high prices as then. 
It is the market, not the tea, that is at fault. — 
Yours faithfully, HUGH B. EOBEETS. 
Eltofts, Bogawantalawa, August 9th. 
CEYLON WOODS FOR TEA PACKAGES. 
Sir, — Tne publication recently of Mr. Lewis's paper 
on Ceylon woods leads me to offer a few remarks 
on the fitness of some of those woods for tea-pack- 
ages. At the present time, when thei'e is so much 
talk about the special attention we must give to our 
teas with the view of introducing tliem to new markets, 
planters should not overlook the subject of packages, 
for that subject is almost as important as the subject 
of the tea itself. I am nearly certain that at least 
two-thirds of the tea that comes down from up- 
country is packed in native wood cases which are 
totally unfit for shipment; in fact many firms have 
told me in my travels that they cannot take Ceylon 
teas; — they are afraid to indent for them, notknow- 
n ) what cases they will be in. Mind, I am not 
•ondeming the country chest as a whole. Several 
local woods are useful and serviceable ; but care should 
})e taken ia their seletUoa. The foUowiog are native 
woods suitable for tea chests : — Hal, lionibie, Mango 
Areda. Diatalia, and Ombie. Tea should never be 
packed in Kattuinibul, Tell-kakaoa, or Bulu chests. 
If planters would pay more attention to the pack- 
ages the'r teas are shipped in, many firms now 
Belling Chinas and Japans could be induced to handle 
onr product. Going on board a steamer loading tea 
in our harbour, numbers of chests are lo be eeeu 
with lead and often the tea exposed to view. Whett 
weevils and dry rot have had time to work their 
havoc on K.attuiiabul, Tell-Kakana, and Bulu cbestK, 
what condition will the tea bo iu when it arrives 
at the store of a purchaser in a distant land V 
One day while in Sin Franciscoe I saw a cart 
load of Ceylon tea going down the street, leaving 
a trial of tea as it went. My friend, who happened 
to be one of the largest importers of tea in America, 
remaiked: — "there goes your Ceylon tea, and still 
your planters wonder why our merchants are not 
ready to receive your goods with open arms, ai.d 
condemn teas from China and Japan in their neat, 
light, packages, which seldom give any trouble through 
breakages." I strongly urge on planters the neces- 
sity of paying more attention than they have hitherto 
done to this vital matter.— Yours truly. 
R. V. WEBSTER. 
PLANTING NOTE.S. 
Tea PitUNiNc, AND Pluckikg.— There is clearly 
a threat de.il to be learned in liiis connection ; but 
allowance niu.st be made tor the dirterin!; condiliou« 
of (liHerent di.stricts. Thus from L va, in the iiiid«t 
of drought, we learn ofS lb. of leaf a day i)er cooly 
coining in, which certainly will not pay on a price 
not above the average. A critic of liiis, in an old 
di.'itrict on the Kandy-side, tliink'^ the '•pruning" 
is to blame and tefis u.s :— '• Why I get 20 lb. of 
leaf a head, and I attribute it to going over my 
tea once a year with light i)runing." Another 
e(iua!ly experienced planter, but in a much higher 
dl^<tricc (4,oUUft. as compared with 'J.UOUV) say.s : 
" Your '20 lb. plucker will injure his tea in the 
long run— my average is 121b. and 1 think it a 
good one: tliis season I have got 14 lb. whicli 
1 think quite as much as should be plucked by 
any cooly in a day. ' Now all we have to pay 
is that our "201b." friendly the last man in tlie 
world to injure his tea and he knows a good 
deal about it too ; but ' who will decide when 
doctors disagree ? ' 
CoFK i;k an'u Pkppkk in Soutiikrn I.vdia.— 
We have delayed publishing Mr. 11. Tatliam's letter 
until we could, as usual, give liis tabular state 
nieiit which is the really valuable portion of 
the information. Both will now be found as 
a Supplement. It will be seen that, for 
the first time we think, Mr. Tathani attempts 
to distioguish between ' Native ' and ' Plantation ' 
cofllee and he makes out that as much as 
81,658 cwt. of Native coffee was exported. But 
we thought from a recent di-scussion in the 
press that all the ' native ' coffee grown in India 
was scarcely enough for local consumption if the 
whole continent were considered ? Again, if the 
plantations of Mysore, (Joorg, &c., only gave 
121,517 cwt., what will that make per acre? 
We fear very little, judging by the figures in 
our Directory. Still the total export of 20:?,000 cwt. 
is not so bad, considering the times. The 
maximum exjiort of coffee reached by India was 
507,296 owt. in 1871-72 ; but since then there 
has been a steady decline though never the 
collapse which has occurred in Ceylon. — The 
export of Pepper from India last year wae 
Avas short and the price high : what a chance for 
Ceylon to do something with this "new-old 
product" J 
