THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov. 1, 1898. 
TEA MAKING IN CEYLON. 
The Special Commissioner of Tlu Enginter con- 
tinues hie article on Ceylon in the issue of the 
9bh September. Afterdealing with the question ol 
railways and incidentally with the strong feeling 
of the" industrial population that narrow gauge 
lines should be run throughout tlie planting dis- 
tricts he says it is only natural that some con- 
sideration should be given to the staple product 
for the transportation of winch such a line would 
be u«ed The article is accompanied with a num- 
ber of very interesting photographs which serve 
to sive a clear idea of the processes to which 
tea is submitted in Ceylon. The first of the 
nhoto'^raphs represents a characteristic tea plan- 
tation": the second gives an outside view of a 
large factoiy, and the others interior view* 
ahowin" the leaf being withered. rolled, 
dried and packed. In concluding las descrip- 
tion 'of the various processes the writer says:— 
"The expense of tea manufacture mainly 
lies in the enormous amount of handling that 
is required. The laying out on trays in the 
withering sheds in itself entails a rery great 
amount of labour, and although certain ingenious 
inventions have been brought out with a view 
to obviating this, they have not met with 
very great success, or at all events, not with 
the general approval of the planters Automatic 
withering has also been tried, but the objection 
ursied against this is that it damages the leaf to some 
extent by rolling it prematurely, that is to say, 
befol^ it is fully withered. These d.fficu ties 
will, no doubt, be ultimately overcome, in which 
case the price of Ceylon tea which I understand 
is exrreuicly low, may possibly be reduced still 
further," 
meet buyers' views it woalcl be a good thing when 
bags were over the usual weight that the broker 
shoold either annoooce it or print it in bis cata- 
logue. No further reference to the matter was made. 
Planting in the West Indies —Steps are bemg 
taken in some of the West Indies to replace the 
sugar industry. In St. Vincent cocoa planting i« 
making steady headway, tobacco is grown with success, 
and there ia a local market for the beginners ; coffee 
caltivation is gradually increasiag, and arrowroot and 
cassara starch are grown with profit. In some parts 
of the Colony of Grenada cocoa and coffee promise 
well.— /f. ani C. Mail, Sept. 9. 
PRODUCE AND PLANTING. 
AiiLEGED Adulteration of China Tea.— A case of 
ftlleeed adulteration of " caper " tea was recently 
hei?d at Manchester, when a grocer was charged 
with the ofience. A sample of tea retailed by the 
defeDdant was certified by the City Analyst to con- 
tain 2i per cent of foreign mineral matter, princi- 
tJallv sand and fernginous earth. It was not alleged 
that the foreign matter was injurious. The defendant 
denied all knowledge on his part that the tea was 
adulterated. He suggested that the analyst had made 
a, miotake, and asked that a sample might be sent 
to Somerset House for analysis by the authorities 
there The magistrates acceded to this appUcation, 
and adjourned the case for a month. 
The Draft Allowanch on Cocoa.— In the cocoa 
sale room of the Commercial Sale Booms, Mincing 
Lane E C , a buyer, before Tuesday week's sale 
commenced, proposed a r«3olui.ion to the effect that 
in future, on all bags of cocoa exceeding IJcwt 3 lb 
of draft should be allowed instead of 21b. Mr. T 
L Devitt, who was selling, asked whether anyone 
would second the proposition, but no seconder being 
forthcoming the resolution fell to the gfonnd. Mr. 
Devitt in a few remarks expressed the opinion that 
any attempt toimpose more draft or allowance on 
cocoa coming into London would be about the worst 
thing the trade could do. They at present suffered 
in London from excessive and old-fashioned allow- 
ances, which in many trades were being done away 
with, because they could not compete with Conti- 
nentkl markets. He felt sure, therefore that 
and proposal to increase the draft would not 
be favourably received either by '' the room ■ 
6r the importers. He imagined that the ex- 
cessively weighty bags were a very, very small per- 
centage o£ the ceooa which came to Lwaop, and to 
INDIAN TEA ASSOCIATION (LONDON). 
The following is an abstract of the proceedinge 
of a meeting of the cammittee held on Taesday, the 
6th inst. : — 
. • • • 
Indian Tea Fund — Mr. Blechynden laid before 
the committee a specimen of a jap.mese fan which 
was being distributed in the United Slates as aa 
advertisment for Japan tea, and also submitted a letter 
containing his views und suggestions on the important 
question of preparing Oolong tea for the American 
markets. This object will haTe the further attention 
of the committee. 
Mr. Blechynden received final instructions from the 
committee ou his approaching return of America, 
the chief point being that he was to spend a larger 
portion of the Indian Tea Fund this year in sub- 
sidies than last year, and before learing he was de- 
sired to interview the chief firms whom he proposes 
to subsidise and to endeavour to form a plan of 
campaign that would meet their views. 
A remittance of £500 was ordered to be tent to 
the Bank of British North America. 
Ernest Tte, 8ecr«tftry. 
—R and C Maa, Sept. 9. 
PLANTING IN FIJI AND OTHER 
NEWS. 
(Extracts fi om the letter of a resident to a friend in 
Ceylon,) 
I am asked to remain on— at Holmhurst— till 
30th Sept. I want to get away just to have a 
look at the new place " Wai Ni Koro"— 12 or 14 
miles from Labasa— where the Colonial Sugar Re- 
finery Co. have taken up 2,000 acres of land. 
Gemmel Smith (manager of the Company) 
does not feel inclined to let fellows lease lands 
from them (the Company). He told me that if 
it paid us to grow cane for their mills, they 
(the Co.) might as well have these pickings. How- 
ever, if I can't come to terms with him I must 
cast about for something else— go into business 
perhaps. As for rubber, seven years for returns, 
sobu, sobu (too slow) ! And coconut, with all 
our unfortunate experiences of tropical atmospheric 
outbursts, makes iiie pause. Fine place Ceylon, 
■where you don't get these kind of things m so 
severe a form. 
I think O'Brien (the Governor) has the nmlua 
(wait-a-bit) fully developed in his sy.stem, other- 
wise he would have struck long ago I am sorry 
that the Federal vote in New South Wales was, 
lost. For there was some hope held out that Fiji 
would have been included in the Common wealth 
after a reasonable time. Price of labour kills 
Fiji. And no one with capital will ever attempt 
anything here till the native policy is done away 
with entirely or modified, 
