330 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov ]. 1R9R. 
from Ceylon to America have ca,u;:lit on witl\ 
our eouMinn. We iiiiist walk before we run ; ainl 
work tliron^jli individuals until llie proner time 
conie8 — if it ever does— for an " As>*<>ciatioii " of 
Pare Green Tea Exporters, 
We may as well add here an extract from our 
letter to the Obserrei- from Japan, early in IHHi -. — 
The Japanese mode of prepiration has been des- 
cribed as follows : — the tea leaf bronght from the field 
in flat baskets is laid (in these) over a stcamin{< ap- 
paratus for a few seconds, the steam permeating and 
wiltinR the leaves; the leaf can then be rolled eat-ily 
before being thrown on paper pans over a hIow char- 
coal fire kept up for several hours, while the rolling 
and stirring with the hands is constant. Ne.\t, the 
tea is sorted by the women and children, a small 
quantity being placed by each on a tray from which 
by the use of cliopsticks the stems and coarse leaves 
arc cleverly separated, the large and small leaves 
being also separated. The tea is then sifted to sepa- 
rate dust and bruken loaves, and all is then ready 
for the market at the port of export. The finer teas 
are often packed in earlhouware jars ; but the larger 
portion is packed in chests of 75 lb. upwards, aiid 
occasionally the tea is transported in bales made of 
paper. (Tlie Japa)ieee have excelled from time im- 
memorial as paper-ruakcrs.) In the merchants' 
Godowns, the dilferent purchases are bnllced accord- 
ing to quality; the whole reflred and sifted losing 
from 5 to 10 per cent in inoieture and dust ; the firinp 
is done in pans over separate furnaces attended by 
Japanese, so that some godowns have hundreds of 
these separate furnaces ; but I learned that a good 
deal has been done, in Kobe especially, in applying 
labour-saving niachincrv; one gentleman especiiilly, 
who has devoted a good deal of attention for years 
to the subject, having patented several machines which 
are working successfully in his tea garden. Of the 
nature of the machinery I did not get a clear idea, 
though evidently rolling, drying and sifting were ex- 
pedited and rendered more regular. Of course nearly 
all the Japanese teas exported are " doctored'': 
America only cares for green, that is artiticially- 
coloied teas, although it may be that a small pro- 
portion of the tea sent is genuine green tea. Still 
it is acknowledged that the vast bulk has foreign sub- 
stances added, before the half-chests are neatly made 
up in the style in which Japanese workmen excel. 
Many of the wooden cases which came down from 
the tea districts are utilized to make these half-chests, 
and as many as .'iOO men are employed in a godown 
in the busy season, the average day's wage fo^ ten 
or more hours' labour being under ten-pence. As 
regards spurious and doctored teas, I do not suppose 
the Japanese are so much to blame as American 
retailers and middle class dealers who will have some- 
thing che 'P and eien irashy. The following outspoken 
reniarlts are from the repoi t of an American Consul 
in Japan, written abou'i, .^ix months ago, and with 
special reference to the Hiogo-0 =aka distiicts of which 
Kobe is tlie first: — •'The tea trade lias gone from 
bad to worse, until it has now become unsatisfactory, 
botli to the Japanese producer and the foreign ex- 
porter. Whether as a result of oversupply, or of such 
deterioration in the quality of the teas shipped as 
tends to check consumption, tlie prices to which tea 
has fallen in the United States are ruinously low, 
and if some improvement be not effected, this im- 
portant commerce will be shunned by all wlio have 
anything to lose. Some movement is now taking 
place among the growers of tea liere against the pro- 
duction of the inferior leaf which gives the exporter 
his excuse for colouring the article to conceal thiit 
inferiority, and probably a larger proportion than usual 
of pure unooloured tea will this year be shipped to 
the United States. But this movement will fail of 
success unless tea drinkers in the United States can 
somehow be awakened to ilie fact that bluish-groy 
and broken leaf is not the natural and proper form 
of (his precious commodity, and that coloured teas 
are neither clean nor wholesome, whereas the naturtil 
leaf of Japan is both good and delicious. If the 
American demand cou'd be redirected towards thete 
f uuud and pure teas, it is probable Ibat tbe u>« oi 
the tine and fragrant l«;.iJ produced iu Jupau would 
so increase as to restore viulity to a trade now 
vitiated by manipulations which naturally disgust all 
who become aware of them, and are pf-rhaps the 
principal cause of the paralysis uow prevailing in 
the t a bQEiness." 
THE 
PUTLPAULA TKA 
CO., LFMITED. 
EKTATE 
UEPOUT OF THE DIUECTORS. 
Ac'REAGB : 
Tea in full bearing.. 431 Acrea. 
,, ,, partial bearing . . <)$ 
„ ,, new clearing for Para 
and Tea . . 4 
Liberian Coffee and I'ura. . . 10 
Forest— \ 
(iraas, &c. . . . , . 22b 
Waste land ' 
Grand total . . CSa Aciei. 
The Directors beg to Eubmit to the Shar<iholderb 
the accounts for the year •nd'^1 J«»m: ;iOt'i laxt 
The crops amounted to Iti'i.lla lb. tta atainbt an 
estimate of 170,0(i01b. 
The nett average price realised waa 31.63 ceuta 
per lb 
The season has been an uufavoarable one for tea 
the bushes snfferiog greatly from drought in the 
early part of lli.- year. The shortfall io crop muH 
further bo accounted for by the uccebsil)' of^haviie 
to a low certain fields to run on ivjlliciut pruuiuK lo 
equalize pruning periods. ' 
No manuring operations have been carried ou 
during the pa«t boason, but it is propoaed to titat 
;>0,100 acres this year-. 
The old Engine and Boiler were found in an in 
ellicient stuU and it was necessarv to provide tr,.i.h 
machinery. An 8 H P. Engine and JO H. P rjoulr 
were purchased at a cost erected of 115.710 Cl «n<l 
are working satisfactorily. 
In tejinsof a resolution pcxaeed at the Extraordinary 
General Meeting held on to Nov, „,ber last to nro 
vide Bu&cient Working Capital, the Directors 
arranged for a loan of Rl50,00 bearing iuter.at at 7 
percent al owing, as security for repayment, a njort- 
tlie Company's property to bo executed. 
Ihe net profit for the yearaniounta to Rll.I.^l-ci and 
with the balanco brought forward from last Season the 
to R2Wn-58. ^'"^ ^'"^ ^"'"""'^ 
The Directors recommend that a Diridend of t 
per cent oe paid absorbing RM.OOO. R-i.ooo be nhicod 
forward'" " ' ^''^^'''^ ^'^"'^ '^ '=»«'-ied 
w^mnn^"""^'*"^ (>op for the Current year is 
of^SiV" '^"^^'""'^''^'^ outlay on working ^count 
In terms of the Articles of Association Mr Kines- 
bury retires from the Board of Directora o,;^ 1 • 
elegible offers himself for re-election ^^'"^ 
The appointment of an Auditor for the current sea 
son will rest with the Meeting ""e current sea- 
By orJer of the Directors. Aitk£n Spbnce & Co 
Colombo, 19th Sept. 1898. Agents* Secretarie.; 
AGRICULTURAL TraINIXG FOR WoMKN _ 
clvHn'rV:^ ^-^--^f'""? of this kind'in 
tej bn .' We quote from a-i Kn-lish paper :— 
" At neverle, near Louvaiu, there is a college with 
""'^''"^ """'^'•^^ "^'^ danehters o farmlra 
penis proji.-wfaireti, and eives then - ^r.r.A , 
education, a sound knowledae of I general 
its branelies, a thoioToh thL>-i.-. ^^"^/"^ 
