Nov. 1, 1898.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
.3.15 
do their best in every pos.siI)le way. Many of the 
countries must he exploited from Ceyloc. Various 
parts such as the American continent might 
perhaps be better exploited from London but un- 
doubtedly there were parts which could only be 
exploited from Ceylon, and it would be very bail 
for tliem if inste.ad of tryinu;- to improve their 
system of weights, they shut tligir eyes and did 
nothing;. 
ADVANTAGES TO PRODUCER AND SHIPPER. 
Mr. H. Tarrant had mucli pleasure in 
seconding the resolution which had been moved by 
Mr. Mackwood. It was manifestly to the 
advaiitage of every one that buyers should get 
exactly what they paid for and that there 
should be no uncertainty about the weights of the 
packages that were delivered. He thought this 
was to the advantage of both the proilacer antl 
the shipper. As Mr. Mackwood had pointed out 
in the case especially of breaks of 30 packages 
or under, there must, under the present system 
be a certain number of packages short by 1 11)., 
and if the buyer haiipened to open one of these 
packages, he would possibly conclude that he had 
been swindled antl probably that Ceylon teas were 
generally packed short, and, as in the case 
of China teas, the weights were nearly always 
over rather than short, this would tend to the 
disadvantage of Ceylon tea as against China 
specially though to a certain extent Indian 
also. As ]Mr. Mackwood had spoken very 
fully on the subject he did not think he need 
say anything more in seconding the resolution. 
The Chairman, replying to a question by Mr. 
Drury, said Mr. Mackwood had simjily suggested 
that the packages should be marked. 
Mr. Drury said that if this resolution 
was carried would it be settleil how the 
packages were to be marked. He understood 
tliat the selling brokers would mark them. 
The Chairman :— Yes with the letter " S." 
Mr. Mackwood said it had struck him that this 
was a detail to be sectled subsequent to the passing 
of the lesolution, but in his speech he had men- 
tioned marking with the letter ' H." 
Mr. Thomson said it was a simple thing when 
the selling broker had drawn a sample, for the 
])eon who went round with him to mark the letter 
" S " in red. 
Mr. W. E. Mitchell suggested that packages 
from which samples were drawn should be marked 
with a chalk mark, and then the buyers could 
mark tiie package with the correct weight when 
they came to siiip it. 
Mr. M.vckwood said that with the leave of the 
meeting he would make a slight addition to his 
resolution so as to make it read : — 
" That the selling brokers when drawiog samples 
of tea from the factovy-biilkecl packages of tea shall 
mark the paoknges with the letter • S ' in red from 
which the samples are drawn, so that they can be 
identified by the buyers." 
Mr. Drury thought the letter "S" was rather 
indelinite, and he was understood to suggest that 
tlie short mark be put on the package. Was the 
letter "S" to be i)Ut on in reil paint or what ? 
In Lonilun the mark was generally put on in 
white chalk. 
The Chairman ;— We prefer it in red in 
Coloml)o. 
Mr. Drury : -Ked what ? 
The Chairman :— Stencil ink. 
The resolution was then put and carried. 
A conversation took place as to when the 
resolution should come into force and it was 
agreed on the suggestion of the Chairman that 
it should be as from the 19th of October, that 
was the third Wednesday's sale. 
THE QUANTITY IN PACKAGES. 
Mr. Geo. Tiiomsox then moved the resolu- 
tion standing in the name of Messrs. Finlay, 
iMuir & Co., as follows :-- 
"That the attention of Planters be drawn to 
the fact, tliac packing moie than 100 lb. in a chest, 
when the Teas are for sale on the Colombo Market, 
is prejudicial to the Sale of such Teas. This is 
owing to the action of the Mail Steamship Com- 
[lanies Stamping all Bills of Lading tor the 
Colonies, wiih tlie Clause 'no package to con- 
tain more than 100 1b. nett' and their declining 
to pay claims, when packages contain more than 
this amount." 
The resolution he said, spoke for itself. It 
more y)articul,irly referred to packages contain- 
ing broken pekoe or broken orange pekoe (a voice 
-and dust) and dust. With regard to big lines 
of broken pekoes there was a very serious 
loss very often incurred on shipments to 
the colonies. With regard to dust he did not 
think that any packages should contain more 
than 75 lb. at the outside. 
Mr. Drury in seconding said they had had prac- 
tical experience of some of the disadvantages of 
packages containing over 100 lb. and he hoped the 
Planters' Association and other bodies v.'ould 
take notice of the resolution and do something 
practical in the way of seeing that the packages 
were not over 100 lb. 
On the suggestion of Mr. G H Alston Mr. 
Thomson altered his resolution so as to read : — 
"That the attention of Planters and Agents 
be drawn to the fact &c., (as in the original 
resolution) and "that a copy of this resolution 
be sent to the Planters' Association." 
Mr, Mackwood supported the resolution. He 
had to do ^itli one or two places upcountry in 
which there was joint authority. The other ex- 
ercising authority with him thought tliat he 
packing of 105 and 110 lb. in a chest was a 
distinct gain and seemed to think that the 
argument advanced by him was an academic 
one. However he did take his (Mr. Mackwoods) 
advice and the result was that he brought into 
competition other buyers for the Australian 
market who had stood out in consequence of 
the Steamship Company clause, with the result 
that they got an averatre, he thought, of 4 cts. 
a lb. over. He merely mentioned this to show 
the planters the advantage of the proposal. 
Mr. W E Mitchell was understood to ask 
wliether the Steamship Companies could legally 
maintain the position they had taken up. 
The Chair:\ian.— I am not a lawyer. 
The resolution was then put and carried. 
This was all the business. 
- * 
Tea ex Sip.ERIA.— We ('Chemist and Druggist ) 
mentioned recently that Russia had an eye on 
the tea-trade. Matters have got to such a point 
that a continental official paper says tliat the com- 
pletion of the Siberian Railway will take the 
exportation out of the hands of the English and 
give it 10 Russian merchants, who will place 
it on the market at fifty to sixty per cent 
less cost.. The tea will go to Irkursli (South 
Siberia) by land carriage, thence by ilie Sibe- 
rian R iilway, and Eiu^ttrn aiirf Central European 
goods will be taken as return freight. 
41 
