410 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
I Dec. 1, 1898. 
seen whethor the duty will be repealed now that 
hostilities have ceased, or, if not, what effect it will 
have on the price of the better grades of tea. But 
after all deductious — and they are not to be under- 
rated — it must bo. realized that there is a wide margin 
of prolit between the co.st of one pound of '' Rose 
Garden ' tea, if produced on a largo scale, say 25 cents, 
and the wholesale price of an equally good imported 
tea, say 50 cents. A profit of 10 cents per pound 
means a profit of |40 per acre on an annual produc- 
tion of 400 pounds of tea. And tiigher profits per 
pound, with increasing yield per acre, will rapidly 
swell the income. 
The " Rose Garden" has apparently demonstrated 
that commercial tea may be successfully grown in 
South Carolina. The utilization of this knowledge 
may be along several lines, but all of them involve 
the erection of a suitably equipped factory, costing 
from a few thousand dollars upwards, according to 
the proposed scale of operations. In some countries 
the bulk of the tea leaf is raised by small farmers, 
who, at the most, only prepare it sufficiently to in- 
sure its safe delivery at factories in the larger, ofteu 
distant, towns. Or in other districts the extensive 
tea estates erect factories sufficient to handle not 
only the output of their own gardens, but also that 
of the pmaller producers in their neighbourhood. 
As in all other branches of manufacture, the mod- 
ern tendency is towards centralization and the cheap- 
ening of processes by increasing the volume of pro- 
duction. Machines have been successfully substituted 
for almost all manual operations in the manufacture 
of black tea, and thus it has come about that a 
well equipped factory is indispensable in making that 
sort. 
The preparation of green tea still involves much 
and skilful manual labor, and it is, therefore, ques- 
tionable whether it can be profitably produced in this 
country, in spite of a decided national preterence for 
this sort. Machines adapted for making this class of 
goods will surely follow the commercial realization of 
the taste of the tea-drinking public. — Neirs aad Courier, 
Sept. 1.5. 
NATAL TEA INDUSTRY: 
WHAT AN EXPERT SAYS: CONTRAST 
WITH CEYLON. 
TO THE EDITOR 01' THE "NATAL MEBCUBY." 
Johnnesburg, Sept. 10. 
Sir, — Ever since the introduction of the tea plant 
into Natal I may say that I have been interested, 
more or less, in the growth of the industry, and have 
been often grieved at the poverty of the results. I 
fancy I am correct in taying that 20 years ago I was 
called upon to offer an opinion upon Natal-grown tea, 
and was obliged to condemn it as unfit for the 
Loudon market. Since then, notably with one excep- 
tion, little progress has been made either to increase 
the quantity or to get rid of the " herby " flavour so 
objectionable to all lovfers of good tea. As competi- 
tion, and a knowledge of what your competitors are 
doing are the two most powerful incentives to pro- 
gress, I would ask you as a favour to myself, and 
to those engaged in tea manufacture, to kindly- find 
apace f«r this letter, but most of all to print in 
exfenso two letters addressed to the London limes by 
Mr. J. Ferguson, of the Cei/lon Obserccr and Tropical 
Ayricultimst, to be found on page's 2 and 3 of this 
mail's weekly edition, and dated August 20th, 1898. 
Prom these letters the Colonists will learn some- 
thing, and when it is remembered that Natal waa 
growing tea at least two years before Ceylon, the 
figures given in that article ought to cause deep 
searchings of heart. Of course, there may be circum- 
stances more favourable to the manufacture of tea in 
Ceylon than in Natal. Labour may be cheaper, but 
no doubt they have difficulties unknown to us. One 
thing, they have nothing like such a market at home 
as Natal has in the Transvaal and adjacent/ countries 
— they depend mostly ouLpndon. 
Some 15 or 18 years ago the Chinese fancied that 
Europeans wished for low-priced tea, and they com- 
menced to manufacture such, until now they appear 
to have lost the art altogether, and an expert will 
look in vain for the choice peach-flivoured Niagchows 
from the north, or for the fine Lvps&ug Souchongs 
from the soutti of China. The British public used 
to pay up to 53 and Ga per lb. for these teas, and, I 
think, wauld do so again if procurable. lo the 
meantime Ceylon has seized upon the t«<a trade, and 
out of 120,(X)0,000 lb. exported from Colombo, some 
70,' 00,000 lb., chiefly medium and common qualities, 
reach London. I should rejoice to see Natal takiog 
a larger share of the tea trade, and my taking a leaf 
or two out of the Ceylon book of enterprise it may 
not be too late even now. — I am, Ac. . 
J. L. Wood, 
Over 20 years Sworn Tea Broker of the City of 
London. 
COFFEE-PLANTING IN MYSORE 
AND CEYLON. 
The name of Mr. Graliani Anderson has long 
been familiar to us as a Mysore planter of pro- 
longed experience and a well-informed writer on 
planting.' topics. In answer to our enquiry as to 
tlie cofl'ee crop.s of recent years an compared 
with ten years previously, he writes a long 
and interestinf; letter which we reproduce 
below, — but without e.xactly aiTswerinK our 
^ue.stiou save in a general way. However, it 
is f[uile clear that Mysore coffee has never 
suffered from the leaf fundus to the degree that 
coftee in Ceylon did. But strangely enougii, 
what we have always heard of as the chief 
cause of this comparative immunity, namely, 
shade-trees for the coffee, rich soil and a dry 
climate, are scarcely alluded to. Mr. Graham 
Anderson makes much of abnormal seasons ; 
and, alas ! this only serves to remind us of the 
voluminous writings on Tytler's dry and wet 
cycles, favourable and unfavourable seasons which 
began as coffee went back in Ceylon. Between 
1840 and 1875 there were many " glorious sea- 
sons " because coffee was vigorous and capable 
of yielding good crops. After 1875 somehow, 
the seasons got out of joint all over the country, 
but it soon became evident the coffee was "out 
of joint" too. However, Mr. Anderson mentions 
one very significant fact, namely that since 
certain Mysore estates were replanted with Nalk- 
naad coffee, they have given better crops than 
ever before. We have no such experience in 
Ceylon. Nalknaad coflfee seed was experimented 
with in one or two districts here ; but with- 
out permanent success. A few catch crops 
were got and then coffee gave way to cacao 
usually. 
COFFEE CROPS IX MYSORE. 
To the Editor. 
Sir, — Although it is not my rule to reply promptly 
to questions which are asked in the public press aud 
with which my name is associated, I entertain such 
profound respect for the Editor of the Ce;/Zon Observer 
as one who has done yeoman's service for planters 
generally, that I venture most respectfully to point 
out that although the coffee crops on these estates 
aud many others in Mysore have undoubtedly been 
less during the last five years than between 1883-88, 
the cause is attributable (and clearly proved to be so 
by carefully-kept registers) to faulty distribution of 
rainfall. It was my special duty and my earnest en- 
deavour at the meeting of the U.P.A.S I. to clear 
away for ever the idea that plant pests havo bsan 
