Dec. I, 1898. J 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
433 
» 
T'l ike Editor* 
ALOES. 
Sir, — Your correspondent who enquires for 
Aloe plants ought to be able to get any quantity 
from estates aUng tiie railway between Nanu- 
oya and Kotagala, unless the Government have 
already bought them up all for the Northern 
line, to keep out elei)liant3 and bears ?— Yours 
faithfully. TRAVELLER. 
[It is interesting to know where Aloes abound, 
even though "Merchant" has already learned 
from us where he can be served much nearer 
Colombo. Kelebokka, New Galway, Dinibula are 
among the districts from which we have had 
responses. — Ed. T.A '\ 
RUBBISHY TEA. 
Oct. 26. 
Dbae Sir,— It is to be hoped that something 
will be done soon to remedy the evil complained 
of by "Old Planter," who points out that nearly 
700,000 lb. of tea were sold last week in Colombo 
at prices ranging from 7 to 19 cents per lb, 
Taking the average cost of our teas at 28 
cents, it is clear that, as your correspondent points 
out, the whole of this must have been made at 
a loss. But with reference to the question of its 
being all rubbish, it ia hardly fair to fix the 
limit at 20 cents. A good deal of drinkable tea, 
especially dust, is often sold at prices below this 
rate. When writing on this subject some months 
ago, I took 12 cents as the limit, and suggested 
that all teas valued below this rate should be 
destroyed as unfit for food. Of what use is a 
Public Analyst it\all this trash is allowed to be sold ? 
If, as you suggest, a great deal of it is the 
produce of native gardens, the sooner these gar- 
dens go out of cultivation the better. How the 
owners manage to make the cultivation pay* even 
if they work more cheaply than Europeans, can 
only be guessed at, but when the Government 
begin to galvanize the police and headmen to 
effect the suppression of illicit traders and re- 
ceivers, these gardens will probably suffer. 
The "Ceylon Standard" takes a broad view of 
the question of rubbishy teas. In an editorial 
review of planting matters on the 22nd inst. it 
is stated that "The tea that goes to the Per- 
sian Gulf and the North-Western districts of 
India is nothing but mere rubbish. There is no 
prospect of ever being able to educate the poorer 
classes of Persia to look with any favour on 
good tea. Their specialty is red leat and sweep- 
ings.... it will be well to make endeavours to 
push this class of teas in the countries mentioned 
and create an increased demand for them in tiiat 
direction. ., .there is no reason why we shoulil 
not be able to dispose of all the rubbish we can 
produce in that particular juarket." And the 
article concludes with this remarkable statement 
which is commended to the attention of all in- 
terested iu the island's welfare : — " A few leading 
plantations may voluntarily atrree to destroy all 
their red leaf and sweepings, but this will only 
serve as an encouragement to others to increase 
the output of a particular class of teas." 
• That is just what the owners of many native 
gardens neTer think of: they do not count the time 
of thsmsolvea and families in plucking the leaf. 
—Ed. T.A. 
5:} 
The planters of Ceyk)n are surely as fully en- 
titled as the Editor to any information that may 
help their enterprise. In future issues of the 
"Ceylon Standard" we may look for the regular 
publication of lists of "Buyers for the Persian 
Gulf," and of copious complimentary extracts 
from Persian newspapers which circulate amongst 
the poorer classes.- Yours faithfuUj', 
INCINERATOR. 
No. II. 
Sir,— Both your correspondents, "Old Planter" 
and " Incinerator " in advocating the destruction 
of rubbishy teas argue that all these teas 
must be produced at a considerable loss : I 
should like to point out, however, that this is 
not in reality the case. 
The larger portion of the teas which are sold 
locally at a lower price than 20 cts. per lb. 
consists of dust and fannings, which no one, I 
imagine, purposely manufactures ; but whatever 
system of manufacture is in rogue there must 
necessarily be a certain proportion present, vary- 
ing from 2 to 8 per cent of ihi total tea, made. 
These teas therefore are merely by-prodncts 
and when calculating the cost of' putting them 
on the market, they ought only to be charged with 
the cost of packing (about 2 cts.), of transport to 
Colombo. (say 1^ ct ), and broker's charges or about) 
•1 cts. per lb. ; so that on a dust realizing 20 cts, per 
lb. there is a profit of about IG cts, or in other 
words if we destroy such a tea we are throwing 
away 15 cts. on each lb. destroyed. 
As to whether this loss would be counter, 
balanced by the better price we should obtain 
for our higher grades, if these cheap teas were 
compulsorily destroyed, is another question. I 
am inclined to agree that it would.— I am, &c., 
G. B. 
[But all the same, we fear there never can be ag- 
reement todestroy "dust and fannings." — Ed. T.A.^ 
No. III. 
8th Nov. 1898. 
Dear Sir,— "G. B." states that those who advo. 
cate the destruction of rubbishy teas are wrong ia 
supposing that such teas are made at a foss. 
They are merely by-products," and if only the 
packing, transport and Colombo charges, say four 
per cents per ft, are taken into account, a dust tea, 
for instance, realizing twenty cents shews a pro- 
fit of sixteen cents per ft ! I placed the limit for 
rubbishy teas at twelve cents only, and admitted 
that drinkable tea was procurable at twenty cents. 
I cannot agree with " G. B." as to his treat- 
inent of dust and fannings, &c. Of course, the ' 
manufacture of these Ls unavoidable, but as to 
their being " by-products " are they not inclu- 
ded in the estate estimate ? when "G.B." 's long- 
headed but short-tempered Visiting Agent cornea 
round on his quarterly visitation does he eliminate 
these from his calc\ilations, or, when calculating 
the expenditure, divide it by the wliole total of 
tea made up to date. There is an enormous amount! 
of abominable tea sent away from factories, for 
public sale, merely to make up estimates of crop. 
I know of instances in which a Superinten- 
dent has ' faked ' large quantities of badly, 
made and of mouldy teas by steeping them 
in a decoction of some of his higher grades, 
and briskly re-firing. It is this malpractice 
which we want suppressed. The more tho 
manufacture of low-class teas is condoned, tho 
greater the demoralisation of tea-makers through- 
out tho country, the lower the average nu\rket 
ates for all teas now, and the worse for tho 
