TEE TROPICAL AGEICULTUliLSf. 
[Feb. 1, 1899. 
sometimes as much as 4 per cent of this alkaloid, 
whereas China tea contains less than one per cent 
and Japan tea barely a trace, and that bhtck teas con- 
tain leas tannin than green trees. The fiiug at the 
advertising being done by foreigners is not much to 
the point, and is suggestive of the pot-house politics 
of an era happily passed avt'ay. Has not the Japan 
Diet voted a sum of money for advertising Japan tea 
in this country, and are Japanese less " foreignerg 
than Englishmen ? The question of home production 
is not «n issue at present. 
Having I think, replied to all the points raised by 
Mr. Willard save that of comparatrve clearness of 
liquor, which I leave to the more able nens of experts, 
I v^ish to repeat my contention. 
I maintain that all the green tea from China and 
Japan ia artiiicially colored, and that not one fingle 
ounce of India or Ceylon tea is artificially colored. It 
is therefore ridiculous to say that any tea can be 
purer than those from India and Ceylon. In round 
figures some 87'^ million pounds of .japan and Cliimi 
■tea came inio North America last season. Will any 
champion of these teas say what proportion of these 
teas was free from artificial coloring? — I am, &c., 
RICH'D BLECHYNDEN. 
HEAVY TEA CROPS IN CEYLON 
DURING 1898: 
MARIAWATTE, GAMPOLA ; AND WARAKAMURK, 
MATALE. 
We are indebted to Mr. Masefield, Jlanager 
of the Ceylon Tea Plantations Co , Limited, for 
the appended return of the 'tea crops on the 
far-famed Mariawatte plantation, bringing up 
the inforniat'on to the close of 1898. Mr. 
Masefield remarks : — " You will notice that the 
rainfall was abnormally short, and this lias 
affected the yield considerably." This is an ex- 
perience common to most of our tea districts 
during the past year, and it is especially true 
of all plantations in the lower Kandyan valleys 
between Nawalapitiya snd Matale, as we shall 
see from a Matale return later on. Meantime", 
here are the figures for Mariawatte, and although 
the crop for the whole estate has been short, 
it will be observed that for the now celebrateil 
" lOI-acre field," the return of made tea was 
actually heavier per acre than in 1897, the 
average being as high as 1,073 lb.! The statis- 
tics for this field are now complete for Kfieen 
years, and we suppose nothing in the history of 
tea cultivation in India can approach the high 
average yield for that period which amounts to 
11331b. of made tea per acre. The return is as 
follows : — 
MARIAWATTE ESTATE, GAMPOLA. 
Yield of old Tea .., 
a. r. p. 
101 1 0 
Year. 
Made Tea. 
Yield per Acre, 
lb. 
lb. 
1884 
109,230 
1,078 
1885 
117,842 
1,163 
1836 
105,925 
1,046 
1887 
115,996 
1,145 
1888 
106,410 
1,050 
1889 
113,834 
1,124 
1890 
140,144 
1,384 
1891 
120,366 
1,188 
1892 
119,909 
1,184 
1893 
115,440 
1,140 
1894 
110,448 
1,090 
1895 
118,560 
1,170 
1896 
113,360 
1,119 
1897 
105,729 
1,044 
1898 
108,423 
1,073 
a. r. p. 
Yield for the whole Estate . . 458 1 17 
lb. per Rainfall 
Year. Acre. Inches. 
1«92 .. C43 .. 90-71 
•. 817 .. 86 22 
IftS** 750 .. 72 00 
1895 ,. 886 ., 100 28 
18^6 ., 896 .. 115 41 
18!>7 .. 926 .. ]1125 
1898 .. 738 .. 79-90 
(Signed) D M. Sai.mond, Snperinttndeut 
Mariawatte Estate, Jan. Ist, 1899. 
Of course, the continuously high return for the 
best (ichl on Mariawatte, and the estate gene- 
rally, is due to wcll-con.sidered cultivation, "judi- 
cious management and regular manuring.' Bat 
there have been some wonderfiri returns from 
Ceylon tea gardens wiihout any uianure. To 
one of those, we allude in our latest "Hand- 
book and Directory," in Mr. E. Storey's M'araka- 
niuie e-'tate, Matale, which— in Ifiio and 1897 
—gave 993 1b. and 1,066 lb. made tea per acre 
without any maimie. But a dry year like the last 
has made a woef'il difference. Replying to our 
inquiry as to the experience of 1898, the Manager, 
Ml. H. Storey— who only returned to Ceylon 
at the end of December, after nine months ab- 
sence — wiites : — 
" III reply to yont letter of Slst ultimo, re above 
estate a yield for 1898, I am sorry to say thit it 
only turns otlt to be 720 lb. per acre The unprece- 
dented series of droughts during 1898 simply play- 
havoc with Matale lower valley crops. If yon will not- 
my former reports you will see that my crop de- 
pended for big results entirely on rainfall— the higher 
the rainfall the higher the yield. 1896 ami 1897 were 
at least 20 inches each year above oar average rain- 
fall, and the result was for each year, respectively 
993 lb. and 1,066 lb. per acre, without maDuie. During 
the latter part of last year, I manured some 60 acres 
and am still manuring, as the tea has been rather 
weakened by the great drought. At present the 
te\ looks first-rate as the manured portions are begin- 
ning to .show up, and I intend to keep on with it now 
in case of future droughts. I only returned to Ceylon 
last week, after nine months' absence, aud my ' locum 
tenens,' Mr. E. C. Anderson, had the ' pleasure ' of 
grappling with the drought and its results, which he 
did successfully." 
We congratulate the Messrs. Storey on their 
line property— there are 264 acres in tea, besides 
some cacao and minor products on W.arakainure— 
and we feel sure 1899 will show a crop exceeding 
1,000 lb. tea per acre. 
Ceylon Tea in America.— The Ceylon Com- 
missioner, Mr. Will. Mackenzie, sends a lively 
letter this time to Mr. Lane as Chairman of the 
"Thirty Committee": it is devoted to some 
spicy criticism of editorial utterances at this end, 
some of them, as we said at the time, of an ex- 
tremely foolish, short-sighted character. Our own 
share in Mr. Mackenzie's comments is comprised 
in his opening (third and fourth) paragraphs 
referring to Japan teas; and here we learn from 
the Commissioner— we believe for the first time 
— that, although it is true all green teas from 
Japan were artificially coloured (as we learned 
on the spot, in 1884), yet of recent years, there 
is a change for the better and natural green teas 
have beeu reaching America even from Japan. 
On the other hand, the price has increased ami 
is increasing, of such supeiior teas, and there is 
the chauce of our beating them in fair competi- 
tiou. We hope so. 
