March 1, 1899.] THE TROPICAL AGEICULTURIST. G13 
WILD AND CULTIVATED TEA IN 
SOUTH CHINA. 
Szeiiiao, or E-smok, Mi-. Jainie^ou tells vi3 (X.-C. 
Herald), in tlic Report to Lord S ilisbury which we 
noticed two days ago, is the most southerly town of 
any importance in (Jhina, and is situated in a 
pleasant little mountain plain 4,400 feet above the sea. 
five days east of the Mekong, in lafcitu.le 22° 
47' north. To reach either the provincial capital 
or Mcngtze involves a journey of eighteen stnges, 
and the neaiest posts on the French and Uritish 
frontiers are rc spectively five and thirteen stages off. 
The staple industry of Szerciao is the preparation of 
,the celebrated Pu-erh tea in which some twenty five 
firms are engaged, of which seven or eight are only 
brokers. There are five tea " hills," as the Chinese 
call them, in what is technically the Pu-erh prefecture, 
south-east and south-west of Szemao on the left bank 
of the Mekong, r, ) i n ; io i gi ve i a table showing 
prices and particulars of the different kinds of leaf, 
which may be of interest if Pu erh tea ever becomes 
appreciated in Western markets, and gives some 
particulars of the duty and likiu paid on it. He then 
discusses the total output which it is not easy to 
discover. Chinese having no tendency whatever towards 
the collection of statistics. He says that the merchants 
value the total trade of Szemao at 130,000 to U0,000 
taels per annum; but af er woiking out the figures 
given him of the duty and hkiu coUe-ted, he puts the 
teal value of the total trade at about 230,000 Taels 
Then he gives an interesting account of the double 
duty on tea which is collected during three months of 
every year, although theoretically the collection of 
duty remains uniform throughout the year. Rlr. Jamie- 
son gives a brief account of the tribute tea which is 
sent annually to Peking, and of the mode in which 
the tea is made up into cakes, the whole secret, as 
pointed out by Mr Bourne, consisting "in a judicious 
arrangement by which the delicate young leaves are 
made to take up a conspicuous position on the 
outside of the cake, the coarser leaves bdug carefully 
•towed away in the centre." Mr Jaraieson adds that 
" Dr. Augustine Henry, the well-known authority on 
Chinese botany, has found wild tea on the mountains 
Bouth of the Red River, and is of opinion that tea 
occurs wild in the mountainous belt running from the 
south of the Red River through Yunnan to Assam, 
where also it has been found in a wild state. He 
informs me that among the numerous specimens 
found elsewhere in China, Formosa, and Japan, there 
is not one which can be considered as undoubtedly 
from wild trees." 
CATEllING IN CEYLON. 
(SPECIALLY CONTRIBUTED TO THE "IIOTKL KEKPEF.S' 
GAZETTE.") 
We arc indebted to our esteemed subscriber, Mr 
Ferdinand Gausselmau, manager of the Gra- d Orien- 
tal Hotel, Colombo, and to Mr. IJ, Wingfield, the 
cliff lie cuisine of that tine establishment, for the 
following interesting notes on hotel management, 
catering, and food supplies in the beautiful island 
" where the cinnamon comes from." 
Colombo is the veritable marine Clapham Junction 
of the East. Steamers (cargo and pasaengeis) of all 
nationalities are calling here daily, to take fresh 
supplies of coal, and to discharge and re-load goods 
from and for all parts ot the world. The principal 
lines of steamers are the P. & O., the Orient, the 
Messa^cries Maritimcs, the North German Lloyd, 
the Bibby, the Clan, tbe British India, and numeroni 
other steamers, Russian, Japanese, Ac. These steam- 
era run between Jiurope, Australin, India, China, 
Japan, and America, 
(Jolombo now possesses throe-fivst class hotels, the 
Grand Oriental, more widely known as the '' G.O.H.," 
the Gallc Face Hotel, and the Bristol Hotel. All 
are built to suit the exigencies of the climate, having 
spacious vinandah-i, and electric punk'.hs (or fans) 
iu both public rooms and bed room^^. The first two 
hotels have passenger lifts, and all are lighted by 
electricity. They e.re mannged by Europeous, who in 
their turn are assisted by a European secn-tiuy a .d 
French chef. The lower st^iff is recruited from nativ a 
of Ceylon, and excellent servants they nii'ke. TLe 
native element coii^isis of Ciiig-iiese, Tismil , M.Uavp. 
and half-castim or buighers, the last the olf-piing of 
Eurojjeau fathers and naiive mothers. 
No femal are c-;np oyed in Ceylon hotels, the 
" boys " as they are called, attem'.ing t j the bed room 
as wed as dining room service. On account of existing 
" caste " it becomes necessary to give the '' bay " w'lo 
is in charge of a set of bed room-? an e.x ra co- iii:, 
who does the sweeping and carrying uf articles, 
because the ''boy," who claims to be higli ca>^i-e. must 
not undertake certain ma,uu il L,b')ur. Of cour,^p this 
is nil very silly, but one has lo fall in with the native 
prejudices and customs. aste originates fiom the 
Hindoo religion, and the true natives of Ceylon are 
Buddhists. Now Buddhism prohibits caste, yet the 
Cingalese practise it almost as rigorously as do the 
Hindoos in India. 
Tlie hotel clerks are mostly of the burgher or 
half caste class, members of which fill all the minor 
positions in the Government offices, and :.lso in the 
mercantile establishments. The wiige,=: of clerks 
range from 15 to 50 Rs. per month ; bookkeepers era 
paid as much as 125 Rs. ; bed room boys and waiters 
receive 15 rs, per month, while the coolies as a rule 
get II' Rs. per naonth. 
It 18 agre.it help tu Europeans stranse to the island 
to find most of the natives aide to understand a fair 
amount of E glish. As already mennone^i, they 
make excellent servants, but tbe A.'iatic native is 
different to white help, and a manager iu Ceylon 
must exercise a great deal of indulgence and 
patience. The same order must be repeated day by 
day, and the manager who can do this without 
losing his temper scores immensely, because the 
native is only too willing to do what is required, but 
he can't think, or floesn'c want to think. Tell him 
what you want and he does it with a smiling faca 
but don't rely upon him to do it again systematically 
without fresh orders. 
Coining now to the question of food stuffs, we 
labour under a very great disadvantage compared with 
our more favoured colonis,! brethren. The quality of 
the native bullock and sheep (so called) is most 
inferior. The bullock is small, lean, and tough 
while the sheep is a long legged animal whose coat 
and general appearance favours the goat. In fact, 
nine times out of ten the meat sold under the name 
of mutton is goat-flesh. It is tasteless, and 
often so hard as to be positively uneatable. 
These animals are imported from the aouthern 
state of India, and are supposed to be killed 
in registered abattoirs and under municipal 
inspection, but there can be no doubt that, owing 
to the system of bribery which exist and to the 
natural dishonesty of the native dealers, m in c.u"- 
cases get into the markets that have nevpr h„.d official 
sanction. The prices run pretty nearly the samn »U 
the year round, those obtaining at tho time of writing 
being as follows : — 
Beef- 
Sirloin, intact with rnmp, weigh- 
ing seldom more than IS to 201b .. IScperlb. 
Brisket, fresh .. .. ISc ,, 
Do salted . . . . 20c 
Round, fresh, with bone . . . . ISc ., 
Do salted, without bone .. 21c ,, 
Bibs .. ..18c ,. 
Fillet .. .. 23e „ 
Shins .. .. 25c each. 
Tongues, fresh .. .. 35c ,, 
Do salted .. .. 50o ,, 
Do smoked . . . . 4Sc ,, 
Tails ... .. 15o ,, 
Hump . . . . 3oc ,, 
Tripe, cleaui'd, bnl uot blanched as 
at home . . . . 75 ' ,, 
Vefil, oh I the fallacv of calling it v^ il. You would 
limply got ><m dl bullock w,.'i(;hing about 501b. when 
all i4kin and bone, !iad wh«i flesh pertaining thereto 
