May 1, 1899. J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
757 
offer a larger price for them than the amount of the 
reward offered by Government. Any illicit shooting 
of game that takes place is merely for the sake of 
the meat as food, and I have not heaid of any gang- 
shooting whatever. There were prosecutions in three 
cases, two for illicit capturing of buffaloes and one 
for game, and all resulted in convictions. 
AncH.'EOLOGy- 
Excavations were continued at Thuparama and 
Elala's tomb, just outside the town, and at 
Paliyankulam on the Jaffna road. Under an 
extra vote the Archoeological Commissioner was 
entrusted with the clearing of jungle round the rnina 
outside the town, and good work was done. 
TEA IN RUSSIA. 
Tea " Farmer" is no doubt well justified 
in writing as he does, in criticism of the 
statements we quoted the other day from 
the "Home and Colonial Mail." If the 
Russian people throughout the Empire were 
the greatest tea drinkers in the world, not 92 
million lb. (according to Mr. T. N Christie's 
official figures) or 140 million lb. (according 
to the Shanghai Committee's return) ; but 
well over 900 million lb. of tea would be re- 
quired to meet their requirements ! This is 
taking the population of the Russian Em- 
pire at 130,000,000 and the Australian rate 
of con.sumption at 71b. a head ; whereas it 
is evident that the Russians do not average 
at the highest estimate, much above lib. a 
head. How then explain the statements of 
visitors to Russia that their friends there 
seem to be drinking tea all day long 
and that tea is the chief drink of Russian 
families. We think the explanation is (as 
"Farmer" surmises) found in the fact that 
tea is far too dear to be afforded by the 
poorer classes — by the buU' of the people away 
from the large towns, or even by the ordi- 
nary workmen and labourers in the towns. 
The higher and middle classes may be 
drinking tea all day long to an average of 
7 lb, a head ; but then that would mean only 
some 20 millions of people out of the total 
of 130 millions. However, in accordance with 
our correspondent's suggestion, we hope to 
give the opinions of the Russian tea buyers 
in Colombo, on the points raised. 
COLOMBO AND TEA BLENDING. 
■ "Colombo as a great Tea-Blending 
Port and the consequbnt advantage to 
LOCAL Producers "—forms the theme of 
the paper by our old friend "W.P.L." to 
whicn we give prominence below today. 
In a private letter our correspondent 
emphasizes his little sermon as follows : — 
"There is a lot of Ceylon and Indian tea 
which goes home and is practically taken 
over by the buyers without any competition 
whatever. A few months ago it was common 
teas ; now it is medium. The danger in the 
London market is that what with big dealers 
like Lipton, Mazawatte and Peak Winch 
Bros, and a few other, competition may cease 
altogether. Ceylon would find a better abid- 
ing market for teas of these descriptions if 
it went in for blending, besides be able to 
compete wU h Tjcjndon in the rest of Europe." 
Now, in iii'.irly all that he savs on this 
subject, "W. I'Mj." nuist know that he was 
long ago forestalled in the editorial columns 
of the Observer. We urged the abolition of 
the existing iniquitous local import duty on 
tea many years ago, and pointed out how it 
practically .shut out Travancore — an outlying 
district of Ceylon — from the Colombo market 
and port. We urged the great advantage 
of making Colombo the principal tea depot 
in Asiatic waters, so that teas could be 
blended on the spot to suit all markets 
and shipped direct whether to Australia, 
North America or the Continent of Europe. 
Leading planters took an opposite view, 
dreading an influx of cheap China and Java 
teas which would be afterwards shipped hence 
under marks, claiming to be Ceylon's. In 
rejoinder, we showed first that Ceylon, as 
it was, is even now responsible for some of 
the poorest and cheapest (as well as for 
some of the best and dearest) teas that go 
into the London market; that nothing 
prevents local tea dealers shipping the 
veriest trash as Ceylon-grown teas and that 
in the present day no teivs were bought on 
their name or mark, Avithout expert testing, 
so that there was not the least chance of 
the value of good Ceylon teas being affected. 
" W. F. L." now shows how, on the con- 
trary, it is to the direct interest of our tea 
planters to encourage blending operations at 
this port of Colombo, — how one result would 
be to create ^eater competition for local 
teas, and to fit our teas for direct export 
to the various European markets. We leave 
his admonitions to the careful considera- 
tion of those most concerned. We think the 
time has come to appoint Sub-Committees 
(or a joint Sub-Committee) of the Chamber of 
Commerce and Planters' Association, to en- 
quire and report on the subject, namely, as to 
whether it is, or is not, to the advantage of the 
Ceylon tea producer to maintain the present 
import duty on other teas at this port, and 
prevent Colombo becoming a ^reattea blend- 
ing depot, as well as market, and port 
of direct shipment to all tea-consuming 
countries: — 
CEYLON BLENDED TEAS. 
f Communicated. ) 
With relation to teas, if there is one ac- 
cepted fact more than another, it is that the 
British consumer has a preference for blended 
teas. The custom of the blender is to buy 
a certain quantity of various qualities and 
out of them to make a drinkable tea, for 
Erice, at the smallest cost to himself. This 
as resulted in the smaller country blender 
and dealer being almost thrown out of the 
market and the consequent larger London 
man acquiring an undue influence on the 
London market, and this looks as though it 
might go on until he has a monopoly alto- 
§ ether. Then, what will be the use of a Public 
ales Auction mart? It will become simply 
" a knock out." 
Surely it is time that the question of bonded 
warehouses and blending teas in Ceylon 
.should be considei'ed. There are buyers and 
there would be more, for they know what 
would re-sell best. Excepting perhaps some 
Chinas and some Darjilings, most Ceylon 
teas, niori- than others, can be driitik alone : 
yet few will be prepared to admit that any» 
even inchuling the above, are so ;itlractive 
ae when judiciously bltudcd ; aud thus thiuk 
