802 THE TROPICAL AGKICULTURJST. [Mav l. JkH1<. 
REEXPORTS or INDIAN AND 
CEYLON TEA. 
The table included by Messrs. Gow, "Wilson 
& Stanton in their last cii-cular is of special 
interest. It sliows that the total of ImJiaii 
teas re-exported from Great Britain haa i-isen 
from about 3.1 million lb. in 1894 to 7,840, iVK) 
lb. in 1898; while those of Ceylon's in same 
period have risen from .j. 1*60,(520 lb. to 
11,52.3,180 lb. Germany is our best customer ; 
but it is supposed that the bulk of 3..}77,520 
lb. of Ceylon tea sent thither, passed through 
to Russia, a cfjuntry which also took direct no 
less than 1,005,701 lb. We suspect, too, that a 
good deal should be credited to ••Austria" 
for Karlsbad, where 10,(K)0 people for the 
six months of the season drink a good deal 
of tea imported through Haml)urg. It is 
noteworthy that (iei'many and Russia to- 
gether took ne.nly double (ceilainiy 75 per 
cent more lhan) rnitcd St.-itcs :ind < ','Ui:ida. 
France's im)>ort (S!).'J()7 lb. | is quilc insigni- 
ficant; and iielgium, with no dutv. ought to 
do better than ]08.(H)0 lb. 'I'he* |>eop]c of 
Chili and of South Africa seem fond of 
Ceylon (and Indian) teas to judge by the 
figures, as also those of Newfoundland, Den- 
mark and the Channel Islands. But cer- 
tainly Russia and Germany — with Xoi-thern 
Europe generally — would seem now to )»■ the 
fields most clesei'ving of attention, though, 
of course, the American campaign lias to I;*- 
perseA'ered with. 
* 
COFFEE PLANTING : NOTES FROM SEK- 
DANG O. K. SUMATR.\. 
April 6. 
I sent the Weekly Ceylon Obserrer with the 
telegraphic account of i\Ir. Ryan's rece]>tion 
by His Impei'ial Majesty to a CJerman coffee 
planter in this district, who is vice-Presideut 
of the Serdang Kothe Planters' Verein"-ing 
(i.e., P. A.), and this is his reply :— •• JNLiny 
thanks for yotir note and the ('ci/lo)t Oh.scrrri: 
No fear, the German soldiers will never di'ink 
Ceylon tea, as they are accustomed to coffee. 
Nevertheless, the idea of the Ceylon plantei-s 
was grand, and should be followed by us 
Serdang planters." Referring to the accounts 
of fi'ost in Nu^\•al•a Eliya and the Agras, 
he says, "I ho])e that they will get 28° 
Fahrenheit in Brazil in their coffee, confomid 
them !" 
The long ccmtinuance of low prices is hitting 
hard some few here who rushed into coffee 
when the prices were most inflated, trusting 
to be able to borrow later on. Alas ! no 
money is to be found for coffee at present 
prices. Some of the most careful who went 
in before the period of inflation, made cal- 
culations Avhich were prepared to stand a 
fall in price to §20 per picul, thovigh they 
never really anticipated having to face the 
music set in such a minor key. These looked 
upon the affair as an investment, and are 
conseqiiently rubbing along, though not yet 
making fortunes ! A few, however, with small 
capital, went in purely and simply on the 
spree, and that of the wildest ; and the corners 
of their mouths are consideiably turned down 
just now. However, these prices cannot last 
for ever, One thing here is assiu-ed, and 
that is crop.s. Thanks to the soil, these come 
•• whether or uo,' and tlie beacons do not 
affect Liberian to neaj ly the saiuf <'Xt.ent 
that they do its more arisUJcratic brother. 
The original 20 year old trees Jmve tliih vear 
borne enormously. Five Ut six uitlU^ clean 
coffee per tree, which is equal Ui Oi to eight 
H»., and one old giant is estimated U) have 
yielded no less than 7.; catties. Pro-di-gi-oius ! 
There has recently been a considei abh; re- 
vival of tobacco in Serthmg. Cue Con)j)any 
is planting Uith productj> «in n verv e-xteii- 
sive scale, while others wlio ai-e plantiuK 
coffee t)nly, are leasing poi-tiouh of tlieir 
lands to tobacco pl.intei-s, and iti-e getting 
very favourable tei nis for them, too. 
One or two are turning their thouglits to 
cacao; but so f;tr nothing i tract iea I h.-it been 
done in this direction. One difliculty is 
where to get seed from;' Ceylon is pest -in- 
fected, and the risk of seetl spoiling in tr.msit 
is .1 eonsidei'.tble one. On T.indj<jng Merawa, 
a tobaei-o esi.itf. ari- some c.itao irees. the 
seed of whic h w.is got from Ceylon. 15or]<J 
years ago. Tiie cae.u» was aUi'ndoned, .ind 
IK now. I ;im Ut\i\. growing hixuri.intlv and 
l)earing heavily in the jungle. Ihil uoIkmIv 
knows whether it is the right sort or not ! 
w. T. m'k. 
SIR T. LIPTON'S SCGAU SCHEME. 
Il \va< ie|t<ate<l fioui Bailiados the ollter <laj 
that the coii initlc- of the A'jricullinai S^K-iely liad 
rcci>nMiieiiile<l tlic lejc-tiun of Sir Thujiias Liptoa'ii 
offer to piucliiise canes at 10^5 |ier ton for a central 
factory, to cost €130,0(0, and to luanufaclure only 
£5,000 worth of sugar, tlie coinuiittec being of 
opinion that there was nothing ia the scheme for 
tlieni. 
Sir Thomas Lipton informs us that there miiKt 
he some miviuiderstanilin;;, either in tliere|)ottor 
on ilie |)art of the oonnnittee, because liib repre- 
scnt;itike has not made any actual oflfer to the 
planters of Barh.ados. Sir Tiiomas's exj.erts are 
still in the West Imlies m.-ikin;,' inrjuiries, anri any 
oiler will, of course, depeml on (lie commercial 
aspect of the mailer as it ap^.ears to Sii Tflt.mas 
when he receives the full reports-, which are vet 
by no mea.iis complete. 
But liis inipKds.-ioii that in the end them.aiter 
will come out all right, and he may be able to 
make an offer to phinters on a co-operative bHsie. 
Oliviouslj' there is son^e nnsunderstandin^ in the 
report that Sir Thomas Lipton ]iroposed to" manu- 
facture only £5,000 worth of su<,'ar. In the event 
of his taking up the question of central factories 
in Barl)ados, it would be, we are intormed, with a 
view of dealing with a matter of something like 
three qaarters of a million pounds' worth of su^ar 
— Daily Mail, April 14. 
Tea-pi.uckixg TEN-nENcri-s. A well-known 
Y.A. writes :—'• I hear the tendency now is to 
pluck ]uore coarsely." Is this the result of any 
fear lest, by plucking' too line, the homo ujarkec 
for I he better ("eyion teas may be weakeufd, in 
consPf(nence of larger purchases of clicfip Cli'ina 
aiid Indian teas l)oing ma le. The late-t news 
to liaiid, on tlie contrary, describes tli(^ bidding 
for t!ie liij;lier ;:r.ides as being Vf-ry vigorous, 
and, as our London Correspondent tells us, the 
brokeis seem to be looking forward to a season 
of high prices. 
