Ami 1. 1904.1 
THE TROPICAL AGPaCULTUKlST. 
703 
CeyloD, in t)iocuring land. You f;o to the 
Government and a«k for land; The Govierntllent 
eitlier give ic to you or refuse it., liut whichever 
they decide to do, they do it cKuickly. They don't 
keep yoli in suspense for years as they do in 'Jey ion, 
Land is to be iiad on lease generally at one shilling 
to a rupee an acre per annum with the lesult that 
instead of a man having to lock up most of his 
capital in buying land outright he has it in hand 
to spend in opening the land up. That is far more 
profitable to the Government, because they give 
waste land and get it back cultivated. It is 
convenient to the plautei', as well as nioie bentll- 
cial to the country. So far as Ceylon is concerned, 
he consider- 't of nothing short a calamity to the 
island that so much capital is diverted from the 
island and locked up permanently, tliough there 
was no proof that it might not be profitably 
invested in the Straits. Mr Davidson knows of trees 
30 years old which are still in production^ and con- 
tinue to pay well. He has come to the conclusion 
that the trees should not be planted closer than 
twenty feet. It is a grave mistake to plarit them 
closer than 20 feet, and he is quite sure that tlio.5e 
who have planted them closer than that will regret 
it. Tliey are going in very largely for rubber in 
the Straits and are planting much wider than they 
did formerly. The natives— Chinese — are just 
beginning to open their eyes to it, and when they 
do begin to take to rubber it is thought they 
will plant a great deal of it. Some of the Chinese 
have millions of pounds, made in running gambling 
houses and in other ways, and they will put much 
of it into rubber — Mr Davidson said. 
CHINESE FISCIOULTURE IN THE MALAY 
SrATES. 
We hear a Chinaman is starting Pisciculture 
in Tupai on a large scale. Several large ponds 
are being got ready, He also intends bringing 
some specimens of fish from China. — Perak 
Pioneer. 
NEW TEA AND rilODUCE COMPANY. 
CEYLOWATTEK TEA COMPANY, LTD. (80,211). 
Kegistered Marcli 2. Capital, £10,000 in £1 
shares (6,000 preference). Objects, to acquire 
the business carried on by the Ceylowattee 
Tea Company at 1.5, BIshopsgate-avenue, 
E.C., ti) adopt an agreement with A. Digby, 
and to c;irry on the bti.siness of tea, coffee, 
cocoa, and other produce merchants, tea 
planters, cultivators of and dealers in any 
vegetable, mineral, or other produce, &c. 
No initial public issue. The first directors 
(to number not less than two nor more 
than seven) are J C Stredder, A Digby, 
.1 Aldridgei and G S Thomas. Qualification, 
£100. Registered oliflce : 15, Bishopsgate- 
avenue. E,C— ^ohk; <£■ Colonial Mail. 
PRODUCE AND PLANTING. 
.TAVA TEA AND THE MARKETS FOR IT. 
According to a review of the tea trade of Java issned 
by Messrs Mees and Moens, of Rotterdam, a notable 
feature in the first sales of this year was the large 
quantity ot buyinp; orders from Loudon blending 
firms. Many preferred to cover, if even a smnll part 
of their dematul iu Holland in order not to ati'ect the 
London market, prices being about the same iu 
Loudon as in Hollaod for Java tea at that time ; bnt 
the contrary was the case in the second part of the 
year, when home consumers who had postponed 
buying as long aa possible, were foirced at tbe end to 
start parchawing. Prices rose above those of India 
and Ceylon, with the practical result that export 
orders were scarce, home consumption buying the 
greatest part of the tea offered in the public sales. 
The total quantity of Java tea thus offered during 1903 
was 102,255 packages, iigainst 91, 197 packages in 1902, 
and 9a,000 packages in 1901. The importations of 
Java and Java Assam tea into Holland for the last 
three years have been equal to 102,201) .ihests, aa 
contrasted with 89,2C0 chests in 1902, and 92,800 
chests in 1901. Prior to 1903. the quantity of Java tea 
retained for home use in Holland always exceeded 
that rtqaired for exportation, bat last year it 
fell 10,(^70 chests below the amount shipped 
thence, owing pi incipally to the greater attention the 
article is receiving from other couotries through its 
quJility being rendered more attractive by the eStra 
care bestowed npon it by many producing eetatesi 
The crop of tea in the island ot Java in 1903 yielded in 
the aggregate li),152,000 lb, as against 17,.'^70,000 lb itl 
1902, 10,731,000 lb 1901, and 9 0' 0,000 lb in 1897. The 
separate pOftion of the outturn last season sent dii-ect 
to Holland was icn,0no chests, or 9 540,000 lb, whilst 
that exported from .Java to England and the Channel 
for orders equallfd 91,fl')0 chests, or 8,190,000 lb, and 
the proportion shipped to Australia, Persia, and the 
Continent was only l'..;00 cheats, or 1,422,000 lb. 
The average piice of Java tea for the year 1903 
varied from 5.],d to 7|d per lb. for all descriptions and 
estates. Java tea pays Id per lb less import dnty into 
Russia than British-grown sorts, and it therefore 
becomes worth while for the tea planters in .Java to 
try to produce such teas as will suit the Russian 
demand, conditions being that the leaf should be 
well twisted, thoroughly farniented, and free from 
dust. It is reckoned that the consumption of all 
kinds of tea in Russia is 11!5,000,000 lb per annum and 
is worth 60,1:00,000 roubles, or £5,000,000 sterling. 
THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
AND TEA. 
The Royal Horticultoral Society celebrated its 
centenary on Monday last, and apropos that event the 
" Daily Express" had the following : " Two of the 
most successful enterprises of the society were the 
introduction of the great tea industry into India and 
the production by hybridising of the famous Shirley 
poppies. It was in 1813 that Robert Fortune was 
sent out to India as a collector. He not only brought 
back many valuable plants, but he took the tea plant 
into India from China. This caused an industrial 
revolution in Eastern Asia. To the enormous ad- 
vantage of onr Indian Empire, Fortune's enterprise 
led to the bulk of the tea trade being transferred 
from China to India and Ceylon." " St. Louis," 
referring to the statement about the Indian tea in- 
dustry, writes : " Far be it for me to detract from the 
reputation of Mc Robert Fortune, but the claim that 
the present India and Ceylon tea industry owes its 
present position to his introduction of China tea into 
India, as stated in the ' Express' of Monday, cannot 
be sustained. It was the discovery of Assam in. 
digenous tea in 1820 which is the main caa^e. China 
tea is only grown on the higher altitudes, and, com- 
pared with the Assam Viiriety, is an unprolitic plant. 
The cnltivfttioQ ot the China variety in Ceylon sixty 
years ago was a commercial failure, and in India it 
couldnever hnve been grown on the same scale aa 
Assam." — ihid. 
London Cojip.\ny Dividend.— The Craig- 
head Tea Company Ltd, has declared a 
final dividend of i p?r cent tuaking with an 
interim dividend of 1 per cent at the close of 
the first half of the year, 8 percent for the 
year. This is a distinct improvfnjent on last 
year and a return to the higher dividends 
paid in 1891 and previously. L.ist ye.vr the 
Company distributed 6 percent and carried 
forward £68.3 is lid. 
