204 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTUEIST. 
[Sfc^PT. 2, 1901. 
This Sj'ndicate is undoubtedly a step in the right 
direction and I only wish sucli a scheme were as 
feasible in this country as it certainly is in Ceylon. 
In addition to other advantages as (lointed out by 
Mr. Kosliug atid Mr. Ryan, such as uniformity of 
invoices, and ability to boolc repeat orders, two 
of the greatest difficulties this youni^ trade lias 
had to contend with can be by its means overcome 
successfully, viz : — 
1. It is a matter of common notoriety that 
must London tea firms, if not openly, then 
secretly, are against the expansion of the green 
tea industry, wiiich will undoubtedly deflect tea 
from their hands, for, however bad prices may 
rule for blacli tea in London, however bad prospects 
may be for proprietors or for .ihareliolders, still a 
a certain amount of ' sugar ' in the shape of 
commissions on sale=, return commissions on 
freights and often interest on Warehouse and 
Dock Companies charges, will stick to the fingers 
of the London merchant so long as the tea enters 
that port. Not that this is not right and reason- 
able from liis point of view, but the Planters' 
Association exists for the very purpose of upholding 
planting interests bi fore any other and by its 
members forming a Green Tea syndicate or Guild 
the first difiiculty, that of finance, will be over- 
come. At present the private proprietor in most 
cases finds great difficulty in drawing against 
green teas or in any way financing' liimselt save 
and except by a forced sale in Colombo ; but, 
Sir, I talie it that a Syndicate or Guild run 
under the auspices of the Ceylon Planters' Associa- 
tion (blending its own teas in Colombo to uniform 
standards under tlie instructions of some well 
recognised green tea expert such as Mr. F. Street) 
would have no difficuity in drawing on Ameiica 
or Canada sutfiicently to enable all members of 
the ' Guild ' to receive at least the cost of pro- 
duction, say 25 cents, against the tea on its arrival 
in Colombo. And this facility would, I believe, 
give an impetus to tlie industry of green tea 
manufacture. 
2. The other great drawback to the industry has 
been tlie dilficulty of disposing of good fannings and 
clean tea dust — except at a loss — because the Cana- 
dian and American markets will have none of it in 
that shape, and we have not the green-tea-drinking 
population as in (.'hina and Japan to consume it. 
To suit, then, the tastes of our American and 
Canadian purchasers, we must eliminate all 
fannings and dust, which means in practice about 
15 per cent and 1 per cent of our manufacture, 
if thoroughly done, and by this means get a 
good name in the above markets, where whole 
leaf teas only are of any use. (I would mention 
here that I have had some samples of Ceylon 
green teas sent me by Messrs. Moran & Co., 
Calcutta, which had fetcheii poor prices in America 
and that these teas, though drawing good liquor 
and having good fiavour, were simply ruined by 
a projiortion of fannings being mixed in with 
each grade, no doubt to get over the above-men- 
tioned difiiculty). 
I submit, Sir, that with a "Syndicate" it will 
not only be feasible, but urgently advisable, to 
procure for the Syndicate's use the very best 
Hydraulic Conipre.'-sing Machine that money can 
buy (probably it will be good policy to purchase it 
in America) and then deal with this 15 per cent 
of tea, moulding it into sbtbs of, say, 8 oz. again 
divided into 1 oz. divisions, easily detachable by 
breaking with tlie hand as is done with many 
brands of chocolate. The slabs might be covered wit 
silver paper and stanii;ed "Pure Ceylon Compresse 
Tea" on the wrappers, the usual advertising matte'' 
stating also that the purity and good quality is 
guaranteed by the C. P. A., who employ an ex- 
peit to pass the teas and that tiiis method of 
preparation is introduced to save bulk in carriage 
and for the special convenience of tra'>'ellers and 
military camps. All experts in green tea are 
aware that, given the teas are well-made, 
these neglected qualities draw a good liquor and 
liave an excellent flavour and it is solely the 
appearance that is against tlieni. Well then with a 
Syndicate it is at once possible to say "Vanish" 
fannings, "appear" "Ceylon Comjuessed Green 
Tea," which latter, if carefully made and well- 
advertised, will soon become a very saleable article; 
or I am much mistaken. The Hydraulic Press 
is, 1 know, expensive as I made entjuiries years 
ago, but what was 2)'''ohibitive to a private 
individual, with no one backing up his experi- 
ments, becomes easy of purchase and certain of 
success when in the hands of that jiowerful body 
the C- P. A. Apologising for the length of this 
letter, which I hope may be of some encourage- 
ment to the successful expansion of the Green 
Tea Enterprise, which was started by myself and 
in which, though exiled, I take a great interest, 
— I am, Sir, yoins faithfully, 
H. DRUMMOJND DEANE. 
THE TEA RESERVE SCHEME. 
August 10th. 
Drar Sir, — Your weekly Observer of August 1st 
to hand today. 1 was going through it as usual 
without much hope of improvement in our prospects, 
till I suddenly came on your leader of July 29th 
about 
IHE IMPORTANT COMBINE. 
My scheme proposed a sum of 20 !akh.s, gathered 
from the entire boJy of Indian Owners and is five 
times more than proposed by the Association, but 
you tell us of one million pounds sterling ! ! 1 
capital of 150 lakhs of rupees ! ! 7^ times more * 
than I proposed ! ! and it is to be gathered from 
a combination of Importers. Thei e is some dis- 
crepancy in the rumour because 750,000 acres 
at 15 X 5=20 shillings per acre does not amount 
to one million pounds. Besides that the area to 
be brought into line must include half of Ceylon 
also. If we take 240 1b, of tea ]ier acre for 750 
thousand acres it comes to 180 million lb., aliout 
the total yield of India, and if it was intended 
that India only was to join the scheme it 
would hd,ve been stated definitely. The scheme 
seems even more complicated than mine, because 
the owners would have to decide the value of 
each class of tea separatelj% and then buy in any 
particular sort which failed to fetch their valu- 
ation. My scheme was intended to rest on the 
average price of all Indian tea and to allow 
Producers to find out whether they could make 
tea at that average price. 
I do not want to run down the new scheme. 
It is an excellent one, and I proposed it myself 
some years ago, but I think that the strongest 
point in my scheme is " the Cess," a circum- 
stance, a condition, which will force all owners 
to join in supporting their mutual interests. 
The other scheme would be apt to fall to pieceg 
and leave us woise off than before, but a CeSg 
would last for a definite period. When all ownerg 
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