3%8 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Attetrfei^i, 18^1. 
, ,,. ; CEYLOJT TPA mn RUSSIA. 
A'^ Ceylon colonist nowin EnalanJ^wHtee "li 
send you a outtine; from the Morning Post of the 
26th Mft3? about Ceylon tea which may be of m- 
teieet to planters. The hint to cultivate it for 
adaptation to Russian water may be of use if the i 
idea ia practicable. Ceylon tea is uad almost 
evefywhere in the old country especially after the 
recent hifih price which it fetched : — 
One of the most interesting of th« spHps of consular 
reports presented to Parliament this Session is largely 
devoted to an eKaminstion of the eatises whinh have led 
to the guppUnting of China ten in the British market 
by the oompeting Browtbs of India and Oevlon. The 
subjaot lias been alladed to by the present Chancellor 
of the Bsehpquef in sevefal of his Budtret speechps, but 
it ia donbtfnl whether the general public yet realise the 
magnitude of the ohati<;e that has taken p'aoe or the 
osnsea whioh bsoe brought it about. Upon these pomts 
the report of Mr. Gardner, oar Consul at Hankow, 
■which has just been issaeil. supplies much information. 
Inr his opinion the Competition of India tiriA Ceylon not 
only is fast ousting China tea from the ■British marked, 
but is destined a*' no distant date to mako serious inr- 
roads upon the business of the Chinese tea producers 
with Russia. Durini? the last five years there has been 
ft steady process of decline in the tea exports from 
Hafnkow to London, and whereas in 1886 they nmonote'l 
to 39'.645,000 lb., last year they had fallen to 11,314,000 
Ibi Startling as these figures are. they do not repre- 
sent the full effeots of the competition -of our Eastern 
possessions, for it is stated that very little even of the 
imaU quantity of tea exported to London in 1890 went 
into British consumption, most of it being sold here for 
the Ruasianlmarket In the same period the exports to 
Odessa rosa from 9,899,000 lb. to 22,742,000 lb., the in- 
crease being attributed to increased shipping facilities, 
improved land transit in Russia, and the greater pros- 
perity of the mass of the Russian nation, which led to 
an unprecedented demand for tea, espeeially of the 
finer Sorts. The causes that have made Eneland buy 
her tea in India and Ceylon will, it is predicted, spee- 
dily cause Russia to be'also a customer of those coun- 
tries. Though for a long time to come she may still 
prefer Chinese tea, the strength of the Indian tea and 
its cheapness and the flavour of the Ceylon leaf will 
more and more commend them to the Russian retailer 
as profitably to be mixed with the Chinese teas. Cheap- 
ness and quality beinp the two great factors whioh 
haveenabled India and Ceylon to dispossess China of her 
supremacy ia the Western European market, it needs 
no gift of prophecy to foretell that their successful 
competition will rapidly make itself felt elsewhore. 
The tea trade of China with Australasia is already 
being affected, and in America and Canada, where 
principally green tea is drunk, there is a promising 
field for future extension. One of the advantages 
which Indian and Ceylon tea growers have over those 
in China is their greater command of capital. The tea 
estates being generally owned by companies, expensive 
land, machinery, and plant, can be purchased, and large 
sums can be expended on experimer.rf, on agentfi, and 
on investifrating the tastes and reqniremonts of pur- 
ohaeers. Then loans can be ob^R1n^d at trom 4 to 5 
per cent interest, whereas the Chinese grower has to 
pay from 20 to 30 per cent. The latter, moreover, li .s 
to bear not only a heavier lund tax, but also likia and 
export duty often amounting to 30 per cent of the 
selling price of the tea abroad and to 100 per cent of 
the prime cost of its production. The Indian and Cey- 
lon agriculturist has thn further advantages of a better 
labourmarket easier modes of troiiaport, nearer access 
to the markets, better pnblic works, prpventing or miti- 
gating the disastrous effects of floods and droughts, 
improved machinnry, and enormously larger tea estates 
on which the various procoflses of preparation, packing, 
and carriage can he carried on without intermission or 
riak of deterioration through exposure or delay. He 
has also trreater knowledge of the methods and re- 
quirementB of the retail dealers, and can command the 
services of cheffiical and agricultural science. How 
Important this lABt-meatioDed poiut is, Mr. Gardner 
remarks, aore but an expert can explain. He gives, 
however, one illustration to show how science may be 
applied in order to enable the tea planter to adapt his 
crop to the requirementfi of a particular market. One 
of the chemical ingredients of tea in tannin, which 
gives the tea its bitter and astringent flavour. In some 
parts of England the water is of such a nature th^t it 
does not easily assimilate with the tannin, and for 
these regions a tea containing much tannin is desira- 
ble. The water on the plains of Russia, on the other 
hand, readily as«.imilates with tannin, and hence the 
tea required must contain only a little of that ingredi- 
ent, or else it would be too bitter and astringent to be 
saleable. The tea planters of Ceylon and India have 
the necessary knowledge of agricnltural chemistry at 
their command to produce in the tea, by cultivation 
and manufactnte, the requisite amount of tannin* for 
the market whioh has to be supplied. As between: the 
producers in our own dominions and those in China it, 
is the old case of scientific knowledge versus " rule of 
thumb." The Chinese tea grower, working for his own 
hand instead of for wages, brings often greater care 
and more industry to the task — and this is the one 
advantage he possesses against those which have been 
enumerated as belonging to his Indian and Ceylon com- 
petitors. Experience, with him, takes the place of 
science, and if he is still able to produce a finer flavoured 
tea than has yet been produced in India, his superi- 
ority in this respect is not likely to remain long un- 
challenged. The extent to which his former monopoly 
of what is now almost a necessity of life has been de- 
stroyed is, perhaps, the most remarkable illustration 
that could be adduced of the boundless resonrces com- 
prised within the limits of the British Empire. 
-♦ 
PLANTING NOTES FEOM THE NILGIRIS. 
CoONOoR, May 31.— The coffee season of 1890-91 is 
well nigh over, only a few of the estates at liigh 
elevations having any berries left on them. None of 
the estates during the past ye.ir gave bumper crops, 
and only a few yielded average ones. High prices 
have, however, compensated tj a great extent for 
short yields, and plantersare on the whole fairly well 
satisfied wifh past results. Prospects for the seafon 
1891-92 are very good indeed ; the weather has so far 
bpen most favourable, and tht rc has been a good show 
of blossom on most estates. Some of the sanguine 
planters expect (always expected but, of late years, 
never realised) bumper, crops ; but leaving the over 
sanguine ones aside, if the weather continues favour- 
able, very fair average crops will probably be the 
yield of most of the estates during the coming seasens 
and in my opinion average crops are to be pref rred 
to bumpers. Allowing coffee trees to over-bear is a 
very great mistake. They get so weikened niUv a 
too heavy crop that they fall easy victims to 
every diseas- that coffee trees are heir te, and 
many a good estate has been perm -lueDtly da jaaged by 
over bearing. In fact, neither leaf disea.se nor bug has 
plf.yed greater h»vfc amonirst ccffee trtes then too 
h^dvy croi S. With judicious pruning and han.lliug 
crops ci n to a great exlp u ft be re^'ulated according to 
the Btre:igi,h of the trees. Planters on theNiliiris, 
excep h i,- e i;,t Kotaghorry, are never troubled with 
the ia;,ou' question, sad are iu that rr-spact better off 
than their brethrc;i of Coorg and Travancore. We 
neittier require nor eaiploy Labour Agents ; the chief 
part of our labour is drawn from villages in the District 
of Coimhitore. On nearly ev^^ry esttite a few Canirese 
from Mysoie are r.l-.o employed, and on some Mal igHrs 
from bevoiul Bellary. Bu'. itis iii the Ko'iga coolies 
of the Coimliatore District thatthe Nil^iri pbiuter has 
to put his trust for the execution of his work ; and 
providijii he can speak the 1 intrna/re apuken by the 
Kongas (a very poor npology for Tumii) not merely 
etymologically, but wit-h the peculiar twang of the 
Kou«as, (which is the most important part of their 
language) ) he can procure any nu mber of coolies on 
* This is just what Mr. Hooper, the Madras quinolo. 
gist, held could not be done. Such was his omclusioa 
deri7ed fiom a number of tea analyses.— Ed, T. A- 
