August i, 1891.] THr TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
123 
able, consumption should progresj, for there la little pros 
pect at curreut prices '(hat China tea will be taken in pre- 
ference by auy v/ho are not prejudiced iu its favour; especially 
if the statement that the new crop from the North is " tarry" 
should prove correct. 
The point which most ursrently demands attention is 
that of quality ; for the crops of the past year have aijalu 
fallen short of their early promise, and in a way which 
justifies the opinion that the cause is within the Planter's 
control.* We refer, of course, to the absence of tea 
sufficiently marked by distinctly rich liquor, or finely made 
leaf, to li't it above the level of average qcality, and 
to the predominbuce of lea to'j light in cup and pungent in 
tiste to suit the general body of consumers, unless blended 
with other kinds. The narrowing; lanRe of quotations, to 
■which wc drew attention a year ago, has been btill mure 
marked of late, aud it constiiutea a serious drawback to 
Ceylon that amtn^ the hirge supplies now offered weekly 
there should be so few breaks wurth more than Is per lb,, 
whereas in a similar quantity of Indian there would be 
numerous lines selling irom Is 6d upwards. A wide range 
of quotation is of great help to the buyers in re-selling, 
■ and it goes without taying that whatever makes the market 
a profitable oue for them to operate in is for the good of 
the producer. 
We must again refer to the multiplication of breaks. 
The business is developing so rapidly that buyers cannot 
value all the samples. Two invoices per week from an 
esiate are frequently seen in print, which is of itself a 
disadvaulage, apart from the extra work entailed. In 
India the problcai has beeu widely solved by packings 
the tta dir. e:ly it is finished, and storing the chests 
until large invoices can be despatched. Experience shows 
that esiates v. hii;ii do this, aud bulk here, put their tena 
on the mu'ket iu high condition ; they unquestionably 
profit by offering, larger quantities of their brand at less 
frequent intervals. 
The avtrdge price of Ceylon sold in auction during the 
twelve months has been about lid per lb. 
The following figures lor the past season, kindly sup- 
plied to us by proprietors, cover nearly 71, 60U acres yield- 
ing 29,597,0UU lb., an average of 413 lb. per acre, rea- 
lising an average tale price of lljd per lb. 
[We quota all with crops exceeding 60t),00U lb.— Ed. T, A.]. 
OD » 
0.2 
wj 
District. 
Estate. 
532 
Crop. 
s. 
d. 
Assam 
Assam Co. 
7,827 
2,731,200 
319 
11-20 
JokatCo. 
4,408 
2,300,000 
521 
1 
0-75 
Jorehaitt Co. 
4,44a 
],4yt),yoo 
336 
1 1 03 
Assam Frontier Co.. 
3,410 
2,415 300 
702 
1 
0 
Braumapootra Co. 
. 2, 648 
1,462,000 
513 
11-07 
Upper Astam Co. ., 
. a,?38 
1,066,100 
390 
1 
2-17 
Laud Mortgage 
Bank 
. 2,260 
917,000 
405 
11-26 
Noakacharee Co. . 
. 2,300 
763,400 
328 
10-1!1 
Bisliuauth Co. 
. 1,5;7 
657.400 
416 
ll-t8 
Doom Doojna Co. . 
. 1,412 
893.b00 
633 
1 
0-50 
MungledyeCo. 
. 1,439 
408,500 
281 
9-75 
Jahanzie Association 1,415 
514,?0Q 
364 
1 
0-75 
Ailuree Khat Co. , 
. I,2j9 
620,000 
50O 
10-75 
Assam- and 
Cachar 
British Indian Co. . 
., 1,310 
600,000 
459 
9-75 
Darjeel- 
ing 
Darjeeling Co. 
.. 1,900 
607,000 
319 
1 
0-66 
Uooars 
Dooars Co. 
(abl.) 
(abt.) 
(abt.) 
3,256 
1,380,100 
425 
10-75 
Previous Tables showed the following results :- 
1889-90... 
1888-89... 
1887-88... 
188S-8/'... 
Average. 
73,000 
66,100 
60,000 
56,300 
Quantity, 
lb. 
29,80o,0C0 
27,-Jao,000 
22,634,000 
21,500,000 
Per Acre. 
408 
412 
377 
3b2 
Price 
per lb. 
Hi 
lu 3-7 
0 1-20 
0 
W. J. & H. Thompson, Brokers. 
BiRK AND DRUG BEPORT- 
(From the Chemist and Vruygist.) 
London, Jane 13th. 
Annatto.— Dull of sale- For 42 bags West Indian seeds, 
of good bright colour, 2Jd per lb. was paid, while 10 packages 
very common aud almost colourless seed from Ceylon sold 
at Jd to Id per lb. 
Abkca Nut.— Five bugs realised 30a per owt. 
CixOHoNA.— Of Crown bark, only a small quantity was 
ott'ertd, aud sales are nut of any importance: 22 pack- 
ages very thin, but fair, Bolivian quills sold at G|d to 
7id ; good bright Matacaibo at b^d ; damaged at 2d 
• Q'lality is largely depeudent on meteorological cou- 
dition.", which are certainly not wilhin tiie control of planters. 
— £D. T, A. 
and Ijd; and 30 packages bold, partly quilly, rather 
dark Carthngena, imported from Hamburg, and offered 
without reserve at from 3|d, rising to 4d per lb. 
Coca Leave,?. — At today's auctions 1 bale ol sound 
Ceylon leaves, imported via Madras, good strong rather 
dark leaves of Huanoco character sold at 8Jd per lb. 
Another parcel of 8 bales thin brown leaves is held for 
6d per lb. There has just been a fresh arrival of 15 
cases (weighing only about lb. in the aggregate) of 
coca leaves from Ceylon. The leaves are well cured, but 
rai/her dark, of decided Huauuco character, and well 
packed in tea lead. 
Essential Oil. - Citronella oil was held for ll-16th d. 
per 051. in sale today. 
Qtjinink.— The market has beeu exceedingly flat this 
week, and prices are lower. German bulk quinine could 
probably be bought from second-hand holders for lid per 
oz., and 10,000 oi. are said to have changed hands at that 
figure early this week. Another report, however, givo 
he price as ll|dper oz. 
PLANTING IN THE CENTEAL PROVINCE. 
[CIECULAK NOTES BY " WANDEBEE,"! 
THE NEW TEA COMPANY — NO D8E EXTENDING TEA — 
BETIEB TEA — THE RAILWAY — THE TEA CROP — COFFEE 
— CACAO — TOBACCO. 
Upoountry men seem to have settled to work, now 
that the levee gaieties in Kandy are all over. 
A litile "bolt from the blue" has fallen on employes 
of the C. T. P. Co., in the shape of "an absence on 
leave" circular froGi their jove. who sits on his Olympus 
in the Hill sanatnrium. The Munagers of that Company 
are so well dealt by in the matter of Home leave, 
that they must expect a little atriotaesg, where absence 
from the estates on short leave is granted. 
Higher rates of exchange, and low prices for tea 
are exerci.siiig che planting mind. The Labour question 
however is a more pressing one, and the general feling 
is clear on the point, that the cases tried in Oourt so 
far have been most unfortunftte ones, and give the 
outside public anything but a true insight as to the 
general relationship of master and coolie. 
Many planters are of opinion that there is no use 
extending the tea area till we have a suiBciency of 
coolies to do justice to what we have already planted. 
They maintain that the yield of made tea and its 
quality depend most on a sufficiency of labour to 
"catch the flush on the hop." A planter of great ex- 
perience told me the other day that he could get 500 lb 
per acre against the ordinary 350 lb, if he could be 
certain of his labour when he required it. Of course 
there is the other side of the question how to employ 
such a labour force when the flushing is scanty i* 
The New Tea Company deserves the support of all 
the Planting community. I presume it will run the 
Tea Ki3fik, and supply the orders that will be handed 
to the manager of that institution. 
The tea flushing is now moderated, and the tea 
turned out of the factories is consequently of better 
quality. I notice one of your correspondents advising 
his brother planters to prune in such a way, as to 
have light flushes in April, May and June. We all wish 
to get less tea in these months, bnt Dame Nature is a 
stubborn old lady. What we all aim at is to prune, 
so as to have no large portion of oar estates coming into 
full fluf-h at one time. 
It is high time that the Government took steps to 
get their railway engine drivers, stokers and guards, in 
a less grumbling mood than they exhibit at present. 
The newly imported guards will no doubt tell their 
brethren in Ceylon, that Unionism can work wonders 
in the old country. Measures of reform should be 
anticipated by employers (Government or private) and 
not forced on them. A Pension Fund should be at 
ones started, Jrds being contributed by the Govern- 
ment (as the Government and the employers share) 
aud Ird by the men themselves. — This will at once 
make the service a favourite one. 
I don't think the outturn of tea will be so large in 
the la^t half of 1891, as in the first half. 
Ci ffee will be a very feeble crop this season. 
Cauao blossom is kept back by the long-oontinued 
wet weather, but we have all July before us. 
Tobacco planting has I fear all ended " in emoke." 
