September i, 1891.] THF TROPICAL AQRieULTURlST. 
189 
PLANTING PECGBESS IN THE MATALE 
DISTPvICT. 
{From Mr. G. S. Snxton's Aihuinistrcition Eeport 
for 1890.) 
Mr. Hugh Frasrr, of Bandarspola Gffate, has kindly 
Fnrpiied me with •ihe following iulormation : — 
Tea is proEpering, and is being extended in Matale 
Noith, Matsle Enst, Baudarnpola, Uklniwela, Laggala, 
and the Mafale Bust end ol Kelebokka. From 500 to 600 
acres were ad-ied to the previouB area in tea. 
More expensive machinery, and more of it, is re- 
quired for tea than for coffee; and it is pleasing, after 
one gets over the idea of the cost, to see the success- 
ful efforts made by engineers to provide teo planters 
with snch suitable end good machinery. 
Cotton and anatto have bad a check in popular esteem 
and have not betn much extended. Moisture and in- 
Btcts are the bane <f the one, and low price?, con- 
sequent cn limited demand, of the other. It is be- 
lived cotton would de better in a drier climate. 
The south-vfest mm^eoon was comparatively a failure 
in the matter of rsiu, consequently the season was an 
unfavourable one for tobacco, and the large clearings 
in Matale are below expectationB, This enterprise de- 
serves better results and these I hope await further 
efforts. 
Cacao continues to improve in favour, and there 
is the encouraging fact that prices have kept up. 
Small patches of native plantations of this product 
are to be sfen here and there at long intervals in 
the villages, but a great deal moremight be done in this 
direction, and farthtr iffcrt impressed on the villagers. 
Moormen traders are at present pevRmbulating the 
district, paying 50 cents a pound, equal to E56 a cwt, 
or cacao cured in a very promitive fashion. 
The European cultivation of cacao in various portions 
of Mutale, as for instance Wariapola, Mr. Barber's 
Grove estate, Yatawatta, SylvakaKda, and many 
others, are equal to anything to be seen elsewhere 
in the Island; 
OardEmoms do well in suitable situations at the 
higher elevations, but uufortunately there is not 
much suitable land left unopened, so the extension 
of this product is fcarcely possible. The Mysore 
variety does better than the Malabar. The lowlands 
do not seem to be suitable for the successful culti- 
vation of either vuriety. 
In the neighbourhood of Matule town 'the rainfall 
for 1880 ^ as :— January 1st to Jnno 30th, 28-89 in.; 
July I t to December 31st, 27 75 in.; making 66 64 
iu. for the year ; more ihan 20 in. less than the usual 
fall, the deficiency beiig fpread over the year, but 
more marked in October, November and December. 
In a portion of Laggalp, Matale Eest, 172 in. of 
rain fell during the year, and ih s, although ample 
for all useful purposes, wts else ehcrt of the aver- 
age fall. 
An experiment cn a limited scale has been made 
in the district with Coorg coffee, and the result of this 
clearii g wiil doubtless le watched with interest. 

INDIAN AND CEYLON TEA IN AUSTRALIA 
AND NEAV ZEALAND. 
Elsewhere we quote from ihe Melbourne Argns a 
review of the tea trade in the Australian ccloniea 
during the sesson ending SOlh June of Ibis year. 
Our readers will obstr^e that in the important 
markets of the Southern lands Indian and Cejlcn 
tees are rapidly superseding the China product, the 
Bway of which until about ten years ago was undis- 
puted and believed to be indisputable. The quantity 
of lea received from Foochow in the twelve months 
was 15^ million of pounds, against 21 and 24 millions 
during the two preceding years. The decrease 
in three years was, therefore, no lees than 8| 
millioDS of pounds, while the quality of some of 
the China tea received was so bad that the OvJS- 
toms authorities refused to afmit it. Meantiine 
Indian and especially Ceylon tea bad continued 
to gain favour, the only objection offered being the 
non-keeping quality of the latter, en objection 
which we trust firing at a low temperature will 
rernove. The shipments from India and Ceylon 
to Australia in the twelve months are stated in 
figures the aggregate of which very nearly compen- 
sates for the deficiency in China, thus : — 
Frcm 1^ India, 4,800,000 lb. 
„ Ceylon o, 2,9(0,000 „ 
Total., 7,700,000 lb. 
The sudden spring upwards in last season is remark- 
able. It is distinctly stated that the public taste 
has taken rapidly to the more flavouryand softer teas 
of Ceylon, and that it only requires time to edu- 
cate the public taste so as to secure a good de- 
mand for choice teas from both India and Ceylon, 
In Australia as in Britain our teas are taken in 
large proportion to our total production, and if 
only the United States and Russian markets could 
be conquered, as these of Australia ha^e been, we 
should feel less concerned about the future and 
the danger of over-production and unremunera- 
live prices than we now do. We trust that at least 
a million, if not two millions, of ounce packets of 
Ceylon lea will be distributed gratuitously, in ad- 
dition to what may be sold at the great Chicago 
Exhibition, 
THE EXPOET OF INDIAN TEA AS COMPAEED 
IN VALUE WITH OTHEE STAPLE EXPOETS,, 
AND WITH A FEtV LEADING BIPOETS. 
Mr. J, E. O'Oonor, the Under Secretary in the 
Indian Department ot Finance and Commerce, whose 
able annual reviews of the trade of cur great 
Eastern empire are widely known and as widely 
appreciated, has issued in advance the first chapter 
of the review of the imports and exports and 
navigation for the year ended March 31st, 1891. 
We quote the remarks devoted to Indian tea, which 
we preface by a notice of figures showing the 
position this product occupies amongst the leading 
staple exports of India. Ten are enumerated 
amongst which tea occupies seventh place, with a 
value, in 10-rupee pounds, represented by the 
symbol Bs, ot Kx5, 219,000. As exchange was high 
during a large portion of the year, the equivalent 
in sterling may . have been not far below four 
millions of pounds. Mr. O'Conor separates " cotton, 
manufactured," from "cotton, raw," and so with 
jute, but the magnitude of the two great fibres 
in the trade of India is better shewn by 
giving the aggregate values of raw and 
manufactured. This we do in each case, al- 
tering the classification accordingly. The results 
are — 
, , , r.„ff J lift W Kxl6,502,000 1 t, v 9 i 90 j nnn 
(1) Cotton I 7|^02;000 1 ^^24,204,000 
(2) Grain and pulse „ 19,539,000 
/ox T (Eaw Rx7, 602,000) m ns^ nnr> 
(3) J"te I Manufactured „2;482;0001 "10.084,000 
(4) Seeds „ 9,343,000 
(5) Opium , 9,261,000 
(6) Tea „ 5,219,000 
(7) Hides and Skins , 4,695,000 
(8) Indigo , 3,073,000 
Considering the high position occupied by indgo 
for a century before tea was S en dreamed of, isit 
striking to notice how the new\staple has taken 
rank before the old, and as food is of more value 
tg the hwrn raee than (he most beautiful qI 
