March i, 1892.I THE TROPlOAl- AtSWl^LTURlST- 
631 
worth while trying to get Sir Wm. Gregory— another 
old friend of the fashionable physician— and Sir 
Arthur Gordon, to try and bring him to reason, 
and a oonfesBion of error which could bo as pro- 
minently advertised and placarded. This Ib required 
in order to counteract the effect of the speech, 
to the mischief of which several Ceylon planters 
at home (among olhere) have drawn my attention. 
But as I wrote before, it is very neceseary that 
the Ceylon planters themselves should do their 
part to keep up the reputation of their staple by 
finer plucking and more careful preparation. One 
proprietor writing to me from Aberdeen some weeks 
ago paid :— , , . 
" Alas I for Ceylou tea. It seems to have fallen on 
an evil time. And to make matters worse I see some 
one writing again in the Overland how cheaply it 
can be made. These people are in reality a curse, as 
people often associate 'cheap' with 'worthless.' Seve- 
ral leading tea dealers here have remarked on this to 
me and I see an advertisement ' pure Ceylon tea Is 6d, 
and pure Indian 2s 6d.' Already the grocer has made 
the discovery that Ceylon tea is cheap and that the 
consumer knows it. In my opinion the publication 
of these figures do a great deal of harm and no good. 
And for the most part they do not represent things 
properly, as sometimes the cost of manufacture (as 
given) would not pay a decent tea-house conductor. 
No doubt they will find out their mistake soon enough, 
but others too will have to pay for their imprudence. 
I saw a fair Ceylon tea lately with a genuine estate 
mark, that cost 4d per lb. Any good we got from the 
sales of fancy teas is neutralised by the idea that 
the balance costs almost nothing." 
I quote this in order to add that the same 
gentleman writing on the 28th inst has a better 
account to give, among other news, as follows : — 
"Prices of Ceylon tea seem to be improving slightly. 
Let us hope they may improve still further. — ^ 
writes me from Ceylon that the planters are waking up 
to the danger of coarse plucking, and the necessity of 
finer plucking systematically. I see by last Observer 
Overland the praiseworthy approach by Sir Arthur 
E. Havelock to the Governor of Madras, and the 
ready way in which he has been met in regard to 
encouraging the famine-stricken coolies of the Presi- 
dency to go across and gather their share of the good 
things to be had for their labour on Ceylon estates. 
I have been reading not only your letters from 
Oarlshad, bvitthe Chemist and Druggist had an article 
I took to be yours, taken, I suppose, from the Observer 
or T. 4., viz. au account of a visit to a quinine manu- 
factory." 
As bearing on our " tea question, and cheapness 
of production, here is a paragraph frcm a City 
article in the London Star, which, perhaps, you may 
not have seen : — 
The Imports of Tea. — The shrinkage in the exports 
of Chinese teas— at any rate, in the exports to this 
country— continue. Twenty years ago Englishmen 
drank little but Chinese tea ; China was practically our 
only source of supply. But since then India and 
Ceylon have been forging ahead, and the transfer of 
custom shows no signs of stopping. "Whilst the im- 
ports from India and Ceylon show large increases, those 
from China to date show a falling off of 6,000,000 lb. 
The average price obtained at the public sales in 
November of Indian tea was 8jd per lb., a fall of Jd as 
compared with October. It used to be said by the tea 
planters that thoy could not cultivate at a profit under 
Is per lb., but, like the sugar planters, they have found 
it possible to pay tlieir way at a much lower minimum 
than that thoy used to think the lowest possible. 
MR. J' I" ellAND— PACKAOKS FOR THE SWISS PACKET 
TRADK 01* VUHE CEYLON TEA— CEYLON COCOA AND CKY- 
LON CIIOCOLATK — CEYLON TEA EXPOKTS — KIR ANDREW 
CLAHk's STATEMENTS — INDIAN AND CEYLON TEAS — 
HH1TI<H INTEIIESTS IN CHINA — STAVELES3 CAEK8 — LIP- 
TON AND 111.4 TEA TIIADE — OKNEHAL NEWS. 
Jan. 8th. 
Mr. J. L. Shand, who loaves tonight to oatoh 
the Frf^noh steamer at Marseilles, naturally looka 
to North Borneo as fultilliDg the requirements 
of tropical planters in search for new and suit 
able forest-land. He thinks the labour difhoulty 
will prevent much being done in Peru, but of 
this we shall be better able to judge when the 
report from Messrs. Roes and Sinclair appears. 
1 have been much struck with the neatness 
of the packages prepared by Messrs. Shand & 
Haldane for their Swiss packet trade of pure Cey- 
lon tea. They are most tastefully and conveniently 
made up with explanations in English, German 
and French, and ought to be very suitable for sale 
and use all over the Continent. I have suggested 
the addition of instructions as to the proper infusion 
of tea, after the very full, careful model adopted 
in Austria, and then all interested in spreading 
the use of pure Ceylon tea on the Continent of 
Europe may feel certain that they oannot have 
a better agency than the " Ceylon Planters' 
Direct Supply Association of 24, Eood Lane, E. 0." 
I have also, as one quite impartial and disinterested 
been much struck by the good work done by this 
firm in promoting the consumption of pure 
" Ceylon cocoa " in a manner at once convenient, 
economical and delightfully pleasant. I do not think 
this branch of their business is sufBciently known 
and appreciated in Oeylon. Messrs. Shand & Hal- 
dftne have works at Norwich, where their •' Essence 
OF Oi'.YLON Cocoa" and "Ceylon Chocolate, Vanilla 
FLAVOURED," are prepared. The former is made up in 
handy tins, and is labelled, " Pure, free from all 
admixture of sugar or farina, and specially adapted 
to inalids and others of weak digestion." No doubt 
a good many in Ceylon know and use this 
" cocoa " and the green -packeted, delicious 
chocolate. But I em anxious to explain that this 
" cocoa " has all the advantages of the preparation 
from "nibs" by long boiling to get rid of the 
fat, because in its preparation the fatty substance is 
nearly all removed. A cup of the essence can, there- 
fore, be prepared as quickly as a cup of tea, and 
as suitable as the latter for anyone's drink in 
the tropics. I learned that 50 per cent of the 
weight of the said product as grown in Ceylon 
comes oft' in fat, and Mr. Shand showed me cakes 
of this substance beautifully clear and free from 
rancidity however long kept, so that there is a 
demand for it (cocoa-fat) for surgical, among other 
purposes. I am sure all interested in the cultivation 
of Ceylon " cacao " should do all in their power 
to make known among their friends and acquain- 
tances the Eood Lane firm's " Essence of Cocoa " 
and " Chocolate " as two of the very best and purest 
preparations therefrom. 
To return to Ceylon Tea, A good deal of reference 
has been made to our staple this week in con. 
neotion with Mesers. Gow, Wilson & Stanton's 
annual statement of imports and deliveiies for 
all tea ; and speculation is rife now as to the probable 
total export from Ceylon during 1892. I have 
been questioned eevtral times in the City on this 
point. At the end of 1889 I put the total export 
of 1891 at about 61 million lb., but raised this 
to from 58 to 70 million lb. under the influence 
of the enormously developed shipments in the 
first and second quarters of 1891. The falling-oflf 
in the last quarter, however, teaches caution, and 
I am inclined to agree with the feeling prevalent 
among Ceylon men in the City that it will not 
be safe to put the total exports of Ceylon tea 
for 1892 above 75 to 7s millions lb. It is true 
this would only give au increase of 10 to 13 
million lb. against the advance of over 18 millions 
between 1890 and 1891. But lower prices are not 
encouraging in regiud to areas on old oclleo land 
yielding less than 300 lb, an acre, and the bulk of 
