§52 THE TROP?CAL AGRICULTURIST. [May 2, 1892. 
stpady growth of this branch of Ooiombian agricul- 
ture may be gathered from the fact that ths exports of 
coffee from the Eepubiic, which in 1885 atnoaiited 
to only £31,583 had reached in 1890 £116,259; 
The report Btates that tiiere is an abundance of 
fertile l»nd suitable for coffee-growing in the 
district. 
Lady Tea. Merchants. — Another rival to the regular 
tea-dealer has arisen- The lady as tea-merchant is 
quite the latest develipment. A. Ladie s' Own Tea As- 
sociation have secured premises in Bond-street, find 
there independently import, blend, and sell their tea. 
Their ambition is to have "lady ageuts" in every town 
in the kingdom. H. and C- Mail, March 25. 
^ 
THE OUTLOOK FOE INDIAN PLANTERS. 
To the Edito7- of the Home and Colonial Mail. 
Sir, — As your readers would doubtless notice from 
the tenour of a letter which I sent to you last week, 
it appears to me that very much misapprehensions ex- 
ists in rpgard to the relative economic capabilities of 
India and Oeylon respectively to produce tea ata profit. 
I accordingly venture to make one or two remarks on 
certain points referred to by your correspondent " Scru- 
tator," in last week's issue. 
" Scrutator," of course, writes as a Oeyloa planter, 
and I confess frankly to writing as an Indian one. 
He points out that & great and serious difference 
between the two countries lies in their cost of 
production, and then proceeds to assert that 
Ceylon is capable of laying d'Tiwn her teas several 
pence per pound cheaper than India ; and he adduces, 
in proof of this, first, an assertion that Ceylon 
teas are laid down at a cost of 6J J a lb. and second, 
statistics, shown in black and white, in regard to the 
cost of the Indian, companies' production from Mr, 
Barnshaw's well-known statement for the season 1890. 
Might we ask for a similar statement, worked out 
on the basis of publicly published reports for a 
large number of Coy Ion companies? No doubt the 
large and moat favourably s^ituated Ceylon companies 
can lay down at a low coit, despite the comparatively 
small acreage product and the more expensive fuel 
and wages of that i'^land; but what about the 
thousand and one smaller and lees thoroughly or- 
ganised estates ? 
In regard to Mr. Eirnphaw's statement, I would 
make the foUowina: remarks. The greater number 
of the London companies there represented are in 
the province of Assam proper, whence come the 
strong and pungent t'-aa which realise in the London 
market pence per pound more tbau either Ceylon 
teas generally or than the ^wzerai! average of Indian 
teas. Under this category come eighteen out of 
the twenty-seven companies. Many of these gardens 
also are old concerns, which have not yet freed them- 
selves from the old traditions of expensive working, 
although they are beginning to bestir themselves in 
that respect. 
Bi^en as regards inodernly organised Assam com- 
panies, despite the high cost of importing fresh la. 
hour, there is no doubt that, should they be driven 
to eitremities, they could immensely reduce their 
cost of production, many of them having fortified 
themselves in good times by going in for heavy " bet- 
torments," which huve been paid for out of revenue. 
The enormous areas now nndi-r tea in the districts 
of Oachar, Sylhot, and Western Dooars are only re- 
presented in Mr. Earnshaw's li«t by five companies — 
chiefly smi-.H ones— the great bulk of the properties 
in these districts being either Oalculta companies or 
private ownftr^hipp, and the capabilitioa of oheapnesB 
in their working having practicnlly no limit if com- 
petition fihould plac<3 them on the'r mettle. 
Auothor point is thot despite the comparatively 
high cost of production of those oompanies they showed 
on aveiaxe about 2^d. per pound profit; and further 
it Hhould be pointed out that the year 1890 was the 
y.-ar when th'i workiiij^ cost w.is largely enhanced by 
tho rise in crcbaugo. 
The only gardous, oxoopt a few nifjribuiid ancl 
worked out gardens, chiefly in Cachar, which may 
have difficulty in reducing their cost are the gardens 
in the Darjeeling district where yield is small, 
but this is largely compenfated for by the fact 
of their wonderful capabilites of producing a 
tea of exceptional merits, for which, in fairly favour- 
able seasons, they can always command a high range 
of prices. 
Your correspondent, however, will not have done 
harm if, by his letter, he may have aroused the Indian 
planters to the great importance of strict economy, 
consistent with efficiency. 
Ai? to your correspondent's suggestions for a remedy 
to the existing state of things, I cordially agree with 
him in the importance of, first, eflfecting economy so 
long as this is not done to the dftrimeut of cultivation ; 
secondly, organising for the opening out of fresh 
maricecs ; thirdly, of keeping up the standard of 
quality so far as can be without too much enhancing 
tho cost ;. but in reg ird to his fourth recommenda- 
tion — " to absolutely desist from planting more land 
with tea" I would merely remark tbat, however this 
might be desired, it is that wh^ch there is not the 
least possibility of succeeding in doing, for th^ reason 
that by extension alone can the present exis'iog com- 
panies provide against possible deterioration and by so 
doing alone can they expect to further reduce the poun- 
dage cost of their crop. — Yours, &c. Obseevee. 
— K. and C.Jilail, March 25. 
Tea in Darjeeling, the Dooars and the 
Terai is thus noticed by the Darjeeling Staridard :— 
The tea season may be said to have begun, 
plucking leaf having been commenced on some estates. 
The season is considered an early one, especially 
for gardens favourably situated as regards moisture ; 
rain is much needed however, as the showers which 
fell three weeks ago were not sufficient to reach 
further than three or four inches below the sui'face 
of the ground, which has now becoBie as dry as before. 
Although last season proved to be such a trying one 
for the tea industry, owing to the extremely low 
prices ruling for tea, yet there are very few of the 
gardens in this district which show a balance on 
the wrong side of the books, while most concerns 
have made a satisfactory profit. The published 
accounts of public companies in the district almost 
all show a dividend ranging from 3 per cent to 15 
per cent ; a result which must be gratifying to 
holders of tea scrip in these bad times. The 
accounts from the Dooars district are still more 
gratifying, as much as 40 per cent on the capital having 
been made in more than one instance ; those from the 
Terai, however, are somewhat doleful, for although 
many of the best concerns have paid well, yet a 
large number have suffered loss ; this is not to 
be wondered at in the face of the exceptional difh- 
culties of the season. The death rate is said to have 
been exceedingly high, not only from cholera, but 
from influenza and fever of a specially malignant 
type, which carried off a much larger number than 
the former disease. The result of this was of course 
a great scarcity of labour, and consequently some 
managers had to temporarily abandon hundreds of 
acres of tea, whilst others resorted to special money 
inducements to obtain labour, a proceeding very like 
that described as " burning the candle at both ends." 
Such an unhealthy season for coolies has never been 
known before, and it is hoped will never occur again. 
The present prospects of cooly labour are un- 
usually bright, food is scarce and dear in Nepaul, 
and coolies are flocking in large numbers into British 
territory, where the resources are greater 
and a local scarcity much more easily remedied. 
Tea prophets tell us that the London market 
is not likely to open with a better tone than last 
year, the imports from Ceylon have already assumed 
gigantic proportions, and it has become quite a 
regular part of Tea Brokers' reports that there is 
a superabundance of teas of a " common " description, 
whilst good parcels are still well competed for. Our 
friends tho planters will no doubt find it their best 
policy to go in more than ever forjjthe fine flavoury 
teas for which this district is famous. 
