670 
[March 2 , 1891 . 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
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To the Editor. 
ON THE WEST COAST OP AFRICA : BY AN 
EX- CEYLON PLANTER. 
Bssnassie, Gold Coast, AYest Afiioa, Nov. 23rd, 1890. 
Dear t?iK, — Tod.iy being Sunday, I take the oppor- 
tunity to write you the.se lines, as promised. AVo 
reached Elmina on Saturday, the l.st instant, after a 
voyage from London of 28 clays. This long time is due 
to the number of small ports the steamers call at. 
This port i'. in about tire samo latitude as Galle, and 
in an old Dutch fort is stationed a Ilaw.sa regiment with 
one European officer in command ; he being the only 
white man in the place, and, of course, acting in all 
sorts of official capacities. Once a week a Mr. Holmes, 
District Comraifsioncr, goes over there from Cape 
Coast and holds Court. They were both very kind to 
me, but this is just what one would expect if the wish 
of Government is lo open up the country. 
The natives are io many ways like our Ceylon friends, 
and those in towns just as cheeky. As labourers 
they ate good out of their own country, but not in it — 
servants are very good and be-at the Tamil appu 
hollow. The principal articles of export trade are 
rubber, priced here at Is to Is 3d, and palm oil and nuts. 
They are pu! chased or bartered for clothes, guns and 
other articles. 
The temperature is about the same as in Kandy, and 
when at its worst like Colombo, but the evenings are 
much cooler. 
We were detained about ten days at Elmina and 
then slatted lor this place with our Kroo boys loaded 
up with tools and stores. I wanted to bring 200 of 
these labourers from thtir coast, but I oniy managed 
to bring 71 with rno, tiie balance I gave ‘books’ for. 
This consists of a letter asking any captain or cruiser 
to bring a stated number of boys to a slated port 
and there obtain payment at 15s per head : this price 
is uniform from the Liberian coast as far as Oekra. 
Now about the country: the growth allround beats 
that of Ceylon, the soil is generally a dark loam for 
a depth of from 1 to 2 feet, and then a subsoil, as 
in Dikoja, of a clayey nature. There is just enough 
sloiie to permit of good draiuing, and very little rock; 
the rainfall and the t' mperature are about the same 
a.s in Kadugaunawa, The price of land is nominal, 
and Kroo labour is good end cheap, costing about 
the same as tbe Tamil. Popper is found wild, and 
cioao and Liberian coffee grow well, I hear, but I 
have not seen them yet. Orobua coffee has not been 
tried, but I have no doubt it will succeed also ; I 
intend to make an expeiiment. Roads are rather bad 
and in parts very swampy. I think that the pros- 
pects for planting are far more encouraging here than 
in Ceylon, for coffee and cacao, when they well grow, 
are far more remunerative and want less labour than 
tea, but of course, as is the case anywhere else, capi- 
tal is wanted to make a start. 
I have given away iv lot of Ceylon ten, and all like 
it very much. It ’s hosh about Ceylon tea, not keeping, 
I have some, the lead of which was broken in pack- 
ing rj or C months ngo, and it is still in very good 
conditioj. There is not much chance of a trade spring- 
iug up yet, but I hope to be able to introduce our 
tea all aloiig tlie coast before long.— I am, dear sir, 
yours tiuly, S. W. GANE. 
CEYLON TEA AT £5 10 PER POUND. 
London, E. C., Jan. 93rd, 1891. 
Gknii.kmen,— I send you n cutting of a leading 
arlielo in llio /An'/'/ olJan.lTth on some 
wonderful (jualUy of C< ylon tea winch has excited 
flpocial interc:il. ,, .i. i 
.vlossrs. Elliot, Iiack & Porter inform mo “that 
this lot of tea conBisting of throe lb. boxes in 
all Id lb, v/as kuoclicd down at public sale for 
87s per lb. and subsequently resold for £5 10 
per lb to the United Tea Company of 21 Mincing 
Lane, The special fea'ure was its exceptionally 
good make and appearance, being almost entirely 
‘ Golden Tips.’ The liquor would naturally be 
fine but not at all commensurate with the ap- 
pearance which was primarily the cause of the 
high price paid.” 
On receipt of the above information I went 
round to see this tea, which was publicly adver- 
tised to be on view at the Company’s oflBces. — 
I met a whole crowd of Ceylon men there who 
all thought that the sample must have been tbe 
result of special pioking and most careful manu- 
facture, probably a little at a time and by hand. 
No doubt the final price was the result of oom- 
petition in order to secure the sample for show 
purposes ; still great credit must be due to the 
management which has secured 15 lb. of such 
wonderful tea, and Gallehodde estate has certainly 
made a name famous for good tea which the 
proprietors should be grateful for, while it should 
stimulate their neighbours to improve the quality 
of their tea by greater attention to the cultivation, 
picking and manufacture under scientifio princi- 
ples. JOHN HUGHES. 
TEA PACKING: LEAD PAPER, SPECIAL PAPER; 
London, B. C., Jan. 29th. 
Dear Sib,— I have read your editorial on “lead 
paper ” contained in your issue of 8th inst. I 
hopo the public will understand that this lead paper 
is entirely a different article to the paper I am 
introducing. I don’t wish in any way to 
disparage the paper entitled “ Clark’s Patent,” 
indeed it may be an excellent substitute for all 
I know, but I wish it to be clearly under- 
stood that my paper is quite apart from 
this, possessing no lead about it whatever. 
Since last writing you, I have received an appli- 
cation to supply a large group of estates in India 
with it. The proprietor, who is at present at home, 
inspected the packing of the Blkaduwa chests on 
their arrival and was so pleased with the satis- 
factory condition of the tea and the serious saving 
in cost that he is adopting the paper on his estates. 
I think your idea as to forming a Sub. Committee 
of the Planters’ Association to consider such im- 
provements an excellent one, and I trust it will 
be acted upon. It is the only proper and practical 
way to bring the matter clearly before the community. 
Let such Committee be provided with samples of 
linings recommended as substitutes for the present 
lead, and having regard to cost, in conjunction 
with efficiency, report accordingly. In the mean- 
time I am quite satisfied to utilize my own paper, 
for until anyone can produce a substitute equally 
efficacious in preserving the tea and showing a 
further saving in cost over the present of some 
50 per cent, as compared with the ordinary lead 
lining, I don’t look for anything better. — Youra 
faithfully, J. M. MAITLAND KIEWAN. 
[We should be glad to know if the whole of 
the tea of any one estate is packed in this paper, 
—Ed. T. a.] 
LIBERIAN COFFEE: PRACTICAL HINTS. 
Sir,— Being one of those who rushed into Liberian 
coffee, a dozen years ago — went out for wool and 
came back shorn but did so in very good company — 
I have naturally small confidence in a suceessful 
revival of its cultivation even with all the ex- 
perienoe gathered in the past time; It would not 
have been so complete and general a failure over 
the lowoountry had we known then what 
