April i, 1891.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
735 
in the Lane at from Is 6 to 3s per lb. It is used for 
blending, so that the public do not get this finer tea 
pure at the lower rates. There is no doubt about the 
hold which Oeylon teas are obtaining on the popular 
taste, the Indian teas are also fetching as good prices in 
the market. I think the two teas go very much hand in 
hand BO to speak. Of course, better Ceylon and Indian 
teas will be produced if planters are stimulated by more 
remunerative prices in the market. I don’t suppose 
that such a price as we obtained yesterday can always 
be obtained. There is no doubt that better prices can 
be made. * * It is to the interest of the public as 
well as the planters that higher priced teas should come 
into the market. » * “It is an extraordinary thing 
t o me, the way in which Ceylon and Indian teas have 
crept up, and China teas crept down. China not so 
long ago had the field all to herself. China teas, how- 
ever, fell off in quality and into public disfavours, 
Ceylon teas have only been cultivated during the past 
20 years, and Indian tea for not more than half a cen- 
tury- We do not sell China tea at all. We only sell 
the Ceylon and Indian teas, both of which possess in- 
trinsic merit.” 
Comments also appear in the Globe, Financial News 
and Daily Graphic, and Messrs, Geo. White & Co, wno 
are qualified to speak with some authority state in their 
India, Ceylon and Java Tea Memoranda; — “ To avoid 
disappointment to future shippers of fancy lots it should 
be borne in mind that unuer ordinary circumstances 
such tea in larger quantities would probably not fetch 
tithe of price quoted. 
mature says : — “The tea ought to have very special 
qualities and the Chemist and Druggist, alluding 
to the sale as “ the sensation of the week,” observes 
— “This price which far exceeds that paid for the 
two previous lots, is, of course “ fancy ” one and has 
been conceded in all probability with a shrewd eye 
to advertising advantage. In quality the tea resembles 
the “ golden tips ” sold two or three months ago at 
what was then the highest price on record but it is 
rather brighter.” 
The London correspondent of the local “ Times” has 
given the following account of the sale : — “ The bid- 
ding mounted up by ten shillings in place of the usual 
farthing, and as each of these was proclaimed it was 
received with a burst of cheers which increased in 
volume as the former high record of £6 lOs fid was 
passed. By that time some of the buyers became less 
urgent, and when at length £8 was reached several 
dropped out of the running. Much amusement at this 
point was caused by a broker of rather nervous 
temperament who became so excited that, stand- 
ing up on his chair, he became suddenly 
deadly pale as though about to faint, when 
acting by the ordinary sale rule of farthiug 
bids, he found sufiBcient voice to cry a little above 
a whisper “eight pounds and a farthing”; which 
materially evoked shouts of laughter and which some- 
one capped by a bid of “eight-ten,” and so the bids 
went on until the unprecedented price of £10 I2s fid 
was reached, a bid which was received with rounds of 
cheering and shouts of laughter. The result of this 
sale was at once wired to New York ; and by the 
following morning an order came back to secure a 
quarter of a pound of the precious article at any price 
a commission which Ido not believe will be executed.” 
in a Leeds newspaper, the following appears ; — 
“ How very precious tea-growing land in Oeylon must 
be I A gold mine is nothing to the riches here in- 
viting the cultivator who gets hold of the right soil, 
and has intelligence in the management of the plants 
and the garnering of the precious leaves. Kecently 
a consignment of Ceylon tea was sold for sometning 
over £5 per pound, and was re-sold for more. The 
inflation of Ceylon qualities is by no means over, 
for yesterday (March 10th) in London a small sample 
of what we must presume was superb and in compar- 
able tea fetched the astounding price of £10 12s fid 
per pound I Tea of indescribable superiority is thus 
becoming almost worth its weight in gold. Never- 
theless for ordinary people inherently deprived in taste, 
tea at from two to three shillings per pound is 
wouderously refreshing. The high-priced tea referred 
^0 be ooBeideiftl eti three ihillio^s pec cup,” 
CACAO CULTIVATION.— STEALING NOT CON- 
FINED TO KUEUNEGALA. 
Kandy, March 17. 
Deab Sir, — With reference to your footnote to my 
loiter of 13th instant (see page 723) 1 think you ate 
in error in suggesting that the Kurunegala District is 
the only one where cacao-stealing is general. What 
about Dumbara and Matale, where even the Buddhist 
priests have taken to the new industry ? 
As regards the returns from oaoao cultivation, are 
we to conclude that a yield of 1^ owt. per aore 
in alternate years, constitutes a big crop ? — Yours 
faithfully PE^DIAL PEOGEKSS. 
[Are we safe in taking all the acreage as in 
full bearing and under proper shade cultivation ? — 
Ed. T.A.j 
CACAO CULTIVATION : ME, HOLLOWAY’S 
EXPEEIENCE. 
Franklands, Wattegama, March I8th. 
Dear Sir, — I noticed lately a great deal has been 
written for and against cacao (Crioiio, Forastero, and 
Caracas), especially “Eldorado” ’s attack, and 1 have 
thought proper to test and prove that cacao does and 
will pay if carefully cultivated, even on soil con- 
demned by would-be experts if you only know how 
to treat that soil, assist your plants with proper 
shade, and nourishment, and prune your trees at the 
proper time. When plucking on 11th inst. I selected 
100 hybrid Forastero pods : they weighed 200| lb. 
on evening of 12th when pods were broken up and 
put to ferment. On morning of 15th seed was 
washed, and was dried in good sun to 1 p. m. this 
day. Seed now weighs 12| lb. — 204 oz. or — 2 oz. to 
one pod ; this takes 896 pous for one owt. Some good 
old Forasterc trees on this estate gave 100 pods 
each and are over five years old, averaging 21b. each — 
same kind long pink pods as the 25 exhibited at 
the Matale Show from above estate two years ago. 
Plants from seed of selected pods from this estate 
supplied to and planted in a nursery on Ukkuwala 
estate, close to railway line, are now a picture to 
look at. The tamby just now offered to pay at the 
rate of E65 (sixty -five) per owt. for this cacao. A 
sample of 4 lb. is sent by this post.* I firmly believe 
200 to 300 pods per tree can be got from this 
variety of oaoao trees after the 6th year with proper 
cultivation per annum.— Yours faithfully, 
J. HOLLOWAY. 
ME. HOLLOWAY’S OAOAO FIGURES. 
Sib, — I am not alone in my condemnation of the 
inferences Mr. Holloway would have us to draw 
from the figures given in a letter of his, published as 
recently as 20th inst. 
He may, for all I know, be merely calling atten- 
tion in an innocent way to the superiority ol his 
oaoao seed, but it is very undesirable that such 
inflated and preposterous reasoning should go un- 
challenged. 
There are, I believe, about 300 oaoao trees per aore 
on an average. Mr. Holloway gives figures showing 
his belief that a 6 year old tree will bear 200 to 
300 pods, and that 896 pods go to 1 owt, of dried seed 
worth now R65 per owt 1 
I ask you m all oommonsense not to allow any 
intending cultivator to be misled by such absurd 
statements issuing from anyone setting themselves 
up specially as oaoao growers. 
At the rates named above the yield of an aore of 
oaoao would be above 100 owt. and over E6.500 
value per annum per acre. PLANTER. 
* The sample, a very fine one, so far as we can 
judge, can be seen at our Olgoe.— Eo. T. J, 
