Oct.  I,  1895.J 
THE  tropical  agriculturist. 
243 
COFFEE  IN  HAPUTAEE. 
Fiklds  WiiiTi':  WITH  Blossom. 
Coft’ee  blossom  full  out  today,  and  a really 
Hue  show,  nothin'’'  to  equal  it  for  some  year.s. 
Weather  for  .setting  has  .so  far  l>eeu  all  that 
could  be  wishetl.  Le.d  disease  disap|)eared  some 
time  ago,  and  has  not  been  bad  at  all  this  season. 
Up  to  (late  green  bug  practically  nil.  1 wonder 
if  the  old  king  is  really  to  take  a new  lease 
of  life.  1 roLnrncd  yesterday'  morning  from  a 
tour  round  the  Hai)ntale  side  ot  the  district:  Coilec 
on  Nayabtedde  was  one  white  sheet  ; not  so  much 
on  Conamotava  and  Koehampton.  1 understand 
tliey  have  just  finished  gathering  a very  big  croj). 
Hapntale  and  Sherwood,  es[)ecially  the  latter, was  a 
sight  .suflicient  to  ghulden  the  heart  of  any  old 
stager  who  can  remember  the  blossoms  of  the 
si.'^ties.  Thotalagalla  w’as  very  line  on  their  big 
acreage  of  fine  cotl'ee  left.  I would  say  they  had 
blossom  for  an  average  of  4 cwt  an  acre,  and  on 
a few  acres  here  and  there  more  than  double. 
Pita  Ratmalie  had  also  a good  blossom  ; but 
somewhat  patchy.  On  this  estate  it  is  rei>orted 
the  proprietors  contemplate  ojiening  a hundred 
acres  of  their  fine  forest  reserve  in  coffee  ne.xt 
season,  .so  that  faith  in  the  old  king  is  also 
reviving.  Nothing  could  look  better  than  the 
coll'ee  on  Dambatenne,  and  that  just  after  giving 
•a  crop  of  over  o cwt  an  acre.  Not  so  dusty  in  these 
degenerate  days  ! — Cor.  27lli.  Aug. 
THE  U.  P.  A.  S.  T. 
Thursday  evening  witnessed  the  conclusion  of  the 
second  Annual  General  Meeting  of  the  United  Plan- 
ters’ Association  of  Southern  India,  which  had  assem- 
bled at  Bangalore.  The  business  before  the  meeting 
was  transacted  without  waste  of  time  and  a perusal 
of  the  Report  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  the  dele- 
gates have  grown  more  familiar  with  the  rules  and 
customs  of  debate  than  heretofore.  Thirteen  District 
Associations  were  represented,  one  of  which  was  that 
of  the  Coorg  Native  Planters.  The  Mysore  Native 
planters  bad  no  delegate  this  year,  Mr.  Subbaiya, 
the  President  of  the  S.M.N.P.A.,  being  prevented  at 
the  last  mcment  from  attending  on  account  of  ill- 
health.  Mr.  Digby  T.  Brett,  who  had  made  an  efficient 
President  for  two  years,  retired  and  in  his  place  Mr. 
Sprott, 'of  North  Coorg,  was  elected;  Mr.  Hockin, 
of  Wynaad,  being  chosen  Vice-President  to  fill  the 
vacancy  caused  by  the  retirement  of  Mr.  G R Evans, 
of  South  Coorg.  Two  or  three  well  known  faces 
were  missed,  the  most  notable  absentee  being  Mr. 
Thomas  Clarke,  of  South  Travancore.  However,  his 
place  was  taken  by  Mr.  Acworth,  Honorary  Secre- 
tary of  the  Central  Travancore  Association,  who 
represented  the  whole  planting  community  of  the 
Province  and  who  took  a leading  and  able  part  in 
all  the  debates.  On  the  last  day  a vote  of  thanks 
to  H.  E.  Lord  Wenlock  was  carried  with  acclama- 
tion for  the  sympathy  and  consideration  which  he 
lias  always  shown  to  any  representation  of  grievances 
or  requirements  from  the  Uni  ed  Association. 
Turning  now  to  the  business  transacted  during 
the  three  days  that  the  meetings  sat  ; undoubt- 
edly the  most  important  question  that  came  up  for 
discussion  was  the  deputation  to  the  Viceroy, 
the  greatest  weight  should  be  attached  to  the 
appoinment  of  a Committee  of  Enquiry.  The 
primary  object  to  be  attained  is,  we  under- 
stand, not  the  redress  of  certain  grievrnces,  but 
the  education  of  the  Government  of  India  in 
the  circumstances  which  surround  the  planting  in- 
dustry in  Southern  India. 
A fairly  long  discussion  arose  on  the  question  of  the 
affiliation  of  the  United  Association  with  the  Loudon 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  some  gentlemen  being  of 
opinion  that  such  an  action  would  be  prejudicial  to 
the  planting  interests.  This  is  a subject  on  whicha 
great  deal  can  be  said  on  both  sides,  so  we  will 
merely  observe  that  it  is  a tentative  proposal ; that 
he  affiliation  can  be  subsequently  cancelled  if  deemed 
a'lvisable,  and  that  in  Mr.  Bandersbh,  a well-known 
broker  of  Mincing  Lane,  a representative  has  been  ob- 
tained \yho  is  in  close  touch  with  the  planters  of  South- 
ern In(iia  and  who  can  be  safely  trusted  to  advance  a 
their  interests  by  every  means  within  his  power. 
We  are  surprised  that  no  mention  was  made  of  affi- 
liation with  the  Indian  Tea  Association  of  Calcutta, 
an  important  organisation  whose  aid  ni'ght  be  found 
invaluable  at  times  when  questions  in  which  the 
Suureme  Government  is  directly  concerned  are 
brought  up.  Mr.  Acworth  spoke  at  some  length  on 
the  Ceylon  Import  Duty  on  Indian  teas,  but  we  are 
unable  to  follow  his  line  of  argument.  Ceylon  tea,  as 
we  know,  is  usua'ly  sold  in  EnMand  in  packets,  being 
first  blended  with  Indian  tea.  But,  said  Mr.  Acwortn 
it  is  a mere  piece  of  clap-trap  to  say  that  Ceylon  men 
wish  to  prohibit  their  teas  being  blended  with  an 
inferior  article.  By  an  inferior  article,  be  it  distinctly 
understood,  a Ceylon  man  means  cheap  China  trash. 
Considering  the  situation  of  Colombo  we  consider 
the  danger  a very  real  one  if  ever  blending  became 
a big  business  in  that  island,  as  it  probably  would 
if  the  import  duty  were  removed.  If  Mr.  Ackworth 
would  tell  us  exactly  what  the  Travancore  planter 
wants  in  this  direction,  he  would  place  the  matter 
in  a better  position  than  it  stands  at  present  and 
enable  Ceylon  to  know  exactly  what  the  Indian  tea- 
planter  requires. — J/.  Mail. 
Tiik  Skconu  Annual  Meeting. 
Second  Day. 
(From  our  Special  Correspondent.) 
Bangalore,  21st  Aug.  l8'J5, 
CEYLON  IMPORT  DUTY  ON  INDIAN  TEAS, 
This  was  the  next  subject  for  discussion. 
Mr.  G.  L.  l’'oNGE  (Secretary)  read  the  correspon- 
dence with  the  Ceylon  Government  on  the  question 
Mr.  G.  L.  Acworth  (C.  Travancore)  saicT:— " 
Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen,— I do  not  know  if 
anybody  has  seen  the  Ceylon  papers  which  gave  an 
account  of  the  meeting  of  the  Ceylon  Traders  Asso- 
ciation at  which  our  letter  was  read.  They  were 
handed  over  to  me,  and  when  I read  the  account  I 
was  exceedingly  surprised  that  what  purported  to  be 
a dignified  meeting  could  deal  with  such  a letter  in 
so  flippant  and  almost  insolent  a tone.  One  argument 
brought  forward  for  the  import  duty  was  “ why  should 
not  we  have  it?  Ours  is  only  per  cent,  while 
they  have  only  5 per  cent  in  India.”  That  is  not 
the  case.  The  import  duty,  on  tea  in  Ceylon  is 
M cents.  That  is,  roughly  speaking,  from  3i  to  4d 
That  is  pretty  nearly  60  per  cent  of  the  value  of 
Ceylon  tea  in  London.  Another  argument  they  used 
was  that  they  wished  to  prohibit  their  teas  from 
being  blended  with  inferior  articles.  That  is  a mere 
piece  of  claptrap.  As  a matter  of  fact,  Cevloii  tea 
It  IS  very  well  known,  is  hardly  sold  in  England  at 
all  except  in  packets  There  is  not  the  slightest 
deubt  if,  in  spite  of  all  the  spacious  advertisements 
at  the  railway  stations,  Ac.,  it  is  blended  with  Indian 
teas,  that  the  people  will  hardly  drink  it  without  this 
When  nw  tea  was  first  sent  to  England  some  years 
ago  my  broker  said  ” Don't  trouble  yourself  about 
the  flavour,  we  don  t want  that;  we  can  get  flavourv 
tea  from  Upper  India.  What  we  want  is  hooS 
®t/ong  liquoring  tea.”  Ceylon  has  taken  the  place 
of  China  tea,  and  we  want  something  to  fortify  it 
I am  a great  admirer  of  the  Ceylon  planter-  I 
admu-e  his  energy,  push,  perseverance  and  pluck,  but 
at  the  same  time  he  need  not  crow  so  loudly  about 
It  himself  Personally  I do  not  much  care  about 
the  duty  being  removed.  I do  not  send  my  tea  to 
Ceylon  now,  and  I am  not  likely  to  send  any.  But 
the  Association  I represent  is  very  strong  on  the 
subject,  and  I was  particularly  asked  by  the  South 
Travancore  Association  to  speak  about  it.  I think 
myself  the  Ceylon  planters  are  a good  deal  blind 
or  at  any  rate  the  Ceylon  merchants  are  blind  to 
their  own  interests.  They  seem  to  think  that  our 
tea  would  flood  their  market  if  blended  with 
theirs.  But  looking  at-  it  from  a merchant's 
point  of  view,  is  it  not  a good  thing,  docs  it  not 
