KiARCk  2,  1896.]  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICtrLTCRlST, 
629 
THE  JAPAN  TEA  PLANTATIONS. 
(JiY  Y.  OBAYASHI,  OF  TOKYO.) 
The  tea  production  of  Japan  amounts  to  (i2, 836, 892 
pounds  and  this  tea  is  grown  on  plantations  scat- 
tered within  the  limit  of  31  deg.  20  min.  to  41  deg. 
80  min.  N.  lat.,  namely,  from  Chiran  of  Kagoshima  to 
Matsumaye  of  Hokkaido.  Though  young  buds  can 
be  plucked  from  the  tea  tree  in  the  cold  region  as 
far  as  Hokkaido,  yet  it  is  an  evidence  of  unnatural 
growth.  The  true  limit  of  mercantile  tea  production 
may  probably  be  36  deg.  30  min.  (the  upper  part  of 
Ibaraki  prefecture).  In  the  upper  region,  or  above 
36  deg.  30  min.,  there  are  very  few  plantations,  which 
only  supply  the  local  consumption  and  produce 
2,047,486  pounds,  or  3 per  cent,  of  the  entire  produc- 
tion of  Japan  tea.  In  the  middle  part  of  the  island 
there  are  three  or  four  tea  districts,  of  which  thd  U^i 
region  is  the  widest  and  most  famous.  Next  to  Uji 
is  the  Shidzuoka  district,  and  next  to  that  is  the 
Sayama  tract.  In  the  Uji  region  there  are  Kyoto, 
Shiza,  Nara  and  Miye  prefectures  of  large  production. 
In  the  southern  part  there  found  in  abundant  pro- 
fusion wild  tea  bushes  among  the  hills  or  forests. 
For  those  who  would  be  more  conversant  in  regard 
to  the  Japan  tea  districts  I have  grouped  the  tea 
districts  according  to  latitude  as  shown  in  the  following 
table : 
above,  m. 
N.  lat. 
Production. 
per  ct. 
1 
Plantations 
. . 36d 
30 
2,047,486  lb. 
3-2 
2 
Plantations 
. . 3.5d 
20 
.5,677,2.50  lb. 
9-3 
3 
Plantations 
. . 34d 
0 
41,529,153  lb. 
16-0 
4 
Plantations 
. . 33d 
0 
8,084,387  lb. 
12-8 
.5 
Plantations 
..  31d 
20 
5,498,616  lb. 
8-7 
According  to  this  classification  the  Sayama  tea 
belongs  to  the  second  group,  and  in  the  third  there 
are  Shidzucka  and  Uji. 
It  is  well  known  that  the  crop  tea  per 
acre  is  very  heavy,  though  the  climate  is 
colder  than  the  regions  of  China  or  India. 
Every  farmer  knows  how  to  cultivate  tea  with  the 
aid  of  manure,  but  does  not  know  how  to  get  the 
best  results  without  the  manure.  Every  tea  man 
knows  that  the  tea  leaves  picked  from  the  manured 
trees  are  rich  in  aroma  and  taste,  but  does  not  know 
how  to  produce  fine  tea  from  unmanured  plantations. 
From  a single  acre  there  is  sometimes  obtained  a 
crop  of  2,083  pounds.  The  yield  of  the  May  and 
summer  crops  frequently  amounts  to  1,000  pounds  in 
Shidzuoki,  Uji,  Miye,  Sayama,  etc.  But  as  to  the 
average  it  is  far  below  as  shown  in  the  following  table  : 
Tea 
Pounds 
Acreage. 
per  acre 
1 
. . 11,6.50 
175 
2 
..  28,110 
202 
0 
i) 
. . 76,436 
542 
4 
..  21,9.53 
368 
5 
. . 11, .300 
487 
Average 
— 
417 
As  to  the  flavour,  tea  raised  on  manured  grounds  is 
ranked  first  of  all.  As  an  example  we  have  cere- 
monial tea,  or  the  tea  of  Chanoyu,  obtained  from 
heavily  manured  gardens.  Again  Gyokiu-o  tea  (having 
high  value)  is  also  produced  upon  heavily  manured 
land.  Japanese  gentlemen  of  and  above  the  middle 
rank  always  use  Gyokuro  (|2'00  per  pound) ; there- 
fore, they  know  the  actual  cost  and  pure  flavour 
of  .Japan  tea.  I feel  very  sorry  that  your  country- 
men serve  only  inferior  variety  and  cannot  use 
the  finest  tea  of  Japan  such  as  Japanese  goutleraen 
consume.  The  Amer'can  Consul  at  Amoy  about  1892 
said  that  among  Formosa  Oolongs  there  is  found  tea 
of  very  high  value,  and  also  in  Japan,  where  a 
pound  of  Gyokuro,  costing  above  -flO’OOO,  may  be 
brought  in  the  large  cities  of  the  empire. — Planter. 
Madras  Tk.\  IStiiD  for  Cfylua.— A Madras 
contemporary  states  The  Director-General  of 
Statistics  lias  requested  the  Madras  Government 
to  furnish  lii.s  office  with  figure  showing  the 
quantity  and  value  of  tea-seed  oxiiortetl  to  Ceylon 
from  the  Madras  Presidency  during  1894-95  and  first 
nine  months  of  1895-96,  and  that  these  particulars 
may,  in  future,  be  furnished  monthly.” 
CEYLON  HILLS  TEA  ESTATES  CO.  LTD, 
An  extraordinary  gener.al  meeting  of  shai'c- 
holdersofthe  Ceylon  Hills  Tea  E.stateCo.,  Ltd. 
was  lield  on  Leb.  25th  at  Messrs.  Bosanquet 
and  Co.’s  office,  Clnitliam  Street. 
1 he  meeting  was  held  to  consider  the  purchase 
of  furtlier  estates,  to  increa.«e  the  capital  of  the 
( ompany,  and  to  authorise  tlie  Directors  to  raise 
money  by  issue  of  debentures. 
There  were  present  Messrs.  J.  F.  Traill 
G.  C.  Walker,  F.  Liescliing,  W.  W.  Kenny* 
Delmege,  Reid  and  Co.,  (by  Mr.  Kenny) 
Misses.  Henderson  by  jMr.  J.‘  B.  Henderson. 
Mr.  Traill  was  voted  to  tlie  Chair.  Mr.  Walker 
moved  that  tlie  proposal  to  purchase  Lamma- 
nioor  estate  from  Messrs.  Perry  and  Albrecht 
for  £2,800,  Mr.  H.  Perry  taking  B5,000  worth  of 
fully  paid  shares  ranking  for  dividend  from 
15th  February  1896,  in  part  payment,  be  apjiroved. 
Mr.  Frank  Liesching  seconded  and  it  was 
carried. 
Mr.  Walker  moved  that  the  jiroposal  to  is- 
sue 200  fully  paid  shares  ranking  for  dividend 
from  15th  February  1896  in  part  payment  of 
Lammamoor  estate  be  approved. 
Mr,  Kenny  seconded,  and  it  was  carried. 
Mr.  Kenny  pro|)0.sed  that  Agra  Oya  estate  be 
parchased  from  1st  April  1896  for  £10,000. 
Mr.  Liesching  seconded,  and  the  motion  was 
carried. 
Mr.  Walker  jiroposed  that  Hawley,  Fawn- 
hope,  and  Donhead  estates  be  purchased  for 
1160,000  on  1st  April  1896. 
Mr.  Kenny  seconded,  and  the  motion  was  car- 
ried. 
Mr.  Henderson  proi>osed  that  the  Directors  be 
authorized  to  issue  not  more  than  4,050  fresh 
shares  of  HlOO  each,  in  such  manner,  time,  and 
terms  as  the  Directors  may  determine. 
Mr  Kenny  seconded,  and  the  proposal  was 
carried. 
Mr.  Liesching  proposed  and  Mr.  Traill  seconded 
that  the  Directors  be  authoriseil  to  rai.se  money 
for  the  Company  on  mortgage  tlebentiires  at  a 
rate  of  interest  not  exceeding  7 per  cent,  and 
to  an  amount  not  exceeding  half  of  the  called 
uj)  capital  of  the  Comiiany. 
Mr.  Traill  .seconded  and  the  motion  was 
carried. 
M^ith  a vote  of  thanks  to  the  chair  iiroposed 
by  Mr.  Liesching  the  meeting  concluded. 
The  Proposed  Tax  on  Tea  in  the  Unite 
STATES.-  The  Washington  correspondent  of  t h* 
American  Grocer,  writing  on  Jan.  21,  says 
■ ^ dispatch  of  last  week  the  open- 
^ “‘ble  to 
slate  that  Within  a short  time  a bill  placing  a tax 
ot  Uom  p to  Iq  cents  per  pound  on  all  teas  will  be 
introduced.  It  13  possible  that  the  friends  of  this 
measure  will  delay  action,  in  order  that  their  course 
will  not  seem  to  complicate  the  tariff  situation  as 
long  as  the  Dingley  bill  is  pending  in  the  Senate ; 
but  as  soon  as  the  tariff  bill  is  out  of  the  way,  the 
^a  bill  will  be  brought  forward.  The  measure  which 
Kepresentative  Cummings  introduced  last  week,  and 
the  text  of  which  was  printed  in  the  Amenenn  G rarer. 
provided  a tax  ot  10  cents  per  pound  on  those  teas 
Vt  ^ traushipped  on  their  way  to  the 
United  States.  Ihis  bill  vyill  give  way  to  the  new 
one  as  soon  as  the  latter  is  introduced.  It  is  esti- 
mated that  at  10  cents  per  pound  the  revenue  for 
tha  first  year  would  exceed  .jfilO, 000,000,  and  would 
steadily  increase  thereafter,  for  it  is  the  experience 
or  foreign  countries  that  improvement  in  the  quality 
of  the  tea  imported  is  followed  by  a large  increase 
in  consumption. 
