8r4 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[June  i,  1896. 
1893  aiul  1894,  the  former  of  these  beinf<  tlie  year 
in  which  the  mints  were  closed,  an  event  which 
was  regarded  by  some  as  the  herald  of  disaster 
to  the  tea-planting  industry. 
The  quantity  of  tea  produced  has  increased  in 
10  years  in  much  greater  ratio  than  the  area 
under  cultivation,  for,  while  the  area  has  increased 
by  less  than  19  per  cent.,  the  increase  in  product 
tion  has  been  over  88  per  cent. 
Ill  1892  the  production  in  Assam  and  Uachar 
declined,  the  decline  in  Cachar  and  Sylhet,  es- 
pecially being  so  considerable  as  to  affect  the 
general  results,  though  there  was  a large  increase 
in  Bengal  and  elsewhere.  In  1891  there  was 
again  a decline,  but  a smaller  one,  in  Cachar  and 
Sylhet,  and  in  Bengal  there  was  but  a small  increase. 
The  number  of  persons  employed  in  the  tea  in- 
dustry in  1891  is  returned  at  383,505  (permanently) 
and  156,120  (temporarily),  or  altogether  a little  over 
half  a million  people  (539,625  persons),  which  would 
work  out  to  about  1'28  persons  to  the  acre.  The 
accuracy  of  the  figures  is,  however,  open  to  question. 
The  tea  produced  in  India  is  exported  mainly 
to  the  United  Kingdom,  to  the  extent  of  about 
96  per  cent,  of  tbe  average  production.  The  sub- 
joined figures  give  approximately  the  quantity  of  tea 
consumed  in  India,  the  figures  repiescntiug  the 
average  of  the  five  years  ending  1891-95. 
Indian  tea  : lb. 
Produced  ..  ..  124,971,903 
Exported  . . . . 120,439,093 
Le.Jt  in  India  . . . . I,53;i,S10 
Foreign  tea; 
Imported  . . . . 6,789,337 
lie-exported  ..  ..  4,311,044 
Jjcft  in  India  . . . . 2,4iS,I9:i 
Thus  the  average  consumption  of  all  tea  in  India 
seems  to  be  about  seven  million  pounds,  of  which 
four  and  a half  million  are  Indian  and  two  and  a 
half  million  are  foreign.  It  may  be  added  that 
Ceylon  provides  India  with  nearly  a million  pounds 
of  the  foreign  tea  imported. 
This  consumption  comes  to  only  0024  lb.  per 
head  of  the  population  according  to  the  census  of 
1891,  or  say  one-fortieth  of  a pound,  a quantity 
which  contrasts  strongly  with  a cousumptiou  in  the 
United  Kingdom  of  from  5j  to  5j  lbs.  per  head. 
Broadly,  it  may  be  said  tuat  the  India  consump- 
tion of  tea  per  head  is  e.xceeded  by  the  United 
Kingdom  more  than  200  times.  Indeed,  such  as  it 
is,  the  consumption  of  tea  in  India  is  to  a sub- 
stantial extent  due  to  the  European  population,  for 
more  than  one  million  pounds  arc  taheu  by  the 
Commissariat  for  the  British  army  and  at  least  an 
equal  qua' tdy  must  be  consumed  by  the  European 
civil  population.  However,  the  consumption  is  iu- 
creasiug  amongst  the  population  of  the  larger 
towns,  espiccially  the  Mohii.mmedaus,  and  there  is 
room  for  great  expansion  in  this  direction. 
The  price  of  lea  in  Calcutta  have  lluctuated  greatly 
since  1873.  Taking  ihe  piice  in  March  1873  to  be 
represented  by  lOU.  it  appears  that  until  1884  the 
level  was  well  above  that  point,  varying  from  110 
to  148.  Coincidently  with  the  great  fall  in  ex- 
chanr'c  and  in  general  prices  in  1885  the  level  fell 
to  90,  and  though  in  1886  it  rose  to  96,  a low 
level  was  maintained  in  the  following  years  until 
1894.  In  1895  the  level  rose  to  97.  These  figures 
all  represent  the  coutse  of  prices  of  fine  Bekoe  in 
.lanuary  of  each  year  as  given  by  the  Bengal  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce. 
In  the  Statistical  Bureau  the  average  prices  of  the 
various  descriptions  of  Lea  sold  at  Ine  public  sales 
held  in  Calcutta  during  the  tea  •season  liave  been 
computed  for  some  yeais  past,  and  the  re.sults  are 
regularly  published  in  the  review  of  the  trade  of  India. 
Turning'  to  the  coffee  industry,  the  same  statistics 
show  lha°  there  were,  at  the  end  of  1891,  289, 0«0 
acres  of  laud  under  coffee  in  India,  all  of  it.  with 
the  e'ception  of  10,7i6  acres  in  Burma,  being  in 
Southern  India.  Tiio  cultivation  of  coff.e  is  in  fact 
restricted  for  the.  moat  part  to  a limited  zone  in 
Mysore,  Coorg,  and  the  Madras  dis'ri.ts  of  IM  ilabar 
and  the  Nilgiris.  In  Mysore  there  are  132,().'>2  acres, 
in  Coorg  71,181  acres,  and  in  theNdgiris  and  Mala- 
bar 45,052.  If  to  the.se  are  added  6,587  acres  in  Tra- 
vanoore  ai.d  Cochin  it  is  seen  that  about  90  per 
cent,  of  the  coffee  bearing  area  of  India  is  con- 
centrated in  the  iiiHy  region  aliove  tlio  south-western 
coast,  wLeic  the  rainfall  is  heavy  and  the  climate 
generally  approximates  to  that  of  the  coffee-bearing 
area  of  Ceylon. 
In  the  -Madras  Presidency  coffee  is  not  grown 
to  tiny  cxteiff  except  i.i  the  two  districts  already 
mentioned,  and  in  Salem  and  iladura.  The  only 
other  province  in  which  coffee  is  grown  is  Burma, 
mostly  in  Toungoo,  and  the  industiy  there  is  of 
recent  origin. 
In  the  last  10  years  the  area  in  the  Madras  dis- 
tricts has  fluctuated,  remaining  in  1891  at  but 
little  above  the  level  of  1885.  In  Coorg  there  was 
a sudden  and  large  increase  in  lo94,  in  Mysore 
there  has  bean  a steady  and  considerable  increase, 
while  in  Trawancore  and  Cochin  there  has  been 
no  advance;  in  Travancore,  indeed,  many  coffee- 
grouers  have  abandoned  that  industry  .'or  the  less 
precarious  cultivation  of  tea. 
The  yield  has  fluctuated  greatly ; in  1694  it  was 
about  3.5J  million  pounds,  which  was  but  little  larger 
than  in  1885,  notwithstanding  the  increasecd  acreage. 
Aecoiding  lo  ihe  returns,  there  were,  in  1894, 
37,903  persons  pennanencly  and  118,014  temporarily 
employed  on  the  coffee  estates,  making  a total  of 
155,917  persons,  which  is  equal  to  about  one  person 
(1'07)  to  two  acres,  while  in  tea  estates  the  average 
is  over  2^  persons  to  two  acres.  The  difference 
is  explained  by  the  much  greater  labour  required 
in  ihe  repeated  plucking  of  tea,  and  in  the  subse- 
quent processes  of  preparing  the  leaf  for  the  market. 
The  following  figuies  show  the  average  of  the  pro- 
duction and  exporis  tor  the  five  years  ending  1894-5  : — 
Indian  coffee — 
Production 
Exports  . . 
hfft  in  India 
Foreign  coffee — 
Imports  . . 
Ue-exports 
Left  in  India 
lb. 
34,444,087 
31,595,514 
2,848fi7'6 
1,820,426 
585,245 
1,235,181 
It  appeals,  therefore,  that  nearly  92  per  cent, 
of  the  production  is  exported,  and  that  of  ihe 
coffee  consumed  in  India  foreign  ooffee  represents 
less  than  half  the  quanlily  of  Indian  toffee.  The 
rate  of  consum;,tion  is  little  moie  than  half  that 
of  tea,  ainouniiug  to  only  0 014  lbs.  per  head  of 
the  population.  It  is  said  to  be  rather  freely  drunk 
by  the  native  population  in  southern  India,  but 
that  is  certainly  not  so  in  northern  India 
The.e  is  no  trustworthy  or  complete  record  of 
the  pi  ices  in  India  of  Indian  coffee;  and  it  appears 
that  there  are  no  materials  for  the  preparation  of 
a lecord  of  prices,  and  that  the  prices  in  fact  de- 
pend upon  and  follow  the  flucluations  of  prices  in 
Bondon  of  Ceyioii  plantation  coffee,  the  price  of 
Indian  coffee  being  about  5s  per  cwt.  less  than  the 
price  of  Ceylon  coffee.  This  being  so,  the  prices 
in  London,  in  February  of  each  year  of  the  last 
10  years,  of  Ceylon  coffee  (plantation)  are  here 
subjoined : — 
Per  Cwt. 
Per  Cwt. 
,s-.  d. 
.f.  (/. 
1886 
56  0 
1.S91 
104  6 
1887 
77  0 
1892 
105  0 
1888 
72  0 
1893 
108  0 
1889 
90  0 
1894 
100  0 
1890 
99  0 
1895 
104  0 
'err  years 
1,  from  1879 
to  1888,  of  depressed  prices* 
ibined  w 
ith  the  havoc 
wrought  by 
the  borer  and 
the  leaf  disease,  greatly  discouraged  coffee-planting 
ill  India  and  Ceylon,  and  the  prospects  of  the  in- 
dustry seemed  so  forlorn  that  both  in  Ceylon  and 
India  much  coffee  land  was  placed  under  tea.  In 
1889,  however,  ihore  was  a sharp  rise  in  prices,  and 
the  level  has  ranged  high  since  that  year  under 
the  operation  of  speoulaiive  corners,  political  troubles 
in  Bra’zil  (whence  the  main  supplies  of  the  world 
are  derived),  and  other  circumstances.  Tm>  main- 
t-jii.ruce  oi  lu'ic.s  at  their  pretent  coinp.irativcly  high 
level  has  given  to  the  Indian  coffee  phiiilor  a stimulus 
and  an  eucom agement  which  were  greatly  needed. 
