Aug.  I,  1896.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
129 
QUALITY  OF  CEYLON  TEA 
"rown  on  virgin  soil  can  be  inaintaincd  is  again  on 
the  tapl^.  A well-known  V.  A.  of  wide  experience 
now  at  home,  is  of  opinion,  such  a (piality  can  with 
proper  care  and  attention  be  kept  uj) ; but  he 
is  o)iposed  by  the  actual  exj)erience  of  several 
propiietors  of  first-class  properties — nosably  in 
Bogawantalawa — who  declare  that,  with  no  pos- 
sil)le  falling-off  in  attention,  their  teas  of  the 
3rd  to  Gth  years  have  never  been  e(iualled  in 
flavour  since,  though  a good  average  has  been 
maintained. 
-♦ 
NATAL  TEA  INDUSTRY. 
A GREAT  FUTURE. 
IF  PROPERLY  WORKED. 
Mr.  G.  W.  Drummond,  at  present  at  Johannes- 
burg, writes  to  the /)n/gers’  News:  The  following  re- 
marks oil  the  tea  industry  of  Natal  may  be  of  some 
interest  to  many  in  Johannesburg  who  are  engaged 
in  the  trade,  and  also  to  others  who  may  like 
to  know  how  this  particular  industry  is  progressing 
in  the  Garden  Colony  at  present.  Compared  with 
India,  and  even  with  Ceylon,  tea  growing  in  Natal  may 
fairly  be  said  to  be  only  in  its  infancy.  The  in- 
dustry dates  practically  from  1882  Since  then,  how- 
ever, it  has  made  great  bounds,  and  particularly  so 
from  1891.  There  are  barely  3,000  acres  under  plant 
in  the  whole  Colony — quite  small — equal  only  to  the 
extent  of  many  single  estates  in  British  India. 
Still,  there  is  not  a doubt  but  that  the  industry 
has  a bright  future  in  South  Africa.  The  bulk, 
the  very  great  bulk,  of  the  yearly  out-turn  is 
consumed  in  Natal  itself.  Fields  further  ahead 
to  the  south  and  inland  are  yet  practically  un- 
touched, and  it  now  undoubtedly  rests  with  the 
planters  themselves  to  make  prompt  use  or 
not  of  their  present  golden  opportunity.  For  Johan- 
nesburg, for  instance,  which  is  a splendid  opening 
for  Natal  tea,  the  growers  of  Natal  are  even  now, 
rather  late  in  the  field.  They  do  not  appear  to  have 
tackled  the  subject  properly,  so  far.  Certainly  they 
had  difficulties  to  contend  with  in  not  being  directlv 
connected  by  rail  until  lately  ; but  more  could  have 
been  done.  Another  mistake  they  make,  too,  is  mis- 
naming their  teas.  Natal  golden  pekoe,  for  instance, 
though  a very  excellent  tea,  is  not  a pekoe  (or  leafy 
tea)  at  all.  The  same  with  their  flowery  pekoe,  which 
is  simply  a broken  pekoe.  Teas  hero  are  bought 
for  price  or  by  their  name,  and  naturally  a grocer 
or  the  public  accustomed  to  China  and  Indian 
teas  looks  for  something  leafy  in  pekoes  of  any  kind. 
It  would  be  a very  good  thing  if  more  tasting  before 
purchase  was  done  in  Johannesburg,  such  as  obtains 
in  England.  There,  every  little  village  grocer  will  get 
samples  from  different  houses  first,  and  then  buy 
his  tea  according  to  quality.  How  much  Natal  tea 
is  consumed  in  Cape  Colony  or  the  Free  State  ? 
No  quantity  worth  mentioning.  But  the  trade 
only  requires  adequate  and  intelligent  pushing  to 
find  markets  there.  Planters  must  be  prepared  to 
spend  money  if  they  wish  to  open  up  the  interior. 
Indian  and  Ceylon  teas  are  getting  very  firmly 
established  in  all  parts  of  South  Africa,  and  so  are 
cheap  China  teas.  If  Natal  wants  to  compete  with  the 
two  former,  her  most  dangerous  rivals,  she  must  meet 
them  more  on  the  level.  She  must  pick  finer.  Natal 
planters  say  they  cannot,  couldn’t  pay,  labour  too 
expensive,  an  so  on ; but  the  real  tact  is,  they  have 
never  seriously  tried.  It  would  have  been  better 
for  them  if,  with  an  estimate  of  200,000  lb.,  they 
had  been  content  with  150,000  lb.  better  quality; 
and  in  the  long  run  quantity  before  quality  will 
not  _ do,  and  will  not  pay.  This  has  heen  proved  in 
India  over  and  over  again.  More  friendly  competi- 
tion, too,  among  the  Natal  planters  would  be  good 
for  the  industry.  There  are  only  five  estates,  alto- 
fjether  which  use  machinery  to  make  their  own  teas 
counting  the  Sprowston  estateone  with  Kearsney), 
out  of  which  only  two  are  in  any  large  way,  and 
these  two,  instead  of  working  hand  in  haqd  for  the 
benefit  of  the  industry,  are  perpetually  cutting  each 
other’s  throats  by  jealous  rivalry,  for  which  one  is 
not  a whit  less  to  blame  than  the  other.  If  the 
industry  had  received  more  substantial  aid  from  the 
Government  of  Natal  at  its  very  commencement, 
such  as  the  Ceylon  planters  got,  it  would  probably 
h.ave  been  three  or  four  times  as  large  by  now, 
and  it  would  have  undoubtedly  been  so  much  the 
better  for  the  Colony.  The  cost  of  coolie  labour 
uow-a-days  is  too  expensive  altogether.  But  this  is 
a subject  which  cannot  be  gone  into  here.  The 
“ whvs  ” and  “wherefores”  would  take  too  long 
It  would  be  another  good  thing  for  the  industry  if 
some  of  the  leading  growers  would  take  a trip"  to, 
say,  Ceylon,  and  see  how  they  do  things  there.  It 
is  almost  quite  safe  to  say  that,  at  present,  not  a 
single  man  engaged  in  tea  planting  in  Natal  has  more 
than  the  mere  local  knowledge  of  his  business — 
no  outside  experience — and  it  certainly  is  to 
his  credit  that  he  has  done  so  well  so  far. 
The  real  tea  districts  of  Natal  lies  within  six 
miles  of  Stanger,  amid  exceedingly  pretty  scenery 
and  commands  a fine  view  of  the  sea.  As 
regards  the  total  output  of  tea  from  the  Colony 
for  the  current  season,  the  result  will  be  below  that 
of  last  j'ear.  In  December,  1895,  the  large  central 
factory  at  Kearsney  was  totally  destroyed  by  fire, 
the  with  it,  at  the  same  time,  lU0,000lb.  tea.  Now 
and  stimate  for  Kearsney  alone  was  5l)0,000lb.,  and 
for  ehe  whole  Colony  960,0001b.,  so  that  it  can  be 
see  t that  the  bulk  of  Natal  tea  is  made  at  the 
Kenarsney  central  factory,  Thi.s  e.stato  buys  the  leaf 
of  11  small  gardens  (belonging  to  separate  interests), 
and  manufactures  it  into  tea  along  with  its  own  leaf. 
It  cannot,  after  the  fire,  in  which  the  machinery  was 
lost  also,  make  more  than  300,ODOlb.  for  the  season 
1895-96,  so  that  the  total  crop  of  Natal  tea  this  sea- 
son will  probably  not  reach  over  700f0001b.,  or  some- 
thing over  100, OOOlb.  less  than  last  year.  Next  month, 
June,  will  see  the  close  of  the  present  season.  Out- 
door work  will  then  be  the  order  of  the  day  until 
September  comes  round.  As  Kearsney  has  got  to 
work  again,  partially,  and  will  probably  be  ready  for 
the  new  season,  the  output  of  the  colony  for  1896-7 
ought  easily  to  exceed  l,000,000lb  of  tea.  That  w'ould 
be  a gratifying  result,  and  all  the  friends  of  Natal 
will  be  glad  lo  see  the  Garden  Colony  going  ahead 
successfully. 
A “SWAGGER”  PROSPECTUS. 
We  cannot  pongratulate  the  promoters  of  the  Con- 
solidated Tea  and  Lauds  Company.  Limited,  on  the 
felicity  of  the  title  they  have  selected.  What  does 
it  mean?  Are  they  going  to  sell  consolidated  tea  in 
one  department,  and  deal  in  land  in  the  other? 
Or  are  they  going  to  sell  a blend  of  tea  and  .land 
with  calm  disregard  of  the  Adulteration  Act?  Nei- 
ther, we  understand  is  the  actual  object — which  is 
described  in  the  prospectus  as  follows : — “ To  take 
over  as  going  concerns  and  to  amalgamate  the  es- 
tates in  India  and  Ceylon known  as  the  estates 
of  the  North  Sylbet  Tea  Company,  Limited,  and 
the  South  Sylhet  Tea  Company,  Limited These 
companies  have  since  their  formation  in  1882  when 
worked  under  the  same  proprietary  as  private  Com- 
panies, aud  they  are  now  amalgamated  and  formed 
into  a public  company  with  a view  of  securing  a 
quotation  onthe  London  and  Glasgow  Stock  E echanges.” 
This  is  a very  frank  admission  which  does  credit 
to  the  pretentious  board  of  directors  who  are  going 
to  assume  the  management  of  tne  amalgamated 
undertakings.  It  is,  however,  to  be  regretted  that 
the  same  spirit  of  candour  was  not  extended  to  giving 
a statement  of  the  amount  of  capital  of  the  com- 
panies to  be  acquired.  It  seems  to  be  a respectable 
enough  promotion,  and  possibly  it  may  not  be  in- 
tended to  let  outsiders  have  much  of  the  capital — 
all  events  until  the  coveted  Stock  Exchange  quota- 
tions are  obtained. 
What  strikes  us  most  in  the  prospectus  is  the  ap- 
pearance on  it,  as  a director,  of  Lord  Roberts,  the 
Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Forces  in  Ireland.  We 
beg  his  lordship’s  pardon.  We  ought  to  havq 
said  of;— 
