THE  TROPICAL  AGRICUI-TURIS  T. 
23T 
Oct.  t,  1896] 
which  I nmlcrs'and  is  the  port  the  greater  part,  if 
not  all,  of  the  produce  is  shipped  from.  The  Wynaad 
with  a larger  yield  per  acre  and  from  the  fact  of 
that  district  being  in  a position  to  dispense  with 
railway  freight  ought  to  be  in  a better  position 
still  as  regards  cheap  production  in  tlie  keen 
competition  which  all  tea  planters  are  undoubtedly 
entering  upon.  I an;  sorry  we  cannot  congratulate 
ourselves  on  having  cheap  or  even  reasonable  freiglits 
from  our  chief  shipping  port  (Calicut)  to  the  Con- 
tinent, Loudon  or  other  important  towns  in  the 
United  Kingdom.  Tea  freights  are  excessive,  if  not 
exorbitant,  and  our  Planters’  Association  miglit  well 
address  itself  to  getting  them  reduced,  no  easy  task 
I admit  when  the  apparent  combination  existing  be- 
tween coast  agent  and  steamer  lines  is  considered. 
The  following  figure.'!  will  show  under  what  a dis- 
advantage the  Nilgiri  producer  labours  in  this  respect. 
The  rates  ruling  for  freight  (via  West  Coast  for  trans- 
shipment at  Bombay)  have  been  for  some  time  b.ack 
and  are  at  present  as  follows  : to  London  .d5/s,  to 
Liverpool  .55/s,  to  Continental  ports  i55/s  per  ton  of  40 
cubic  feet,  which  is  equivalent  to  about  8001b.  Tea 
freight  from  Colombo  to  London  has  varied  within 
the  last  six  months  from  12/s  to  20/s  per  ton  of 
50  cubic  feet,  equivalent  to  something  over  900  lb. 
tea,  and  freight  from  the  same  place  to  continental 
ports  has  been  proportionately  cheap.  I cannot  say 
what  the  exact  rates  at  present  from  Bombay  to 
London  are,  but  some  short  time  back  they  were 
as  low  as  from  Colombo;  from  this  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  Nilgiri  producer  is  paying  more  than  twice 
as  much  as  his  Ceylon  “ brother  planter”  for  freight 
on  tea  to  London  and  other  ports.  Pi-rhaps  our 
West  Coast  friends  can  give  some  explanation  as 
to  the  cause  of  this.  “ Home  charges,”  that  is  to 
say  freight,  landing,  housing  rent,  fire  insurance, 
sale  expenses,  brokerage,  commission,  interest  and 
petties,  should  not  exceed  Id  per  lb.  of  tea,  but 
owing  to  dear  freights  the  “ Home  charges”  on 
Nilgiri  tea  amount  to  over  Ijd  per  lb.,  which  in 
these  days  when  profits  are  Small  and  the  strict- 
est economy  necessary  means  a great  deal.  I have 
dwelt  longer  than  I intended  on  the  subject  of 
freights  ; it  is  one  which  calls  for  the  special  atten- 
tion of  our  Planters’  Association,  seriously  handicap- 
ping as  it  does  the  “ Tea  Farmer  ” here.  In 
other  respects,  however,  he  has  many  advan- 
tages over  his  brother  producer  in  the  '■  Spicy 
isle,”  not  the  least  of  these  being  cheap 
though  perhaps  not  so  highly  trained  labour.  I hope 
on  a future  date  (with  your  permission  Mr.  Editor) 
to  draw  some  comparisons  between  the  cost  of  indi- 
vidual w’orks  on  these  Hills  and  in  Ceylon  ; meantime 
I would  draw  attention  to  the  benefit  arising  from 
keeping  tea  estate  accounts  on  such  forms  as  show 
at  a glance  the  cost  per  lb.  of  tea  of  each  work, 
which  is  undoubtedly  the  right  way  of  looking  at  it, 
as  xvell  as  the  good  to  be  derived  from  comparing 
notes  on  these,  and  mode  of  manufacture,  which  for 
some  unaccountable  reason  does  not  appear  to 
be  in  vogue  here.  The  age  of  secrets  is  past  ; 
it  should  be  kept  in  mind  that  Northern  India 
manufactures  some  l!50  millions  of  lbs.  of  tea 
and  Ceylon  about  100  millions  lbs.,  and  that  these 
countries  have  the  most  suitalde  buildings  and 
appliances  for  turning  it  out  good  and  cheap, 
whereas  I think  I am  correct  in  saying  that  with 
the  exception  of  a well-known  estate  in  the 
Ouchterlony  Valley,  most  of  the  gardens  here  are 
far  from  being  ‘‘up  to  date”  as  regards  their 
factories.  From  some  interesting  statistics  lately 
compiled  by  the  Hony.  Secy.,  N.  P.  Association,  there 
are  said  to  be  6,015  acres  under  tea  on  these  Hills 
and  the  working  expenses  on  this  acreage  is  said 
to  be  116,01,500.  Presuming  this  to  be  all  in  bearing 
and  yielding  say  SOOlbs.  per  acre,  our  total  crop  is 
180,0001bs:  and  it  costs  to  lay  down  f.o.b.  about  5 
annas  per  lb.  These  figures  must  be  looked  on  as 
approximate,  as  whether  the  amount  mentioned 
includes  Rail  and  Shipping  charges  or  only  actual 
estate  expenditure  I cannot  say,  but  even  if  it  docs 
not,  the  cost  per  lb.  is  by  no  means  out  of  the 
way  for  a high  district  such  as  this,  more  especially 
when  it  is  considered  that  perhaps  as  much  as  60% 
of  the  total  quantity  is  made  up  in  1 }b.  packets 
Pacts  are  however  what  we  require — doubtless  in 
some  cases  managers  arc  hampered  by  the  estates 
under  their  control  bjiug  burdened  with  charges 
which  correctly  speaking  should  not  go  against  cost 
of  production  and  which  jn-ovent  chem  turning  out 
their  tea  a.s  cheaply  as  might  otherwise  bo  the  case. 
I can  hardly  im.'gine,  however,  that  proprietors  in 
such  instances  could  be  so  inconsidciate  as  not  to 
bear  this  in  mind.  I have  ijefore  mo  the  results  of 
carefully  kept  statistics  (the  accuracy  of  which  I can 
vouch  for)  by  a Nilgiri  Manager  of  several  years’ 
experience  on  a garden  of  nearly  100  acres,  yielding 
.500  lb.  per  acre  made  up  for  his  last  financial  year 
to  the  80th  -lune,  which  show  that  the  crop  was 
placed  f.o.b.  (all  charges  on  this  side  included)  for 
the  very  reasonable  figure  of  4 as.  9 pie  per  lb,  20% 
of  the  crop  in  question  being  placed  in  1 lb.  packets. 
The  garden  referred  to  is  by  no  means  favourably 
situated  as  regards  transport,  but  has  the  advantage 
of  water  power  for  driving  its  machinerju  The 
fact  of  tea  from  a compartively  small  acreage  such 
as  this  being  laid  down  at  so  low  a figure  goes  con- 
clu.sively  to  prove  that  tea  plantor.s  on  these  Hills 
can  hold  their  own  with  what  are  looked  on  as  more 
favoured  countries  in  point  of  cheap  production,  if 
not  in  high  prices.  F.  T.  Turpin. 
— riantiiuj  Opinion,  Aug.  15. 
HORTICULTURAL  GARDENS,  LUCKNOW. 
From  the  report  on  the  Government  Horti- 
cultural Gardens,  Lucknow,  for  the  year  ending 
31st  March  1896,  by  Mr.  M.  Ridley,  the  Super- 
intendent, we  quote  the  following:— 
I. — Fxiuix  Culture. 
The  mango  crop  was  again  a light  one,  but  pine- 
apples, which  grow  below  the  mango  trees,  yielded 
well.  Peaches  and  «?wiM/.7;aras  gave  good  crops ; also 
loquats  and  lichis.  The  crop  of  jack-fruits  was  the 
worst  I have  known. 
2.  The  orange  and  lime  cro])s  were  light : in  fact 
alt  the  citron  tribe  yielded  poor  crops.  One  excep- 
tion was  a seedling  orange  tree  of  the  Malta  type: 
this  bore  a very  fair  crop  of  fruit,  which,  both  in 
size  and  quality,  was  equal  to  any  of  the  named 
kinds  in  the  Garden. 
-1. — Improvement  of  incliycnous  or  acclimatized  kinds. 
3.  A small  plot  has  been  planted  with  forty  plants 
of  the  garden  variety  of  alubukhara,  which,  so  far, 
is  decidedly  superior  to  any  other  variety  yet  tried. 
I hope  to  extend  the  area  of  this  very  useful  fruit, 
4.  On  a small  plot  of  ground  which  was  found 
available,  55  seedling  peach  trees  were  planted  ; these 
seedlings  are  from  the  seeds  of  selected  fruit. 
Owing  to  injury  from  the  flood  in  1894,  nearly 
all  the  seedling  trees  of  this  class  which  were  under 
observation  have  died — several  this  year. 
5.  There  is  nothing  requiring  special  record  in 
connection  with  the  Arabian  date  palms. 
B. — Introduction  of  neio  kinds. 
6.  Nearly  all  the  orange  trees  imported  in  1887 
fruited  this  year ; with  the  exception  of  the  kind 
named  Dulcissimo,  all  yielded  slightly.  They  were 
closely  observed,  and,  when  ripe,  a careful  comparison 
of  the  several  kinds  was  made  with  each  other  and 
also  with  the  old  kinds  in  the  Garden  of  the  same  type. 
7.  The  following  are  the  notes  recorded  : — 
Dulcissimo. — Fruits  varied  greatly  in  size,  some 
large,  some  small ; skin  a little  thicker  than  Emhiguo  ; 
flavour  supei’ior,  rich  and  sweet;  and  excellent  orange. 
Dulcis. — Slightly  smaller  than  a common  Malta  ; 
skin  thinner,  flavour  slightly  more  acid. 
Emriguo  or  Marvel. — Fruit  the  size  of  an  ordinary 
Malta;  skin  medium  in  thickness  ; flavour  fair. 
Excelsioil— Fruit  somewhat  smaller  than  the 
common  Malta  ; slightly  oblong,  skin  thinner  tlian 
Malta;  flesh  orange  yellow  with  a slightly  acid  flavour. 
Euo. — Fruits  variable  in  size,  large  and  small ; skin 
rather  smooth  and  thin.  Fruits  h.ave  a good  appear- 
ance and  ai’e  also  of  fine  flavour.  This  is  the  best 
orange,  so  far,  of  his  batch. 
Long  Orange.— Very  like  a common  Malta,  both 
in  size  and  appearance,  thickness  of  sldu,  flavour,  &c. 
