43^ 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Dec,  r,  1896. 
DATE  PALM  GROWING  IN  CEYLON. 
In  “The  Ceylon  Forester”  for  this  month 
there  is  quoted  an  article  from  an  Indian  paper 
in  which  it  is  suggested  that  numerous  sites  on 
tea  plantations,  such  as  in  and  around  tlie  cooly 
lines  and  factory  buildings,  sides  of  roads,  tanks, 
&c.,  might  be  utilised  by  cultivating  the  I'hcenix 
dactylfera  or  date  palm.  The  editor  of  “ Tlie 
Ceylon  Forester”  adds 
tSurely  it  would  be  well  worth  while  Govern- 
ment trying  a small  experiment  of  an  acre  or 
so,  in  the  dry  low  country  of  the  Northern  or 
Eastern  Provinces  The  trial  would  not  cost  much 
and  if  successful,  it  would  open  up  a grand 
new  industry  for  the  natives  as  thousands  of 
Rupees  worth  of  dates  must  be  impoi'ted  annually. 
THE  SPRING  VALLEY  COFFEE  COMPANY, 
LIMITED. 
5,  Dowgate  Hill,  Loudon,  E.C.,  7th  Nov.  1890. 
Sir, — I am  instructed  to  inform  you  that  the  Board 
have  decided  not  to  pay  an  interim  dividend  for  the 
past  half-year. 
The  coffee  crop  for  1895-96  has  been  almost  an 
entire  failure,  and  the  outlook  as  regards  coffee  for 
1896-97  is,  at  the  present  time,  little,  if  any,  better 
than  last  year. 
Tea  prospects  continue  good,  but  the  profits  from 
the  comparatively  small  acreage  at  present  in  bear- 
ing are  severely  taxed  by  the  necessary  expenditure 
on  the  upkeep  of  young  tea  and  the  extension  of  the 
tea  area. 
Under  these  circumstances  the  directors  have  de- 
cided to  postpone  the  payment  of  a Dividend  until  the 
end  of  the  financial  year. 
The  area  under  tea  is  as  follows  ; — 
Over  5 years  old 
Planted  November — Dec- 
ember 1892.. 
Ditto  1893,. 
Ditto  1894.. 
Ditto  1895.. 
Now  being  planted 
1896.. 
711  acres  in  bearing. 
53 
243 
179 
145 
1.5o; 
770  acres  not 
bearing. 
in 
From  the  above  statement  it  will  be  seen  that 
the  extension  of  tea  is  being  rapidly  pushed  on. 
The  directors  regard  this  as  of  the  first  importance, 
as  until  we  have  a large  area  of  tea  in  bearing, 
steady  profits  cannot  be  relied  upon,  and  although 
the  cost  of  extension  and  upkeep  of  young  tea  is 
a heavy  burden  on  the  revenue,  the  intrinsic  value 
of  the  property  is  much  increased,  and  future  pro- 
fits assured  so  far  as  is  possible. — 1 am,  sir,  your 
obedient  servant,  J.  Alec.  Roberts, 
Secretary. 
MARKET  FOR  TEA  SHARES. 
Nov.  12. 
A large  and  increasing  business  continues  in  pro- 
gress in  the  shares  of  most  of  the  Indian  Tea  Com- 
panies, and  the  official  list  shows  a considerable  num- 
ber of  advances  in  quotations. 
Mincing  Lane,  after  the  rest  of  Lord  Mayor’s  day, 
has  firmed  up,  and  notwithstanding  the  largest  day’s 
sale  on  record  of  yesterday,  prices  have  strengthened 
rather  than  weakened.  This  rise  in  price, however,  is  re- 
quired in  order  to  compensate  planters  both  for  the 
‘fractional  rise  in  the  cost  of  few  production  resulting 
'from  the  higher  cost  of  the  rupee  and  the  increased  cost 
of  wages  incurred  by  the  rise  in  the  price  of  rice 
owing  to  the  unpropitious  weather  in  some  of  the 
rice-growing  districts. 
Meetings.— The  Associated  Tea  Estates  of  Ceylon, 
'Limited,  and  the  Lanka  Plantations  Company,  Ld., 
held  their  meetings  this  week.  Reports  of  the  same 
appear  elsewhere.  The  Empire  Company  calls  its 
first  statutory  meeting  for  NoVember  20th,  at  2 p.m. 
(■Winchester  House.)— i/.  and  C.  Nov.  13. 
1‘LANTING  AND  FRODUCE. 
(Froiii  the  IL  tb  C.  Mail,  Nov.  13.) 
The  Supply  or  Tea. — A correspondent  of  the  Grocer 
who  has  great  faith  in  his  own  capacity  to  see  round 
a corner,  forecasts  the  tea  market  as  follows:  ‘‘At 
this  period  of  the  year,  when  the  Mincing  Lane 
market  is  supplied  to  overflowing  with  Indian  growths 
of  tea,  it  is  customary  for  many  wholesale  and  pro- 
vincial buyers  to  ‘ rush  in  ’ and  purchase  abnormally 
large  stocks  under  the  impression,  no  doubt,  that 
prices  are  about  bottom.  We  are  in  the  ‘ period  of 
glut,’  and  at  any  moment  may  have  a sick  market 
when  supposed  cheap  purchases  may  suddenly  look 
dear.  Allowing  for  the  increased  home  consump- 
tion, there  is  e^ery  indication  that  supplies  from 
our  colonies  of  India  and  Ceylon  will  fully  keep 
pace  therewith.  Taking  as  examples  the  production 
of  several  large  Indian  companies  as  ‘cabled’  up 
to  end  of  October  against  output  in  previous 
season,  there  are  indications  of  a largely  increased 
crop.  The  figures  furnished  herewith  relate  to  two 
Assam  tea  companies  and  one  Sylhet  company  : — 
Production  to  end  of  October. 
1895.  1896. 
1,595,600  1,752,960 
2,911,520  3,233,440 
1,403,120  1,630,800 
Doom  Dooma  Tea  Company 
(Limited).. 
Jokai  (Assam)  Tea  Company 
(Limited).. 
liungla  (Syhlet)  Company  . . 
5,910,240  6,617,200 
Showing  an  increase  of  nearly  12  per  cent.  The 
usual  telegrams  respecting  cold  and  unfavourable 
weather,  early  closing  down  of  some  gardens,  A’c., 
are.  to  hand  ; still,  as  Indian  tea 's  growing  over  such 
an  enoi’mous  area,  many  districts  will  doubtless  be 
plucking  greatly  increased  quantities,  to  more  than 
compensate  for  any  alight  falling  off  in  other  parts. 
Ceylon  is  an  important  factor,  and  the  ever-increas- 
ing supplies  from  that  sunny  spot  should  not  be  lost 
sight  of.  Within  two  or  three  mouths  w'e  may  ex- 
pect supplies  gradually  increasing  from  nine  to  twelve 
millions  per  month,  and  of  tea  that  will  not 
keep  but  must  be  sold  quickly  after  his  arrival. 
Your  readers  who  work  out  the  figures  for  them- 
selves will  probably  come  to  the  couclusion 
that  there  is  plenty  of  tea  before  us,  and 
that  buying  for  requirements  means  keeping  prices 
on  as  favourable  a basis  as  at  pi’eseut  for  a long  time 
to  come." 
Tea  and  Bkokehs.— In  an  article  under  this  title 
which  appears  in  our  Calcutta  contemporary.  Capital, 
the  writer  advocates  the  selling  of  a larger  quantity 
of  tea  in  Calcutta.  He  says  in  the  course  of  his 
comments,  which  we  confess  we  do  not  agree  with, 
that — ‘‘  It  will  have  been  noticed  that  a very  great 
number  of  companies’  teas  have  been  withdra,wn 
from  sale  and  snipped  from  London  to  deal  with, 
and  the  reason  is  not  very  far  to  seek.  We  are  aware 
that  the  greater  number  of  planters  prefer  having 
their  teas  sold  in  Calcutta,  as  they  know  what  they 
are  doing  in  a very  short  time  instead  of  living  in 
uncertainty  as  regards  the  quality  of  their  teas,  till 
one  might  say  half  their  crop  was  made,  but  hei« 
conies  in  the  handicap.  The  London  agent  likes  the 
teas  sold  in  Loudon,  as  no  doubt  there  is  a ‘ picking,’ 
and  when  the  local  management  ventures  to  protest 
mildly  that  it  would  be  iireferable  to  sell  in  Calcutta, 
the  reply  conies  back;  how  can  your  teas  get  justice 
done  them  when  your  broker  is  both  buyer  and 
seller?  And,  surely,  the  trade  is  large  enough  now 
to  admit  of  the  business  being  divided  ? To  the 
beginning  of  October  altogether  343.100  packages  had 
passed  the  hammer  this  year,  and  this  number, 
we  feel  sure,  would  be  considerably  increased 
had  we  a distinct  diiision  of  the  busiue.'s  into  buy- 
ing and  selling  departments.  We  feel  certain  that 
it  must  come  sooner  or  la'er,  and  the  sooner  the 
change  is  effected  the  better  it  will  bo  for  all 
those  concerned.  Of  the  3-13,100  packages  that  changed 
hands,  taking  a package  as  equal  roughly  to  801b, 
about  29  million  lb.  out  of  a total  export  of  nearly  70 
millions,  about  40  per  cent.,  wore  handled.  Dividing 
