Feb.  I,  1897.] 
THE  TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
525 
imported  by  way  of  Odoasa  or  other  European  fron- 
tiers is  leaf  tea,  but  that  coining  into  tlie  country 
via  the  Chinese  frontier  is  chiefly  tea  in  bricks  of 
different  dimensions.  These  teas  are  consumed  by 
the  nomads  and  the  northern  peasants,  by  reason  of 
their  cheapness  and  the  facilities  of  transport.  The 
customs  duties  on  this  kind  of  tea  are  much  lower 
than  those  on  leaf  tea.  In  the  various  retail  shops 
leaf  tea  is  sold  in  packets  weighing  g,  j,  i,  or  1 Rus- 
sian pound  at  prices,  varying  according  to  quality, 
from  80,  copecks  to  5 paper  roubles  the  pound,  but 
as  a rule  sufficiently  good  tea  may  be  purchased  for 
1.  rouble  50  copecks  to  2 roubles  50  copecks  per  pound. 
Kussia  e.xports  annually  a certain  quantity  of  tea  in 
packets,  prepared  by  the  large  importing  houses  of 
Moscow,  which  are  well-known  throughout  the  whole 
of  Europe.  By  way  of  Odessa,  30,000  kilogrammes 
were  shipped  m 1894  to  the  destination  of  Roumania, 
Bulgaria,  Turkey,  and  Austria-Hungary.  About  two 
ears  ago  tea  from  Ceylon  began  to  be  iraporteil, 
lit  the  quantity  so  far  has  been  inconsiderable. — 
Journal  of  the  Society  of  Arts,  Eov.  27. 
COFFEE  AND  TEA  IN  MLANJE. 
(From  the  African  Planter,  Nov.  1.) 
We  lately  had  a visit  from  the  genial  manager  of 
the  African  Lakes  Co.  who  has  been  at  Chinde  and 
returned  via  Mlanje.  The  Nyasaland  Coffee  Co.  has 
also  had  a visit  from  the  Maudala  Gardener. 
Owing  to  che  bush  fires  being  early  this  year, 
we  have  experienced  great  heat — the  thermometer 
rising  to  90  deg.  in  the  shade.  This  is  also  the 
driest  year  on  record  in  Mlanje,  nearly  two  months 
with  only  '27  in.  of  rain. 
There  is  a splendid  blossom  in  spike  only  want- 
ing for  sufficient  rain  to  bring  it  out.  I have  seen 
a blossom  stand  in  spike  two  mouths  at  both  high 
and  low  elevations,  and  when  the  rain  did  come, 
the  lower  estates’  blossom  was  burnt  off  at  the 
collar  and  fell  to  the  ground  ; the  higher  ones  set 
well,  resulting  in  a fine  crop. 
Tea  is  decidedly  a promising  product  in  Mlanje 
as  we  have  tea  bushes  at  three  years  old  which 
would  equal  if  not  surpass  any  I ever  saw  at  either 
a high  or  low  elevation  in  Ceylon  or  India.  The 
bushes  were  topped  about  eight  mouths  ago  and 
regular  flushes  plucked  about  once  a month  or  three 
weeks  ever  since.  It  is  equal  in  flavour  to  high 
grown  Indian  and  Ceylon  and  resembles  verj'much 
in  aroiua  the  teas  produced  about  Kandapola  and 
Nuwara  Eliya,  Ceylon,  which  fetch  very  high  prices 
in  the  London  market.  The  Tea  plant  unlike  our 
coffee  seems  so  far  to  have  no  enemies  and  flushes 
freely  all  the  year  round,  except  during  our  winter 
months,  May,  June  and  July,  during  which  time 
pruning  should  be  done.  It  is  satisfactory  to  know 
that  we  have  another  string  to  our  bow  should  King 
Coffee  (of  course  the  better  paying  product  of  the 
two)  fail,  by  the  importation  of  leaf  disease  or 
otherwise. 
Our  coffee  has  been  a good  deal  scorched  by  the 
late  drought  in  fact  many  trees  have  suffered  from 
sunstroke  which  I have  not  seen  before  in  this 
country,  so  I am  now  convinced  that  suitable  light 
lofty  shade  would  not  be  out  of  place  in  some  parts 
of  Nyasaland.  I shall  give  you  my  experience  and 
opinion  of  shade  in  another  paper. 
« 
TEA  PLANTERS  AND  THEIR  WORK. 
Lahore  et  Scientia. 
The  popular  conception  of  a tea-planter’s  life  is  a 
very  hazy  one.  Those  unacquainted  with  the  true 
facta  of  the  case,  and  who  judge  from  a mere  cur- 
sory glance  of  things,  seen  from  the  outside,  imagine 
the  life  to  be  one  continual  round  of  enjoyment. 
To  them  it  seems  that  all  a planter  has  to  do,  is 
to  mount  his  horse  or  pony,  ride  round  the  garden, 
if  necessary  swear  at  some  of  his  coolies,  and  then 
return  to  his  bungalow ; have  his  beer  or  his  peg. 
and  spend  the  rest  of  his  day,  either  in  playing 
tennis  or  cards,  or  some  other  form  of  amusement. 
* * ♦ » 
The  vocation  of  tea-planting  is  just  as  as  important 
a one  as  any  other  calling  or  profession  in  life, 
and  should  not  be  undertaken  lightly.  Directors  and 
shareholders  of  tea  companies  at  home  are  some- 
times inclined  to  think  that  no  educational  outfit  is 
required  by  those  entering  tea.  That  no  qualifica- 
tions are  necessary,  and  that  any  booby  will  manage 
to  get  along,  somehow  or  other,  in  the  business. 
The  result  is  that  occasionallj^  (thank  goodness  it  is 
not  often),  dolts,  utterly  unfitted  for  any  other 
calling  in  life,  are  pitch-forked  into  billets  in  tea.  In- 
fluential personages  at  home,  with  sons  or  w'ards 
on  their  hands  unable  to  pass  the  severe  competi- 
tive tests  for  entrance  into  any  of  the  professions 
or  services,  naturally  turn  with  longing  eyes  to 
farming  and  planting  industries  abroad.  The  tea 
industry  ia  India  and  Ceylon  looms  before  them  as 
a most  desirable  opening  for  their  off-spring  or 
proteges,  so  all  the  influence  they  can  bring  to  bear 
on  directors  and  shareholders  is  brought  into  play, 
and  an  appointment  eventually  secured.  If  the 
young  men  have  received  a sound  general  education, 
and  been  subject  to  discipline  in  some  good  school, 
they  turn  out  well.  But  if  they  have  been  petted 
and  spoilt  in  their  homes,  allowed  always  to  have 
their  own  way,  and  work  their  own  sweet  wills,  they 
cannot  but  help  proving  failures.  Tea-planting  is 
gradually  but  surely  rising  to  the  high  level  of  a science. 
'The  c.all  is  now  for  young  men  with  intellects 
trained  to  habits  of  thought  and  observation — the 
alumni  of  our  colleges  at  home,  who  know  by  experi- 
ence what  study  is,  and  who,  when  they  join  their 
appointments  out  here,  will  conti  ue  to  study  one, 
or  more,  of  the  branches  of  knowledge  in  which  they 
have  already  received  a thorough  grounding.  This 
is  the  class  of  men  the  tea  industry  wants  from  home. 
Men  who  have  received  their  preliminary  training, 
and  who  when  they  come  out  here,  can  at  once  catch 
on  to  some  particular  branch  of  knowledge  connected 
with  tea-planting  and  make  of  it  a thorough  study. 
To  such  men  there  is  a vast  field  open  for  research 
and  investigation.  There  is  every  opportunity  for 
them  to  make  a name  for  themselves.  The  harvest 
is  great,  but  the  scientific  labourers  are  few  at  present. 
The  industry  for  her  ordinary  wants,  such  as  merely 
supervising  the  coolies,  can  obtain  more  than  her 
requirements  in  this  country. 
The  body  of  young  men  in  this  country,  available 
for  service  on  tea  estates,  are  just  as  intelligent 
and  well  educated  as  the  majority  of  those  sent  out 
from  home,  and  equally  good,  if  not  better,  in  point  of 
physique.  They  have  the  further  advantage  of  being 
acclimatised,  and  knowing  the  people  and  the  language 
can  make  themselves  useful  at  once.  Although 
they  may  possess  no  knowledge  of  tea  at  the  first 
start,  they  very  soon  pick  up  their  work,  and  are 
at  home  with  their  labourers.  Not  so  the  young  men 
fresh  from  home.  They  are,  and  feel  themselves  to 
be  strangers  in  a strange  land.  It  takes  them  a long 
time  to  get  accustomed  to  the  manners  and  customs 
of  the  natives,  and  to  settle  down  to  their  new  life. 
The  remarks  do  not  apply  to  the  men  who  come  out 
as  Meclianical  Engineers.  They  are  professional 
men  and  can  make  themselves  useful  from  the  day 
they  first  set  foot  upon  a garden.  As  these  men  have 
been  trained  to  manual  (combined  with  intellectual) 
labour,  so  the  planting  industry  requires  men  from 
home  trained  to  mental  (combined  with  scientific) 
study.  Scientific  men  can,  like  their  confreres  the 
engineers  or  the  doctors,  start  work  at  once  on  one  or 
other  of  the  special  courses  of  studies  they  have 
elected  and  decided  to  make  a speciality  of,  in  con- 
nection with  their  general  work  on  a tea  estate. 
Possessing  a thorough  knowledge  of  the  principles  of 
the  subjects  they  purpose  making  a special  study  of, 
they  know  exactly  what  to  do  and  how  to  set  to  work 
to  accomplish  their  purpose.  The  necessary 
materials  being  at  hand,  they  can  start  experi- 
menting without  delay,  and  altliough  their 
investigations  will  doubtless  take  time,  beiig 
naturally  a laborious  process,  still  they  are  doing 
