April  i,  1897]  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
687 
ally  qualified  generally  there  ia  no  room  for  them 
in  India  or  Ceylon,  and  they  will  do  better  by  stay- 
ing at  home.  We  quite  admit  that  the  question  what 
to  do  with  young  men  whose  education  has  been  costly 
and  who  aspire  to  any  kind  of  life  which  takes  them 
abroad  is  one  of  the  problems  of  the  day.  Even  for 
the  stay-at-home  studious  youth  it  is  perple-Kin/.  All 
the  professions  are  overstocked,  and  it  is  only  the 
young  man  with  remarkable  qualities  and  indomi- 
table pluck  and  perseverance  who  is  likely  to  suc- 
ceed in  any  walk  of  life  unless  it  be  by  a fluke. 
But  tea  planting,  as  we  have  said,  is  also  over- 
crowded, and  therefore  it  offers  no  field  for  candidates 
from  home  who  are  not  specially  qualified.  It  is  not 
sufficient  that  the  aspirant  for  a tea  planter’s  creer 
should  have  free  and  easy  manners,  no  spcial  love 
for  work,  and  no  particular  fitness  for  anything  but 
routine  life.  India  and  Ceylon  are  intensely  like 
other  places  in  that  these  human  products  are  not 
necessary  to  the  welfare  of  the  regions.  Waiving 
the  question  of  the  outlook,  even  to  a qualified  young 
man,  with  tea  nlanting  offers  if  he  have  not  capital 
behind  him,  it  is  clear’  that  the  market  for  tea  assis- 
tants is  over  supplied,  and  that  rose-coloured  views 
on  the  subject  of  the  prospect  offered  are  doomed 
to  disappointment. — II.  rO  C MatJ,  Feb.  12. 
On  tiif.  Right  Tiuck. — The  importance  of  opening 
up  and  supporting  new  market  for  Indian  and 
Ceylon  tea  has  now  become  generally  recognised. 
For  some  time  past  we  have  repeatedly  drawn  atten- 
tion to  the  matter,  and  it  will  be  remembered  that 
at  nearly  all  the  general  meetings  of  the  tea  com- 
paniei  last  summer  this  fact  was  specially  empha- 
sised. In  turning  to  the  results  that  have  already  been 
achieved  it  is  gratifying  to  note  that,  so  far  as  North 
America  is  concerned,  the  quantity  of  British-grown 
tea  taken  during  1896  shows  a considerable  increase 
on  previous  years.  From  statistics  compiled  by 
Messrs.  Gow,  Wilson,  & Stanton,  we  find  that  the 
quantity  of  Indian  tea  was  5,202,4051b,  compared 
with  4,059,595  1b.  in  1895,  and  2,428,2301b  in  1894. 
The  figures  for  Ceylon  tea  are  as  follows  : 1896, 
4,268.614  lb  ; 1895,  3,735,590  lb  ; 1894,  2,293,140  lb. 
“ Well  begun  is  half  done,”  and  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  these  results  are  highly  satisfactory,  and 
should  prove  a great  stimulus  to  future  efforts.  It 
must,  however,  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  task  is 
by  no  means  complete,  and  that  it  is  only  by  united 
action  on  the  part  of  the  Indian  and  Ceylon  plan- 
ters in  supplementing  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Blechynden 
and  Mr.  Mackeniiie  by  raising  as  large  a levy  as 
possible, 'and  other  means,  that  it  can  be  accomplished. 
—II.  d-  C.  Mail,  Feb.  19. 
TEA  PACKING. 
Necessity  is  the  mother  of  invention.  We  note 
that  the  prolonged  depression  in  the  Welsh  tin-plate 
trade  has  caused  those  interested  in  that  industry 
to  seek  fresh  fields  of  enterprise  for  the  disposal  of 
their  produce.  The  Tin-plate  Manufacturers’  Associ- 
ation of  South  Wales  have  awakened  to  a sense  of 
the  wide  field  which  Indian  and  Ceylon  might  afford 
for  the  utilisation  of  tin-plate  for  tea  packing  pur- 
poses. Several  meetings  nave  been  held  iu  the  dis- 
trict to  discuss  the  project.  At  these  meetings  the 
fact  was  pointed  out  that  only  2 per  cent  of  the  tea 
imported  into  this  country  is  packed  iu  metal  cases, 
and  a determined  effort  was  expressed  to  win  the 
remaining  98  per  cent  for  the  trade  of  the  Princi- 
pality. Voluminous  correspondence  has  appeared  on 
the  subject  in  the  Welsh  newspapers.  Large  dealers 
in  the  metropolis  and  elsewhere  have  been  consulted, 
and  an  expert  was  invited  to  read  a paper  on  the 
question  by  the  Association. 
The  objections  of  some  tea  importers  to  tin  as 
compared  with  wooden  chests  were,  of  course,  trotted 
out  at  the  meeting  referred  to.  One  ridiculous  ob- 
jection was  that  tin  fatally  debarred  any  sort  of 
ventilation,  and  led  to  the  following  correspondence 
in  a local  newspaper : A correspondent  signing  him- 
self “A  Well-known  Local  Grocer”  wrote:  “Tin 
will  never  do.  You  know  that  they  when  stacked 
often  causes  sufficient  heat  to  cause  a blaze,  Well, 
unless  some  outlet  for  the  damp  contained  in  tea  is 
provided  it  will  all  go  wrong.  Of  course  the  air 
cannot  get  to  it  to  give  it  sufficient  oxygen  for  a 
fire,  but  the  result  with  air-tight  tin  boxes  will  be 
that  the  tea  will  get  heated,  then  mildewed,  and 
spoilt.  Under  the  present  arrangement  the  leadfoil- 
lining of  the  wooden  boxes,  not  being  hermetically 
sealed,  allows  the  hot  air  to  get  away  through  the 
wood,  and  tho  tea  arrives  here  quite  sound  and 
wholesome.  If  is  my  firm  belief  that  it  would  not 
do  so  were  it  to  be  packed  in  sealed  tin  boxes.” 
The  foregoing  epistle  elicited  the  appended  reply 
from  a leading  Cardiff  business  man,  who  had  for 
fifteen  years  been  a tea  planter  in  one  of  the  most 
prosperous  districts  in  India;  “I  read  with  astonish- 
ment the  opinion  of  ‘ A Well-known  Local  Grocer.’ 
I should  like  to  know  this  man,  as  such  ignorance 
of  a subject  in  which  one  would  naturally  suppose 
a grocer  to  know  a little  is  deplorable,  and  I would 
be  loth  to  accept  him  as  a representative  of  his  trade. 
'Tea  is  aud  must  ba  packed  in  hermetically-sealed 
chests,  otherwise  (considering  the  extraordinary 
power  of  absorbing  moisture  which  tea  possesses) 
‘ the  sea  will  get  heated,  and  then  mildew  and  spoil.' 
‘ A Well-known  Local  Grocer’  will  be  surprised  to  hear 
that  before  the  tea  is  p.ieked  it  is  retired,  and 
every  particlef  of  moisture  'withdrawn;  it  is 
put  into  the  chests  hot,  and  immediately  the 
lead  is  soldered  down  and  hermetically  sealed.  Great 
care  is  also  taken  by  the  planter  in  nailing  on  the 
wood  top,  iu  case  eve  i a nail  should  be  driven  care- 
lessly and  perforate  the  lead,  and  thus  spoil  the  air- 
tight case  in  which  the  tea  is  enclosed.”  According 
to  the  value  opinion  of  Mr.  Christisou,  whose  paper 
on  tea  planting  read  before  the  Society  of  Arts  dealt 
with  this  subject,  unsoldered  cases  as  received  by 
grocers  and  warehouse  methods  have  something  to 
answer  for. 
As  to  the  superiority  or  inferiority  of  tin  cases  to 
lead-lined  wooden  boxes  for  tea  packing  purposes, 
we  must  leave  that  controversial  point  to  be  settled 
by  planters,  co  itenting  ourselves  with  drawing  atten- 
tion to  the  activity  which  is  being  displayed  in 
the  tin  centres  of  South  Wales  to  meet  the  require- 
ments of  the  tea  industry. — II.  d C.  Mail,  Feb.  19, 
CEYLON  PROPRIETARY  TEA  ESTATES 
COMPANY,  LIMITED. 
From  the  prospectus  of  this  Company  which  we 
mentioned  had  been  formed  with  a capital  of 
£160,000,  we  quote  as  follows  : — 
This  Company  is  formed  with  the  object  primarily 
of  acquiring  as  going  concerns  the  following  tea 
estates  in  Ceylon  : 
The  Beaumont  Group  (Pussellawa  District) ; the 
Forres  and  Warburton  Estates  (Maskeliya)  ; the 
Summerville  Estate  (Dikoya) ; the  Troy  Estate 
(Kelani)  ; the  Radella  Estate,  seven-eighth  shares 
(Dimbula),  aud  of  purchasing  other  properties  when 
favourable  opprtunities  offer. 
The  following  are  the  total  acreages  of  the  pro- 
perties (subject  to  the  reduction  of  one-eight,  in  the 
case  of  Kadella  estate,  for  the  purchase  of  which 
negotiations  are  in  progress. 
Estates. 
1 I 
§ s 
2 a 
c6 
<U 
43 
a ob 
a,  a 
a 
o9 
o 
<s  <o 
■»  fcl 
o • 
Feet. 
Acres. 
Acres. 
Acres, 
Beaumont  Group 
Forres  and  War- 
3,000 
608 
189 
393 
burton 
5,000 
380 

9 
Summerville 
3,800 
200 

37 
Troy  , . 
300 
326 
145 
Radella 
, 5,000 
410 
— 
186 
Total  Acres  . 
1,924 
189 
770 
1,190 
389 
237 
471 
596 
2,883 
The  properties  are  freehold,  with  the  exception  of 
75  acres  of  tea  and  5J  acres  of  uncultivated  land  on 
