THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
771 
May  1,  1897.] 
(Letters  continued.) 
XLIX. 
Agrapatana,  Feb.  22. 
Dear  Sir, — It  would  need  an  essay  to  deal 
fully  with  your  question.s  regarding  tea  prices, 
the  fall  in  wliicli  is  probably  due  to  many  causes 
in  combination  and  seldom  to  one  alone. 
In  the  first  place,  tlie  fall  of  the  Ceylon  aver- 
age is  probably  due  largely  to  the  increasing 
quantity  of  low  grade  teas  produced  in  propor- 
tion to  the  higli  grade  ones. 
The  estates  celebrated  for  producing  liigh-priced 
teas  Iiave  not,  I think,  lost  much  in  their  aver- 
ages in  the  London  market  during  the  last  two 
years.  A slight  fall  there  is  certainly,  but  not 
a great  one,  and  that  fall,  I consider,  due  to 
general  over-production,  the  supply  during  the 
last  12  months  being  all  along  rather  ahead  of 
the  demand. 
There  is  a tendency  towards  coarse  plucking 
stimulated  by  the  proprietors  and  their  Visiting 
Agents  who  are  an.xious  to  see  increasing  yields 
and  by  Managers  who  wish  to  brag  of  their 
great  returns  per  acre ; but  after  all  the  chief 
consideration  is  which  method  gives  the  greatest 
profit  and  that  is  frequently  a matter  of  very 
nice  calculation.  I am  myself  convinced  that  the 
high-lying  estates  \vhich  have  got  flavour  Mill 
pay  best  by  giving  most  attention  to  the  de- 
velopment f)f  that  characteristic  and  leaving  the 
quantity  to  take  care  of  itself. 
I do  not  think  manuring  has  affected  prices 
one  way  or  the  other.  Severe  pruning  has  un- 
doubtedly the  greatest  possible  effect  upon  quality 
and  I have  known  several  estates  at  one  time 
celebrated  for  their  high  prices  lose  all  the  (piality 
which  gained  them  those  prices  at  one  blow 
by  pruning  down  the  whole  of  the  tea  at  once, 
and  the  market  once  lost  is  not  easily  regained. 
The  dominant  factors  in  the  production  of  tea  of 
the  best  quality  that  each  estate  can  procure  are  : — 
1.  Attention  to  the  constitution  of  the  bush 
by  careful  cultivation  and  plucking. 
2.  The  care  given  to  the  kind  of  leaf  i>lucked. 
3.  The  withering  of  that  leaf  evenly  and 
quickly. 
If  these  points  are  attended  to,  all  the  rest  of 
the  factory  work  cotnes  easy  and  falls  into 
its  natural  place,  and  as  far  as  I have  seen 
there  is  no  want  of  attention  in  Ceylon  factories. 
Shortness  of  labour  has  probably  prevented 
many  estates  from  carrying  out  the  conditions 
necessary  to  secure  the  best  results  and  few 
superintendents,  I expect,  have  the  nerve  to 
abandon  for  a time  .so  much  of  their  acreage  as 
they  are  unable  to  deal  with  properly  for  the 
sake  of  maintaining  their  quality. — Yours  faith- 
fully, B. 
No.  L. 
Central  Province,  Feb.  22. 
Dear  Sir, — In  reply  to  your  circular  dated  the 
12th  instant  I should  .say  : — 
(1)  The  fall  in  the  price  of  tea  during  the  past 
2 years  is  not  due  to  coarser  plucking.  The 
fall  previous  to  this  may  have  been  and  was, 
in  my  opinion,  largely  due  to  a change  in  this 
direction  in  several  districts-  where  selective 
plucking  did  not  give  the  equivalent  in  price 
that  was  lost  in  yield. 
(2)  Manuring  unless  when  applied  to  add 
quantity  to  an  already  over-succulent  growth, 
has  not  adversely  affected  quality.  When  the 
needs  of  the  bush  have  been  duly  considered 
and  allowed  for  in  the  manure,  there  has  been 
a distinct  improvement. 
(3)  I should  think  there  are  not  two  opinions 
in  regard  to  this.  Severe  pruning  seriously 
atiects  the  quality  of  the  tea.  I cannot  say, 
however,  that  this  is  more  prevalent  now  than 
in  previous  years.  I'lebls  of  hide-bound  bushes  here 
and  there  are  yeaily  being  treated  in  this  fashion  ; 
old  coffee-land  tea  gets  more  frequent  touches 
of  this  treatment  as  the  growth  generally  is  more 
mangy  of  this  cla.ss  of  tea,  and  more  subject  to 
the  growth  of  lichens  and  other  pest-'. 
(4)  There  is  certainly  not  less  attention  paid 
to  careful  preparation  in  the  factory  if  any- 
thing it  is  more  methodical.  There  is  consider- 
able doubt  yet,  I believe,  as  to  the  best  methods 
of  manufacture  for  any  particular  estate,  and 
leaf,  the  many  varying  conditions  of  climate, 
factory  jiosition,  tJcc.,  necessitating  variety  in 
the  factory  methods,  apart  altogether  from  the 
constantly  varying  claims  u])on  us  to  meet  tlie 
needs  of  consumers.  There  is  a good  deal  of 
insufficient  factory  accommodation  especially  as 
regards  withering  space,  and  this  to  the  extent 
prevalent  does  affect  the  (juality  of  the  tea. 
Without  good  leaf  fine  quality  tea  cannot  be 
maile  ; on  the  other  hand  there  is  much  line  leaf 
that  by  no  known  jn-ocess  of  manufacture  can  be 
turned  into  line  quality  tea,  climate  and  soil  being 
largely  respoiisibie. 
(5)  Shortness  of  labour,  I should  think,  docs 
affect  the  quality  of  the  tea  during  the  rush 
in  April  and  JNJay ; but  beyond  that  taken  as 
a wliule  there  has  l;een  no  very  serious  harm 
from  this  cause. 
(0)  In  the  older  coffee  districts,  the  absence 
of  the  ncce.^tsary  fertility  is  a main  cause  of 
the  inferiority  in  the  tea,  and  I should  imagine 
it  is  having  its  effect  in  the  lowcountry  where 
a forcing  climate  would  naturally  tend  to  draw 
on  the  available  supply  too  closely  of  a soil  that 
is  only  ordinary  in  many  instances,  and  pro- 
duce tlu.shes  wanting  in  some  of  the  e.ssential 
elements,  a most  intei-esting  question  for  the 
agricultural  chemists.  Long  spells  of  very  wet 
weather  adversely  affects  "tea,  being  probably 
destructive  ot  nitrate-forming  microbes  so  useful 
to  all  plants  whose  dominant  element  is  nitrogen. 
No.  LI. 
Lowcountry,  Feb.  19. 
I think  shortness  of  labour  has  a good  deal  to 
do  with  fall  in  price,  and  incompetent  and  unrcli- 
able  teamakers ; also  the  desire  of  big  out- 
turns. 
Upcountry  estates  at  tairly  high  elevations  4,000 
to  6,000  ft.,  I don  t think  snow  much  decrease  in 
price,  provided  they  have  a good  supply  of  labour, 
and  can  gather  the  Hush  regularly  and  system- 
atically. Severe  pruning  gives  u'eak  tea  for  a 
time, 
No.  LI  I. 
Dikqya  Lower,  Feb.  19, 
].  I (1011 1 think  that  plucking  is  ([uite  so  coarse 
as  formerly,  on  the  whole. 
2.  Careful  experiments  lead  me  to  believe  that 
judicious  manuring  does  not  injure  quality  of 
liquor. 
3.  I know  numerous  cases  whore  prices  have 
gone  down  Avithout  any  low  cutting  or  hard 
pruning. 
4.  Men  nevei  weie  more  anxiousthannow  to  pro- 
duce good  teas  in  their  factories ; and,  on  the  whole, 
tliciG  ncvGi  as  iiioie  [)ains  taken.  ()t  course 
the  best  leaf  may  be  spoiled  in  factory  ; but  no 
manufacture  can  give  flavour. 
