June  i,  1897.]  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST.  835 
factories  till  tlie  coolies  Jo  not  know  liow  to  act  ! 
They  do  not  know  for  two  liours  together  if 
they  are  making  proper  teas  or  not.  This 
causes  lactory-bulked  teas  to  ditler  much 
in  daily  make  and  therefore  in  the  hulk.  If 
I find  a carefully-made  tea  being  made  say 
on  the  first  day  of  the  month,  I never 
bother  the  rolling  or  firing  cooly.  I llud  they 
will  make  the  same  tea  right  through  the  mouth 
if  not  interfered  with.  Coolies  in  factories  are,  as 
a rule,  not  only  very  careful  if  a certain  work  is 
given  in  their  charge  ; but  they  arc  also  very 
proud  of  doing  the  work.  In  this  way — as  I 
have  shewn  above — alone  do  I consider  that  some 
bad  effect  to  bring  down  prices  may  occur.  Teas 
from  some  factories  that  I know,  fetched  Is  and 
Is  3d  regularly  in  the  home  market  a year  or 
two  ago  and  only  get  8id  to  9^d  now  : this  has 
nothing  to  do  with  the  actual  manufacture  of 
those  teas  ; the  teas  are  as  good  as  they  ever 
were.  It  is  the  demand  for  that  certain  tea  that 
has  disappeared. 
.5th. — yhortness  of  Labour.  The  leaf  has  to 
be  plucked  every  8 to  9 days,  and  if  this  can  be 
done  regularly,  the  bud  and  two  first  leaves  with 
that  length  of  stem  is  taken,  and  another  full 
leaf  or  sometimes  half  or  three-quarter  leaf, 
.all  make  a good  tea.  Should  the  estate  be  short 
of  labour  and  cannot  get  over  the  fields  before 
the  shoots  get  hard  and  bangy,  it  makes  a most 
serious  difference  in  the  quality  of  the  tea.  It 
is  very  necessary  for  gooil  quality  tea  to  have 
lots  of  withering  room.  If  withering  room  could 
be  arranged  so  that  one  leaf  did  not  lie  on 
another,  and  when  withered  —sharp  rolling,  and 
firing,  no  fcrmmt  'mg — we  should  make  better  teas. 
6th. — Tlie  causes  for  the  fall  in  prices  are  over- 
production, combination  amongst  buyers,  and  the 
ups  and  downs  in  the  value  of  the  rupee.  It  is 
quite  evident  that  the  home  and  local  weekly 
market  are  always  fully  supplied  with  teas.  It 
is  quite  the  usual  thing  for  buyers  to  go  in  a half 
each  for  a certain  grade  of  tea,  and  also  for 
buyers  to  agree  that  “ if  you  buy  the  pekoe 
of  that  estate,  I’ll  take  the  other,”  so  there  is 
no  high  .bidding.  It  might  be  askeil  why  Indian 
teas  average  better  than  Ceylon  teas.  It  is 
because  Lorulon  buyers  get  orders  from  their 
constituents  to  ‘ send  a quality  as  near  as  pos- 
sible to  the  last  lot,  our  customers  like  it  ” and 
this  will  go  on  till  one  day  the  shop-keeper 
can’t  get  the  exact  tea  he  wants.  So  he  blends 
and  makes  the  beat  he  can  to  suit,  and  the 
Indian  and  Ceylon  will  very  soon  be  on  an 
equal  footing. 
7th. — Undoubtedly,  the  Ceylon  Tea  Planters 
keep  the  pot  boiling  through  Exchange  ! Take 
our  local  sales  : the  difference  between  Is  2d  and 
Is  3d  in  the  rupee  makes  a difference  of  fully 
15  cents  a lb.  in  the  price  we  get  for  our  teas, — 
where  shall  we  be  if  the  iui)ee  stands  at  Is  4il 
— Yours  faithfully,  OLD  UIMI300LA. 
March  6. 
LXVII. 
Hatton,  March  20. 
Dkar  Sir,— In  answer  to  your  circular  of  12th 
Feb.  re  Ceylon  tea. 
1st.  I don’t  think  coarser  plucking  has  been 
resorted  to. 
2nd.  Manuring  with  castoreake  and  bones  is 
a great  cause  of  prices  coming  down;  this  is 
iny  experience. 
3rd.  Generally,  pruning  is  lighter  than  it  was 
Icrmerly. 
4th.  Less  attention  in  factory  may  be  in 
some  cases. 
5th.  This  is  the  great  evil,  short  labor  force. 
6th  and  7th,  Overproduction  and  manure  not 
properly  applied,  S. 
LXVIII. 
(1)  I do  not  think  coarse  plucking  has  .any- 
thing to  do  with  it  as  most  estates  pluck  liner 
or  rather  more  carefully  than  they  did  a year 
or  two  ago. 
(2)  Not  iiaving  manured  to  any  extent  I can- 
not express  an  opinbm. 
(3)  Yes,  1 should  say  in  some  cases  the  sev'ere 
pruning  carried  out  has  had  a good  deal  to  do 
with  the  fall  in  individual  pi  ices. 
(4)  I think  more  care  is  taken  now  than  formerly 
in  jtreparation. 
(5)  Not  at  all,  as  in  my  case  I have  plenty 
of  labour. 
(7)  I think  overproduction  is  the  chief  cause. 
“ D.’’ 
No.  LXIX. 
Kandy  North,  March  3. 
llKAR  yiR, — Your  (luestious  are  stiff  ones  ; on 
that  account  difficult  to  answer. 
(1)  Course  plucking  has  nothing  to  do  with 
it.  The  leaf  plucked  now-a-days  is  far  liner 
than  that  plucked  in  earlier  years — say  ’84 
or  ’85. 
(2)  Don’t  think  manuring  is  to  blame  either. 
Manuring  of  tea  is  not  carried  on  as  a rule, 
on  an  estate  very  short  of  labour.  IManure  is 
generally  applied  in  slack  months  as  the  har« 
vesting  of  flush  will  permit. 
(3.)  This  is  a system  not  much  in  favor  now- 
a-days — old  soils  do  not  grow  wood  fresh  enough 
for  this  style  of  wdiittling. 
(4.)  Only  teas  with  quality  fetch  a price 
now-a-days  ; given  carefully  plucked  leaf  of  this 
sort  ; and  with  usual  factory  attention,  those 
teas  command  their  price  no  matter  how  graded. 
Teas  which  command  long  prices  are  not,  as  a 
rule,  handsome  to  look  at. 
Careful  supervision  is  wanted  both  in  field  and 
factory. 
(5)  Have  been  fairly  well  off’  in  this  respect, 
far  better  off  than  in  days  when  better  prices 
obtained. 
Were  the  London  stock  of  te.as  only  by  mil- 
lions less,  I dont  think  it  would  be  a bo'd 
thing  to  state  that  we  would  soon  be  o n a 
par  again  with  prices  ruling  for  Assams.— 1 am, 
yours  faithfully, 
“ STILL  ONE  OF  THE  CKLEPEKS.” 
LXX. 
March  18. 
Dear  Sir,— In  reply  to  your  questions  as  to 
the  causes  which  have  brought  dowoi  the  aver- 
age price  of  Ceylon  tea,  I am  of  opinion  that 
this  may  be  attributed  to, — 
’st.  Increased  supply. 
2nd.  The  falling-off  in  quality  of  high-grown 
teas  from  the  older  estates. 
3rd.  A larger  proportion  of  low  and  medium 
grown  teas. 
Both  plucking  and  manufacture  have  improved 
in  this  district  of  late  years  and  this  is  shown 
by  the  averages  obtained  in  1895  as  compared 
with  the  previous  year;  the  Ceylon  average  for 
these  t\vo  years  was  stationary,  but  several 
places  in  the  Kelani  Valley  obtained  better- 
prices  in  ’95  than  in  ’94.  Manuring  and  heavy 
prumuy  hav^  »ot  lowered  prices  iu  this  district 
