July i, 1897.] 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
27 
THE CINNAMON GARDENS LEASE 
1S97— 1902. 
A HINT TO THE GOVEKNMENT. 
The mistake that Government may make in sanction- 
ing leases of Crown lands with only imperfect and 
nntrustworthy information 'o go upon was never better 
illustrated than in a recent mstanoe when it was 
asked to part with some six hundred acres of land in 
the Cinnamon Gardens, in the Colombo distiiot of the 
Western Province forRi(),000 for five years from March 
1897. The Government it seems was almost persn- 
aded to approve of the offer ; bat most fortunately 
it resolved to call fo ■ tenders ; with the result that, 
insload of R 20,000 it secured R 55,000 an 
increase of R 35,000. We learn that had notice 
of this sale been published in the local papers, and 
had the lands been properly described as being partly 
under yra,ss and partly under oianamon, and de- 
finite information given as to the acreage under each 
instead of the lands being vaguely called “cinnamon 
lands,’’ the price they would have realised would 
have been not R55,OUO but over Rl00,000. From 
information which has reached us, the value of the 
lease for 5 years appears to be nearer R120,000. The 
nett return from au aero of grass or cinnamon land 
it is well-known is be ween R8 and RIO; the only 
difference is that in the case of gi-ass the return 
is a monthly one, and that in the case of cinnamon 
it is half-yearly. This being so, and taking the 
acreage under grass and cinnamon at the figures 
reported to us, namely 200 and 300 acres respec- 
tively, the nett profit from 200 acres of grass at R8 
per month for five years amounts to R96,000, and 
the nett profit from 300 acres cinnamon at R8 per 
acre, as the cutting is half- yearly, amounts to 
R24,000 making a total of R120,000. In the face of these 
facts what shall we say of the private offer made to 
Government of R20,000 for 5 years whicn it narrowly 
escaped accepting? In this connection we should 
like to know why no stress was laid by Government 
when it called for tenders, on the important fact that 
half the area of the “ so-called Cinnamon Gardens ’’ 
is now, and has been for years past, under grass. 
Fortunately grass has proved a good substitute for 
cinnamon, and it is well that it is so; but it is to be 
regretted that the Government and the public were 
not aware of it earlier, or both would have benefited. 
Evidently it was to the advantage’ of interested parties 
to keep this information to themselves. Surely 
these valuable lands should not have been dis- 
posed of in this careless fashion. We cannot help 
thinking that it would have been greatly to 
the interest of Government if, before it com- 
pleted the lease even on tenders it had 
called for a special report from the Mudaliyar in 
whose division these lands are situated. Govern- 
ment might then have been in a position 
to place a reserve price on the lease, and got at least 
R100,000 instead of R55,000. We hope when these 
lauds are next put up for sale, that not only will this 
officer be consulted ; but that the Government will 
be in a position to tell the public the exact extent of 
land under grass cultivation and the exact acreage 
under cinnamon. These lands were orginally all 
under cinnamon, and the price of cinnamon being 
subject to fluctuations, they were not much in demand. 
The case is quite diffrent now. Owing to half the 
acreage being at present under grass, they are now 
worth 10 times what they were worth 10 
years ago. We wonder who is responsible for 
not pointing this out. We hope Government 
may be more fortunate at its next sale, 
and that it will take every precaution in 
time to find out as closely as possible what 
these lands are worth without disposing of them in 
an offhand manner and summarily by tenders as 
was done with the lease for 1897-1902. We would 
suggest that, instead of waiting till the lease expires 
in 1902, the Goveinment should at once axipoint a 
strong Commission consisting of say the Hon. the 
Auditor-General and the Hon. the Acting Govern- 
ment Agent of the \Yestern Province to find out 
what this lease is noio actually worth, so that it may 
be in a better x.'osilion to deai with this matter when 
it come for dispos il in 1902. One reason, we are 
informed, why x^eopla were unwilling to tender for 
tire current lease was that they feared that they 
would be harassed after they had secured the Ihase, 
as were the parties who cleared the 200 acres of 
cinnamon now under grass, and be involved in end- 
less and expensive litigation. — Local “Examiner’’ 
May 18. 
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AND GOOD TEA. 
Tlie American people arc coiigr.atulating them- 
-selves tliat, under their new tea regulalions at 
tile Cnstoins, they have seen the last of “ cheap 
anil nasty teas.” The American Grocer of April 
27 til says 
“ If the recommendations of the commission 
are adoiited we shall have few, if any, ihng- 
suey teas ; neitlier will we have any more of 
those low-grade ilmoy Oolongs wliicli have ]<ei- 
plexed this market for years. The displacement 
of China tea in the United Kin.dom by Gey Ion and 
India teas stimulated the importation of trash into 
the United States. We believe that the high 
standards adopted will result in an increased con- 
suiiiiJtion and that they will also tend to imiirove 
the manufacture of the leaf both in China and 
Japan. The following standards are estab- 
lished 
No. 1 — Formosa Oolong ; No. 2 — Foochow Oolong ; 
No. 3 — Amoy Oolang; No. 4 — North China Congou; 
No. 5 — South China Congo; No. 6— India tea; and 
No. 7 — Ceylon tea. 
(In each of the above standards the maximum per- 
centage of dust and fannings must be restricted to 10 
per cent when sifted through a No. 16 sieve, inasmuch 
as any excess over this percentage of dust and fannings 
is liable to be made up of extraneous matter.) 
No. 8— Pingsuey green tea. (As this standard is of 
better make or style than was necessary to represent 
the quality of infusion, the rule must be specially em- 
phasized to examine with reference to liquor and in- 
fused leaf only.) 
No. 9 — (a) Country green tea; No. 10 — (i) Country 
green tea; No. 11 — Japan tea, pan-fired; No. 12 — 
Japan tea, sun-dried; and No. 13 — Japan tea, basket- 
fired. 
(Dust and fannings in last three standards not to ex- 
ceed 40 per cent.) 
No. 14— Jaxjan tea, dust or fannings; No. 15 — Scented 
Orange Pekoe; and No. 16 — Capers. 
It is understood that the comparison of the stan- 
dards with teas delivered must be made upon the 
drawing of the tea as well as the appearance of the 
leaf after infusion, and that little or no considera- 
tion will be given to the make or style or colour of 
tire teas in the dr y leaf.” 
We trust Colombo shipjrers will take very great 
care not to incur censure or rejection for any of 
their teas at the hands of the American Com- 
missioners ; for, the fact would be iiotitied far 
and wide, and do Ceylon teas great harm. Twice 
has Ceylon tea — no doubt from native gardeirs 
- been rejected at Melbourne as “ unfit for 
human food,” and we do not want the same 
thing to happen at New York. One of the 
Ccmmissioner.s, Mr. Phelan, has been remark- 
ing 
Although the world has drunk tea for ages, very 
little is known about it by the ave.’’age consumer. For 
iustance, there is a xiopular superstition that green tta 
is prepared on copper, from which it derives a dele- 
terious flavor. This is erroneous. Green tea is pre- 
pared like all other teas ; although there is a minute 
quantity of coloring matter used lo give to its peculiar 
shade, it is composed of a harmless substance, and in 
