THE TROPICAL AQRICULTURIST. 
4S 
July t, 1891.] 
a good and sufficieut labor supply* With an iunutiicient 
labor force on an entato, weeding contraotorp get 
careless and fill l)ehind with their work; oooliee refuse 
to, or docUre their inability t), do a f**ir day’s work, 
and the daily out-iurn of a small labor force is loss 
in proportion to the number of coolies on the estate than 
when the force id sufficient. A luanagor s>) feels his p isi- 
tion at stake, aud the SPrioua con*>eqaenoeB arising from 
an iosuffioieiit labor force, that it heoomos very hard 
todo to othors as you would others do to you m the 
matter of ooodes. It requires no argam»»nt to prove 
that.au iuBuffioient labor supply is frtquontly the 
cause of loss of crop, ccarse plucking and neglect of 
cultivation, aud experience has taught many that 
unless estates are in the imenediate noigbboarhood of 
Sinhalese village’s it is quite a delusion to hope for 
aid from the SinhalefO. 
believe spveiul thousand more coolies could bo 
procured for service in Ceylon if all the advances 
flont to the Oos^t were uned for that object. At pre- 
sent probably not one half our mout-y so sent is 
given to the coolies. Under the Labour Fund Com- 
mittee t-cheme, we would k'low ©Xfirtly how many 
CO ili -s to expect for the money issue i, and only maua- 
gers or agents of estates who coutrihuted to the Labor 
Supply Fund would bo entitled to indent through the 
Secroiary lor coolies for their estates.” 
Of course, all are agreed as to the importance of 
a Bufficient labour supply; the point is as to the 
boat mode in which it can bo procured. 
tea EOOCHOW NOTES. 
{Foochoio Echo, 9:h May.) 
The opening prices in Hankow are we understand 
from fifty to hundred per cent dearer than last season I 
Ningchow Tls. 85 and Oaufn Tls. 63, 
It is reported that tho price of tea in Pakling is 
double that of former years j aud it is doubtful whether 
it will benefit the tea growers or the tea hongs, atid 
Foreign buyere will do well to judge the quality 
which is reported to be of good fl^tvour. 
By tho end of next week, we understand, a con- 
Piderablo amount of now lea will be down. A lot 
would have been placed on the market this wetk had 
it not been for the bad weather wo have had for 
some time. 
TKA FOR THE TPIUTON. 
The subjects of tlie Emperor William II, must stand 
ready. ^t-rin'O iq o h« invadeu,— but by a 
friend. Tno I dUn tea planter has fixtd bis specu- 
lative oye npui. r uu, and an organised ad- 
vance into thw conntry of the beer-king Gamhrinua 
18 contempliitod. So, at least, we gather from the 
following extract from an Knglish contemporary » 
The tea, which oou«ists of three spi oially-selected 
blonds is put up in attractive little packets of ilb, Jlh. 
ami lib, (German weiglit), the labels of which set forth 
in two languages tlmvirMics of the contents, and bear, 
moreover, clearly printed on each, careful instruotions 
for tea-making, together with net weights and retail- 
ing prices. The latter we believe, have been fixed at 
4, 5 and 6 marks per ^ kilo, which, in Germany, where 
6 marks 18 quite a common price for quite a common 
tea, should prove an attraction in itself. The services 
ol a Hambnrg firm have been seenred as a sort of 
genorM agency or distributing centre for the Ger- 
man Empire, and wq contract has 
boon entered into for a term of years, which incindea 
sevoral valuablo provisions. Among these is one by 
which the agent agrof.ft to piirchaso a fixed minimum^ 
-and yet unt » very amall-quautity of the tea in 
each year 5 and by another, to ostablinh at least one 
depot for the sale of tho now article in every town 
ot over 20,000 iohabitants, and not less than twenty 
such depots within the first year. 
To Engli.binen, who, oon.inly since the dnya of Dr, 
Johnson, bsvo boon distinguished as a tea drinking 
oation, there is something rather funny in «ppe»liug 
o tho aesthetic tastes of nearly fifty millions of people 
.coaxing them with. “ attractive little packets,” 
While the ** clearly priutenj » careful iustruotions lo* 
tea making ” almost consfitute a refiectioD on the laud 
of metaphysioH aud U 'iversities. The Germans will 
be delighted to hear that they are ** an eminently 
teachable people,” for this, aorording to the article 
in qiiestiou, iq one of thuir attributes. Them is, how- 
ever, DO doubt that the Iiniian planters are i ght. ihe 
quantity of tea consumed in Germany is annually 
about 0'091b per bead of the population. When one 
thinks of this from a tea planter’s puiut of view the 
enormity of the offence is nt once apparent.— 
Mail. 
^ 
HIGH-PRICED CEYLON TEA. 
WORTH NISAKLY HALF IT.S WKIGHT IN GOLD 
— X25 10 PER LB. 
Tho Indian tea sale-room in Mincing-lane wa“ 
crowdi d yesterday aft.ruoou by au eager company 
llvrely is so much excitement exhibited there. No® 
only was evrtry heat filiel, but buaiucss men were 
jammed tL>gcther liko sardines, right down the gnug- 
wa)a as far as the doors. It whs like the pit entrance 
to a theatre on Boxing night. But the entertainment 
the crowd had come to witness was to be hrtef, and 
not particularly' aniUHing. Nine boxes of Golden Tip” 
tea, fruiu the Garlmore Estate, Crylon, were to be 
soid by auction, ia one lot, at per lb., by Messrs. Qow, 
Wilson and Stniitou, Tiie interest lu the prooeeUtng 
was based ou tbe expi^ctation that the price given 
would be a high one. A tew weeks ago tea sold in 
Minoing’laue at a liitle over £10 per lb ; last Tut-sday 
a package fetched £17 per lb. There was au im- 
pressiou that evou thin high figure would be surpassed, 
and that autioipatiou was amply realised. 
Mr. Wii!«ou oifi«Tiated, and iaimeilialely ho mounted 
the rostrum nomnoBO facetiously cried oni. •* Si vou- 
peiiop-balf penny.” Tho«o was at once a bona Jide bid 
of “ leu guineas,” followed by tt whistling feXproasiou 
of amazement at the magnitude of tho start. It was 
arranged to raise the bidding at leant 2a fid at a time, 
and lofthwith there was a cry of£1012jfid. Wi|hgr*at 
rapidity the price was raised £13, £13 lOs, £14, 
£14 10s, £15, sixteen guineas, seventeen guineas, 
£18, £10, ttiid twenty guineas, after which 
one gentleman, amid the Ipud laughter of thu oonipnuy, 
immediately cried, “Tw’enty-ono pounds,” and evideuiiy 
did not peiOfive till some seconds afrerwards, that he 
had made an offer equivalent to tho prov. rbial Ir aU- 
inan’H rise • f wages. Up to this point, tUochiei bidders 
had been Messrs. Cranaion, of G*aqgow (who bought ou 
Tuesday at £17 per lb). Mt aaia- Kales, Lapwurch and 
Tyers, Messrs. Jobbina and Co. (all brokers), and the 
auctioneer lnniself. The latter was a»ked the name of 
his client, but refused to dnolose it till the transaciion 
had been oompitted. Tho romain'ler of tho bi idirg 
resolved itself into a duel between Mr. Wilson aud tbe 
representative of Mos^rs. Cranstou. .'Still without any 
hesita ion on either aide, b'ds recorded at £2) 58, 
£21 lO-j, £22, £22 10a and £23. Thou nmid cheers, the 
rt^presenttttivo of the G asgow firm cried £2.5.” Mr. 
Wi'souatouce sahl ** £25 10.4,” and the oihtr side for 
the first time banging fin*, ho demanded, “Any advance 
on £2.5 10s? ” Thoie was no response, and tho haraiuer 
fell. It was then announced that llie purcuaser wua 
the Maza>4attee Tea Coaip\Dy, and after raising another 
cheer nearly the whole of the company dispersttd, tho 
remainder of the business exciting oompiratively little 
interest. 
In the general sales, oompotition was even less here 
than it had been of late, and buyers were indi-posed 
to bid quite up to recent rates, either for Indiau or 
CVylou growths. Teas over lid were most depressed, 
and showed in some instancos a deohnu of nearly a 
penny perlb. Manynalers will marvel why, in face 
of this position of tbe market, a particular lot fetched, 
the enormous and unprecedontid price of £25 10s pet* 
lb. A representative of The Tifi'incinl 'Timee made 
some inquiries on this point alter the sale, and learned 
th» t the tea, while of a dci idedly superior quality, was 
procurod rather as a cur osity than as au article of 
ooDsura|iti<oi. It is valuable because r^re. It consists 
entirely of the tips of the now shoots of the plant, pro- 
curing which iuvolveH au ouormous amount of labour 
