494 
iHF Tf^OPtCAL AQRIOULTURIST 
[January i, 1892. 
MARKET FOR TEA SHARES. 
To tho Klitor of the Home Colonial Mail. 
Sir,^ThQ attonliou of my Boird has been cal'od 
to a Ktate aoat ia your isMaa of 20^h inKt. uud<'r tbe 
above beadiog, in raforonoe to hq o£fer for this 
Gompany’A pr>)perty having been uaooaditioDally refuaad 
by the directors. 
The facts are : — Two offers were received, and both 
tbe offering oompaniu) wore informed that the offvra 
would bo submittel to tlie shareholders, bat before 
this could bo dono both were witadrawu. I almll bo 
obliged by your inserting this oorreotioo in your neit 
issue.— I remain, sir, yours &o., 
Edward Carteu, .Seoretary. 
The Wilton Tta Company of Assam. Limited, 
27, Austin Friars, London, Nov, 25th, 1891, 
TUB INDIAN TEA OOMMUNITY. 
TO THK KDITOR OF THK “llOME AND COLONIAL MAIL " 
— I notice that your corre-^poudeo-, Mr. D F. 
Shillington, roapoods, in you* last, to my letter of tbo 
pr..viou8 weer. My ram brks ha 1 reforanoe, not ho mach 
to matterVoiiob as Mr. ^iitllington aUuden toothers 
hiving a widr*r bearing such aa the q'lest’oas of opoi- 
ing new markets an 1 gonerally pushing the m^^rits of 
Indian tea. I am fully in acoord, however, with Mr. 
Shilliugton as to arranging upon a beUer bidis h 
silos in Miuuiiig L\no, which are now ai very la'‘g“. 
I believe mo4t pnr'^ons oogaied in tne irale. (vlimhcr 
importers aal grown s on tbe one side, or dealers an I 
buyers on the other, are agreed that it is merely a 
matter of arraug-'m-^nt j unlnss, h iwevor, there is some 
pulling together and cor l^l co*opera'ion auung.it tin 
priuoinal parties oontrolUng the trade, it is mauifest 
that things wUlgo fro n bid to womp, very much, as 
Mr. Bbilhagton pjiotiout, to the do rimeut alike of 
buyer and seller. Lait year at the urgent cil of the 
molt go theil repecaant^tivo-* of tlu large imp trtiug 
boasesand Oimpaai<%a suh-remmitt m was appoiutud 
by tho luJiin Tea Di^trict*^* A^sioia ion to deal with 
this matter, and an iostructi m t > them was to arrange 
with the Mincing Lane brokiug” firms to formu.- 
late simo ^obome which wuuhj obviate the present 
ritlior suicidal By*t=im (or, rather, Uck, of system) 
which previils. Uofortuoatoly, the “broking” nouses, 
powerful (hough they are, app^mr ti have altogether 
failed to acoompUsh what was require J. It is inion- 
oeivablo how thii hai been the case, and the f'iilurt 
to effeot tb) dtisirod obj 'Ct poiuti as its cause to pa tj 
joil m iea a noug the ‘•broking” houses very ua.vor'h) 
of tbe scauding which they occupy. Porhipa it miy 
put som ) of them ‘*on their m^ittlo ” t) know that 
quite recently proposals hive heati made in corcatu 
qaarters for the firniatio'i of a cu-oporativa selling 
agency among the imporiiog hiuses, wh ch, it really 
carried out, wontd probablyr result in doing away alto- 
getbor with the necessity for tbe presently-existing 
broking houscL 
I do not mean to aver that rucU a schema is just 
at preaeut praotioahle, nor eveadodrable; bub I allude 
to it in order lo impress upon the “broking” frater- 
nity that owing to the lack of combinative power 
which appears to eaiat amo ig tae n, n scheme of this 
sort it actually “ in the air,” and U regarded in certain 
quarters as not only passible but quit) feasible. 
Before tea impo-ters are driven to such a c )urse, 
surely the largo “briking” houses, woo e ua)fulne4B 
the importers are quite ready to recognise, will he 
able to find some method whereby the present diffi- 
culty can be overcome and tho necessity for such a 
step Altogether avoidod. 
What Mr. Elitor, I would ask, is tho so-oa’Iid 
Brokers’ A-sociabion doing tha- it permit* a scheme 
such as this, which would practically out away the ground 
from booeath the feet of the whole Mincing Line 
broking fraternity, being every mooted?—! am, Sir, 
yours &o., 
London, Nov. 25tb. Obsebver. 
SUPPLIES OP INDIAN AND CEYLON 
TEAS. 
Judging by tho corroapondeuee in our last two 
issuer, it is evident that the future supply of Indian 
and Ceylon teas is canning both buyers and sellers 
to look forward with some degree of appreben«ioa. 
Wo have always favoured the view that the more 
the better, and that if it beonme a choice between 
Indian an I China tea the latter would bo displaced 
rithor thau the former; but since Ceylon tea has 
arrived in suoli rapidly increasing quantities year 
by year the sitnatiou has become more ooiuplioated, 
and all par'iea are now agreed that th* oousumiug 
power of the B.igll-ih market has been overtaken by 
s iob a B ipprahnndant supply that nnlus'S new out- 
lets can be op.>ned there mns^ be a tn'-thor decline 
in valuer to an utterly unremunerative point. Our 
ooDbemporary, tho J^oduce Markcie* Review^ makes 
the following very pertinent obmrvatione on the 
SQbj*-ot: — 
“The faturo dovo1opme.it in the production of Indian 
tea points tm targe increase, and acourd'ng (o the figures 
rece ntly is^uoi by th Indian Tea Planters* Associa- 
tion, it will roach 150,0)0, OOJ ib. daring tho next two 
years, without any adiiti jiiaI urea of oultiratiou. This 
coupled with a pro lab'e iuor -aHo of from 30 to 40 per 
cent in tbe prolacllou of Ceylon tea d iriug a similar 
period, will give a supply moretban cq isl to ‘he total 
delivery of all tea, both for h >me coummptiou and 
expirt, for the past tw dve months. Should this take 
pi ice, and iti is certiinly not improbable, it will be 
neodssary t ) opan up new ontleti for the surplus 
sapply, as otherw ‘e prices must fal’ to a disvtroasly 
low levol, which would, however, have th^ effect of 
chcckiu..; prodnctioii. The exports of Imhan tea a tboagh 
comp irstiv-dy small, are stea lily iucreasiug, bat they 
Will reqii'eto ha greatly accelerated if they are 
to keep pace with the increased aoppHos. Those 
inbirested in this industry, therefore, will do well to 
stuly both the manufacture of the tea and the likely 
paoicag's to m-M'. wi'^h tavour, wuore she prospects 
a'e m lat encouraging o* bretkiug new ground. Judg* 
ing of the probabilith s of the future export d»*maud, 
the United S a'.'m of A a 'rioA and OaaaJa are the 
ouontrtei mo4 likely co show the greateH devolopme it. 
One of the moat important oouHideratious is to assi- 
milate the leaf to thit of Ohina Congou, as appear- 
ance is a healing feabur •. Thers ii also an objection 
to the largeuesa of present Indian packages, and 
to meet thi4 coinpUitil it will bi obviouily necessary that 
a certain pnrtio t of the tea, and emaoially that most 
luitabl'^ for evporn. sboul t be pioaed in hati-oU sts 
containing from fifty to sixty potmiL an 1 at uniform 
ta 63 ,” 
W e see no reason why our own E istern dependencies 
•*houl 1 not SR ‘k t> supply the world with tea. Every- 
w iero in which Indian airl Ceylon toss have hith -rto 
found a m^rk-it, the result ha.n been a certain growth 
in the do uaud an I a mkidfe-tt ap >reoi*ti(m ot the 
quality But, we cinfess we view with regret the 
vo*y market deprec itlon in the average quality of 
tho tea sent to th^ L ndon mirket this season. We 
rannot thi k that ihe h*^Rt iniercs's of e’ther India or 
0-*ylon aro serve I by unduly iueri-aaing the produelion 
oi wh it the buyers class as v* r- third-rale. t*.i 64 this 
aea Ot) fira probably at the lowest point ever seen, and 
we muai ad i that nevRr in our recollection have we -^een 
such an undue proportion of undesirable tea offered, 
There hts, no doint, been a steady decline in the 
generally accepted standard of quality for several 
years pa^t, owing to competition among retailers and 
proscut “ tea shops ; but the descent this season 
ha? oven outstripped, inmmy oases, the desires of 
tho mo^t hungry seekers after ** tea for price.” It be- 
comes, therefore, matter for very grave consideration 
whether ic would not pay planters mach better to stay 
their hands Homnwhab lu regard to fresh extensions, 
•md try to manufacture a rtth»'r smaller quantity of 
nther bettor lea. China lea has been diap'aoud simply 
nocause tho quality did not bear oomparUon with 
ludian aud Oeyloii growths. Bat the retail dealer In 
tea has now acquired a very oesmopoUlan taste, 
