February i, 1892'] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
561 
market ia the spriug aud the real loasou which the 
preaoiit dialroeii should teach us ia that it ia hopeless 
to expect a paying price if wo over-supply the market 
with au iuditferout article. No one who has been con- 
tent with moderate crops of rtal'y good tea had cansu 
to ccmplain of resulti.— I am, Sir, youia, 4tc,, 
Vis Unita Fohtiok. 
BULKED TEA. 
(From the Qrocer.) 
Our ruadora are aware of Iho immoueo iniportatioua 
of tuaa from India and Ceylon, and of these a largo 
proportion either is or ought to be bulked in Loudon ; 
for although tho bulking ojieration when properly per- 
formed at tho garden whore the tea is grown is deair- 
shlo, it has been found by ezporionoo that in many 
cases tho machinery and other moans for balking abroad 
Ore imperfect. On arrival in England the cheats have 
f>een found Irregnlar in quality, thus rendering the mixing 
here absolutely nooeisaty. This is a matter of rogret 
because tho exposure of the tea in a damp climate like 
ours must depreciate the value, particularly to grocers, 
who have to hold stocks cither at their shops or in 
the large bonded warehouses. There is, however, 
another evil to which attention should be directed ; 
it arises from the impatience msnifestod by im- 
porters to place their teas upon the market before 
they are ready for aale. Thus it sometimes happens 
that a patoul of tea is sent up from the docks to an 
up-town bonded wetchouse, and, when balked, samples 
are sent out and tbc tea sold ; but shortly afterwards 
some packages — nsaally known by tho namu of “ miss- 
tug packages " — are found, which bolong to the same 
oouaignmont, and ate fir warded to London, being then 
mixed with some of tho chests remaining in bond. 
One condition regulation public sale provides that 
missing packages up to a small porooutago of tho 
parcel, if cqu^ in quality to tho bulk, must bo taken 
uy a buyer ; but the fact of tho tea being bnlked 
IS an evidence ol Variation in quality, and unless 
the whole of tho tea is properly mixed wo failed to 
seo how it oould have been fairly lepresontod by tho 
sample upon which it was sold. In laot, this condi- 
tion respecting missing packages can only apply to 
teas bulked abroad, or those from gardous whore 
the quality is so regular that the bulking ptucoss is 
recdotod unnecessary. This subject is of special im- 
portanca to grooors who regulate their blends upon 
the samples of tho first chests of a parcel they receive, 
and any variation in tho quality of tho missing packages 
may make a material difference in tho blend and do 
inem great injury with their customers, svho aroqnick 
lu.i ““y variation in tho liquor of a tea. 
Although in some cases tho quality may be realty 
ootter than that of the parcel, if there is a ditfercnco, 
and it IS detected by the oousumor, unfavoucsblo oou- 
lusious are too frequently drawn which can only pro- 
ludioo the trade. All missing packages of bulked tea 
should be rold separately, not palmed off on tho 
fiio parcel; and considering tho num- 
which have been made of 
‘lh»Iity, this principle should 
'rt.a ?“'>r»ti>nd the Loudon Wholesale 
i- ■^■““Jhation have this matter under 
oou«doratioD, and wo hope they will lose no lime 
* substantial reform in the 
indicated. It would save wholesale dealers 
too annoyance and vexation of numerous oomulaints, 
to gcoeeis generally. 
and C. Mail. 
COCONUT AND CINNAMON CULTURE 
IN CEYLON IN 1891. 
p, Coconuts. 
coTiH*««??i'’^ » closed has been an ex- 
oQpn.?^. 0110 , os regards rainfall, for 
coonont file more especially in tho 
tern districts In the southern and wes- 
bean ““ ?. where the rainfall has 
wlter ^ be readily understood 
water is an important facts* in tho otatiYatioa of t 
product whose fruits are always carrying several gallons 
of liquid and whoso loaves, boiu^ constantly movod 
by every gust of wind, favor rapid evaporation from 
their surface. But as in most things, there can bo 
too much even of a good thing like water, and 
reports from tho inland districts say, that with a 
lessor rainfall and more sun the prospects of crop 
for this year would have boon bettor. Not that they 
are by any means such as to cause grambling, but 
they are not as good as they might have been. 
This can bo roadlly undorstood, for tho soils in tho 
inland districts are mainly clayey, and tho peraiitont 
rainfall has so sodden them that tho short intervals 
of aunsUino have not more than warmed tho surface, 
and thus tho circulation of air through tho soil, so 
necessary for the vigorous growth of vegotatiou, has 
boon possible only to a limited depth. 
It may be romemberod that tho year 1890 was 
distinguished for a drought extending from Juno to 
October, and which was felt severely along tho 
const from Jaoln, 12 miles from tho capital, to the 
North of tho island and on to Batticaloa on tho 
East coast. Its severity was felt most in tho districts 
north of Negombo, increasing as we go farther 
north, till in Jaffna not only coconut trooa but even 
the hardier palmyra palms sucouiubod to it, and many 
plantations at Batticaloa wore said to have lost a 
f ood number of their well-ostablished coconut trees, 
ts effocts wore as a matter of conise fult during 
1891 in diminished crops and in nuts of abnormally 
small size ; but tho sevore •' wintering” tho palms 
rocoivod have helped them to realize to the full the 
benoficiol effects of tho wet year we have just poasod 
through, in bright prospects of crop during 1892. 
During tho first six months of 1891 the prices of nuts 
were such as to cheer the hearts of coconut plautors. 
There was great activity in tho trade and tho enquiry 
for nuts wat brisk. In July-August the deiuand 
ceased suddenly and tho drop of prices was fully K5 per 
thousand. As can he iinaginol, this cansod inuoh loss 
both to buyers and sellers and the market was fora time 
greatly disturbed. Piioea have not riseti since, and 
wero R4 or 6 loss per thousand at tho end of 1691 than 
they were daring the same period of tho year previous. 
Thouth tho desiccating of coconuts is not an iu- 
duatry that stirtod into life during the past yoar, 
yot it doserves notice owing to tho large number of 
nuts it consumes, Tho oldest oatabllahtnent ia at 
Colombo, whore Messrs. Vavasseur Si Co. aro said to 
have set up over half-a-dozen of Brown's patent 
dosicoatora and where the daily consumption of nuts 
must be about 20 or 25 thousand. Tho mills at 
Veyangoda aro oonstautly expanding, and the daily 
oousumption of nuts there is said to average bolwoou 
10 and 15 thousand. The enterprising Akbar Brothers 
started a dosiooating mill at Negombo, but ceased 
working it after a very short while, for roaeona 
which must bo best known to themselves. Sin. 
halc.so goutlcmon of equal energy and enterprise, 
tl.o I’ieris Brothers of Orandpass, have ostab- 
lisbed a factory for tho some purpose at Kolani, so 
coconut planters have not, like tea plauteia, to 
four ovor-produotion just yet. A letter oppearod in 
our columns a few months ago from a merchant in 
London expressing grave fears that tho dosicoatiog 
of nuts is already being overdone and that a promis- 
ing industry was likely to bo ruined. It is generally 
believed that the letter had emanated from an in- 
torestod party who was anxious to reap as much of 
the profits of this industry as he could himself. The 
rumours outside aro that desiccated coconut sells at 
El per lb. in Europe. A thousand coconuts aro roportod 
to yield about 350 lb. ot desiccated stuff, and a thou- 
sand nuts soil for between ESO and ESC, so that tho 
difforenoo between K36 and E350, after dcduoting cost 
of production, packing, transport, interest on capital 
and other ctoetotas, roprosonts profit. From these 
figures it will bo seen that if they aro reliable it wiU 
take some lima to render tho industry uuremuueraUve 
through over-production. But it is said the demand 
is limited. This is a serious drawback with a product 
that will not keep longer than 3 months. In spito 
of it being packed in air-tight oases pieoisely like 
tea, the stuff is said to beoomQ rancid aRei tbat 
