March i, 1892.I 
THE TROPIOJkL AOiWIWLTURIST. 
631 
worth while trying to got Sir Wm. Gregory— another 
old friend of the fsEhionable phyoioian — and Sir 
Arthur Gordon, to try and bring him to reason, 
and a oonfession of error which could be as pro- 
minently advertised and placarded. This is required 
in order to counteract the c0tot of the epceeb, 
to the misohief of which several Goylon planters 
at homo (among others) hare drawn my attention. 
But as I wrote before, it is very necessary that 
the Ceylon planters themselves should do their 
part to keep up the reputation of their staple by 
finer plucking and mote careful preparation. One 
proprietor writing to me from Aberdeen some weeks 
ago said ; — 
“Alan! for Ceylou tea. It seems to have fallen on 
an evil time. And to make matters worse I see some 
one writing again in the tjverland how cheaply it 
can he made. These people are in reality a curse, as 
people often associate 'cheap' with 'worthless.' Seve- 
ral leading tea dealers here Lave remarked on this to 
me and I see an advertisement ‘ pure Ceylon tea Is (Jd, 
and pore Indian 2s 6d.’ Already the grocer has made 
the discovery that Ceylon tea is cheap and that the 
consumer knows it. In my opinion the publication 
of these ligiu-es do a great deal of harm and no good. 
And for the most part they do not represent things 
properly, ns sometimes the cost of manufacture (as 
given) would not pay a docent tea-house conductor. 
No doubt they wilt find out their mistake soon enough, 
but others too will have to pay for their imprudence. 
I s.aw a fair Ceylon tea lately with a genuine estate 
mark, that coat -Id per lb. Auy good wo got from the 
sales of fancy teas is nontrali.sed by the idea that 
the balance coats almost nothing.” 
I quote this in order to add that the same 
gentleman writing on the 28th inst has a better 
account to give, among other news, as follows : — 
“Prices of Ceylon tea seem to be improving slightly. 
Let us hope they may improve still further. 
writes me from Ceylon that the planters are waking up 
to the danger of coarse plucking, and the necessity of 
finer plucking systematically. I see by last Observer 
Overland the praiseworthy approach by Sir Arthur 
E. Ilavelock to the Governor of Madras, and the 
ready way in which he has been mot in regard to 
encouraging the famine-stricken coolies of the Presi- 
deimy to go across and gather their share of the good 
things to bo had for their labour on Ceylon estates. 
I have been reading not only your letters from 
Carlsbad, but the Chemist and Druggist had an article 
I took to be yours, taken, I suppose, from the Observer 
or T. A., viz. an account of a visit to a quinine manu- 
factory.” 
As bearing on our “ tea” question, and oheapnrss 
of production, here is a paragraph fr m a City 
article in the London Star, which, perhaps, you may 
not have seen: — 
Tub Imposts op Tea. — The shrinkage in the exports 
of Chinese teas— at any rate, in the exports to this 
country— continue. Twenty years ago Englishmen 
drank little but Chinese tea; Cliinawas practically our 
only source of supply. But since then India and 
Ceylon have been forging ahead, and the transfer of 
custoui shows no signs of stopping. Whilst the im- 
ports from India and Ceylon show large increases, those 
from Cliina to date show a falling off of 0,000,0011 lb. 
The average price obtained at the public sales in 
November of Indian tea was 8Jd per lb., a fall of jd as 
compared with October. It used to bo said by the tea 
planters that they could not cultivate at a profit under 
Is per lb., but, like the sugar planters, they have found 
it possible to pay their way at a much lower minimum 
than that tlioy used to think the lowest possible. 
MB. 3 . r,. BIIAND- PACKAGES FOB THE SWISS PACKBT 
TBADK OF FUIIE CF.VI.OK TEA — CEYLON OOCOA AND CEY- 
LON CIIOCOl.ATK — CEYLON TEA EXPOBTS — SIB ANUBEW 
CLAnx’s STATEMENTS- INDIAN AND CEYLON TEAS — 
BBITl~n INTEllESTS IN CHINA — .STAVELESS CAtKS- UP- 
TON AND ins TEA trade — OBNKUAL NEWS. 
Jan. 8tb. 
Mr. J. L. Bhand, who leaves tonight to catch 
the French steamer at Marseilles, naturally looks 
to North Borneo as fulfilling the requirements 
of tropical planters in search for new and suit 
able forest-land. Uc thinks the labour diiHoDlty 
will prevent much being done in Peru, but of 
this we shall bo belter able to judge when the 
report from Messrs. Boss and Sinclair appears, 
1 have been much struck with the neatness 
of the packages prepared by Messrs. Shand & 
Haldane for their Swiss paoket trade of pure Cey- 
lon ten. They are most tastefully and oonveniently 
made up with explanations in English, German 
and French, and ought to be very suitable for sale 
and uae all over the Continent. I have suggested 
the addition of instructions as to the proper infusion 
of tea, after the very full, oarcful model adopted 
in Austria, and then all interosted in spreading 
the use of pure Ceylon tea on the Continent ol 
Europe may foel certain that they cannot have 
a better agency than the '• Ceylon Planters' 
Lirect Supply Association of 24, Rood Lane, E. 0." 
I have also, as one quite impartial and disinterested 
been much struck by the good work done by this 
firm in promoting the consumption of pure 
“ Ceylon ooooa " in a manner at once convenient, 
economical and delightfully pleasant. I do not think 
this branch of their business is sufiioicntly known 
and appreciated in Oeylon. Mosers. Shand & Hal- 
dane have works at Norwich, where their •' Essence 
OF Orvlon Cocoa” ond ‘Teylon Chocolate, Vanilla 
FLAvoniiKB,” are prepared. The former is made up in 
handy tins, and is labelled, “ Pure, free from all 
adruixturo of sugar or farina, and specially adapted 
to inalids and others of weak digestion.” No doubt 
a good many in Oeylon know and use this 
“ cocoa " and the green -packeted, delicious 
chocolate. But I am anxious to explain that this 
“cocoa ” has all tho advantages of the pnparation 
from ‘‘nibs” by long boiling to get rid of the 
fat, because in its preparation the fatty enbetanoe is 
nearly all removed. A cup of the essence can, there- 
fore, be prepared as quickly as a cup of tea, and 
as suitable as the latter for anyone’s drink in 
the tropics. I learned that 60 per cent of tho 
weight of Iho said product as grown in Ceylon 
conies oil in fat, and Mr. Shand showed roe cakes 
of this substance bosntifully clear and free from 
rancidity however long kepr, so that there is a 
demand for it (coooa-fat) for surgical, among other 
purposes. I am sure all interested in the cultivation 
of Cejion “ cacao " shonld do all in their power 
to make known among their friends and aeqaain- 
tanocB the Rood Lane firm’s " Essence ol Cocoa ” 
and ’■ Chocolate " ne two of the very best and purest 
preparations therefrom, 
To return to Ceylon Tea. A good deal of reference 
baa been made to our staple this week in con- 
nection with Messrs. Gow, Wilson & Stanton’s 
annual statement of imports and deliveries for 
all tea ; and apeoulation is rife now as to the probable 
total export from Ceylon during 1892. I have 
been questioned several limes in the City on this 
point. At the end of 1889 I pot the total export 
ol 1891 at about G1 million lb., bnt raised this 
to from 68 to 70 million lb, under the infiuenoa 
ol the enormously developed shipments in the 
first and second quarters ol 1891. The falting-ofl 
in the last quarter, however, teaches caution, and 
I am inolined to agree with the feeling prevalent 
among Ceylon men in the Oily that it will not 
be safe to pul the total exports ol Ceylon tea 
for 1892 above 73 to 78 millions lb. It is true 
this would only give an increase ol 10 to 13 
million lb. against the advance of over 18 millions 
between 1890 and 1891. But lower prioos are not 
encouraging in regard to areas on old ooflee land 
yielding less than 300 lb, an acre, and the bulk o( 
