Johore.
H.H. the Maharajah there has started a small Tea garden, but as there are in it only two acres of Tea, the whole thing is quite an experiment yet. The climate is said to be favourable, and land easily acquired. Cheap labour is the difficulty. May it long continue so! There is too much Tea already; the low prices ruling result simply from supply exceeding demand. Thus I hope Johore will not produce Tea. The following is from the Tea Gazette:—
Tea in Johore.
We have lately published several articles on the subject of Tea in Johore and the prospects of Tea plantations in the Malay Peninsula. The soil and climate are all that can be desired for the successful cultivation of the Tea plant; there is abundance of land lying idle which can be obtained on advantageous terms; but all hopes of establishing the Tea industry on a prosperous footing are frustrated by the want of cheap Indian labour. A correspondent writes on this subject to the Ceylon Observer as follows:—
“I was pretty well disgusted with Johore at first. I got such fever as nearly finished me up twice. A new comer from Ceylon says he had Wellawaya fever and all other fevers in Ceylon, but he never felt anything to come near the severity of Johore fever. Liberian coffee does first-class in the low country. Cocoa is being tried with apparent success. Tea is also promising. You may have seen about some samples sold in London, at a high figure. All this is nice enough, but what’s the good of it when we have not a plentiful supply of labour over which we can have complete control? So you see, the burden of my letter is an indefinite supply of labour.”
Strenuous efforts are, however, being made to arrange with the Government for the importation of labourers from this country, which, if successful, will inevitably result in the cultivation on a large scale of the Tea plant in Johore. In another column will be found a description of the Maharajah of Johore’s experimental Tea plantation at Tanjong Putri, Johore.