“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.
Japan.
Sends its Teas principally to America. The Tea is of a greenish nature, and experiments to manufacture black Tea have not, it seems, been successful. The following should give a hope to Indian Tea planters:—
Japan Tea.
To the Editor of the Japan Herald.
Dear Sir,—I read your article on Tea contained in last Saturday’s paper, anent the deterioration in quality of one of the country’s principal articles of export, and can fully confirm the chief points contained therein.
But in addition, from my personal experience, there appears to exist a steadily increasing disregard of care in the preparation of the leaf up country, and the evil, though existing for the last three or four years, is much more manifest this season, and is worthy of being brought under the especial notice of parties interested in the welfare of this country’s produce.
I submit for your inspection a sample of coarse leaf sifted out of a parcel of good quality, and the proportion of similar stuff in the chop amounts to fully 3 per cent., very much affecting the good appearance of the fired leaf. This defect no doubt arises from the attempted production of too great an amount of cured leaf for each hand employed per diem in the process, to be attributed no doubt to the enhanced cost of labour in the interior. But the defect is of vital importance for the future of Japan Teas in America. The buyer for distribution amongst consumers in that country is greatly influenced by the “appearance” of the leaf, despite its relative intrinsic quality in infusion, in comparison with a Tea of worse appearance, hence the high facing and colouring at present so much in vogue. If the Japanese producers continue the present style of manufacturing the leaf up country, so surely will Japan Teas decline in favour in America, as the foreign shipper here cannot make up the leaf prepared up country to the standard required by the American buyers, and with the prospect of a possibility of Oolongs and even blacks becoming ere long dangerous rivals with consumers in the United States, it behoves the Japanese Tea growers to turn their attention towards an improvement in production in their own country before they attempt to rival foreign competitors at this side.—Yours faithfully,