The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-07-24

RTSAI InQuBtEye S8oDoo SgyatA " W
 come famous As . producer of tea.
 British planters. facing disaster, made
 experiments in the early seventies, and
 the result was that before many years
 had elapsed great tea estates, replaced
 the coffee plantations. Today "Ceyion
 Tea" is familiar to the markets of the
 world, and many merchants of the
 younger generation are unaware of the
 youth of the industry.
 In the streets of Colombo one sees
 packages of tea bound for the water
 front in strange looking carts drawn
 by white humlsed builocks branded
 with Tamil characters for decorative
 effect and for the cure of rheuInatism.
 It is not until he begins to ascend the
 mountains toward the Quondam capital
 of the Kandyan kings that the visitor
 sees tsA trees grow ing and coole wo-
 men and children picking the leaf tipa
 that make the tea of commerce. The
 tea industry is picturesque. From the
 time the tea tree appears above the
 soil until the dried leaf reaches the
 lighter that takes 1t to c cargo boat In
 the Colombo harbor, 1t exists in an en-
 vironment all ita own.
 Upon the rocky slopes of the root
 hills, where there seems to De scant
 nourishment for plant life, the tree fiourtshes and would grow to height Of fifteen or twenty feet were 1t not fof
 the pruning that reduces it to three feet for the better development of It's productive power. It is stated by plant CTS that the peculiar action of the cli- mate upon the rock that crops up on the hills causes 1t to disintegrate and form c sort of soil upon which the roots of the tea plant thrive. It is al
 ways April in the Ceylon mountains. if one judges by the hckleness Of the skies. Swiftly formed clouds precipi- tate sudden showers, and the sun shines through the storm upon scenery that defiss the best efforts of the paint CT in words or oils. Cocoa nut groves and banana patches dot every little plain and valley, and the matched huts of sinhalese or Tamil motives nestle amid the tropical foliage. Here and there are tiny terraced rice fields, irri. gated from mountain, torrents whose rushing waters are often heard above the noise of the train as 1t moves slow ly up the steep incline.
 As the higher hills are reached the rice fields disappear. I've regions in which tea reigns supreme are noun taipeus. and occupy approximately one- seventh of the area of the island. AL though Ceylon is only few degrees from the equator the tea country boasts cool nights throughout the year. AS the altitude increases the climate be- comes more temperate and at Huwara Eliya, 6,200 feet above sea level. the mean temperature is 57 degrees Fah. renheit
 Tea planters who reside in the high lands and now and again motor down to Colombo upon business or to enjoy social contact with members of Flu ropean colony larger than can be found in the country. are prosperous over lords whose daily life is not unlike that of Southern planter in the United States in ante bellum days. They watch tea quotations as an American business man watches the fluctuations of the stock market. and complain Of hard times over their whiskey and soda. but they live like princes and are a addressed as Master" by the armies of Ceylonese and Indian coolies they ern- ploy.
 At 6 o'clock in the morning all of the employees. many of whom are wo- men and children. are assembled near the tea factory by the blast of horn. Divided into gangs and assigned to task masters or "canganes," those who are to work in the fields are. sent to their tasks. Under the supervision Of a @conductor," corresponding to an overseer, the task masters are kept on the alert When the days work Is in progress the owner. or superintendent, returns for his chota hasari. or little at his bungalow. After ward he visits the factory, and later In the forenoon he tnspects the fields. At il o'clock the planter has "meat and his afternoon Is usual ly given up to attending to his corre- spondenee or other office work inci- dental to the conduct of the business. A Baf4 Nf tnnn tom ters the coolies from the fields. and af- ter the "time" of each Is marked in the check roll they go to the Hines" which to the quarters" of old fashioned southern plantations.
 During the first two years of its life the tea tree unaergoes rigorous prun- ing at the hands of experts. As there are between 5000 and 4.000 trees to the acre the pruners are an important tac- tor In plantation work. When the leaves are ready for plucking the pick CTS, mostly women and children, in- wade the fielda The women are train. ed to select the delicate leaves at and near the top of the shoots and for this skilled labor a good picker receives 20 cents in Ceylon coinage. the equivalent of 8 1-3 cents in American money. This is considered high pay in India and many cooIie women emigrate to Cey- Ion 10 ma proSpcEAty' A.t tHS SSa-S~ days infant mortality was high in Cey- lon, but nowadays because children have a value as tea pickers, under pa rental direction, the parents are care- ful to rear them and add to the family earnings at the rate of or cents day for each urchin. Stockings are taken to the tea fields by their moth- CTS, and when they get large enough to endanger their lives by crawling about where they might tumble into noun tain chasms the mothers make ham mocks for them out of their "cumblies" and swing them to the branches or trees Nurses cannot be employed by tea pickers.
 Because of the chance for high wages and the opportunity to save money and return home to become landowners, Tamil coolies from Southern India so over to Ceylon In great numbers to earn a few cents e day more than the wages of a woman. At home the Ta- mil gets 1 or cents day, and there is an occasional famine during which he may starve. In Ceylon he may earn a dime a day. There is no famine and there is plenty of fruit. He lives sends money home to help feed poor relations, contributes to the sup port of a few of the hundreds of in- satiate gods of his country, and saves money with which to buy real estate, although he rarely carries out his plan to return to India.
 In the meantime his clothing consists of a loin cloth and if he sleeps upon the bare ground, 1t Is what his fore- have enjoyed and 1t Is all that his posterity will desire. He never strikes. Master" pays him more than he has ever had. If he 'shirks his work ba ts docked Labor prices in the