A History of Assam c24.24

c24.24

A variety of causes contributed to the reduction in the cost of placing tea upon the market. By improved cultivation the average yield per acre was increased from two to four hundredweights; the introduction of machinery cheapened the process of manufacture; the amalgamation of small gardens and the reduction of the European staff brought down the charges for supervision, both locally and in the offices of the Calcutta agents; and there was a great diminution in the outlay on machinery, stores, tea-boxes and freight, both local and ocean, all of which cost far less in 1914 than they did formerly. Since the war, however, the cost of all these items and also of labour has risen very considerably.