Aug. 2, 188&J 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



103 



In this connection I am very much interested 

 to know how the American general agent, stationed, 

 say, in New York City, is to push a tea of which 

 he has, say, one hundred samples, and but a meagre 

 supply of any one of them. "Why, he must ad- 

 vertize!" says one. 



Now, I wish to know how he intends advertizing? 

 Through the medium of newspapers and printed 

 circulars I presume. Such a plan of advertisemet 

 would, no doubt, suit a nice homely little town 

 like Adelaide ; it mitjht do for a city like Mel- 

 bourne ; but in New York city this method of ad- 

 vertizing is not likely to attract much custom. 

 The most successful system of advertizing in 

 America that 1 know of is that of free distribution 

 of samples among the better classes of citizens, each 

 sample being left at the house, and with it a blank 

 order already addressed to the appointed agents 

 who must, of course, be in a position to supply 

 according to sample sent. 



I may mention that the matter of delivery of 

 goods is much simplified in America by the estab- 

 lishment of the National Express Co. _ Suppose A. B. 

 receives a sample of tea, and with it a short ac- 

 count of the scheme in question, as also some 

 interesting matter regarding the " far-off island of 

 Ceylon" so well-known as the place where "every 

 prospect pleases," Arc. He either tries the tea (prob- 

 ably will) or he gives it to his servants to try, which, 

 after all, is perhaps the best way to find out the 

 intrinsic value of the article. He also finds an 

 envelope addressed to the agent of the " Ceylon 

 Tea Syndicate" enclosing a blank C. 0. D. order, 

 which he tills out and mails. The agent, on 

 receipt of order, sends the parcel required with in- 

 voice to the nearest Express Co.'s Office, who pay 

 the amount due at once to the said agent, and 

 deliver the goods "straight away" to the con- 

 signee, who is charged a small commission over 

 and above the cost of tea as per invoice, to pay 

 the Express Co. for their trouble. 



This system known as C. 0. D. (collect on deli- 

 very) is perfect in so far as it makes bad debts 

 impossible and insures speedy delivery. The one 

 thing necessary in carrying out this line of busi- 

 ness is power to siqyphj any demand made upon 

 any article so introduced, and to be able to supply 

 it according to sample. 



To give an agent this power, he must be allowed 

 to bulk all teas of a J;iiid together, or what is better 

 have them bulked for him, before dispatch, in 

 Ceylon. To avoid any question as to the unfair- 

 ness of bulking " my good tea with thine which is 

 (of course) inferior" an expert would have to be 

 appointed, having full powers to judge and if 

 necessary condemn any tea which he considered 

 not up to a certain standard, which of course 

 would have to be fixed and clearly stated by mem- 

 bers of the Syndicate. 



This standard (which must be high) might be 

 fixed by defining clearly what sieves are to be used 

 by all members sending in their teas throuf^h the 

 Syndicate to the several countries, each res23ective 

 agent having it in his power to suggest any 

 change which he deemed advisable in advancing 

 our interests in his own special market. I am 

 told Ceylon teas " won't mi.r." This may be so 

 although I have never seen it tried to any great 

 extent, that is, Ceylon tea with Ceylon tea. 



That Ceylon teas cannot compete with Indian teas, 

 so far as mixing with China teas is concerned, we 

 all know, but would the bulking of say 50 Cey- 

 lon teas from different estates turn out a bad sam- 

 ple, provided that these teas are well cured, equally 

 sized, and individually tasted and passed by an ex- 

 pert? 



Then as to an equal distribution of all necessary 

 costs, which would of course be heavier at first than 

 afterwards. I would suggest that individual con- 

 signments be sent to the bulking centre (wherever 

 it may be) in lots of 1,000 lb., each lot to con- 

 stitute one share, each shareholder to be respon- 

 sible for his own interests according to the num 

 ber of shares he holds. 



I consider my suggestion wise for the following rea- 

 sons: — First it will insure quantity and equality in 

 what is put before the American public as "Ceylon 

 tea." Secondly, every member will have his fair share 

 of the proceeds, inasmuch as all teas will have 

 to be passed by an expert before bulSing. 



On the other hand, all will share alike in the 

 first expenses of advertizing and all other necessary 

 expenses in connection with the furtherance of the 

 scheme. 



In conclusion let me add that I put this letter 

 before the public as a suggestion and nothing more. 

 If it can do no good, I sincerely trust it will do 

 no harm to a scheme which must in one way or 

 another be carried out if our Tea Enterprise is to 

 end in success. That jforcign markets must he 

 opened for our tea is the unanimous opinion of 

 those interested, and our thanks are due to Mr. 

 Kutherford for taking the initiative in the matter.— 

 Yours faithfully, J. McCOMBIE MUERAY. 



LOSS IN WEIGHT ON TEAS. 



1st July 1880. 



Dkae Sir,— Can you or any of your readers in- 

 form me «•//// it is that an allowance is made to 

 purchasers of Indian and Ceylon teas of 1 lb. in 

 every package weighing over 28 lb. gross ? Thus the 

 unfortunate planter who lives so far from the cart- 

 road as to render packing in chests out of the 

 question is mulcted in close on 2 per cent in 

 London, while his more fortunate neighbour who 

 being close to a cart-road ships in chests loses only 

 1 per cent or under. Should a planter ship in boxes 

 and the gross weight be over 28 lb. his loss in 

 weight would be 4 per cent— of course this all in 

 addition to any actual loss of tea there may be in 

 bulking itc. in London. I am not yet quite sure 

 whether the Purchaser or the Broker ot: Merchant 

 benefit by the 1 lb. allowance. I only know that 

 someone gets the allowance — and presumably the 

 Purchaser, 01 failing him the Broker— for samples ? 



I never could understand how the loss in weight 

 of from l-i)0 to 8A per cent arose until I huited^at 

 theft in the docks as the cause, remarking that 

 I had put half lb. extra into last shipment of half- 

 chests and half lb. extra into previous shipment of 

 full chests, each shipment containing close on the 

 same amount of tea. To my astonishment the loss 

 in weight on the half-chest shipment was nearly 

 double that on the full-chest one and my enquiries 

 elicited from my Broker the custom of allowances as 

 mentioned above- -presumably to the purchaser. 

 This no doubt may suit Indian Tea Companies who 

 possibly may get a sort of return commission out 

 of it, but in the interest of individuals an eii'ort 

 should be made to stop the custom while our 

 industry is in its infancy. — Yours truly, dear sir, 



ECONOMY. 



1'. S. — Is this return of from 1 to 4 per cent given 

 to purchasers of China teas as well as to those of 

 Indians and Ceylons ? 



[We are assured that the custom of allowing 

 1 lb. on every package at home applies to all 

 teas and that it is for slirinkage (in the timber of 

 the chests) tor leakage, &c. But the several 

 questions raised by our correspondent well deserve 

 to be enquired into by the Planters' Association, 



