JULV I, 1S84.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



65 



THE TEA CONTROVERSY IN MELBOURNE. 



Mr. J. Moody, of Messrs. James Henty & Co., 

 has sent us a large mass of literature connected 

 with adulterated and unwholesome teas, which, with 

 the aid of such able chemists as Messrs. Newbery 

 and Dunn, he has striven with so much pains to exclude 

 from the Australian markets. The papers sent us 

 show the difficulties the friends of pure teas 

 have to contend with. People have got accustomed 

 to the cheap and Dasty stuff and will have it, not 

 because it is good, but because its apparent C03t is 

 low : the truth being that good Indian tea at 2s 6d 

 retail is cheaper than the China stuff which the 

 dealers can retail at Is 3d, a profit of 50 to 100 per 

 cent being made, even then, on the cost price. That 

 is the secret of the tenacity with which brokers and 

 dealers cling to China stuff, aud of the abuse they 

 pour upon Mr. Inglis and others who say a good 

 word for Indian tea, or dare to join Mr. Moody in 

 speaking the truth about low or "lie" China tea. 

 Mr. Everard was allowed to have his rling against 

 Mr. Moody and in favour of the tea that gentleman 

 condemned recently. But this person, who so loudly 

 complained of "abuse" of his beloved China tea, in- 

 dulged in such language regarding men like Dr. 

 Hassell that he had to be severely reprehended by the 

 editor of the Age. When Mr. Everard and men of his 

 class in Melbourne put themselves in opposition to 

 scientists like Messrs. Moody, Newbery and Dunn and 

 Dr. Hassell, people in Melbourne, who know the parties 

 are — well, no: they are not surprized, but they have 

 their own opinion as to which side the balance is likely 

 to strike. Slowly, it may be, but surely, the Aus- 

 tralians will learn that Indian and Ceylon teas are 

 not only better, but cheaper than the low quality and 

 adulterated China stuffs. 



•HOW "LIE TEAS" ARE MANUFACTURED. 

 Melbourne, 2nd June 1SS1. 

 I duly received your kind present of "Ceylon in 

 1SS3 " by John Ferguson, which I have perused with 

 interest, especially the map showing extent of tea 

 cultivation, and marvel at its rapid spread, though the 

 favour with which jour teas have been received in 

 Great Britain should fully account for this. 



The papers forwarded and slips enclosed will show 

 you that I am still a staunch advocate of pure teas 

 as against the adulterated and bad stuff called congou 

 that crimes into Melbourne, and I further have thown 

 that the methods of detection adopted by the 

 Customs analysts of London and Melbourne have 

 been mastered by the able Chinese manipulator. 



As usual the largest buyer of this inferior stuff is 

 Mr. Everard, the tea broker, who also attempts its de 

 fence with the same balderdash he used to talk when 

 you were in Melbourne. 



For a length of time Messrs. Newbery and Dunn and 

 myself, have been fully convinced that, the bulk of 

 low class Cliiua rubbish shipped to this port and 

 London consisted of re-dried or exhausted leaves 

 made up again to pass a standard of analysis, aud, 

 in the ense of what is called here "Arnalfi" teas 

 (about 3.000 ) aekages that have lately come forward 

 to Melbourne by ships "Arnalfi," "Potosi' 1 " Catterthun," 

 &c. ), such had gone bad or putrid beiore making 

 up, aud it was attempted by high fir n;; to cover 

 this fault. I htse teas are all the same class ; yet 

 strange to say the Government analyst only stopped 

 a very email portion and passed the balance for home 

 consumption. 



Alter many experiments and with the scant appli- 

 ances afforded by my laboratory I have succeeded 

 9 



in makiug this Malloo tea. Taking exhausted tea 

 leaves (or tea once used), I have addxd to these leaves 

 in a concentrated form four tilings (for obvious reasons 

 not disclosed) aud afterwards obtaiued Iu the jargon 

 of a tea-taster, "small, even, twis'ed black leaf rather 

 strong and full infusion on pekoe flavour, richly fired 

 with deep red infusiou." 



Or in the language of the customs analysts of 

 London and Melbourne : " The tea is singularly free 

 from mineral matter, and the high precentage of extract 

 and soluble salts forbids the idea of adulteration and 

 indicates a first-class tea of good strength." 



If I can do this, how much better can the clever 

 Chinese manipulator make up these spent leaves which 

 pass freely the Custom houses of Loudon and Mel- 

 bourne. You will see by the papers I am doing my 

 best on this side to put a stop to it ; but what is 

 beiug done in London 1 



As a phase of the tea industry that may interest 

 you, I will forward all the papers containing notices 

 of this "Arnalfi" business. 



Quantitive Results of a Careful Examination of 100 



Geains Congou Tea (So Called), 



Sold by Auction in Melbourne on 'Jilt Jan. 1883. 



Most respectfully dedicated to my fellow-workers in the 

 tea trade of Victoria, with the earnest hope thit they will 

 help, with their experience and knowledge, in maintaining 

 for our business a high standard, and use their best 

 endeavours to promote and develop public taste for the 

 finest qualities of tea ; and because the exigencies of our 

 poorer colonists require a commoner and cheaper article, 

 so much more should it be obligatory, in their interests, 

 aud as far as within our power, to limit and direct the 

 demand to pure, sound and genuine, if not high class, tea. 



Competion is the soul of business, but it must be 

 honest and straightforward; and in referring to my recent 

 action in connection with the condemnation of 4,435 pack- 

 ages of tea sold lately iu Melbourne, on Sydney account, 

 and forming a portion of the 10,000 packages so sold, I 

 must remind my readers that the catalogue of these teas was 

 accompanied by a warranty from some analytical chemist 

 declaring "the tea genuine and the flavour of high class." 

 With the knowledge to the contrary, my action was clear, 

 aud the means taken to sell these teas under such war- 

 ranty was deuounced to the importer prior to sale. 



J. O. Moody. 



Melbourne, loth January, 18S3. 



Samples taken direct from the bulk, and 100 grains 

 weighed off, giving, after thorough examination, the fol- 

 lowing result : — 

 Section. grains. 



1. Unfermented, fairly-made tea, light 

 yellowish green to dark olive green 

 leaves (on infusion) of various sizes — 



in fact, all that could be detected... 1-22 



2. Good, well-fermented, black leaves, 



and portions of same, all over | inch 



long... ... 159 



3. Fairly-fermented black leaves, aud 

 portions of same, all over J inch long... 5'16 



4. Old, overfermented, and generally 

 low-class leaves, and , portions of 



same, but over J inch long ... 10-16 



Total genuine tea 18-13 



5. Small stuff, all under J inch, and con- 



taining fragments of leaves of all 



kinds.but those coming under section I... 29'4C 



6. Dry, hard stalks, 5 to f inch long, 

 extracted carefully in the dry state 



and no more visible to the naked eye... 7'60 



7. Tea seed, shell, husk, fragments of 

 rice, quartz, hair, and picked out 



in the dry state... ... 160 



8. Hard stalks, § to i inch long, obtained 

 after boiling the sample for one 

 hour, and found rolled up with 



pieces of leaf and gum redried ... 2 - 16 



9. Lie tea, or leaves unmistakably not 



tea leaves over 4_ iuch long ... - 93 



