PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE OF INDIAN TEA. 173 



flavour of Indian Tea, and did so, when the quantity mixed 

 with the Chinese was not so great as to make the new flavour 

 too prononct. Little by little the custom of so mixing 

 became very general, so much so that it may almost be said 

 to-day that if Indian Teas cannot be purchased pure, no 

 more can Chinese. A mixture of Chinese and Indian Tea, 

 the latter small as compared with the former, is what is now 

 generally used in Great Britain. 



This is the case to-day. What will it be in the future ? 



As the English palate is educated to like the flavour of 

 Indian Tea, more and more of it will be demanded in the 

 mixture made up for the public, and though the day is 

 distant, nay, may never arrive, on account of its greater cost, 

 when it will be generally drunk pure, I do not myself doubt 

 that the demand for it will go on steadily increasing for years 

 to come, as it has for years past. 1 



It is an important query if, with a largely increased 

 demand, the supply will be equal to it. Very far from all 

 India has a good Tea climate, which is a peculiar one, and 

 only exists in perfection in Assam, Cachar, Chittagong, and 

 lands in Bengal close to the foot of the Himalayas. 



But in these districts alone there are lands sufficient to 

 supply nearly the whole world with Tea, so that it is not the 

 lands which are wanting, though the Government prices for 

 the lands are prohibitory and will check cultivation. But in 

 Assam, Cachar, and the Terai below the Himalayas labour 

 is very scarce, while in Chittagong the area fit for Tea is not 

 large, so that I do not anticipate any very sudden increase of 

 the cultivation, though year by year it is on the increase and 

 will so continue. 



1 Note to 3rd edition. Yes ; the demand has largely increased, but, alas ! pro- 

 duction has increased in a greater ratio. In short, the supply exceeds the demand, 

 and hence the low prices now ruling. As regards the use of Indian Teas, so 

 much have the English public been now made familiar with their flavour, they, 

 as a rule, reject any Teas which have it not more or less. In fact, the English 

 public, as I predicted years ago, have now begun to like the new flavour, and even 

 pure Indian Teas are now relished by many. 



