4IO 



NATURE 



[_MarcIi I, 1888 



He points out the differences between the indigenous, 

 the " China," and the hybrid varieties of the plant whicli 

 are cultivated in India, and enumerates the various pseudo- 

 teas which are known either in the frontier countries of 

 India or in other countries : such as Osyris nepalensis or 

 arborea, in Kumaon, Garhwal, and lately in Kashmir ; 

 ElcBodendron perstcutn, in Burmah, from which, when 

 mixed with oil, salt, garlic, and assafoetida, is prepared the 

 nauseous compound, to European taste, known as "pickled 

 tea" ; Ilex paraguaycnsis, the Paraguay tea, or " Mate," 

 of South America ; Ledum pahtstre, or Labrador tea ; 

 the Tasmanian tea, made from various varieties of 

 Melaleuca and Leptospermiim j and the Faham tea, 

 Angrcecuni fragrans of Mauritius ; and others. 



The number of plantations in the various pro- 

 vinces, area under cultivation, and annual yield of 

 tea for all India, are given in detail ; and the differ- 

 ences between the various kinds of China and Indian 

 tea, as proved by analysis, are very fully treated of. 

 The principal black teas made in India are flowery 

 pekoe, orange pekoe, souchong, pekoe souchong, congou, 

 and bohea ; as also the several varieties of broken leaf, 

 such as broken pekoe, pekoe dust, &c. All these are 

 not, as is commonly supposed, the produce of different 

 plants, but are prepared from one and the same plant, 

 the classification being caused by the difference of age and 

 development of the leaves used for the several varieties. 

 The principal kinds of green tea are gunpowder, hyson, 

 and young hyson, and these are manufactured almost 

 exclusively in the North-West Provinces and Kangra. 



It may be accepted as a fact that Indian tea is very 

 rarely adulterated, being packed on the plantation, and 

 shipped direct from the planter to the market ; but '' China 

 tea" passes through many hands before it is packed 

 for shipment, and is frequently mixed with willow or other 

 leaves, or with artificial colouring-matter. But the adulter- 

 ated tea is not now readily saleable in London, and is 

 therefore re-exported to the Continent. A direct importa- 

 tion of tea from India to the Continent would insure the 

 purity of the supply. 



In a lecture given before the Society of Arts, in May 

 Jast, by Mr. J. Berry White, and quoted by Dr. Feistmantel, 

 a table is given showing the steady rise of the Indian tea 

 crop from 232,000 pounds in 1852 to 76,585,000 pounds 

 in 1886; and Mr. White estimated that the crop for 

 1887 would not fall far short of 90,000,000 pounds. The 

 amount of tea exported from India between October i, 

 1885, and September 30, 1886, is officially returned as 

 68,784,249 pounds, of which 66,640,749 pounds went to 

 England. Nearly the whole of this tea is consumed in 

 Great Britain, a small quantity being sent to the Con- 

 tinent mixed with inferior China teas, and consequently 

 sold as China tea. The percentage of Indian tea used in 

 England has also been steadily rising, for whereas in 1865 

 China tea formed 97 per cent, of the entire consumption, 

 in the first quarter of 18S7 the proportion was 51 per cent, 

 of Indian to 49 per cent, of China tea. 



Notwithstanding the steadily increasing production 

 in India, China tea is still impKjrted into the country ; in 

 1885-86 about four million pounds were imported, but 

 mainly into Bombay, where none is grown, and much of it 

 for re-export to the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and some 

 to Trieste, where it arrives as Indian tea. 



Statistics concerning the consumption of tea show 

 that the greatest tea-drinkers are the Australians, who 

 in 1 88 1 consumed 81 ounces per head of the popula- 

 tion. England ranked next with 73 ounces, while the 

 United States of America came next with 21 ounces. 

 Russia, Belgium, Holland, and Denmark rank highest 

 among Continental nations as tea-drinkers, but they only 

 consume from 7 to 8 ounces per head of the population. 



Dr. Feistmantel fully indorses the prevalent English 

 opinion as to the superiority of Indian to China tea, and 

 attributes its being almost unknown on the Continent 

 mainly to the fact that " China tea " is a much older, 

 and therefore better known, product throughout Europe. 

 Even in England Indian tea took years to establish its 

 reputation. It will in the end be as much appreciated 

 on the Continent as it is in this country if a few 

 merchants and tradesmen in different Continental cities, 

 whose commercial standing will be a guarantee for 

 the purity of the goods they supply, are induced to 

 keep it. 



A special chapter is devoted to the cultivation of tea in 

 Ceylon, and shows the marvellous progress made by this 

 new industry in consequence of the coffee disease having 

 caused the conversion of so many coffee plantations into 

 tea plantations. In 1875 orily 1080 acres were under tea, 

 whereas in 18S5 no less than 102,000 acres were occupied 

 by it, and the exports rose from 282 pounds in 1875-76 

 to nearly four million pounds in 1884-85. The plantations 

 are principally in the western and southern provinces of 

 Ceylon. 



Dr. Feistmantel's work concludes with an interesting 

 chapter on caravan teas, compiled from an article by 

 Herr Walter Japha, published in the Revue Coloniale 

 Internationale for September-October 1887. 



Some amongst us are apt to feel a certain amount of 

 jealousy at the not infrequent employment of foreigners 

 in Government appointments, and this feeling is pei-haps 

 intensified by the knowledge that in this matter, as in 

 Free Trade, there is no apparent reciprocity — for we 

 seldom hear of the employment of Englishmen by Con- 

 tinental Governments ; but the present is an instance, 

 and by no means a sohtary one, of the great service done 

 to us by foreigners who avail themselves of the in- 

 formation they have collected in the course of their 

 employment by our Government to diffuse among 

 their fellow-countrymen such an intelligent knowledge of 

 the productions of our distant possessions as is calcu- 

 lated to largely benefit our commerce by leading to an 

 extensive demand for the goods of which they write. 



It would seem, however, scarcely just that the work of 

 diffusing this knowledge should be left to other nations, 

 seeing that the benefits are to be reaped by ourselves. It 

 is hardly likely that in England it will be recognized, as 

 it is in some other countries, to be part of the duties of 

 any Government Department ; but why should it not be 

 part of the work of such a body as the London Chamber 

 of Commerce, or the new Imperial Institute, to disseminate 

 information regarding our Colonial and Indian products 

 among Continental nations, and to translate and circulate 

 any useful works on commercial and kindred subjects, pub- 

 lished in foreign languages, among such classes of the 

 community as they would be likely to interest .? 



J. R. ROYLE. 



