PUBLIC SALES, SAMPLING AND BUYING 67 



the teas, a small sample is taken from the chest set 

 apart for this purpose, and given to the representatives 

 of the prospective buyer. So that no loss of tea may 

 accrue to the owner, " returns " of an equal weight 

 and quality to the samples taken away are left at the 

 warehouse by the " sampler." 



On returning from the warehouses all the tasting 

 samples are immediately put in small tin boxes ; this 

 is important as tea very soon becomes " papery " if left 

 wrapped up. /feach tin has a number corresponding with 

 the one which has been stamped in the buyer's office by 

 a hand machine in the margin of the catalogue opposite 

 the tea represented, e.g. : 



Jorehaut, lot 21 Broker's Box 844 30 chs. Pekoe 655 

 Khongea, ,,22 845 90 Souch. 656 



655 is the number of the small box which contains about 

 2 oz. of Assam Pekoe representing the thirty chests from 

 the Jorehaut Garden, while in box 656 is a sample of 

 Pekoe Souchong taken from the bulk of ninety chests 

 from the Khongea estate. 844 and 845 are the numbers 

 of the boxes which are used by the brokers to contain $** 

 representative samples of the same teas in their own 

 offices. 21 and 22 are the ordinary " lot numbers " 

 in the catalogue which are used by the selling brokers 

 to represent the various parcels when the public auctions , 

 take place. 



When a sufficient number of teas have been boxed, 

 the work of the expert taster commences. A large 

 Indian sale in the busy season will comprise 50,000 pack- 

 ages represented by about 1,200 different teas. It has 

 been fully explained that each parcel has its corre- 

 sponding sample, so that it means that for one sale alone 

 as many as 1,200 different teas have to be tasted and 

 valued. 



