110 TEA 



assumption that children drink as much tea as adults, 

 which is, of course, not the case. 



Cups of tea may be said to vary in size, and perhaps 

 a more convincing test is to take the whole consumption 

 of tea and to divide it by the number of inhabitants in 

 the Kingdom. The result is a trifle over six pounds 

 per head per annum, and taking Is. 4d. retail as the price 

 of fairly good ordinary tea, the actual extra cost in a 

 whole year of drinking better teas would be as follows : 



Retail price Extra charge per Extra cost to 



per Ib. Ib. as compared the consumer 



with Is. 4d. in 12 months. 



s. d. s. d. s. d. 



16... 02... 10 



18... 04... 20 



20... 08... 40 



2 6 ... 1 2 ... 7 



3 ... 1 8 ... 10 



Many people appear to think that by putting a little 

 more common tea in the pot a good cup is thereby 

 ensured ; instead of this, its commonness is only made 

 more pronounced, and the blackness and bitterness 

 increased. It is impossible to get flavour and quality 

 in this manner because they are non-existent. Un- 

 fortunately, ordinary people do not see this, nor do they 

 realise that the duty of 5d. is the same on a pound of 

 common tea as on the finest descriptions. Thus on a 

 2s. 6d. tea the Government only takes one-sixth, while 

 on a Is. 4d. tea it levies nearly double that proportion. 

 It is also too often forgotten that many more cups of 

 palatable infusion can be made from the fine than from 

 the common varieties. At 2s. and 2s. 6d. choice varie- 

 ties of tea can be sold and to the most economical, or 

 the poorer sections of the community, a few shillings a 



