FINE TEA SOLD AT MINCING LANE 113 



finest growths, of which only a very minute proportion 

 could be retailed at Is. 4d. per pound. 



The statement that the finest tea can be retailed at 

 the advertised prices is, in fact, grotesquely opposed to 

 the facts. Nevertheless, it does an infinity of harm, r 

 It degrades the trade by exalting commonness and 

 putting down quality. It prevents any pride being 

 taken in his trade by the distributor, and renders the 

 sale of fine tea very difficult, either for wholesale or \jjuc btlv 

 retail dealers. Of course, in a similar way the skilled ~ 

 planter on good soil in India and Ceylon, who picks a 

 cures carefully, reaps no adequate reward for his labour, 

 as all tea more and more approximates to one price, 

 and it becomes easier in the long run to go in for quantity 

 and to pay no attention to quality. 



To obtain the comfort of fine tea the public must 

 have confidence in the family grocers, for many have the 

 skill and knowledge necessary for selecting a commodity 

 requiring taste and judgment, while they have access 

 to the best markets and can maintain the necessary 

 standards of quality. They can prove to the public 

 that if pleasure be Wanted, it is to be found in fine and 

 not in common tea, and that economy lies not in a very 

 trivial annual money saving, but in buying those choice 

 varieties, which give the real refreshment that is wanted 

 in these strenuous times. 



As we have said, however, the first essential to suc- 

 cess is to sell really fine tea, with distinctive flavours, 

 at the highest prices. Those who have not a full prac- 

 tical knowledge of tea-tasting and blending can rely 

 upon the assistance of the wholesale houses and of the 

 travellers and agents who so ably represent them, and 

 who are as much interested in the elevation of the tea 

 trade as the grocers themselves. 



Finally, the grocers have to remember that tea is 



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