148 



The World's Commercial Products 



w"Wflft«-3ai 



PLUCKING TEA IN ASSAM 



liquid and ate the leaves after spreading them upon bread. ( Whatever may be said as to the 

 probability of this story, it is definitely known that tea was introduced into Europe from 

 China late in the sixteenth century, and that in 1657 a regular tea-house was opened in Ex- 

 change Alley, LondonX From. this date tea began to be a regular beverage in England. It 

 is mentioned by Pepys in his Diary ; under the date 28th September, 1660, we read : " I did 

 send for a cup. of tea (a China drink), of which I had never drunk before," and, " Home, and 

 there find my wife making of tea, a drink which Mr. Pelling the Pothicary tells her is good for 

 her cold and defluxiOns." It .was at about the time of its earliest introduction into Eng- 

 land that tea first became known in Russia, an embassy to the Court of Pekin bringing back 

 some green tea to the ancient capital, Moscow. In 1664 the famous English East IndiaCornpaj 



lade a present of two pounds of teai.to the queen oT Charles Il^Catherine .of-&a^aTfza7and 

 the product was still regarded as a rare delicacy. Fourteen years later the Company imported 

 from China nearly 5,000 lbs. and towards the end of the century tea had ceased to be a. 



(7 ff At the present time the a 1 



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average annual export of tea from the countries producing it,, 

 irrespective of the amount consumed in the countries themselves, amounts to about 

 1,108,828,000 lbs., of a value of over £16,000,000 sterling. Of this huge total, the British 

 Empire is responsible for nearly 350,000,000 lbs., worth no less than £9,217,000, or considerably 

 more than half the value of the world's total production. India heads the list with a. 

 total . export valued at £5,830,000, followed by that of China, valued at £5,500,000. 

 Im spite of this order of precedence, however, it should be noted that the actual quantity 

 of tea exported from China is vastly in excess of that from India, being more than 

 three times as much, but the quality of the product is very inferior compared 

 with the Indian article, and hence the difference in value. Third in the list comes Ceylon 



