TEA. 



81 



retire for the night ; that in sickness or health, working or resting, 

 travelling or at home, it is the one great national beverage, without 

 which no Chinese family conld live and thrive ; considering all this, 

 I think I am not overrating it when I set it down at an average of 

 6 lbs. a head per annum, or a total of 2000 millions of pounds ! Others 

 estimate it much lower — Scherzer at 400 millions; Andrie at 500 

 millions. Now, if we allow 100 lbs. of cured tea as the average produce 

 per acre in China, this will show a cultivation of 20 million acres in tea 

 alone, whereas lam more inclined to estimate it at 25 million acres. Just 

 let us compare this with other cultures in other countries. France, 

 which is not larger than one of the Chinese provinces, and contains 

 less than one-twelfth the population of China, has, nevertheless, five 

 million acres in vines. The Southern States of America have seven 

 million acres in cotton, cultivated by less than one and a half million 

 of negroes ; and India, with only half the population of China, has 

 14 millions of acres in cotton. These comparisons are quite sufficient, 

 I think, to prove that there is no improbability attached to the esti- 

 mate I have given of the extent of land devoted to tea culture in 

 China. I therefore leave out of the question the area occupied in 

 different countries by such crops as rice, wheat, &c. 



" If we allow that the internal consumption of tea in China amounts 

 to 2000 millions of pounds, we cannot but be struck at the compara- 

 tively small quantity she exports; for, according to the latest 

 statistics, we find that her total export of tea to all countries does 

 not reach 200 million pounds, being less than one-tenth of her own con- 

 sumption. Of this quantity the United Kingdom took about 78 million 

 pounds in 1860." 



Now, if we carry down the estimates to the later period of the 

 present time, we shall get at some rough estimate of the production 

 and consumption of tea. I assume only half the quantity of tea 

 Mr. Wray allows, for the home consumption of China. 



Production. 



Lbs. 



China, exports, 1873 242,000,000 



„ assumed home consumption .. .. 1,000,000,000 



British India, exports, 1 875 21 , 137 , 000 



„ assumed local consumption and 



export to A.sia 2,000,000 



Java, export 6,830,000 



Japan, export 12,000,000 



„ home consumption 5 , 000 , 000 



Ceylon, export 320,000 



Brazil, home consumption 500 , 000 



Other small producing countries 250 , 000 



Total 1,290,037,000 



Consumption. 



Of the statistics of consumption I am not able to furnish any 

 complete details, as only for a few countries are the quantities of tea 

 imported and sold given in their official returns. 



The following figures, however, are taken from the Statistical 

 Abstract for the principal Foreign countries, and from other reliable 



