76 



TJie Supplement to the Ttopical Agriculturist 



learn that "the Chinese tea grower is appar- 

 ently still incapable of realizing- that he is 

 losing the European markets. The trees are 

 left unpruned, and the ambition of the small 

 producer is confined simply to obtaining three 



crops a year from his soil the 



season has been so unsatisfactory for Shanghai 

 shippers that in view of the steady fall in 

 quality and demand, especially in the United 

 Kingdom, several of the largest British firms 

 have abandoned the trade." From Hankow 

 "there were no direct shipments to London, a 

 feature shared only by the years 1899-1900 ; 

 the subjoined table, in spite of a special 

 Siberian demand, shows a serious decline in 

 the export, even as compared with the bad 

 record of 1905, due to the unrest in Russia 

 and the swamping of the British market by 

 India and Ceylon." From Foochow "the 

 statistics for 1906 show an appreciable im- 

 provement, in spite of which there seems a 

 universal opinion among those interested in 

 the trade that the day of China tea is over." 

 When these reports were made silver was 

 much dearer than it is now, a disadvantage 

 to buyers of tea remitting to China ; the 

 lower rate of exchange now current may lead 

 to larger purchases by merchants in Europe 

 and America still handling China tea, a point 

 that must be kept in sight. 



This completes our review, and the conclu- 

 sion to be drawn from it is that among the 

 different groups of growers those in India, 

 Ceylon, and Java are in the most secure 

 position. The question follows, What prospect 

 is there that present prices will be main- 

 tained ? The advance in price has been caused 

 by an expansion in demand, a reduction in 

 stocks both in and out of bond, ant 1 the dis- 

 covery that the fresh supplies available are 

 not quite large enough for all requirements. 

 A reaction might ensue if India's production 

 or China's export were largely to increase 

 during the next year or two, or if consump- 

 tion were to fall oft' as a consequence of higher 

 prices being charged to the public ; but there 

 is the possibility, on the other hand, that 

 the use of tea may continue to grow larger 

 in countries where it is still small. All these 

 contingencies must be kept in mind, for they 

 are likely to make the position and move- 

 ments of tea more than usually interesting for 

 some time to come to all who produce, deal 

 in, or use it. — London Times Supplement, 

 Dec. 20. 



FINE FLAVOURED TEAS. 



Prejudice apart there cannot be a question 

 that the choice " chops " of China teas furnishes 

 a more delicate flavour which was not attained 

 in India before the introduction of the Belmont 

 process. We are aware that Mr K Bamber did 

 pretty nearly hit off the desirable in Ceylon, 

 but still there was something wanting. With- 

 out reproducing the article on the matter it 

 may be as well to condense the information for 

 the benefit of those who care to undertake the 

 manufacture of such teas as are still retailed by 

 Davidson of Fenchurch Street, Twinings in the 

 Strand and one or two others who pander to 

 the taste of connoisseurs. That there are many 

 of the latter is undoubted and our impression 

 is that if conductors of our hill gardens would 

 lay themselves open to supplying what we may 

 describe as "toned down teas" they would 

 derive a profitable enough trade at the prices 

 readily paid across the counters to the firms 

 above mentioned, which range between half a 

 crown and five shillings per lb. There is no 

 great secret in the toning ; Indian tea is harsh 

 and so to most palates, unless blended with the 

 weaker China leaf, unappreciated, but if we 

 eliminate the surplus tannin it can be rendered 

 fit for most people. The process preserved at 

 Belmont was to spread the rolled leaf out 

 thinly on the mat for the night ; in the morning 

 the leaf was heaped up under a damp blanket, 

 care being taken to constantly test the mass 

 for any indication of heating when, of course, 

 all had to be immediately re-spread out. 

 Tips came out whice instead of yellow, 

 but the grand test was in the cup, for 

 though harshness, in a modified degree, 

 was slightly perceptible, on this being repre- 

 sented to the manipulator the defect was reme- 

 died. In 1898 when tea began to drop in Bengal 

 we were favoured with enquiries as to the cool- 

 ing down of the rolled leaf, and a well known 

 engineering firm furnished us with an 

 estimate of an apparatus costing R12,000. 

 No difficulty in the manufacture was indi- 

 cated nor is much alteration needed except- 

 ing that the leaf should be rolled slower, for 

 under present methods the " rapid rollers" re- 

 duce the mass to a wet stodge staining the tips 

 and setting up undue evaporation from the 

 time the leaf is placed in the trays. With 

 some modifications the process carried out at 

 Belmont was identical with that pursued by Dr. 

 Jameson at the Government Gardens in the 

 Punjab half a century ago, while samples made 

 by the Sylhet Tea Company were priced 2s. 6d. 

 per lb. Unfortunately the Managing Director 

 of this Company would not listen to represen- 

 tations regarding a cooling room, so the method 

 had to bo abandoned and the present orthodox 

 manufacture carried out much to the disappoint- 

 ment of a firm in London — Antrobus and Co. — 

 who were prepared to take the whole outturn 

 if up to the original mark. That there is a large 

 demand for fine flavoured tea in Russia, the 

 United Kingdom and America, goes without 

 saying, and by elimination of the superabun- 

 dant tannin by cooking coupled with slower 

 drying our planters could secure the major 

 portion of this trade.— Indian Planters' Qaz,ette y 

 Nov. 30, 



