and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society. 



697 



note how successful these lectures have been, 

 the result invariably being even more beneficial 

 than my optimistic forecast. As I have not 

 been able to dispose of the slides so far, I pro- 

 pose to keep them myself until I am able to do 

 so, and give lectures whenever I have the 

 opportunity. 



There is a demand here (and shippers in 

 Colombo cannot be too careful in paying attention 

 to this fact) for all grades of really good Ceylon 

 tea, but it is nothing but a waste of time and 

 an untold detriment to the Island and its trade, 

 to send here some of the rubbishy teas which 

 one sees tar too often in this market. You 

 have an opportunity, and now is the moment 

 to take advantage of it, remembering the 

 famous lines, 



" There comes a tide in the affairs of 



men, which, 

 " Taken at the flood, leads on to fortune." 



Walter Courtney. 

 Green Teas. 



The position of and the demand for Ceylon 

 Green Tea depends entirely on the basis of 

 Japan Tea. If Japan Tea continues on its pre- 

 sent high level, which has been existent now for 

 the last eight months or so, with commonest 

 kinds worth 18 cents on the New York market, 

 then there is a considerable demand for Ceylon 

 Greens of all Grades. But the general value of 

 Government Standard Japan Tea has been very 

 much lower in past years, ranging from 11 to 14 

 cents and in that case great difficulty arises in 

 selling any quantity of Ceylon Greens. 

 In Canada you can get as much for Hyson No. I 

 as for Young Hyson, for there they do not seem 

 to object to rough leaf teas provided the cup 

 quality is right. On the other hand, in the 

 United States there is great objection to rough- 

 ness of leaf. Without doubt Canada has inten- 

 tionally helped the sale of Ceylou Green Tea 

 rather than that of Japan, though the same sen- 

 timental interest carries no weight in the United 

 States. The demand for Ceylon Green Tea in 

 New York and Boston, as far as first hands go, 

 is for Young Hyson at 17 to 18 centi', good pale 

 liquoring teas. We know of course that smaller 

 buyers pay higher prices. I may mention that 



the price recently quoted here by Messrs. 



& Co. is 9 l/4dc.i.f., and that basis has kept a lot 

 of people who generally carry Ceylon Young Hy- 

 sons, completely out of the market. Unless you 

 can keep Ceylon Greens down to a reasonably 

 low level, that is from 17 to 18 cents for Young 

 Hysons when good stocks would be held here, 

 the market will be very limited indeed. Great 

 care must be taken that the cup quality is up 

 to standard; otherwise the teas will be rejected. 



The Standards used for Ceylon Greens are 

 .Moyunes. Imperials for Gunpowders and 

 Moyune Young Hyson for Ceylon Young Hyson. 

 Strangely enough though Ceylon Greens come 

 into competition principally with Japans, never- 

 theless Japans are not used as standards for 

 Ceylon Greens. lu all grades a pale liquor and 

 one that will remain pale even when the teas 

 have been left on the leaves for hours and are 

 stone cold, is absolutely necessary. A good 

 standard to go by is "Arapolakande ?"and to fall 

 below this simply limits the demand at once. 



Walter Courtney. 



CEYLON TEA IN EUROPE. 



report for 1907. 



By Mr. J, H. Renton, Commissioner for 

 Geylon. 



The tea trade on the Continent in 1907 has been 

 slow, owing to the high prices ruling through- 

 out the year for medium and common teas. As 

 long as retailers do not see their way to raise 

 their prices sales of good quality teas must be 

 difficult. Notwithstanding the difficulties under 

 which the vendors of Ceylon teas have laboured, 

 I am convinced we have made good progress ; 

 though slow, it has been steady and sure, I have 

 been particularly struck in my travels with the 

 following throe features : — 



First. — The greater prominence given to 

 Ceylon Tea by the Retail Trade in their shops 

 and shop windows. The situation is very dif- 

 ferent from what it was in 1901. Ceylon Tea 

 was then practically unknown by name to the 

 Retailer. When compelled through our cam- 

 paign to keep pure Ceylon, or a blend contain- 

 ing some Ceylon as a substitute for the Real 

 article, the Retailer still kept it in the back- 

 ground to be produced only when demanded. 

 He now displays some kind of tea labelled con- 

 spicuously as Ceylon. This is more or less the 

 case everywhere, but is most noticeable in 



CENTRAL AND SOUTH GERMANY AND IN VIENNA. 



I give two instances : — I had induced one im- 

 porting firm to supply their clients with a fac- 

 simile of a double bullock cart for their shop- 

 window, and another firm to furnish a figure of 

 a tea plucker for the same purpose, the models 

 for both of which had been obtained from 

 Ceylon. But I was pleased to notice in Mr 

 Schepler s window — the leading oilman-store 

 shop in Frankfort, — a first rate life-size figure 

 of a Malay woman with sarie, cumbly, basket 

 and tea leaves and in another prominent shop- 

 keeper's window in Stuttgart, I saw a plaster 

 figure of a Tamil Tea plucker and also a wooden 

 bullock cart. Neither of these two shops were 

 furnished with these articles by our Agents, nor 

 were they procured by them at our instance. 

 They had obtained these models on their 

 own initiative from their own suppliers. 

 Beside those figures the windows contained a 

 gocd display of Ceylon tea in packets, which 

 on purchasing and tasting I found to be genuine. 



Second. — The fact is that in all the good hotels, 

 especially in Germany and the North of Europe, 

 a much better class of tea is now provided. 

 The taste for tarry Souchongs seems to havo 

 gone and blends with Indian and Ceylon have 

 taken their place. 



Third.— The Invasion of the Continent by the 

 representatives of London firms was most marked 

 last year. 



All the vendors of Ceylon tea known to me 

 have been 



VISITED BY REPRESENTATIVES OF CITY FIRMS 



offering Ceylons, or Indians, or blends with 

 China. A few of these travellers have — 

 I am sorry to say — endeavoured to push their 

 own special wares, by representing that Ceylons 



