and Magazine of the Cer/lon Agricultural Society, 



son 



bettor teas from a hygienic point of view than 

 Ceylon, owing to the much smaller quantity of 

 tannin which they contain and cites the opinions 

 English doctors quoted in the English Press 

 in favour of the milder China teas. 



I believe Monsieur Dybouski's report is only 

 the beginning of a campaign in favour of Annam 

 teas and I hear th^t in the contracts tor the 

 services, the 



GOVERNMENT NOW INSIST ON THE TEA BEING 

 OF FRENCH ORIGIN. 



Our expenditure in France ceased in 1907, 

 but I feel it will be incumbent this year to 

 spend a little money in tho Press on refuting 

 any paragraphs which may appear to the detri- 

 ment of Ceylon tea and I am taking steps to do 

 all that is possible to counteract the too milch 

 tannin bogey. It is the necessity of efforts such 

 as these, which make me deplore the cessation of 

 the Cess. I do think it a mistake not to have a 

 small sum to fall back upon in case of need 

 should improper methods be employed to decry 

 Ceylon Tea. I enclose cony of a commercial 

 traveller's report kindly placed at my disposal 

 which shows what difficulties he has to contend 

 with through the quantity of poor teas which 

 are sold throughout France under the name of 

 Ceylon. If all the Annam Teas were sold under 

 their own name, I should not complain. 



The consumption of Tea in 



Sweden, Norway 



and Denmark is almost stationary ; but British 

 grown teas are being more and more used, 

 especially in Sweden and Norway. In France 

 the consumption is growing, but almost imper- 

 ceptibly. In Germany and Austria the in- 

 crease of consumption is undoubtedly larger, 

 but it io more noticeable in the liquid 

 consumption of tea. Tea is much more drunk 

 in Germany than it used to be, but as the 

 teas now used are of stronger quality than 

 formerly, they go further, and the consumption 

 of dry tea increases but slowly. However, I 

 feel it will not be long before Germany also 

 becomes a largor consumer of tea. 



As far as Propaganda is concerned my main 

 work in 1907 has been confined to Germany. 

 Work stopped in Norway and Sweden and I taly 

 in 1906. In 1907 operations were closed in 

 Franco and Belgium. A very small sum will be 

 spent in Switzerland and Denmark this year, 

 all work having practically stopped in these 

 two countries in 1907. But with the sum placed 

 at my disposal last year, I made a commence- 

 ment in Roumania, where there is a good field, 

 and 1 shall carrv on the work in that countrv 

 during 1908 and" 1909. 



In Germany and Austria 



1 have, to a large extent, followed the old lines, 

 but far more money has been spent on the 

 free distribution of samples witli instructions 

 bow to make tea, which I believe to bo 

 the very best way possible to introduce our tea 

 and to make it known. Special attention has 

 been paid to displays in shop windows. The 



large firm in Viersen, with its 2,000 retail shops 

 throughout Germany, has put a transparency 

 in each of its shops— and elsewhere other im- 

 porters have employed facsimiles of bullock 

 carts, tea pluckers and tea bushes for windcw 

 decorations. Illustrated circulars, price 'ists and 

 show cards, street placards and advertisements 

 in Newspapers and Magazines, have as usual 

 formed part of the Propaganda work. The Tea 

 Rooms in Berlin, Hanover, Frankfort, Stuttgart, 

 Wiesbaden and the other special depots in 

 Diisseldorf, Hamburg, Dresden, Munich and 

 Vienna— are all doing well. The support given 

 to the Hanover depot will cease this year and 

 the proprietress will now run it on her own 

 account. So far as Propaganda goes, it has been 

 a success though it has not turned out 

 a paying speculation for the owner as the 

 starting of this special depot has induced an 

 influential firm of dealers to take up Ceylon 

 Tea and sell it under a special brand of their 

 own, so that in the Province of Hanover we have 

 achieved our purpose, as Ceylon Tea is now on 

 sale in 7"2 shops in the town, in 16 in the Pro- 

 vince and can be had in 10 Hotels, Cafes and 

 Restaurants in the town. It is true that in the 

 cafes it is sold in glasses, is made very weak and 

 is sometimes drunk with lemon or rum. I 

 should immensely prefer to see it made stronger 

 and served in tea-pots, but it is better to get 

 Ceylon tea in somehow, in whatever fashion it 

 may be served, than not to have it used at all. 



The fir ms in Mulhoim/Ruhr., Stettin, Breslau 

 and one firm in Berlin have not done as well as 

 in 190(5, but a second firm has been secured in 

 Dresden and new agent? in Mannheim, while a 

 second shop has been opened in Vienna and a 

 now retail depot in Munich. I am particularly 

 pleased with what is being done in Vienna, 

 Dresden, Munich and Stuttgart, Wiesba'den and 

 Frankfort. I am disappointed that more has 

 not been accomplished in Berlin. The work 

 done by the Tea Room is quite satisfactory, 

 but this is situated in Charlottenburg and our 

 principal agent has, 1 foar, been too much 

 occupied with the erect ion of large new central 

 premises to devote much of his time to Tea last 

 year. Now that his move into new promises has 

 been accomplished, and as I have also got 

 another firm in Berlin to take an interest in Gin- 

 tea, I trust we shall do bettor this year. The 

 Frankfort Tea Room is very successful and is 

 quite full in the afternoons from 4 to 6 o'clock 

 The Wiesbaden business is the one that has so 

 far been the most successful of all the special 

 Ceylon depots ; the sale to hotels, pensions and 

 cafes forms the prominent feature of its work. 

 It is gratifying to learn of the numerous orders 

 received from visitors, who after having left 

 Wiesbaden, wish to continue drinking the 

 same tea in their own homes, 



I have taken no part in Exhibitions in 

 Germany. Space in the Naval and Colonial 

 Exhibition in Berlin was offered to me, but I 

 considered the gain not by any means commen- 

 surate with the expenditure involved, and 

 declined to support a special Ceylon show. As 

 it turned out, the whole Exhibition as l-egards 

 the attendance of visitors was a failure, owing 

 to the abnormally wet and cold summer, 



