Edible Products. 



544 



[December, 1908. 



Cost of Twenty Cups op Tea on the 



Price 

 per lb, 

 s. d. 



Above Basis. 

 Cost of 

 20 Cups, 

 d. 



1-42 1 

 TOO 

 1-78 J 



224 cups to the lb. 



1-70 ^ 



IS \* 



3-00 J 



280 cups to the lb. 



Such differences in the cost of a cup of 

 tea cannot be of importance to anyone 

 directly they know how trivial they are. 

 If an individual drinks three cups a day, 

 it would take him about ninety days to 

 consume one pound, and therefore 

 nearly three months to spend the extra 

 cost of 8d. for 2s. as compared with Is. 4d. 

 tea. For an average family of five 

 persons, it would cost less than a pound 

 a year to drink the better tea. This is 

 on the assumption that children drink 

 as much tea as adults, which is, of course, 

 not the case. That poverty is not a bar 

 to the use of fine tea is to be seen in the 

 West of Ireland where everyone is 

 struck by the magnificent quality of the 

 tea sold. In the relatively better off 

 districts in Ireland also, very much 

 better tea is consumed than in similar 

 parts of England and Scotland. The 

 table above shows that the Irish are 

 better informed than we are. 



At one time we were told in every 

 paper and on every hoarding that Is- 9d. 

 was the price of the finest tea. Now 

 we are informed that Is. 4d. is the 

 outside limit for tea, and on a similar 

 foundation, or rather want of founda- 

 tion, there is no reason why Is. should 

 not be called the finest tea. To those 

 acquainted with the trade such state- 

 ments can hardly be characterised 

 politely, as they are so entirely in- 

 accurate. We have taken one absolute 

 proof quite at a hazard, namely, the 

 bonded prices fetched at the Indian 

 public sales. As everyone who attends 

 the sales knows there are constant sales 

 of fine parcels at 2s., 2s. 6d., or even 

 3s. 6d. per pound in bond, and in the 

 particulars below it will be seen that 

 as much as 4s. 4d. was fetched. 



The statement that the finest tea can 

 be retailed at the advertised prices is 

 in fact grotesquely opposed to the facts. 

 Nevertheless, it does an infinity of harm. 

 It degrades the trade by exalting com- 

 monness and putting down quality. 

 It prevents any pride being taken in 

 his trade by the distributor, and renders 

 the sale of fine tea very difficult, either 

 for wholesale or retail dealers. Of 



course in a similar way the skilled 

 planter on good soil in India and 

 Ceylon, who picks and cures caref ully, 

 reaps no adequate reward for his labour, 

 as all tea more and more approximates 

 to one price, and it becomes easier in 

 the long run to go in for quantity and 

 to pay no attention to quality. 



Is the tea trade to continue to take 

 its debasement and degradation lying 

 down, or will it at length take action? 

 The only method to cure the evil is 

 by counter-advertisement, and this must 

 be a joint or combined effort, because 

 the individual retailer cannot afford to 

 compete in mammoth expenditure. No 

 trade he could possibly do would repay 

 the cost. It follows, therefore, that if 

 a counterblast is to be issued it should 

 be a joint one and directed simply to 

 the point that fairly good tea cannot 

 be bought under Is. Gd. per lb. retail, fine 

 tea under 2s. or 2s. 6d., and the finest 

 under 3s. or 3s. 6d. In such a scheme of 

 general advertisement the Indian and 

 Ceylon growers might well play a pro- 

 minent part with their teas. What is 

 the use of spending large sums on the 

 development of foreign markets, when 

 the main market, the home one, which 

 is already fully developed, is being 

 vitally injured every day, from the 

 producer's point of view ? Unless some 

 scheme of joint counter-advertisement 

 can be started, in order to bring the 

 truth about tea before the public, the 

 state of the trade must continue to 

 steadily deteriorate.— Produce Markets 

 Review, 



SWEET POTATOES. 



Introduction. 



With the passing of each year the 

 sweet potato is becoming of greater im- 

 portance as a commercial truck crop in 

 the United States. During a long period 

 it has formed one of the principal 

 sources of food for the people of the 

 Southern States and of Tropical America. 

 As a commercial truck crop the sweet 

 potato would be included among the 

 five of greatest importance, ranking 

 perhaps about third in the list. As a 

 food for the great mass of the people 

 living in the warmer portions of our 

 country the use of this crop is exceeded 

 by hominy and rice only. In many of 

 the islands of the Pacific, especially in 

 the Philippines, the sweet potato is 

 the 7iriucipal vegetable food for large 

 numbers of the low er classes, at certain 

 seasons being almost the only food avail- 

 able. 



