64 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



TEA AND THE TEA PLANT. 

 By Sir George Watt, CLE., M.B.C.M., LL.D., F.L.S., &c. 



[Lecture given on June 8, 1906,] 



The first European who makes mention of tea would appear to be Maffeus, 

 an Italian who wrote a history of India, originally published 1588 (see 

 ed. 1751, p. 119). That most valuable work was compiled from the infor- 

 mation of the Jesuit Fathers resident in China and India. It has been well 

 ascertained that in England tea drinking had only begun to attract attention 

 nearly 100 years later, namely, in 1660. In fact 250 years ago tea was 

 practically unknown to the inhabitants of Europe. It was first brought 

 to this country from China through the Dutch merchants. But in 1664 

 the East India Company made a present of some tea to King Charles II., 

 and about that time it sold in London at from £5 to £10 sterling a pound. 

 In 1689 a direct duty was imposed on the imports, which amounted to 

 5s. a pound. One hundred years later we read of the King's duty on tea, 

 between September 1784 and March 1797 (a period of, say, thirteen years), 

 having realised £4,832,189, so that a distinct demand for the article must 

 have been established notwithstanding its high price. 



In 1703 the imports into Great Britain came to 100,000 lb., and in 

 1721 they had attained to the proportion of 1,000,000 lb. From 1722 to 

 1744 the duty was fixed at 4s. a lb. excise, with, in addition, a Customs 

 due of 14 per cent, on the average price. Macpherson (" Annals of 

 Commerce," 1805) tells us that the high duty on tea led to its being 

 adopted as one of the most convenient articles for illicit trade. An Act 

 of George I. (1721) prohibited British subjects from resorting to or 

 trading with the East Indies under foreign commissions. An Act of 

 George III. (1777) in order to prevent frauds on the revenue notified : 

 " All persons making counterfeit tea of leaves of sloe, liquorish, ash, 

 elder, &c., or of tea that has been used, are subjected to a fine of five 

 pounds for every pound of weight of such leaves sold by them or found in 

 their possession." In 1784 it was estimated that only about one-third of 

 the tea sold in Great Britain actually paid duty. This difficulty was 

 finally met by the reduction of the taxation until the limit of possible 

 profit in illicit transaction had been passed ; ever since tea has been one 

 of the purest articles of human food. From 1784 to 1795 the duty was 

 thus gradually reduced until it stood at a total of 12 J per cent. Unfor- 

 tunately in 1795 the system of raising money by taxing tea was again 

 resorted to and gradually augmented until, in 1819, tea sustained a duty of 

 100 per cent. In consequence the demand remained stationary at approxi- 

 mately 21,000,000 lb. a year. 



By an Act of Parliament the East India Company's monopoly was 

 abolished ; the unrestricted trade which ensued stimulated competition, 

 and hence reduced the price very greatly. This of necessity facilitated 



