THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [September 2, 1889. 
which I am able to send you, on " American and 
Ceylon Analyses ol Tea : ' Medium' and ' Fine' 
Plucking Compared," from the results worked out 
by our local chemist, M. Cochran, Esq., m. a., e. c. s., 
is highly interesting. The paper is complete in 
itself and wants but little from me to supplement it ; 
still it may be useful to state that the tea which 
has been analysed is now exactly five years old, 
and that " fine " plucking means in this case a 
leaf and one bud ; while "medium" was two leaves 
and one bud: 
The completeness of Mr. Cochran's paper leaves 
little to be desired : still it is worthy of notice 
that the results of theAmerioan chemists in regard to 
the Indian teas are from samples representing 2,414 
packages. It is clear that if we are to obtain a 
standard result, which we can place side by side 
with this Indian table, other estates will have to 
follow the beginning that has been made and a 
series of analyses be undertaken. If nothing else were 
established than " the cleanliness in the prepara- 
tion of our commercial teas" as compared with 
either India or China, that alone would be worth 
the effort and expense. We all want to know, that 
what we swallow has been cleanly made, and if 
we can go to the American public and the world 
generally and say that here, in this important 
particular, Ueylon as usual tops the market, and 
that this purity has been established in the 
laboratory, it will add much to the chances of 
increased consumption. There is not a housewife 
in the land that would not prefer the clean article — 
other things being equal. 
It would be hardly fitting perhaps that I should 
continue my letter to its usual length, considering 
the demand on your space which Mr. Cochran's 
paper calls for, and the other claims of the public, 
I am sure you will accept this as a legitimate 
excuse for my brevity. Peppercorn. 
AMEBICAN AND CEYLON ANALYSES OF TEA . 
"medium" and "fine" plucking compared. 
After considerable unavoidable delay, I have com- 
pleted the chemical examination of the six samples 
of Boseneatb tea, received on the 8th of May, with 
a view to determine to what extent the chemical 
composition of teas is affected by medium and fine 
plucking respectively. 
As the planting community at present is inter- 
ested in "pushing" its teas in America, I have 
treated these samples in the way chemical analysts 
do in America, at least in so far as their method is 
detailed in what may still be considered a new work 
(1887) on " Fi od Adulteration " by Dr. Jesse P. 
Battershall of New York. I shall preface my re- 
port on your samples of tea by giving you some of 
the results obtained by American chemists, borrowed 
from the work referred to. These analytical results 
will be interesting, as, although they may have been 
seen by individuals, they have not before been 
brought before the notice of the planting community 
generally. 
In the following table of analyses made by Dr. J. 
F. Davis, under the supervision of Dr. Battershall, 
the latter observes : — " It will be noticed, if the 
same varieties of tea be compared, that, with some 
exceptions, their commercial value is directly pro- 
portional to the percentages of soluble ash, extract, 
tannin, and theine contained."* 
* It was the writer who added these together and 
set them down in tabular form ; but it is evident the 
cxprension " directly proportional to " may mean that 
they should be multiplied into each other or Dr. B, 
ma y simply mean that these constituents individually 
rlae and fall in a general way with the price.— M. C. 
ci o c x -.i ci b o ' ronno-a Oolong choice, 1st crop. 
M COIOOQCQO 
§ fSSsctaia eye w Formosa Oolong superior, 1st 
~* ©H-oiOt^Ocsro* Clop. 
0 ^ cji rfk 
c£ iibsiia<9^iioo!° Formosa Oolong choice, 3rd crop. 
(SOOOCl'XtOO" 
2 Hooooi;itc;," BO Formosa Oolong superior rd 
U~ <D O' Ol © Ci ^ © rf- ' 01 OJJ. 
1 Sl!!fSS33!i p Congou, choicest. 
fcO tD S O' O Ci Oi tO 2 
co m w 4- c c- w w r. ^ ti 
w to-^ccmeiwoaiCi*-- Congou, medium, 
CO WO-OOJC5CO' 
tffc HOI W „ 
CO W W X Q H W W Ci" M 
oi wM^wosobwb^- Congou, common. 
CD W C O'l O CI C X CD ' 
E£ to co S o o to co os»cj « First young J J j on regular 
£ istitii^ §• Moyune. 
05 I— «t rfi. ^ 
o. w^scc^wci h w P First young H\ .on plain draw. 
hft- o o o o k cc a c. ' 
ci m tm w w 
6 3S2^25:25b5? Second young J lyson Moyune. 
C7I OJ W i" C O K CI ' ^ 
Ol MOW 
co ooci^c^cocoioo-J-. Hind young H son plain draw. 
)-* CC ZD O-' — LCv ~. -i- O ' 
-v) N C N C. -t W W S O « . Choice Gunpow ler. 
CO CCCDOO^OQCl' 
C-i t— Ol CO 
00 H N N cr. c to w w'C to _ 
rflooeo6diw*-c7ic3w. 0 Third Gunpowder. 
» 1 1 ^ ■? 9 *? ^7= co Q Uncoloured Jai .vn choicest, first 
c- cn to oo N> co tP- O O . nif*brin*r 
to iMii W O C3 X Ci li* " iJlLiiHlg . 
01 M Ol CO 
9 ^°?'??9 t f nj 0 Coloured Japan good medium. 
5 first picking. 
Ol (-< Ol <M 
*t °~? °? °? ° « "? =?7= f a Coloured Japan good medium, 
" frgg^gggg" 0, third picking . 
5 S 2> S 2 S m 5b =° P Japan dust coloured, line. 
Oi BMCWMWWCi'i^- T , 
#.-iox#.<£-ia'a°'P J apan dus t unc< 'loured, common . 
0< W^^OQXGCC)' 
The following are the results of analysee, by 
American chemists, of samples representing 2,414 
packages of Indian tea : — 
per cent. Average per cent. 
Moisture .. 5-830 to 6'325 5,938 
Extract . . 37'8 to 40--350 38-841 
Total Ash . . 5-Uo to 6-024 5-613 
Ash soluble in water .. 3'122 to 4-280 3-516 
Ash Insoluble in water... T890 to 2'255 2-092 
Ash insoluble in acid .. -120 to -296 -177 
insoluble leal ... 47-120 to 55'87u 5T910 
Tannin . . 13-040 to 18-868 15-323 
Theme . . 1-880 to 3 - 24o 2'736 
Dr. Battershall also gives analyses of several 
kinds of spurious tea, received fiom the U. S. 
Consuls at Canton and .Nagasaki (Japan). Ihe 
analyses were made by himself : — 
12 3 4 
Total Ash .. 8-62 8'9 7'95 12-58 
Ash insoluble in water... 7'98 6 04 4'95 874 
Ash soluble in water . . '64 i-86 3-oo 3'84 
Ash insoluble in acid ... 3 - 92 3'18 T88 6'60 
Extract ... 7-73 14'00 12-76 22-1U 
G-Uiu ... 10-67 7-30 11-00 1P40 
Insoluble leal .. 706u 70-55 67-oo 6o-io 
Tannin .. 3'13 8'01 14-50 15-64 
Theine .. -58 Ml . -16 "12 
JSo. 1 partially exhausted and retired tea leaves, 
known as " ching suey " (clear water). 
No. 2 is lie tea, made from wanipan leaves. 
No. b is a mixture of 10 per cent green teai 
