212 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [September 2, 1889. 
I got made by the highest scientific authorities in 
Melbourne in 1880 will show how very important 
and favourable to the character of Geylon teas those 
results were, at a time when London brokers per- 
sisted in deorying our new product : — 
Melbourne, Dec. 9th, 1880. 
I have received the analyses of Ceylon teas exhibited, 
made by Mr. Dunn of the Technological Department, 
under the supervision of Mr. Oosmo Newbery. As I 
wrote before, the analyses represent averages, pekoes, 
souchongs and so forth, the exceptions being those in 
which only one specimen was shewn. I got a copy 
of Mr. Dunn's report at Messrs. Jas. Henty & Co.'s 
office last evening, with a promise from Mr. Moody 
that his remarks would reach me early this morning. 
The paper is not yet to hand, but I know what its 
general purport will be, in consequence of a long 
conversation I had with Mr. Dunn and Mr. Moody re- 
specting the results obtained, some of which are extra- 
ordinary, and in the case of the proportion of mineral 
ash anomalous. As noticed previously, the British 
analysts' standard for mineral ash in tea ranges from 
5 to 8 per cent. So it is recorded in Mr. Newbery's 
office; but, aB I told you previously, the result of my 
own rather extensive reading on the subject led me to 
believe that the standard for genuine tea was 5 to |6 
per cent, and that any excess over 6 per cent must be 
due to the mixture of foreign substances, from care- 
less preparation and packiDg, or from designed adulter- 
ation. On the other hand, a percentage of aBh much 
lower than 5 per cent would at once raise the suspi- 
cion in an analyst's mind that he was dealing with 
washed-out leaves. Mr. Dunn's analyses of our Cey- 
lon teas present the contrasts of the lowest proportions 
of mineral ash and the largest of that extract for 
which tea leaves are valued, ever obtained. Mr. Dunn, 
as a chemiBt, felt bound to offer such explanation 
of the anomaly as seemed to his mind most satis- 
factory, and you will observe that he adduces as a 
probable cause the rapid growth of the tea plant in 
Ceylon. That he correctly jndged (apart from clean 
and careful preparation) I huve strong proof in the 
independent judgment of my esteemed friend, Mr. 
Josiah Mitchell, one of the best authorities on the 
science of agriculture in Australia. He came here (to 
his brother's house, where I now reside) last evening, 
and I stated to him the curious results obtained by Mr. 
Dunn, without mentioning that gentleman's solution 
of the apparent anomaly of minimum mineral ash and 
maximum extract. Mr. Mitchell at once said : — " I 
congratulate you on results which ought to be 
deemed satisfactory to all interested in tea planting 
in Ceylon. The proportions of extract, soluble salts 
and theine to mineral ash prove that the influence of 
your climate is such that of the mineral matter taken 
by the plant from the soil all but a very small quan- 
tity is elaborated into the properties which make tea 
leaves valuable for consumption and commerce. The 
result of the analyses proves that in Ceylon the best 
quality of tea can be produced with the minimum ex- 
haustion of the fertilizing matters in the soil." If, as 
I believe, this is the true solution of the results of Mr. 
Dunn's analyses, I think that you and the Committee,* 
the Government, the planters and the merchants of 
O ^lon, will feel that here alone is compensation for 
the e>pense involved in being specially represented 
at this important Exhibition. Both Messrs. Dunn 
anl Mitchell (especially the former) were deeply inter- 
ested in information I gave them of the different 
conditions under which tea was grown in Ceylon and 
in most of the tea districts of India and China. In Cey- 
lon, 1 pointed out, tea is grown within 7° of the Equa- 
tor, while the vast majority of the gardens of India 
are situated 20° farther north. In the case of Dar- 
jeeling, leaving the Terai mid Dooars out of view, the 
factor of altitude has to be added to latitude. Some 
tea is grown on the Nilgiris and in a few other dis- 
tricts in Southern India, about ll 9 north, but the 
va>it bulk of the teas wh'ch India (and I may add China) 
Hcn lH into the markets of the world are grown between 
20° or 30°, Wine even us far as 34° north latitude. 
* Mr. Jiruco and the Ceylon Exhibition Committee.— 
A. M. F. 
The result is that the plant gets a " wintering " — there 
is a stoppage of growth from November (in which 
month, in India, pruning generally severe, is performed) 
to March. At the commencement of the tea-planting 
enterprise in Ceylon, Indian tea planters predicted 
failure from the absence of winter in our island — from 
the constantly forcing nature of the climate. As to 
quantity per acre, a comparison with Assam cannot 
yet be instituted on a large scale, but I submit that 
these Melbourne analyses, added to the tests as tea- 
tasters applied by Messrs. Moody and Sibthorp, and the 
judgments delivered by them, conclusively prove that, 
in the hot, moist climate of Ceylon, tea can be produced 
which, if carefully prepared, will rank with or even 
above the finest quality sent into the markets of the 
world. 
I add to the above she t extract from a long letter, 
addressed to Mr. Bruce, the reports of the late Mr. 
Moody of Messrs, Henty & Co., and Mr. Dunn, the 
chemist, noting in regard to the latter that the 
"six samples of tea" analysed were mixtures of 78 
separate teas of different olasses exhibited in the 
Ceylon Court: — 
Messes. Jas. Henty & Co 's Letter Anent Me. 
Dunn's Analyses of Ceylon Teas. 
Melbourne, 8th December 1880. 
A. M. Ferguson, Esq., Commissioner for Ceylon, M. I.E. 
Dear Sir, — We now hand you the report of Mr. F. 
Dunn, of the Government Laboratory, on the average 
samples of Ceylon teas handed to him for analysis, as 
advised in our last of 24th ulto. 
The orange pekoe, pekoe, pekoe souchong and sou- 
chong are highly satisfactory, the percentage of extract 
being very large, of soluble salts full, which, with a 
low percentage of ash, stamps these teas as of the 
greatest purity. 
Congou, which is usually considered the commonest 
tea, turns out very good for its class, the percentage 
of extract 37'40 being well over the standard of extract 
for lowest class genuine tea, say 30 f. c. 
There beiDg only two samples of green tea to show, 
it was hardly a fair average, but turns out very high 
for extract, soluble salts fair, but theine low. In green 
tea we look for a high percentage of theine and can 
only account for present result by the method of 
manufacturing, these two samples forming the average. 
We think you have every reason to feel satisfied 
with the result of analysing the 78 samples in your 
Court, and which fully confirms the high opinion formed 
of your exhibits by Mr. Sibthorp and ourselves, and 
we leave you to judge of what the result would have 
been if only the best samples had been selected and 
sent in for analysis. — We remain, your obedient ser- 
vant^ Jas. Henty & Co., per J. O. Moody. 
Me. Donn's Analyses of Ceylon Tea. 
Industriil and Technological Museum Laboratory, 
December 8th, 1880. 
Report on six samples of tea received from James 
Henty & Co. :— 
^ cent V cent of ^ cent 
Marks. Name. V oent of ex- soluble of 
of ash tracts. salts, theine. 
81 Orange Pekoke 4 60 44.80 3"06 216 
82 Pekoe 4.92 43 80 3-32 1-82 
83 Pekoe Souchong 5 04 42 80 3-12 1-86 
84 Souchong 4'84 40'40 3'20 1-84 
85 Congou 4.80 37.40 2-96 1-S2 
86 Green tea 4-72 44-00 2-66 0'94 
The high percentage of extract, soluble salts and 
theine (with the exception of the congou and green 
tea) found by analysis, proves these teas to be of first- 
class quality. 
The low percentage of mineral ash (which is gene- 
rally between 5 and 6 per cent) may be accounted for 
(1) By the quick growth of the tea plant. (2) By the 
careful manner in which the leaves have been collec- 
ted and sheltered from the dust, &c. 
A low percentage of mineral ahh is detrimental to 
the quality of a tea when the soluble salts fill in 
percentage (that is below 3 per cent.) 
