THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [December i, 1887. 
tea gardens in Ceylon, as yet above 6,000 feet 
is very limited, the teas from that region 
which have so far reached the London 
market have been necessarily classed with other 
Ceylons, yielding a much stronger liquor (though 
with less delicate flavour) and have not realized 
such good prices as such teas bought very much 
for mixing purposes. 
When Ceylon tea was first introduced to English 
housekeepers, many thought it too strong and 
preferred mixing it with China, and this objection 
is still expressed by some to average Ceylon 
teas, although they are admittedly less strong and 
harsh than those from India, and although care- 
fully prepared blends are now freely available in 
the home market. It was interesting, therefore, 
lately to get the opinion of a number of people 
both in England and France on samples of tea 
grown and prepared in Nuwara Elliya at 
6,500 feet above sea-level, These teas (unas- 
sorted) have met with general acceptance, 
indeed marked approval, and it is curious to find 
how the testimony of private consumers— who 
know nothing of marketable or analytical testB — 
confirms what experts and chemists report of 
such tea, For instance an invalid lady wrote 
after having a pound weight of the tea referred 
to (from " Naseby " garden, Nuwara Eliya ): — 
" This is the first Indian or Ceylon tea I have 
ever been able to get that seems to suit a weak 
digestion ; always previously my mucous mem- 
brane has been affected, and disagreeable after 
effects have prevented me using such tea." Not 
much importance was attached to this opinion, 
until a sample of Naseby tea sent to Mr. John 
Hughes of Mark Lane for his personal use, but with- 
out any thought of provoking a special test, much 
less a chemical analysis resulted in the following 
communications which so exactly bore out and 
gave the scientific explanation of the invalid lady's 
experience. Mr. Hughes was good enough to write 
as follows: — 
Analytical Laboratory, 79, Mark Lane, 
London, E.G., Sept. 16th, 1887. 
Thank you for the tea from Naseby estate which 
I omitted to refer to when writing from the country. 
We have tasted it practically at home, the opinion 
being that " the tea yields a good deep liquor with 
fine flavour but wanting in strength." Wishing to 
submit this opinion to a chemical test I find that 
there is only 6-37 per cent of soluble tannin as against 
10 - 12 and 15 per cent found in some of the teas ex- 
amined last year from the Colonial Exhibition. The 
ether extract is only 2-35 per cent, and there does 
not appear to be any resinous matter present, and in 
this respect it quite agrees with other teas grown at a 
high elevation. I hope to have the full results ready 
next week and will send them on ; as so far they quite 
confirm the opinion that the strength of a tea chiefly 
depends upon the proportion of tannin. I have another 
sample of Ceylon tea sent me for a report, so the 
matter is of additional interest. — Yours faithfully. 
John Hughes. 
Analytical Laboratory, 79, Mark Lane, 
London, E. C, Sept. 21st, 1£87. 
Sample of tea marked pure Ceylon Tea from Naseby 
eftate, 6,500 feet elevation, Pekoe Souchong flavour, 
rioeived from Mr. Juhn Ferguson, Colombo, Ceylon. 
Moisture dried at 212° F. 7-30 
Chlorophj 1 and oil 2'25 
Soluble tannin d 37 
Oth;r soluble organ'c matters 29-03 
Soluble mineral matters 2-50 
Vegetable fibre and insoluble organic matters 49 62 
Jns >luble mineral m t crs 2 - 93 
10000 
f 
o ' 
Containing Nitrogen 4'40 
„ Potash 211 
„ Lime - 56 
Phosphoric acid "65 
« o 
«*\ 
This tea yields a rich deep brown liquor of fine flavour 
and is only wanting in strength. 
John Hughes, f. c. s., 
Fellow of the Institute of Chemistry, 
Consulting Chemist to the Ceylon Coffee Planters' 
Association. 
The small proportion of tannin fully explains 
the good opinion entertained of the tea by invalids 
and others who find very strong teas disagree with 
them. High-grown teas of this description should 
be very suitable for use in the Continent of Europe, 
more especially France, where delicate flavour and 
mild teas are in great repute. At Vichy 
the tea which Mr. Hughes analysed above 
was very greatly approved. It may be well 
to mention these facts for the benefit and encourage- 
ment of tea growers at a high elevation — say from 
5,500 to 7,000 feet in Ceylon. They cannot expect 
quite such heavy crops through abundant flushes of 
leaf as their neighbours lower down, nor may their 
teas be so useful to the Mincing Lane buyers for 
mixing purposes ; but it is something to have a 
growth which can be thoroughly recommended for 
direct consumption by special classes who enjoy 
delicate, high-flavoured though mild tea. And very 
shortly as production increases we may expect to 
find even in the principal and central market 
of the world— that best and final test of value, 
namely in Mincing Lane, — a demand spring up 
which can be met and sustained for " High-grown 
Ceylon-Darjeelings." 
Theine in Gbeen Tea Leaf. — Dr. Hassall, in hia 
work, " Food : Its Adulterations and Methods for 
their Detection," 1876, gives twenty-five determin- 
ation of theine in genuine teas of which the lowest 
is 1-08 and the highest 3 04 per cent. Belying upon 
these figures, which are for both black and green 
teas, I reported the theine in Torwood estate dried 
green tea leaf as unusually high, seeing that the 
average amount yielded by the four samples ana- 
lysed was 5-39 per cent of anhydrous theine. 
Yesterday I happened to turn to the article 
" Theine " in Wynter Blyth's Dictionary of Hygiene, 
1876, and found the following : — " Theine (caffeine 
C8H1ON4O2, H20=194xl8) an alkaloid obtained 
from tea, and identical with caffeine. It is 
extracted from tea in the same way as from coffee. 
The best gunpowder tea contains fully 6 per cent 
of theine." As the above formula represents theine 
crystallized with one molecule of water, if we 
substract 8 J per cent for water of crystallization, it 
appears that the best gunpowder tea, which of 
course is a green tea, contains 5'49 per cent of 
anhydrous theine. This agrees very closely with 
5-39 the average percentage found in Torwood 
estate dried green tea leaf. — M. Cochran. 
TEA. 
Few industries have undergone more changes 
during recent years than the tea trade. Whether 
we consider the countries that supply it, the method 
of its carriage, or its price, the difference between 
now and, say, even twenty years ago is striking. 
Before the opening of the Suez Canal, when all 
shipments had to be made by the Cape, the 
fastest clipper ships that could be built were em- 
ployed in the trade. Many a tale is told of 
the marvellous feats in sailing of the " Taeping," 
the "Ariel" and their sister ships. They were 
the greyhounds of the ocean, carrying a press of 
sail when other vessels were close reefed, often 
