458 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [January 2, 1888. 
have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant. 
(Signed) R. W. H. Wood, 
Chairman of the Foochow Chamber of Commerce. 
To Charles Hannen, Esq., Commissioner of Customs, 
Foochow. 
On the same date the following letter was ad- 
dressed to all the Foreign Consuls at Foochow : — 
Foochow, 3rd November, 1887. 
Sir, — I have the honor to enclose copies of the 
correspondence that has taken place between this 
Chamber and the Commissioner of Customs at this 
port, with reference to the abuses complained of 
by the merchants, regarding the serious decline in 
the tea trade of this and other ports in China, and I 
would ask your special reference to a paper read 
by Mr. Berry White before the Indian Section of 
the Society of Arts which is given in the Appendix F. 
From the Report you will observe that the real 
difficulty arises from the fact that the teas from China 
have to submit to a very heavy burden of taxation 
before they leave this country, while the teas 
from India and Ceylon are exported free of all 
duties. 
The export duty was originally fixed by the Treaty 
of Nankin, August 29th, 1842, (Article 10), and by 
the Treaty of Tientsin, 26th June, 1858, (Article 26) 
at Tls. 2£ per picul, which was to represent the rate of 
5 per cent " ad valorem." 
As the average price of tea in China has never reached 
so hi«h a figure as Tls. 50 per picul, it is difficult 
to understand how such a rate as Tls. 2J per picul, (as 
representing only 5 per cent on the average value of 
the article) could ever have been agreed upon, and 
that such an extraordinary mistake should have been 
alio wed to pass unnoticed at the time. 
In addition to this export duty the Chinese 
officials have imposed an inland duty called Lekin 
or War Tax, together with other minor Barrier ex- 
actions, making a total impost of about Tls. 4§ per 
picul, before the teas are shipped, so that estimat- 
ing the average value of the crop of Congou at 
about Tls. 14 per picul these duties on exporting 
the article represent 32 per cent, or about six times the 
originally intended Tax. It would seem, therefore, to 
become merely a matter of right for merchants at 
the treaty ports to demand a revision, and read- 
justment of this quite unwarrantable tax, which, 
based upon the present value of the article should 
certainly not exceed Tl. 1 per picul, viz., 5 per cent 
ad valorem, as originally contemplated by the Treaties 
of 1842 and 1858. 
It should be borne in mind that Article 27 of the 
Treaty of Tientsin of the 26th June, 1858, stipulates 
that either of the high contracting parties to the 
Treaty may demand a further revision of tariff at 
the end of each successive ten years; under these 
circumstances no time should be lost as any altera- 
tion must take effect from the 26th June next, or 
better perhaps from the commencement of the Tea 
Season in May, 1888. 
I would beg, Sir, therefore, to urge that you will 
communicate the purport of this despatch to your 
Minister at Peking, and as the subject is of such 
vital importance to Foreigners aDd Natives alike, I 
trust the grievance complained of will be at once 
brought to the notice of the Tsungli Yamen, and 
receive the immediate and earnest attention which 
the matter undoubtedly necessitates. — I have the 
honour to be, sir, your obedient servant. 
(Signed) R. W. H. Wood. 
Chairman of the Foochow Chamber of Commerce. 
Addressed to all the Foreign Consuls at Foochow. 
The following is the report " on the decline of the 
China tea trade with suggested remedies ": — 
It cannot be doubted that the falling-off in the quality 
of the China staple is the cause of its rapid decline in 
favour in the great consuming centres, and we will now 
give, as concisely as possible, the opinion of this Cham- 
ber as to the causes which have produced this dete- 
rioration in the quality of teas produced in this pro- 
vince. 
A very full report was presented to the Authori- 
ties of Foochow in the year 1876 from this 
Chamber in which most of the grievances were 
pointed out. Eleven years have since elapsed, during 
which period no attention whatever hag been paid to it, 
while the predictions therein expressed have been fully 
borne out. On the other hand, our competitors in 
India and Ceylon have received every encouragement 
from their Governments, who do not levy any duties 
whatever, and assist them by the construction of roads 
and railways to the more distant plantations, and in 
fact have done everything in their power from its in- 
fancy, to foster a trade which has in consequence al- 
ready reached such gigantic proportions. 
A table is appended giving the total deliveries of tea 
in London during the past seven years, also the deliver- 
ies of China Congou and of Indian and Ceylon teas dur- 
ing the same period, these figures showing the marked 
increase in the latter and very serious decline in the 
former, cannot fail to strike even the most casual ob- 
server. There will also be found added thereto the 
figures for the first four months of the present sea- 
son (1st June to 30th September) received by tele- 
gram, and which, compared with those for the same 
period last year, are even more alarming to those 
interested in the trade of China. 
It is an acknowledged fact that the quality of 
Foochow teas was at its zenith during the period 
1864 to 1866, gradually declining to its present low 
level, and it may be useful to compare the prices 
ruling on this market then and now, and to show 
what should be the present »lue of similar quality 
owing to the decline in the rate of Exchange on 
London, the average rate in the years 1864 to 1866 
being 4s 8d per dollar, and for this purpose a Table 
marked Appendix B is given, and to which is added a 
Table giving the present value of Indian Tea on the 
London, market and its equivalent in Taels on this 
market. 
On the most reliable authority obtainable it is 
found that when fine Tea was produced in this pro- 
viuce, it was the custom on the plantations, after 
the picking of each crop to thoroughly trench the 
ground giving a liberal supply of manure in the form 
of fresh grass cut in the immediate neighbourhood 
to each plant, to prune the plants at least once every 
year, and wheri they became eight years old they 
were destroyed as worn out, new shruhs being planted 
in their place. And another most important matter, 
only three crops or pickings were taken m each year. 
Now what is done ? Simply nothing, no trenching, 
on manuring, no pruning, no replanting. While in 
most districts five crops or pickings are taken each 
year from the old worn out plants, and the 4th and 
5th crops are torn off the trees with shears or 
a bill hook. 
Foreigners who have lately visited the once famous 
Pak Lin districts state that the tea plantations are ut- 
terly neglected, overrun by weeds, and the shrubs full 
of dead wood and covered with blight, while between 
each row sweet potatoes are grown. 
To this Ohamber the remedy seems very simple. 
New plantations on new ground must be laid out, 
and well fostered as of old. This, however, is of neces- 
sity a work of years, but the following may be suggested 
as a temporary and immediate remedy. 
The plantations should be thoroughly cleansed and 
trenched, the plants well pruned, a very liberal supply 
of manure given, and when practicable new shrubs be 
introduced. And it is most important that only three 
crops or pickings should be taken each year. 
The natives state that the increased cost of labour 
prevents this being done, but the Tables given in Ap- 
pendix B show that improved quality gives improved 
prices, while if nothing be done, the tea trade of Foo- 
chow will become a thing of the past. 
If, as stated before, the finest teas were produced 
with only the application of grass as a fertilizer, then 
it would seem unnecessary to go into the question of 
other manures, more especially as for some unknown 
reason the Chinese have a strong objection to their 
use, but we would draw attention to the extract from 
Colonel Money's well known work on tea cultivation in 
India, Appendix 0., which shows that chemical manures 
