February i, 1888.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
To the Editor of the " Ceylon Observer." 
MR. JOHN HUGHES ON TANNIN IN TEA ; 
TIIEINE ; AND TEA ANALYSES GENERALLY ; 
" THE JUBILEE VOLUME ON CEYLON." 
London, E.C., Dec. 2nd, 1887. 
Dhau Sin, — Since you left I have determined the 
amoun. of theine in the Naseby tea, the mean re- 
sult of the determinations being '625 per cent, the 
actual figures in each case being -00 by one method 
and •05 by another method. This is certainly low* 
when compared with published results, for according 
to Slenhouse two per cent is the average found 
in tens of commerce. In certain green teas Peligot 
found as much as six pounds in every hundred 
pounds of dried tea ; but so large a proportion as 
this is very rare. In another Ceylon tea, however, 
grown at the comparatively low elevation of 2,500 
only - 26 of theine was found while there was 
18 per cent of soluble tannin and the liquor pro- 
d was considered decidedly strong. The pro- 
portion, therefore, oi theine found in the Naseby 
tea if small was yet twico as much as that found 
in the low-ground tea. We must remember that 
theine is an extremely volatile alkaloid, so that no 
doubt a oertain proportion is frequently expelled 
during the process of firing, and the higher the 
temperature the greater the loss. Theine has no 
smell and only a slightly bitter taste. It has, 
therefoic, very little to do with the flavour of the 
tea from which it is extracted, and it is much 
more reasonable for us to regard the peculiar 
essential oil as the chief factor in producing the 
line aroma of good tea. At the same time the 
strength of tea is doubtless dependent upon tho 
amount of tannin present. Consequently, we may 
expect that in hot countries, such as India and 
Australia, Indian and Ceylon teas containing much 
taunin will be greatly preferred to ordinary China 
tea on account of their greater astringent properties. 
Indeed, we might from this argue that strong tea 
will generally be preferred in hot climates, and the 
liner quality tea possessing less tannin in more 
temperate zones. I know myself that Anglo-Indians 
who have been accustomed to give their children 
comparatively strong tea in India find it necessary 
to reduce the strength when coming to resido in 
England. 
For old or very young persons the less tannin 
the better, hence the value of high-grown tea, such 
as that of Naseby. Tta acts not simply a9 a 
beverage, but as a food, the soluble extract being 
specially rich in nitrogen compounds. No wonder 
therefore that tea should bo a favourite -on tho 
one hand with the poor, whose supplies of substantial 
food are sca*ity— and on the other with tho aged 
and infirm, especially of the feobler sex whose 
powors of digestion and whoso bodily substance have 
together begun to fail. 
Again in the case of strong tea how useful i3 the 
astringent power of the tannin in bracing up the 
body for special exertion or in ohecking internal 
disorders. How common it is to hear of the re- 
covering patient ask for " a cup of tea " and to 
prefer to drink it without milk or sugar so as to 
riijoy the full benolit of the natural beverage. 
In conclusion I think planters who may wish 
to know something definite respecting the properties 
of their tea, which affect thoir Halo in tho public 
market, will find it useful to havo the proportion 
• It hjM I o 'ii lUggeattd l hut tho low proportion of 
tiiiiniii in thi ; ru io may ho duo to tho tni-bushe-i doing 
specially young— tho lirnt plucking .' further analyses 
titer on may t now light on this.— Ed. 
05 
of tannin rather than limine determined as well as 
an estimation of the amount of essential oil present. 
It would also be useful to ascertain to what extent 
the proportion of these constituents may be in- 
flueticed by the processes of manufacture such as 
withering and firing, for these operations are, or 
should be, conducted on chemical principles to 
produce certain results. 
The splendid Jubilee copy of " Ceylon in 
1887 " reached me last week and is a volume of 
great interest and of great value to all who may 
intend visiting the island or who already have 
important connections with it. — Wishing you the 
compliments of the season, believe me, yours faith- 
fully, JOHN HUGHES. 
GOOD, PRACTICAL ADVICE FROM JAVA 
TO CEYLON CINCHONA PLANTERS. 
Java, 12th Dec. 1887. 
Sir. — If, in submitting the following remarks 
to the attention of those of your readers that are 
interested in cinchona cultivation, we intrude 
upon the valuable space of your paper, we trust 
the importance of the subject under consideration 
may excuse us for so doing. 
When, some fifteen years ago, leaf -disease de- 
throned Ceylon's popular " King Coffee," a great 
many planters went in for the cultivation of " new 
products," in order to make up for the loss of 
their gradually dying-off coli'ee shrubs. Amongst 
those new products cinchona held a prominent 
place, et pour cause, for if only a tenth part had 
come true of the calculations which in those 
times were made as to the probable profits this 
product was to yield, cinchona-planting would have 
been a first-rate business inieed. 
But, unhappily, those have proved right who 
prophesied, that iu a case as of this drug, which 
only commands a limited market-field, overpro- 
duction of bark would soon be sure to come and 
force prices down, to an extent of which in 
those times few people ever dreamt. In fact, the 
unit, which four years ago was Is Id and more, 
now stands at 2jd after having been at Id and 
lid in October last. 
Still we think — and we are able to corroborate 
our opinion by facts — that this tremendous fall in 
prices must principally be ascribed to many Caylon 
planters having harvested and exported barks, 
which at their sale did not realize prices sufficient 
even to repay the direct expenses of harvesting, 
i.e. of collecting, drying, packing, transporting and 
selling put together. So they have swamped the 
market with inferior harks without sensible profits 
— if indeed any — to themselves, and to the great 
prejudice of thoso who exported barks of finer quality 
(amongst theso our Java planters), but only got 
these paid for at unit prices in every respect 
disappointing the most prudent calculations niado 
beforehand. 
In looking over the regular market reports of 
London broker firms of the last two years, wo 
find constantly that a great part, and, in later 
times in fact from a third to a half, of the bark 
offered has been disposed of at prices ranging 
under Id per lb. We are unable to exactly i ti- 
niatc the cost of production per lb., which Ceylon 
planters have to pay for the bark as delivered at 
tho London market, but according to information 
which our President, Mr. Mundt, collected on his 
visit to your beautiful and hospitable island in 
April 1886, we suppose that near this prico of 
Id por lb. lios tho limit, where planters in your 
colony ore ablo to sell thoir barks with a profit 
on the tlirtci expenses. An estate which is devoted 
to cinchona planting exclusively, will, of course. 
