February i, 1888.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST 
57' 
he can make it now if it suited him to make 
quality instead of quantity. 
The accounts publishod by thoso travellers who 
have visited the tea districts, and have reported 
upon the prooess of manufacture, differ so much, 
that it is impossible for outsiders to make out how 
tho cultivator plucks his leaf, and then treats it, and 
the Sub-Committee appear to be equally ignorant.' 
Some authorities say, he sun-dries it until he has 
a sullicient quantity to sell to the tea-men who are 
located in every town in the tea districts ; others 
say, he keeps his green leaf until he has collected 
a few piculs, which he carries to tho nearest town 
for sale ; others ugain say, that he rolls his leaf, 
half-fires it, and then sells it to the tea-men to 
complete the manufacture. 
Anyway, under either of these methods, the 
tea-men cannot receive the leaf in a state to be 
converted into the best tea. In the first case it 
would be too much dried to roll, and would have 
to be moistened to admit of the process ; in the 
second case, tho leaf would be fermeuted before 
boing rolled ; in the third, the leaves would not 
be withered and fermented to that nicety which 
India and Ceylon planters consider necessary to 
make the best tea. 
The Sub-Committee say, under the influence of 
rain or any untoward circumstance, the process 
breaks down entirely, but they do not describe the 
process. Are we to infer that there is an uniform 
one all over China ? 
4. The points which require the greatest change 
are not only fermentation and firing, but pluoking, 
withering, and fermentation. The Chinese under- 
stand the method of firing properly, and where 
sirrooos are not used, we have adopted their choolas. 
5. For the reasons givon in my paragraph No. 
1, I doubt if there has been any falliug-ofl in the 
way China tea is prepared. Is it not more prob- 
able that owing to the enormous decline in prices, 
the cultivator, to make up his roturns, increases 
his quantity by plucking baugy or hard leaves ? 
If he does, the deterioration is easly accounted 
for. 
0. If the revival of tho China tea trade de. 
pends upon the export of flavoury teas alone, 
thou it is likoly to be a distant event— present 
English prioes do not appoar to tempt holders of 
the boat teas to part with them. 
7. Indian and Ceylon planters will perfectly appre- 
ciate the difficulty in making large chops of 50,000 to 
150,000 lb. of even quality, if the leaf from which it is 
made has to be kept a week or ten days after it has 
been picked from the tree, as the Sub-Committeo say 
it has. With regard to their remark on Indian tea 
ohops, I will only point out that it would require a big 
estate to piok, prepare, and pack in one day 5,000 
to 7,600 lb. of one description of tea.t fancy how 
many Chinose native tea gardens it would require 
to make up chops of 50,000 to 150,000 lb. of 
uniform quality! 
8. In our experience, the difference in skilfully 
made tea betwoen that grown at higher and lowor 
elevations is in flavour. The teas of the higher 
olovations are more flavoury than tho60 of the lower, 
but the latter are stronger. The great deteriora- 
tion complainod of oan scarcely be attributed to 
diUeronco betweon the different districts whoro toa 
in grown. 
If the quality of our teas is to deteriorate 
greatly unload we replant evory teu years as Mr. 
Fortune wrotu is necessary, to maintain good quality, 
• lu Williams' " Middle Kingdom," it is stated 
that Ibe twigs »ro roughly stripped, — Ed. 
t Hut wli» over heard or oven a small break i>f teu 
huing plu.-liwd and finally paakud ou the same day ?— 
Ku. 
there is a poor lookout for Ceylon planters, who 
have been consoling themselves in the midst of 
their misfortunes with the idea that thuy had at 
length found a long lived plant. Modern authori- 
ties led us to believe, that the tea tree lived in 
China for one or two hundred years. Fortunately 
wo know from our own limited experience, that 
ten years old tea trees do not show the least 
symptoms of dying in what we consider their 
youlh.* 
The remainder of the Sub-Committee's memoran- 
dum only calls for criticism on one or two points ? 
The first is, that as the Chinese Government only 
interested itself in the question, in defence of its 
falling export duty, is it likely they will sweep 
away all taxation on tea simply to benelil the 
foreign shippers and consumers? If it was not 
for the revenue derived from the export duty, what 
would the Chinese Government care, whether there 
was a pound of tea exported or not? The cultivator 
cannot care very much, whether he converts hia 
bangy and hard leaves into tea, for the use of 
foreigners, because at 4d to (id per lb. in London, 
he gets very little remuneration for his trouble. 
The Sub-Committee remark further that the 
enormous English duty does not affect adversely 
the value of China tea ! They do not appear to 
perceive, that a uniform duty of sixpence per pound 
is a direct protection in favour of these countries 
which produce good teas. 
The duty on the chief portion of China tea made 
from coarse leaf is more than 100 per cent., where- 
as on teas made from young flushes it is only 50 
per cent— Yours truly, ' A TEA PLANTER. 
P.S. — Common China congou is terribly handi- 
capped. There is the English duty of :id per 
pound, the China lekin and export duty 2d per 
pound ; difference in strength between India and 
Ceylon and China teas say 2d per pound ; more- 
over Indian teas only turn out 8 per cent of in- 
ferior, such as broken mixed, fannings £.nd dust, 
against tho Chinese 25 per cent. Can the ship- 
ment of low class China tea be continued long ? is 
a question of great importance to Ceylon, 
THE CHINA TEA TRADE : 
REPORT BY EXPERTS. 
The following report has been addressed to Mr. 
11. Elgar llobson, Couitnissiouer of Imperial Maritime 
Customs, Shanghai : — 
Shanghai, 17th December 18S7. 
Sir, — In replying to your request for information 
about the tea trade, we think it would be of some 
interest to prelude our remarks by giving a very few 
figures showing how the taste in Eugland has changed 
during the past few years. 
Let us compare the deliveries in London for the 
twelve months from 1st Juue to ulst MaylsjO-Sl and 
1886-87 :— 
'lea 188U-81 1886-67 Decrease Increase 
China 158,OJS,0(Hi 1:11,838,000 a;,s00.o0o 
Jupai U'J.OOO 65,0u0 81,ue0 
Iudinu 48,'285,000 7j.l-io,0OO ... 27.150.uOO 
Ceylon 7,744,000 ... 7,741,000 
Java 1,779,000 3.U71 .0"0 ... 1.8tf2.0oO 
African 4,0oo ... 1,000 
Total 
doliverIoa...2'JS.-\M> > 0o0 ic'l.Ui.OOO 
This year promises to give eveii more striking re- 
sult than these, the lust published figures. These 
figure's are very instructive, as they not only show tho 
decrease in China tea and the gains of other coun- 
tries, but they also prove what proper care in culti- 
vation and preparation will do when skilfully applied. 
We refer particularly to Java tens, which ,i few years 
ugo were weak and poor ill quality, but which havo 
* At high elevations tea bushes are really only at tho 
full tearing stage at teu years old, and Mr. Armstrong 
QMOribei tho plant as prui-tic-ally rvurUsting.- Ku. 
