THE TROPICAL 
gency" is the rasping, almost bitter taste, and pecu- 
liar to the lowcountry teas ; pekoe flavor is thin, 
delicate, and sweet ; and burnt almost any tyro 
can detect ; but then on the other hand many are 
apt to say that a high-fired tea is burnt, whereas 
it is the taste of the fire just sufficient to retain 
the flavor of the tea which a beginner cannot detect 
until he has had some experience and some teaching. 
Hints on Manufacture. — The second part of my 
paper I approach with a certain amount of diffidence, as 
I know that the greater part of those present are 
efficient tea makers, yet some hiats may, I trust, be 
taken in the kindly spirit with which they are meant. 
The various stages of manufacture, you have, so to 
speak, almost got by heart, and it is quite unnecessary 
for me to describe them. I conclude that everyone 
knows a good from a bad wither, but we will take it for 
granted that a good wither has been obtained and the 
leaf is being put into the roller. How long should the 1st 
roll be ? My idea, from practical experience, is that it 
should be J of an hour to an hour and then sift out 
the small leaf in the usual way, then well roll the large 
leaf for another half an hour or so, and again sift out, 
which slightly increases your percentage of pekoe tips, 
and then roll the balance of leaf for about 20 minutes. 
This will soften any hard coarse leaves you may meet 
with. The tendency of the modern tea maker is to 
under-ferment in order to give pungency, but surely leaf 
which has not gone through the full chemical process 
is not likely to keep. Proper fermentation gives strength 
and flavour combined, whereas you sacrifice your 
strength by uuderfermenting. As regards firing I would 
still advocate firing at a high temperature. Teas which 
have the taste of the fire in the liquor will keep better 
than the under or imperfectly fired tea. Of course care 
must be taken not to burn, scorch, or char your leaf, 
but in the case of the high fired tea the flavour devel- 
ops during the voyage from Ceylon to England, whereas 
with an imperfectly fired tea the muisture which has 
not been dried out of the leaf, comes out and causes 
the leaf to be soft and spongy instead of crisp, and the 
liquor tastes thin and flavorless. The retailer at home 
who has to keep his teas some time is careful to avoid 
the teas of an estate which experience has shown him 
are imperfectly cured, however cheap they may be. 
Sorting is still as important as ever, and tea makers 
must not be tempted to make simply unassorted be- 
cause for the moment broken pekoes and pekoes arefetch- 
ing low prices at home, The principal retailer, viz. , the 
grocer, likes to have bis 3/, 2/6, 2/, and 1/8 canister, and 
will in my opinion continue to have them. I would 
keep to the three principal grades of broken or perhaps 
orange pekoe (the preference being now at home for 
leafy teas), pekoe and pekoe souchong. "When hand 
sieving I would caution you not to use too fine sieves. 
The cooly in order to get as much tea as possible to 
pass through the sieve is apt to smash and bruise the 
leaf and it becomes grey ; rather use the next largest 
sieve to what you ordinarily do and break up your 
rough leaves with a good cutter. In conclusion there 
seems to me little doubt that however good a tea 
maker you may be, you cannot make fine flavory tea, 
unless the leaf itself is good, but a bad tea-maker will 
at all events spoil the leaf however good it may be. 
Future of Tea in Respect of Consumption and 
Prices. — My last subject is a somewhat difficult one. 
It deals with an unknown quantity as it were. The 
wise man prophesies after the event, and a man must 
be either a very clever fellow or a fool who prophesies 
before the event. I never laid claim to being the 
former, and I am afraid there is no middle 
course. I leave the inference to you, but in spite of 
being called bad names by our good friends the 
Qbsen&r and the " Times," I shall attempt to forecast 
the future : — 
At one time I thought of dealing with figures. 
They are not only misleading, but apt to be dangerous. 
The, Observer in a leading article in its issue of 28th 
January deals pretty exhaustively with the subject 
as to figures, so I propose to speak on general lines 
an it were. 
There is no doubt whatever, that teas of Indian 
and Ceylon growth are slowly but gradually supplant- 
AGRICULTURIST. [March i, 1888. 
ing those of China and will continue to do so as 
long as they can show better value on the London 
market, but I think there is no question that if 
Indians or Ceylons ever show a marked falling-off, 
that the London buyer will again turn his attention 
to China teas. Can we afford to lay down our teas 
(including Pekoe Souchong and the lower grade) 
at the equivalent of 6d per lb. in London and show 
a profit to the grower ; and yet the Chinese 
can. If common congou had been ruling at that 
price in London this year there would have been no 
falling, off in the export from China for the season 
1887-8. 
Teas for price are what we must be prepared for 
when the export reaches large proportions, and our 
only safeguard as far as Ceylon teas are concerned, 
will be to keep up the quality and strength, so that 
relatively our common grades will be cheaper than the 
China growths, being stronger and better, a com- 
paratively smaller quantity of leaf being required 
to make palatable drinking tea. A good proportion 
of the finer grades will still be required for the richer 
classes, but the proportion will be small and the 
demand will be for the 1/8 and 2/ (duty paid) 
canisters. 
Though there have been fluctuations from time to 
time in the London wholesale market, yet there has 
been a gradual tendency towards lower prices for the 
consumer, and the retailer cannot afford to raise his 
prices. With the competition of stores and direct 
agencies, the retail price can hardly advance, as the 
retailer would prefer to sell at a loss rather than lose 
his customers. The retail price controls the whole- 
sale one, as my experience of the tea trade for several 
years past has 6hown me, and we must be prepared for 
cheap prices. 
Lastly, gentlemen, I can come to no other conclusion 
than that with the increasing export of Ceylon teas, we 
must look to "pastures new" and loyally and strongly 
back up the gentlemen who are trying by every 
means in their power to find fresh outlets for 
your teas. 
The Pondicherry Ground Nut trade for the 
current year practically commenced from the 
beginning of last week. The prices were nominal 
but prohibitive. Opinions differ as to the probable 
crop available for export, but it is doubtful if the 
present year's shipments will exceed 750,000 bags. 
Now that Bombay has become a competitor for 
the trade, under conditions generally superior to 
those obtaining at Pondicherry, a disturbance of 
the only available trade left for the little capital 
of French India is apprehended. — M. Mail, Jan; 24th. 
Adiantum Fergusoni, Moore. — Dr Trimen writes 
to us from Ceylon : — " The facts as to the dis- 
covery of this curious Fern in Ceylon, are not 
quite correctly given in your note at p. 470. People 
in the tropics do not keep their plants in " con- 
servatories," but place the pots or tubs containing 
them in the verandahs of their bungalows. It was 
in the verandah of the house of a native gentle- 
man at Negombo, a town on the coast, some 20 
miles north of Colombo, that my late observant 
friend, Mr. W Ferguson, first noticed this Adian- 
tum. It was not a seedling but a fine, fully grown 
plant. Unfortunately, no one was able to give any 
information about it, and its origin thus remains 
quite unknown. It has, however, now become a 
common Fern in Colombo gardens, being very 
easily grown from the spores, which are always 
copiously produced. The progeny has never been 
observed to differ in the slightest degree from the 
parent, and the plant has certainly more claim to 
a distinctive name than the majority of the 
Maidenhairs on which horticulturists have recently 
bestowed them. Henky Trimen."— Gardeners' Vhro- 
■aide, Dec. 3rd. 
