66 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [July 2, 1888. 
est in CeyloD that he did in other parts of his future 
dominions : as it was His Royal Highness moved 
right round us, visiting the v ourts on three sides 
of us, but avoiding us like a plague. I don't 
blame His Royal Highness for this ; I blame the 
Government of Ceylon, who, when they found 
the Planting and Commercial Associations of 
the island taking all the trouble and expense of 
keeping Ceylon in touch with the mother-country, 
refused even to assist where it was their duty to 
have led. — Yours truly, David Reid. 
H. K. Rutherford, Esq. 
ADVANCING APPRECIATION OF CEYLON TEA. 
Mr. John Hughes, the well-known chemist, writes 
to us : — " I enclose cutting from the Lady of last 
week on 1 Afternoon Tea.' It is not written by 
myself, but as it speaks favourably of Ceylon tea, 
I thought it would be of interest, especially as a 
direct indication of an improved taste for a superior 
quality of tea. As you are aware, these views 
agree with those I have lately brought forward, 
and I trust we shall soon see a demand for tea 
with a fine flavor, but containing little tannin, which 
characterizes your high-grown Ceylon tea." The 
article alluded to is as follows :— 
Afternoon Tea. 
At the present day tea is more popular than it has 
ever been, and yet there never was a time when so 
little care was exercised in the making of it, or bo 
much of inferior quality consumed. 
" Afternoon tea " has become an institution. Call 
where you may between four and five p. m., you are 
sure to be invited to partake of the fashionable refresh- 
ment, But, alas ! how seldom is the proffered cup 
really refreshing ! Too often it proves to be a luke- 
warm, insipid fluid, which politeness compels one to 
taste, but inclination hesitates to swallow. Or, if not 
insipid, it is apt to be harsh and bitter, and suggestive 
of dyspepsia. It would be seen that there are some 
people incapable of distinguishing between good 
tea and bad, and who think that anything will 
do that is called by that name. They forget that 
tea is not of one universal quality, and that 
though a pound is the same in bulk whatever the 
the price, there is a very real difference in value 
between tea at one shilling, and the same at two or 
three shillings. 
It is a curious fact that it is not the upper classes 
who buy the best tea, or attach the most importance 
to the method of making it. Formerly, when the 
fragrant leaf was more than twice the price it is now, 
it was customary for the lady of the house to brew 
it herself, and the task was performed with scru- 
pulous nicety. Nowadays the duty is usually left to 
servants, and the result is the deterioration of the 
beverage. Average servants are poor tea-makers. I 
do not know why they should, but they are. Pos- 
sibly they make the common mistake of thinking 
that simple duties require no care, and consequently 
neglect the few plain rules which must be observed 
in order to obtain a really refreshing cup of tea. These 
rules are but four, and brief :— 
1. The tea must be good. 
2. The water must be boiling. 
3. But it should not have boiled long. Water that 
has been boiling for any length of time becomes flat, 
and fails to bring out the flavour of the leaf. 
4. The teapot should be made hot before the tea is 
put into it. The vessel being warm will abstract less 
heat from the mixture, and thus admit of more power- 
ful action. 
The infmion made in silver or polished metal tea- 
pots is stronger than that produced in earthenware 
pots; but, on the other baud, the silver or metal pot 
when filled a second time produces worse tea than 
the earthenware vessel, and it is advisable to use the 
latter unless a metal one can be procured sufficiently 
largo to contain at once all that may be required. 
This fact is readily explained by considering that the ac- 
tion of heat retained by the silver vessel so far exhausts 
the herb as to leave very little soluble substance for 
a second infusion; whereas the reduced temperature 
of the water in the earthenware pot, by extracting 
only a small proportion at first, leaves some soluble 
matter for the action of a subsequent infusion. 
When, therefore, a metal pot is used there should 
be no second infusion. The pot beiDg hot, the tea 
should be put in and a small quantity of boiling 
water poured on it. After standing five or six minutes 
— the time necessary for infusion varying according to 
the kind of tea used— the teapot should be filled up 
and allowed to stand, carefully covered with a cosy, 
for five or six minutes longer. The tea will then be 
fit for use; and when the pot is empty, another, if 
required, should be produced. 
Ladies accustomed to refilling their teapots may 
think this plan savours of extravagance. Tea, how- 
ever, is now a cheap luxury. Compare the price of a 
bottle of wine and a pound of tea at three shillings. 
A bottle of champagne is only sufficient for four 
or five persons, while a pound of tea contains ninety- 
six teaspoonfuls, and each teaspoonful, at a moderate 
computation, will make at least one cup of tea. So 
for three shillings you can offer one cup of good tea 
to ninety-six persons, or two cups of tea to forty- 
eight persons. There is therefore, no excuse for poor 
tea on the score of expense. 
Why should not ladies take as much pride and 
interest in the flavour and quality of their favourite 
beverage as men do in the flavour and bouquet of 
their wines ? At present it not uufrequently happens 
that in houses where the master takes care that bis 
guests have good sound wine to drink, the mistress 
in her drawing-room is not ashamed to offer to her 
afternoon visitors, under the name of tea, a weak, 
watery fluid which a poor charwoman would disdain 
to accept. 
India and Ceylon now rival China in the production 
of tea. Indian tea is chiefly remarkable for the 
large amount of tannin it contains, often as much 
as 15 per cent., and eveu more. This gives it strong 
astringent properties which make it a suitable beverage 
for hot countries. In our moderate climate the 
same need for astringents does not exist, and the 
quantity of tannin makes the tea indigestible. Judging 
from personal observation, the cheap, coarse kinds 
of Indian tea are much used. Tbey can be instantly 
recognised by their roughness on the tongue. 
Ceylon tea has come to the front in a remarkable 
manner within the last few years. Some five or six 
years ago the present writer well remembers asking for 
Ceylon tea at a large, well-known tea establishment 
in Oxford Street. Such a thing was unknown. 
" Tea comes from China,'' the shopman blandly 
explained. "Spice comes from Ceylon." 
Ceylon tea has now become so popular that advant- 
age has been taken of its popularity to sell inferior 
kinds of China under that name. Probably not more 
than half the tea called "Ceylon" really comes from 
that beautiful island. The amount of tannin in Ceylon 
tea varies more than in the Indian leaf, and for this 
reason. Tea grown, as in India, at low altitudes, and 
on strong, rich soils, contains a high percentage of 
tannin ; while in Ceylon, where the tree flourishes at 
altitudes varying from one thousand to six thousand 
feet, and on a poor soil, the amount of tannin varies 
with the elevation. The greater the altitude, the less 
tannin, and the finer the flavour. These high-grown 
Ceylon teas are very delicious, and the small quantity 
of tannin present — only 6 per cent, in some instances 
— makes them peculiarly suitable to persons of weak 
digestion. 
THE MADRAS DIA.MOND FIELDS. 
India was, says a Madras paper, the home of the 
diamond before Brazil, not to speak of Kimberley. 
was discovered ; and Golcondah is a name that 
sparkles in the imagination of the romantic like the 
cave into which the geni led Alladin. The British 
Districts of Bellary and Anantapur, are supposed to 
