November i, 1888.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
309 
or with which they have long since pirted. Hence, 
the administrators of the law are disinclined to inter- 
fere with the traffic in this vile herb, which, if at 
all like that of 1078, justifies the lament of 
Mr. Secretary Coventry, that nations were grow- 
ing so "wicked" as to have ''the filthy eu - 
torn of calling for Tea, instead of pipes and 
bottles after dinner." Tea which costs, at first hand, 
less than twopence a pound, needs no tavern bush 
to proclaim its quality. But/though it is, happily, 
an "exceptional Brand," there is plenty, at a much 
higher price, which is not much hotter. The cup 
into which it enters may not inebriate, but a 
knowledge of its contents can scarcely cheer. Never- 
theless, hundreds of tho most lavish hosts, who pour 
out Lafitte at one hundred and thirty shillings the 
dozen, and who would scorn to offor a bottle with 
even a suspicion of corkeduess, will, half an hour 
later, themselves drink, and, without a thought that 
they are not koeping up the character they assumed 
earlier in tho evening, a^k their guests to drink 
"fine flavoured Bohea" at half a crown the pound. 
This, no doubt, may be very superior to the shilling 
tea over which our correspondent so justly waxes 
wrath, yet it is not fit for a house in which wiue at 
fifteen shillings tho bottle is consumed. No host in 
Kussia— China or Japan may be taken for granted 
— would dream of drinking Tea of this kind, even 
though the claret might bear a humbler label than 
that of linglish dinnor-giver ; but even when ten 
shillings is paid for a pound of overland "The" 
from Kiakhta, tho cost, of au entertainment is not very 
appreciably increased by this extravagance. 
The truth is that in drinking cheap tov we err more 
in ignorance than out of niggardliness. Accustomed 
to tho low-priced article which tlie cutting competition 
in Miucing-lano has put before us, fow men tbink or 
know that there exists, even in Cbiua, growths worth 
forty or fifty shillings the pouud, aid that in the fa- 
mous district of CJji, in Japan, tdcro ar« some valued 
at more than sixty shillings the pouud. Of course, *e 
may well believe that there is not a great deal of this 
" chop" in the Yokohama market. However ten, 
twelve, and ovon fifteen shillings, is by nomeansan 
uncommon retail price in Moscow and St. Petersburg; 
and in London, brands quite as high, and as well worth 
the money, may he obtained, though, perhaps, not in 
tho shops which profess to sell Flowery pekoe at ouo 
and fourpence the pound. But Loudon dealers kuow 
that it is useless to import -u li high-priced tea 1 * in 
any quantity, for not one person out. of ten thousand 
would drctimot paying tho value put upon them. They 
have been educated into knowing that '51 port is not 
to be had lor thirty shillings the dozen ; hut they 
re adily swallow tho fiction which affirms that no better 
tua need bo drunk thau " our Young Hyson" at 
eighteen-peuce, or " our superb Souchong " at twico 
the money. Liven Russia is getting corrupted by the 
cheapor teas imported by sea ; and there are rising up 
economists who, like M. Tegoborski, are not slow to 
affirm that tho legond regarding the superior quality 
of Caravan tea is unsupported by actual facts. China 
has, however, another tale to tell. Year after year, 
hu trade iu tea has been so much cut into by India, 
Ceylon, and Java, that tho (lovernment has become 
thoroughly alarmed. Fortunes are no longer acquired 
iu the business, and a bare livelihood is getting diffi- 
cult. Between 1381 and 1887, the export had de- 
oreaseA by about twenty-si\ million pound.;; while 
that of India and Ceylon hud increased by thirty- 
seven million pounds ; ami this year is expected to 
show a still greater disparity. Instead of trying to 
on nt this rivalry, by imitating the English growers 
in their departure from the old, conventional methods 
of preparing the leaves, the Chinese planters and 
leuiU' n have endeavoured to make both ond.s meet by 
further and further sophisticating their wares, with the 
result Mint they are not cheap, and are decidedly nasty. 
The natural oonaequoiioe is that the bett t cibivatod, 
better e dlcc'ol, bolter cured, better paok il, more hon- 
estly mild, and yet lower pricod teas of our eastern 
Bmpin :>re rapidly supplanting those of Ohlnain the 
market, now that the con*uin>»r hat lenrnrd to dis- 
tinguish good from evi , and to abnndun the arbitrary 
taste he had acquired for the Siuetic article. Al- 
ready, Japan has stolen half of the Ohiuese trade iu 
green tea. Before long, unless the growers who, 
until twenty or thirty yea- s ago, bad a practical mono- 
poly of the business, turn over au entirely new leaf, 
Oejlon aud India will have absorbe I their once enor- 
mous, and still important, commerce in black tea. 
The beverage with which hardeued tea drinkers, 
like Dr. Johnson, "amused the evening, solaced the 
midnight, anil welcomed the morning," was not quite 
the herb in which sjmaiiy of bis countryfolk find a 
moderate degree of comfort. Ateight or nine shillings 
the pound it was reasonably pure, and, though lack- 
ing something in nicety of preparation, was better 
than the hastily-cured stuff which is despatched 
to meet the demaud for a sound family tea " at one 
tnd threepence the pound. The adulteration came 
later. Then it was that paddy husks, and various 
other leaves, faced with clay, soapstone, catechu, and 
black lead, supplied the lack of the unadulterated 
herb. What was advertised as " Fine (Honing Ojngou " 
was known iu the trade as " Ma-loo Mixture," and in 
China by the frank title of " Lie Tea." It consisted 
of the sweepings of the " Codowns," of the re- 
dried leaves of exhausted tea, much of which 
had become putrid, aud of other rubbish, which an 
eye-witness described as lying in heaps iu Shanghai, 
with dogs aud pigs trampling over it. Nor was " Lie- 
Tea " making unknown on thi3 side of the ocean. 
Several establishments were reported to the Board of 
Inland Revenue as engaged in the business of collect- 
ing from hotels, coffee-houses, and elsewhere, exhausted 
leaves, re-drying tbem, aud facing them with rose- 
pink aud black lead. Others contrived to make the 
leaves of the sloe, hawthorn, peach, willow, beech, 
plane, and other plants do duty, until it was next to 
impossible to obtain a perfectly pure specimen of a 
green or fancy tea. Of late years, we believe, there 
has been comparatively little adulteration, oithev here 
or on the other side. The analyst has been too much 
for the rogues. Moreover, the latter have learnt that 
there are more ways of cheating the public than by 
selling them sloe leaves for tea, aud hay for tobacco. 
Instead of mixing up strange herbs with the real ones 
they prepare the latter in a cheap and careless fashion, 
and toss into tho " chops " any and all growths. 
They no longer devoto the care, money, and time which 
the English growers do to the selection of the shoots 
in strict accordance with their future gradation iu teas. 
The result is a kind of nnpoetical justice. After half 
poisoning the popple for years, and corrupting the 
public taste uutil it is almost beyond redemption, 
their siu has found them out at last. Their malpractices 
have been brought to light, and they are.uow seeing their 
business pass into the hands of men who early learnt 
the lessou which teaches that honesty is the best policy. 
Sir, — The following figures, compiled from Official 
Returns, show the home consumption of the different 
growths during the three years eudiug alst May, 1836, 
1837, aud 1833 :— 
Indian. Ceylon. China. 
Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. 
59 million'. ..32 . 
1886 
1887 
1888 
99 
,'l „ .. 71 .. 96 
81 „ .. 12 .. 84 
These statistics, coupled with the fact that the 
August homo consumption of China Tea was 1J mil- 
lion pounds loss than 1887, upset the tho theory of a 
reaction in its favonr. It is surprising that any ouo 
hailing from Mincing lane should ho so misinformed 
as to broach such a theory. 
The verdict of the trade m fnvotir of Uritish grown 
Tea — which merely reflects tho opinion of consumers— 
is the more emphatic, because tho cheapness of China 
tea would enable the retailer to make a larger profit 
on his Hides, if ho could sell it agaiusl competitors 
who nro Helling Indian or Ceylon. 
In order to ascertain why China Tea is being pushed 
out of consumption, it is ouly necesiary to obtain 
half-ail ounce of In, linn or Coylon, aud of China of 
equal markot value, infuse ouch in a pint of boiliug 
water lor live iniunto», pour off tho infujiou, aud re 
