January i, i 889.] TH£ TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
479 
puro, the finest flavored of all ton, and very wholesome 
and economical. Can bo tasted free at any time at our 
office. J. M. M & Co." &c. I think it would do more to 
assist me to dispose of Ceylon tea th:m anything that 
could be done for me. It would be making men present of 
so many hundreds of customers per annum — a welcome 
present for me and a direct benefit to the donors. 
What would serve me well would serve others in 
liko position. Assist them by advertising Ceylon tea on 
the general interest principle, and let THEM derive the 
benefit of the sales. 
I have enlarged on this subject, because it means the 
making of my business if I am assisted in this way. 
I called on Mr. (Jhilds the other day with the view to 
finding out wh it ho would allow upon his usual terms 
for such an advertisement, but found him away from 
home. I will see him shortly on the subject, and 
sound him, although I assure you there is no necessity 
for those who would thus assist me waiting for any 
further information. An official note addressed to Mr. 
Ohilds, asking him to draw upon them for any sum 
they may grant for this purpose, would bo attended to 
at onco and acknowledged by return of mail. 
How can unsupported pioneers assist themselves? 
Personally speaking, I had to assist myself, not on.'-y 
by finding monoy to keep things going, but by taking 
a sensible angler's view of my position, and changing 
my tly, or rather adding a new fly — and I think I 
may truthfully assort that this step helped me to keep 
"a stiff upper lip" when my heart was very near 
tailing altogether. There are two ways of wiuniug a 
battle. It may be won by storm, but it on also be won 
by stealth. This was the principle with which the 
second fly was dressed. " What will the Observer say 
to my using this bait '{" thought I to myself when 
1 gavo Messrs. J. H. Catherwood & Co. an order for 
a few chest* of Formosa Oolong and young Hyson, a 
venomous looking article forsooth. Well ! I had no 
choice in the matter. It Frenchmen eat frogs and 
enjoy snails, they have a right to enjoy them, and so 
have Americans to prefer the tea they have been used 
to, to Ceylon which they never tasted or heard 
of before. I saw a goodly number of people 
every day, who averred that they would like to deal 
with mo, but that, to bo honest, they did not fancy 
Ceylon tea, or their people did n't like it. It dawned 
upon mo that, while I accused Americans of prejudice, 
there might also be a little prejudice in my mind 
also. I accordingly asked Mr. Reid to furnish me with 
really good samples of the aforesaid teas, and after 
a week's taBting, I came to the conclusion that a very 
palatable blend of Ceylon, China, ami Japan tea wai 
nut only a possible thing, but a tea that was calculated 
to suit almost any taste. 1 no longer winced under 
thu ill-disguised expressions of displeasure or disap- 
pointment which 1 had accustomed tin self to expect 
on a customer first tasting the tea 1 eulogized so 
m nc li. If it did not suit, I presented cup No. 2, and 
if that did not suit, cup No. 3. Ono of tboso was 
sure to please, aud they all contained a large per- 
centage of Ceylon tea. These blonds proved uni- 
versally acceptable in the event of the pure Ceylon 
not being liked, and, in selling the blond tea, I in- 
variably gave, us 1 now do, a 2 oz. sample of tho 
pnro article with a perfect halo of eulogies to enhance 
its valne. I always give pure Ceylon the first chance, 
but in the event of the person to whom I give it not 
liking it, I never force a sale, as 1 have learnt to my 
cost that it id a mistake to do so. Thu additional 
custom thus secured makuB tho difference botweou 
a losing and a self-sustaining business. The only 
peoplol never ask to taste puro Ceylon tea are green 
tea drinkers, as to do so is to enoonrage wicked 
thoughts and suppressed bad language. I give them 
one-third Ceylon with the two-thirds of young Hyson, 
and they submit . 
I know that many will think they see in tin i letter 
tho first tokens of "throwing np tho sponge" in tho 
cause of Ceylon ten, but my object in writing is to 
claim precedence for this system of introducing /iui« 
Ceylon ton as the most sensible and practical of nil 
systenid, aud I think i ha\o tried most aud paid well 
(or my experience 
I sat down to this lotter about three hours ago 
with tho determination that I would make a clean 
breast of every heterodox opinion I suspected my. 
self of. I have bearded the lion m his den, which 1 
am glad to say is 13,000 miles away, and can only 
hope that not only he, but all his readers, will loot 
upon me, not aa a backslider, but as one who has 
been persuaded against his will to folio n the course 
of his convictions, and by presenting a palatable 
blond of Ceylon with China and Japan teas to the 
American people, demonstrate to them, not that 
Ceylon tea is improved by tho introduction of these 
teas, but that those toas to which they have been 
accustomed, is improved by the introduction of Ceylon 
tea, which, I endeavour to perauado them, they will 
eventually come to like, and appreciate as a pun; 
wholesomo, and economical tea. 
I cannot stop without a little reminder that I am 
in need of assistance. I never occupied the unenvi- 
able position of a beggar, but it appears to mo that 
I am doing justice, not only to myself, but to the 
cause in which 1 am engaged, when I claim the as- 
sistance I really need. 
My capital has never l>6en large, having buried the 
greater part of that commodity in the sloping sub- 
soils of Dolosbage, but I have worked with a will, and 
pushed Ceylon tea for all it is worth. " It now 
appears / need thy holp," and I think I can reckon 
on the echo " Well, be it so. " I have been success- 
ful in establishing quite a business, but constant 
advertizing is necessary, absolutely necessary, and that 
it is that handicaps me. I am not in any way dis- 
couraged aa to the future of Ceylon tea. What con- 
cerns me most at present is my own future, for it is 
a struggle all the time. The fact that it is nearing the 
presidential election paralyzes business and makes 
it all the harder for me, but I keep at it all the same. 
I send this letter through Mr. J. L. Shand, to 
whom I am writing, and he may add a few remarks 
which will bo very acceptable from one of his ex- 
perience in the pioneering line. I will now close, as 
I don't wish to occupy an eutire daily issue — lam, 
yours very truly. J. MoCOMBIE MURRAY. 
Philadelphia, October 21th, 1883. 
Mr. J. McCombie Murray, l'hila. Dear Sir, — We 
are in receipt of your inquiry as to our opinion of the 
Ceylon tea prospects in tho United States. In reply 
would say that our opiuiou, based upon actual expe- 
rience, is that Ceylon tea can bo sold in this country, 
provided sufficient interest is manifested in educating 
tho public to appreciate it, and provided skill and tact 
are employed in introducing it. This work costs 
money to the odncators, and you need not bo surprised 
at the apparout indittoreuco of tho trade so long as 
there is no " moneyed ' advantage for them to take 
this troublo. We have spent considerable timo aud 
money in pushing and advertising Ooylon tea, aud 
believe that if wo could purchase the tea at lower 
prices, or roceivo a rebato with the understanding that 
it is intended for advertising purposes, and to warrant 
the employment of lubour to push it, that we would push 
it in many sections of tho United States. While wo 
cannot say what this would amount to, we are justified 
in predicting a vory large increase on what we have 
dono up to this time. If you could suoceed in getting 
some rebato of this kind for ns, it would stimulate us 
to do all that wo possibly could to pnsh its sale. — 
Yours vory truly, Fixlev Ackkk & Co. 
A CHANCE 01-' A PRIZE FOR CEYLON 
TOBACCO GROWERS. 
Colombo, 14th Dec. 1388. 
Dkar Sir, — Under the abovo heading a para- 
graph appeared in last night's Observer stating 
that tho London Chamber of Commerce " offers 
a prize (or the best specimen o( Colonial-grown 
tobacco weighing not less than 100 lb." For the 
information of Ceylon tobacco growors, permit me 
to uuy that a prizo of fifty guineas was offered 
bo March last, und tho conditions respecting same 
