282 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [September i, i88i. 
it on board a hulk or a hoy sent down the Thames 
to sea reach, and there, under the supervision of 
revenue officers, it was started into the sea. About 
10 years after this period two vessels, tea-laden, were 
wrecked near the mouth of the Thames. One vessel 
was the "Westminster," the other, I think, the "Lady 
Flora." The tea was immediately recovered and sent 
up to th° East India Docks in steamers. On petition, 
the sound was allowed to be separated, and the sea- 
damaged washed in bags and dried in the open air. 
One condition was that the sea damaged was to be 
offered for sale as "sea-damaged and washed," but 
the tea never reached the consumer with this char- 
acter. The process was neither satisfactory to the 
merchant nor to the Government. I believe that the 
operation was never repeated. Not very long before 
this, some spurious tea, not imported but manufac- 
tured in England, was seized, sent to the Excise 
office, 0!d Broad street, and condemned to be burnt. 
If we go very, much further back, we find on record 
that in the year 1427 'Rain well, the mayor of Loudon, 
seized 150 casks of wine for being adulterated. The 
casks were staved, and the contents started into the 
gutters— 6 Henry VI. 
Surely the law officer?, with the Imperial statutes at 
large at their hands, might find some remedy for such- 
like iniquities. — Yours, &c. John Ella. 
Collins-street west, July 2. 
Sir, — In your issue of to-day is a letter in answer 
to mine of 2Sth June, on tea, from Mr. Moody, in 
which I am accused of a "tirade of abuse." If that 
gentleman will show me where the abuse comes in I 
shall be delighted to withdraw it, but I suppose in 
my ignorance I may have abused when I thought I 
was closely following up an argument, showing Mr. 
Moody's attempt to gloss over an importation of the 
vilest rubbish imaginable, by comparing it with some 
of the finest green teas in the world (not "Ping 
Sueys" as quoted by Mr. Moody), because there may 
be some slight colouring on the finest kinds. What 
I wished to show was that teas like those per "Ocean" 
were a simple swindle on the gullibility of the pub- 
lic, and that the colouring was not so bad, as com- 
pared with the article itself. This correspondence has, 
however, done some good, as it has moved off this 
abominable rubbish, I »m sorry to say, to another 
colony, when its last resting place ought to have been 
either in the middle of Robson's Bay or "incinerated" 
by the Customs authorities. 
Mr. Moody accuses me of a want of knowledge of 
the manufacture of tea, I think "lamentable ignor- 
ance" is the term ; and I shall let that question pass 
for what it is worth. But perhaps he will allow me 
to tell him that there is a distinction between "with- 
ered tea-leaves" and " tea-leaves withered" for commer- 
cial purposes. But as on i his subject I merely wished 
to dispose of the assertion of another correspondent in 
regard to tea shipped from India, I shall decline 
following a gentleman who condescends to answer a 
person who actually knows a tea leaf when he sees 
it as well ;is the scientific Wanklyn, but who certainly 
cannot tell what kind of "vegetable" extract comes 
from a gunpowder made of the dust of other leaves, 
not tea, with a combination of other rubbish. 
I have nothing further to say in regard to Mr. 
Moody'- letter. If Messrs. Dunn & Co. like to enter 
the tield it is open to them, but I think, sir, you 
will agree with me that I did not sing the praises of 
colouring tea. Still, I am certain there is no more 
harm in blooming the finest green teas (which are 
never used here) than in the use of sulphur for hops 
or burnt sugar for brandy. Far better without, if 
the gentle public would prefer a dark olive colour, 
almost black, to the slight facing, which really much 
improves the appearance of fine green teas, a kind of 
tea I almost question if Mr. Moody has ever seen. 
In the whole of this discussion on tea, from my first 
letter of January 16ih, 1880, I have avoided as much 
as possible saying anything that might be construed 
as either offensive against individuals, or against the 
growth of tea of any particular nationality.* I have 
used my pen only against wholesale denunciations of 
the Chinese article, as uujnst and unworthy. During 
the season just ended we have imported about 
10,000,000 lb. of tea from China, nearly every shipment 
of which I have seen tasted, and under the most 
stringent act (similar to the English) not above .'0,0001b. 
weight could have been either destroyed or confiscated, 
including the "Ocean's" shipment and the " Glamis 
Castle " ; and for this 50,000 lb. weight letters are 
written wholesale about the poisonous Chinee article, 
as if tho whole produce was one mass of adulteration. 
I may add, in conclusion, that during the last few- 
days fully one million of pounds weight of tea (season 
1881-2) have been sold out of the a. s. " Killarney," in 
every instance from very fine to nice sweet-flavoured 
teas, not one parcel of which would show alow extract, 
or be rejected by dealers on account of inferiority of 
quality. 
As I have frequently seen Mr. Dunn's name quoted 
as an analyst, 1 shall be pleased to give him small 
samples of the teas I have named if it will be any 
advantage to him to obtain them for analytical pur- 
poses ; indeed, I think it would be advisable for him 
to know both sides of the question, and not rest satis- 
fied with thinking that the teas (green especially) he 
has analysed are the best products of China. I will 
also add that the finest and most valuable teas do not 
necessarily contain (I mean pure tea) the highest 
percentage of exi ract, any more than silent spirit 60 per 
cent, over proof is better than the finest old cognac 8 to 
10 under proof.— I am, &c, 
J. Everaed. 
32 Collins-street west, July 5. 
Sir, — I am much surprised to see the following state- 
ment in Mr. Moody's letter in this morning's Argus. : — 
" In that letter I maintained and proved successfully, 
by documentary evidence, that all green tea ia arti- 
ficially coloured," 
Such a statement coming from a man of Mr. Moody's 
high standing in the trade, must have weight, and 
should not have been so rashly made. The documentary 
evidence only referred to China tea. I am prepared to 
show actual fact. The Indian green teas consigned to 
me have been analysed and fouud to be perfectly pure. 
Fact surely is before theory, especially if the theory is 
a little stale.— Yours, &c.. Chas. W. Hughes. 
87 Chancery-lane, July 5. 
CINCHONA PLANTING ON THE PULNEYS. 
The nature of the planting advice tendered to the 
home public is illustrated by an extract from a letter 
in the Field of July 2nd, on "The Kannan Devan 
Mountains in South India." We quote as follows : — 
For a planter, and for a man with a small income 
who wished to set up house on the Pulneys, these 
hitls present undeniable attractions. It is easy to get 
across from Kodekanal. Some three months ago, a 
gentleman left the latter station with his wife and 
her maid, and travelled across to Devikoliim, stayed 
there some weeks, and returned the same way. The 
path connecting the two places is in process of con- 
struction, and one or two residents of Kodekanal 
have already taken up lands on the Kannan Devans, 
and are opening cinchona estates. The labour mark- 
et is close at hand, and the supply of coolie* pre- 
sents no difficulties. The adaptability of the climate 
and soil for growing tea and the best sorts of cin- 
~~* Oh!— Ed. 
