312 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [September i, 1881. 
"Teas grown, prepared, and shipped by men of the I 
British race are certain to be genuine. * * * What 
I should like to impress upon tea consumers here is that, 
although the teas of India and Ceylon may occasionally be 
defective in make (a fault that is sure to be remedied as 
experience is obtained), the genuineness of such teas, their 
purity, freedom from adulteration with foreign or de- 
leterious substances, and perfect wholesomeness can 
always be relied upon. If tea drinkers will only 
persevere in the use of even the harshest Assam tea, 
they will soon find themselves not only reconciled 
to the infusion, but most unwilling to return to the 
weaker China stimulant. Where cream or rich milk 
is so plentiful as in this favoured land, the experi- 
ence of the north of Ireland may be repeated. There 
people of limited means long ago discovered that pure, 
strong Assam tea at 4s. per lb. was cheaper, as well 
as better, than weak and perhaps adulterated China 
leaf at 2s. Making a strong infusion, they half-fill 
the cup, and then fill up with rich milk. To those 
— and they are the vast majority— who like milk or 
cream in their tea, this is the very perfection of the 
cup which cheers, but not inebriates." 
Messrs. Cosmo Newbery and Frederic Dunn, of 
the Industrial and Technological Museum Laborat- 
ory, say.— 
"Genuine tea contains between 4 and 6 per cent, 
of mineral matter, 3 per cent, of which consists of 
soluble salts, and yields, in its ordinary air-dried 
condition extract ranging from 32 per cent to over 
50 per cent. As a rule, the younger and better the 
the tea, the higher the percentage of extract." 
The following tables, compiled at the Industrial and 
Technological Museum by Messrs. Cosmo Newbery and 
F. Dunn, give the average results of a series of ana- 
lyses of Teas carefully drawn from the bulk : — 
Per- Per- Per- 
centage centage' centage 
of of of 
Season. Mineral Ex- Soluble 
Ash. tract. Salts. 
1 880-8 1 . . . Auction sale Indian tea, 
15 sample, 770 hf.- 
chts., avgs. ... 5-34 39-42 3-16 
1880- 81... Auction sale Indian tea, 
46 samples, = 3, 131 
hf. -chts., avgs. ... 5'46 42'40 4-06 
1881- 82... Auction sale Inlian tea, 
36 samples, = 1,312 
hf.-chts., avgs. ... 5 -54 43-91 327 
1880- 81... Auction sale Foo- 
Chow Congous, 15 
san^les, == 1 ,904 hf. - 
chts. avgs. ... 5 20. 29 -26 2-88 
18S0-81... Auction saleFoo-Chow 
Congous, 50 samples 
= 2,880 hf.-chts. avgs. 5'40 31-30 3 ; 60 
1881- 82. ..Auction sale Foo-Chow 
Congus, 20 samples 
common, =6,230 hf.- 
chts., avgs. ... 5-32 33-60 3-26") 
188 1 -82 . . . Auction sale Foo-Chow ! 
Congous, 20 samples ; 
medium, = 4,152 hf.- I m 
chts., avgs. .. 5-40 35-20 3-48 | §> 
1881-82... Auction sale Foo-Chow I ^ 
Congous, 10 samples * \ o 
good, = 1,757 hf.-chts. j ° 
avgs. ... 5-44 35-04 3-54 g 
1S8 1-82.... Auction sale Foo-Chow | £ 
Congous. 10 samples, I 
fine, = 957 hf.-chts., I 
avgs. ... 5-50 34-32 3-527 
Oem 
class 
ine tea of lowest 
continues ... 4 to 6 
N.B. — The result in favour of Indian teas is too 
marked to need further comment. Many of the China 
teas will not pass the standard of a genuine tea. 
Mr. J. O. Moody, Tea Expert, in a letter to the 
Argus, dated 5th July, says — 
" Perhaps the extract of tea, or that part drunk 
in the infusion or cup of tea, is the most important 
and no tea should fall below 30 (the standard at 
home). Some of the Indian and Ceylon teas go to 
52. This extract contains the essential oil or flavour 
which pleases the palate, and the active principle, - 
theine (tasteless) which mostly invigorates the drinker.' 
Again to another paper, under date 3rd June, the 
same writer says : — 
" Hops deteriorate by keeping, owing to oxidation 
of the essential oil, a chemical process well known to 
scientists, and which gives the old hops their 'faintish' 
or 'cheesy' flavour, most strikingly brought into 
prominence when new pickings come to hand ; the 
contrast between the two is then so great that it 
usually causes a fall in price of pence per lb. on 
old hops. Exactly the same thing goes on in the China 
teas, and has been most noticeable for many seasons 
past, and well do holders know the risk and loss of 
retainirg this class of tea till the arrival of a new 
season's growth. The bulk of Indian teas, on the 
contrary, seem to ripen with age, and are famed ior 
their good keeping qualities. Samples of those teas, 
after rive or six year's time, have been found to 
have well preserved their flavour and good qualities. 
* * * It is estimated that 10 pound* of tea frem 
the districts of Assam, Cachar, &c. , equals 15 to 20. 
pounds of the ordinary China tea (the bulkof consump- 
tion) sold on the Australian market. The Darjeelings^ 
&c. , grown at the higher elevation, are generally milder, 
and possess, as a rule, fine delicate bouquet and flavour." 
CEYLON PLANT EES IN SAEAWAK. 
Mr. Loyalty Peake, late of Maturata, writes from 
Sarawak, under date 29th July, as follows: — 
"This is certainly a great country for vegetation. I 
am receiving evei-y assistance from the Eajah in opening 
up. The products most likely to prove suitable are 
cinchona, tea and cardamom?, none of which have been 
tried. The chief products now are sago, gambier, 
and pepper, also coal and cinnabar, the Borneo 
Company having the monopoly of the latter. A good 
deal of gutta percha is exported and fetches very 
remunerative prices. I am getting 30,000 seeds to send 
to' Ceylon where they should thrive. When I have 
been over more ground, I shall send you a long account 
of the country. I have been here now over two 
months and have seen hardly any rain, though Sara- 
wak is supposed to be very wet. " 
Tea. on the Nilgieis. — A planter of Coonoor 
expects in the present season to manufacture 15, 000 lbs. 
of tea off forty acres of land- Average quality Pekoe 
Souchong, This is almost at the rate of 400 pounds 
of made tea per acre, and must be reckoned an ex- 
cellent yield, especially when the class of tea turned 
out is considered. The estate of course is highly 
worked and carefully supervised in all its depart- 
ments. — Indian paper. 
Salt Deposits. — A Mannar correspondent writes : — 
"A short time since you referred, in your paper, to. 
a report by Mr. Allen Hume recently published by 
the Indian Government, on agriculture in India. Can 
you kindly procure a copy of it for me? It contained 
some observations on a peculiar salt deposit in irri- , 
gated lands, you stated. I should much like to see 
what he says regarding it : there is nothing of the- 
kind in this district, nor has it even been known here, 
although all the soil is more or less strongly impregnated 
with salt., In fact, so much so, that the water of all 
wells is slightly brackish. It seems unlikely that the 
soil in the north of India-contains more salt than this." 
