August r, 1893.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 
9* 
In 1834 the monopoly of the East India Ooicpany 
ceased, end an experiment vvbs tried in the shape of 
differeotial du'ies of from la 6d to 33 per lb. for 
various kinds of tea. The experiment failer', for the 
Custom HonBB ofiioers were not ekilled enough in 
tea-taeting, and a fixed duty was reimposed at the 
rate of 2? Id per lb. 
In 1820 oame the war with China and 5 per cent 
extr» duty. The price rose greatly, and the import 
fell from 40i milliona in 1838 to 28 millions in 1840. 
This war, however, opened the treaty ports, and 
prices rapidly fell to a far lower level. lu the quin. 
quennium from 1840 to 1844 the antual cousumptioa 
was still only lib. 6az. per head; but lowered prices, and 
the improving condition of the country after Peel'a 
reforms raised it between 1845 and 1850 to lib. lloz. 
The duty fell to la lOd in 1853, and to Is 6d in 1854. 
Then the Crimean War raised it to la 9d, but it fell 
airain to Is 5a in 1857, snd to Is in 1863. This last re- 
ductiou Mr. Gladstune declared to be a ''final measure" 
yet two years later he again reduced it to 6d, while 
in 1890 it fell to 4d. Bach reduction caused the 
oonsumpt on to leap up. From 21 lb. per head in 1852 
it rose to 2 lb. 11 oz. in 1862, to 41b. in 1872, to 4 lb. 
- 11 oz. in 1882, and to 5 lb. 5 oz. in 1891, 
THE RISE or THB INDIAN TEA INDUSTET. 
But we must now coneider a new and raost im- 
portant factor in the tea fcupply. Just at the time 
when Dr. Sigmond wrote his paper cn tea, a series 
of most interesting experiments in tea culture was 
being brought to a tucceesful issue in the Upper 
Assam. 
In 1763 LinnKus received the first living tea plant 
that had been brought to Europe, and recorded in 
bis diarj that he loftkcd " npon nothing to be of 
more importance than to shut the gate through 
which all the silver went out of Europe." Tea- 
pianting was accordingly enthusiastically tried in 
Souihern France, but hopelessly failed. In India, 
however, botanical explorers had discovered that 
the tea plant, only found in a cultivated state in 
China, was indigOLOus to Upper AssDm ; tie Indian 
Government did its best to encourage the produc- 
tion of British-grown tea, and in 1838 the first samples 
were sent home. Next year eight chests were sold 
in England; and, altbough the quality was not very 
good, the atiractioo of novelty made the tea sell 
at from 16s. to 34e. per )b. At about the s»nie period 
liie Dutch began tea-planting in Jave, end the first 
crop fetched fancy prices in Amsterdam. 
In 1839 the Asssim Company was formed, and in 
spite of heavy initial losses owing to difiiculties 
encountered on every banc', the company began to 
pjy a dividend fourteen years later. In a few more 
jears rival compaBZts started in all suitable and many 
unsuitable parts of India. The fittest survived, 
production grew apace and in tl e last twenty-five 
years Indian tea has largely driven its Chinese rival out 
of the market and revolutionised the trade of the Bast. 
CEYLON TEA. 
Presently came the collapse of the cofifee planting 
which had, since the emancipation of flaves in the 
West Indies, given prosperity to Ceylon. A p'rasite 
attacked the coftee-plaut, and cou'd cot be extirpated. 
Many of the planters were absflutely rained, but 
the rest grubbed up their coffee trees and tried tea 
instead. Their sucoees has been phenomenal. In 1875 
they only exported 2821b,, in 1884 they supplied 1 
per cent, of the import into England : in 1885, 2 per 
cent.; in 1886, 3 per cent.; in 1887, 7 per cent.; in 
1888, 10 per cent.; in 1889, 15 per cent ; while in 1891 
no lees than 25 per cent, of our homo coneuraption 
came from Ceylon, and for it probatly more than 
£2.000,000 WBB pa'd to tlie planters in that islnnd. In 
this je-ir, 1891, it appears ihat, for the fir t time, the 
consumption in Engiai d of Ceylon t^-a eveu exceeded 
that of Ohii egp. Of course the Indian trade, though of 
s'uwir tro vth, is much larger than that of Ceylon, 
supplying, iu 1891, "il) per cent of the total English 
coDBumptioD, 
THE DECLINE OF THE CHINA TRADE. 
On the whole, we find that China and Japan tea 
has ehrunk from 97 per cent of the tot«l in 1865, 
to 49 per cent in 1887, and 27 per cent in 1891, show- 
ing a great actual as well ea proportional decline. 
Now the principal reason for this substitution of 
Indian for China tea is the greater strongth of the 
former, a fact which ba? much exercised the mind 
of the Chancellor of tbe Exchequer, for, previous to 
the last reduction of duty, the revenue from tea 
had lost all its elasticity. The Commissioners of 
Customs in their report for tbe je»r ending March, 
1889, went fully into the matter, and assign severe! 
reasons for the decline of the Cbineee tea in public 
favour. There are he%vy export taxes in China- 
Cbinese tea, forced down in price, has deteriorated 
in quality. Its sale has not been pushed with 
the extraordinary energy put forth on behalf 
of ita rival, and much of it has been diverted 
to other countries where it is more appre- 
ciated. But by far the chief reason is that it is not 
nearly so strong as either Indian or Ceylon teas, for 
while lib. of Chinese sives, say, 5 gallons of infu- 
sion, lib. of Indian givea 74 gallons. This proportion 
given by the Commissioners .in the report referred 
to, is iccepted ic the trade as practically •orrect, and 
oorreepondi with the results of my own experiments. 
When we add this consideration of inofeased 
strength per pound to the vastly increased weight 
consumed some idea may be gained of the quite wonder- 
ful way in which tea is gaining ground in this country. 
Tea and sugar won their way to our homes even 
when duties were eiceesivo and the price enormous, 
but of late years not only have duties all but dis- 
appeared, but the decline in first coat has been most 
marked. In 1887 the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
stated that whereas the average wholesale cost 
(apart from duties) of a pound of tea and a pound 
of sugar waa Is lOJd in 1866, it was only Is 72d 
in 1876 and Is l|d in 1886, and since then the price 
has still more rapidly fallen. 
EAST END PURCHASES OF TEA. 
A large tea dealer tells me that some forty years ago 
when he went to gain retail experience in a Tottenham 
Court Road shop, one of his regular weekly occupa- 
tions was to make np 500 Jib of brown sugar, and 
500 ioz of lea, these being the quantities sold for Id. 
Now, a pennyworth of (ugar is ilb of lump sugar, 
and ft pennyworth of tea is loz of strong Indian tee. 
My informant states that in Whiteohspel and similar 
districts the deraand for "pen'orths" of tea and 
sugar is enormoua. The factory girls have the teapot 
by the fire all day, and it ia very common for the same 
girl to come in five or six times a day for a " pen'orth " 
of tea and a "pen'orth" of sugar. They insist on 
having the strongeat Indian tea, notwithstsnding the 
serious nervous and digeslive evils which medical ex- 
perience shows to result from such excessive tea 
drinking. 
Of Indian teas Darjeelisg ia the fie est. It com- 
mtnds a high price, and, having a very marked and 
delicious flavour, is used for mixing with the leas tasty 
China teas to retail as a high quality blend. Assam 
is very strong, has a marked »nd peculiar flavour, and 
is used for commoner blends. South Indian and 
Ceylon teas are strong, but less marked in flavour, and 
•re largely «old unblended. 
TEA AND THE CONSCMEB. 
It ii to be feared that the average Engliehman 
is a very bad judge of tea. His sole criterion of it« 
quantity is its colour and strength ; its delicate flavour 
be drowns in sugar and milk. Theie latter arn not to 
be despised, for they constitute no inconsiderable 
porliou of his food; but they certainlv help to put 
him at the mercy of the tea dealer. Strong chesp teas 
(tti d cheap teas are now as a rule the airongesi) have 
taken the place of the older std w(»ktr Ohincse 
bUiidf, The consumer gets plenty of fl»\our for bis 
r oney, but of real qnallly and price he ii- a bul judge. 
1 btar, on gi.oa authoriiy, that one of our Imgest 
1 firms of tea retnilere, who, before the reduction of 
