THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [^eb. i, 1894. 
>t la 7d per lb but peoole were fo:>li3b enough to 
p»7 aa muoh as 3a 61 per lb to ordinary retiilers 
for tea worth the money. There was, however, 
pieuty of p»cket tea (ibout, which wa^ largely com- 
po8e.i of Saryune*, with a little pungeut Indian— 
red duaty stuff that no seH rcspecting rjtailer would 
sell tod»y. The trade hafl beeo done in ihe p»8t by 
the Urge London and Liverpool hoases eellicg to 
the big provincial firms, who iu their turn bupplieJ 
the ordinary rttailer : but when I enttred it the 
Bmallest ordera were being eagerly lo jked after by 
the largest dealers. The blended tea trade was, 
however, in its infancy. The tise of Indians aia 
Ceylona to the excluBioa of Chioa tea, and the in- 
crease of the blended trade, ba/o practically gone 
on together, and the reason is obvious. In the oli 
days everyone lived mora slowly. Thtra wai more 
time to dj things, and tea-tauting was interestiug. 
Even if it did take up time, it diin't matter so 
much to the retailtr ; but as imports became 
larger, the lurge dealers hud to divide the buy- 
ing more and more, uutil now there ace not 
only Indian and Oeylon and China departments, bnt 
the former are again rplit up into broken and leaf 
departments, so as iu some way to deal with the 
vast masstitt of tea uader wbicb the market is almost 
at times submerged. The retail buyer got iu his 
turn a larger assortment, a kind oiemlnrras de richesses, 
and at the s:ime time the other branches ot his 
trade extended in every direction, until he now has a 
hundred things to sell woere his graudlalher had oac." 
A Tbadition of Mincing Lane. — Toe writer of these 
esperieaces, by tbe w<iy, enlivens them by an ex- 
pressioa in which he shows that the ''good old" feel- 
ing iu favour of China teas will cooie out oocasionally 
in tbe tea dealer of twenty years' standing. He 
Bays : — " 1 think it tbe retailer will look at the 
question fairly, he will see that tbe whole system of 
trade has altered and is still altering. In the old 
days some of the Chioa teas did improve and thicken 
by keeping. The maohine-made and rapidly prepared 
Indian and Ceylon teas deteriorate evon in a month 
or two, and are not to be recognised as the same tea 
in three months." If there is any tea trade a 
oentary hence, and tea-tastiog is not a lost art, 
the tradition of the ' good old days" when China 
eupplied the entire market, and very frequeutl; 
abased the privilege, will linger as one of the splendid 
traditions ot Mincing Lane. Meantime, the "maohine- 
made teas of India and Ceylon" sell remarkably well. 
Notwithstanding the sneers of the uubelierer in their 
keeping qualities, as pointed out elsa^vhere, howe7er, 
it will be a really unfortanate thing tor tea sind tea- 
drinkers if tbe faot be lost sight of that flavour is 
necessary as well as strength. 
The Tea Biiewing Qoestion. — It is proved by 
Btatistioa that tbe British people, at least, when they 
are on their native soil, are the greatest tea drinkers 
in £urope, and it is time that they understood a 
little more about the brewing of it. If anything is 
oalculated to caase a reaction against tea drinking it 
ta the objectionable way in which it is made and served 
not only in the majority of public places, bat by the 
average boasewife. The prevailing idea is to draw all 
the strength out, without regard to any other con- 
sideration. It is against this tnat medical men rail, and 
because they see how diihcult it is to induce the tea 
drinker or the domestic teabrewer to understand the 
matter aright. This neglect of a proper method of 
brewing tea may be good for the tea trade for the time 
being, but it will ultimately tsll against it. Instrac- 
tioDs aa to the brewing or infusing of tea should be 
issued on every possible ocoasion. Just as instruc- 
tions are issued regarding the proper use of other 
domestio articles, the uses of which are not gene- 
rally nnderatood. This tea-soup item is a serious 
factor iu the question of our tea consumption and 
how best to promote it. Cups of say — infused 
Java leaf of a certain kind — and this rough tea 
finds its way into a great many tea shops where 
strength and very little else is required— taken at 
frequent intervals would make the owner of a cast- 
ifVQ Btomach ijuail. If people coulci be ma(je to 
understand that delicacy of flavour is not to b« 
brought about by making " hash " of the tea leaf, 
it would be infinitely better in the long run for aJl 
concerned in the supply of tea. The use of taa 
and not its abuse is the point to which attention 
should be directed. 
Tea in Obntrai. Asia.— The Earl of Danmore, 
in his recently-published book on the famirs, 
writes as follows: " Before leaving Ka«hgar, I 
bought, amongst other things, some fresh ttgga 
and honey. . . . The honey has come in very 
useful, as Ramzan (Jds servant j forgot to buy any 
sugtr, aul Knshgar tea without sa^ar or mdk it a 
trifle bitter, and so lait night I tried potting • 
Spoonful of hooey iu my tea, and it proved a xigiintie 
success; in fact, I prefer it to 8ug«r, aa it uut only 
takes nway tbe bitter taste, bit givei tbe t«a deli- 
cious flavour." 
Tea Peddlebs in America.—" PeddUog" tf a is an 
increasing business in the United iitate*. Perhaps 
the iutroinotion of lolian aad Ceylon irrowtli Wave 
given an impetus to the busioets, but it is to b« 
fearel that tbe tea peddled ia for the mnut part 
Chinese or Japanrsu. According to • New York paper ; 
" As there are retail doaUrs who oonfioe thiam- 
selves to selling ti'as and caffees, so there is a cUai 
of peddlers that go from door to door io the resi- 
dential parts of the large cities for the purpose of 
making sales of teas. Some of these icnerant piu- 
veyors of the profitable staple carry their stock id a 
neat valise, and as they are usually caxeful regarding 
their personal appearance, they are more successful 
in obtaining a heaciag from housekeepers than the 
unkempt, rough-looking, bawling individual who 
paddles fruit and vegetables, severe as tbe com- 
Eetition is which the city grocers experience at 
is hands. The class of tea peddlers which use 
waggons to travel about in ana to carry tbe daily 
supply, is much better known to tne grocery trade 
than are the men who depend ou Bhank's 
mare to reach the public, and its inroads on the 
tea trade of the grocers are the cause of bitter com- 
plaints from some of the latter, but we question if the 
waggon peddlers are as dangerous as the pedestrian 
vendors, so far as the tea trade of the grooeri; is 
concerned. The waggon men no doubt sell more tea 
individually tbaa a single food peddler can tell, but it 
is the greater numbers of the latter that makes their 
competition a serious matter. Only a vary small 
cash oapital is required in starting as a tea peddler 
on foot, and as tbe number of unemployed men, 
especially book-keepers and others not oted to 
manual labour is alway.s considerable, while the com- 
mon notion that grocers' tea profits are exorbitant 
probably induces a good many of the unemployed 
to try their luck at selling tea, it ia likely that a 
much greater quantity of tea passei into consump- 
tion through this channel than the average grooer 
suspects." 
Coffee Growing in Jamaica. — A bulletin has re- 
cently been issued by the Bureau of American Re- 
publics, showing the methods of production and 
tacilities for successful cultivation of coffee in various 
countries. In regard to Jamaica, it is stated that the 
island exports annually from 800,000 to 900,000 lb. 
of coffee. The value of tlie exports of this 
article in 1891 was about one-sixth of the total export. 
More than half the coffee exported is taken by the 
United States, but coDsista chiefly of the lower 
grades, the better and higher-priced qualities going 
to England. Jan. 5. 
« 
The Prospects of Quinine (and therefore 
of Cinchona Bark) are decidedly good, aooording 
to the Chemist and Druggist — a joarnal usually 
regarded for some years back as inclined to take a 
gloomy view of the market. Now, it will be seen by 
articles in our Tropical Agriculturist that our 
contemporary ineists that prices must rise during 
the present year : stocks are low and the bark 
supply is to be short. An amusing deliverance on 
quinine speoulatious ia tbe past also eppear^ 
elsewUere, 
