Aprils, 1894.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. .eSg 
trodaoiog Indiaa teas into this market is to it fluenoe 
and interest the conenraer. The plan I have Bug. 
gested and which appears to ba favoarnbly received 
by everyone, is to follow the lines upon whioh weare 
already working. These lines are familiar tj all in 
this country who have trie 1 to introduce or are in- 
terested in any special food product. The ayc^tbra of 
holding food shows periodically in different parts ol the 
ooaatry is an organised one, and the Stjte Fairs 
held annually offer the b^st n-eans of reaching 
the consumer. Adopliug the commcn systeiu, I would 
propose employing, eay, half a dozen of uative ser- 
vants, and travelling about the country fiom ©ne 
show to another during the season which extends 
through the winter and spriug. For the rtst of tbe 
year, still following the usual methods, the servants 
oonld be kept for a mouth or moro at a time in 
grocery stores. With six men at least thruo storea 
oould be worked at the same time in dilierent parts 
of a city. At the expiration of a month the men 
would be transferred to other stores, or in the case < f 
smaller cities to other cities. In connection with the 
grocery stores, I propose little change?. My idea is lo 
have a aeries of three or more caiefully prepirtjd 
lectures, illustrated by slides of tea gardens, &c., 
and to make such a series interesting, other matter 
of a desoripiive character, regarding historical spots 
in India, dresses of the people, caste, bnd kiudiod 
subjects, might be iatroduced. The lectures might 
ba given independently of the stores in the regnUr 
manner, selling tickets of admission, giviug thu grocer 
B certain number, proportionate lo the number of 
pounds of tea be purchases, for distribution to his 
customers for the tea. Such lectures sli' uld include 
the distribution of tea in the cup at t>ieir close. 
The arrangements we have made with Keid, Blur- 
docb, and Co., in tlie West, and with L ggetta iu 
the East, would be utilised by having their travellers 
in different parts of the couutry to arrange for 
the stores and put one into commanicition with the 
tight people. 
The expersfs attendant on this scheme will be 
pretty heavy a? they include not only salaries, 
but travelliDg expenses, cost of tea and also cost 
of cream ana sugar, transport of orockery and other 
iiema. 
Id addition to this in attending shows there would 
be the cost of the space aud of erecting the bojths. 
It is tine that some portion of the expensua uuriug 
the show season would be covered by s,ile of tea in the 
cup ; but as is shown by our receipts at New York, 
this will not be very much. 
The whole of the time spent in grocery stores 
would be Don-produotive directly, yet this is con- 
aidered the best means of getting at consumers 
as well as grooers. Such a plan as I have skeiched 
out would cost about £.1,000 per month, apart from 
my salary, shoiild you wish me to carry on the business, 
aud I wocdd not be prepared to accept less than I 
now xeceive and expenses. 
Work on tbi« line has been done iu this country 
by several houses interested iu cocoa, fur mstauce, 
and by such great firms as Armoars, who will con- 
tract to supply a whole army with food, by ISwifts, 
one of the largest pork packers in Cbicngo, and 
others of a similar calibre. I repeat that all. whom 
I have oousulted agiee that in doing this }0u reach 
the consumer, and create a demand quickt r aud more 
directly than by any other known method. 
I have spoken of uaiux Ueid, Alurdooh, aud Leggett 
and am aware that there may exist some fooliug 
in the minds of the members of the committee that 
we are advertising only certain brands of Indian 
teas by conucctiug ourselves with these firms. My 
own opinion is that it is inadvisable to advertise 
Indian teas generally to the cou.sumer, for I think 
that wo should have certain standards of what we 
recognise as good Indian toas, and that it is impossi- 
ble to erect aud sustain such stan iards without giving 
tlieui detiued names, under which those who desire 
to purchase can buy them. In doing this it is, I 
submit, not very material to us that wo are 
giving direct advantages to certain firms. But if 
the coiumittoe think that this feature of the 
scheme is undesirable it can he met in 
two ways. One is to advertise the tea used 
simply as Indian tea. The alternative is a sugges- 
tion which recommends itself to me strongly but 
which the Association may hesitate to add for'other 
reasons besides the obvious one that will interfere 
in a measure with private enterprise. The plan I 
refer to is to adopt four or more standards, give 
them specific names, and retain these names as the 
property of the Association. By this means, in ad- 
dition to the indirect benefit to the industry at large, 
the Association would, in the end of its operations be in 
possession of a distinctly valuable asset which it could 
deal with either by selling to a company, transferring it 
the ajency firms, or in other ways. There if no doubt 
that, by advertising certain blends under distinctive 
l ames, these names acquire a fictitious value, and the 
Association may therefore be prepirel to coDsider 
whether it cannot letsin for itselt some portion of 
this advantage. In any case, I maintain thai it is 
essential to the interest of Indian teas to employ at 
all limes certain standard blends. As soon a? a tista 
and demand is created for any given blends, of 
Indian teae, the sabatitution of other blends, either 
in the legitimate course of business, by enterprise 
and advertistinent, as well as b/ fraudulent BQbsti- 
tution will inevitably follow. 
Were such a thing possible the Association might 
consider thij amalgamation of ils funds with those of 
Ceylon, the object being a cjmmon one to relieve 
the London market. In doing this it might be a 
feasible thing, but it would be the work of time, to 
interest such firms as Lipton's, Tetley's, and others 
who are trying to do a packet trade in this country 
and who use both Indiaa and Ceylon teas. Such g, 
scheme while ensuring larger funds, would detraot'in 
some measure from the present neutral attitude of 
the AssociatioDj acting in the interest of the indus- 
try wholly. 
I have ill the foregoing suggested threa distinct 
bases for the same scheme. The method to be pm:- 
sued would in each case be the same. O i my retara 
to India I would be prepared to go further into details 
than is possible by correspondence." 
Mr. Blechynden concluded his adJress by suggest- 
ing that it might ba possible , to have an Indiaa tea 
room in the lar^je towns similar to that in the 
Exhibition, also that firma which are trying to push 
Indian tea on its merits might be encouraged either 
directly or iadircotly, 
A long aud somewhat desultory discussion was then 
c jrried on by Messrs. Bryans, Oarritr, Thompson, Stan- 
ton, Seton, ShaW: and Venner as to the general positior, 
hut no proposition was put before the meeting. One 
or two members expressed the opinion that Indian 
could only be introduced (lowly, and that it was useless 
to attempt to force the market, as people in America 
had been accustomed to driak a light kind of 
tea, the place of whioh could only be taken by thia 
fl\vonrlf .ss Indian tea selling about 6d per pound. It 
was pointed out, however, that India and Ceylon 
produced a large qaantity of this sort of tea, and 
that the markets here would be much benefited if 
fresh oatlets could be found for tea of that kind, 
and that diffioultiei of some kind or other were 
always experienced in opening up new markets. The 
general opinion was that the quality of tei purchased for 
America ordiaaril J was of the msot inferior quality, 
the appearance of the|leaf being more considered than 
the quality of the liquor, andoheapuess being the one 
oousideratiOQ. The question as to the consumptiou 
of tea iu America having been raised, Mr. Stanton 
gave the following partioalara : In 2i years the con- 
► UTiptiou had increased from 40 millions to 88 millions. 
Iu IStil) the consumption was I'OS per head of the 
population. At the present time it was 1°33. 
Ttie procei dings closed with a cordial vote of thanks 
to Mr. Blechynden for his adddtess.— £f, and C. Mail. 
PUN ON PITTS TAXATION AND TEA. 
•'With his tax upon powder and tax upon tea, 
Nut a beau will bo loft— nov ■* > i.iiich as bo hca ! " 
