THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST {May i, 1894. 
TEA IN AMERICA : MR. GRINLINTON'S 
SCHEME. 
Sn, — I Qpclo3e a letter received this morniog 
from the Hod, Mr. Grinlintoo in reply 10 a re- 
qaest o( mine that he wonld be good enongh to 
oleer up a point of deUil in bis Bohrsme, which 
bad apparently been ovorlooked. It B^^emE deeir- 
able that this should be pabliehed, bo that those 
attending the P. A. Meeting may have the 
information beforehand.— I am, &o , 
t' ir A MBLVILLE WHITE. 
. Relu^aB, Madulkele, April lltb, 1894. 
• '- i Colombo, Apiil lOth, 1894 
A Melville White, Biq., UbairmaD PUuturt' Asso 
elation, Kaody. 
Dear Sir, — Wi<b leferenoe to the fonrtb psragrapL 
of my letter of the 2Dd inst. t« the Secretary of the 
Obamber of Commerce, and to your recnest of April 
9tb, I have the honor to etste that the «ybtem 
which I propo«e, to en»ble tbe " bounty " to bi ir«c>*U 
to the importers of tea in America is a simple one 
and etey to noik. This I h»ve bad the pUatnre of 
hearing from one of tbe most practical business men 
I have met wilb. 
It if, tbat each exporter who earns ind receives a 
bounty under the eobt me I bave ventured to propound — 
vide my letters to tbe Chamber of Commrrce of Feb- 
raary 27th and April 2nd, and luy ezplacatory memo- 
randum to tbe same body dated Marcb 15th — should be 
required to produce a certificate from tbe import' r 
or storekeeper to whom tbe tea bsi be<-n delivered 
in the United States or in Canada that be has re- 
ceived a given sum being tbe bounty paid by tbe 
FJanters' Association in Ceylon for snob atid mch 
Bbipmenta of tea, in aid of advertising and placing ibe 
tea in a prominent manner before tbe public in the 
li^caliiies where tbe teas are sold. 
A form of certificate (approvid by the Plaulers' 
Association and printed) should be isi>nej to each 
exporter who desired to elaim the buuoty, nith blanks 
to be filled in, showing the 
Date 
Port of shipment and destination 
Ship by which the shipment was made 
The marks of grades of tea 
Tlie nett qimntity of each grade 
And the total. 
The certificate referred to above being at iLe end of 
the tetarn. 
ThoB, at all times, the certificate sboald be easily 
identified with the bill ot Luliut; and invoice, eo (b .t 
the ttas rhipped under the tonaty eyctdm may be 
easily traced to their dtstinatioos in tbe United Statts 
and in Canada. Such eertiScates will go far to pre- 
vent tbe importttion of inferior or bad teas. 
Any person reprtMnticg the Planters' Assosiation 
in America ccnld more easily trace teas imported 
nnder such saft gatda than under existing arrangements. 
I am ( not aware of any essential leading points 
having been omitted in the papers I have submitted, 
and which are enumnated above ; but if there should 
be anything except mere details which must sdnays 
be liable to change aa circumstances occur tni ex- 
perience is gained, I sfaall be happy to reply to any 
question that may be pat to me.— I am, sir, your 
obedient servaet, J. J. Gbinlinton, 
Special CommisBioner forOeylon World's Colnmla -a 
E7poai*ioD. 
F. S. — Herewith a oattlog from a local paper in 
nhich will be found the letters and memorandum to 
the Chamber of Commerea reffr-ed to herein, as also 
a report of the Chamber of Oowmerce meeting. 
COMPARATIVE TEA PE ICES— WITH EE- 
FLECTIONS ON THE COUUSE OF MARKIO I S 
AND OF TEA MAKING. 
{Bi/ an Indian Tea Planter.) 
(Page 599 of Tropical Agriculturist, March 1894.) 
Dear Sib, — " One of them '' gives a list of com- 
parative average?, J bave an iiea that a more 
eonplete enalyeiB would still further " open ejee ' 
I am ictere^d in tbe production of low-olaea 
teas ; many of my brethern are in tbe esme boat. 
I want to find a good market for my low-elasB 
teas ; I admit that tbiy .are ibalLy but ibey 
aro " mine own " and 1 want to do well for them, 
h'o I weni to see (without tbe trouble of wc'rkiog 
it all out myself) the comparative reeult of Mliirg 
low teas in London and in our local markets. 
I did Ece a report thie year that at a eeitaio 
sale " very little was ^old below Od " I think we 
could Esy of our local maikete (Colombo and 
Calcutta), very little gees for more than Od lam 
coo\inoed that low teas eold better in London 
than locally, because I got the Bume priced 
locally 86 in 1892 but du^l, fantioge, and 
various got about Id to 9ud mere (in Londcnj 
than it: 1892. 
Tou will rtmcmber ' Biit^r Cry" and the 30 
or 40 letters about him. Has it ypt cccurrrd to 
him that in 1893 the planlets made Boperb low 
claes tea ? It was ae much as 3d better at times, 
but their good tea was very pocr, 2d or eo poorer. 
And perhaps wc could tell him that tbe hotnidity 
of 1693 was favourable to tbe low-olass bu«bea, 
but it simply ruined tbe pekoe bubbis, and that 
we all contemplate putting glaee Bhadea over 
these next time a wet year comes, aud then we 
will let him have tons of 2-Ebilling tea and ha 
shall bo baipy. 
On page 63G ot tbe ssme number of the Tropical 
Agiiculturitt, I see that the Indian Engineer goes 
for " Humidity" which villainontly cut ofl ' £.0 per 
cent of the prices of the tea." In 1892 "Humidity" 
(even in the rains) was not " up to " such 
vile tricks ; it behaved itself admirably. I wi«h 
we had a " Market Expert," one wbo won'd 
honestly tell ue why pricps rise and fall. Wonld 
it be bsyond his power to find out how much tea 
will be taken at 2b and upwards, at Is and upwards, 
at 6d and over. Now eapposing that 1,000 lona 
of tea are wanted at a price over 1 ehillicg acd 
tbe planters produce 1,500 tons cf that tea, then 
tbe surplus 6o0 tons goes into cIbbs " 6d and up- 
wards " and it goes on shoving until my low t«a 
wbiob might bave got 6d falls down to tbe " 5d 
line " or even lower. 
The looal markets (now including Bombay for 
Persia) bave to be fed. I wish they would feed 
on shilling teas and let my poor slofi alone. Can 
anyone tell us whether there will be a bmited 
demand for teas costing 5d in London ? le it 
likely that any big break ot tea will go begging ai.d 
asking to be taken at 3d or 4d as they did in local 
markets in 1898 ? "One ot them" Boents a mystery: 
he suspects an enemy. If there is an enemy be 
has a oamp — let as find out and engage an expert 
out of that camp. Could we find out how many 
more million people would buy tea it they could get 
it at lOd. Then start a Planters' Protection Society 
which would give 5d exactly for any tea for w hich 
that price bad been refused in any market. OoulJ 
we get an expert to tell U3 of the tendency of the 
"market" towards certain stjles of tea? I n- 
member (I think correctly) that about 1875, of ibe 
Indian Districts, Caobar and Sylhet led the market ; 
then oame Darjiling ; then other small distriotB 
and last of all Assam. Since then all has been 
changed. AsBam leads tbe world ; Caobar and 
Sylhet are very low j small districts nowhere. Any 
planter can change bis style of manutaottire if be 
only knew what is wanted. The market wants a 
strong thick tea for mixing with low poor China : 
let them say so, they shall get it, but snrpose they 
want a thin flavoury tea and take it wherever tbey 
oar, e t it ard kte| qoet, Ihi d the- pinner wlio 
mafe'-S t fltiong tta is told lijai ii ib toarse atiti 
