192 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Sept. r, 1894. 
of advertizing are which are best calculated to 
secure the end in view, of a large and prompt demand 
for Ceylon Teaa in America. 
In almost every department of trade, the abso- 
lute need of advertizing is f ally recognized ; and 
judicious, spirited advertisements uave everywhere 
led to the most profitable and permanent results. 
It is needless to quote instances, when every day, 
if not every hour proves, in the pages of the 
newspapers, one reads the potency of advertisements. 
The sums spent by large firms and Companies in 
the advertisement of special goods through the 
newspapers, excite incredulity in the uninitiated; 
but they stand justified by results; and experience 
has generally proved that profits rise in the same 
ratio as the growth of the advertising bill. If these 
are truisms, it is equally a truism that the general 
principles which have been successful with other 
articles of commerce should bo applicable to Tea. 
This truth has been recoxnized in a practical form 
by individuals and corporate dealers in Tea, of whom 
Lipton and the Mazawattee Company are but two 
among many ; and even if evidence wove not forth- 
coming of the success of their ventures, one might 
reasonably infer from the continuance of the 
methods, and the reputation for shrewdness which 
the people who resort to them enjoy, that they 
are the best. But the particular procedure which 
avails for the advancement of individual interests 
or of special Trade Marks, may prove wholly inadequate 
for furthering the demand for the products of a wholo 
country, or for bringing thein under the notice of whole 
peoples. Hence it is that, while recognizing the 
principle of advertising as underlying the best, if 
not the only, means of increasing the demand for 
Ceylon tea in America, the producers should seek counsel 
as to the swiftest and most certain methods of 
enforcing or applying the principle. 
Advertisements are not now restricted to notifications 
in newspapers ; aud in counselling advertising, I 
do not mean that we should confine ourselves to 
flooding newspapers with notices. There are other 
channels than the columns of newspapers — though 
these are, perhaps, the most permaneut in their 
results, and therefore essential in any scheme of 
advertising— for spreading the knowledge of any 
article for which a special demand is desired. This 
truth was realized by our Tea Planters when they 
established the Ceylon Planters' American Tea 
Company, when they started the Tea Fund which 
has done excellent service in its day, ami, in a 
different way, when they spent money to secure 
prominence for tea in several Exhibitions in dif- 
ferent parto of the world— notably at the Great 
Exposition at Chicago last year. None of these 
means can be said to have been unsuccessful ; they 
have all had a share in bringing a knowledge of 
Oeylon tea home to people who had never heard 
of it, or tasted it, before ; and they have contri- 
buted, each in its mtasure, to stimulate the de- 
mand for the article. It would be difficult to 
estimate the present position of the local tea in- 
dustry, had not a demand been created for the 
article, by the operation of the means above referred 
to, in some way commensurate to the increased 
outturn of our estates. That the demand has 
not quite kept pace with the supply may not be 
the fault of the agencies employed. The fact 
remains that the supply is still in excess of re- 
quirement?, though these have risen appreciably. 
Hence the absolute need of stimulating the demand 
still further, and of tha adoption of exceptional 
measures towards that end — the more so as every- 
thing point3 to a steadily increasing supply, while 
the prices have never been lower. 
It is not irrelevant to remark here that it would 
be futile to attempt to control the supply. So long 
as the belief prevails that tea pays— aud the hopeful- 
ness inherent in human nature will find justifica- 
tion for the belief in the dividends earned by 
Tea Companies — so long will people continue to 
extend its cultivation. The remedy for the existiog 
state of things, therefore — or rather for the pre- 
vention of a still gloomier outlook than the present — 
should be immanent, The R100,000 which it is proposed 
to spend within six months should be made to pur- 
chase some permanent advantage, not some eva- 
nescent benefit, a brilliant flash in the pan. What, 
then, should be the character of the advertisements 
which are to secure this result ? How are we to 
make America one of our large and permanent 
customers ? That is the problem to be solved. 
The most patent method is to make our teas known 
to and liked by, the trade. We are vain enough to 
brieve — and the belief is supported by our experi- 
ence in other countries — that they have only to be 
known to be liked. The creation of a taste lor them 
by individuals, or even in particular localities— 
although important on the principle of " many a 
mickle maks a muckle " — is not enough. We want 
widespread results at once. Satisfactory results have 
flowed from Mr. Ellwood May's advocacy of our cause; 
aud still more appreciable benefits, at least at the spot, 
have been secured through our Courts at the Chicago 
Exhibition ; but they nave lacked txpausiveuess j 
they have not spread themselves sufficiently through- 
out the country. At any rate, not to the extent 
called for by the growth of the industry, albeit 
perhaps through no fault of the special organiza- 
tions referred to. Necessarily, they were limited in 
their scope. What is wanted now is a larger and 
more comprehensive attack— one which shall be felt, 
more or less, throughout the great Western Hemis- 
phere, or at least throughout tbe United States :— 
1st. — We 6hall want an accredited Commissioner, 
with plenary powers on tbe spot. No great cam- 
paign can be directed from a distance — certainly 
not with the same satisfactory results which per- 
sonal direction, guided by observation of the varying 
phases of the conflict at different points, can com- 
mand. It goes without saying that the choice should 
be of a man of ascertained business capacity, of 
unflagging energy, tactful, and above all, enthusi- 
astic. Nowhere was tea better represented or more 
vigorously pushed than in Melbourne and in Chicago ; 
and this was due to the euthusiasm which distin- 
guished Mr. A. M. Ferguson and Mr. J. J. Grinlinton, 
and which rose superior to conventional ideas and 
the respectability of routine. That such a man 
although the consideration may not weigh much with 
him — shoald be liberally recompensed, needs no 
demonstration. £1,000 stg. would be by no moans 
ail extravagant provision for six months. 
2nd.— The Commissioner should be assisted by a 
competent and adequate staff of his own choice. 
You may call them Assistant Commissioners or 
" drummers," or by any other name you please ; 
but they should be under his direction and carry 
ont his behests. I have said that the chief should 
have full powers ; for a good man would be harassed, 
rather than helped, by a multiplicity of instructions 
and restrictions. I am aware of the prejudice felt 
in some quarters against "drummers,'' but they 
are admittedly employed by individuals and Firms 
who are pushing Ceylon tea in America, and with 
gaol results, though they necessarily run counter 
to " dru turners" of older Houses. Our Commissioner, 
therefore, should not be fettered against the use of 
"drummers;" for while himself visiting the chief 
centres and enlisting the sympathy of the larger 
aud more influential commercial Houses, he mi^ht 
see fit that his staff should attack the tradesmen 
and convince them that there is both flavour and 
money in Ceylon tea. The methods cannot be ap- 
plicable to ail places; and while "drumming" is 
avoided in one set of circumstances, it might be 
vigorously and successfully prosecuted in others. 
3rd. — Lectures should form a very obvious means 
of proclaiming the merits of our teas to the in- 
dividual consumer, just as interviews and correspon- 
dence would be helpful in getting at the big 
distributing houses and the grocers. While the Chief 
would himself address the larger and more fashion- 
able audiences, his assistants who have an aptitude 
for such work, and are of pleasant address, might 
be deputed to address people who assemble at shows, 
ssle-rooms and other popular resorts. Ji the Lectures 
can be illustrated so as to exhibit views connected 
with the growth, preparation and. shipment of tea. 
