242 THE TROPICAL 
tion effected by British capital and co-operation 
have been pitted against the parsimony of the 
Chinese peasant : British energy and dash 
against the inertia with which the Celestial 
clings to an established livelihood, however 
slender the substance which it yields. During 
the course of the contest its racial character 
has become more pronounced. At its commence- 
ment it was the Indian tea planter vert 
the Chirese tea grower, But Ceylou has taken a 
rapidly iDcreasiug share, till it is no longer a qtlfis- 
tion between Iudia, aud Chins, but between But sh 
enterprise in Asia and ths Uhii ese p wer of eudunuce. 
It now stands revea'ed a3 a gigantx struggle bet wet n 
tbeE»6t and tha West, and between the ancient at il 
the modem crganizatton of iudustrial life. 
Like nil such s'rufg!es, it ultimately resolves 
itself into a qnesiion of quolily and of price. It 
only takes a nation about tea years to get rid of its 
teste for bad Ioib and to acquire a preference for go id 
ones. As regards qutility China has not a chance 
against India and Ceylon. Her rule-of-thumb methods 
produce an article ^inferior in fl«vour and in high- 
class to that which the pcienti'io appliances, 
the costly maoliinery, and 'the chemistry of 
arrested fermentation enable the British tea 
planter to send to the market. Whether 
the Indian soil and clitrate are really better 
suited to the growth of tbe fine qualities of 
teas has not yet and probatly n> ver will be deter- 
mined. It should be remembered tbat there is an 
infinite variety of soil and climate iu Iudia, an I 
(hat tbe present tea-growing tracts are tbe survivals 
of the fittist, the proved successes after many expeii- 
ments and failures. There is also a wide varieiy of 
soil aud climate in China. But in China an inciu.-try 
does not know how to nove on till it reaches tbe 
most favourable local ocndition--, with tbe almost 
American celerity of ac'aptivrness whicb the British 
tea industry in India discloses. Nothing is more 
characters tio of our countrymen in India than tbe 
calmness with wbicb (ley discover that they have made 
a mistake, close up a bed accouut, aud open a more 
hopeful one. The Indim and Ceylon teas huv-i 
now no rival, fls regards quality, iu any sea-borne teas 
in the world. The China tea which struggles landward 
acrofs Central Asia by the caravan route to 
Russia, stands in a category by itself. It is of a 
different ohiiracter from tnat appreciated by tbe other 
nations, and its price is probibiiive in any country 
whioh oan obtiin se:.-berne teas, whether from Japan, 
India, Cejlou, or China herself. 
As regards price, the power of India and Ceylon 
to give tbe best value for the consumers' money has 
so far been maintained. But the eventual supremacy 
depends on bow deeply India and China can cut into 
their respective margin of profiis. The result of tbe 
conflict, so far, is that Iudia nnd Gejlon have beaten 
China, and di-placed her prodact in the greatest 
tea-mart of the world. It is the old eqailation of capi- 
tal and co-operation, as against the self-denial of (he 
peasant and petite culture. Our business is not 
to prophesy of tbe futorv, but to state the facts 
with r, fereuce to the past. In 1881 the average 
price of Indian teas in the London market was li 
5d. Durkg the keen competition by which they 
have almost ousted China teas from that market the 
average price was gradually reduoed to 9Jd in 1893. 
Tbe decline bag been steady, and it has kept pace 
with the extrusion of China teas from tbe British 
market. The Indian planter^ whether consciously 
or uuconsciously, have praotica'ly aoted on the prin- 
ciple tbat they had to pretty marly kill the China 
%3% trade in Great Britain if they were to secure 
an adequate expansion for their own industry. 
They bave, as shown by the returns already cited, 
pretty nearly killed it; and they are doubtless 
determined to go on with tbe struggle to the 
end. It is, as we have said, ultimately a ques- 
tion of quality and price. "The oo6t of the strug- 
gle between British grown and Chinese tea bas been 
tremendous," write Mecsrs. Gow, Wil6on, and Stanton 
in their valuable paper on " The Prospect of India 
md Ceylon lea Cultivation," "and although the 
AGRICULTURIST. [Oct. i, 1894. 
British planter Las come off vi torious, tbe figures 
show tbe loss iu price which the s ruggle has coat 
him." We follow the figures ol the annuel oousump- 
t "on instead of tben.t always identical sletiatire of 
export* and imports. 
That struggle lias low entered on ft new phase. It 
is net merely between the Brtieh and the Chinese pro- 
ducer, bat between the British producers tbtmselves. 
Ceylon hns sprung up tr iu a email produce iu l»Bl to ft 
tea-grower on tbe largest soale, the cou-umptiou of hn 
teas having risen almost from zero to 64 mil ion 
pjunds i) Great Britain during tbe pest 13 veers. 
A vaat expanti n has also taken plftoe iu tea plant- 
ing in India. It ia cleer tbat the further displace- 
ment rf China tee iu Greet Brimn elone will u< t 
offer hu adequa'e outlet fcr the rapid y increaung 
production of Indian end C>ylon teas. Indeed, il 
»t the end of a 13 j ears' struggle the British tea 
plenur bas lo»t 81 prr pound iu reiuoii g tbe con- 
sumption of China tea iu Greet Britain by 70 uillion 
pounds, whet will it cost him to dixpleee tbe remaio- 
irg 36 millions? But eveu if he eucceeded in die- 
placitg that quantity of China tea iu tbe British 
market, he would still nquira to find new outlets for 
the additions wbich are teiug yearly made to tbe tea 
average iu India and Ceylon. 
It is, therefore, no longer in the Britnb market, 
but in the market of the woild, tbat tbe struggle 
must be fought cut. Tha In :ieu tea plaiter bas 
been heavily baodicepped at tbe outset by the clo-ing 
of the miuls. The effect of tbat measure ia est mat d 
by experts to bave already placed a differeui ial tax 
ot eLout a p> noy per pound upon Iodiau-grown tea, 
a d in favour of te» growu in otber si ver-usmg 
countries, such as China end Japan. That is to aey, 
the InaiaD Government, by its currency mauipu at i Lie, 
"protects" China tee as ag»in t Indian tea to tbe 
extent of 11 per ceut. in the open mukete of the 
world In t' oae markets, as a whole, China has be?n 
more thjii abl« to maintain ber position. Taking tbe 
annual tea coneumptinn iu the 25 obief tee-driokirjg 
countries we find that the totel consumption of Cbiua 
tia has only fallen from 306 million pouuds ia 1880-64 
to 250 mi lion pouuds in 1892. Allowing for their loss 
of 76 million p unds in Great Britain, China, 
&c, bave, therefore, actually increased thtir tea 
exi orts to tbe rest cf tbe world by 20 million pounds 
during the 13 years. On the otber heod, the British 
p'ant'T if Inaia and Ceylon has hitherto fii c-d 
to f.et the world in general to adopt his teas. 
In 1892 he only managed to sell about 20 mil- 
lion pounds to tbe world outside Great Britain, end 
nearly half of this was taken l v our Australasian 
colonics. Indeed, if we except Great Britain and ber 
colonies and dependencies, Cbina and Japan bave 
still a practical monopoly of the tea supply of the world. 
Tbe efforts which tbe British tea planter of India and 
Ceylon is now making to effect an entrance into new 
markets are extremely interesting. His first attempts 
on the Australasian markets are still of a recent 
date. But it was not till last year that the 
subject was taken up with an organization and 
reiources in tome degree commensurate with the 
larger problem now involved. The Chicago Exhibi- 
tion gave Iudia end Cejlon their opportunity. Ceylon 
with its more concentrated geographical area and 
swifier powers of co-operation took advantage of it 
fully, but India only to a limited extent. The Ceylon 
planters provided a fund of £21,000 to push th ir teas 
in the United Statfs. The Indian planters only ex- 
pended £7,000 on the same purpose. Yet the total 
area under tea in India is returned at 371,600 acres, 
and in Ceylon at abont 280,000 acres. Tbe explana- 
tion is tbat in India it is difficult to secure unity of 
action. Indian producing oentres are scattered wide 
apart, from Assam in tbe extreme east, to Kangra in 
the distant west, and to Travanccre in the furthest 
south of the great Indian continent. The Indian 
tea plantations, moreover, ere principally worked 
by limited liability companies, end thece seem to be 
deficient iu the power oi taking prompt action which 
characterizes private concerns. Iu Ceylon, on the 
o ber band, tbe industry is chiefly conducted by 
private individuals, tbe chief representatives cf whom 
