Oct. i, 1894.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
263 
To the Editor. 
CEYLON TEA IN AMERICA. 
New York, Aug. 2nd. 
Deab Sir. — We onolrse proof of an article 
which will appear in the next is : ue of oil- 
paper, and if cur teohnical knowledge cf locali- 
ties and consumption will be tf use 10 the 
Representative of the Tea Planters' Association, 
we will aid him all in our power. 
From our wide circulation among the whole 
tale and best cla^s of retail merchants through- 
out the United States, the American Grocer c;n 
be of great service in the introduction of these 
gecd.} if the Association will use its advertising 
columns freely. There are scores of private price 
lists and other publications possessing little or no 
jad Circulation which would yield but small 
returns, bnt we feel that we can and do give 
vslue received for money expended in advertising. 
The enclosures indicate the reasons why. — Yours 
truly, THO. F. THURBEB, Prest- 
CEYLON TEA IN AMERICA. 
A reoent article iu the American Grocer, beating 
upon Hie effort? mado to introduce Ceylc n tea in tbe 
United States, and the possibilities for increasing 
the demand, lias attracted considerable interest in 
the journals of India and Ceylon. The Ceylon Observer, 
in commenting upon our suggestion, says : — 
But we thou d 1 ke to know what our Atneiican con- 
temporary — who speaks in one pattasif the work of 
adveriisii g our teas had been already largely done — lias 
to say to the counsel given by tome o f tbe biggest Amer- 
ican wlio esale tea dealers to an Indian and Ceylon tea 
proiu'-er who interviewed them a short time aye, as 
narrated in our columns. They said in effect : "Un- 
doubtedly Indian and C' ylon teas are bound to a d- 
vance iuto co' sumption in America because tbey are 
a no d, superior aiticle, while China and J pan teas 
so far t m maintaining their old reputation are 
s'eadil) deterh rating. Now, our advice to ihe planters 
is toa;vertise their superior article all ovtr the 
country, tnd to send ovtr batches of native servants 
to be utilized by » hole-ale bouses for their retail 
1 gi'ijt-t iu towns all over the Union to attract attention 
to tbe uew teas." It would be interesting to Itaru 
what tbe American Grocer has to eey to this more 
of going to work 10 promote tbe rapid introduction 
ot Lejlon tecs, while we thank our contemporary 
for tbe practical hints already tendered. 
'Ihe recommendation quoted by onr esteemed con- 
timporaiy that Ceylon planters ehonld advertise the 
meiiis ot Uejlon t> a in America, is undoubtedly a 
w;se course and tbe o ly way in which the object can 
to accorcp'Jeht d. Tlit me:hod cf ad( ert sing, how- 
ever, is an important cc moderation, lor money can be 
was ed iu advertising as quickly as ii can be made. 
The consumer should bo lesclud iu tbe way sug- 
gested, viz., by having nati\ 0 te; vants clad in Cinga- 
Use costume n ake ana serve tea in the most approved 
st) ltj at tbe prim ipal fairs, food expi sitions and 
other public places, includ ng tie finer grocery sttres 
whoae proprietors would welcome such an exhibit, and 
act a* ngeuts for ti e.gocds, thus fornisbii g a iocal 
eupp y depot wLere pertouu uesiring Cu\kn tea could 
pormantutiy supply iheir wants. 
Second: This should be supplemented by adver- 
tising iu such of the principal irade papers as h«ve 
a 1 a d cirou ation and which reach tbo ic ail gro- 
ctra of the country. 
Thiid: There should be established in Ne v York 
a goi.eral ageat who should supply both the w hole- 
sale and retail trade, charging the reta'l e'eakr a 
somewhat h gher price ihan it the ayei-t v.. re to 
supply large quantit cs to the wholesale tiade and 
33 
thus all cbsses of dealers would be enabled to re- 
ceive fair compensation for their labour in tbe dis- 
tribution. 
This me'hod of introduction by demonstration has 
be-n followed successfully in tbe introduction of 
various new article?, 6uch as foreign makes of 
chocolate and cocna, sundry brands of soup, coffee, 
CereaHne and oth°r proprietary articles. There is 
one thought, however, as to whether grocers would 
be as free to offer faeilit : es for the demonstration 
of any new article like tea. which tenr?s to supplant 
thfir most remunerative line, as they would on 
eu h propiiet rv erticlei as we have mentioned; 
but if tbey could mak* a? good a profit on Ceylon 
teag as they do on oth' r varieties or their special 
marks or blends snl have the labor of exhibiting 
done f<r them, we see no reason why there should 
not be found plenty of enterprising grocers who 
would welcome such a meritorious new article as 
Cerlen tea, which would, perhaps, briDg trade to 
their i-tores for other articles. 
It should also be borne iu mind that the United 
States is a very large country, and tint different 
varieti s of tea are now consumed in the different 
section", some of which have prejtt lies in favor 
of ei'ber green or tbek tev Tbo best results in 
tbe introduction of Ceylon teas could probably be 
rno r e quickly attained in tbe sections that consume 
fermented teas, such as Oelc-ng and Congou. 
Tbe field is a krge cne, and it is certain that 
from among 70,000,000 people! good results would 
flow from a persis' eat and intelligent effort. 
AN INDIAN PLANTER ON TEAS FOR 
AMERICA. 
Aug. 19, 
Dear Sib, — No. 32 of the Overland Observer to hand. 
In this I see my letter dated July 18th and appended 
to it a note by yourself. (See T.A., page 179) lam 
te g pted to begin by declaring that "I will come 
down Kurnel, don't shoot!" (as the coon said) but 
on my way down I wish to expostulate. 
I began reading tbe Observer only as far back as 
April of this year, so the assurances by the large 
wholesale houses that there is no need to change 
the make of Ceylon teas, has escaped my notice. 
But even so the advice bas less force for " Indian 
Teas " and as regards Ceylon tea the assurances may 
possibly be modified if the whole bearings of the 
case are discussed. 
Your contention is that the Ceylon tea met with 
the approval of those who tried it at the Chicago 
and San Francisco Expositions, but is this the class 
of customer to which you devote your energies in cap- 
turing ? I take this class to be one which seeks for 
superiority of flavour and strength. They get that to a 
certain extent in their China tea, and as soon as 
you can overcome the opposition of the dealers, it 
is probable that our teas will replace a certain 
amount of China tea, but only on the score of cheap- 
ness. To succeed fully we must be assured that our 
tea is not used for mixing, otherwise we have the 
same incubus that has kept down Indian tea to date. 
The Americans won't get pure Ceylon tea, they 
will get it doctored with China rubbish. Again as 
Ceylon sends better and better tea, China can and 
will send worse and worse rubbish. Has all your 
advertising got you the lead of the British market ? 
Have you got the pull of the dealers in England? 
And will the same tactics bring all the American 
dealers to your feet ? Years ago some men pointed 
out that you could gain the dealers by supplying 
suitable teas, that was almost before Ceylon tea was 
born, but we disregarded the advice, and we are 
where we are. You had a proprietor who set 
up as a dealer but he found that it did not 
pay to sell pure Ceylon tea. Do you not under- 
stand how he or any other man can place his 
authority above that of the American authority 
nbic'i you have quote 1 (Please refer to the lines on 
a level with your note to my letter, and in the 
