March r, 1895. 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
589 
TABLE SHOWING THE AREA UNDER CULTIVATION OF 
TEA IN FIJI FROM 1888 TO 1893. 
1888 .. 325 1891 .. 250 
1889 .. Nil 1892 .. 456 
1890 .. Nil 1893 .. 460 
DISCUSSION. 
Sir Henry Peek, Bart, said this was a most ad- 
mirable paper, and contained most valuable statistics. 
There were two matters to which he should like to 
call attention, the first being the decay of the China 
trade and the rise of the Ceylon and Indian trade ; 
and though they were all pleased to find that the 
product of our own dependencies were taking the 
place of those of foreign countries, he could not help 
thinking that a great mistake had been made both 
in India and Ceylon. The way in which tea was 
produced in China was certainly better than that 
tollowed in our own dependencies. He did not refer 
to the use of machinery, which was no doubt an 
advantage, but to the process which left so much 
tannin in the tea. He had in his hand the prize 
essay by Colonel Money on tea cultivation, which he 
believed won a large premium, and in that essay the 
author distinctly stated that the tannin should not 
be thrown away. He said that in a certain stage of 
the process the mass of tea leaves gave out juice 
freely, none of which should be lost, but should be 
mopped up into the roll again and again. This ex- 
plained in a great measure what was called the 
superior strength of the Indian and Ceylon tea com- 
pared to that from China, and it was this which gave 
the large proportion of tannin, which Sir Andrew 
Clarke and other physicians distinctly said was so 
injurious to many people. Not long ago, a gentle- 
man came to him and said he had a daughter very 
ill, and that the doctor had ordered her by no means 
to driuk any but China tea, the tea with the tannin 
left out; and, of course, he was very pleased to 
furnish him with a supply. He could not help 
thinking that if the present system were continued 
the Indian and Ceylon trade would suffer in the 
long run. With regard to what was called the free 
breakfast-table, he thought it would be a great mistake 
to remove the tea duty altogether. In 1863, when 
the duty was Is a pound, Mr. Gladstone said, in his 
opinion, it would be unwise to lower it ; and he 
thought the great art of taxation was that every- 
body should bear their fair share. Now, if a working 
man were a non-smoking teetotaller, he paid next to 
nothing, and on that ground he was opposed to doing 
away with the very moderate duty of 4d a lb., which 
nobody really felt, and which brought in a large sum. 
In 1893 it produced ,£3,499,000, so that it would provide 
the country with four new ships of war every year. 
The consumption of tea had not risen very much 
within the last few years, only half a pound per head. 
Mr. (ij.om.i. Setcin thought those best acquainted 
with the matter would agree that the question of 
tannin was not one which ought to be despised, and 
he was glad Sir Henry Peek had raised it, but he 
believed it must be dealt with not by the planter, 
but by the consumer in preparing the tea. It was 
quite true that in Indian and Ceylon tea there was 
more tauuiu than in Chinese, and that was why a 
smaller quantity went as far, but that ought to be 
recognised and dealt with accordingly. The tea w as 
quite good and wholesome if it were properly pre- 
pared, and not allowed to stand too long. 
Mr. T. Christy said it was well-known to those 
who had studied the chemistry of tea that the tannin 
was in the lower leaves and stems, so thai it was 
entirely a ques ion of money. The nearer you went 
to the top of the plant the less tannin, and the higher 
the- price the tea fetched, and with g od reason. In 
these top leases and shoots was found the caffeine, 
which was really what people took tea for. Mr. 
Stanton spoke of "fulness," but be did not mean the 
tannin, but the comfort obtained from a CUD often 
in consequence of the caffeine. You could obtain no 
crystallisahle alkaloid from the coca plant grown in 
Java.; but in Brazil you tot, a lcat which gave the 
alkaloid now so mu.-h used! us an anxsthetic. Iu the 
same way you could get no caffeine from Java tea 
nor in that" from Ja^an, or haruiy any. Then coming 
to China tea, he maintained that the reason why it 
had gone out was not because of auy peculiarity in 
the make, but because it had not the caffeine 
it which the consumer so much desired ; there was 
only 1 per cent. The Ceylon tea was very fine and 
had a Deautiful flavour, such as you used to get in 
China tea; but when you came to India, you get from 
3 to 3 J per cent, of caffeine; and up in Assam, the 
natural habitat of the plant, it was the richest of all in 
caffeine. Last year there was no less than 5,000 lb. 
of caffeine sent to America, because the Americans 
knew its value, and they carried little pilules or 
cachets of caffeine to take of an afternoon, because 
the tea they drank did not afford it. That caffeine 
was made from tea which came to London, and if 
the Americans had drunk Ceylon or Assam tea, they 
would find they got the caffeine they wanted. Books 
on chemistry stated that the utmost amount of 
caffeine found in tea was 4 per cent.; but within the 
last few months he had found over 6 per cent in 
Assam tea. It was not found in the lower part of 
the leaf, but in the upper part and the fine shoots 
and when people paid fabulous prices for the points 
of the tea plant they were really quite right, because 
that was the best part. This was the sort of tea 
the Russians bought ; they did not buy the low 
qualities of China tea. Last year 400 tons of tea 
were turned into caffeine, and whereas it sold 
originally at 8s. lb., so great was the demand, 
that it went up to 20s. in December. It was highly 
appreciated in America ; and no matter what price 
it was they would have it. He believed, therefore, 
that as soon as they found out the value of Indian 
and Ceylon teas, they would be only too glad to 
have it. 
Mr. Pye said he should like to ask a question 
about the keeping qualities of tea. They knew that 
a sample of Ceylon tea was not worth much at 
the end of six months, and Indian tea would not 
keep well for twelve months, but China tea would 
certainly keep longer than either. Another point in 
connection with China tea which had not been men- 
tioned was the export duty. That was on some 
qualities at least 10 per cent, and the inland duty 
another 10 per cent. With the incidents now 
taking placo in China, the whole situation might 
be changed, and if the first cost was reduced 20 
per cent, Caina tea might yet be a very formidable 
competitor. 
Mr. F. S. Hawes suggested that the reason why 
Ceylon tea did not keep so well was because it was 
grown in a damp climate ; it had nothing to do with 
the mode of manufacture. 
Mr. Ernest Pye thought Mr. Stanton had not 
dealt sufficiently with the different varieties of tea 
grown in different parts of India. The Sylhet teas 
differed from those of Assam, and those again from 
the teas of Darjeeling. which were of a particularly 
fine character, far above those produced anywhere 
else. The teas from some parts of Ceylon bore 
some resemblance to the Darjeeling tea on the lower 
altitudes, but, on the whole, no tea yet grown 
equalled the best Darjeeling. He hoped that in time 
the English public would learn to distinguish the 
teas from the different districts and recognise their 
merits, as they did tonics, and even to know the 
names of particular tea-gardens, and the brands. He 
did not think the ordinary public knew much about 
the tannin question, but the difficulty would be en- 
tirely overcome if they would only learn to make 
tea in one pot and then pour it into another, and not 
let it stand too long upon the leaves. If Sir Andrew 
Clarke had had his tea properly made, he would 
never have raised the cry about tannin. 
Mr. ChBISTISon said he had been engaged in th u 
cultivation of tea for thirty years. With regard to 
the keeping qualifies, he thought it largely depended 
on the treatment the tua received in the London 
warehouses : the boxes were broken open and left for 
months sometimes, with no attempt to preserve them 
from the air. He had kept Indian tea for seven, 
eight, and ten years, aj}d ( it improved by keeping, ij 
it wero hermetically qe'aled. Xeawaa peculiarly sos 
