6o8 
' THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [March i, 1895. 
cheap coffees now used in the United States, is not 
to place the finest teas at very high juices, as tbey 
did at the World's Fail', but to place good, cheap 
teas before the masses and the finer teas v.ill tljcn 
make their way before the classes- 
Thanking you in anticipation tor tlie publication of 
this long letter, we are. — Yours truly, 
P. C. LAHKIN & CO. 
P.K, — We are sending you per same mail a couple 
of our papers to show you how (ley Ion tea is now 
being advertised in Canada, und would be pleased if 
you would put us on your list of subscribers, and 
mail us the ObDerver with amount of subscription.— 
P.C.L. & Co. 
KEROSTNK OIL IX COCONUT DESICCAT- 
ING Ml U.S. 
Humipittiya Mills, NegumU,, |Yb. 12th. 
Dear Sin, — I am not aware whether I km right 
in stating that I have made a discovery. Whatever 
it may be, I think it but right thai. I should publish 
my experience for the benefit of those who like my- 
self are using kerosine oil lamps in their factories, 
whether erected for the preparation of U:i<.r desiccated 
coconuts. For sometime past f observed that the 
stuff prepared by me, after lump light had a ten- 
dency to get discolored, and I at Brit attributed ii 
to foul pipes of the driers, on examination of the 
pipes, revealed that they were not so. It then struck 
me that very probably the discoloration was due to 
the fumes of one of Richardson and Cruddas' gas 
generating torch lamps, which 1 had been using in 
my factory with kerosine oil. for two months to test 
my theory I had the lamp removed und burnt instead 
some candles, with the result that the discoloration 
which was immediately apparent when the kerosine 
oil lamp was burning had completely disappi 
The staining was no doubt due to the fumes drawn 
by the action of the fan. My experience will, f 
daresay, be of use to those who work coconut desic- 
cating mills at night. But the question naturally 
arises as to whether tea prepared in factories simi- 
larly lighted is not effected in the same way ? Of 
course, it is no easy matter to detect discoloration 
in prepared tea, as it bears a strong resemblance 
in colour to the discolored desiccated stuff. But it 
would be interesting if the planters would give the 
subject their consideration, and see whether the 
fumes of a kerosine oil lamp effects also the flavor 
of tea. M. S. J. AKBAR. 
ADULTERATED TEA AND TEA SWEEP- 
INGS IN LONDON. 
Sir, — The Tea entered this week by Messrs. Gow, 
Wilson & Stanton in their sale of Jan. 23rd, 1895, 
lots No. 2040 and 2942, marked B.P., as lying at Mon- 
astery Warehouse, has so roused up the Tea Dealers 
and also the Indian Tea Planters' Association that 
they have called meetings at once of their Commit- 
tees. To prevent any further delay they have also 
remonstrated with the Board of Customs, and plainly 
put before them the danger of admitting such Tea 
into the London market, and they point to the fact 
of a first clsss firm of brokers having been requested 
by another firm of brokers to place this Tea in their 
sale without giving them any information as to the 
quality or origin. Messrs. Gow. Wilson & Co. have 
rather a dark salesroom, and bringing this Tea at 
night time, and being put up to auction next day, 
it, might have slipped through into consumption ; but 
owing to several of the Tea dealers having had this 
Tea offered to them, and owing to some of this Tea 
being well known in the North of England, and 
other lots having been offered in London, the white 
points in the samples were at once detected, aud 
you will see by the two samples sent marked 1 and 
2 that they correspond exactly with the Ten which 
you have already referred to in the t <•///»>« Ofwrrer, 
when you explained the difficulty of removing the 
sawdust from these leaves. There should now be no 
hesitancy on the part of your readers the planters 
in Ceylon and also in India of demanding that 
some action shall be taken on this side by the 
trade, and no bring pressure upon the Board 
of Customs. A circular has been sent round 
to all the Wharves to know if they are shipping 
their tea to Germany or if they are allowing it to 
be denatured under Customs authority, under the 
Port Order 33-1888. The replies that nave come in 
show that the Wharves which you specified in the 
< 'ft/Ion Uhsr.reer have adhered strictly to the warrant 
and sent in the whole of their tea to be destroyed. 
The other Wharves whom you quoted as selling to 
Germany have not sent in any response ; there- 
fore the independent tea shippers can, when sending 
home tea, indicate to the merchants on this side 
that " they will not have their tea sent to the 
wharves that sell their sweepings to Germany " 
when they can get an equally as good price in 
England.. lor it will have shortly to be decided 
whether the interests of the Ceylon and Indian 
planteis are to be put on one side for foreign mer- 
chants in London who have very small interest in 
the tea trade and rely upon securing the tea sweep- 
ings for the sake of the enormous profit which they 
get out of their sale when sent back to this country 
as an article of food. This last insult which has 
been put upon the tea trade here, it is fortunate 
that the plot was made to fall upon such a highly 
respectable house as Messrs. (Jow, Wilson & Stan- 
ton, because when they repudiated any knowledge 
as to the nature of this tea, the whole trade and 
the dealers knew that such was the case ; in fact 
they at once did their best to see that this tea was 
eliminated from the London market. 
Although you have published the information from 
this side it is much to be desired that you should, 
with the weight of your editorial pen, try and rouse 
up the planters.— Yours truly, OBSERVER. 
No. II. 
Jan. 24th, 1895. 
Sir, — You appear, by the papers arriving in Eng- 
land, to have taken up the question of stopping the 
tea sweepings from the dock warehouses being sent 
to Germany, and returned here for sale as tea 
after they' have been cleaned. Enclosed you will 
find a catalogue, which it will be well for you to 
examine from page No. 1 to page No. 8. It sets 
forth the sale of Indian and Travancore tea by 
auction on the 23rd Jan., 1895. You will then come 
to the words : 
No. Bro.Pek. 
At Monastery Warehouse, B.P. . 2,040 17 hf-chests. 
Do. do. do. .. 2,042 17 chests. 
Beading that over, you would hardly expect to find 
upon examination that that was tea that had come from 
the holes of the London Dock Warehouses. Dealers 
who have been victimized by this tea at once 
called upon the firm of Messrs. Gow, Wilson and Stan- 
ton, asking them if they knew what they weie offering. 
They replied that they did not, but that they had 
been asked by brokers in Mincing Lane to insert 
this in their catalogue, but as they now knew the 
history of this tea they should certainly withdraw it. 
There is a notice on tire back of this catalogue mak- 
ing an alteration in the description of the tea, but 
there is no alteration notified as to the lots 2.040 
and 2,042 being dock sweepings. If such an unfor- 
tunate affair could happen to a firm of high standing 
and a firm well known to support the interests of 
the trade, and especially of importers, this shows 
that planters and shippers from the East must try 
and find some plan of safeguarding their interests. 
I regret I cannot send you a sample of this tea, or 
you would at once see the rubbish that was offered, 
and the selection of Messrs. Gow, Wilson and 
Stanton's room, being rather dark, of course lent 
assistance to such tea passing through unobserved, 
and getting into consumption. — Yoars truly. 
TEA IMPOBTEB. 
