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These  Tables  can  be  obtained  printed  on  Cardboard.  GOW,  WILSON  & STANTON, 
Brokers,  13,  Rood  Lane,  London,  E.C. 
GOW,  WILSON  & STANTON'S  TEA  REPORT  FOR  THE  YEAR  1892, 
13,  Rood  Lane,  London,  E.C.  December  30/A,  1892. 
The  history  of  the  Tea  trade  forcibly  illustrates  the  triumpth  of  science  and  education  over  bar- 
barism and  ignorance. 
Originally  learning  the  use  of  tea  from  China  and  drawing  supplies  from  the  vast  fields  in  the 
Celestial  Empire,  we  have  domiciled  the  shrub  in  India  and  Ceylon,  cultivated  the  plant  and  pre- 
pared the  leaf  on  scientific  principles,  and  thus  brought  the  produce  grown  in  our  own  Possessions 
to  such  perfection  that  China  has  at  length  been  nearly  beaten  out  of  the  Market. 
This  result  has  not  been  attained  without  a struggle  of  many  years  duration,  and  great  sacrifice 
of  actual  money  ; — the  price  having  gradually  been  forced  down  lower  and  lower,  until  a point  was 
reached  in  the  early  part  of  this  year  almost  level  with  cost  of  production. 
The. chief  cause  of  this  abnormally  low  value  was  the  rapid  annual  increase  in  the  output  from 
both  India  and  Ceylon,  which  by  last  year  had  grown  to  such  a point  that  it  threatened  to  outstrip 
consumption. 
HOME  CONSUMPTION.  The  extremely  low  price  no  doubt  materially  assisted  in  bringing  up 
the  total  Home  Consumption  of  all  Tea  for  I892  to  the  high  point  at  which  it  now  stands  viz. 
207,000,000  lbs. ; — exceeding  that  of  any  other  year  ; and  this  too  in  a year  when  the  process  of 
substituting  the  strong  Teas  of  India  and  Ceylon  for  the  weak  Tea  of  China  was  perhaps  never 
more  actively  in  force,  its  use  falling  from  52,000,000  lbs.  in  1891  to  34,000,000  lbs.  in  1892,  while 
the  use  of  Indian  Tea  increased  from  99,000,000  lbs.  to  109,000,000  lbs.  and  Ceylon  from  51,000,000 
lbs.  to  64,000,000  lbs.  in  the  same  period. 
The  Home  Consumption  of  Tea  in  its  liquid  state  must  therefore  have  been  enormously 
augmented  in  1892,  and  the  public  have  at  last  the  happy  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  almost  every 
cup  of  Tea  they  drink  tends  to  increase  the  prosperity  of  our  own  kinsfolk  in  India  and  Ceylon, 
besides  assisting  to  support  the  vast  native  population  in  these  portions  of  the  British  Empire  ; for 
out  of  every  100  lbs.  of  Tea  used,  53  lbs.  were  grown  in  India,  31  lbs.  in  Ceylon,  and  only  16  lbs.  in 
China. 
CROP  RESULTS.  Although  prospects  opened  gloomily  for  the  Tea  Producer  this  season,  events 
have  nevertheless  proved  auspicious,  for  the  excessive  crop  estimates  indulged  in  both  from  India 
and  Ceylon,  which  hung  like  a pall  over  the  market,  have  proved  fallacious,  and  the  actual  out-turn 
has  barely  come  up  to  that  of  last  season.  The  result  has  been  a reaction  in  price  to  a more 
remunerative  figure.  The  coincident  fall  in  the  value  of  silver  has  also  lessened  cost  of  production, 
and  the  planting  community  expect  to  reap  a fairly  profitable  harvest,  while  the  increased  use  of  the 
article — both  at  home  and  abroad — resulting  from  recent  low  values,  has  materially  raised  the 
proportion  in  which  consumption  stood  towards  production,  and  thus  lessened  the  danger  of  over 
supply  in  the  near  future. 
QUALITY  OF  CROP  from  India  has  so  far  been  above  the  average,  that  from  Assam  especially 
being  noticeable  for  strength  and  richness.  Ceylon  Teas  have  been  up  to  average,  and  towards  the 
close  of  the  year  were  particularly  good,  those  grown  at  high  elevations  being  noticeable  for  very  fine 
delicate  flavour. 
Average  price  of  all  Indian  Tea  sold  on  garden  account  in  1892,  was  iod.,  against  about 
io£d.  in  1891  ; and  of  all  Ceylon  Tea  sold  on  garden  account  gjd.  in  1892,  against  iod.  in  1891. 
THE  CHICAGO  EXHIBITION.  Much  time  and  attention  have  been  given  to  the  adequate 
representation  of  Indian  and  Ceylon  Tea  at  the  corning  World’s  Fair,  in  the  hope  that  the  market 
in  North  America  may  become  an  important  consumer  of  British-Grown  Tea. 
FOREIGN  MARKETS  have  been  somewhat  extensively  developed,  the  low  rates  prevailing  in 
the  earlier  months  having  offered  a favourable  opportunity  for  fostering  this  important  branch  of  the 
industry.  Flavoury  kinds  of  Ceylon  Tea  are  also  finding  a market  in  Russia  at  remunerative 
prices. 
JAVA.  The  trade  this  year  has  been  principally  with  Export  Markets.  America  has  taken  a fair 
quantity,  and  the  consumption  of  this  growth  appears  to  be  increasing  in  that  quarter.  Recently  the 
advanced  prices  of  Indian  and  Ceylon  Teas  have  induced  home  buyers  to  operate  more  freely  in 
Javas.  46,434  packages  were  catalogued  against  55,814  in  1891. 
