July 1, 1902.] THE TKOPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
hard and arduous, and I wish the demonstrator 
could have had more help. We ought in fact to 
l.i;..ve had two men, not one. This work is now hoing 
cjntiuued in the East of France. The opinion of 
the grocers in whose establishments the demonstra- 
tions have been held, is that no better advertisement 
of Ceylon tea could have been given, and although 
they admit that the sale of tea is very small, they 
all seem now prepared to push Ceylon tea in their 
sales in preference to China. A very great deal of 
money has been spent by our friends in France on 
the campaign last year, though my contribution has 
baon proportionately much less than in the ther 
countries. A sum of 84,409 francs and 0'2 centimes 
have been spent on general Propaganda and demon- 
stration, to which I have contributed 21,896 francs 
11 centimes. On the installation and equipment of 
three tea rooms 64,92i; francs 05 centimes has been 
spent, to which I have contributed 5, -500 francs for 
advertising purposes. In France those who have 
taken up Ceylon tea have certainly shown their 
interest in the article by the way in which they have 
found funds for advertising the tea. With the excep- 
tion of 3,510 francs, no travelling expenses have been 
included in the sum of 84,409-0-2 francs. All the 
six houses actively engaged in the Propaganda re- 
port an increase in their sales varying from 5 to 40%. 
Returns of 7J% in tea on amount of tea imported, 
has been made to fifteen firms, who have imported 
Csylon tea into France during 1901 . I fear the with- 
drawal of any return in 1902 will check the imports of 
Ceylon tea in France for the current year. Many of 
the above Firms, though unwilling to push Ceylon 
tea, have no doubt been tempted to take it up on 
account of the return, and use it for mixing pur- 
poses. I should have liked to have a given a 3 or 4% 
return this year. 
The only figures as yet available for 190 1 are those 
for the direct exports from Colombo to France, and 
these show a faliing-off of 8,934 lbs. and I fear that 
the imports from London for 190 1 will show a larger 
reduction, as there can be no doubt that towards 
the close of 1900 heavy importations were made in 
order to obtain the full benefit of the large return 
made in that year. 
The French returns for 1901 will not be available 
till the autumn, but those for 1900 are disappoint- 
ing. They are as follows: — 
Country of Export 1899 1900 
England 168146 kilos. 197952 kilos. 
Belgium 1465 ,, 2152 ,, 
British India 124698 ,, 144002 ,, 
China 523064 ,, 591001 ,, 
Other Countries 21422 ,, 27288 ,, 
Indo-China 43015 ,, 1,30275 ,, 
Other Colonies 116 ,, 656 ,, 
884926 ,, 1093326 ,, 
According to the above return the increase in all 
tea from England was 29,806 kilos or say 05,573 lbs. 
whereas the London brokers' returns give the in- 
crease in Exports from the United Kingdom in 1900 
as 49,244 lbs. for Ceylon, and as 38,5S7 lbs. for 
Indian, or an increase in export of British-grown 
tsas alone cf 87,597 lbs., the figures being: 
Export to France 1889 1900 
Ceylon 83867 lbs. ISmi lbs. 
Indian 50537 ,, 88890 ,, 
I have not got the figures for the direct exports 
from India, but from Ceylon they were as follows ; — 
in 1899 1900 
98952 lbs. 326800 lbs. 
or'an increase of 227,848 lbs. The increase as per 
the French figures from all British India, which I 
presume includes Ceylon, is only 19,904 ailos, say 
43,788 lbs. Even i'f we deduct one-third of the 
increase in Export from Ceylon, say 76,000 lbs. as 
being in Bond, or on the water, there still should 
remain an increase of over 150,000 lbs. from Ceylon 
alone for 1900 over 1899. I therefore fear the French 
figures are not altogether reliable so far as country 
of Export is concerned. The increase in the imports 
from Annam is very great, over 184,000 lbs. and I 
believe that for 1901 the increase exceeds 250,000 lbs. 
I do not believe the acreage in bearing under tea 
in Annam is capable of giving this large Export. 
One of the Importers has admitted to me he has 
received a lot of stuff which was not tea at all, and I 
know that the quality has been so bad that three or 
four of the biggest importers vow they will import 
no more. I cannot help thinking, however, that 
teas have been brought to Tonquin from other 
parts of China, and exported as Annam to enable 
ohem to secure the benefit of the much lower 
duty on F-ench Colonial products, 
Belgium. — In Belgium very little has been done. 
Two dealers have begun to advertise our tea through 
their clients and are able to show an increase in 
imports of 12,100 lbs. over 1900. They have spent 
2,000 francs against a subsidy of £39, say 750 francs. 
When the war in South Africa is over, I think 
Holland offers a very fair field for Ceylon tea, as its 
consumption of tea per head of the population is the 
next largest in Europe to that of Great Britain. 
Austria. — Work in the Austrian Empire has been 
carried on through 5 agencies. Three of these firms 
have their centres in Vienna, one in Trieste, and 
one in Basle. I have granted support to four out 
of the five. The Trieste firm received no subsidy. 
This firm being a Commission House took no direct 
part in propaganda work or advertising, but they 
have interested themseves in our tea by import- 
ing and selling it, and financing the dealers 
when necessary. Two of the Vienna firms have 
been connected with Colombo for some_ time, 
the principal one being directly interested in a 
Colombo House. This firm commenced the importa- 
tion of tea into Austria a couple of years prior 
to 1901. 
In addition to the grant for 1901, I have given 
them a grant in consideration of the work and outlay 
incurred by them in 189P and 1900. I have no doubt 
that it is mainly due to their extensive advertising 
that others have come forward and taken an interest 
in this article. The other firms, being already 
in the tea trade, have perhaps obtained more 
successes in the way of increase of imports and 
number of depots for sale of the tea, and thus 
have reaped the benefits of the more extensive 
advertising done by our Colombo friends. This 
firm has advertised in 44 different newspapers 
and periodicals, has issued 20,000 special cicurlars, 
put up 2,000 posters, put up special posters in the 
railway stations, has a standing advertisement in 
the Volks Theatre, etc. It has been suecessfiU in 
securing four members of the Imperial family as 
regular clients and has distributed 25 copies of 
Cave's " Golden Tips " to leading and influential 
personages in Vienna. In addition to its general 
propaganda amongst the trade and public, it made 
a most attractive show at the Food and Agricultural 
Products Exhibition held at Karlsbad in August and 
September, and obtained the gold medal for its tea ; 
45 lbs. of tea in oz. packets were distributed free to 
"the visitors, 
