.JlTLY 1, 1899.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTUEIST. 
If any dealer donbts the value of our experience 
in this respect, let him start say with an p-ddition 
to any of his black or mixed teas, of 10 per cent, of 
good Ceylon or Assam tea, then let him bide result, 
and when popular approval does surely show itself, 
let him tiien giadually increase this proportion, until 
he has say a third of good Ceylon, a sixth of Congou 
and the balance of Foochow oolong, and let him 
note the pleased looks of his customers as they come 
back for more of " that very same tea " which they 
got before — "it was just splendid." 
We candidly admit that the mixture of these teas 
in ouv " Caricol Blend" has more than trebled its 
sales and that not alone in territory (like the coal 
regions of Pennsylvania where a heavy-bodied tea is 
always in vogue) but in all parts of the country, in 
the far west where pan-fired and basket-fired .Japans 
are the rage, and in the South where Chinese 
greens are used largel}', as well as in New England 
where the people are partial to straight ?oni)osa 
oolong, FO that I am sure the time has come when 
the Chinese and Japanese tea giowera may well look 
with apprehension upon their vanishing trade, not 
alone in England but iu America as well — Yours 
truly, TEOMAS MARTINDALE. 
[No statement of facts could be clearer or more 
truthful than the above — and I anticipate an answer 
to the similar effect from every grocer who favors 
me with a written expression of his opinion regarding 
the value of Ceylon tea as a siaple article in 
America.— J. M. M.] 
November !5, 1898. — Editor, "Journal of Commerce 
and Commercial Bulletin," New York. Dear Sir, — 
Replying to Mr. A. R. Robertson's criticism upon 
my letter of November 9th, which he good naturedly 
assures your readers " is not captious," permit me to 
say that in v,(riting to His Excellency Li Hung Chang, 
as I did two years ago, it was not because my pre- 
dilections were so strongly in favor of Chinese or 
Japanese teas ; but it was iu protest against a pic- 
torial form of advertising then used by the Ceylon 
and Assam Planters' Association, which I believed was 
not only hurtful to the China and Japan tea trade 
but to the Ceylon and ludia teas as well, and wliich 
form of advertising I am rejoiced to see has been 
dispensed with.* 
I have always maintained that it was questionable 
policy for a bnaiuf ss rival to attack another, either 
in public or private, or for an advertiser to try to 
advertise his own business by ridiculing or humilia- 
ting bis rival, and this from my point of view was 
what the representatives of ''machine made" teas 
were doing, when under their direction a lot of 
scenes were published, showing almost nude China- 
men, reeking with perspiration, standing over the 
firing pans, firing tea ; the scene showiug likewise an 
occasional pig running in and around the firing room, 
by way of variety. Now granting that this picture 
was true to life, would it not breed in the imagination 
of neivous and refined men f.nd women a feeling of 
repugnance to all teas, as it v,'ould surely raide in their 
minds an element of doubt as to the cleanliness of any 
teas, machine made or hand made ? 
Mr. Robertson wanis to know if a cup of good congou 
Oolong or Formosa may not be as " grateful and com- 
fortin;; " to us in our dry climate as the Ceylon or 
India teas are to the tea drinkers in the cold wet 
climate of England. I unhesitatingly reply, " Yes. " f 
In fact I think that Ceylons or Indians " straight," 
(that is by themselves) are too rich in tannin ; too full 
* Here again I agree. To picture Tea as subject to 
such methods of preparation in any country, i.s inju- 
rious to tea of all kinds. To build upon the wrongs 
of others as a means of raising ourselves is poor prin- 
ciple and to have recourse to illustiating the vilest 
methods of tea manufacture or preparation' as an 
advertisement of the legitimate and actual treatment 
accredited to all countries where tea is known to be 
cultivated is smely open to criticism, and ought to be 
stopped by legal enactment.— J. M. M. 
t What have I argued from first to last ?— J, M. M, 
bodied for the lovers of tea in America, while they re 
" jnst the thing " over there. But my argument in their 
favour is as to their use iu connection with other teas* 
that they will improve and " bring up " almost any 
teas that they are blended with, [Why didn't Mr. 
Martindale write this 1'2 years ago ? Too late noi'- so 
far as I am concerned. — j. nr. m.] 
BIr. Robertson suggests that the marvellous success 
which we have met with is pushing our " Caricol " 
blend of tea, may be the result of the clever advertis- 
ing it has received. This might be so as initial orders 
else why spend money for publicity; but when the 
'■ repeat " * orders, begin to come in and keep on coming 
year after year, then it shows that it is the inate 
merit of the article itself that is doing the work. 
I believe with Mr. Frank BInnsey of magazine fame, 
that the man who tries to give the public the most 
and the best for its money will always win over the 
man who tries to make the most out of the public 
and give the least he can. The public day bv day 
through the redundancy of newspaper, circulaV and 
poster publicity is becoming more ei; lightened and 
more critical ; and while advertising may build uij a 
trade, it can never hold it if absolute merit is lackiu" 
io the article advertised ° 
In this connection it strikes me as strange that 
members of the tea trade in this country do Jiot 
advertise more than they do.f I venture the assertion 
that $20'00 is spent in England in advertising and 
pushing teas to every single dollar that is "sperit 
here. Everywhere in the British Isles, yon are con- 
fronted with tea publicity in some shape, form or 
other ; even the theatre is not free frt ni it, as wit- 
ness this from one of Colley Cibbers characters— Lady 
Gentle : "Tea, tea ! thou soft, thou sober, sage and 
V3nerable liquor ; thou innocent pretext for biin'gin" 
the wicked of both sexts together in a morning; thou 
female tongue-running, smile-soothing, heart-opeuino- 
wink-tipping cordial, to jvhose glorious insipidity I ovfe 
the happiest moments of my life, let me fail pros- 
trate and adoie thee !"— Respectfully yours 
THOMAS MARTINDALE. 
Philadelphia, Dec. 7th, 1898. 
To the Editor, " Journal of Commerce and Commer- 
cial Bulletin", New I'ork City. 
Dear Sir,— As Mr. E A Wil ard states in his letter 
published iu your paper of December 3rd, that "he 
will not answer the parties seeking to advertise their 
particular brands through the medium of correspond- 
ence in your columns ' and as I am the only man so 
far who has mentioned a particular brand in this cor- 
respondence, I must take it, that I am the one whom 
he will not answer : may it not be that the position 
I take in this controversy cannot be answered or 
rather refuted ? And that is, that the mixture of a 
certain portion of Ceylon or India teas with a blend 
of other teas, is invariably beneficial ; in fact, Mr. 
Willard seems to admit this when he says, "'ihat 
Ceylon and India teas have some merit and' are de- 
sirable iu blending, is true" therefore I may take it 
for granted that my position is unassailable, even if 
in order to clinch my point I was compelled' to men- 
tion the " Caricol Blend." 
BIr. Willard seems to object (with some show of 
temper too, by the way) to the fact that India and 
Ceylon teas are expensively and extensively adver- 
tised, " that hundreds of thousands of dollars are being 
annually spent" in advertising India, Ceylon and Jap-.n 
* The repeat orders form the principle of successful 
issu^.— -By the gradual treatment of China and Japan 
tea drinkers to a taste for iorfjy in the liquor. Ceylon 
can eventually swamp the demand for the others and 
establish the demand for itself in its purity.— J. .\|, jvi, 
t The tea houses in America do, as a rule, aHveriize' 
but what ? Not the tea on its own nierits, but vihat 
kind of pre-sent goes with the pound! That is what 
I see everywhere, and the people are fools in this res- 
pect. They do not dare criticise the quality of the tea 
even if they can, for they know the answer they would 
get " what c-an you expect, with such a present?"— J.M.M 
