^ULY 1, 1899.j THE TROPICAL AGRICULTUEIST. 
beai'ing on the subject of rubber separation 
and coagulation is of interest to us at this 
stage of the industry in (Jeylon, and we are 
obUged to Mr. Hart for writing so freely on 
the subject. 
— - — 
TEA ON SALE OR RETURN. 
At the Southwark County Court before his Hoao'.ir, 
Judge Addison, Q.C., on Monday, the British and 
Banington s Tea Trading Association, Limited, of 
Soathwark-street, sued Mr. O W Burton, a grocer, 
carrying oq business at Hemsby, Norfolk, to recover 
s£2 133 2d, for tea supplied. The Association was 
represented by Mr. Philcox, and the defendant by 
Mr. Poakes. — Mr. Alfred Scopes, plaintiffs' traveller, 
said he took an order from the defendant for 451b, of 
tea, which was to be exchanged within two months for 
other tea if it could not be sold. The Association did 
not return any money. Defendant sold a por- 
tion of the tea and sent on tbe money, but 
said he could not get rid of the remainder. He was 
offered other tea in its place, bat he refused to accept 
it and retnrned what he had in stock. It had not been 
accepted and wa^ then in the possession of the railway 
company. — Mr. Foakes said thatdefendatit had the tea 
on sale or return. He gave it a good trial but found 
it would not sell. He returned what he had left after 
four and a half months and seut on the money for the 
little he had sold. There was a distinct agreement 
between the defendant and his wife and the traveller 
that the tea should be had on sale or return. There 
was a certain inducement held out to purchasers which 
was that they would receive an article for domestic 
nse in purchasing a quantity of the tea. — His 
Honour : I know ; they give a present with half a 
pound of tea. That is very common — Mr. Foakes : Yes, 
but it seems to throw some doubt on the quality of the 
.firm's tea, because if they sold a good article they 
wonld not require to give presents with it — His Ho- 
nour : That is not so with the Association. They do 
it to oblige ther customers — to enable your clients who 
sell tea in a village to get rid of it. But the question 
here is as to sale or return. I have never heard of tea 
being sold in that way, although I have heard of Sir 
Walter Gilbey doing business on sale or return with 
regard to wines. That wis how he made his large 
fortune by supplying wines on sale or return. But sale 
or return business is oae ordinary firms will not touch ; 
it ia fatal to their interests. (To the traveller) : Are 
there any large firms in the tea trade who deal with gro- 
cora on sale or return,— The Traveller ; Yea, there are. 
I know of cases where it is done. — Mrs. Burton said she 
gave the order for 45 lb. of tea at £4 23 6d to the 
traveller, and it was confirmed by her husband whom 
she consulted with at the time. — His Honour: What 
was the arrangement entered into ? — The traveller 
said we could have the tea on sale or return. There 
was no time specified as to when the tea should be 
returned if it was not sold. — His Honour: Are you 
sure it was sent to you on sale or return ? — Yes, sir, or 
I should not have had it. — His Honour : What sort 
of tea was it ? — No better than I sell at la 4d a lb.— 
His Honour: Why didn't it sell better? — I don't 
know; we pushed it. — His Honour: It is no reflection 
an the tea to say that it would not sell. There ia 
a great deal of fancy in regard to tea. At one time 
Eeople made a great fuss about Ceylon, but now they 
ave come back to China after trying Indian. — Wit- 
ness said that some very nice presents were sent v/ith 
the tea, but customers wanted certain articles which 
the first castomera had chosen, and would not buy the 
tea unless they could get them. That was one 
reason Why it did not sell well, but she conld not 
order another parcel just to get certain presents — 
His Honour : Did you give a present with 
each lb. of tea ?— No, every \ lb. at 6Jd. — His Honour: 
What! a qus.rter of alb. of tea and a nice present 
for 6Jd. t Have you ever bought from other people 
oa sale or r«tarn ? — Yes, the Ceylon Union Company, 
and I kept some of that tea seven months. I returned 
9<3rae I had had tw« years, and then I was allowed 
5 per cent, discount. — Mr. Burton gave corroborative 
evidence. — His Honour said the defendant and his 
wife were more likely to remember the terras of the 
contract than the traveller who, in his zeal to do 
business, might have pushed the tea upon them on 
sale or return, and have forgotten he did so. He be- 
lieved the defendant was supplied with the tea on sale 
or return, and therefore gave judgment for him with 
costs. — (J/'ocecs Journal, May 6. 
INDIAN AND CEYLON TEAS. 
The following letters appeared in the Kem Yorh 
Herald of April 6th and 7th with reference to the 
lecture given by Dr. John Goodtellow. Ph.D., F.R.M.S, 
and published in that newspaper, on the Slat March, 
attacking Indian and Ceylon teas; — 
Yoitr article and correspondence on the subject o 
tea have amusing sides to teamen, as well as being 
liable to mislead your intelligent readers in this coun- 
try. 
Dr. Goodfellow's remarks undoubtedly applied to 
black tea, in the manner in which it is used in Great 
Britain, as in the lecture which formed the basis of 
your reporter's interview, he stated '' that green teas 
contained more tannin than black teas." I would ask 
your attention to these facts :— There are 90,000,090 
pounds of tea imported into America from China and 
Japan : less than ten per cent is China black, the 
balance is green and Oolong, with the exception of 
what comes from India and Ceylon, and which is 
known as " pure black" tea, no colouring matter being 
used in these countries. 
In his remarks he emphasised the statement '' that 
green teas contained more tannin than black teas, also 
more of the aromatic all," which he thinks " acts 
with a narcotic effect on the higher brain." It is quite 
apparent that between the teas available to American 
consumers, green and black, his recommendation 
would be for the pure black teas. The remarkable 
increase in their consumption all over the world ia 
the best indication of their merits. 
As regards the healthfulness of India and Ceylon 
teas, it is a matter of common knowledge that this 
was the sole beverage on which Lord Kitchener's army 
made its victorious campaign. 
Concerning the healthfulness of tea, of which there 
seems to be some diversity of opinion, the following 
extract from a recent English paper is of interest :— 
Sir William Jenuer, who died at the age of eighty- 
three years, had been Her Majesty's physician for 
upwardb of thirty years. He retired from the Queen's 
service in 1893 owing to failing health. Throughout 
his busy career the physician's sole stimulant was 
tea. He drank it with his luncheon, he took it in 
his carriage while on his round of afternoon sonsulta- 
tions, he drank it again at dinner, and tea was taken 
as a nightcap. 
The great thing is to make tea properly, give it a 
short steep, and ponr off the leaves, and it will not 
harm an infant, while it will stimulate strong men, 
doing the hardest of physical or mental work. 
Impartial Impohter. 
In your issue of March 31st you publish a very in- 
teresting article under the caption " Tea Drinking 
in all its Phases." The article in question, express- 
ing as it does the views of Dr. John Goodfellow, 
Ph.D., F.B.M.S., naturally attracts more than 
passing attention. 
In England practically nothing but black teas are 
used, and Ceylon and India tea has supplanted the 
China and Japan varieties. Now as to the effect of 
tea on the health of the public. Miss Florence Night- 
tingale in her " Notes on Nursing " makes thesa 
comments: — " There is nothing yet discovered which 
is a substitute to the English patient for his cup of 
tea ; he can take it when he can take nothing else, 
and he often cannot take anything else 
if ho has it not. The only English pi.tients I have 
ever known refuse tea have been typhus patients, 
and the first sign of their getting better was their 
craving again for tea,-" 
