Aug. 1, 1899.] THE TROPICAL 
AaRICULTURIST. 
109 
TOBACCO. 
The directors of the New London Borneo To- 
bacco Company recommend a dividend of 2J per 
cent for 1898 and 5 per cen^ on account of 1899 
on the paid-up capital of the 80,000 ordin;i,ry shares. 
The United States Tobacco Trust announces its 
intention to proceed immediately with tlie con- 
struction and equipment of factories in Japan, 
where, however, tobacco is a Government mono- 
poly. — L and C Express, June 2. 
^ 
PRODUCE AND PL AM TING. 
Tea Unfit for Consumption. — Attention has been 
called in these columns, and by more than one of our 
contemporaries, to the rubbish called by courtesy tea 
which has of late found its way into the London 
market. From the complaints made it is clear that 
there has either been laxity on the part of those busi- 
ness it is to detect rubbish in tea or that the Customs 
department needs the addition ot some expert know- 
ledge and a general strengthening of its staff. 
The subject has been dealt with sensation- 
ally in more than one pap;'r, and the 
residt is that the Chancellor of the Exchequer was 
interrogated on the subject last night. Sir F Flan- 
nery (Yorkshire, Shipley) asked the Chancellor of the 
Exchequer " if his attention bad been called to a 
statement in the Press that a quarter of the caper 
teas and half of the dust teas now imported should 
be confiscated under the Food and Drugs Act of 1875 
by reason of their containing 20 per cent, of earthy 
matter and sand; whether he would explain the nature 
of the precautions taken by the Customs department 
in Loudon for the detection of such adulteration, 
and whether the number of samples analysed could be 
increased with advantage ; and whether, having re- 
gard to the fact that the descriptions of tea 
above named were for the most part consumed 
by the humbler classes least able to pro- 
tect themselves against adulteration, he would in- 
crease the staff of inspectors especially allocated to 
the duties of sampling and analysis of caper and dust 
teas." The Chancellor of the Exchequer, in reply, 
said: "My attention has been called to this matter. 
The Board of Customs have, in view of representa- 
tions made to them by certain firms and of statements 
in the Press, ordered a full inquiry to be made. It 
is not easy, vvithin the limits of an answer to a ques- 
tion, to explain the precautions taken by the Board 
for the detection of the adulteration of tea; but I 
shall be happy, if the hon. member wishes it, to 
supply him with particulars. The Board of Customs, 
as at present advised, do not consider that there is 
any need for altering the existing regulations, but if, 
as a result of the investigation now in progress, it 
should appear advisable to make such alterations or 
to increase the number of tea inspectors the necessary 
steps will be taken at once. Meantime a circular has 
been issued to the tea inspectors directing them to 
administer the existing regulations with special C8,re." 
This full enquiry is needed, and it will be awaited 
with some interest. 
The Draft Question. — It remains to be seen whe- 
ther the strong opposition to the abolition of the 
draft on tea, as expressed at the meeting of the tea 
trade held on Wednesday, and reported in another 
column will cause the Tea Associations to modify 
their views. That the trade is in earnest on the sub- 
ject admits of no doubt, and the Associations will now 
have to consider the question of the wisdom of carry- 
ing their proposal into effect in the face of such strong 
feeling against it. 
Vbby Common Tea. — Apart from the adulteration 
question, it is noticeable of late that, owing to the 
competition in the tea trade, and the demand 
for low-priced tea, leaf of very inferior quality 
finds a sale. These teas are so very poor 
that {hey are really dearer ijhau the better 
qualities, and as a correspondent points out, the 
purchaser of low-priced canister teas contributes a 
much larger percentage to the revenue than he 
would if buying better and higher-priced teas. 
The iNCBEAiiNG Popularity of Tea. — With the 
ups and downs of the tea planting industrj one 
fact is noticeabisj and that is that tea 
drinking is on the increase. In spite of the 
open hostility of the medical profession, tea con- 
tinues to grow in popularity in countries where tea 
drinking is a recognised institution, while it is 
gaining favour elsewhere. This is largely due to the 
nterprise of Indian and Ceylon planters. Tea has 
been "pushed" in recent years as it never was 
when China controlled the market, and the result 
is seen in the growing demand on the European 
Continent, in the United States, and in the British 
colonies. Eeferring to this we notice that the 
"Globe" pays tribute to the work of popularising 
tea. It says : " After a long and costly strug- 
gle, Indian and Ceylon teas are fast conquer- 
ing the whole world of consumers by their 
now recognised superiority; Australasian pre- 
judice was the first to succumb ; then fol- 
lowed South Africa ; the United States and Canada 
made a harder fight, but they too, have given way ; 
while Russia, the greatest market of all, is largely 
and continuously increasing its importations." The 
Globe then refers to South America as a field for tea, 
and alludes to the consumption of mate. In some 
parts of South America Paraguay tea is popular, but 
there is plenty of scope for pioneer work in the 
introduction, or rather the pushing, of Indian and 
Ctylon tea in Brazil, the Argentines, Chili, Peru, 
and the other South American States, where up to 
now the opportunity for' purchasing good tea haa 
been very limited. 
A New Form of Advertisino. — Apropos of "Tea and 
Travellers" theGroeer says: "In the law courts, Tuesday 
last a case was heard, which, though not relating tea to 
gave a few incidental references to curious proce- 
dure in connection with the tea trade. That branch 
of commerce, as we need hardly say, haa greatly 
changed during recent years, both in its wholesale and 
retail aspects. There is no duty-paying article now 
sold at a closer margin of profit than tea ; it is 
cheaper than ever, and people drink more of it, des- 
pite a fairly brisk demand for cocoa ; and if a grocer 
is so ill-advised as to sell sugar without an adequate 
profit he cannot expect to recoup himselfaatis factorily 
out of his tea sales. Competition has brought down 
prices to a point which seems to have reached the 
irreducible minimum ; but some of our retail friends 
appear to believe that they have not yet 
touched bottom. We can only hope that their fears 
are unfounded. In the wholesale branch, moreover, 
the position of affairs is not eminently gratifying ; 
things are, as the saying is, cut very fine. In the 
case referred to above, one of the litigints had been 
connected with a City tea company. He admitted, 
when questioned as to the business of that concern, 
that he had kept a set of books containing fictitious 
entries in order to get the travellers to believe they 
were doing a larger trade than they were, and to 
tell the customers so. ' That,' added this ingenuous 
witness without periphrasis, ' was a form of advertis- 
ing. He did not see anything discreditable in 
it, although it was certainly not a highly moral 
proceeding. Granting that such a method in regard 
to tea is exceptional, it indicates that there are 
in the City of Loudon at the present time a certain 
class of speculative traders who are not particular 
what they do, and who, if they cannot sell tea in 
one way, are quick to try another, even if the 
latter does not happen to be ' highly moral. '. So 
long as they are able to keep on the safe aide of 
the law they do not trouble themselves with ethical 
problems. Their conscience only begins to prick 
them when there is little cash in the till, when 
business is falling off, and when they are not do- 
ing as well as expected. Then their efforta to improve 
their position — including ' fictitious entries ' in books 
to produce an impression of great cgmmercia-^ 
