Oct. 1, 1898.] 
THE TROPICAL 
AaEICULTCELST. 
24? 
With re"xvi to Russia, what was stated in 
th3 16001° was tha^ " the coramittee recognzied 
the importaoce of givin« at'.e.i;.jn to o her 
markets besides that cf Ameiica— especictUy to mat of 
Ra=sia— and will, at th^ fi.st cpportnnuj' t.ppropria-te 
aijortioaof the funds at thtir u:spo'il towai-ds that 
obiect " Personally he very much agreed wun w-hat 
had fallen from 'lir. Setou, and that the sooner they 
made a begiuuing— hov/ever small— m Russia t.ie 
better It the same time ever? great commander 
had recognized that it was sometimes a mistake to 
divide one's forces ; it w.as not always a case (U.-nle 
ct inniera ; sometimes there was a failure ihsy liaa 
not a great deal of fands, and it might be fomid 
impossible-ccrtainly during the current year— to 
divert anything away from America Biu it was 
quite evident from what Ceylon had done that there 
was an •' open door" in Russia. , , , 
Mr Arthur Thompson observed that he was quite 
satisfied that the Russian market was being properly 
worked both here and in Russia by the buyers them- 
selves There was no doubt that after a short time 
Russia would take a large quantity of tea, especially 
fine tea, and that a large and inore.^smg trade would 
be donfi with the country. Whether it would be 
worth while to spend there the small funds at the 
disposal of the Association, or whether it would be 
better to continue the work in America, whicli bad 
ahown such large progress, was a question tor consi- 
deration, 
THE AJIEEICAN TE.i. MARKET. 
Mr Blechynden, the Association's American Com- 
missioner, on being called upon by the Chairman, 
said he had verv little to add to his reports, but 
one or two matters had come up since he had 
submitted his annual report, and about ihese tue 
members of the Association would perh.ipa l:ke to 
hear something. One was with reference to the 
duty on tea whuh affected America con?merably, a 
duty of 10 cents per lb. having been imposed as a 
war measm-e. It was looked upon as a temporary 
measure to tide over their present financial ditli- 
culties, and it was also thought that this being a 
tax which alfected the poor man it would be used 
as a party cry and wonld therefore be removed 
before October. Either it would be removed at that 
time or a duty on coffee would also be imposed. 
4s soon as this matter of the taxation took tangi- 
ble shape buyers, by way of precaution, bought 
large quantities of tea, and for the present the 
market was practically paralyzed. There would be 
very little done in the way of purchases by grocers 
and other retailers for the nest two ■ r three months, 
and possibly until something more dehaite was 
known about the future of the tax. bialistics show- 
ine the increase in the sales of Ceylon ^ and Iiaaia 
had been prepared by the Association, out it was 
rather difficult to separate the proportions. Taking 
the two countries together there J-J^ ,^een an in- 
creased export to America of 3,000 0001b over last 
year, and the tea consamptioa of America had 
increased in no other direction. The mroorts from 
China and Japan had fallen off s-.mewnat The 
position in America at present was very diflerent 
from what it was even two years ago. It was then a 
vervdiflicult thing to find retailers stocking Indian 
teas. It was only where teas were being advertized by 
the funds of this Association that retailers found ic 
worth there while to stock them^ But now it was a 
common thing to see Ceylon and Indian teas adver- 
tised by the grocers themselves. ihere were two 
channels through whicli their teas reached the eon- 
samer. One was the package firms and one the grocer a 
ordinary bulk tea, such as was sold over the counter 
in this 'country. Indian tea was no v bang largely 
substituted for the so-called English bieakfast 
tea. Ooloug tea, mixed wi h green tea, and 
sold as mixed tea was being largely consumed 
by the poorer classf.s. In the last few years attempts 
had been made to prepare a lea suitable fort he 
American market, known as N-.i,mu:i.i 'ea. ihe 
earlier samples sold in America were not very favour- 
ably reported upon, but recently he bad seen some 
samples of tea which were not only favourably reported 
upon but were quoted at a pric° a'; which s',iHs':s.c- 
tial orders were immediately forthc-oinii;g. Ih... i-'Si* 
culty was that thi.s tea wa; nst prepared upon any scale 
ill In'lia, as it had only been prepared in .iii experi- 
mental wa.y in a few pLices, and at a m-ietiug held 
in Ceylon Mr. ^I?oi.-ke)iz:e, the Ceylon commissioner, 
suggested that some snpport might be given to the 
producers of this green tea in ihe form of a guarantee 
against loss in its experimental preparation. 
It was not, pernaps, a matter to be brought 
before a general meitirg, hut he would Vr'ish, 
with the permission of the Association. to 
prepare a short letter in reply- to an inquiry 
he had received through the " Ceyl u Times '' on 
this particu ar subject. His own views hart 
changed, and he was now of opinion that a great 
deal was to be said in favour of the pv.-pavati.jn of 
green tea, and he thought it wa-i a pjattei- wuieh- 
shonld be brought permanently before the atleutiou 
of planters. There was one point which he did not 
think the Association had placed before it, and 
that was that since last year there had been a con- 
siderable change in the position of the American 
market. About this time last year an agitation was 
started by the importers of tea into America for 
the improvement of the quality of the tea. But it 
was a matter which rested absolutely in their own 
hands. The Americans sought the support of their 
Government, and instituted certain standards, and 
the matter was very fully discussed, with the net 
result that a higher class of tea was now going 
into America, It was a little more expensive, and 
could be quoted perhaps 2d a ib. dearer. For» 
tunately for the India and Ceylon tea industry the 
Iad->n teas wore of such a character that there was 
no tear of adalteriiti JH. and chat beiag so, the qaality 
of the tea to be sent there need not necessarily be 
raised. India w^s, therefore, in a better condition 
to compete as regards price with the teas coming 
from Chii a or Japan, inasmuch as very low grade 
teas used formerly to be sent from those countries. 
The average price of the teas landed in America 
previous to last season was 13 cents per lb. 
Mr. Arthur Thompson asked what price was put 
on the Namunna teas. 
Mr. Blechynden said from IS cents to 23 cents. If 
he might throw out a suggestion it would be that 
the growers of green teas should have an understand- 
ing among themselves. In the case of a very high- 
class tea coming from Ceylon and known as the 
" Norwood " tea, when first sent to America it was 
found to be very su!t?-ble for the market, and fetched 
the extraordinary price of SO cents par lb. Other 
firms were enabisd to purchase those teas, and the 
popularity of the " Norwood " tea wus so great 
that mora "Norwood" tja h:vlb:ensold in America 
than V. -.-.s grown in Ceylon. It seemed to him th.^,t 
it wonld on a verv easy matter for those Gentlemen 
who were pronosiL^' to experiment in the manu- 
facture of these nncclonred green -.eas and Na- 
munna leas to arrive at some underst. lading 
whereby they would not be competing eg'ii".3t each 
other and ruu their tea to grcuud. Ac present they 
could get very r ^.tsonable prices, br.t if two or three 
shipments were offered in dsffereuc p.irts of the coun- 
try their " drummers" wonld be competing against 
each other, and the result would be in accordance 
with the usual experience in the country that no pro- 
fit could begot o.it of the tea. 
A vote of thinks to the Chairman brought the pro- 
ceediiigs to a termination. — P. and C. ^^ail, Jnly 29. 
CLUXfTS ESTATES COMPAW, LIMITED. 
THE Rl-PjliT 
was as follows : — 
CiuxF.-: Division. — Supsiiutendent : Mr. T. S. Lace. 
Tea ill br'ai;i:g 31i» acre.-* : N-jw cie;vi iugs 5- avr.'S; 
Fo:e*t • 7i .\cres; Tjtal olj'x j,.;ves. 
Eit.!.\cHr Divisijx. — Supitiu-,endent: Mr. C. F. S. 
Shaw. Tea in bearing at "i acre.s ; Tea planted 18'J4— 
