Dec, ], 1898. J 
TFIE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
395 
of the Rnjlway " Gazette," where appears an article 
referring to the projected new line of the Lloyd Co. 
between Trieste and Calcutta via Colombo and in 
which the writer refers to Oeylen Tea, as one of the 
principal articles to be carried by the steamers on 
that line. Considering that I had not the occasion of 
speaking to the writer of the article, his mention of 
Ceylon Tea in such a pi-onjinent manner shows evi- 
dence of the great interest that is being taken in our 
staple product, 
Trusting that the foregoing remarks abont the Tea 
Trade in Austiia-Hungary may convey an idea of 
the state in which things stand at" present I will 
now come to the question of the best means for in- 
creasing the consumption of Ceylon teas in this Em- 
pire, 
The only practical manner to attain such a praiae- 
woithy object is to advertise, but the question arises 
whether the Tea trade in Austiia is sufficiently large 
to warrant any outlay and whether prospe;ta for fu- 
ture development of Ceylon tea here are favourable ? 
My answer will be in the affirmative, there being a 
distinct inclination noticeable towards tea drinking 
and such a tendency can only be fostered and in- 
creased by advertisements. The desired results will 
not certainly be immediate, but all chances are in 
favour of Ceylon tea, the general taste appears now 
to be entering into a transitory phase and the oppor- 
tunity is a very good one for giving it a direction 
towards Ceylon tea. As regards the way to be adopt- 
ed I have given to the question my best consideration 
and for the present I do not think it will be possible 
to carry out here the arrangement wherewith the 
Thirty Committee lay out a certain sum for adver- 
tising Ci-ylon tea, provided the parties thus benefited 
do on their side epend an equal sum as that p.ranted 
by the Committo. The Tea trade in Austria is fully 
cognizant of the qualities of Ceylon tea but all the 
same it will be difficult to find any reliable firm that 
will promise to deal solely with our staple to the ex- 
clusion of China sorts, for at the very best the sale will 
be small at the conynencement. To entrust a begin- 
ner with Ceylon is not advisable, nor will any old es- 
tablished tea dealer discard China at once in favour of 
Ceylon lest he should lose his clients and luin his busi- 
ness. 
Now, my view of the question is to'leave the 
dealers severely alone and simply advertise '• Ceylon 
Tea" in leading papers, afterwards adding a liberal 
display of posters and occasionally getting short 
notices published in the body of the papers relating to 
the great progress made by Ceylon tea all over the 
world. Jiy this means the attention of the general 
ljublic will be decidedly attracted to a good purpose 
for, judging by human nature many will be those 
who in consequence of reading the advertisement 
will ask their grocers for Ceylon tea and it will 
not take long before all grocers and retailers will 
purchase and stock Ceylon tea and sell it as such 
and not with any other high flown title. Then 
the time will come for the Thirty Committee to 
negotiate wit;h some dealer or dealers who will be 
prepared to stock solely Ceylon teas and receive a 
subsidy, in the shape of free advertisements, in ex- 
change of their services to Ceylon tea. This sys- 
tem -has been adopted with excellent results for 
many other new articles such as cacao, soaps and 
the like, the introduction of which appeared at the 
bei^inning as a work of education surrounded by 
uphill and other difficulties, but which were sooB 
snrmounted by the co operation of the public curi- 
osity which is a prime factor iii the introduction of 
new things ; J do not mean any disrespect to Cey- 
lon tea, certainly not ; but; I reckon a good deal 
upon h;mian curiosity to help us in the achieve- 
ment of the object for wliich we are all striving, 
namely the doveh'pmcnt of Ceylon Tea Consump- 
tion in Foreign Countries. 
With regard to estimates, etc. etc., I cannot quote 
the figures as I have given all particulars to Mr. 
Ryan who will separately write his views. — I am, 
dear sir, yours faithfully, G. A. MARINITSCH. 
(ANNEXUEB A.) . 
IMPORTS OP TEA INTO AUSTRIA-HUNGARY, 
DURING THE YEAR 1894. 
By 
Land 496,0G5 
By 
Sea 2,591,63.5 
G be 
H 
S3 a^g^ a . a 
pg p-— og o- 
f5 B iS -'^ ' 
5 ? S r„ ■ 
- £ g fc! ;3 
H O h 
Land 434,395 
Sea 2,253,490 
Land 418,845 
Sea 2,086,570 
Land 421,592 
Sea 2,187,338 
1,375 120 148 315 739 — 
7,168 20 12 1 6589 14 
8,543 
Totals 1,913,632 lb. 
1895. 
1,393 113 148 316 739 — 
7,616 24 16 24 6842 19 
9,039 
Totals 2,024.736 lb. 
1896. 
1,372 133 1.S9 302 685 2 
7,G40 9 10 2 7085 16 
9,012 
Totals 2,018,688 lb. 
1897. 
1,381 160 196 338 626 — 
8,009 — 7 11 7718 
9,390 
Totals 2,103,360 lb. 
^ o . 
I-* ^ .rt 
O in 
■-' fl 
11 42 
392 140 
14 68 
698 23 
14 47 
481 18 
16 
241 
45 
23 
(ANNEXURE B.) 
Population of the Austro-Hungarian Em- 
pire as per last census ... Total souls 45,.5C0,000 
Besides to add Population o£ occupied Pro- 
vinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina ... l,400,C0O 
*Austria proper 
... 4,.500,000 
Hungary (including Goatia) 18,500,000 
*Bohemia 
... 6,3C0,0C0 
^Galicia and Bukowina 
... 7,600,000 
*Moravia and Silesia 
... 3,000.000 
Styria 
... 1,400,000 
Divers Provinces 
... 4,200,000 
PRINCIPAL CITIES IN 
THE BEAtJI, 
*Vienna 
... 1,7.50,000 
*Budapest 
600,000 
* Prague 
350,000 
*Lemberg ,„ 
150,000 
Trieste 
120,000 
*Briuni 
100,000 
Graz 
125,000 
*Krakan 
75,000 
Pilsen 
55,000 
*Uzernoroitz 
55,000 
Linz 
50,000 
* Tea-drinking populations. 
PRECIS OP CIRCULAR LETTER ADDRESSED TO 
TWENTY-FOUR CHAMBERS OF COMMERCD AND 
INDUSTRY IN AUSTRIA AND HUNGARY. 
Dated : Vienna Ist June 1S98. 
By request of the Ceylon Planters' Association I 
have just concluded a voyage through the most im- 
portant centres of the Monarchy for the purpose 
of studying the Tea Trade and I deem it in the 
interest of the trade to subijiit to you the result cf 
ray enquiries in the course of which I acquired the 
very gratifying impression that the consumption of 
tea w.ia distinctly on the increase and there were 
visiable signs of a decided inclination towards this 
b average. 
I was struck, however, by the very heavy duty 
charged upon tea and which on the average cO'"'8 
to over 75 per cent, ad valorem and no doubt 
heavy tax.ition prevents the much desired ae- 
volopmont of the trade. 
