488 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Jan. 2. 1899. 
representatives have come to this coantry feeling 
that yourbackin)^ nieaat assured success, and is all 
that is nocesaary. 
This is shown by the fact that they ignored every- 
one who have laboured here for years in Britibb- 
grown teas. 
The stranger here generally after he has spent 
his money, sees that there is a concrete mass of 
combinations to-fight. The wholesale inerclip-ut whom 
he has won, under the rose, i-t woilcng with the 
people he always has been, and piishuif; the old 
article harder than ever. All the large houses liere 
count upon tiring out and using up thfc funds of 
newcomers, before they find out that they have a 
hold of the wrong end of the stick. I have recently 
travelled over the New England territory and 
British-grown tea has the name of an exploited 
failure. To win success in the introduction of an 
article, to replace a well-known staple product in this 
country, is indeed a task, and must bo bandied from ija^ic 
principles the different localities such as the Eastern 
States, the Southern States, Ac, Ac, require different 
treatment, and great experience tj get enough of a 
foot-hold to have the business go on. Things that 
move slowly are generally doomed, every one helps 
to execute them to get them out of the way. It 
has hurt Ceylon to attach India to it; first it is con- 
fusing, second it appears from all the advertii^ing 
that Ceylon and Indian Tea mi.xed is the only 
baverage to use, not Ceylon Tea alone, oh no. Il is 
the most arrant nonsense to say that the w.^y to 
introduce Ceylon tea is to push Indi.i tea also. 
China and Jupnn tea, they have been introduced 
separately and against each other. Having won a 
place, here the merchants adverlise for sale China 
and Japan Tea. You might as well say that the 
way to introduce Bass ale is to add (luinness's stout 
and use Bass & Co.s' money to do it with. There 
is a season for every thing and I know why they are 
working ('eylon and India together, but the courtesies 
that obtain among decent-minded people seal my 
mouth. You will not get this market to auy large ex- 
tent until certain things are done, they have not been 
done and while some good has been accomplished, not 
enough of an impetus l as been given to the enterprise 
to make it lasting. Your money has largely been 
spent by Englishmen to get experience. If you think 
they have accumulated enough of it to win success 
the thing to do is to go on ; if you stop, every thing 
will pretty much be thrown away. It is not fair to 
count Canada impoxts with North America, Canada 
was won before you spent any money here aud readily 
yielded to any efforts made owing to your own people 
being largely there. Through overwork and worry 
in upholding Ceylon tea against India and the many 
persecutions I have had to encounter in this fight 
my health has given way, but 1 have provided for all 
contingencies by bringing into the business my only 
child Horace Prall May, who I will educate to assist 
me and continue the work of pushing Bhud Tiffin 
and Bungalow Teas should my malady develop into 
anything seriou.s. In the event of my not being 
spared to complete this introductory work I commend 
my son to your most gracious favor. I shall always 
do what I can for Ceylon tea.— Believe me gentlemen, 
vours very faithfully, 
' S. ELWOOD MAY. 
TEA IN GERMANY: NO. 1. 
Veyangoda, Nov. 27. 
DeAB Mk, EdItoB, — I saw a good •many articles 
and letters in your Journal lately rc " Tea in Ger- 
many." With all the increase itf the produce of tea 
it is evident that no time should be lost in opening 
Tip new markets for our Ceylon staple article " Tea." 
The latter subject has been discussed a good deal 
lately and different suggestions have been made as to 
the best and most practicable way of the introduction 
of Ceylon tea into Germany. Some people are very 
keen on advertising and I am sorry to see, in the 
interest of the Thirty Committee; that they waste ridi. 
eujoua Bu»s e£ iHQuey in this way, but I doubt very 
much whether it will jepiy the inonstroas amouDti 
spent. It is not likely that the word '• Tea " 
would strike) a bealtliy '!erniaii llansfrau althoneh 
printed ever bo temptingly, as she is accostome ) to 
coflf je. Yon will find p ig^s full of advertisiniuiil for 
the sale of teiin Germ.'-n Newspipeis ; some of those 
teas — herbs — are said to purify your Blood, otuert 
have the miraculous power to restore to heaiLh >our 
bid liver etc. To confound our Ceylon lets with 
those 80-cillcd teas, bv alver.ising lliem cheek by 
jowl, would Oiily lead to ii wrong ostiiohliou of il* 
value and superiority. Other petiplo again propose 
distributing tea saiiip'es ! Many Germans never 
nor diank tea, whit they would coa,;o.;t w >uld ba 
very interesting to sf-c. DiHtributiug pimphlels in 
the lauguaye of the Kaiser, as su^geste;! by the 
Editor, Cei/lon Uh.itnei- is about the beat bcheine, but, 
considering that nearly in every streot corner a pam- 
phlet distributor may be fof.iid. a persrii would 
come home with so muny {'sckets and pamphlet*, 
that he would take hardly any notice of iho Uuer 
and the chief reason of the scheme would be lost. 
A far better way to introduce Ceylou tea into Ger- 
many and make the product of our induslry apprecialt^d, 
would perhaps be to publicly demoDstratu through 
lectures and ocular pntciice the prep:<ratiou of a cup 
of lev and its Viiluable tjuality. Sihoids. Kinder- 
gartens, Public Halls, and all of er public estab- 
lishments for entertaining the public miy be 
advantageously tiken into reouieition. Without a 
prantical demoustr^ilion it may be a very tedious 
and difficult matter to convince the Germans of the 
refresLing and stimulating powers of tea. Even in 
Great Britain, where tea is kuown for itome time, 
it is ai acknowledged fact, that almoi-t nine out of 
ten persons have not the fainteat idea of preparing 
a decent cup of tea and if in Germany or any other 
new country where our pioduct is to be inlioluced, 
great care is not taken to teach our new cu^'loniers 
ho.v to make an unappro.ichable beverage, it woald 
b3 naturally difficult to weau them from their 
customs of coffee, cocoa, etc. And all sums n- 
pended on the bare advertising of tea. even with the 
distrib:ition of samples, I would regard at least as 
unsatisfactory in its results. — Yours taithfully. 
11. M. ECKERT. 
r.S. — I just, after clo.5ing above, come across Mr. 
J. P. Ryan's letter to th'! Thirty Committee on Tea 
in Austria," This letter will in general corroborate 
my expressed opinion on the distribution of tea in 
Germany, in which I mentioned a few other facts 
beside?, which may be of interest to yon. 
No. II. 
Ruanwella, Nov. '2U. 
Dear Mr. Editor, — If I was astonished to find in 
your issue of the Ist November of the " Tropical 
Agriculturist " a remark printed, emanating as you 
say from Mr. McKeozie. to the effect that the Germans 
are a beer-sodden " nation " it woald only express 
my feeling inadequately. For a Commissioner to the 
Thirty Committee to use such an expression of a 
new customer that is to be, is at lea'it to say very 
injudicious, if not altogether an. warranted and un- 
called-for. That this will not do the Planter's causa 
and the mere so Ceylon's product much good in 
Germany is more than likely and miy perhaps cause 
the ne V customer to fight shy of a representant of a 
community, in whose interest^ it must be to count 
the good-will and co-opeiation of his future new 
client. It would be interesting to know how the 
commissioner would proceed to efface the bad im- 
pression his remark must cause in Germany and how 
he intends to meet his customer ? Still more vital 
for him will it be to answer his patrons, if he should 
be taken to task for his wantonly endangering 
Ceyloii's industry iu a country like Germany. But 
why appoint an English Commissioner at all, who 
in the best does not know ths country, nor, anything 
of the peoplte's customs and habit? Why is there 
not a German rejjresentant on the board of the Thirty 
Committee to ftssist the latter with his knowledge t»% 
