Feb. 1, 1899.] THE TROPICAL AGPJCULTUPJST. 
557 
Now— on the other hand— there is scarcely a 
grocer wlio is not obligeil to have some Ceylon 
and Assam tea in stock. There is scarcely a 
grocer who does not have a blend of hi.s own too, 
and lie uses ;i little tJeylan or Assam in it. 
This ffoes, and I am pur.snaded in my own mind 
that this idea has done a great deal towards in- 
creasing interest and conseijiient demand lor Tea 
as a beverage. 
I do nob think that tastin? Ceylon pure has 
done much to make tea drinkers, bat ■pushing, 
advertising, and newspaper articles on the suij- 
ject of 
TE.V CUI/riVATIOX IN CEYLON 
and India liave awakened a new interest iii tea 
qetiemlly. Grocers have had to make themselves 
familiar with the .subjeci, and have gradu- 
ally found that Ceylon and Assam teas could 
be used to their own advantage. Acker ilid 
some good work in this direction when he even 
employed the name of Ceylon in his business as 
a leader. His blond was at once a public in- 
terest, and the grocers became inquisitive. The 
blend was analyzed and imitateil as closely as 
possible. They knew it contained some Ceylon tea, 
and they were led to buy it in consequence. 
Now why, in the name of all the gods at 
once, should Ceylon planters continue to foster 
in their hearts a prejudice against blending their 
produce with China and Japan teas wlien the 
American Grocer informs them that he wants 
100 chests at market price. Tliat is liis interest 
inr the American Grocer, not how the American 
Grocer treats his customers. 
Let it be true that of the 100 chests, 10 or 
15 are sold straight and the rest mixed 
in with other teas to make blends, &c. What 
need the planter care ? The grocer knows 
best how to run his business, and does'nt care 
a rap about how the tea was iilanted, pluekeil 
withered, rolled, fermented, dried or — well I wont 
say 2Kt.ched — for he does. These old bnxcs are 
subject to all the dreadful epithets used by, and 
almost patent to the American Grocers' handy 
man. I will not enlarge, but leave the subject 
in its suggestiveness. 'I'he iron boxes are, on 
the contrary, eulogized in ratio. They are use- 
ful in the store when empty for blending tea or 
coffee and make very good colfeo bin.s, &c. I 
cannot imagine planters failing to adopt this style 
of packing i).)X. Possibly they cost a little more, 
but tlio teas arrive so much better condition in the 
metal boxes that it would pay in the end. 
The tea market is rather unsettled at present 
on account of tiie Spanish-.A.nierican wiir and 
other causes. A war duty of 10 cents per lb. 
was imposed, but some of our I'epresentatives 
in Government think the revenue from this i.s 
not enough and it is possible that a furtlier duty 
of live or 10 cenis may be added, as also a 
duty on cott'ee which has escaped as yet. Then, 
there is now a law similar to that in England 
to i)revent the importation of inbbislsy teas 
from China. As 1 understanii i', a tea must 
1)6 worth 15 cent.-' per lb. to be placed 
upon the ni ukct. This makes tea worth at 
Ici-^t 2."> cent porlb. as an up-et price, so you can 
easily understand how u'c leol about it, wlien 
we have to sell at popular prices. 
How are 
CKYI.OX OOhONCiS 
getting on? Do any planters make a specially of 
very line fancy teas? There is a class of Ame- 
ricans who will paj up to and S"', per lb. lOr 
a very line lea. The best tea 1 ever received 
was a very blaid;, clean and pretty broken pekoo, 
with a large percentage of golden tips contrasting 
beautifully with the small black leaf. It wa.s 
handsome in a))pe;iiance, ;uid delicious in flavor. 
It cost 2s 3d or thereby in Lonilon, but it was 
worihthe money, anil sold well. If I recollect 
aiightiuwas " liookwood" tea, but ot this I can- 
not be certain. 
AVhile I have argued so .strongly in favor of 
blending Ceylon tea, I dont wish- you to set me 
down as any less an enthusiast in the interests 
of the product. I am personally iitavfc anil 
soul in eater|irisc, and hope soon to comuiand 
the trade of most of the Ceylon tea drink- 
ers in German town, and extend my field 
gradually. To tell you the truth, there is 
no really fine Ceylon tea in the market 
and now that I am in the Tea business again, 
presumably for the rest of my life, 1 mean to 
wait until such time as 1 can command the iiery 
b <;( that Ceylon piodiices, before 1 adopt 
A r.cAxn OF Pur.K ceylox tica 
I am willing to pay 2s 6d and Is 3d foi Uroken 
Pekoe and Souchong respectively delivered at niy 
store for ordinary tratte. The present duty of lOcts 
per r.'). is against me just now, as I would always 
pay this price for the tea. The consumer w ill not 
take the tluty into consideration and pay more, so 
they have to be content with a less expensive tea, as 
the retailer cannot pay nmch over 30cts for a 5()cts 
tea and make his business profitable. I will mail 
tills letter now and start a new one which may 
treat of other subjects of general interest. My 
letters may be long-winded, but 1 like to scribble 
down my thoughts when alone, and \Hsit in spirit 
my old hunting ground. Salaams to all^oUl friend.s 
in Colombo and up in the hills. 
J. iL'CCOMBIE MUERAY. 
THE CEYLON TEA MAKERS' HANDBOOK.* 
This is a very handy little manual for tea-makers, 
containing we!l-nigh 70 pages of letterpress 
divided into four jiarts:— (1) the General Duties 
of all the Factory Staff from the Tea-maker to the 
Watchmen; (2) Manufacture with practical re- 
marks on each department ; (3) Machinery with 
intorniation and hints as to every pos.sible machine 
in use ; and (-t) Useful Notes for Tea-makers. In a 
modest preface, the autiior deprecates the notion 
that his work is any more than it professes' 
namely, — "a bandy book for the Tea-maker, 
lie expresses his indebtedness for hints to his 
biother and to Mr. Kelway Bamber for permission 
to utilizes information from bis well-known work 
on tea. We can very cordially recommend Mr. 
Pett's little compilation as full of useful informa- 
tion ot the most practical kirid. To young tea- 
makers, the hanilbook should prove of peculiar 
value. There ought to be a copy in e\ery tea 
factory in Ceylon — and for that matter, in India 
as well. 
Dii. Tr.i.MEN s " l''LoitA OF Ceylox."— We 
learn from Mr. .1. O. Willis that the fourHi 
volume of (his work is now ready and that -Sir 
Joseph Hooker wishes to present copies to 
those in Cej'lon to whom' tlie late Dr. Trimcn 
sent presentation copies of the eurli(>r vohiincs. 
Mr. Willis .addresses ns a letter to be found 
on page 562, to which we draw attention. 
* Till! Ceylon Xan-maJt.M s' IT intlbook — compiled i)y 
Gen. Tliornton Pett. Price R2 Nett. Colombo: 
I'linted at the " liiuea of Ceylou" SteAm Press, ISUa 
