560 
TilE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. iTkb 1, 1899. 
"there ia no use my keeping that tea, as you will 
be my only customer." She said, " No, there are 
Beveral old country families near lue, I'll ask them to 
tea, and make customers for yon." Within a week, 
she had sent him several customers. 
This surprised him so much, that he tuok a pai kiit 
home and had his wife make it. He tried to swallow 
it, but felt he was getting sick, and spat it out But 
his customers returned for it, and he resolved to tjive it 
another trial. This time he forced himself lo swhUow it, 
he tried it again, and now he and bis wife drink it 
regularly ! 
A few days after returning to New York, Hr. 
Blechyndsn and I went to i^hiladelphia, Balciiuore 
and Washington, 
AT I'HILAPELPlIlA 
We found our friends Messrs Park & Co., had 
a large demonstration at 
A " food show." 
In the Tea Department they had ten gills. It 
was a wet day, and there were few people thci e. I con- 
sidered it a very good advertijcmoiit for Varke and Co., 
who being wholesale people, vvished to impress the re- 
tail grocers, but far more expensive than tlio occasion 
justified from our point c)f view, aa wo were eoc- 
tributiiig towards the cost. 
I a^ked for a cup of Ceylon ten, and one of the 
girls gave it to nie. I asked her if she liked the tea 
herself. She replied "lean tell the people all the 
good points of the tea, but candidly I cannot drink 
it myself." I pointed out to the manager that it 
would be better if he haa girls who liked the tea, 
and could speak from their own experience. He 
agreed with me. But he said, the woman in charge 
is English " and drinks Ceylon tea, but we cannot 
get American born girls to drink it. We have to be 
content to have girls who can repeat intellixently 
the story we teach them about it." 
We have three other Firms who are helping us 
strenuously in Philadelphia— advertising and demons- 
trating. Two of them are eager buyers of any 
Ceylon or Indian greens that come on the market 
IN BALTIMORE 
I foimd Tetley's teas for sale, and bought 
Ceylon tea in several shops— But the total 
quantity sold is very small. I asked one firm 
why they kept it, as they sold so little of it— 
the reply was— " There are people of all "National- 
ities here, and those from the old country asked 
for it." We found it was dropped and forgotten at 
one large Department store, where we had assisted 
to demonstrate and introduce it last year. 
This we found was also the case in 
WASHINGTON, 
notwithstandicg demonstrations and advertising. 
■ Two days after returning from Washington I saw 
AN AETXCLE IN A CHAELESTON NEWSPAPEB, 
in which it was said "Indian, tea has twice as much tan- 
" nin (poison) as Japan tea " Jtc. This was probably 
inserted by the Japanese. But the curious part of it is, 
that when 1 called on a tea-packer and blender that 
afternoon in New York, he showed me an order 
he had a few days before, for so many packets of 
Japan and Ceylon teas, from a Cliarlenton Firm. 
Also a letter be had a few days later, cancelling 
the order for Ceylon tea. I have no doubt this 
was due to the article in the Charleston paper. 
I know that two papers ia Canada which had been 
advocating 
A DIPFEKENTIAl, DUTY 
in favour of our teas in Canada, suddenly modi tied" 
their viev;s, when the Jnpmese sent them some large 
advertisemeiUs for insertion. This is more legitimate 
bribery than that which caught the Encrlish Aristoc- 
racy, for Hoolev's "Front page" ia his many pros- 
pectuses. However, I believe there is now every 
chance that a duty of iive cents (iki-) will be imposed 
in Canada, with ii differential of 25 per cent rebate 
in the case of British grown tea. 
I see by Messrs. Gow, Wilson and Stantons, figures 
to end of September, that li millions snore Ceylon 
and India tea went to America during the first 
nine raoDths of thit year, tliau lu the name luonlbs 
c( 1U1J7. Thi* is 
VbUy ENCOl'BAUING, 
Be<^in$( that 'the war tax has bad neat an iojurioiu 
effect. Bnt f'.>r tbe t*.x, I believu, we abould have be«n 
three niilliou* aliead of la^t year 
\V. Maniiidale, the Philadelphia tea merchant, who 
wrote two yeara ago lo Li Jiaug Cliaug, icl'iuii of 
tiie evil our advertisemeuts wire doiug lo Chin» tfa, 
hag recently written to the leadii.g coiumc-i citil and 
trade papers, telling hew with fear aoi treuibUne 
be began usinx our te^s in his blenda. lie foana 
COMMKNKA IIOK KOLI.OWJiU CI..M MI XUATloi. , 
tbe moie frequently, the larger pru^ortiou ho uaed. 
lie Candidly admilB his 
TUADE HA!^ TBEBLED 
by tbe introduction of those tean in fal< blends. Be 
blends them with Oolongs, where Oolongs are uaed — 
with Foruiusns where tbo&i; arc in fuvur, »ud 
with pure fjrL-ous for tbe lest. 
Their cliuapueas too, us compared with tbe teat 
from Cliina and Jap:in whirh tbe alandarde aduiit, 
is much in our favor, and ibib fact we are advertiaioig 
in all trade pui>crH of any standing. 
Tbeu tbe packets uf puic Ceylon or Ceylon and 
Indian tea, are bein^ ao energetically pushed where 
ever there arc Briii&b rcsidcata in tbe States that we 
are 
OB&DUAU.Y OAIMSO 
their trade. 
Youre tmljr, 
WM. MACKENZIE. 
Extract /rom Mr. Wm. .VacLnau's letter, Ijlh iJcc. I(i98. 
A correspondence has been going ou in the columns 
of the leading New York commercial paper*, on tbe 
comparative merits of Ceylon and Indian teat, aa 
compared to China and Japan. It wati started by a 
Tea Broker " Mr. U'iU<ird." I enclose bis last letter, 
with Blechynden's crusliing reply. You will see bow. 
Willard trieH to prejudice us as Foreigners. AUo his 
allusion to the " !itujt' used t» fertiliziug" I think tee 
reply will make him sorry be spoke. 
PLANTING IN A.ViBAGAMUWA : 
A PllOPUSED TEA UUST COMPANV. 
Ambagamuwa District. Jan. 4, 1899. 
Dear Sir, — It may possibly be of iutereRt to yon 
and your readers and to the planting world in parti- 
cular to be given a glimpse at the rainfall of this 
the wet'.est district in the island for some years past. 
Herewith rainfall for six years, as gauged on this 
estate: — incbes. 
189.? .. .. 207-70 
1894 .. .. 209-93 
1895 .. .. 212 40 
18% .. .. 200-06 
1897 .. .. 209-82 
1898 .. .. 174-48 
Tou will thus notice that 1895 gauges the highest 
rainfall, whilst 1S98 has tbe lowest record for the six 
years. Had only the rainfall last year been distributed 
evenly throughout the 12 months, no one could have 
wished for a better year for tea ; but as the year was 
phenomenally remarkable for fitful weather such as 
we never experienced before, the attending results are 
easily accounted for. Estimates, as a rule, have been 
anything but realized, but the appearance of the tea 
fields ought to compensate for shortage of crop. 
Never have I at this lime of the year seen the tea 
look so luxuriant. Given good .'easons, Ambagamnwa 
ought to have a record year in 1899. 
Why should we in Ceylon uot have a company 
formed to buy up all the dust tea, to distribute the 
s.tme for sale amongst the millions in tbe island who 
at present cannot get a decent cnp of tea for -want 
of centres where a cheap tea can be easily procured 
to suit their scanty purses. A company formed, baring 
Belling centres in every district and village, would be 
of immense service both to tbe tea planter and the 
unfortunate village squatter. There will then be no 
