706 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Apbil 1, 1899. 
THE INDIAN TEA ASSOCIATION 
(LONDON.) 
MR. BLECHYNDEN S REPORT FOR THE 
YEAR 1898.» 
New York, January 10th, 1899. 
Braeet Tye, Esq., London. 
Dear Sir,— I have the honour to submit my report, 
for the year 1898, and, as requested, make it as bn«f 
at poBtible. 
.JOINT ACTION WITH CEYLON. 
I have great pleasure in recording that our relatione 
with the Ceylon Association continue most close and 
intimate, as I am satisfied that both Association! 
are great gainers by the arrangements we are thus 
both enabled to make. The interests of India and 
Oeylon tea in this country mast remain identical for 
many years. Each country gains by the increased 
quantity of tea from either country taken o£f the 
London market. 
SUBSIDIES. 
During the year wo have continued to make grants, 
or subsidies, to firms pushing India and Ceylon tea 
in packets, and have secured the co-operation of one 
or two firms to push these teas in bulk. The latter 
method is, in my opinion, the one which would be 
to our greatest advantage to foster, but it presents the 
disadvantage that firms cannot, under present con- 
ditions, be certain of retaining the trade they open 
np, as there are no means of insuring the repeat 
orders coming to them. It is only when the tea ii 
tacked under some copy-righted name that pioneer 
work can be made to pay. Loose teas of almost, 
•ometimes exactly, the same quality can be 
supplied by any firm in the business; and 
competition is so keen that our friends 
find that trade, that they have been at the 
trouble and expense to open up, is seized upon by 
rivals. Ho far as the Association is concerned, it ii 
ef course quite immaterial, so long as the tea is sold, 
who finally reaps the benefit ; but such experiences 
are very discouraging to our allies. The packet tea 
business is, sotAre as firms are concerned, much more 
lucrative investment. But packet teas have to be 
advertised to consumers, which is a very expensive 
Matter, and though there are numerous packets in the 
market, there are but few firms with sufficient capital 
at command to make this business succeed. We have 
some staunch allies, and also some who are half- 
hearted. Others again have gone into business with 
energy for a short time, but have dropped off, or will 
do so' as the stronger houses gain ground. Our object 
in aiding packet is not so much for what they actually 
Bell as for the advertising they must do to have any 
prospect of making a business, all of which day by 
day familarized the public more and more with the 
merits of our teas and makes tham better known. 
The packet teas also act as standards of quahty 
which grocers selling our teas loose must compete 
with. 
LEITERING STOBES. 
We continue to letter a few stores with the 
words :—" India and Ceylon Teas;" but as the 
packet business increases, the demand for a general 
advertisement of this nature falls off. 
DEMONSTEATIONS. 
Less of this class of work is being done by ns, and it 
will continue to grow less as we try to turn such 
work over to packet firms. These are equipped to 
BUBervise the details and to follow up work by direct 
sales. In my half-yearly report I referred to some 
work of this nature we had inauguarated in the Jewish 
quarter of the town, where a great deal of black tea is 
consnmeel. As there seemed to be good prospects of 
success, we had no difficulty in transferring the entire 
care of the matter to a firm which started a special 
packet to meet the local requirements. They aUo 
undertook to spend a reasonable sum, in addition to 
our grant,. in exploiting this field. They have opened 
* We are indebted to the London correspondent of 
our evening contemporary for this Report.— Ed. T.A. 
a store for the sale of their packet, and have added the 
tale of coffee to their baiiineea, tor, us usual, it it in 
the gieatest demand : the profits on the latter go to- 
wards paying part of the expeusee. Su far the experi- 
ment in promising; bul whether it succeeds or not is of 
no great moment, as demand for our tea is being 
establislied, and otlier i>a<:ket tea firms are also reap- 
iug the benefit. Not knowing of our interest in toiie 
section of the town, one of our other allies mentioned, 
as a matter that might be of interest to us, that their 
sales in the Jewish quarter, which they bad done 
nothing to foster, had suddenly got a start. It is that 
indirectly we frequently benefit from the work w* 
cause to have done. 
TE&-B00M. 
I btated ia my half-yearly report that the tea room 
we had etarted in the previous year, and which we ran 
for twelve months, has been closed for want of sac- 
cess. While this room was lu existence, it was of 
some use as an advertising medium, bat was too 
expensive, and we closed it with regret. Since it wae 
closed a large dry goods store in that neighbourhood 
has more than once been on the point of opening a 
similar room on its own premises, and the scheme 
may yet take shape The large number of tea demon- 
ttratioiit given in dry good storeii by firms we are in 
close contact with, is probably one of the main obsta- 
cles to the Bacc«at of independent ventores of 
this kind. 
ADVEBTUUtO. 
During the year we have narrowed down tbo niuB- 
ber of magazines we use for advertising purpose, aad 
DOW use only those where our advertis«;ment appeart 
absolutely next to reading matter. We have for some 
time discontinued the use of magazines, otherwise ex- 
cellent in all respects, style, circulation, dc, but which 
have from forty to sixty pagea of advertisement mat- 
ter in which any single advertisement it boried oat 
of sight. 
The newspaper advertising we do is much on the 
same lines as heretofore ; but although it comes un- 
der the head of advertising, it might frequently be 
more appropriately charged under grants. The reason 
for this is that when firms are pushing their teaa 
vigorously in any given town, they ask us to advertiae 
India and Ceylon tea there. We take our Dsuai space, 
and advertise the teas generally. They then take a 
small space immediately under our advertisements, 
extolling the merits of their special brand of India 
and Ceylon tea, and thus gain the benefits of our ad- 
vertisement at well as their own, getting also the ad- 
vantage of the reduced rales we can secure aa large 
adyertisers. In some places we have several firms 
following our advertisements in this manner. We ar« 
not using a single paper in which one or more packet 
firms are not following us. Our advertisement of course 
makes the words India and Ceylon prominent ; and 
by this means we not only advertise these teas gener- 
ally, but those firms wanting to benefit by our adver- 
tisement have to use the same words on their packeta 
and in their advertisement, instead of merely pushing 
the packets under the name of the brand. 
We have continued to issue a large quantity of ad- 
rertiting matter in the shape of cardx, pamphlets, dc, 
Aa has been previously described, this matter hat 
always space reserved whereon the name of a brand or 
firm can be printed. We distribute all our printed 
matter through large firms, and they in turn dit- 
tribute through stores. By this method the espente 
of distribution is brought down to a nominal ^nre. 
Were we to attempt to distribute independently and 
directly, the cost of stamping, addressing envelopes, 
&c., would greatly reduce the amount of nork we 
could do, and would exceed the cost of printing. At 
the space reserved on the printed matter can be filled 
in with the name of the grocer as well as that of the 
brand, all parties have equal interest in getting it into 
circulation, and we can be satisfied that there is no 
waste. We have been fortunate so far in being able to 
prepare subjects which have proved popular and are 
in great demand, We could get them out by millions, 
instead of thonsands, with equal ease and to grekt 
advantage if funds permitted, 
