May 1, 1899.] THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
785 
TEA IN AMEllICA. 
New York, February 22nd. 
The new tea law goes further than the ex- 
clusion of impure or adulterated tea, and makes 
a quality standard. The result has been a general 
improvement of quality, but the question has 
been raised, and not without reason, that it is 
beyond the province of the United States Govern- 
ment to establish standards of quality. Naturally, 
some will ask, if the United btates Government 
fixes a quality standard for tea, why not for 
sardines, spices, or coffee, of which some very 
inferior and trashy lots are imported ? The chair- 
man of the Board of Tea Experts, Mr. Plielan, 
in a letter to the Assistant Secretary of the 
Treasury, makes answer to this and says :— 
The reason for the incorporation of "quality" 
in the present law is because of the failui-e of the 
original tea law on account of not having "qua- 
lity" established as a test. Under the old law 
"quality" was not mentioned, but the tea exami- 
ners were instructed to exclude teas which had 
" an adulterated, spurious or exhausted leaf, or 
such an admixture of chemicals or deleterious 
substances as to render them unfit for use." 
After ten years' trifil it was proved conclusively 
that no two tea men could agree on -what was 
adulterated, spurious or exhausted leaf, or what 
constituted what was unfit for use. This law re- 
sulted in two evils— first, wild inconsistency and 
constant injustice ; and second, the gradual ad- 
mission of anything that had the appearance of 
tea, until the country became deluged with the 
trash of the world to 'such an extent that the very 
ex-istence of tea as an article of consumption be- 
came jeopardized. 
To remedy all this and establish the most certain 
guide known to tea men the term " quality " was, 
withgreatcare, incorporated in the new law as the 
only test which could be used with a minimum 
amount of uncertainty and inconsistency. 
Mr. Phelan attributes the reduced imports to 
former importations of trash. This is true in part, 
but another cause is the narrowing of the difler- 
ence between the relative cost of tea and cotlee. 
One pound of tea at 50c, would make six gallons 
of infusion, costing 8^c per gallon ; while one 
pound of coffee at 15c, would make two gallons of 
infusion, costing 8!iC, and if the cofffee cost only 9 
or 10c per pound, the infusion would cost only 4^- 
@5c per gallon, while a 35c tea would make the be- 
verage cost about 6c per gallon. If, however, a 
Ceylon or India tea is used, one gallon of infusion 
will cost from 5 @ 8c per gallon, making it a chea- 
per bevei-age tlian if Japan or China sorts are used, 
as one pound makes 10 to 16 gallons of infusion. 
The decline in the cost of coffee makes it re- 
latively the clieaper beverage and that, in part, 
accounts for the increased imports of coffee since 
1896, and tiie decreased imports of tea. Tlie net 
imports of the two articles compare as follows: 
1896. 1898. 
Tea 83,549,331 66,290,691 
Coffee 621,429,664 781.028,847 
Trashy coffee is freely imported, but it does 
not seem to reduce consumption. Regarding tlie 
workings of the tea law, Mr. Phelan says : 
After only one season and a lialf we liave had 
almost all the evils of fifty years abolished from the 
trade and the country. The millions of pounds of 
decayed and spurious leaves with which we were 
inundated lia\ e been at last eliminated, as well as 
all the trashy and worthless flavors which liave 
been so unfit for use as almost to drive tea 
out of consumption. This has been accom- 
plished witliout any advance of price, excepting 
on the very trash which it was desirable to ex- 
clude. Until a recent a(lvan('e, on account of the 
imposition of a duty which deterred importation, 
all the teas which had any substantial merit were 
sold at a lower price than ever before in the his- 
tory of the tea trade. Good fiavored Oolongs are 
procurable in large quantities for 14c. per pound 
m bond, and good sweet young Hj-sons at 13ic- 
per pound, the same quality of Congous (English 
breakfast) at 14c. per pound, and .Japans from 15 
to 16c. per pound. There is hardly an impure leaf 
in the entire importations of teas to Amei-ica 
during the present season, and we go on record 
as receiving the finest crop of teas, not only in 
our own history, but in the history of any other 
nation. 
The consumer has been thoroughly and abso- 
lutely protected without increase in price for fair 
quality, excepting by the recent duty imposed by 
Congress. The representation, therefore, made in 
the brief that great injustice has been done to the 
poor man is entirely at variance with the univer- 
sally acknowledged facts. 
In this connection we republish the statement from 
last week's market report, showing the importa- 
tions of tea in 1898, and the sources of supply, as 
follows (Already given.) 
The above shows that Japan furnished 45 per 
cent of the total imports ; China. 44 "4 per cent. 
Before the 10c per pound duty, a very good 
tea was retailed at 20 (a,; 25c per "pound 
furnishing a wholesome and palatable bever- 
age at 3;^c @ 4lc per gallon, but now coffee 
is the cheaper drink, for which and beer the 
American people seem to have a decided pre- 
ference. The value of the 1898 imports of tea was 
.$9,608,2.52, against imports of coffee valued at 
$62,674,241. 
Demand quiet, but the market is strongly held 
on all medium and low-grade teas.— ^Ijjif ;-/crt?i 
Grocer, Feb. 22. 
«. 
' TFIE INDIAN TEA ASSOCIATION 
(LONDON.) 
The following is the interim report of the Ame' 
rioau and Foreign Tea Committee : — 
The committee now have the pleasure to lay before 
the members, as is usual at this time of the year, 
a review of the work undertaken during the period 
that has elapsed since the annual meeting, which 
was held in July last. 
The subscriptions to the fund raised for exploiting 
nsw markets during the year amounted to Rl, 02,031 
collected in Calcutta as compared with 1,02,029 in 1897 
and 1,03,674 in 1896. The planters in Southern India 
have, as bafore, contributed liberally to the fund, and 
a subscription of £200 from a Loudon subscriber was 
again received last year. 
A war tax of ten cents per lb of tea imported 
was imposed last year by the United States Gov- 
ernment towards meeting the cost of hostilities with 
Spain. This h.TS had the effect for the time of 
seriously curtailing the importation of all tea, and 
has been a great hinderance to business. On the 
other hand, it has served as a useful advedtisement, 
enabling attention to be called to the economy effected 
by using British-grown teas in performance to those 
of other countries. 
It is gratifying to learn that the prospects of India 
and Ceylon tea are much brighter in consequence of 
the strictness with which the law excluding poor tea 
is enforced inAmeroar. This falls heavily on the low 
class tea of other countries, although the recent 
sharp rise in the value of common tea must have a 
tendency for a ti)ue to check the expansion of the 
trade. 
Thfi committee refer members to the acnom- 
panying report received from Mr. Blechynden, 
under date New York, January 10th, in which 
he reviews the work for the year 1893. The Com- 
missioners for India and Ceylon have been continued 
to CO operate to the mutual advantage of bath asso- 
ciation. 
Fewer demonstrations have been organised during 
the year, as this work is been done by packet firma 
and others engaged in selling tea, but moro money 
has been spent in subsidit-s and grants to those 
doing the work of educating the public and pushing 
onr teas. 
