742 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTUBtSI. [Mat 2, 1904. 
submitted to him with the valuations and des- 
criptions of Bremen and London merchants, and 
brokers attached to them. Bub as a matter of 
policy I did not think it y/'ise to do so, as I felt 
sure the grocers erred through ignorance, and I 
had no wish to provide any retailer with a cause 
for a grudge against Ceylon tea. If, however, I 
can at any time obtain proof, that the retailer has 
bought the tea as pure Ceylon, I shall certainly 
institute a prosecution against the wholesale 
vendor or his agent. On all invoices that I have 
seen the vendors are careful to leave the word 
Ceylon out. In Scandinavia the packets are most 
clearly described as blends of tfas best China, 
Indian and Ceylon. If the same course was fol- 
lowed in Germany, no one could object. Although 
the tea firms in the south have had a good year, 
the others generally speaking have not done so 
well, and attribute it to the following : 1st, bad 
business generally, as witness the falling off in the 
income tax returns, of the Imperial revenue, an 
well as those of the Federal States, and of con- 
sumption of beer, though the friends of temperance 
assert that this last is the result of their campaign, 
2ndly, the rise in prices and the uncertainty as 
to when the new duty will come into force. I hear 
that a large quantity of old stocks of China, on 
hand for years, has been cleared out. It is quite 
certain that retailers have been living from hand 
to mouth, and have bought no more tea than they 
could possibly help. The Customs returns bear 
this out, as the consumption of all tea in 1903 is 
less even than it was in 1901 and only slightly 
over 1900. The imports or quantity cleared for 
Home consumption in 1903 show a decrease com- 
pared with 1902 of 315,600 kilos or 694,320 lb. The 
following are the figures : 
Prom 1903, H02. 
Great Britain .. 209600 kiloa 896000 kilos 
British India ... 839400 „ {276700 „ 
Oeylon .. 228300 „ 2S3800 „ 
China ... 1826700 „ 1987600 „ 
Java .. 3999Q0 „ 408200 
Other Countries . . 84300 ,. 101400 „ 
S087100 kilos 3402700 kilos 
The decreases are therefore in English 
weights as follows : From Great Britain 410,300 lb 
from Ceylon 12,106 lb from China 356,180 lb from 
Java 18,260 lb from other coaatries 37620 lb. 
The increase from British India is 140,140 lb. 
The direct shipments from India to Germany do 
not support the above figures. Either direct ship- 
ments to Germany via London must be entered 
in the Indian returns as shipped to the 1) or 
Geylons are cleared as Indian. The direct 
Exports from Ceylon to Germany including those 
via Antwerp, (Belgium) and Rotterdam (Holland) 
show a decrease of 39,890 lb. as compared 
with 1902, 
THE PROPAaANDA rN GERMANY, 
has been mainly conducted by extensive news- 
paper advertising, circulars and letter cards. The 
regular newspaper advertisements made on behalf 
of all the local vendors in all parts of t he Empire 
have been a special feature of this year's work, 
have seen myself how the advertisements made by 
one grocer in some small towns have forced others 
to obbain Ceylon tea and advertise it. Many of 
our supporters have persevered with their regular 
issue of circulars, and others again having 
ascertkined from their clients previonsly by cir< 
cnlars bow many cloied Letter cards they io torn 
TToald UBdertake to pffst t» tkeir enstomerr, have 
supplied the retail clients with the desired 
number. This is a most effective way of adver- 
tising ; a circular or price list is apt to be thrown 
away unread, whereas a letter card arriving by 
post is sure to be opened and read at any rate, 
I have not been able to accomplish ranch in the 
way of demonstration. Two tea stalls,— where 
tea in cup and glass has Vieen on sale, were held 
at the winter and spring exhibitions in Berlin, one 
was the Confectioners and Pastrycooks, the other 
the Life and Health Exhibition. Kvery effort has 
been made to increase the sa!-.- i>y the Cafes, In 
Berlin while one of last year'.s Cafe."* has dis- 
continued the vae of the tea, f-nr new 
Cafes and four new confectioners Iim- been 
found willing to lake up the sale in cup, 
and in Bremen four Cafes, and one Ooftee and 
Cocoa Boom, in Dortmund one Cafe, in 
Ohemnity one Cafe have been added to 
tothe list of vendors of pure Ceylon cup. In Stutt- 
gart the example of the little Ceylon Tea Room 
has been followed by no less than six others, who 
unfortunately do not all dispense Ceylon tea. The 
Ceylon Boom has also suffered from the competi- 
tion of a grand Cafe in its immediate neighbour- 
hood which has made tea a specialty. 
A MOST INTERESTING FEATURE OF THE CAMPAIGN 
is the way in which our Friends in Stuttgart 
have succeeded in getting the tea into the Home for 
Factory Girls, In this Homj Ceylon tea has taken 
the place of beer at the evening meal. In most 
of the large towns there are similar Homes where 
factory girls are boarded and lodged If we could 
get our tea to take the place of beer in all of these a 
good beginning would be made amongst the 
working class. 
I am able to report the accession of two new 
agencies, one in Bremen to work the provinces of 
Hanover, Oldenburg and the two Lippes, and one 
in Dresden for Saxony. The Dresden agency is 
run by a (Ceylon tea estate proprietor, who has 
spent some years in the island. While I welcome 
the help of any and all the firms, who are willing 
to aid in establishing depots for the sale of Ceylon 
tea throughout the country, 1 mu.st own that the 
shops or agencies run by men who have been in 
Ceylon, or by those with interests in Ceylon, such 
as those in Stuttgart, Munich, Dresden and 
Vienna arc by far the best advertisements we 
have. The owners have a most uphill fight ; 
Stuttgart and Munich arc only now beginning to 
make their business pay, and I fear Dresden and 
Vienna must look forward to a loss for one or 
two years, but so far as we are concerned, 
the fact that there are places where Ceylon 
tea and Ceylon tea only can be purchased at 
reasonable rates is greatly to our advantage. 
Other ven<lors are compelled not only to stock 
Ceylon but to advertise it, and what is more to 
sell a fair tea at a reasonable rate. Arrange- 
ments are now in progress for two fresh agencies, 
and a little Tea Room in Unter den Linden, 
Berlin will be opened in the beginning of February, 
My grants for advertising expenditure excluding 
that for the Tea Room in Berlin have amounted 
to £1,024 6s lid against an expenditure of £2,955 
10s 7d. 
AUSTRIA. 
In Austria, at any rate in the German-speaking 
part of it, particularly in Vienna, Ceylon tea is now 
welUknown. The difference between the coadi* 
tion of affairs in 1900 and now is most; marked. 
S\rery dealer aad retailer keeps it, aad severa.!, 
