Aug. 1, 1901.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
89 
CEYLON AND JAPAN TEAS IN CANADA. 
1- 
The following,' letter, signed "PC Larkin, 
Toronto," appears iu the Canadian Grocer : — 
" We read with much interest in this week's 
issue your article headed ' Japan Tea Market 
Injured.' In it you state that the Japan tea 
market has been ' ditKcult to understand,' and 
you go on to stale that, in spite of the material 
diminution in the amount of imports, the market 
has weakened rather than stiffened.' We per- 
sonally, and without prejudice, cannot .see that 
there is any reason for surprise. It is quite 
apparent to us that you have overlooked the 
stronf<est factor of all in biinging about the de- 
crease of the demand fjr Jap n tea, and that 
is, the green teas of Ceylon. Every wholesale 
house has, by this time, recognistd the fact that 
there is no future for Japtins, and that there is 
a great future for Ceylon greens in Canada. Con- 
sequently, not only the wholesale houses, but 
every bright retai'er as well, are afraid to stock 
np with Japan teas, wisliing rather to adopt a 
hand-to-mouth policy.— Home and Colonial Mail, 
May 31. 
II 
(To the Editor of the "Home and Colonial 
Mail") 
Dear Sir, — Being an old Indian planter, and 
having been engaged in the Imiian and Ceylon tea 
business in Toronto (Canada) for many years back, 
I have taken a great deal of interest in the many 
proposals made to better the state of the tea 
market. And while watching with much interest 
the very energetic campaign that has been carried 
on by Ceylon for some years, and which has shown 
such great results, e.specially here in Canada, I 
have been surprised, as well as disappointed, that 
as much, at least, has not been done by India. 
They did have an energetic and able representative 
in the United States for three or four years, with 
a small amount of money at his command with 
which to advertise ; and he eflected wonders, [ 
think, with the amount at liis disposal. But what 
is wanted to turn the consumption of the one 
hundred million pounds of Japan ami Ciiina tea, 
that is now consumed annually in the United 
States, into a consumption of Indian and Ceylon 
tea, is the expenditure in advertising, for the next 
three or four years, of at least forty or fifty 
thousand pounds sterling per annum. This, well 
spent in the daily pres^s, would force Indian leas 
on the attention of all cea dnnkeis ; and I venture 
to say that in five years from now over filly 
million pounds of Indian tea pei annum would be 
consumed in the United States. 
You will ask how tliis money is to be raised 
Well, why can it not be raised as I understand 
the planters of Ceylon have raised theirs for years 
back ' The impositi >n of an export duty of one- 
sixteenth of a penny per pound on all tea ex|ioried 
from India would cieate a revenue of £45,000 per 
annum ; this is, basing the ealculation on the 
output of Indian tea last year, and the expendi- 
ture of such a sum would enhance the va!ue of 
Indian tea twenty-fold the amount expended. 
It may be said that the planter is not in a 
position to stand this one-sixteenth of a penny 
per pound. The question just occurs to me, who 
12 
would pay it? Would nob the consumer pay it 
in the long run, instead of the grower or ex- 
portei ? 
In any case I consider that a real live campaign 
carried on in the United States is the only feasible 
plan that will bring about the position so much 
desired by us all. 
If one wants to see a recent vy suit of advertising, 
I have only to point out the proj^ress which Ceylon 
green teas have made in Canada during the past 
eighteen months. One firm t<i my knowledge, the 
" >alada " Tea Company, has fdr months back 
taken, on regular orders from one f^aiden in Ceylon, 
over four hundred half-chests per month. Practi- 
cally every wholesale house in Canada is now 
handling Ceylon green teas, and they are all pre- 
dicting that they will entirely displace Japan teas. 
This has been brought about, first, by superior 
quality, and, secondly, by the tremendous adver- 
tising that " Ceylon green tea " has received. To 
the Indian planter the moral is: " Go thou and 
do likewise." — Yours faithfully, 
Ross W. Hayter. 
50, Front Street, East, Toronto. 
May 16, 1901. 
-£r. ct C. Mail. 
WHY NOT FIGHT MATE TEA IN 
SOUTH AMERICA ? 
80 TO 100 MILLION LB. OF THIS " HOLLY " 
MATE TEA CONSUMED. 
It may come as a surprise to many people 
to learn that no fewer than from 80 to 100 
million lb. of the indigenous tea of Brazil 
and Paraguay are consumed in the South 
American Continent. From Brazil alone 30 
millions lb. are said to be " exported "—that 
is to countries farther south, such as Argen- 
tina, where the consumption of Mat6 is said 
to reach to 15 lb. a head per annum. All 
this we learn from the account we republish in 
our daily and T.A. of " Mat^," from the latest 
edition of the " Encyclopaedia Britannica." 
[The new edition or Supplement now in course 
of preparation will no doubt have later in- 
formation.] It will be observed that Mat6 
tea is really made from a kind ot ilex or 
holly and, as apparently there is no culti- 
vation of the plant, even the widespread 
forests of Brazil and Paraguay cannot 
supply groves of the ilex for ever, although 
perhaps the cutting of branches in the manner 
described, by the Indians, doe.s not do perma- 
nent injury to the trees. Be that as it may, we 
cannot see why the people of the South 
American States — in Argentina especially — 
should not by degrees be won over from 
Mat6 to Ceylon and Indian teas. Already a 
few million lb. of our teas as reported by 
Messrs. Gow, Wilson & Stanton, are taken 
for South America and, if some trouV)le were 
taken to exploit the States concerned, or 
their capitals at least, with samples of our 
stronger teas, it is quite possible that the 
supersession of the indigenous article, Mat6, 
might go on a good deal quicker and that 
no inconsiderable quantity of our teas, and 
one yearly increasing, might be taken by 
South America. We commend the subject 
to the attention of the "Thirty Committee." 
