Nov. 1, 1901.] THE TROPICAL 
And driviig winds and soaking showers have made 
me what you see." 
After alludiBg to the fact that early hours and 
hard work have made her thin, the singer continues:— 
" But if my face be somewhat lank, more firm shall 
be mv mind ; 
I'll fire my tea that all else shall be my golden buds 
behind; 
But yet the thought arises who the pretty maid 
shall be 
To put the leaves in a jewelled cup, fiom which to 
sip ny tea. 
" Her 'griefs all flee as she makes her tea and she js 
glad ; but oh ! 
Where Bhall she learn the toils ofj us who labour for 
her so ? 
And shall ehe know of the winds that blow, and the 
raiu3 that pour their wrath, 
And drench and soak us through and through, as 
plunged into a bath ? 
Tlie Chinese, it may be mentioned, dread rain. 
The paliios of tlie situation described by the 
little bedraggled girl in the ballad will, therefore, 
*be duly appreciated. 
Nutnrally, the Chinese think very highly of 
iheir national beveiage. It is not, perhaps, gene- 
rally known il;at no less a person than one of the 
Chinese Emperors has laid down instructions for 
the proper irfusion of it. You are to lake, he 
says, clear spring water, and heat it to the extent 
tliat would be sutficisnt to turn a clay fish red. 
You pour this on the leaves and torthwitli drink 
it. Whether tliese directions are generally observed 
in China we are not aware. The native made tea 
that one gets in the Far East generally seems 
slightly insipid until tlie palate has grown used 
to its delicate gradations of flavour. Stewing and 
the abominable habit of " cosying" are, of course, 
unknown ; though in Thibet tea ot a coarse 
quality is literally made into soup with milk and 
butter vinegar, and pepper being added when pro- 
curable. Oilier things are sometimes mixed with 
it by the poor, as will be seen from the following 
notice of tea, by a Chinese expert, written nearly 
three centuries ago :— " Tea is of a cooling nature, 
and if drunk too freely will produce exhaustion 
and lassitude. Country people before drinking it 
add ginger and salt to counteract this cuoling pro- 
perty. It is an exceedingly uselul plant ; cultivate 
It, and the benefit will be widely spread ; drink it, 
and the animal spirits will be lively and clear, 
The chief rulers, lords and great men esteem it ; 
the lower people, the poor and beggarly will not 
be destitute of it ; all use it daily and like it.'' 
And it is because this is still true that the Chinese 
are one of the most temperate and sober peoples 
in the world. — Evening Standard. 
CEYLON TEA ON THE CONTINENT. 
"We make the following extracts from a 
letter from Mr. J H Reuton, dated " Bticke- 
burg, Germany, 11th Sept., 1001 " : — 
I am sending- you by this mail a little 
PAMPHLET IN GERMAN 
which gives a short, but clear account of 
the rise of the Tea Industry in Ceylon, the 
culture of the tea bush, and the manufacture. 
This is known inGermany as the defence pain- 
phlet (' Abwehr Brocbiire"). It was written 
as a I'eply to the numerous libels on Ceylon 
tea which appeared in numerous Continental 
market reports in the early part of this year. 
It does not eoter into any conttoversial points, 
AGRiCULTURiST. 32? 
nor does it attack China tea. It simply 
shows our teas are [clean, well-made teas 
and that our cultivation is good and sound. 
This pamphlet has been distributed to every 
wholesale tea dealer, most of the wholesale 
colonial produce dealers, 3,000 newspapers 
and 1,000 hotels in Germany. The demands 
for more copies are numerous and the notices 
which have been received are very flattering. 
Well, now to give a very brief summary 
of what I have done this year :— 
I visited Western and Southern Germany, 
Austria, Bohemia, Hungary and Trieste, 
Northern Italy, Southern and Western France 
and Paris in the hrst four months of this 
year. In May I went . to Hamburg, Berlin, 
Leipsig, Dresden, Magdeburg and I have 
now been round the Baltic and Eastern 
Germany, going as far north as Konigsberg. 
These visits have not only been made to 
thoroughly acquaint myself with the tea 
trade in these places, but also with a view 
to preach Ceylon tea to the dealer and the 
grocei'. leaving as I do copies of your book 
and of Bamber's pamphlet. Apart from 
those visits I have been carrying on the 
campaign in Switzerland and Scandinavia 
by correspondence. 
IN GERMANY, 
a Brempii importer furnished me with the 
names of all the wholesale dealers in the in- 
land towns, and although several of them have 
been induced to give small orders for Ceylon 
tea, only three of his friends have been 
found willing to take it up, make a speci- 
ality of it, and put their own tnonei) into 
the pushing of it. These three firms are 
in Breslan, Strassbiirg and Holstein. A 
special circular (I sent you one in the book 
marked Talanda tea) has been printed for 
these firms. The circular is illustrated and 
they bear two-thirds of the cost. The same 
firm in Bremen has also induced (K Co.) 
the great coffee distributing firm, with their 
780 shops throughout Germany, to take up 
Ceylon tea. They get 500,000 circulars and 
a special mark and label. They bear half the 
cost of all this expenditure. Their campaign 
does not open till November as the teas 
are all put up in \-\h. and J-lb. packets. If 
properly managed and run, we want no 
better agencies in Germany. In addition to 
these firms I have secured other wholesale 
dealers who are making a speciality of Ceylon 
tea— one important firm in Frankfort, a 
smaller one in Berlin, another besideBohringer 
in Stuttgart. Bcihringer is doing excellent 
work in Stuttgart. In Dresden and Konigs- 
berg there are two firms who use it largely in 
their mixtures, but will not advertise it, 
because they maintain that, owing mainly to 
's association with Ceylon, andthepoor teas 
he has put on the German market, the name 
Ceylon has got into bad repute for tea. In 
Munich a lady, 's sister, carries on 
an active propaganda for pure Ceylon tea* 
IN AUSTRIA. 
Mr. Marinitsch has done well in Karlsbad 
and got the gold medal at the IJxhibition. 
We have three agencies in Vienna. A dealer 
in specialities, who has for yeai's imported 
it direct and sold small quantities, is now 
getting aid to advertise it. Mr. Ma1qnitsc|| Jjag 
