S84 
^HE THOPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Dec. 2, 1901. 
out the provinces, so in a few years we 
may expect to hear English where we now 
hear Spanish. 
I must close this rambling narrative. I 
am looking forward with j)leasure to seeing 
China and Japan and then to getting home, 
for I am rather tired ot travelling. My 
articles on Ceylon will soon begin to api^ear 
and I will try to send j'-oii copies of some 
of them, so you will know I wasn't exag- 
gerating my appreciation. 
Harry Steele Morrison. 
THE TEA TRADE : AMERICAN NOTES. 
A British Consular report from Kiukian<i states 
that in bri';k tea the export shows an advance 
from 51,610 to 60,794 hundred-weights, buc tliis 
is partly accounted for by the fact that whereas 
the figures for 1,900 include a portion of the 1899 
crop, none of the 19U0 crop was left over to be 
dealt with in 1901. The same remark applies to 
tablet tea, of which the output has, however, 
slightly fallen off. Expensive hydraulic 
ENGINES FOR MAKING TABLET TEA 
are now in use in the factories, and 
the old wooden presses for makint; tlie bricks 
are bem^, or have been, replaced by steel mould* 
of an improved pattern. At the beginning of la^t 
season the price of the dust used for Ijrick tea 
ruled at about 11 to 12 tads for picul, and against 
7 to 8 taeZs in 1899- The Chinese dealers' c om- 
bined to demand iSteeZs, but the outbieak of the 
northern troubles cumpelled them to accepo a re- 
duction, and before the season closed tiiey were 
seliirig at about 6 foeZs. For tablet tea a better 
quaUry of tea, at considerably higher price, 
is required. j- , • , ^ , 
For the manufacture ot brick tea the dust is 
moistened by steam. It is then subjected to a 
pressure, applied by steam power, of twelve tons 
to the whole surface of each brick. The pressure 
is only applied for a second o r two, but the 
mould is immediately locked with wedges and 
kept so for about two hours. The bricks aie 
about 8^x6 xl inch in size, and vary in weight from 
one to two and one-half pounds for different grades. 
The tablets are made by means ot a hydraulic 
press. The dust is used dry, and a very high 
pressure is required, as it is only applied for a 
traction of a second. When made they somewhat 
resemble cakes of chocolate, weighing about four 
ounces each. They are then tastefully wrapped 
in paper covers, and packed in baskets suitable 
tor camel trans))ort. 
The British Army requires 1,000,000 pounds of 
tea annually. Brig.-Ceu. John P. Hawkins (re- 
tired), late' Commissary-General United States 
Army, state<l that, during the Civil War, the 
troops in hisdivision travelled farther, and sustained 
the fatigues of the 
MARCH BETrER, WHEN TEA WAS SERVED 
instead of '^Hier beveragps. 
W. K. King & Co., Detroit, Mich. : 
" I'ca-di i(.k.;is are rapidly dying-olf. America 
is destined to become a great coffee-drinking 
nation.'' 
Man, Sadler & Co., San Francisco.: 
" We decidedly think the 
DEPRESSION IN TICA IS DUB TO THE PRESENT DUTY. 
The imposition of the duty has been a detrinieut, 
decreasing the consumption among the poorer and 
medium classes. The duty has caused the importa- 
tion of very much lower i^rades. J-ess fine tea i» 
used at present than formerly. The removal of 
the duty would be a benefit lo the consumer, and 
better grades would be imported,". 
C. W. Antrim & Sons, Richmond, Va. : 
"We consider the depression in the tea trade 
due to two causes : 
"First.— On account of the Government allowing 
low-class, trashy teas to be brought into this 
country before the duty was put on, 
" Second. — When the duty was i)ut on, it made 
the medium class of teas, hat are great stlleis, 
00 high. 
" Now, we think if the duty is taken off and 
low-class teas are prohibited, you willksee quite a 
difference in the tea trade." 
The above opinion are among many of similar 
import, given in reply to inquiries made by the 
New York Commercial. The facts are that the 
per capita consumption in 1901 is practically tlie 
same as in 1900, not varying over one-hundredth 
ot a pound. The use of tea, judged by the 
per capita record, has been lower since the im- 
position of the duty of 10 cents per pound. 
AMERICAN.S ARE NOT LOVERS OF TEA AS A 
BEVERAGE, 
and so because the average quality of imports 
has always l)een low — very low. Very line tea 
forms a stnall part of the total imports. If con- 
sumers were educated to an appreciation jof line 
flavor, and vi-ould acqu're the habit of us ng the 
beverage as a means of gratifying the palate 
the tea trade wjuld be in a more satisfactory 
condition, But how can we expect the inex- 
)>erienced housekeeper to appreciate niceties of 
flavor, and pay for the same, when tea experts 
difier as much as 20 cents per pound in their 
estimate of value on a sam pie of fancy Formosa 
Oolono; ? — American Grocer, Sept. 11, 
THE COST OF PBODUCTION OF COFFEE 
IN BRAZIL. 
A piopos of the figures publishel in a late number of 
the Review on the cost of prodactioa at the FazenSa 
Uniao, a correspondent froui Peniambiico writes under 
the designation of " Gold versus Exclrauge " as 
follows : — 
Arrohas per 
1896 i897 1898 1899 19n0 
1,000 trees. 170 87 121 57 217 
Average ex- 
change 91 -32 711 16 7 5-32 7 27 61 9 27-61 
Price per 15 
^kilos _ -sa 83. Gs. 5'^. 4a 63. 
A I'ed-aotio ad ahmidamto begin w th ! The lable 
can be read to show that a low exchange caasea 
the trees to bear less whilst a higher exchange 
causes them to bring forth more abundantly ! This 
deduction is no more wide of the mark ih%a is the 
assertion that exchange can affect the gold price — 
as great a fallacy as that it is the ' tail that wat^s the 
dogf.' 
The sterling price— assuming that this is based 
solely on supply and demand and that Stocks acd 
Visible S'lpply, a.re the prism through which the 
relative effect is foreseen, then we can arrive at an 
evident reason why Coffee wasv/ortb lis. 8d. in 1896 and 
Ss. in 1897. In 1896 the reading of the prism was too- 
optimislic, and so this year we got more for our 
Coffee than the acu;ual eircumstances warranted. 
In 1897 the reading of the prism was still too opti 
mistio at 8s, for next_\ ear stillshow"! a decline, notwith- 
standing a smaller crop. lu 1898 the prism is stid 
to* optimistic, for next year shows a> drop from Sa, to 
