366 
and Ceylon Teas, which yield fo mud'. Tannin and are 
S3 injurions to the system ; and if the present genera- 
tion would drink this China Tea — without cream or 
sngar — they would appreciate tho'e praises of " old 
fashioned'' Tea as. sung by their grandmothers, and at 
the same time be free from dyspepsia. 
After this false rubbish Mr. Cranston goes mad and 
raves thus ; — 
It is not 80 much a question thnt China Tea has fallen 
off in quality (not quantity) a.s that the public teste 
has become demoralised and vitiated by bolievinp in 
and buying upon the fnith of lying advertisements ; for 
instance, that deliberace falsehood which reads, "Extra 
Choicest Indian and Ceylon Blend. 1/7 per pound. The 
finest the world can produce. Direct from the Tea 
Gardens to the Teapot," 
"We prove the falsehood by offering our own Blend 
of IndiHD, Ceylon and China Tea at 1/6, which ne 
guarantee to be of finer flavour and quality, and more 
refreshing to the system. 
We challenge this unscrupulous Adverfiiier fo contra- 
dict — if he dare — cur statement that the greater por- 
tion of the Ten he sells ia not (jrowj upon his own 
estates, but is bought at Public Auction on the London 
market. 
He pays large salaries to bnyers and aasistantp, and 
high rents for offices and stores, while wo pay not one 
penny beyond a bare commission on public sale prices, 
and we believe our cost price ia considerably lower 
than his. 
We have the cream of the market to select from, and 
we sell at one /ia?/ ttejoro/ii exacted by firms in Lou- 
don, Edinburgh and Glasgow who make the loudest 
pretensions under cover of that much abused phrase 
" Wholesale Rates." Therefore, our Teas defy such 
competition. 
Note our Prices for Mild and Refreshing Blends of 
Indiap, Ceylon and China Tea?. 
1/, 1/3, 1/6, 1/9, 2/, 2/3,2/6 per lb. and upwards. 
Pure Darieeling . . . . 1/9, 2/3, 3/ and 3/3. 
Pure Ceylon .. .. 1/6, 1/9, 2/3 and 2/6. 
Pure China . . . . 1/6, 2/3 snd 2/9. 
Our readers will notice that this man assigns a 
position to Ceylon tea below China, the reason, 
probably, we may with no lack of charity guess to 
be, that his rival is interested in Ceylon tea. 
IN A TEA WAREHOUSE. 
A VIOE-REGAL VISIT. 
A vice-regal party, consii-ting of the Governor and 
Lady Jersey, accompanied by Captain Cholmondeley, 
one of the aides-de-camp, paid n visit yesterday to 
the warehouse of Messrs. James Inglis & Co., tea mer- 
mercbauts, in Dean's-place. Received at the door 
by Mr. Inglis, M.P., the party prcceeded upstairs to 
the salerooms and where a tea plant was to be seen, 
where the centre table and the walls were covered 
with photographs showin»- every process through 
which the plant goes, from the primary cultivation 
to the gathering and fermentation and prtcking of 
the leaf. Nearly every variety ot tea was on view 
here. There were reat woo:Ieu packages from Java, 
the stronger teak wood and mangoe wood, and lead- 
lined packages from Ceylon nnd India, and the natty 
caned packages from China and Japan. A well-growu 
specimen of hybrid tea from Mr. Inglis' own Indian 
conservatory was on the table. Mr. Inglis himself 
acted as guide, and displayed a number of excellent 
photo(?ruph», showing the successive stagrs of the 
growths, picking and manufacture of the plau^. 
Lady Jeraey expressnd sorao surprise at hearing that 
tea had io be fermented before it is of any value as 
a m.irketablo commodity. 
"The fact is not generally known," eays Mr. Inglic, 
"but it is so noverthcless. Tea has always to be far- j 
mealed before it is any good. Then it ia bruised, I 
rolled by macbirery, then Bep^rated into different 
firades and afterwards pack; d." * 
"But th ere is a difperenee between the number of 
pickings ».« regards India and China tea, is there 
not ?" asks Lord Jersey, as he tak^s a handful from 
a chest and buries his ncs'j i>i it. 
"A marked difference," replies the indef' tigable 
guide. " In China there am only about three pickings 
a year. They are known as the first, second ar d tbird 
crop. But owing to the more scientific melhod of 
cultivation in India and Ceylon and the system of 
pruning and manuring which is adopted some gardens 
there give acually from 12 to 16 pickings per annum. 
These pickings are known as flushep, and at the 
annual sorting up of the garden all coarse and de- 
caytd wood is pruned out. Indeed the knife is em- 
ployed most ruthlessly to f*imulate as far as possible 
the growth of the frefh young wood, from which the 
finesc kinds of tea are taken." 
"But how CO you get th.s remarkably £85 a pound 
tea which wo have heard something of lately ?" asks 
the Governor. 
"The reported high price is prolably a trade ad- 
vert^emeot," says the pilot. "It is alloge'ber ex- 
cessive, entirely beyond the rtal value of the article. 
Still, it is extremely expensive for all that. Now 
look at this living plant hi re," he continue?, taking the 
growing article tiom the table. "Jubt at the t;p 
is this small delicate ledf. These leaves ere called 
the tippy buds. If jou closely examine them yoa 
will notice that they are covered w.th a fine delicate 
haiiy growth much like that which we Cud on a 
butlei fly's wicg.". These aie scattered through a mats 
of common tea, and the value of the tea iiself is 
calculated according to the proportion of tip which 
it, contains. A very tippy tea giv(s a greater 
flavor aod commands a much higher price than 
tea destitute of the tip. How do you select 
the _ tip from the other leaf ? In this way. 
A piece of fiuo flannel is spread on a mass ot tea. 
The hairy iitllo golden tips stick io it, aud it the 
process be continued a large quantity of pur!-i tjp can 
be separated from the commoi article. Ia thi s way 
the very finest samples of golden tip can be procured. 
It 13 no doubt this which has gained the fabu'ous 
pricei which are said to h.ave recently been obtained 
in Louf'ou." ' • 
'•What varieties are there of tea?" inquired 
Lady Jersey. 
" P' koe is the fine tip, Souohong is the large leaf 
further down the Stem and Coi.gou is the leathery, 
woody leaf. Congou is tha .syLouym for the people's 
tel. It is the tea drunk by the common people. 
Pekoe Sc-ut'hong is a mixture of the very fine with 
the ordinary leaf, and Oolong, Kooloo at d other well- 
known vaiieties tike their names from p. culiaritiea 
of manufacture or from the names of the district in 
which they are grown. Pfiujoiig, Sueykat Saryune. 
Darjeeling. As.Hm aud S^thef — and as he ran o2 
this h-f.'i: of jaw-.k'slroying yames the guide pointed 
lo the samples around the 'alercom — "are all ns^mes 
derived from the district -vhere the plant is cul- 
tivated. The Fooclio-v district produces the hrgest 
quantity of teas in usa in Australasia. Tbe greeu 
teas are used in America, they cooie principally from 
Japan, Formosa and Foool ow. li'iom Hanko v the 
black leaf teas known as t ie Monings go to Lo^k'ou 
and Russia. In Canton and IvLacao, which are toutbern 
ports, the crop ripens fully six months eirlier thau 
it does ill the more noitharn latitudes, and the tsas 
which oome thence are known as the 'new makes.' 
The bulk ot the scented teas are procured from 
the sime localities. The Hong iMee, a flowery tea, 
is obtained from Cantou. What is knov/n as the 
scent is really an article foreign to the tea plant 
altogether. It is generally made from the very 
delicately-scented Jasminacura Sambac. By Chioamen 
it is called Po-eo, It is simply the powder of the 
* Our good friend Mr. Inelis did r""-, wo feel cer- 
tain, give the sequence as repL-ooouted by the reporter, 
but put the rolling and bruising before what is unfor- 
tunately called fermentation.— -Ed. T. A. 
