January i, 1892.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
479 
INJURY TO THE GOOD NAME OF 
CEYLON TEA. 
With depresBing shame and bitter indiRnation, 
we attract attention to the truly shocking and 
disgraceful condition of things in regard to our tea 
enterprise, of the high character of which we were 
until recently so proud, contained in Mr. John 
Ferguson's letter " Prom the Metropolis." That 
tea, properly plucked and as carefully as possible 
prepared, should suffer from meteorological con- 
ditions and be inferior in quality to the high 
standard once enjoyed by our teas, is a matter 
for regret, but not a cause of shnme or an booasion 
for censure. But what are we to say to the un- 
principled enemies of Ceylon and its best interests 
who have managed to creep in amongst an 
honourable body of men and who have been 
guilty of the gross iniquity of deliberately sending 
into the market, as Cejlon tea, trash only fit 
for the dunghill, consisting of old leaves, twigs, 
and not contented with that, earthy dirt 1 
What was called Cpylon tea has, to our 
ineffable injury and disgrace been condemned by 
the customs authorises as unfit for human food 
and how much better can the rubbish have been 
which sold in Mincing Line down to a penny per 
pound. When the husbandman found tares in 
his field, he was justified in saying, " An enemy 
hath done this." Equally legitimate is such 
language applied to the persons who prepared 
and those who sent into the Lordon market, the 
abominable trash described by the abpent editor. 
Typical specimens of inferior teas, sent to 
us by Messrs. Gow, Wilson Sr Stanton, can be 
seen at the Observer Office, and we only regret 
that specimens cf the old leaves, twigs and dirt 
were not also sent out. The time has surely come 
when the names of the wrong-doers should be 
published and for measures being taken to pre- 
vent the despatch from our shores in the future 
of stuff which can yield no profit to the exporters, 
but which is calculated most seriously to injure 
a great enterprise, on which the foitunes of the 
colony as well as of the mass of honourable men 
engaged in it so largely depend. If, as is indi- 
cated, the rubbish complained of was exposed 
for sale at Colombo, surely there was a failure 
of duty amongst members of the Tea Association ? 
^ 
FROM THE METROPOLIS. 
CEYLON TEA IN THE LONDON MARKET. 
Nov. 20th, 1891. 
I have been this week more than once with Mr. 
Stanton of Messrs. Gow, Wilson & Stanton (the 
well-known brokers) arranging for a very much 
fuller telegraphic message each week, by a new 
code, respecting Ceylon tea; and during these visits 
to Rood Lane, as well as others to the adjacent 
Mincing and Philpot Lanes, I have been much 
distressed to have indubitable evidence prpsentfd 
to me by the brokers and by such firms as Messrs. 
Anderson Brothers and others of the really deplor- 
able character of some of the tens sent over from 
Ceylon to London this year. I need not refer to 
the published lists of late when tales at Oil, 5d 
and even loss carry their own tale and must rend 
a wholesome lesson ; for, of course such prices 
must mean a downright loss to those conoprned 
in preparing and shipping thera. But I hKve 
aotuftlly senn samples of "Ceylon tea " sold at 3J, 
'2d and dust at Id, and have had to hang my head 
in dismay before the abHolute trash liquored for 
my oonviotion in the brokers' offioos. To think 
that we who have been proclaiming the absolute 
purity and good quality of Ceylon, as contrasted 
with dirty, adulterated China teas, should have 
proof given that Ceylon tea planters or shippers 
are capable of sending over to London, parcels 
unworthy of the name of tea, in some cases made 
up of twigs and big tea leaves (not flush) and even 
— mixed with foreign earthy matter— even dirt. 
Some of the worst, I am told, are teas sold in 
Colombo (at the weekly auction) and re shipped. 
If so, eurely a remedy can be applied by the Chamber 
of Commerce and Planters' Association ? Some- 
thing must be done ; for, (tell it not in Gath, 
publish it not in the streets of Aekelon, but) it 
cannot be too soon known by these bodies and 
Ceylon planters generally that one parcel of so- 
called " Ceylon tea sold in the Lane, haa been 
refused delivery by the Oustoms authorities, as 
being unfit for human food. Now this we must 
hope is a climax to be reached only onoe 
in our history as a tea-producing country. But 
to ensure no repetition of an act which almost 
amount to a crime against the good name of Ceylon, 
it is absolutely necessary that public opinion through 
the two representative planting and mercantle 
bodies should be brought to bear on such offenoes. 
I know nothing of names in the case ; but if there 
is a repetition, it must be a necessity forced on 
Ceylon-London journalists to get full particulars 
and to publish them. Perhaps the Ceylon-London 
Association Tea Committee may take some steps ; 
but certainly the Kandy P. A. should not wait for 
this, but make some move of its own. Excuse can be 
made for tea being ocoBsionally injured in the 
course of preparation — a bad withering, an error 
in rolling, fermentation, or even drying ; but there 
is no excuse for preparing twigs, big leaves of tea 
bushes or for allowing earthy matter to get mixed 
with tea ; for packing and shipping trash condemned 
as unfit for human food. As matters stand, I 
(and others) will be afraid to open our mouths as 
we have been doing in Venice, Vienna, Prague, 
Karlsbad, Munich and a host of other places about 
the purity of Ceylon teas. Some of the county 
dealers in England have even been returning pur- 
chases made on their account as unsaleable, and 
others writing sneeringly, that it is a good thing 
for Ceylon that they don't sell such teas unblended. 
I have asked that oeitain samples of teas that 
never ought to have left Colombo should be sent 
out to be shown at the Otservcr office to any 
interested, and perhaps circulated through the 
the Fort offices. The news I got yesterday in the 
Lane is that some more poor, if not bad, teas may 
be looked for from wet districts, consequently 
perhaps, on the heavy burst of north-east monsoon. 
But all allowance can be made for this cause of 
hurried imperfect preparation ; but not for the 
admixture of foreign substances, twigs and absolute 
dust. Let us trust that the comparatively good 
prices offering for fine teas will make all planters 
careful to see that their "plucking" is looked 
after; for even now there is an indisputable 
absence of much of the really good high-olftss 
teas that first gave a name to Ceylon. I heard of 
a buyer at Tuesday's sale who wanted " a tippy 
parcel of tea " for a special market (the South 
America) and who couid find only one in the sale 
with a value properly of about Is 53, but for which 
he had to pay over Is 8d, because the quality was in 
such poor supply. This ought not to be. 
It is gratifying to learn of new markets opening 
like those in South America as well as North 
Arcerioa. In one case of a dealer in a South 
American coast town to whom Messrs. Gow, 
Wilson, & Stanton sent a trial chest of Ceylon 
tea, he has responded with an order which bai 
