March i, 1892.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
633 
in an almost equal degree. The public, in purcliaf ing 
either Ceylon or Indian, obtain a great deal more for 
their money than they did when they brought Chii.a 
tea, and they do not require to use the whole of 
what they buy. Let me add that a ' < oay ' is a very 
bad thing, unless to keep the ti a warm after it baa 
been poured into another ve-sel, which is the proper 
■way to treat tea after it is browed," 
After this interview I thought it just to the repre- 
eeutatives of the China trade that they should have 
the opportunity of explaining their position, in face 
of the threatened extinction of this old-established 
Bource of supply. 
"Yes," said one gentleman— the best authority upon 
the subject— " there is no doubt that Indian tea has 
supplanted China tea; but at the same time there are 
some symptoms of a reaction which is attributed to 
the medical aspect of the question. You have seen 
what Sir Andrew Clark baa said. Here is a copy of 
bis address ou tea, and here also, is the repcrt of Dr- 
Hale White of Guy's H' ^pital, upon an analjs's of 
Assam, finast Ohii a, and conimou Congou tea, with the 
result that he found in the Indian, after fifteen minutes' 
infusion, 17-73 per cent, of tannin, as compared with 
7'97 percent, in the best China, and 11 15 per cent in 
the common congou. Dr. White adds : "The result 
IS what might have been expected, as tannin in vfry 
soluble in hot water, and !;o! ody who has dinnk 
Af»am, or any other Indian tea, and the choicest 
China, would requireanv scientific analysis to tell him 
which would b<? most like'y to disorder the stomach 
and nerves. It is of courS ', true that any tea which 
has been infused for some time has a more marked 
effect thsn tea which has been infused a shorter time; 
but this difference is due not so much to the tannin 
as to strength. The moral, therefore, for persons with 
weak digestion is to select the best China tea they 
can get, and not to drink it strong ; to be satisfied 
with flavodr, and not to deeire intoxication. They 
must be particularly careful, also, to see that the tea 
is not bleuded." 
" It is quite certain," continued the speaker, 
" that the deletrious property of tea is the 
tannin, and the less yon have of it in the beve- 
rage the more wholesome it will be. You must bear 
in mind that it was not until 1889 thnt the ooneiimp- 
tion of Indian tea began to exceed that of China, 
although the Indian bad been aradually displacing 
the letter for some years. Ceylon tea is of still more 
recent introduoticn. Thj doctors are beginning to 
difl'erentiate between Indian and China teas, and to 
see there is a superabundant quantity of tannin iu the 
teas trom India and Ceylon, due to the mode of 
preparation. The publ c are not yet aware of it, and 
now you will never convert the mosses; their taste 
is too degraded. No one who knows what good tea 
is will drink Iniian. The Russians drink China 
tea only, and they have lately act it direct from the 
Ningfhow District, cnueini? a falling-off in our exports. 
Thei'e is a divine tea. We, as people, are no'orious 
for our coarse lastc. Do not lower clases smoke shsg 
tobacco ? Now Indian tea is a pungent, strong, coarse- 
flavourtd article, and it has been forced upon the 
put'lio and popularised becouee it is 'British grown' 
and economical. But look at ibis tumbler. It is full 
of a muddy yellow liquor — tha'^ is due to the excess 
of tannin, for it is an infusion of Indian tea; but see 
this clear port-wine fluid— quite cold — lliit is China 
tea similarly prepared." 
" Where can you gi t good China tea ?" 
"Unfortunately, ownitt to the course of trade, there 
is fljnrcely a (hop iu Loudon where you can get good 
China lea; for Ihoy will to 1 you it eoos not exist. 
All' tlicr pn judice again.st it is that it require s much 
greater oaro in making, and the walei' m: b'. be just 
o 1 the boil. You cannot expects to buy China ti a such 
as is drunk in l\a■^^ill under Ss per pound retail. As 
much as six roubles (I'is) is given at Moscow for tea 
por peiind, and tho Uussian I'l'und is 10 per cent 
loss than ours, llus-ia is tnkin/; an ineroasiug ([uan- 
tity of tho finest teas whioh China proilncoa every 
year, and prices aro paid for it which are beyond the 
Kuglish luurkut." 
" Is the China tea export to England doomed to 
extinction ?" 
'•Everybody who enjoyfl a good cup of tea should 
hope not. There has been a further decline during 
the past year, it ia true, the arrivals to May 31st 
next being estimated at ten million pounds less than 
the quantity to hand during the twelve months pre- 
ceding; but the shr.inknge has not continued in a 
progressive manner, and is not so large as was expected. 
We hope the worst has been seen." — Daily Telegraph. 
No fault can be found with their representative giving 
the views of a China tea-dealer as well as those ol 
Messrs. Gow, Wilson & Stanton ; but it is ridiculous 
ol the former to speak of 17'73 per cent " tannin" 
arising from 75 minutes' infusion of Indian tea. 
The simple answer, of course, is infuse only for 4 
or 6 minutes and use far less of Indian or Ceylon 
tea and you can have as little tannin as suits 
your tapte or as China tea yields ! You see how 
Sir Andrew Clark is trotted out again to injure the 
reputation of Indian and Ceylon teas as compared 
with (Jhina. I got Sir William Gregory to promise 
this week that he would, along with Sir Arthur 
Birch, use his influence with their personal friend. 
Sir Andrew Clark, to give a fair trial to good 
Ceylon tea, properly infueed, and to express an 
opinion which can be used to counteract the 
effects of his foolish speech as placarded in Regent 
Street and elsewhere. If this does not succeed, I 
must try to plan a " Ceylon Deputation" to sit on 
Sir Andrew and bring him to reason. 
" The proof of the pudding is," however, " in the 
eating " ; and as Mr. Leake put it to me the other 
day, the best answer to Sir Andrew and other 
fogies or critics, is found in the wonderful way 
in which Ceylon tea has gone into consumption 
during the past year. Still, however high the 
percentage of increase, it is possible 5 to 10 per cent 
more might have been gained, save for the foolish 
utterances of Sir Andrew and others deterring those 
who may pay attention to them. 
Here is another paragraph on our teas which 
appears in the Daily Chronicle and two more from 
the Daily Graphic, a very enterprising journal io 
which Col. Howard Vincent is contributing letters: — 
Indian and Ceylon Teas. — Mr. C. S. Hicks (mem- 
ber of the Ceylon Association in London) writes : — 
With reference to the criticisms on tea now appearing 
in the press, I shall be glad if you will allow me, as 
the largest shipper of Ceylon tea " packed in Ceylon," 
to say a few words ou the subject. Ceylon tea is 
produced from both the Indian and the China variety 
of the tea plant, and possesses very varying qualities. 
Some of the Ceylon tea shipped is very near akin to 
Indian tea, and possesses a very large amount of 
astringency, while other gardens produce tea in which 
the China characteristics are predominant ; and in 
all Ceylon teas which are of any value at all flavour 
is the great characteristic, while astringency is nota- 
ble by its absence. In Indian tea, on the contrary, 
there is a great absence of flavour, and a great pre- 
dominance of astringency and thickness. China tea 
is practically out of the question for the ordinary con- 
sumer (who must really be considered), as the ques- 
tion to be dealt with is not what the connoisseur 
buys, who is able, out of a very small area, to make 
his selection by paying any fancy price he chooses to 
indulge in, but what the ordinary everyday people 
of tliis country are able to pay to satisfy a demand 
for a really good tea. With this end in view thei'e 
is no doubt tliat Ceylon tea at any given price will 
beat any China tea that is ofl'ered both for flavour, for 
purity, and for absence of all forms of tannin in 
proportion to its strengtli. The one great test of tea 
which is available to everyone who is a tea drinker 
is the comparison of the infusion, and there is not a 
tea-taster in Mincing-lane wlio would dare to contra- 
dict this. The leaf of all good tea, when infused, 
changes to a bright copper colour; absolutely bad tea, 
whon infused, is of a black colour, or very dark brown, 
—Daily Chronicle, 
