May 2, 1892.J 
sHF THlOPiCAL AGRICULTURIST. 
835 
ON TEA. 
The daily papers have of late so frequently dlsi 
cussed tea, that there is not much left to be said 
on the subject. The rivalry between Indian and Ceylon 
as against China, and the eclipse of the Chinese as 
tea growers, have been referred to again and again, 
and a very good advertisement for Ipdian and Ceylon 
teas^ has this frequent reference proved. A writer 
in tlie St. James's Gazette, midei the, head of "Common 
Objects of the Household," deals with tea, and if there 
is nothing absolutely new in his article, there are 
several points of interest in it. He says : — Every 
lady who does her own shopping is aware that there 
is now considerable difficulty in getting China tea 
pure. Generally she is offered India or Ceylon ; 
and if she asks particularly for China, the shopman 
can only accommodate her with a " blend." Bven 
in very large establishments where piu'e China tea 
is kept, it is not recommended, but sold, as it were, 
under protest. The enquiring customer, who asks 
the reason why, is told that hina teas are no 
longer what they were, and that they have been 
superseded by Indian. There is no doubt, about, the 
truth of the latter statement. It is a fact that China, 
which in 1801 supplied 97 per cent, of our tea, now 
supplies only 2.5 per cent. The trade has undergone 
a complete revolution, particularly in the last eleven 
years. Some very interesting statistics have been 
drawn up by Blessrs. Gow, Wilson and Stanton, the 
well-known brokers, which bring out the following 
facts among others : — (1) From 1866 onwards Indian 
tea advanced so persistently in favour that in 1888 
it took first place with a consumption of 86,000,000 
lb., against 80,000,000 lb. of China. (2) Ceylon tea, 
which was not introduced in any quantity until 
188.5, progressed even more rapidly, and in its turn 
beat the Chinese last year. (3) China produce, though 
it increased a little up to 1879, did so at a much slower 
rate than Indian, and after that date continually 
declined, slowly at first, but since the introduction 
of Ceylon with great rapidity. Thirty years ago it 
monopolised the market ; today it is but a poor third. 
While our total consumption has doubled, the supply 
from China has diminished by more than one-half. 
These are facts which admit of no dispute, but when 
we come to ask the reason it is not at all eftsy to get 
at the root of the matter. Party feeling, if one may 
use the expression, runs so high in the trade that an 
unbiassed expert opinion is rare. On one side it is said 
that China teas have deteriorated to such an extent as 
to be unfit to drink; and the reason why they 
have deteriorated is that they are still pre- 
pared by hand in the ancestral fashion, while 
the British-grown article is made by machinery. 
Nothing of the sort, say the Anti-Indians : China 
teas are still far the best, partly for the very reason 
that they ai.'e made much more carefully by hand; 
they have been ousted from the market becaiise the 
others have been so persistently puslied in tlie retail 
trade, and because a coarse article suits coarse 
tastes. Even in a large merchant bouse, which 
deals impartially in both, you will find the men in 
the India-room speaking with scornful contempt of 
the flat, insipid Chinas; while those in the China- 
room slirug their shoulders in pity for people who 
can tolerate the coarse and common Indians. So 
the battle goes on, and the trade is rent in twain. 
Let us try in all diffidence to hold the balance. 
An impartial observer will at once pex'ceive that, 
as usual, all the truth cannot be on either side. 
China teas cannot have deteriorated merely because 
they are made as they used to be. That is an 
excellent reason for their being no better, but not 
for their being worse. And, again, the ascendency 
of the others, rising steadily througli a series of 
years, is not to bo explained by mere pushing. The 
public knows very well what it wants, and, tliougli 
always ready to bo on with a new love with highly- 
painted charms, it returns to the old with the 
constancy of perfect fickleness tlie moment it dis- 
covers that the charms are painted. No bad thing 
liolds tlu) market long, however pushed ; and, beyond 
question, the leas of India and Ceylon do suit the 
public tasto— which, by the bye, is a very good thing 
for British industry. The truth seems to be that 
China produce has indeed deteriorated, though to 
nothing like the extent alleged. Only the commoner 
sorts have been affected. Just like many of our 
own manufacturers, the Chinese fell to spoiling their 
magnificent market out of sheer greed. They pil- 
laged their plantations so recklessly that, to keep 
up the supply, they had to fall back on old 
leaves and inferior stuff. This partly explains the 
change, but it is not all. The rival kinds have 
a^n advantage which of itself would inevitably bring 
them to the fore ; they are more economical 
they possess more strength, body, or whatever you 
like to call it, and therefore go further. Most 
people judge their tea in a ready .sort of way by 
colour and streagtb, according to a pr vate standard. 
Suppose a lady tries a new kind; she puts ia the 
quiintily she U accustomed to, and the drinkers pro- 
nounce it too strong or too wc:ik, hs tlie case may be, 
by their own standard. The quiutity ia correspond- 
ingly diminished or increased, and at the end of a 
weok or month the housekeeper finds her.-olf on the 
right or the wrong side. Now, Indii and Ceylon will 
go half aa far agiin ai Ohiua; if onu pound of the 
latter m^ikes five gallons, the same quantity of the 
fonn'T will run to seven and a half gillcns. The 
srgumeut ia irresistible to the middle classes, and 
evou ti the rich; but, oddly cnoaah, less so to 
the poor. Spending nothing on the outside, they 
are in "ersely patticulir about the inside. In 
Londou, for instance, inforior coffee goes wes^, not 
cast ; there what they have must be good. And 
until lately a certain small deiler among the South 
Wales miners used to take regularly 100 chests of 
the fl ipst China tea at a time. Since the strikes 
the eo)J man has gone bankrupt. At the s ime time 
the poor, as a rule, likfl a gold twang to their liquor, 
and so the newer teas fiourieh more or leas all along 
the line. 
As for the actual merits of tlie rival kinds, that 
is, of course, a matter of taste ; but no cue will 
deny that for delicacy of flavour China remaina uu- 
approached. For that reason it is used for blending 
throughout the trade. It is alto^'other a prettier, 
more rofiaedj more interesting article ; epicures will 
huve no other. The difference ia much the same as 
that between Australian and French Burgundy. The 
one is a capital thing in an orJinary way, and gives 
you more show for your money, but there isno charm 
about it. China ia the ancestral home of the culti- 
vate! plant and the drink, though the wild shrub 
is indigenous in Assam. The finest kinds— the Clos 
Vougeots, so to speak— have no counter part in India • 
but then wa never see them h^re either— th^y' 
are too dear. Russia takes a good deal, for the 
Ruisiaua do not mind paving high; but the beat 
of all— the superior Oolongs— are consumed at 
home among the upper ten thousand (or is it ten 
million ?) and they fetoh 12a or 15s a pound on the 
spot. Excellent Ohiua tea, however, still comes to 
London, of as goo i quality as ever, and very much 
choaper. Owing to depreasion in the trade, sjmples 
which would formerly have fetched 2s 8d now go 
for Is. But the retailer prefers dealing in Indiana, 
beoiuse they are all sold in the opuu market and 
the price is known ; whereas the China merchant buys 
privately, and csn charge what he likes. That is how 
he used to make a fortune; hut the day is gone; it 
is the retailor who m'\kes the profll; now, and a big 
onu— not less than 61 to Is a pound. Naturally, he 
prefora to pu-h the Indian teas, and this has an im- 
portant bearing on the trade 
We have classed India and Ceylon together because 
they have the same character on the whole ; but 
there is a difforenoe. Coylou approaohoa more to the 
clnraoter of China, and this may account for its re- 
markable success. 15 ith have unqn".stiuuably a great 
future before thmn, whioii ia matter for congratulation- 
for the amount of Britlah cipital now embarked in 
the businesj in the two countries cannot b ^ less than 
f 10,000,000. Other pl.iccs where tea is gro-vu are 
Na'.al, Fiji, .Tamnioa, and Johoro, 
Soraothiug should be aaid about tlio relative 
wholosoraenedB of different teas. Ou this head i( 
