8^6 THE TROHCAL 
is moro easy than wise 1o ilogmRtise, Exact science 
has really very little to say about tlie composi- 
tion and physiological pffects of ten ; but it may 
be safely asRorteii tbat " strength " implies tannin, 
and tannin means indigestion. The etrousr Indian teas 
should thtref ore be carefully used and not allowed to 
brew too long. Properly spenking the infusion fhonid 
not stand more than five minutes; after that it begins 
to get bitter, and there is poison in the cup. We 
Anglo-Saxons always take our tea too strong, and hnve 
to smother it with milk and sugar in order to riipguise 
the bitter taste — a practice unknown to the o'her 
great tea-diinking races. Theytakeit pure nnd weiik, 
thereby getting more flavour without any bitterness. 
The Cbinefe method of brewirg is practically the 
same as that used in the trade (or tasting. Enough 
leaf to make a cupful — that is, the equivalent in weight 
of a sixpence — is put in a small bowl and boiling 
water added ; it is then covered over and allowed to 
stand five minutes, after which the Hquoris poured off 
clear of the leaves into another vessel. Made in this 
way the drink is at rnoo more agreeable and more 
wholesome ; but the Englishwoman would, of course, 
rather die than give up the teapot nnd the cofj'. Her 
tea is never nndrinkable from bitterness ; she only 
apologises for its being cold. 
Kef erring to the above article, Mr. John Roger late 
tea planter in Ceylon, writes " As one of the first 
to open a tea-clearinij in Oeylon (in 1880), I naturally 
read with considerable interest Ihe article ou tea 
which appeared in jonr issue of the 14th inst. On 
the whole, I think these references in the iSt James's 
Gazette to the three great tea-producing countrieh are 
characteristically just and impartial ; but I believe 
most people will admit that the ordinary teas, for some 
time back, sent home from China, have graduilly 
deteriorated so much in quality that they are now poor 
indeed, and it matters little to the ordinary consumer 
that it is still possible to get fine teas in China at 
prohibitive prices. The superiority in the mode of 
treating the leaf, which our countrymen have adopted 
in India and Ceylon, was ftrikinply illustrated the 
other day by one of the more intelligent Govorno'S 
of China sending to India nnd Oeylo i for plant-ng ex- 
perts, to teach his countrymen in China how to make 
tea with the aid of machinery. I believe the taxes 
now imposed on native Chinese tea-growers prevent 
their really cultivating their gardens, which are overrun 
with weeds. Generally speaking, you would not p:et 
one barrowful of weeds off a hundred acres of a 
Ceylon tea estate. The rapid rise of the tea industry 
in Oeylon occurred to me the other day when I was 
sending an advertisement to the papers offering tea- 
plants for sale here in London reared from seed 
imported from Ceylon ; for I remember advertising 
in the Oeylon papers for tea-plants twelve years ago, 
and I oould not get them. It is a curious fact that 
tea-plants are now being sold in L->ndon, and are 
to be Feen growing in many shop-windows today, 
and twelve years ago not one could be got for love 
or money in Ceylon itself. Twelve years ago the 
total export from Caylon wag only about one hundred 
thousands pounds ; this year it is about saventy 
millions. We are undoubtedly getting more and more 
a tea-drinking people, for seventy million pounds of 
Ceylon tea represent a much greater number of tea 
drinkers than the same quantity of China tea would 
do; and the IJritish public like to feel or taste some- 
thing for their money. They prefer the teas of India 
and Ceylon with a 'grip,' and do not want the poorer 
liquor of the China article. What is tannin ? May 
not the cheering qualities of the cup be apcribed to 
tannin in a great measure, which may therefore be 
A good thing when taken in a legitimate way ? No 
one need cry out against tannin who makes tea pro- 
perly, though the essence or extract of tannin may 
cause indigestion." — U. ^ C. Mail, March 18. 
INDIAN AND*CEYLON TEA. 
" jroNouii TO wiroM honour is doe." 
To the I'Mitor of the Ilnincand Golovial JfaU. 
Sir, — At the presi iit time, when so much is being 
done to muko publio the merits of Ceylon tea, 
AQRiObLTURlsr [May 2, 1892. 
and when Fuch success ia attending the efforts 
made hy the Ceylon planters to call attention to 
their wares it appears to me that both the merits 
of and the important position held by Indian tea 
are aptj|to fall into the background. 
All honour to the perseverance and push which has 
characterised the efforts of our neighbours in 
Ceylon, but they and their advocates should, at 
any rate, adhere to the truth, and also take the 
pains to inform themselves a little more carefully 
and accurately than they appear to do regarding 
the position held by their chief competitor — India. 
Such fairness and such fairly looking in the face 
of facts regarding Indian tea will probably in the 
long mn be not adverse to their best interests. To 
show to what extent this ostrich-like burying of 
their heads in the sand may carry those who are 
interested to magnify the position of Ceylon tea, I 
cull the following from a most interesting ably- 
written book, lately published by BIr. Walters, entitled 
" Palms and Pearls." Speaking of the future of tea, 
he writes : — "It does not, therefore, seem rash to affirm 
that the tea shrub has found in the island a congenial 
home, and that Ceylon will take and keep its place as 
the tea countr// of the vorld." And in reference 
to the possibility of blight attacking the plants he 
writes: — "But the fact remains that, up to now, tea 
in Ceylon has been free from the ravaging blights 
which, in India, often reduce the crop h)/ one-half the 
averaffe." 
Of course, the inference in the minds of those who 
read these two paragraphs will undoubtedly be that 
— (1) the great bulk of tea, now consumed, comes 
from Ceylon, and Ceylon only, whereas, as a matter 
of fact, taking the season just closed, the propor- 
tions of the tea supply reaching this country are 
roughly, something like :— 
India about 50 per cent. 
Ceylon about 25 per cent. 
China about 25 per cent. 
Total 100 
These figures, of course, are only approximate, and 
rather overstate the Indian proportion. The actual 
figures axe more like the following : — 
India 110,000,000 
Ceylon 60,000'000 
China 65,000,000 
Total ... 2.85,000,000 
As regards the blight, of course anyone ac- 
quainted with the Indian planting industry knows 
that the writer's assertion is a gross exaggeration 
as the utmost extent by which the| worst of blights, 
probably reduces an Indian crop is from 5 to, at 
the outside, 10 per cent in quantity. 
(2) As regards the future, it may be assumed that 
the increase of output from year to year is, after 
the close of the present year, not likeiy to exceed 
in Ceylon the rate at which it goes on in India, 
say perhaps about 10 per cent per annum in each 
case, and it is to be hoped that, by the joint efforts 
of the two large and powerful planting communi- 
ties, the increase of consumption will be kept about 
level with the increase in production. — I am, sir 
yoiu-s, &c., Observer. 
London, March 16th, 1892. 
« . 
THE AMSTERDAM MARKET. 
Amsterdam, March 22. — All the analyses of the 
cinchona-bark for sale here on March 31st have been 
published now. The results are as follows: — The 
manufacturing bark contains about 14| tone, sulphate 
of quinine, or 4 68 per cent, on the average. About 
6 tons contain 1 to 2, 23 tons 2 to 3, 84 tons 3 to 4, 90 
tons 4 to 5, 52 tons 5 to 6, 24 tons 6 to 7, ISltons 7 to 
8, 3 tons 8 to 9, 9tonsl0 to 11 per cent, silphatft of 
qnimuQ.— Chem ltit and l>ruggist,iilaxch 26th. 
