June i, 1892. j 
THF TROPICAU AGRlOULTURlsr 
but amall supplies to Londou our fate is sealed. What 
is wanted ia a large crop, not necessarily of very high 
quality, *t low cost. The attempt must be made to 
undersell our rivnls, and bo re-establish ourselves id 
public favour. The weather nil along favours the 
idea of a crop certainly not smaller than that of last 
year, and exchange and freights will contribute to 
lay it down at an unprecedentedly low cost. Per- 
sonally I don't wish to Bee high prices at Hankow, and 
I hope foreign buyers won't pay tbem." 
" You said ju'.t cow that China could undersell 
India and Ceylon. Is that a fact ?" I enquired. 
•' Certainly. I hear that the average cost of the 
Indian crop is 8d. per lb., nud of the Ceylon 6i&.* 
The average price paid last year in China was 
Tls. 16, Shanghai sycee,' or thereabouts, and that at 
4s 2d exchange and a possible 25s pir Ion freight 
would make the lay down cost 7d per lb." 
" Do you think that there is any probability of a 
reduction of the inland burdens China tea is called 
upon to bear ?" . 
"I hope so, but I don't think so. The maudanna 
appear obdurate (very strong stomach were the esaot 
words) We native teamen want to see the taxation 
lightened just as much as foreiguers do, but the 
Tsungli Yamen. does not hold the guild iu very high 
esteem, nor does it appear to have had much regard 
for the elaborate reports on the qaettion drawn up 
by the foreign Ch'ttztes some two j ears ago. At the 
risk of being tedious let me onco agaia s^how you 
how China tea i^ hardicapp' d. The firtt charge on 
the " made leaf ' is Tls. 125 per pioul, the shroffage 
iu fact, exacted hy the various local authorities. Then 
another Tls. 1'25 per picul is the well-known iikin 
t»x, levied to defray the cost of protecting the article 
in transport ; and finally there is the Customs' export 
duly of Tls. 2-50 per picul. These make a sum of 
five Haikuan taels a picul, or 2d per lb. So a clean, 
sweet, attong Keeoiun at Shanghai Tls. 18 per picul, 
relisved of these burdens could be laid down in 
London at 64d per lb , and a Tls. 10 Sbantam at 
2|d per lb. And if that wouldn't knock the slufHng 
out of lojun and Saylong, I don't know what 
would." 
After) this little flight of fancjy on Napoleon's part, 
I asked him what sort of preparation was being made 
for the coming season. 
" Well," he R^id, opeoing hia press copy letter 
book, " this is the substance of what I have written 
to the sixty teamen with whom I usutUy do business. 
' You must be prepared for very much lower prices 
than you got last year, and a sloc.er market to com. 
mence with. If you don't fire your teas with pro. 
per ch»rcoal, tar will develop, aud you must look ouj 
for squalls. Tie. 60 per picul, which after all is onl 
28 lid per lb., will doubtless be paid for a few cracY 
chops, and th^n begins the sheer deecent. And thes 
are my ideas of safety. I give you last ytar'a pricek 
paid and the laying down cost in Hankow that yoe 
should not exceed this season. 
" Ningchowp, last year Tls. 85 this year 60 
do 7tl d« 35 
do 50 do 26 
do 40 do 22 
do 30 do 17 
do 20 do 14 
KdemunB do 55 do 38 
do 45 do 29 
do 35 do 21 
do 25 do 17 
Hobows do 25 do 16 
Oaofaa 
do 
do 
do 
do 
do 
do 
do 
do 
do 
18 
15 
11 
60 
50 
40 
30 
20 
do 
do 
do 
do 
do 
do 
do 
do 
Oanfao 
Qopacks 
Shantams 
year Tls. 
1 K 
16 
this year 
10 
do 
58 
do 
28 
do 
40 
do 
22 
do 
30 
do 
16 
do 
20 
do 
12 
do 
20 
do 
18 
do 
18 
do 
16 
do 
11 
do 
9 
do 
8 
do 
7 
" And do you think that your correspondents will 
confine themstlves to your limits?" 
"Well, they certainly ought to be able to buy the 
leaf in the country to give tbcm a very good profit 
at my limits. If they exceed them, and giief arisee, 
they will have only themselves to blame." 
" As regards the size of the crop, what are jour 
views?" 
" Truly, I don't think that on the whole it will 
turn out to be any smaller than last year's, and I hope 
it will be as big, to prevent our being ' crowded 
out' by Indian shipments. There will be a fall- 
ing-off in the snpfly of Kiukiaug teap, as only 250 
hoDgs are opened in (he Kiangsi diftricte as against 
358 hongs last year, and the falling- off will be chiefly 
visible in the medium Ningchow kinds, which lost 
money heavily for both producer and shipper. The 
number of hoogs in the Hankow distrio; a shows an 
increase, but supplies will not much exceed last jear'a. 
I look for a very large business in all teas costing 
from Tls. 7 to Tls. 17. These, then, briefly are my 
views ; a couple of months will show how far I have 
been cff the mark. Just tell me two things before you 
go : what like are the Russian orders, and how much 
China tea will London trke tbia veai ?" 
" I could well wish," I rejoined, "that you had 
aebed me something easier. However, it is generally 
held that Russian orders will be for 30 per cent, 
less tea at 30 per cent, leas cost." 
"Yes," be replied, "but telegrams can alter those 
conditions," And I was compelled to admit the 
possibility. 
" As regBrd consumption," I added, " you had 
better keep yonr eye on the Londou Board of Trade 
figures. If you look them up you will fled that the 
year's deliveries were 233,000,000 lb., mac^e up of 
Indim tea 101,000,000 
Ceylon 54,000 000 
Java 4,000,000 
China 74,000,000—233,000,000 
but Bs the Indian export ia estimated at 120,000,000 
and Ceylon 80,000,000 lb. for 1893, unless home con- 
sumption increases it will be a bad look-out for China 
ui less she can do the thing on the cheap. But tell 
me one thing more. Did the teamen lose much last 
year ?" 
"Why, of course they did, all along the line. I loat 
Tls. 85,000, and am cot afraid to own up to it." 
This «um appeared tome rather a staggerer, and I 
dare say that he observed a lo. k of incredulity on my 
face, for he soon observed: "Some flens had a little 
share inside that loss "—a fact I never doubted, for it 
must have been a cold day, indeed, when " our ^ood 
old friend Awai " got left, I thought. 
Opening a pint of the celebrated "Shun Fat" 
white seal, he invited me to drink to better times, 
and " largce chance" tlis season, and the genial 
operation having been duly performed, he obse- 
quiously bowed me out with "a smile that was child- 
ike and bland."— JV^.-C. Herald, March 25th. 
» Ceylon costing 8Jd per lb., against 8d for India! 
is rather a ditforout idoa t i Ceylon costing only 6d. 
But we have seen that oaloulatiou made, — Ed, T. A. 
THE CHINA TEA TRADE. 
To the Editor of the North-China Daily News.^ 
Sir, — It is consoling to find from the " Sermo 
Sinensis'' in 5 our yeslerdiu 's issue that the Napoleon 
of the tea trade is still vigorous, His p'an of cam- 
paign ia certainly a bold one; viz., to send to London 
big supplies at low cost, to fight aud undersell ouf 
rivals and thus re-establish ourselves in public favour. 
He in, however, too sanguine in my opinion in think- 
ing that Chins tea, taxed as it is, can ever under- 
sell India aud Ceylon, and he is certainly ni"t| 
wrong in his figurts as to the average price paid 
