June i, 1892,1 THE TROPICAl. 
CEYLON TEA IN RUSSIA : ANOTHER 
LETTER FROM MR. ROGIVUE. 
The Secretary of thp Planters' Aseooiation scncis 
ua the following copy of a further letter with 
enclosure received from Mr. M. Rogivue on the 
subject of pushing the sole of and luakinK known 
Ceylon Tea in Euosia : — 
Co^y. BIoscow, 7/19th March 1892, ^ 
Maroseika, House Lebedieff. 
A. Philip, Esq., Secretary to the Planters' Associa- 
tion of Ceylon, Kandy. 
Dear Sir, — In continuation of my respects of the 
lst/13th inst., I herewith beg to hand you the copy 
of a letter from Mr. Milawidoff, the Assistant in 
charge of my permanent Magazine atNijini-Nowgorod, 
giving his 'appreciation as regards the further ex- 
tension of Ceylon Tea in Russia and the steps to 
be take'.i in view of the coming Fair. 
I shall thanlc you to submit the same to the Com- 
mittee of the Tea Fund. — I remain, &c., 
(Signed) M. Eogivue. 
I enclose one of my new Price Lists. 
Co-py of a letter of M. Miloioidoff' in charge of M. 
Eogivue's Maejazine in Nischny Novgorod. 
Nischny Nowgorod, March 2Qd,;.1892. 
Translation. 
Enough tioie has elr.p.sed Biuce the Nischny fair 
of 1891 took place to enabia me now to form an 
opinion as to the future " Cajlon Tea " is going to 
have on the Russian mirk'ts, 
Ihe Nischny Fair ban been the touch stone of Oeylon 
ten, when already a largo number of persons were 
eager to try thits new product. It ia true that the 
busineae of the fair did not, relatively, get to an im- 
portant extent becau'e most of tlie people boueht 
this tea merely as samples, with the chief object 
to taste it. But the results of the fair liive never- 
theisms been very satisfactory, thus proving above 
all what a goo'l riclamo it isas been for the tea; 
the merchants, the jiublio and tbo ^ew^pape^s hnving 
already taken a great interest in this tea, quite new 
in Rossia. 
From the Nischny Fair and later ou from the 
Nischny Magazine Ceylon Tea has been sent to the 
moat remote places of ihe Country ; Valogda, Aslrahan, 
JHatha, Orenburg, Kostroma, Ufa, ^-c We have every 
reasun to believe that the tea made a favouiable 
impression upon the general public, and this because, 
just after th" Fair, m>.iiy of the formtr buyers re- 
newed their purchase and new clients came forward. 
In short, the fact that Cejlon tea is making by 
degre'B its way amongst the public of Nischny 
accustomed to drink good tea, and spoiled in tbis 
respect thanks to the Fair, tbis fict, is a guarantee 
for its brilliant fuiure. The Nishuy Magazine although 
only opened sinco six mouths may safely be expected 
to sell 12-15,000 lb. in thii year, without bringing in 
account the quantity liable t > be sold at; the Fnir. 
Tbis, I think, is another striking proof th.it thisTei 
is already knuwn and appreciated. If the Nistmv 
Magazine balances the accounts of this first yeir with 
perhaps no profit or even a small loss, the tollowing 
reasons may be accounted for : 1st the novelty of the 
business, 2ud the high rate of gold, 3rd the expens.'S 
oaused by the installation cf the mat:aziue and 4th 
the oooasional want of stocks which have sometimes 
failed. As you know it every well, we have been and 
we are still very oftm obliged to refuse sales, giving 
for instance 5 lb when 50 lb. ure asked ; this of course 
has made ii bad imp^eR^ion, shaken the credit of the 
firm and driven away numerous clients. I can boUily 
afsuto that the Ni.tliny Matiaziue weuld have sold tioicc 
the quantity if the goods had been readily at hand. 
To my opinion, lieylon Tea will spread fastenouKb 
and ODsiderably under the following cnnd tioni : lnt if 
it is sold i-hcap enough to compete for prices wi h 
Ohineae Tea ; 2nd if ft thoroughly good ri'chtmc 
ia done ; 3rd that tbo Nihbny F^ir ba well 
conducted with sulhii nt quantities; and thcso 
O^uditious are ail iudispenaable lor the suocess of 
the Fiir and the further extension of the tea. Judg- 
ing by the results of the first Fair and of the maga- 
zine, oi^ie cin safely presume that the demand at thi'j 
year's Fair will considerably exceed the lust one. It 
is therefore necessary that larger stocks should bo 
available. I should say thab for the Fair alone we 
mu,st have at lenst 100 cises' of different marks, 
b'.sides about 5,000 lb te.i in packet", not speaking of 
larger orders (orders exceeding 5 cases of one sort) 
which will ije executed in Moscow where sufficient 
stocks should be kept. I will repeat that the reclame 
is absolutely necessnry for our f-ucoess and I would 
■uggest thct a t'Uui of about 500 libs, should be assigned 
f T tbis purpose. The Nidhny Fair is the centre of 
the whole of Russian trs.de; arionget the henp of 
all kinds ol new products brought on this market it 
IS easy for an article to pass nnno'iced nnfl this is 
the reason why reclame plays such an important 
pnrt. Every firm starting businees there spend up to 
thousand roidiles in advertisments and the expenditure 
is juBtififd I would propose to begin advertising in 
the newspnpers of the provinces, already before O e 
opo"ing "f the Fair. Another way to increase the 
sale of Ceylon tea would be to open, after the 
fair, new magHzines in one of the towns on the 
Widga, Kazan or S'aratow, as branches of a well 
eftablisheJ firm are the safest and the best fac- 
tors of a good reclame the establishment of 
which would cost about 3,000 Rbs, per annum. These 
outlays would certainly be covered, and largely, con« 
sideling that if at Nishny, a relatively small town, 
where business is not bo important, the expenditure 
is covered, one can the more so reckon on Kazan and 
S'lrntow — important comroerrial centres on the Volga, 
thr'ce more populous than Nishny. 
I found it is reoessary to aC'^ount you with my 
ideas in view of the coming fair eg that you might 
nee what you are about aud take in due time the 
necessary st^ps. 
(Signed) Milawidoff. 
■» ■ 
LADY TEA MERCHANTS IN LONDON. 
Women are generally credited with being thegreateil 
tea drinkers, and men, when they wish to retort on 
being accused of smoking too much, answer that tea 
takes the place of tobacco amongst tho luxuries 
appertaining to the gen'ler sex. This miy or may 
not be, but in either case it seems that there is little 
or no reason in thtse days of womanly enterprise why 
ladies sheu'd not be purveyors as well as consumer^ of 
tea. This thought appears to have struck two kdies 
who have for some time been doing good business in 
quite a private way in this most nfcessary article. 
Under the title of "The Ladies' Own Tea Association, 
Limited," a Company has now been formed and 
registered, consisting of seven lady shareholders, and 
directed and managed by the two ladies who originated 
the scheune. Miss R. G. Bartlett and Miss A. M. 
L imbert. Premises have been t iken at 92, New Bond- 
street, where the tea association may be s-en in full 
working order. There is an office — or, perhaps, to be 
perfectly accurate, a shop — fitted up with every re- 
quisite for the blending and tasting of tea. A counter 
as bright as polishing can make it, gleaming brass 
sciles, and tin scoops; tin cases to hold five, seven, 
and ten pnun 's, huge layers of brown paper, and paper 
bags, all proclaim the business-like nature of the 
enterprise ; whilst an inner room, fitted with the pretty 
tables, Japanese ware, O iental rugs and mattings, 
and the sott-toned draperies we associate with hish 
art, invites lady customers to partake of a refreshing 
after.ioon cap. These are some of the aspects of 
this latest development of feminine industry. Its 
olijects are primarily to provide a new employmi nt 
for necessitous gentlewomen at their own homes by 
establislru^ agents (who must bo Indies) iu every 
town, district, .suburbs, and village of Great 
Britain and Ireland. Secondly, to sell the 
bast tea at a low ptice. This can only be achieved 
»Duty paid (oosts by M. R.) 
