8o2 
THF. TROPiCAL AQRiOULTURlST. 
[May I, 1891. 
THE PACKET TJ'^A TKAHE. 
As Messrs. liorniujan and Go. claim to be tbo 
founders of the packet tea trade, their experitnce- 
as recorded by a representative ot Trade, 7 , ill doubt, 
less be of some interest. This film in the good old days 
used to make a point of advertising “ tbo leaf un- 
coloured ; ” but their more recent transactions in 
India and Ceylon has altored all that. 
“ How kng is it,” asked the representative, “ since 
your firm adopted the system of selling tea in 
packets ? ” 
‘‘ Ever since the year said Mr. Horniman. 
*' It wai the founder of our firm who originated the 
system. His idea was that if tea wore put up into 
ftir-tight tinfoil packages its fragrance would be pre- 
served, and it would be possible to place before the 
consumer a tea which should be of uniform quality. 
How often does the average purchaser make the com- 
plaint that ‘ thi.s tea is not so good as the last ? ’ By 
the packet system it was sought to avoid auy possi- 
bility of such disagreeable comparisons, and to make 
it easy for the purchaser to obtain an article which 
would vary neither in fragrance, strength, or price. In 
short, the aim was to present a tea which should be 
‘always good alike.’” 
“ That phrase seems to have passed into something 
like a proverb ? ” 
“Yes,” said Mr. Horniman; “and, what is more, 
we claim to have acted up to it. It you know any'- 
thing about the tea trade you will be aware that 
it was in 1833 that it w&s thrown open, At that 
time importers commenced to introduce tea which 
was artificially coloured, the object, of course, being 
to pass otf inferior leaves. There were two objections 
to this course, U 13 first being that the colouring 
matter was more or less injurious to the tea drinker, 
and the second that a decoction made from inferior 
leaves was sure to be wanting in delicacy and fra- 
grance. We refused to adopt this method, and insisted 
upon imp. rtiug a joure uncoloured tea of good quality. 
Of course, our teas got a nume and their reputarion, 
despiie the competition of these latter days, is more 
than maintained.” 
“Whence do you chiefly procure your supplies?” 
" For many years, of coarse, we had to rely upon 
China tea alone, for it was not till 1850 that Ua 
was produced in Assam. The very first importa- 
tion from that province was consigned to U'=, and 
since that date we have always been able to secure 
the best spring growths from the fiuest of the Indian 
gardens. Ceylon, as you know, has recently produced 
some admirable teas, and wo now import a consider- 
able quantity of them. You see we devote ourselves 
exclusively fo tea, and as we purchase upon a very large 
scale direct from Ceylon, India, and China, we are not 
only able to secure the best tea, but to avoid those 
extra charges which must be paid if you do your busi- 
ness through middlemen.” 
“ That, no doubt, is the secret of a good many sue- 
cesslul firms nowadays ? ’ 
“ I suppose it is. It is certainly our own. We 
buy direct and we sell direct. AVe buy’ for cash 
and we sell for cash. The rule of the tea trade 
is to give three mouths’ credit. AVe pay cash, 
and wo take five per cent. That, upon a very large 
tursover, is a profit in itself. Yon will, perhaps, hardly 
imagine that we do our ov,’n printing. It may seem 
odd ihst tea merchsuts should be printers, but it must 
bo obvious to you that by cutting our expenses down to 
the lowest point we aro in a posilion to offer to the piib- 
lio tea of a quality which no one else could afford fo let 
them have at the price. 
“ How did therecont reduction in the tea duty affect 
you ?” 
“ Wc were ensblod,” said Mr. Horniman,, “not 
only to give the public the benefit of the 2d por Jb. 
which was talo n off by Mr. Go chen, but to reduce 
our prices by still auother2d, without luterfering with 
the quality of tliO tea article whiob wo offered. This 
is only in accordaneo with the principle which the firm 
has pursued for tho last sixty-five years in giving the 
public the heat possible tea at the least possible price. 
It is upon ths.t principle that our business has been 
built, and it would bo obviously uuwiso for us to 
depart from it.” 
“ Your packet teas have had many imitators ? ” 
Yes,” was the reply, “ and some of them have been 
anything but scrupuloue. Our psekets, our labels and 
our titles have been imitated, so much so in fset that 
it is well fur tlio public to be on their gu .rd. The 
old auviop, tiiat when you ask for an article you 
should see that you grt if, certainly holds good in 
this case. Perhaps it is not surprising that this 
imitation has taken place for our labels have become 
almost unn’ersally known. Some twenty years ago 
aud more a considerable enquiry' for our teas arose 
throughout Europe and South Ameria, aud to meet 
the demand our labels were translated into French, 
German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, and Russian. 
Our success in foreign countries led unscrupulous 
competitors lo copy not only cur system of pack- 
ing, but to imitate our trade marks and cur titles. 
There is, howtver, a very easy method of finding out 
whether you have the real ai tide or not, and that is 
by making an examination of the tea itself. Our teas 
consist exclusively of young and tender leaves, aud 
they are therefore smaller than the large aftergrowth 
leaf which so largely constitutes ioferiur qualities.” 
“Your faith iu the packet system, is, I suppose, 
os firm as ever.” 
“Yes,” w'.s the emphatic reply ; “ though I c.innot 
shut my eyes to the fact that this system which we 
introduced has been grossly abused. There aro those 
who find it ntcessaiy, in order to effect the sale of 
their tea, to offer the buyer a toas‘ing-fork or a 
looking-gbss after they have taken so raauy half-pound 
or p und packets. AVe have never found it necessary 
to resort to any such dodges in order to find a market. 
I rather think that by this time the public is beginning 
to open its eyes to the fact that the method I have 
referred to is a very dear way of purchasing ies.. They 
now recoguise that to expect goed tea, when the seller 
has to give them a present of .some considerable value 
in order to induce them to purchase i , is to expect a 
good deal too much.” — //. and C. Mail. 

Coffee in Pbbu. — The following paragrapli 
among others shews the enoouragemsnt to the 
Loudon Syndicate which is despatching Ceylon 
planters and other experts to report on land for 
coffee in Peru in the trans-Andean districts ; — 
No better coffee is produced in the world than in 
Peru, more especially that raised at Cbanchamayo, iu 
the department of Junin, and in the Province of Cara- 
baj's, in the department of Puno. The production 
amply suffices for the internal consumption, notwith- 
standing that the latter hss much increased during the 
last few years. 
“ Quinine and Java Cinchona.” — There is 
very little of consolation to Ceylon cinchona planters, 
or to London holders of quinine, in tho article under 
the above heading on page 789. Java’s supply of bark 
is by no means dwindling away — it is rather increasing 
aud although she supplied the equivalent in bark 
for half the quinine consumption of the world in 
1890, she is expected in 1891 to give enough for 
4-7ths of the consumption — in other words she is to 
export about 7^ million lbs. of manufacturers’ bark 
averaging 4'07 per cent sulphate of quinine ! There 
will only be 3-7 tbs of the total consumption required 
in bark from Ceylon, India and South America. The 
only point open to criticism in this article that we can 
see, is the want of allowance for an increase in con- 
sumption. AVe cannot understand why with 
quinine at its cheapest — less than 2s per ounce - 
there should not spring up a demand for so valuable 
a tooio in now directions ; while we feel sure that 
much larger quantities might be absorbed in Russia, 
Southern Europe and Africa, if only the cheap 
quinine were made freely available, 
