6oo 
TFIR  TROPICAI 
AGRICULTURIST.  fM.ARcn  2.  189^,. 
UN  TEA. 
THE  SECKETS  01'  MINCING  LANE  AND  IT.-^ 
IMMENSE  TRADE. 
One  of  the  most  remarkable  buildings  in  the  world 
is  the  Commercial  Sale  Rooms,  Mincing-lane,  in 
vVhich  it  is  esiimated  that  merchandise  to  the  value 
of  nearly  fl,OtK',()OU  changes  hands  every  day.  There 
are  about  twenty  auction-rooms,  each  capable  of 
accommodating  between  two  hundred  and  three 
hundred  persons ; and  the  *•  items  ” disposed  of  are 
of  such  magnitude  as  to  amaze  the  casual  observer. 
For  instance,  the  sale  of  ‘20,000  chests  of  tea,  each 
containing  a hundredweight,  is  considered  (]uito  an 
01‘dinary  day’s  work. 
It  was  here  that  the  present  writer  met  Mr.  John 
Layton,  the  well-known  tea  expert,  who  has  had 
nearly  forty  years’  experience  in  Mincing-lane,  and 
during  the  short  chat  whicli  I had  with  that  busy 
gentleman,  I gleaned  a good  deal  of  interesting  informa- 
tion concerning  the  tea  trade. 
There  are  now  some  500,000  acres  of  land 
under  tea  cultivation  in  India,  and  that  coun- 
try, together  with  Java  and  Ceylon,  produce 
more  than  two-thirds  of  the  tea  imported  into  the 
United  Kingdom,  which,  by  the  way,  is  something 
like  250,000,0001b.  a year. 
THE  “HEATHEN  CHINEE  ” Tll.VDE. 
The  guileful  “Chinee,”  it  appears,  is  out  of  the 
running  altogether,  by  reason  of  the  rubbish  which 
he  has  of  late  years  considered  good  enough  for  the 
English  market.  The  Rungsook 'Tea  Estate  is  one  of 
the  smallest  plantations,  and  covers  only  100  acres ; 
while  that  of  the  Assam  Company  is  0,008  acres  in 
extent,  ’^^t’he  produce  of  every  important  Indian 
estate  is  brought  to  Calcutta  and  forwarded  thence 
to  the  docks  in  London. 
Dealers  and  merchants  send  a couple  of  men  down 
to  the  tea-laden  vessels  and  secure  a numlier  of  two- 
ounce  samples,  which  are  subseipiently  paid  liacK, 
because  hundreds  of  tons  of  tea  are  annually  con- 
sumed in  this  way. 
Then  comes  the  tea-tasting,  to  see  which  is  quite  as 
wonderful,  and  far  more  interesting,  than  any  feat  per- 
formed on  the  variety  stage.  Along  polished  counier.s 
twenty  or  thirty  feel  in  length,  lows  of  cups  are 
ranged,  and  just  behind  each  of  these  is  a shallow 
tin  canister  containing  the  day  tea,  which  will  piesently 
be  brewed.  At  short  intervals  “standard  test  cad- 
dies” are  placed,  and  on  these  are  printed  details  of 
former  price  and  quality,  so  as  to  guide  the  taster  ; the 
latter,  however,  usually  prefers  to  rely  ejitirely  on  his 
own  judgment.  All  being  ready,  the  weig’nt  of  a six- 
pence in  tea  is  placed  in  each  cup,  and  boilin<^  water 
poured  upon  it.  After  some  little  time  the  expert 
commences  tasting,  attended  by  an  assistant,  who 
has  a catalogue  of  the  day’s  sales. 
THE  TASTER  AT  WORK. 
The  assistant  calls  out  the  name  and  gross  quan- 
tity of  the  tea,  while  the  taster  takes  a mouthful  from 
the  cup,  and  after  a moment’s  pause  ejects  the  liquor 
into  a large  copper  vessel  Immediately  after  this  the 
expert  determines  the  price  to  a farthing  which  the 
buyer  will  be  safe  in  bidding  for  that  particular 
consignment.  . 
Some  tea  is  unhesitatingly  condemned  ; and  it  is 
nothing  short  of  marvellous  to  watch  two  experts 
going  over  the  same  samples  at  different  times, 
rejecting  and  pricing  in  exactly  the  same  man- 
ner, although  the  various  dry  and  liquid  teas  look, 
taste,  and  smell  all  alike  to  the  uninitiated.  Of 
course  the  tea-taster  must  take  care  of  his 
palate;  he  rarely  indulges  in  alcoholic  stimulants, 
smokes  very  little,  but  drinks  large  quantities  of 
fresh  milk. 
dangers  of  TEA-TASTING. 
The  erreater  part  of  his  work  is  done  in  the  morn- 
ing and  he  can  get  through  200  or  400  samples  be- 
tween nine  and  twelve.  In  time,  how’ever,  he  be- 
comes extremely  nervous,  and  a perfect  martyr  to 
chronic  dyspepsia.  So  surprisingly  expert  do  the 
Mincing  Lane  men  become  that  many  can  actually 
tually  name  the  estate  upon  which  a certain  tea  was 
ffrown  after  having  tasted  a mouthful  of  the  cold  liquor. 
A deposit  of  €1  on  every  chest  bid  for  is  required 
by  the  vendors,  and  if  the  purchase  is  not  completed 
within  three  months,  the  deposit  money  is  forfeited, 
even  though  it  should  amount  to  f7,0(HJ,  as  in  one 
case. 
Some  little  time  ago  a parcel  containing  15lb.  of 
“ fancy  tea  ” from  the  Gallebodde  Estate,  Ceylon, 
was  received  at  the  sale  rooms.  This  small  quantity 
was  the  product  of  many  acres,  and  consisted  of  very 
small  golden  tips,  of  which  there  are  about  six  on 
each  bu.sh  ; these  tips  had  to  be  gathered  on 
strips  of  hauiiel,  so  minute  were  they,  and  so  tedious 
the  task  of  picking. 
THE  FINEST  EVER  GROWN. 
The  bidding  for  this  tea,  which,  by  the  way,  was 
exactly  like  fine  bird’s-eye  tobacco,  commenced  at 
8l)s  per  lb.,  and  finally  reached  b'8  lUs.  It  was 
coiisidere  1 the  finest  ever  grown,  and  a man  had  to 
walk  thiee  miles  tluough  the  plantations  before  he 
could  gather  a single  pound. 
It  is  a noteworthy  fact  that  many  members  of 
Our  aristocracy  are  first-rate  judges  of  tea,  yet  they 
rarely  pay  more  than  two  shillings  a pound  for  it, 
whether  required  for  private  consumption  or  for  five- 
o’clock  reception  after  State  Draw'ing  Rooms.  The 
late  Duke  of  Marlborough,  however,  had  a special 
tea  imported  for  his  own  use  in  large  quantities,  for 
which  he  paid  4s  6d  a pound. 
Lady  Hothfield  is  really  a tea  expert;  so  are  the 
Duke  of  Connaught,  Mrs.  Gladstone,  the  Marquis 
of  Ailsa,  Lady  Margaret  Cecil,  the  Countess  of  Suf- 
folk, Countess  Cowley  and  the  Countess  of  Ports- 
outh. 
Our  greatest  private  tea-consumer,  however,  is 
probably  the  Bishop  of  London,  who,  it  is  averred, 
is  supplied  by  one  firm  with  no  less  than  lb. 
a year. — Keening  Xeirs,  .lanuary  21. 
('UFEEE  IN  CUA'l'E.MALA. 
The  /ti'lletin  de  Musee  Coinmerrial  publishes  an 
extract  from  a report  of  M.  E.  Capouillez,  Treas- 
urer of  the  Government,  in  which  he  says  that 
coffee  constitutes  almost  the  sole  article  of  export 
from  Guatemala.  Thus  in  181)4,  out  of  a total  value 
of  20,:!25.000  piastres  of  goods  exported,  the  value  of 
coffee  alone  reached  19,40(),0()U  piastres.  The  export 
trade  is  carried  on  through  the  ports  of  Champerico, 
San  .losi^  Oeo  and  Livingston,  and  the  principal 
countries  of  destination  are  Germany  (;-542,000  quin- 
tals in  18111),  United  States  (180,(XK)  quintals)  and 
Ihiglaiul  ( 108,000  quintals).  Coffee  pays  an  export 
duty  of  2 piastres,  one  of  which  is  to  be  paid  in 
gold  (a  piastre  equals  .5  francs).  In  1891  a sum  of 
1.141,582  piastres  was  thus  raised,  plus  594,910  pias- 
tres in  addition  on  the  exchange  on  that  part  pay- 
able in  gold,  making  altogether  a total  of  1,726,442 
piastres.  The  exportation  of  coffee  from  Guatemala 
has  not  increased  much  during  the  past  five  years. 
Want  of  labor  is  the  principal  reason  of  this.  The 
Indian  only  works  when  he  is  obliged,  and  experi- 
ments with  Kanaka  and  .Tapanese  labor  have  not 
yielded  good  results. — Anierica7i  Oeocer,i>An.  H. 
“ ’I’m;  Planter”  writes: — “A  private  letter  from  a 
friend  in  the  coffee  region  of  East  Africa  bears  un- 
expected testimony  to  the  fact  that  the  early,  a-  d 
seemingly  incredible,  trials  of  planters  in  India  are 
now  being  endured  with  unconquerable  determina- 
tion by  Scotsmen  and  Englishmen  in  the  Dark  Con- 
tinent. The  writer  says  that  he  never  saw  Euro- 
peans in  a more  miserable  condition.  Having  no 
connection  with  the  authorities,  and  being  theie 
simply  to  stake  their  lives  on  coffee,  several  Scotsmen 
aie  living  in  the  most  veritable  native  huts,  with 
boards  to  sit  on  and  eat  off,  with  scarcely  a change 
of  clothing— one  was  ac  unlly  shirtless  owing  to  some 
exigence  of  life  out  theie — and  with  nothing  to  read 
and  nothing  to  do  except  to  watch  their  coffee. 
Locusts  come  up  and  eat  the  seedlings,  when  the 
men  patiently  sow  the  field  over  again.  More  than 
one  planter  has  sown  his  field  thrice  in  the  last 
season.  Such  men  will  succeed,  or  be  followed  by 
others  who  will  succeed.  'I’hey  are  the  sort  who  have 
made  India  what  it  is,  and  who  alone  can  carry  it  on 
as  it  is,” — M.  Mail, 
