March  2,  i8g6.j 
Ti-tE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
6ig 
INDIAN  TEA  ASSOCIATION. 
Au31’H\CT  OF  PjtOCHKDINOS  OF  A MoHTING  J)F  XlIF 
Gknekal  Goji.mittee. 
Submitted  letters  of  22iid  and  2v)th  November  and 
_ (ith  Ueoomber,  from  tlio  Secretary,  ludiaii  Tea  Asso- 
' cialioii  London.  Tlio  principal  matters  referred  to 
in  these  letters  were  the  jiiarking  of  weights  on  chest 
of  tea  intended  for  ihe  Amei’ican  market  and  the 
packing  of  Dust  Teas.  Copy  of  letter  of  20tii  November 
from  the  Secretary  of  the  Tea  Brokers’  Association. 
London,  was  ei  closed  intimating  they  were  not  in 
favour  of  placing  any  marks  on  the  packages.  (The 
letter  is  printed  as  an  appendix  to  the  minutes.)  With 
regard  to  the  packing  of  Dust  Teas,  copy  of  letter 
was  enclosed  from  Messrs.  Stenning,  Inakipp  & Co., 
which  is  also  printed  as  an  appendix  to  the  minutes, 
suggesting  that  Dust  Teas  should  ho  packed  in  half 
chests  either  of  metal,  or  in  strong  and  w’ell  made 
wooden  packages,  iron  hooped,  and  a circular  em- 
bodying these  recommendations  had  been  issued  by 
the  London  Committee,  which  is  also  re-printed  below. 
Submitted  letter  of  IGth  December,  from  the  Cliaii'- 
man,  Ceylon  Planters’  Association,  asking  for  in- 
formation as  to  the  terms  on  which  a reduction  in 
passage  money  of  Tea  Planters  \\  as  granted  by  the 
Liners’  Conference.  It  was  decided  to  reply  to  this 
letter  stating  that  the  only  concession  given  to  Plan- 
ter,s by  Liners  was  a reduction  of  RlOO  on  the  pas- 
sage money  from  Ca.lcutta  to  Loudon ; no  rebate 
was  given  on  the  n.  turn  passage,  no  allowances  were 
granted  on  passages  from  Bombay  nor  »ny  allow- 
ance for  families.  ’There  were  no  printed  rules 
governing  the  matter,  but  a reduction  was  given  to 
all  persons  who  were  certified  as  planters  by  the 
Agents  of  Tea  Cardens. 
Considered  letter  of  Dili  .Januaiy,  li'om  Messrs. 
Bathgate,  Pirn  A Co.,  encloi.ing  copy  of  a letter  they 
had  received  from  London,  regarding  a firm  in  New 
York  who  were  desirous  of  entering  on  the  trade  in 
Indian  Tea,  and  asking  if  a guarantee  could  be  given 
from  the  American  Market  Fund  for  such  business. 
In  reply  to  this  letter  Messrs.  Jiathgate  Pimm  & Co, 
were  to  be  informed  that  they  wore  under  a misap- 
prehension as  regards  business  of  this  kind  being 
subsidized. 
Considered  letter  of  3rd  January,  from  Secretary  to 
the  Government  of  India,  Department  of  Kevenue 
and  Agriculture,  forwarding  for  the  consideration  of 
the  Association  extract  from  a Memorandum  by  Dr. 
Watt,  Ileporter  on  Economic  Products,  on  the  pro- 
posal to  appoint  a scientific  expert  for  the  investi- 
gation of  questions  connected  with  the  Tea  Industry 
Government  had  thought  well  to  send  the  Memo- 
randuin  in  question  before  replying  officially  to  the 
Committee's  letter  and  it  was  stated  that  Woodburn 
would  be  quite  ready  to  grant  an  interview  to  any 
representative  appointed  by  the  Associatioir  if  they 
thought  any  useful  end  W'ould  be  served  by  personal 
discussion.  The  Committee,  how’ever,  considered  it 
]Hematuro  to  enter  upon  a personal  discussion  of  the 
matter  at  ])reseut,  and  it  w'as  resolved  to  forward  the 
paper  in  the  first  instance  to  the  Chairman  of  the 
Assam  Branch  from  whom  the  proposal  originally 
emanated  and  to  ask  him  if  he  had  any  remarks  to 
make  upon  it. 
Submitted  statement  of  contributions  to  the 
American  Market  Fund  showing  the  total  amomit 
subscribed  to  the  .'ilst  December  to  be  1188,879  re- 
presenting a production  of  77,067,018  lb.  A detailed 
list  of  the  Gardens’  contributions  was  also  submitted 
and  a further  statement  showing  that  R6,983T5  was 
outstanding.  The  Committee  considered  the  result 
of  the  levy  was  satisfactory. 
('True  copy). 
W.  Paksons,  H.  S.  Ashton, 
Assistant  Secretary.  Chairman. 
TIIK  TKA  liUOKERs’  ASSOCI.VTION  OK  LONDON. 
118,  Dunster  House,  Mincing  E.C., 
November  2C*b. 
Eunf.st  Tyr,  Esq., 
Secretary,  Indian  ’Tc.r  Association  (London). 
Dear  Sir, — In  reply  to  the  question  contained  in 
your  letter  of  16th  September,  with  reference  to  the 
stencilling  of  Gross  Weight  and  Tare  on  packages 
of  Indian  Tea,  I am  instructed  by  our  President 
(Mr.  W J 'Thompson,  Jr)  to  inform  you  that  en- 
quiry has  been  made  amongst  some  of  the  leading 
dealers  who  are  unanimous  in  objecting  to  such  pro- 
cess as  tending  to  cause  disputes  between  them- 
selves and  their  customers  whenever  a difference 
occurred  between  the  Factory  and  Customs  weight, 
one  firm  going  so  far  .as  to  say  it  would  not  know- 
ingly buy  auy  Tea  so  marked. 
It  is  presumed,  however,  that  the  matter  would 
bo  of  indifference  to  the  Blenders  who  now  consti- 
tute a largo  section  of  the  Buyers. 
I am  requested  to  send  you  the  enclosed  extract 
from  letter  received  from  the  London  Wholesale  Tea 
Dealers’  Association  and  to  ask  you  to  kindly  bring 
the  subject  to  the  notice  of  your  Members. 
Yours  faithfully,  W.  G.  Pjuce,  Secretary. 
extract  from  letter,  LONDON  WHOLESALE  TEA 
dealers’  association. 
Dated  18th  Nov.  1895. 
“ I am  requested  to  ask  you  to  be  good  enough 
to  draw  the  attention  of  importers  to  the  serious 
loss  and  inconvenience  which  arise  from  Dust  Teas 
being  in  packages  not  properly  protected  against 
leakage  and  to  suggest  in  the  mutual  interest  of 
Seller  and  Buyer,  it  is  desirable  that  such  packages 
should  be  canvassed  or  otherwise  jirotccted  before 
being  thi])pcd  abroad.” 
11,  Mincing  Lane,  E.C., 
November  26th,  1895. 
Ef.nest  Tye,  Esq. 
Dear  Sir, — We  thank  you  for  »Circular  of  yester- 
day’s date.  We  would  point  out  that  so  long  ago  as 
27th  March  l.'SDO,  wo  wrote  the  following  in  our 
circular  of  that  date  ; — “ In  view  of  some  recent 
cases  of  heavy  loss  in  weights  in  respect  of  small 
broken  and  dust  descriptions  we  throw  it  out  as  a 
suggestion  to  Planters  whether  it  would  not  be  ad- 
visal)!e  to  pack  such  Teas  in  future  in  metal  boxes.” 
To  this  we  would  now  add  that  as  the  w’eight  of  the 
above  sorts  is  so  heavy,  it  would  be  better  to  pack 
in  ] kdf- Cheat  $ &\.ih.Qv  of  metal  or  in  strong  and  well 
made  wooden  packages,  iron  hooped. 
We  do  not  advise  packages  being  canvassed  for  ship- 
ment as  it  would  be  impossible  to  see  their  condition 
besides  it  is  also  probable  that  less  care  would  be  taken 
in  handling  them  in  transit,  and  Tea  that  escaped  into 
the  canvas  would  be  unfit  for  use. 
We  are,  dear  sir,  yours  faithfully, 
Stenning,  Inskipp  & Co. 
THE  INDI.iN  TEA  ASSOCIATION  (iN  LONDON). 
With  reference  to  the  packing  of  Broken  and  Dust 
Teas,  it  is  pointed  out  for  the  information  of  Members 
that  it  is  desirable  owing  to  the  weight  of  these  des- 
criptions, to  pack  them  in  half-chests,  either  of 
metal,  or  well  made,  and  iron  hooped  wooden  packages. 
The  use  of  canvas  covering  is  objectionable. 
They  not  only  serve  to  hide  the  condition  of  the 
packages  but  probably  less  care  is  taken  in  handling 
them  in  transit,  besides  which,  any  Tea  that  may 
be  retained  by  the  canvas  would  soon  become  unfit 
for  use.  Ernest  Tye,  Secretary. 
5th  December  1895. 
— ly.diaii  1‘Janter's  Gazette,  Feb.  8. 
Frozen  Flowers  from  Australia. — It  is  stated  in 
tbo  ]Vcstminsler  Gazette  of  November  28,  that  a fine 
collection  of  blue  and  white  Water  Lilies  (Nympheea 
gigantea)  has  been  sent  by  a leading  florist  in  Sydnej^ 
N.S.W.,  through  Sir  Saul  Samuel,  the  Agent-General, 
for  presentation  to  her  Majesty  the  Queen.  Tbo 
Lilies  were  frozen  in  ice,  and  received  as  long  ago 
as  August  last  by  the  Cloninl  Consignment  and 
Distributing  Company,  Limited,  being  stored  at 
Nelson’s  Whaif,  uiiti!  Wednesday,  November  27, 
when  they  were  delivered  at  Windsor  In  spite  of 
the  length  of  time,  the  flowers  were  in  perfect 
condition,  and,  seen  through  the  transp.rrent  ice 
were  very  attractive. — Gardeners’  Chronicle. 
