Nov.  2,  1896.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
33' 
prise  Mr.  Fraser  has  presumably  been  enabled  to 
make  some  special  arrangement  to  permit  of  his 
establishing  himself  at  Peeling,  but  on  this  point 
the  local  paper  is  silent.  In  any  case,  however, 
the  introduction  of  foreign  machinery  and.  foreign 
methods  affords  a ray  of  hope  brighter  than  any 
that  merchants  interested  in  the  China  tea  trade  have 
enjoyed  for  many  j'ears. 
IMPROVEMENT  OE  TEA  MAKING  AT  EOOCIIOW  ‘ INTKODUC 
TION  OF  THE  INDIAN  METHOD, 
The  following  letter  appears  in  the  Foochow  Echo 
of  the  12th  September:—  . 
Dear  Sir,— It  has  been  a subject  of  remark  during 
the  past  few  weeks  that  you  have  maintained  a mys- 
terious silencs  regarding  the  crisis,  if  I may  so  call 
it,  that  has  come  about  in  the  Foochow  tea  trade. 
The  purport  of  this  letter  is  quite  as  much  to  in- 
duce you  to  break  that  silence  and  if  possible  to 
draw  forth  some  opinion  from  you  aiS  to  our  pros- 
pects, as  to  furnish  you  readers  with  the  news, 
which  cannot  fail  to  "be  of  interest  to  all. 
Mr.  Fraser,  of  the  firm  of  Fraser,  Ramsay 
& Co.,  after  visiting  the  tea  gardens  of  India 
and  Ceylon  and  making  himself  acquainted  with 
the  methods  adopted  in  those  countries  of  pick- 
iim  and  curiEg  tea,  has  managed  to  introduce 
them  into  one  of  the  tea  districts  here  and  with  siich 
marked  success  that  a prosperous  future  for  the  Foo- 
chow tea  tiade  seems  assured.  So  far,  wdiat  has  been 
done  is  merely  an  experiment,  but  the  most  satisfac- 
tory remits  have  been  obtained,  that  is  to  say,  leas 
of  the  prettiest  make  and  appearance  have  been  pro- 
duced, drawing  a strong  dark  liqum-,  with  an  infused 
leaf  of  the  approved  bright  golden  colour.  What 
more  is  required?  We  are  at  once  placed  in  a posi- 
tion to  complete  with  Indian  aud  Csylon  growers  in 
the  great  consuming  markets  of  Great  Britain  and 
Austialia. 
No  difficulty  was  found  in  starting  a company 
locallv  for  the  purchase  of  machinery  and  for  other- 
wise 'pushing  the  adoption  of  the  new  method  of 
making  tea  among  the  Chinese.  The  name  of  the 
Company  is  the  Foochow  Tea  Improvement  Corn- 
Over  and  above  this,  I hear  that  there  is  quHe 
a little  underciurent  of  excitement  going  on  in  the 
foreign  hongs.  Of  course  with  such  a couseratiie 
peopTe  as  the  Chinese  it  is  unlikely  that  more  than 
a small  proportion  of  the  Congou  crop  will  be  made 
ill  tlie  n,ew  fashion  for  a year  or  two,  but  in  the 
meantime  it  is  understood  that  some  of  the  foreign 
hongs  are  already  vieing  with  one  another  to  get 
this  small  proportion  into  their  own  clutches.  All 
sorts  of  inducements  are  being  offered,  which  the 
Canton  and  Chin-chew  hong-men  will  not  relish. 
Liberal  advances  are  to  be  made  to  intending  opera- 
tors in  this  few  fashioned  tea,  and  extensive 
eodown-rooin  is  to  bo  placed  fit  their  disposal.  Tlie 
novel  (to  Foochow)  method  of  selling  the  tea  by  auc- 
tion iias  been  proposed— the  advancing  Foreign  Hong 
to  be  the  auctioneers,  who  further  proffer  their  ser- 
vices to  ship  any  leas,  for  which  satisfactory  prices 
are  not  bid,  to  the  consuming  markets  of  the  world 
on  owneivs’  account.  There  is  nothing  like  taking 
time  by  tbe  forelock. 
Fray,  Mr.  Editor,  let  us  have  your  views,  or  those 
of  any  of  your  contributors  who  may  care  to  favour 
us  with  theirs. — 1 am,  dear  sir,  yours  truly,  T. 
Upon  this  the  Echo  makes  the  following  com- 
ments : — . , , 1 
We  find  ourse  ves  foiestalled  by  our  correspoaent 
“T”  in  being  the  first  to  make  public  an  important 
piece  of  news,  the  introdu  t on  i ;to  this  province 
of  the  Indian  me  hod  of  making  te.i.  We  were  asked 
by  some  of  onr  subscribers  not  to  publish^  anything 
we  m ght  hear  about  it  fo.'  a t m ■,  and  it  is 
within  the  last  few  day.s  that  we  liave  been  relea-ed 
from  our  undertaking  to  abide  by  the  request.  Al- 
though the  thought  may  have  been  quite  original 
on  Mr.  Fraser's  part,  it  was  not  altogether  a new 
one.  Tue  idea  of  its  feasibility  had  occurred  to  more 
than  one  of  our  resident  maicbauts,  but  was  aban- 
doned by  reason  of  the  difficulties  attending  the  in- 
troduction appearing  to  them  insurmountable 
may  be  guessed  that  the  foremost  difficulty  was 
the  certain  strong  opposition  of  the  Chinese,  high 
and  low.  It  was  reserved  for  Mr.  Fraser  to  do 
what  others  had  feared  to  attempt,  and  if  all 
goes  well,  as  the  result  of  his  first  experiment 
seems  to  predict,  his  name  will  be  handed 
down  to  nosterity  as  the  reviver  of  our  mori- 
bound  tea  trade.  Mr.  Fraser  followed  up  the  con- 
ception  of  the  idea  by  going  to  the  gardens  and 
factories  of  India  and  Ceylon  and  learning  for  him- 
self all  that  he  could  about  tea  cultivation  and  tea 
curing  in  those  rountries.  On  his  return  to  China 
he  brought  wdlh  him  a tea  roiling  machine,  which 
was  no  doubt  to  be  followed  by  other  machinery 
necessary  to  complete  the  curing  on  Indian  principles. 
The  rolling  machine  was  landed,  but  now  came  the 
question  of  the  difficulties  which  dreamers  of  the 
schema  had  looked  upon  as  insurmountable,  Mr. 
Fraser  reckoned  up  and  circumvented  them.  He  had 
his  establishment  at  Peeling  aud  managed  to  get  all 
his  machinery  up  to  that  district,  piecemeal,  with- 
out ruffling  either  the  tender  susceptibilities  of  the 
sleepy  officials  or  the  local  population.  Instead  of 
hiring  a score  or  two  of  Foochow  coolies  rush  the 
machinery  up  en  bloc,  which  would  have  created  sus- 
picion, ill  feeling,  and  possibly  trouble,  he  had  it 
carried  up  at  intervals,  bit  by  bit,  by  local 
coolies  sent  down  from  Peeling  for  the  purpose, 
and  they  arrived  with  their  burdens  without  at- 
tracting any  special  attention.  Thus  this  formidable 
difficulty,  as  it  was  considered,  was  overcome  by  a 
little  fact  and  good  management.  It  was  promptly 
set  up  and  brought  into  play  with  the  satisfactoiy  re- 
sults mentioned  by  “ T,"  namely,  in  pretty  dry  leaf, 
nice  strong  and  dark  liquoring  waters  (so  much  liked  by 
the  English  masses),  and  infusions  of  the  approved 
bright  bronze  coloured  infusions  being  produced.  But 
before  describing  the  result  we  ought  first  to  have 
mentioned  that  the  Chinese  inode  of  picking  of, 
withe  ing,  and  fermenting  had  all  to  be  altered.  This 
was  quickly  taught,  and  it  is  said  by  the  Chinese  that 
these  preliminary  processes  apart  from  the  use  of  the 
rolling  machinery,  are  sufficient  to  produce  the  made 
tea  with  all  the  characteristics  of  that  shipped  from 
India  and  Ceylon.  Experts  who  have  seen  these  teas 
declare  them  to  be  wonderfully  good  but  Mr.  Eraser 
aud  his  friends,  believing  that  machine  made  teas  will 
be  far  superior,  have  formed  themselves  into  a com- 
pany, and  several  influential  merchants  have  joined 
them,  for  the  purpose  of  importing  all  the  machinery 
necessary.  We  wish  the  company  all'possible  success. 
The  Foochow  tea  trade  continues  to  decline  so 
rapidly,  excepting  for  its  specialities,  that  all  in- 
terested in  the  port  at  all  must  welcome  warmly 
any  move  that  is  likely  to  revive  it,  and  should  give 
all  the  eucouiagement  they  can  to  Mr.  Fraser  and 
his  fi  lends,  in  the  expense  and  trouble  they  are 
going  to,  to  keep  the  trade  alive. 
Having  furnished  our  readers  with  a brief  sketch 
of  whnt  is  going  on  in  this  new  departure  in  the 
history  of  the  China  tea  trade,  we  willingly  comply 
with  our  co’responlent  ‘ T's  ” wish  that  we  should 
give  our  views  on  the  subject.  We  have  to  say  that 
we  are  only  deterred  from  boldly  asserliug  that 
Foochow  has  a future  before  it  by  the  thought  of 
the  cruelly  heavy  export  duty,  likin,  aud  other  taxes 
we  have  to  submit  to,  which  together  amount  ta 
fully  -10  per  cent,  on  the  average  cost  of  the  season’s 
crop.  Given  tint  we  are  successful  in  miking  teas 
that  w'ill  be  as  readily  saleable  as  those  of  India  and 
Ceylon  in  the  great  consuming  markets,  how,’ 
can  we  look  for  a prosperous  trade  with  such  a handi- 
cap as  this  40  per  cent  to  add  on  to  our  first  cost  ? 
— Ilonrjhony  Weekly  Press,  Sept.  18. 
It 
IMPROVEMENTS  IN  THE  FOOCHOW  TEA  TRADE. 
Our  most  importaut  njws  is  that  an  experimenc  has 
been  made  in  making  Foochow  tea  on  lud'au  methods 
and  that  it  has  proved  successful.  If  this  caa  be 
carried  out  011  an  extensive  scale  it  will  be  a great 
th  ng  for  Foochow.  Our  teas  as  at  present  made  be 
come  each  year  more  difficult  of  sale  in  Jj^'iidon 
and  Ausiral'ia.  The  trial  was  initiated  by  Mr.  Fraser, 
of  tho  firm  of  Fiaser,  Ramsay  it  Co.,  and  on  its 
