648 
THE TI>Of»1CAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[March i, 1892. 
and the China plant), and the puro China plant ’ 
and in Ceylon, both the Hybrid and China variety. 
Both in India and Ceylon the Hybrid ia the favourite, 
ae giving both a large crop and a tea best Baited 
to the prenent requiiemeut» of the English mar- 
ket— that is, a strong, thick, astringent liquor. 
Both the IndigenouH and Hybrid varieties require 
a hot, humid climate ; but the China plant pre- 
fers a colder and less tropical atmosphere, and is, 
therefore, onitivatcd in the Himalayan inner ranges, 
and the Indigenous and Hybrid at the foot of tlieae 
mountains, in the low, hot humid valleys. Taken 
roughly, the yields per acre of the three varieties are 
as follows: — ladigoDOns, 1,200 lb; Hybrid, 800 lb; 
Ouina, 2501b. From this it wiil be seen why the 
Hybrid is the favourite with tea planters ; tiie yield 
is so much larger than from the China shrub, and 
the tea not so coarse and aatringent as that fr(nu Uio 
Indigenous although not nearly so delioato as that from 
the China plant. For many years past the managers of 
tea estates have been urged by their agents and 
brokers to turn out thick, dark-Iiquoriug teas, as 
snob alone oummand the market. Xhie command 
has been obeyed at all gardens not growing the 
China variety, which will never produce these 
thiok dark-liquoring teas, as it is deficient in 
tannin, bat abounds in theine, owing to its uatnre, 
soil, and climate, which gives it its fine, delicate 
flavour, and light, limpid liquor. The demand for thick, 
dark liquoring tens is net far to seek ; tho thicker 
more aatringent, and darker liquoring the tea is, the 
loss quantity of it will be required for blending with 
cheap, low grade China teas, to give them point and 
flavour, and thus ensure a larger profit to tho tea 
merchant. The flee, delioato-iiavoured, but light- 
liquoring tea produced (tom the China plant is useless 
for blending purposos, as it is pronounced ‘ thin and 
poor ’ by the trade. At what cost has the pnblio been 
educated by the tea trade to use nothing but thick, 
dark-liquoring teas ? Tho public is assured that such 
teas are better value, as they go mu.’-h further, taking 
two or three waters and still yielding a good liquor, 
whereas light liquoring tea will not stand more 
than one water. This is quite true. But what is 
this deoootion that is so economical ‘i A decoction 
of tannin, from which the refreshing and in- 
vigorating propertiea of theino bad keen elimi- 
nated, in the pruoess of fermentation, in order to 
bring out the tanniu, to give the much desired dark, 
thick liquor, at the expense of losiug tho volatile 
oils and theine by evaporation. Medical men are 
now alive to the injury done to health by these thick 
dark-liquoring teas, and are condemning their uto. 
What Mr. Hicks elaims for Ceylon teas, grown at 
high elevations, is still more notable in Indian toss 
grown in the Himalayas, where the climate is neither 
so hot nor humid as in Ceylon, and, therefore, 
growth less rank. In Ceylon the tea 
nearly all the year round, whereas in the Hima- 
layas it is barely six months — from the middle of 
April to the middle of September, when frost and 
snow set in. These delicious teas have been vir- 
tually driven out of the market, being prouocnced 
by nrokets os poor and thin, althougli delicate 
and llavouty, owing to tho low price they (etoli, 
oombined with small yield. Whereas the large 
yield and bettor price for the thick dark liquor- 
ing teas from the Hybrid plant, grown in tho hot, 
hnmid low-lying valleys, command tho English 
market, and assure their prosperity. Should the publio 
take back into favour the delicate fine teas grown 
from tlio China stock at high elevations, and thus 
by its demand, improve its pre.sent uuromnnerativo 
prioo, there is a great opening for its development 
In tho thousands of aarcs of magnificent lands in the 
Himalayas to be had ou easy terms, with abundance 
of cheap local labour. Mr. Fortune, after visiting 
China on behalf of the Indian Government, when 
iutroduoing tea oultaro into India, seleotod Kumaon, 
N.W.P., as being identical in soil and climate to the 
Bohea Mountains, the finest tea district in China. 
Now all this may be true, but it is a matter for 
fiirperti ratlier than tho public,— H. ^ C. Mail. 
NOTES ON PKODUOE AND FINANCE. 
An Oi.d STonv Ue-Told.— “ Nor, in the matter 
of tea have the public at the beginning of the year 
1892 much OBUse for complaint. Tea is wonderfully 
cheap, and, on the whole, remarkably good. It is no 
longer tho practice to sell as tea abominable com- 
pounds of sloe-leaves and birch-broom, while the 
astonishing development of the tea indnstry in India 
and Ceylon has filled out markets with stimulating 
and fragrant products, the cxocllonoe of which, while 
doirg no injury to the superior kind of Chinese teas, 
has relieved the community from the disagteoablo 
risk of swallowing decoctions made from tho sweep- 
ings of Chinese warehouses, containing a minimum of 
tea and a maximum of downright dirt.'' The above 
is an extract from an article on adulteration in the 
Daily Teleyraph. As far back as 1879 we were alone 
amongst newspapers in pointing out that Indian tea 
was cover adulterated, and that was one of many 
strong reasons why consumers should purchase it. 
(Ceylon had not then produced much tea.) It is 
gratifying to fiml that the Press and the people are 
now recognising the purity of Indian tea. 
A Bkilliant Suggestion. — A correapondent of the 
Orocer, who has read the report of the Ooylon Tea 
PlautatioDS Company, writes as follows, and modestly 
suggests the extinction of the dealer and the planter: — 
“ I was particularly impressed with the dividends 
paid, which have been at the rate of 15 per cent 
per annum, even with the expenses usually attend- 
ing a public company. Surely this is sufficient profit 
to tempt hnsiness men to form a company to sell 
direct to the retail trade, and thus save tho wholesale 
dealer’s profit, which, with travollots’ and other ox- 
peneos, must add a further charge of 10 to 20 per 
cent, or better still, let loading retailers combine, 
and be their own planters.” One large tea dealer is 
bis own planter. It would help the correspondent from 
whose letter we quote to a solution of the problem 
which vexes his soul, if bo oould induce this large 
dealer to tell him whether be finds that portion of bis 
business lucrative. 
In Pbaise of DAn-iEEUNO Tea. — A oorrespoodont, 
who signs bimsolf “Darjeeling,” says : — “ In tlio Daily 
Telegraph of Jan. Cth ‘A City Man’ affirms, ' China 
tea of the first quality is of a very delicate flavour and 
very flue dcinkiug.’ This remark, I submit, applies 
with equal force to the dehoate teas produced iu 
Darjeeliug and Eangra, in the hill districts of India. 
These teas are some of the iioust in the world, and if 
Kussia takes the beat of the China teas, England should 
take tho delioato teas produced in the llim dayas at 
Darjoeling and Kangr-i, where Englishmen and 
English capital are produoiog what is A 1,” 
ruANTiNG IN THE WVNAAD. — The outlook for tea 
in this disiriot ia considered retuarkably good. Tea 
has been planted in small areas in anticipation of 
the establishment of Central factories, and a recent 
report^ upon tea gathered from two-year-old bushes on 
tho Kichmond estate, the property of Mr. Punnett, 
is most favourable. The Madras Times, apropos of this, 
says : — “The news published from Wynoad is excellent, 
and it seems as if the Wyuaad tea planter will be able 
before ere long to snap his fingers at his brethren from 
California to Ceylon. With Mr. Bosooe Allen’s grand 
trunk road close on oomplttion, all ft ara should be 
removed about the preparation of the leaf when onoe 
plucked, if after a twenty miles’ jaunt snob an excellent 
report can be obtained. Mr. Punnett is to bo most 
cordially eongratnlatod on the success of his oiperi- 
ment. We can see uothing now to prevent companies 
devoting their large aoreagos of nnproduotive land to 
the cultivation of the tea bush, and under planters of 
practical expeiionco, profits and good ones, should 
figure in their balaiice-abeets.” 
'The Oiii.NA Tea Tkade, — Colonel Vincent, in the 
Daily (iraphic, has stated that “ Because the import 
of China tea into England has fallen off so much during 
the last ten or fifteoii years, the tea indnstry in China 
is threatened with extinction.” " A Tea-Broker” 
upon writea ae follows : — " 1 tvoukl point ont that 
the export by sea and land from all China roaohe" H'® 
largo total of over 200,000,000 — about as much M 
