May 2, 1892.J 
(HF TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
83s 
ON TEA. 
Tho daily p,aperB have of late so frequently dis- 
cussed tea, tliat there ia not much left to be said 
on the subject. The rivalry between Indian and Ueylon 
as against China, and the eclipse of tlie Chinese ns 
tea growers, have been referred to again and again, 
and a very good ndvortiaeinont for Indian and Ceylon 
teas' has this frequent reference proved. A writer 
in tlie A'l. James') (Janette, under the head of “Common 
Objects of the Household," deals with too, and if tliere 
ia nothing absolutely new in his article, there are 
several points of interest in it. He says Every 
lady who does her own shopping is aware that there 
ia now oonsiderablo didiculty in getting China tea 
pure, tienorally she is offered India or Ceylon ; 
and if ahe oska particularly for China, tho ahopnian 
can only accommodate her with a “ blend.” Even 
in very largo establishments whore pure China tea 
is kept, it is not rcooramendod, but sold, as it were, 
under protest. The enquiring customer, who oaks 
the reason why, ia told that hino teas are no 
longer wliat they were, and that they have been 
superseded by Indian. There ia no doubt about the 
truth of the latter statement. It ia a fact that China, 
which in IrtB 1 supplied 117 per cent, of our tea, now 
supplies only ‘la per cent. The trade has undergone 
a complete revolution, particularly in the hist eleven 
years, tiuiuo very interesting statistics have been 
drawn up by Atessrs. (low, Wilson and Stanton, the 
well-known brokers, which bring out the following 
facts among others ; — (1) From IdUti onwards Indian 
tea advanced so persistently in favour that in IHHS 
it took first place with a consumption of 8 t), 000 ,() 0 j 
lb., against 80,()IX),'W0 ll>- of China. ('2) Ceylon tea, 
which was not introduced in any quantity until 
1885, progressed oven more rapidly, and in its turn 
beat tho Chinese last year. (.S) China produce, though 
it iucreaseda little up to 1871), did so at a much slower 
rate than Indian, and after that date continually 
decliuod, slowly at first, but since the introduction 
of Ceylon with great rapidity. Thirty years ago it 
monopolised tho market ; today it is but a poor third. 
While our total consumption has doubled, tho supply 
from China has diminished by more than one-half. 
Those are facts which admit of no dispute, but when 
wo come to ask the reason it is not at all easy to get 
at the root of tho matter. Party fooling, it one may 
use the oicpression, runs so high in tho trade that an 
unbiassed expert opinion ia rare. On one side it is said 
that China teas have dotoriorated to such an extent as 
to bo nnfit to drink; and the reason why they 
have detejriorated is that they are still pre- 
pared by hand in the ancestral fashion, while 
tho British-grown article is made by machinery. 
Nothing of the sort, say the Anti-Indians: China 
teas are still tar tho best, partly tor tho very reason 
that they are made much more carefully by hand; 
they have been ousted from tho market because the 
others have been so persistently pushed in tho retail 
trade, and because a coarse article suits coarse 
tastes. Even in a largo morohant house, which 
deals impartially in both, you will find tho men in 
tho India room spoaking with scornful contempt of 
the flat, insipid Chinas; while those in tho China- 
room shrug their shoulders in pity for people who 
can tolerate the coarse and common Indians. Bo 
tho battle goes on, and tho trade is rent in twain. 
Lot us try in all diffidence to hold the balance. 
An impartial observer will at once perceive that, 
as usual, all the truth cannot bo on cither side. 
China teas cannot have deteriorated merely because 
they are made as they used to be. That ia an 
excellent reason for their being no bettor, but not 
for their being worse. And. again, tho ascendency 
of tho others, rising steadily through a series of 
years, ia not to bo explained by more pushing. I'lie 
public knows very well what it wants, and, though 
always ready to bo on with a now love with highly- 
painted charms, it returns to the old wifli the 
constancy of perfect iickloiiosa the moment it dis- 
covers that the charms are painted. No bad thing 
holds the market long, however pushed ; and, beyond 
question, tho teas of India aud Ceylon do suit the 
public taste -which, by tho byo, to a very good thing 
for British industry. The truth seems to bo that 
China produce has indeed deteriorated, though to 
nothing like the extent alleged. Only tho commoner 
sorts have been affected. Just like many of our 
own manufacturers, the Chinese fell to spoiling their 
magnificont market out of shear greed. They pil- 
laged their plantations so rooklossly that, to keep 
up the supply, they had to fall back on old 
leaves and inferior stiill. This partly explains tho 
change, but it is not all. Tho rival kinds have 
an advantage which of itself would inevitably bring 
them to the fore; they are more economical— 
they possess more strength, body, or whatever you 
like to call it, and therefore go farther. Most 
people judge their tea io a ready sort of way by 
colour aud strength, scoordiug to a pr vato standard. 
Suppose a lady tries a new kind; she puts in the 
quantity she is scoustomod to, aud the drinkers pro- 
nounce it loo strong or too wo.ik, as tho case may be, 
by their own siaudard. Tho quantity is correspond- 
ingly diminished or increased, and at the end of a 
week or month the housokoeper finds herself on the 
right or tho wrung side. Now, Indii aud Ceylon will 
go half as far again ns China ; if one pound of the 
latter makes five gallons, the same quantity of tho 
form T will rim to seven and a halt gdiciis. The 
argument is irresistible to the middle olasses, aud 
even ti tho rich; but, oddly enough, less so to 
the poir. Spanding nothing on the outside, they 
are in'ersely narticiihir about the inside. In 
L mdon, f ir iostnuoo, inferior oolfoo goes wes*, not 
east 1 there what they have must be good. And 
until lately a oertain small deiler among the South 
Wales miners used to take regularly 100 chests of 
the fi lest China tea at a time. Smoe tho strikes 
the gold man has gone bankrupt. At Ihasimstiine 
the poor, as a r-ile, like a good twang to their liquor, 
and so tho newer teas flourish more or less all along 
the lino. 
As for the actual merits of the rival kinds, that 
is, el ooutse, a matter of taste ; but no one will 
deny that for delicacy of flavour Ohiua remains un- 
approaohed. For that reisou it is used for blending 
througliont tho trade. It is altofctlier a prettier, 
morn refined, more interesting article ; epicures will 
have no other. The difference is much the same as 
that between Australian and Frcneh Burgundy. The 
one i.s a capital thing in an ordinary way, and give.s ' 
you more show for your money, but there isun charm 
about it. China is the ancestral homo of tho culti- 
vated plant and the drink, tliongh the wild shrub 
is indigenous in Assam. The finest kinds— the Clos 
Vougoots, so to speak — have no oounter port in India j 
but then we never sae them hare either — th“y 
aro too dear. Ba»oia takes a good deal, for the 
Itussians do not mind paving high | but the best 
of all— the superior Oolongs— are coiisuraed at 
h ome among the upper ten tliousaiid (or is it ten 
million ?) »ud they fetch 12a or 15s a pound on the 
spot. Excellent China tea, however, still comes to 
London, of ns good quality as ever, and very much 
ohoaper. Owiug to depression in tho trade, s.vmples 
which wonld formerly have fetched 2s 8d now go 
for Is. But the retailer prefers dealing in Imlians, 
beoanso they are all sold in the open market and 
till! price is known; whereas the China merchant buys 
privately, and can charge what ho likes. That is how 
he used to make a fortune ; but the day ia gone ; it 
ia tho retailor who mikes the profit now, and a big 
one — not leas than Gi to Is a pound. Naturally, he 
prefers to pu-h the Indian teas, and this has an ini- 
purtaiit bearing on tho trade 
Wo have classed India and Ceylon together because 
they have tho same character on the whole ; but 
there is a dillsrenoe. Ccjloii approaches moro lu the 
ohirsoter of Cliiua, and this may account for its re- 
markable suooeas. Both have unquestionably a groat 
future before them, which is matter for oongratiilation- 
for tho amount of British capital now embarked in 
the business in tho two countries cannot bo loss th.,, 
.CIO, 000, 000. Other places where lea is grown are 
Naial, Fiji, Jamaica, and Johoro. " " 
Bomething Bhcnld be said about the relative 
wholosoraeaesB of different teas. Ou this head 4 
