8^6 
THE TROHiCAL AGRICULTURIST, 
[May 2, 1892. 
ia more eaay than wise to dogmatiap. Exact scipnce 
has really very little to Bay about the ootiipoai- 
tion and physiological rffeots of tea 5 Imt it may 
bo safely aasprte t that *• atrength ” inipliaa tannin, 
ami tannia moans iudlgestion. Tho strong Indian teas 
shoidd th< rofore bo caretolly used and rot allowed to 
htcw too long. Propptly speaking tho infu-ion should 
not Bland more thsn (ivo minutes ; after that it begins 
to got bitter, and I bore ia poison in the cup. Wo 
Anglo-Saxons always tnko onrtsa too stror-g, ai-d hare 
to smother it with milk and sugar in order to (tisgniso 
the bitter taste— a practice iinkiiowa to the o ber 
groat tea-drinking rsces. They take it pnre and weak, 
thereby getting more flavour without any bitterness. 
The Chinese method of brewing is practica'ly the 
same as that used in tho trade lor tasting. Enough 
leaf to make a onpful— that is. tho equivalent in weight 
of a sixpence— is put in a small bowl and boiling 
water added : it is tlieu covered ovor and allowed to 
stand five minute*, after which tho hquor is poured eff 
clear of tho leaves into nuolhor vessel. Made in Ibis 
way the drink is at men mora ngteeable and more 
wholesome ; but tho Engli*hwoman would, of course, 
rather die thangive up tho teapot end tho cosy. Her 
tea is never nudriukablo from bitterness ; she only 
apologises fer its being cold. 
EefiTcingto the abovo article, Mr. John Uogei late 
toa planter in Ceylon, writes : — “ As one of the first 
to open a tea-clearing in Ceylon (’n 1880). I naturally 
road with considerable interest the article on tea 
which appeared in yonr issno of the H*h Inst. Oo 
the whole, I think these references in the St James's 
Gazette to the three great lea-prodnciog countries ere 
charaoteriatioally just and impsrlial ; hut I holievo 
most people will admit that the ordinary teas, for some 
time back, sent borne from China, have gradually 
deteriorated so much in quality that they are now poor 
indeed, and it matters little to tho ordinary consumer 
that it is still possible to get fine teas in China at 
prohibitive prices. The superiority in the mode of 
treating the leaf, which our countrymen have adopted 
in India and Ceylon, was strikingly illustrated the 
other day by one of the more intelllgont Govemo'S 
of China sending to India .and Oeylo i for planting ex- 
perts, to tench his countrymen in Chinn how to make 
tea with the aid of machinery. I believe the taxes 
now imposed on native Chinese tea-growers prevent 
their really cultivating their gardens, which are overrun 
with weeds. Generally speaking, you would not get 
one barrowful of weeds off a hundred acres of n 
Ceylon tea estate. The rapid rise of the tea indnslry 
in Ceylon occurred to mo the other day when I was 
sending an advertisement to the papers olfering tea- 
plants for sale here in Eendon roared from seed 
imported from Ceylon ; for I remember advertising 
in the Ceylon papers for tea-plants twelve years ago, 
and I could not get them. It is a enrioua fact that 
tea-plants are now being sold in London, and ate 
to bo reon growing in many shop-windows today, 
and twelve years ago not one could be got for love 
or money in Ceylon itself. Twelve years ago the 
total export from Ceylon was only about one hundred 
thousands pounds ; this year it is about ssventy 
millions. We are undoubtedly getting more and more 
a tea-drinking people, for seventy million pounds of 
Ceylon tea represent a mnch greater number of lea 
drinkers than the same quantity of China tea would 
do; aud the British public like to feel or taste some- 
thing for their money. They prefer the teas of India 
and Ceylon with a 'grip,' and do not want the poorer 
liquor of the China article. What ia tannin? May 
not the oheeriug qiistities of the cup be ascribed to 
tannin in a great measure, which may therefore ho 
a good thing when taken in a legitimate way P No 
one need cry out against tannin who makes toa pro- 
perly, though the ossonoe or extract of tannin may 
cause indigestion.”— 2/. ^ C. Maily Klarob 18. 
INDIAN AND ^CEYLON TEA. 
“ IIONOUK TO WHOM HONOUK IS DUE.” 
To the Editor of the Home and Colonial Mai/. 
Sir, — At the present time, when so much is being 
done to make public the merits of Ceylon tea. 
and when such snooess is attending tho efforts 
made by tho Ceylon planters to ca'l attention to 
their wares it appears to me that both the merits 
of and tho important position held by Indian tea 
are apti|to fall into the background. 
All honour to the perseverance and push which has 
characterised the efforts of our neighbours in 
Ceylon, but they and their advocates should, at 
any rate, adhere to tho truth, and also take tho 
pains to inform themselves a little more carefully 
and accurately than they appear to do regarding 
the position held by their chief competitor — India. 
Such fairness and such fairly looking in the face 
of facta regarding Indian tea will probably in the 
long ran be not adverse to their beat iuteroats. To 
show to what extent this oatrich-liko burying of 
their heads in the sand may carry those who are 
interested to magnify tho poaition of Ceylon tea, I 
cull tho following from a most interesting ably- 
written book, lately published by Mr. Walters, entitled 
“ ralma and I’oarls.” Speaking of th* future of tea, 
ho writes: — ‘‘It does not, therefore, seem rash to affirm 
that the tea shrub has found in tho island a congenial 
homo, and that Ceylon will take and keep Us place as 
the tea countn/ of the world.” And in reference 
to the possibility of bliglit attacking the plants he 
writes: — “Jfut tho fact remains that, up to now, tea 
ill Ceylon has been free from the ravaging blights 
which, in India, often reduce the crop hy one-half {he 
average.” 
Of course, the inference in the minds of those who 
read theso two paragraphs will undoubtedly be that 
— ( 1 ) the great hulk of tea, now consumed, comes 
from Ceylon, and Ceylon only, whereas, as a matter 
of fact, taking tho season just closed, the propor- 
tions of the tea supply reaching this country aro 
roughly, something like : — 
India about 50 per cent. 
Ceylon about 25 per cent. 
China about 25 per cent. 
Total 100 
These figures, of course, are only approximate, and 
rather overstate the Indian proportion. Tho actual 
figures are more like tho following: — 
India 110,000,000 
Ceylon (! 0 , 000*000 
China (15,000,000 
Total ... 2.55,000,000 
As regards the blight, of course anyone ac- 
quainted with the Indian planting industry knows 
that tho writer's assertion is a gross exaggeration 
as the utmost extent by which thej worst of blights, 
probably reduces an Indian crop is from 5 to, at 
the outside, 10 per cent in quantity. 
(2) As regards tho future, it may be assumed that 
tlie increase of output from year to year ia, after 
the close of the present year, not likoiy to exceed 
in Ceylon the rate at which it goes on in India, 
say perhaps about 10 per cent per annum in each 
case, and it ia to bo hoped that, by the joint efforts 
of the two largo and powerful planting communi- 
ties, the itioroaso of consumption will be kept about 
level with the incroaso iu production. — I am, sir 
yours, cfeo., Ouseuveu. 
London, March Kith, 1892. 
THE AMSTERDAM MARKET. 
A.msterdam, March 22. — All the analyses of the 
cinchona-bark for sale bero on March 31st have been 
pnblished now. The result a are as follow.-i: — Tho 
niaunfasturing bark contains about 14^ tons, sulpbate 
of quinine, or 4 68 pet cent, on the average. About 
6 tons contain 1 to 2, 23 tons 2 to 3, 84 tons 3 to 4, 90 
tons 4 to 5, 52 tons 5 to 6 , 24 tons 6 to 7, Ifilftons 7 to 
8 , 3 tons 8 to 9, 'JtonslO to 11 per cent, stlphatb of 
quinine .— and Druggist, Match 26tb. 
