The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1898-01-23

dred invoices between the beginning ana
the ending OF one days work.
"B.atk lear IS looked for when al the
other testing operations have been COM
peted. u SHOWS very plainly wheh .he
leaves OF the alleged tea have unroiied
Themselves as they will after a complete
soak king. Dirt OF various kinds pesi"'S
the mixcd-in weeds. is often iouAd AZ
the bottom Of the cup; and frequently
there Is "a percentage Of grease, p''h d"
the scum and the sediment.
GORGEOUS TEA PACKAGES.
Inferior tea Is TO be found In all k'nos
OF packages. but ofienest perhaps }"
gorgeous little boxes and quantity con-
structcd baskets. each containing o'ls
"a fraction Of a pound. These arc l'"V "
with view OF deceiving the SuiisleSs ION
OF the Occoditenal world into the Dehel
that thcv are buying the very choicest OF
| teas. ordinarily reserved for IhiheSo oO"-
sumption only, and fancy prices are ILL.,
Qucntly charged for them
The coloctitn OF such curious tea pach-
aces in the Appraisers tea room Is ia
itself a highly interesting museum "ary
are extremely ingenious, both ID "cS'sh
and workmanship. They ale all saliy e"l-
orcd. every shade Of the runDo" h'i
reprcsentoa I'm some Of ,hcm, though Ieu
and yellow generally pred )mhate'
quaint packaee. however, does not always
Indicate inferioriiy OF contents. some teas
sent 10 this country I'm these pachaseS
are exceedingly choice, ana now t'd1 u"
inenocfion has been carried - sucn de-
/ gree Of perfection. no housewife heeu 10
/ afraid OF poor tea simply because II Is
danuly put up. e.na
According 10 the law. tee that idils
fo mass inspecHon must either be 5cht OUT
/ OF the country or DESTROYED. NAtut"iy
the nroportion destroyed IS small. Iuere
] is M insDection of tea under any amer
/ lean government but ours, and the South
| American republics. Central America
Mexico and even Canada, offer markets
for tea rejected here Only the other day
an influential Canadian newspaper PRINT
ed a long and doleful plant concerning
| the quality Of the tea which had not been
! found good enough for Yankees ana was
| thrown on the market there ana uiseu
| the Dominion government to estaplish
| stauGards and an inspection bureau Will
| out delay. ,
AMERICAN TEA CULTURE.
r,o-,,,o tbo ripid tests now in force
bore the American tea trade Is an eN-
| cecoinrlv pronteble one. The great 10"
| fortune was built up I'm the tea trace
| and the necessity Of quick transportation
between China and the United slales
| was almost as influential in developing
| Tho eneed of clipper ships BEFORE inc
| int,cduction OF steam Navigation ms tno
| exigoncies OF the trade between EuiOPo
! and America.
II Is not surprising, then, that ehorts
| have been made 10 grow Tea III INV
! Trnifed states. It is more TO be Wohu i.u
] AT. i'm fact. that none or these eli"I
| - bcop euccessful The idea was first
| e..,ot slv talked Of IN 1854 In 10, the
! rrnitod states government engaged an
| T., -.ieb otanis, named Fortune, VINO ha9
[ 10, becn r. resident in China, 10 SEM
] zoo Good and plants to this country
Ia 1870 there were $1,000 tea plants hour
,shing I'm the propagation garden al "aSn-
! ineton. and American farmers were vi "
! "a in tho agricultural report for 1861 10 go
| t,.o teo raising. Spencer BOnsall, OF Fhli-
| ,1otnb3o had made many and exhaustive
| t,,ostigations as to the soil ana chnia'e
| rcouirod. and 10 was his opinion that YEA
| could he raised here as succosS'"'i'
| anywhere else on earth. CIT.
| Some experiments were mace III SUI SUI
| Carolina. but whether they l'ileu ..,.
! coll and climate conditions We're not SUIT
| -. 80 hacauee those conducting the eN-
| ,,erir,ents did not understand tea cultlVa'
! - ts not AZ all clear. Perhaps the iaii'
49,, v,os due mainly 20 the breaking out
! - tbe civil war. To the non-eNpert MN"
&, v,o,,la seem that country having
s,cr "a variety OF surface and range OF
| ,oD,rerature as the United States would
furnish tr,,r' more than one locality where tea
ao,,id no raised. China and Japan arc the
.,,I,. iands I'm which tea was originally
,,-odpced vet the experiments in INDIA
and Ceylon have resulted in the growing
Of teas much finer in riavor than any
raised by the yellow men, and the super
Tor methods Of curing and packing the
product have caused Indian and Ceylon-
| Csc teas TO be preferred above AZ DINERS
OSBORN SPENCER.