Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1906-01-10
CAROLINA TEA TABLETS.
You Can Take Your Cup Of Tea Around With
You In Your Pocket Now.
The State Bureau,
1417 @ Street N. W.,
w ashington, January /.

DIR. Il. Il. Galloway, chief OF the
Bureau of Plant Industry, gave me
christmas present yesterday. 1t is
aittle box of tablets. They are about
the size of gun wads and look some-
thing like the ordinary "frog in your
throat" which simple minded people
put into their mouths with the idea
that it will cure a hoarseness or tick
ling in the throat. But these tablets
are neither gun wads nor "frogs in
your throat" They are tea tablets,
and they come from the only tea
producing State in the Union, which
is South Carolina. These are the
only tea tablets ever made, these
made at the Pinehurst tea farms in
Summerville, S. G. 1t is new in
vention under the sun, and it enables
one to carry around in very small
packages the material for making
gallons of the very best tea. can
take one of my little tea "frogs in
your throat" drop it into cup of
hot water and in exactly four seconds
have delicious cup of tea, and South
Carolina tea at that. There are
20 of these tablets in a box, good for
~ cups of tea, and the price of the
uox is 10 cents. A personscan 90
fishing, take one of these boxes in
his vest pocket, make a fire, heat hot
water in tin cup or camp kettle
and make tea enough for party of
20. The American army, believe,
does not drink tea to any great ex-
tent. Coffee with the soldiers is the
favorte drink, as it is with so many
people who are not in the army; but
tea is good drink and is more popu-
lar to-day than it used to be. DIR.
Galloway thinks that this new inven-
'tion of the tea tablet, allowing tea to
be carried in such compact and
convenient form, will induces the
army to use it more, instead of cof-
fee.
The annual report of the Bureau
of Plant Industry will be issued in
about two weeks, and in that, while
there is only short chapter on tea
culture, the tea farm at Summerville
is reported as progressing with en-
couraging results. There is only one
other tea farm in the country. That
is in Texas, at Pierce, Wharton
county. This is not bearing yet,
however, and South Carolina still
enjoys the distinction of being
the only tea producing State. The
bureau of Plant Industry cooperates
with DIR. Shepard, the owner of the
Pinehurst tea farm, and during the
gathering season had DR.. Rodney H.
True, of the Bureau, stationed down
there. The tea tablet is an invention
of DIR. Shepard, but the experiment is
carefully watched by the Bureau, and
DIR. True, while primarily interested
in the culture of the teatiplan has
been much Interested in this because
he greatly desires the commercial
success of the tea growing industry.
There is no use for him or any of the
Others to devote so much attention
TO the study of the plant unless some
ope demonstrates that it will be com
mercially valuable to the country.
And this. tea tablet is distinctly an
example of American commercial
methods. 1t is what one might call
a typical American stunt. The Chi
nese will likely go on 1000 years
making tea, and selling it, like they
did before America was discovered.