OCR Text |
Show China's Tea Trade Declining. Some i 'Interesting statistics have been collected by Vice-Consul Arnold, at Koo Chow, concerning tho great decline In Clitnn's tea hade. From 1673, when tea was Drst Introduced Into Knglund. until 1837 China held exclusively ex-clusively the tun trudu of the world. Then India began to enter the tea market. The Chinese trade reached high tide in 188C, with a total export of ;i0,000,000 pounds. In 188 1 China furnished about 72 per cent of tho world's totnl, India and Co) Ion 18 por cent uud Japan and Formosa 10 por cent. Hut lu 1904, when thn total con- i slmpllon had Increased to 044.000,000 . pounds, China contributed only 30 per ' cent, India and Ceyloti CO per cent, Jupan und Fonuosu 10 per cunt The decline iu China Is ascribed to careless care-less methods of cultivation and preparation pre-paration ot tho leaf. |