I have lately received a valuable paper on Indian Tea statistics from Messrs. Gow and Wilson, Indian Tea brokers. I cannot transcribe the diagram they allude to, but otherwise I give the complete paper as sent me:—
19, Little Tower Street, Mincing Lane,
London, 15th February, 1883.
“Indian Tea Statistics.”
Dear Sir,—Now that the annual figures are made up, we beg to submit a statement showing the continued progress made by Indian Tea in public estimation, together with comparative figures relating to the consumption of China and Indian Teas,—And remain, dear Sir, yours faithfully,
Gow and Wilson, Indian Tea Brokers.
The very considerable increase in the home consumption of Indian Tea during the last quarter of 1882, and January this year, once more attracts attention to the growing importance of India as a field of production, and the increasing appreciation of the British public for Indian Teas, whether used alone or mixed with China sorts. Notwithstanding the check to consumption in the early part of 1882, when Indian medium and common Teas were just 50 per cent. dearer than they now are, the average monthly deliveries of the first three months were 3,670,000 lbs., or 230,000 lbs. a month more than the average of the first quarter of 1880, with prices much the same at both periods. Quotations last year receded step by step, and, as prices dropped, so we found the consumption grew, till for the last quarter of 1882, with its very low range of prices, the average monthly deliveries reached the unprecedented figures of over 5¼ million pounds.
The average monthly deliveries in each quarter of the last five years have been as follows:—
(In thousands of lbs., 000’s omitted.)
| Jan-Mar. | April-June. | July-Sept. | Oct-Dec. | |
| 1878 | 3,216 | 3,129 | 2,869 | 3,041 |
| 1879 | 3,444 | 2,688 | 2,461 | 3,155 |
| 1880 | 3,441 | 3,418 | 3,522 | 4,228 |
| 1881 | 4,197 | 4,172 | 3,824 | 4,094 |
| 1882 | 3,670 | 4,125 | 4,116 | 5,254 |
During the year 1878, out of every 100 lbs. of all descriptions of Tea consumed in this country, 23, or one in about four-and-a-third, was Indian Tea. Last year the proportion was 31 per cent., or nearly one in three.