THE ROMANCE OF TEA.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13673, 15 August 1908, Page 6

THE ROMANCE OF TEA.

(Wellington "Evening Post" A-ug. 8.). The romance of tea has yeb to be written, and a most interesting work it should be. One of the most instructive chapters would' be the displacement of China teas by those of India and Ceylon. New Zealand, too, would have a place in the romance, for her consumption per head is about 6£ib of tea per annum lor every person, man, woman, and child, in the Dominion. Indian and Ceylon teas made their first appearance in New Zealand nearly thirty years ago, when they were introduced by Nelson, Moate and Co., who handle no other teas.' So steadily has this firm grown that, while some of the princely houses of London and elsewhere have fallen behind in the trade, or even given up altogether, Nelson Moate and Co. have never looked back, and it is claimed they are to-day doing the biggest tea trade, on a population basis, of any other house in the world. The growth of the business has been such as to necessitate the erection of large and specially designed premises, and these have just been occupied. They are situated in Victoria and Blair streets, and have a most striking appearance. Reinforced concrete has been used throughout, and, except for doors and sashes, the buildings are absolutely fireproof. They have been designed for the handling of four million pounds of tea annually, which is about two-thirds of the total consumption of tea in New Zealand. In the course of a chat with Mr H. Nelson, who has had 35 years' experience of tea tasting and blending, a representative of the Post learned, yesterday, that taste in tea was largely governed by the chemical constituents of the water used.

In the tasting room yesterday, teas were seen in the process of tasting —teas from the chest, teas of various blends, teas for special purposes and special districts, were being tested for colour, 6trength, time of infusion, and other characteristics.

The electrically driven machinery was seen at work, and perhaps the most interesting process was that of leaf-break-ing. When teas leave the gardens they are of various 6izes of leaf, and these must be broken down to size, in order to effect blending. Then the tea must be cleaned, i.e., freed from dust. When mixed the tea is stored in great bins, whence it is taken for packing in tins, lead-foil, paper—and even billies for mining communities. The packing, blending, making of tins, and other work incidental to the business keep a large staff busily employed. Eventually the firm intends supplying the trade direct from India and (\ylon through their Wellington headquarters only, instead of having branches at Auckland, Dunedin, and Cbristcfcurch, as at present. Nelson, Moate and Co. have not only these branches, but have branches in Colombo and Hobarfr, and their

interesfs in Calcutta are watched Vy one of the larg«;t of the great Indian tea houst\9. Nelson, Moafe and Co. is the oldest firm engaged in the tea trade in Australasia.