[Portions of this header are copyright (C) 2001 by Michael S. Hartand may be reprinted only when these Etexts are free of all fees.][Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be used in any salesof Project Gutenberg Etexts or other materials be they hardware orsoftware or any other related product without express permission.]
This etext was produced by Richard and Margie DrueryE-mail - richardandmargie@mail.com
By Francis Leggett & Co.
The casual reader in many a nook and corner of this extended landwill perhaps ask—"Who are the publishers of this book, and whatis their purpose?" We anticipate any such enquiry, and replythat Francis H. Leggett & Co. are Importing and ManufacturingGrocers; that our object in publishing this and other books is tobring ourselves and our goods into closer relations withconsumers at a distance from New York; and incidentally, toprovide readers with interesting information respecting the foodwhich they eat and drink.
In our search for material to aid in the preparation of thisbook, we were greatly indebted to Mr. F. N. Barrett, editor ofTHE AMERICAN GROCER, who generously gave us access to what isprobably the most complete and valuable collection of books uponFoods to be found on this continent.
We wish to also to acknowledge the kind response of Messrs. Gow,Wilson and Stanton, of London, to our requests for statistics ofthe World's Tea Trade, and particularly for informationrespecting the Teas of Ceylon and India. If our limitations ofspace had permitted, we should have materially increased theinterest of our little book by additional matter derived from thelast named firm.
(Omitted) Our colored Frontispiece is a faithful representationof a Chinese tea plant, showing the flower and the seeds.
"Pray thee, let it serve for table-talk."—Merchant of Venice.
"A cup of tea!" Is there a phrase in our language moreeloquently significant of physical and mental refreshment, moreexpressive of remission of toil and restful relaxation, or sorich in associations with the comforts and serenity of home life,and also with unpretentious, informal, social intercourse?
If rank in the scale of importance of any material thing is to bedetermined by its extensive and continued influence for good, totea must be conceded a very elevated position among thoseagencies which have contributed to man's happiness and well-being.
Most remarkable changes have occurred in the production of teaduring the past century. About sixty years ago all the teaconsumed on the globe was grown in China and Japan. Our knowledgeof the growth and manufacture of tea was then of an uncertain andconfused character, and no European had ever taken an active partin the production of a pound of tea. To-day, about one-half ofthe tea consumed in the world is grown and manufactured uponEnglish territory, on plantations owned and superintended byEnglishmen, who have thoroughly mastered every detail of the art,while nearly all the tea drank in Great Britain is English grown.Twenty years ago, the suggestion that tea might yet be grown upona commercial scale in the United States was received withderision by the Press and its readers; but one tea estate inSouth Carolina has during the past year grown, manufactured, andsold at a profit, several thousand of the tea of good quality,which brought a price equal to that of foreign fine teas.
A natural taste for hot liquid foods and drinks is common