The Culture and Marketing of Tea

Abstract

DR. HARLER informs us that “the first authentic account of tea was written by Lo-yu who lived about A.D. 780. He describes the preparation of the leaf, which, he says, must only be picked during certain moons and not when it is raining or the sky cloudy”: that “China, the classic tea country, gave both the word ‘tea’ and the beverageto the world”; and that “the words te, chia and cha denote tea in various Chinese dialects and in one or other of these forms has been transposed into most other languages”. The first pound of tea imported into England is attributed to Lord Arlington in the year of the Great Plague of London (1665–66). It cost his lordship sixty shillings and was brought by him from Holland. His residence, Arlington House (demolished in 1703), at that time was on the site where Buckingham Palace now stands (see “Old and New London”, by Edward Walford, vol. 4, p. 62).

The Culture and Marketing of Tea.

By Dr. C. R. Harler. Pp. xii + 389 + 8 plates. (London: Oxford University Press, 1933.) 12s. 6d. net.