Russia is now regarded as the main hope of Chinese Congous and sorts, the British islands consuming Indias and Ceylons almost exclusively, the United States favoring Oolongs and Japans principally. The trade in China teas with Russia is increasing annually, while it is decreasing with England. In former years tea was first shipped to England and thence to Russia, the Russian tea-dealers now purchasing direct from China. The Russian demand seems, in fact, to grow as fast as that from England declines, constituting a total which is hardly suspected by those who are interested in the trade, so that, although ousted from her monopoly, China has still a great market for her produce. Great quantities of tea are consumed in the domains of the Czar and it is believed that the Russians use as much tea _per capita_ as the Chinese themselves. The “Samovar” or tea-urn is always steaming and the natives never cease sipping tea while there is water left to make it. It is served at all hours of the day, in palace as well as hovel, being regarded as much a necessary of life there as bread or tobacco. Shops abound for its sale in the principal cities; bargains made and business transactions sealed over steaming tumblers of tea. TABLE 5. The earliest official record of the importation of Tea into the United States is in 1790, the order of increase for its importation, value and consumption in the country by decades since that year being as follows:— Year. Imports, Value. Consumption Average Pounds. per capita. Import Price. 1790, 3,022,983 . . . . . ... ... 1800, 5,119,341 . . . . . ... ... 1810, 7,708,208 . . . . . ... ... 1820, . . . . . . . . . . ... ... 1830, 8,609,415 $2,425,018 0.53 22.3 1840, 20,006,595 5,427,010 0.99 24.1 1850, 29,872,654 4,719,232 0.87 27.9 1860, 31,696,657 8,915,327 0.84 26.3 1870, 47,408,481 13,863,273 1.10 29.4 1880, 72,162,936 19,782,631 1.39 27.2 1890, 84,627,870 13,360,685 1.40 20.0