Septemder I, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



i6g 



must contain nitrogen, phosplioric acitl, potash and lime, 

 anil when any of these are left out the crop suffers. Not 

 only wheat, but all .other farm and many garden crops have 

 been experimented on, and the same tale is told by all. It 

 is shown, however, that the Lcgumines are not benefited 

 by manurial appUcations, and sugarcane but slightly so. 

 Chemical manures raiseil the latter crop from 24 cwts. to 

 23 tons ! 



^\'e are tempted to linger over the work, and to quote 

 largely. As the work has been jjut into an EngUsh ihess 

 oiu^ duty to em- readers is done by indicating the nature 

 of the book, by warning them against some theories in it 

 not sufficiently supported by evidence, and to the results 

 of practical experiments. It would be well were all cultiv- 

 ators to procure this work and to study it carefully. It 

 woidd be better stiU if it were stuched in the hght of what 

 has been discovered by others. It is not always necessary 

 to include lime as M. Ville insists, for on thousan<ls of 

 acres lime is already abundant. Jloreover, it may be ob- 

 tained in a cheaper form than tiie sulphate. Even potash 

 LS not always wanted, even though Ville's experiments 

 point that way. Some soils — that of the fertile Oarse o' 

 Go^vrie, for instance - contain more potash than can poss- 

 ibly be used up in hunilreds of years even with the most 

 exhaustive methods of cultiu-c. In such cases it would be 

 throwing money away to apply what is there ah-eady. 

 Ville's advice to analyse the soil by trjnngon a small scale 

 how long plants will give a maximum yield with this, that, 

 and the other substance withhel<l, we can recommend as 

 superior in every way to costly chemical analysis, which 

 may tell what soil contains, but not what it will jaeld. 

 AVe may also draw attention to the remarks on the differ- 

 ence between the market value and the cost of stableyard 

 manure, but experience tells us that he is wrong when 

 he tells us that chemicjil manure alone is superior to a 

 mixture of chemical and farmyard manure. Chemical 

 manure, properly used, will undoubtedly do a great deal 

 towards increasing all kinds of crops by supplementing 

 farmyard manure, aud, by producing gi-eater quantities of 

 straw and fodder, increase even farmyard manure. Ville 

 considers that a knowledge of the subject aud its imiversal 

 application would save us from forty to eighty milUons 

 sterling a year. As a fii-st step towards sharing in the 

 '•■ ijhmder " we can conscientiously recommend a study of 

 the work in question by every cultivator of the soil. — 

 Joi'.rnal of HoHicuHure. 



TEA AXD ITS SUBSTITUTES. 



Few articles of commerce aud daily use have had more 

 written upon them than tea ; and this is not to be wondered 

 at when we remember how mdespread is the use of this 

 beverage, and from what a remote jjeriod its use has been 

 known. Tea with us is at all times, and by most persons, 

 considered a refreshing beverage, " the cup that cheers but 

 not inebriates " diffusing its fr.agrance and increasing the 

 pleasures of the social board. On this, the social phase of 

 tea-drinking, Mr. Baildon, in his recently published work 

 on the lea Indnstri/ qflii'lia, tims quotes from Food Fapcrs: 

 — "That all classes of the community in this country have 

 derived much benefit from the presistent use of tea is placed 

 beyond dispute. It has i)rovcd, and still proves, a highly- 

 prized boon to millions. The artist at his easel, the author 

 at his desk, the statesman fresh from an exhaustive oration, 

 the aotor from the stage after fulfilling an arduous role, 

 the orator from the platform, the preacher from the pulpit, 

 the toiling mechanic, the wearied lal)oiirer, the poor governess, 

 the tired laundress, the humble cottage housewife, the 

 votary of pleasure even on escaping from the scene of 

 revelry, nay, the Queen on her throne, have one and all 

 to acknowledge and express gratitude for the grateful and 

 invigorating infusion." 



The Trade Retm-ns inform us that during the year 1881 

 212,4<i'2,577 lb. of tea were brought into this country, 

 160,225,78!) lb. of which were entered for home consumption. 

 The millions of British tea drinker.s onght for such a boon 

 to be especially thankful to the original discoverer of the 

 value of tea, which, if ive are to trust Chinese legendary 

 history, belongs principally to an Indian prince named 

 Dhanna. who about the year of gi-ace 510 imposed upon 

 him.sclf in his wanderings the rather inconvenient penance 

 of doing without sleep. According to the Oliiuesc nanativo 



this Indian prince got on very well for some years, when 

 all at once he gave up and had forty winks on a mountain- 

 side. Upon awakening he was so grieved to find that he 

 could not go on many years without sleep, that in despau- 

 he pidled out his eyelashes and flung them on the gi-ound. 

 Returning again that way at a later period Dhauna found 

 that the offending eyelashes had taken root, and growTi into 

 bushes such as he had never before seen. Tasting the leaves, 

 he found they possessed an eye-opening influence, and the 

 fact becoming know-n to his friends, the Tea-plant was 

 henceforward largely cultivated. 



Though tea proper — that is, the infusion of the leaves of 

 Camellia Thea — is the prevailing non-intoxicating drink of 

 England, Russia, and Holland, the Germans, Swedes, and 

 Turks, for the most part drink coffee, while the Spauianls 

 and Italians deUght in chocolate. France is also noted for 

 preparing good coffee, but chocolate is also very extensively 

 consumed. In every part of the world plants of some kmd 

 indigenous to the soil are used by the natives for making 

 an infusion which is as necessary to them as tea, coffee, 

 or chocolate are to us. Even in England, in the good old 

 times before the introduction of tea, au infusion of the 

 leaves of the common Sage was in general use, and Sage 

 tea is at present still used In some remote parts of the 

 comitry. 



At first sight it would seem that these tea substitutes 

 arc unimportant except to a very few inhabitants of the 

 coimtrics where the plants grow, but some are of very 

 gi-eat value commercially as articles of .sale ; such, for instance, 

 as the Paraguay Tea, which we shall notice more fully in 

 its proper place, as we propose to arrange the plants furnish- 

 ing these tea substitutes according to then- natural order, with 

 a few remarks on each. It will be noticed that many of 

 these teas have a medicinal value distinct from that of au 

 agreeable beverage. 



1. Anoiiacaf (Corossal Tea). — lender this name the leaves 

 of Anona muricata are described in the catalogue of the 

 products of the French colonies at the Paris Exhibition, 

 1876, as being used in French Guiana. The tea is described 

 as an anti-spasmodic. 



2. Ciithu/F (The Arabe). — This name seems to be applied 

 to the leaves of Cistus albidus as well as to Globularia 

 Alyjium, belonging to the natural order Selagineie, and to 

 the flowers of Paronychia argentea, which will be noticed 

 in its proper place. 



3. Violaria" (Mountain Tea, Sauvagesia aceta). — Used in 

 Martinique, and considered a stimulant tonic. 



4. Sterculiacae (Cola acuminata). — A tree of West Troii- 

 ical Africa, the seeds of which are known as Kola or Goora 

 nuts. The trade in these seeds on the Gambia is thus do- 

 scribed in a report by Acting Admiuisti-ator Berkeley, copied 

 in the Kew liiport for 18M0: — "The trade iji Cola nuts is 

 an attractive feature in the commerce of the Gambia. The 

 Cola nut is the produce of the Sierra Leone ilistrict, and 

 the trade in it, both at Sierra Leone and the Gambia, is 

 almost entirely in the hands of women, to a large number 

 of whom it affords the means of livchhood, and in many 

 instances the acquisition of considerable wealth. The nut 

 is largely consumed by the natives of the Gambia. It is 

 of a bitter taste, and produces no exhUarating effect, but 

 is said to possess the power of satisfying for a considerable 

 time the cravings of hunger. For this pmpose, however, 

 it is much less used than it is as a luxury. The trade 

 in the article is rapidly increasing." In 1S60 the imports 

 were about 1.50,000 lb., while in 187!) they had risen to 

 about 71^^.000 lb. The trade iu these seeds has also spread 

 to Central Africa, and even to the African shores of the 

 Meditcrrauean. Besides the use of these seeds for staying 

 for a prolonged period the cravings of hunger, and enabling 

 those who use them to endure increased fatigue without 

 loss of power, they are very important for the preparation 

 of a refreshing and invigorating beverage. The Cola nut 

 has recently attracted a good deal of attention in this country, 

 one of the newest revelations in connection with it being 

 the property it is said to have of curing drunkenness, A 

 single nut is ground up and mad e into a kind of piuste with 

 water, and swallowed, and half-an-hour afterwards no sign 

 of intoxication remains. 



5. Rutaceie (New Holland Tea, Correa alba). — A compact 

 much branched shrub, 3 to 4 feet higli, native of Victoria 

 Tasmania, and South Australia. The leaves of this, and 

 perhaps of othw species, are used for tea iu Austxalia, 



