170 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[September i, 1883. 



C. Ilicineir (South Sea Tea, Ilex voruitoria). — A hantlsome 

 North Amuricau shrub, extemling along the sea-coast from 

 Carolina to Florida. The use of this plant is thus ilescribed: 

 — " The leaves are used by the Indians to make the black 

 druik so much in use amongst them, not only as a medicine, 

 but as a ihiuk of etiquette in their councils when matters 

 of consequence are to be transacted. At a certain time in 

 the year the Indians come down in droves from a distance 

 of some hundred miles to the coast for the leaves of the 

 tree, which is not known to grow at any considerable 

 distance from the sea-shore. They make a fire ou the 

 ground, and, putting a great kettle of water on it, they 

 thi'ow in a large quantity of these leaves, and seating 

 themselves round the fu-e, from a bowl that holds about 

 a pint they begin di-inking large draughts, which in a very 

 short time occasions them to vomit easily and freely; thus 

 they continue driuldng and vomiting for the space of two 

 or three days, until they have .sufficiently cleansed them- 

 selves, and then, every one taking a bundle of the branches, 

 to carry away with him, they all retm-n to their habitations." 



7. Purayuay Tea (the leaves and tm'gs of Ilex para- 

 gaayensis).— A large bush, or small tree, native of Paraguay. 

 The tea is made both from wild and cultivated plants, and 

 various qualities are produced, according to the localities 

 where it is grown or prepared; that of Paraguay is sai(-l 

 to be the most bitter and aromatic of all, and consequently 

 the most esteemed. The mode of gath e 'ing and drying 

 the leaves is diifereut from that practised in India aud 

 China with ordhiary tea. A kind of expedition is formed 

 consisting of from forty to fifty persons, mouuted ou miUes, 

 and having with them a reserve stock of mules and bullocks, 

 On reaching a locality where the trees are abundant, ofen 

 200 miles or more from the i^lace^of starting, a smaU space 

 of ground is cleared, aud the soil beaten down with heavy 

 mallets until it is quite hai-d and level. At the four corners 

 of this space sticks or posts are driven into the ground, ami 

 upon these a sort of net, made||of strips of hide, is stretched ; 

 beneath this a fire is lighted, and the Ijoughs of the plant, 

 with the leaves upon them as they are brought from the 

 forest, are placed on the net, where they are thoroughly 

 flrieJ—iu fact almost scorched, but not actually burnt. 

 These scorched leaves and the small twigs are then reduced 

 to a fine powder in a rude wooden mill, after which they are 

 weighed and put up iuto packages for export. Half a 

 bullock's hide is used to form a kind of sack to hold the tea, 

 being first sewn up at the sides. The tea is then rammed iu 

 imtil the sack is quite fuU, the mouth is sewn up, and the 

 package, which usually weighs from 2C0 lb. to 250 lb. is left to 

 dry iu the sun for a few days, during which time it becomes 

 as hard as a stone. The tea is sometimes packed in the skins 

 of other animals, and for retail pui-jioses is put up into small 

 paper packets, or bags. While the bulk of Paraguay tea 

 consists of powdered leaves and twigs, same of the kinds 

 £ire composed solely of the roasted unbioken leaves. Euorn o is 

 quantities of this tea are consumed in South America, 

 27,000,000 lb. being used iu the Argentine Republic in one 

 year. In the rural districts, as well as in the smaller towns, 

 "yerba," as it is called, is considered a regular form of diet, 

 aud not, like tea in England, a mere beverage. One form 

 of driuking "yerba" is to mLx sugar with the decoction 

 until a thick sjTup is produced; the usual way, however, 

 is to place a small quantity of the tea in a cup, po\u' hot 

 water upon it, aud when it cools to suck the infusion through 

 a tube called a '■bombiUa." The effect of this tea upon 

 the system is similar to that of Chinese tea, though the 

 llavour, which is bitter aud herby, is not agreeable to the 

 English palate. 



g. IViritcrhvrii, or Appalachian Tea (Prinos glaber). — A 

 bushy evergreen shrub with smooth leaves, native of Canada 



0. Jlkamnacac (New Jersey Tea, Ceanothus americana). — 

 A shrub found in dry woods from Canada to Florida. An 

 iutusion of the leaves is said to resemble ordinary tea both 

 in colour aud taste. In has been strongly reconnncnded 

 bv many persons iu the Tnited States. One writer says: — 

 "The tea prepared from this shrub, drawn as common tea, 

 is certainly a good substitute for indifferent black tea. 

 Properly dried and prepared it is aromatic and not un- 

 pleasant." To make tea from this shrub it is recommended 

 that the leaves should be carefuUy dried in the .shade. 



10. Aruliiun Tea, or h'liiU (Oatha edulis). — This is a shrubby 

 plant extensively eultivate<l in the iuterit)r of .Vrabia, mostly 

 iu gardeus aloug witU Cott'ee. Xo j>re^aiv Uie tea for trade 



purposes amongst themselves, the Arabs gather the tmgs 

 with the leaves attachetl and carefully dry them. They 

 are made up iuto closely-pressed bundles of difliereut sizes, 

 the quality being known by the form aud size of the 

 bundles. The best are about a foot or 15 inches long and 

 3 inches wide. About forty slender twigs compose these 

 bundles, and these are sent into Aden from the place of 

 cultivation in the interior of Arabia to the extent of about 

 330 camel-loads a year. The use of this tea in Arabia is 

 said to autedate that of coffee, which was early kuowu 

 iu that country. Besides the use of the leaves in the 

 prei)aration of a beverage, the Arabs also chew them both 

 in the fresh and dried states, the effect of which is to 

 increase the flow of hilarity aud mirth, and to produce 

 extreme wakefulness and watchfulness, so that a man may 

 fulfil the duties of sentry all night without a feeling of 

 drowsiness. The plant is considered by the Arabs as .an 

 antidote to the i>lague, and they also believe that iufectiou 

 cannot be contracted if a twig is carried about the person. 

 — John 11. Jackson. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 



TuE American Cultivatur sitales that " Every .spring peach 

 growers select specimen branches from variously situated 

 ta-ees, and these are placed in hothouses and their- ends 

 dipped iu water that is kept tepid. Then but head are 

 forced until an expert can tell, with the aid of miscro- 

 scope, precisely what the nature of the coming crop will 

 be. From these and other recognized judications it is 

 thought that the yield this year will be of average bulk 

 and of the finest flavour-." This " finest flavour " prognostic 

 as determined by the microscope, we think rather clever. 

 — Tiorticnltnrv awl Cottage Gardener. 



Ced.^h-wood .\xd Oiti.\R-Boxj-:s.— In a report from Bremen- 

 Bremerhaven, under the head of " AVood," it is stated that 

 the traffic in Cedar-wood (Ccdrela odorata), for manu- 

 facturing cigar-boxes, was languid all the year through 

 and manufacturers only bought sufficient to supply thl-ir 

 customers, being apprehensive of the introduction of the 

 tobacco monopoly. This apjjrehension, combined with the 

 increased imports of the wood from Cuba, caused the prices 

 to decline to such an extent that they became lower thau 

 they had been for thirteen previous years. In September 

 however, the market improved, and higher piiees were ac- 

 corded. The imports of this wood in the year ISSl were 

 5,750 blocks less than in the year ISSO. — Gardeners' Clironicle. 



Khaki (Cottox) Cloth.— In connection with the subject 

 of our late article about khaki clothiug, made from natural- 

 coloured cotton growni in vai-ious parts of Indi.a, it may 

 interest some of our readers to kuow that this same 

 cotton has recently been discovered in Arakan. Mi-. Hilde- 

 braud. Deputy Commissioner of the Araldiau HUl Tracts, 

 came npou a quautity of it, which had been brought to a' 

 small exhibition of produce, held annually hi the Hill Tr.-c.s. 

 Samples of cloth made from this cotton stand any amount 

 of washuig without fading, and are not affected by per- 

 spiration. The Bocal Government, with a view to stimulate 

 and encourage the cultivation of this cotton in the Hi 1 

 Tracts, has offered prizes for the best aud largest samples 

 from this year's sowings. — Eniflidiman. 



New Taxninc; Mateuiai.s. — At the Exhibition of Brfz'l- 

 iau Products lately inaugurated at Berlin, form the sub- 

 ject of an elaborate report by a jury of experts, including 

 the well-known German tauuers, M. IM. Eberz and W. 

 Ixamplfmeyer, jun. The tab.dated residts show the per- 

 centage of moisture in each material in an air-dried state ; 

 the total perceut.ages of tannin, aiul of substances other 

 thau tannin, but soluble in water, contained in each m.a- 

 terial after drying at 100 degs. C. (212 degs. Fahr.), 1 e'ng 

 respectively the sums of the percentages obtained by ex- 

 tracting such niaterial (after drying) first with cold and 

 th(-n with boiling water ; the tannin and other percentages, 

 colour of the litpujrs. and colouring properties on hide, of 

 the said co'd anl hot extracts; the perchlorido of iron 

 reactions furnished by the same ; aud lastly, the probable 

 value of the material for purposes of export to (Jermany, 

 in view of ruling prices aud prosjiects of siqqily. The 

 report is too bulky for reproduction even by the trade 

 journals interested, but the laiincr aiul Currier's Journal 

 of May 1 extracts uotes on tweuty-fom- Brazilian tau- 

 stuffs. most of which are unknown, cvcu by name, iu the 

 Old ■\Vorld.— i>'. J/. G'Uttu. 



