October i, 1883,] 



THE TKOPICAL AGRICULTURISt, 



239 



greatest care be observed, there is immmeut clanger of 

 spoiliug tlie quality once for all. 



The time the fermentation is maile to last we deem of 

 great importance. 



Several friends have sent us parcels tor working, with 

 the statement that this coffee had fermenteed 12, 18, 21, 

 nay even 48 hour.s. Our experience, however, has taught 

 us, that a fermentation of 3tj hours is best for preservmg a 

 fine colour. The colour of the parchment must be no index. 

 Yet some people are apt to conclude from the more or less 

 clear and yeUow colour of the parchment, to the hue of the 

 coffee itself ; but this seems to us no standard whatever. 



VTe rei)eat therefore, that in the first place everything 

 depends on the kind and way of curing in India ; this 

 ; has the greatest influence ou the quality. The peeler and 

 operator in Netherland has to take care that the coffee 

 remains what it has become by the juidcious treatment 

 _ of the ijlanter. And this he can do. The drawbacks which 

 presented themselves in the beginning have been overcome, 

 though it is not to be denied, that there exists a good deal 

 of difference between the process of one peeling-etablish- 

 ment and another, which must effect the ultimate quality. 



The peeling itself is quite a mechanical operation, but 

 without the necessary technical knowledge, this appearently 

 very simple process may spoil the coffee which however does 

 not imply that, with the same machinery end the applic- 

 ation of the same technical knowledge, all parcels would 

 require the same treatment. 



Therefore we regard every parcel of coffee on its own 

 merits. It must be treated according to its nature, not 

 only in the peeling, but also in sorting and shifting. 



So we have not deemed it desirable to follow the system 

 of most peelers, and to work the coffee after peeling in the 

 five stereotyjjed quahties, as : Coarse, MiiUUinrj-conrsc, Fine, 

 Houmtheun and i'iksct, but rather, when our friends have 

 left it to om' judgment, we have acted according to circum- 

 stances. 



Next to much appreciation, however, tliis has occasionally 

 to our regret given rise to misapprehension on the part 

 of some, who judged more or less superficially. There were 

 some who attended only to the high fancy-price received 

 for 10 to 1.5 per cent extra-coarse of their coffee, forgetting 

 that the remaining 65 to 90 per cent, just ou that accomit, 

 yielded proportionally much less. 



We work according to the quality of the coffee entru.sted 

 to us. "When no particular order is given us, we only look 

 to the highest possible average price. By this we have found 

 much satisfaction, and in the March auction of the yeder- 

 landsch Handd-JltaatgchappiJ 2,129 bags of Bantam R. 86/9.5 

 treated by us, fetched one with another about 3J cents more 

 than 1.106 bags of Bantam A- 79/85 treated at Amsterdam, 

 while the original article was one and the same. 



The manner of calculating the (sxpenses varies, but in 

 general it mu.st come to the same thing, notwitlistanding 

 this there are some who offer all possible appai-ent, but in- 

 conceivable advantages and which indeed are only imaginary. 



AVe will mention by the by, that the proprietor of an 

 Amsterdam peelery once visited the Rotterdam importers and 

 showed them .samples treated by them; these samples were, 

 it was said, of one and the same parcel, but showed a 

 difference of colom*, which difference, they said, was ob- 

 tained by a peculiar arrangement of the peeling-machine, 

 which however was and must remain a secret of the pro- 

 prietors. Oiu: friends drew our notice to it, and consequently 

 we have endeavoured to solve the riddle. 



Now we affirm, that the utmost that can be attained by 

 peehng, is that the actual colour of the coffee in the shell 

 be preserved; which can be easily ascertained. If, however, a 

 chauge of colom- takes place, by which for instance, the 

 coffee assumes a darker hue than the original colour in the 

 shell, it must be a consequence of the influence of foreign 

 substances, with which the coffee must have been in contact. 

 This simple assertion needs no further demonstration, and 

 has been scientifically proved on samples of parcels from the 

 abovementioned peelery. 



Now we do not believe this preparing will keep its groimd 

 in the long run, as the greasy smell to which coffee is subject, 

 must act iuj u-iou.sly ou the delicate flavour of the W. j. A. 

 It is possible to be misled a single time by that preparation, 

 for in a small sample the scent is not so easily perceptible, 

 SO that iu busy times, when a commissioner examines as 

 many as a hunared samples iu one day he may not observe 



it, and often does not become aware of it to his detriment 

 till the coffee is received and despatched, and all complaints 

 are of no use, the seller haling dealt honajide and sold on 

 sample. But if the good name of the plantaion itself will 

 not have suffered much — for such dealings do not remain a 

 secret, is another question. 



Therefore we thought it om- duty to make the above com- 

 munication, the more as the entrusting of the working of 

 coffee in the parchment demand unlimited confidence. — Ibid. 



ON THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF VINERY 

 SOILS.* 

 Dr. Thudicum, in his Urif/iii, Xatiire, and Cse of Wine, 

 draws attention to the fact that "the most huxuriant growth 

 of the Vine and its richest bearing power are met with in 

 the paludal districts of the Gironde," and shows that this 

 is due to the Vine requiring "for its upper and main roots 

 a territory which must not be clogged with water, but bo 

 pei-N-ious to it, and admit air at frequent intervals. But at 

 the same time it requires a constant supply of water within 

 easy reach of the roots. It, therefore, lives bust on gi-ouud 

 which, although not itself soaked with water, can constantly 

 attract it from the subsoil by means of the capillary 

 attraction due to porosity." A soil, therefore, similar to 

 No. 1 is not suitable for the growth of the Vine; first, 

 because it will not allow of wafer finding its way upwards 

 from the subsoil; secondly, because it will not allow of the 

 excess of water passing through it to the drains; and, 

 thirdly, because it does not allow of the atmospheric an- 

 passing through or into it. 



The geological formation on which a vinery stands is most 

 important, as upon that depends very gi'eatly the preliminary 

 operations and additions necessary to ensure success. Tlie 

 carboniferous sandstone, old and new red, oolitic and chalk 

 formations form congenial soils which can readily be worked 

 up. The boulder clay is most successfid, liut requu-es in 

 many cases, where stiff, much preUminary handling. Too 

 much care cannot be taken to have thorough and etficieut 

 drainage. This must not, however, be got by a Urge ad- 

 mixture of sand, but should rather be obtained by bmning 

 clay, when an open semi-porous mass is obtained, with the 

 potash salts rendered more available to tl.e plant root. 

 Another great advantage is that the excess of animal life, 

 as also the dangerous plant life, more especially fungoid 

 gi-owths, are destroyed by the heat, and thus one great pest 

 of Vine life reduced to a minimum. 



No 2 soil deserves notice from its peculiar position. The 

 vinery is situated on the slope of a hill, wliich at that 

 part consists of trap rock. The soil is laid directly ou the 

 rock, which comes so close to the .surface that the site 

 for the vinery required to be blasted out, and the stoke- 

 hole could only be drained by similar means. Yet the house 

 has been eminently successful, and the reason does not 

 seem, far to seek. The drainage water finds its way by 

 natural gravitation downwards, leaving the soil always friable 

 and open. At the saine time the position of the houses 

 on the side of a hill insures a supply of water from the 

 upper portions, but which only reaches the Vine roots grow- 

 ing close to the rock. Another cause is the open nature 

 of the soil. The mechanical analysis shows the presence 

 of 49'631 per cent of coarse sand, 20'193 per cent of fine 

 sand, and 16-26;t per cent of clay. These ingredients should 

 be more correctly given as " trap particles," for they are 

 made up of finer and coarser portions of disintegi-ated rock. 

 The potash salt is mostly derived from the natural soil. 

 Whilst this house is at present extremely fruitful it will 

 be very necessary to carefully feed the plants so as to 

 retain it in its present condition. It differs from sandy 

 agi-icultural soils in open borders by the moisture being 

 obtaineil by capillary attraction from below, and carrying 

 with it the soluble ingredients from the soil of the upper 

 part of the hill. At the same time the upward movement 

 of the water will tend to carry with it the soluble salts 

 of the Vine soil, which with orchnary drainage would be lost. 



* " On tlie Cbeniical Composition of Viiieiy SoIIb, with Notes 

 on the Best Classes of Soil, and of the Compo>ition of the 

 Vai-ietius of Manures suited to the Cultivation of the Crape Vine." 

 Uv "\V. Iviteon Blacadam. F.C.S., F.T.C., &r.. 7,ectm-er on 

 Cliemisti-)', and Analytical Cliemist, Edjuburfirh. Ecud before the 

 Scottish Horticultuj'al Association, Edinburgh, Octoler, 1682, 



