29 



i^n^ rnoPicAL agriculturist. 



fJULY I, I §86, 



IMPORTS OF AMERICAN COFFEES FOR 



FISCAL YEAR 1885. 



The first quarterly report of the Bureau of statistics 

 of the 'J reasury department has just been issued, and 

 it gives in detail the imports into the United States 

 from all the countries south of us for the fiscal year 

 ended June 30, 1885. From the statistics given we 

 compile some statements that will be of interest to all 

 dealers iH coffee. 



The following table shows the imports of coffee, by 



poun Is, into this country for the fiscal year 188S, from 



the principal coffee producing countries of America, 



comparal with the imports of the two precediug years: — 



Countries 1885 1884. 1883. 



Brazil 406,714,346 347,873.001 315,465,986 



Mexico 10,041,421 9,975,466 17,020,669 



Central American 



States 36,811,072 31,827,573 22,449,112 



Hayti 19,034,988 16,825,183 22,527,950 



Dutch West Indies. 322,620 1,221,858 3.442,467 

 British West Indies 3,596,698 5,205,957 2,888,404 

 United States of Co- 

 lumbia 4,608,889 8,817,733 6,956,008 



Venezeuela 53,506,130 53,363,495 43,369,170 



Porto Rico 4,864,188 217,827 80,286 



Total 539,800,352 474,288,093 491,974,968 



It will be noted that the imports for 1885 are some 

 65,000,000 hirger than for 1884, and nearly 50,000,000 

 pounds more than for 1883. The imports from Brazil 

 are very large^nearly 60,000,000 pounds in excess of 

 last year. Outside of Brazil the increase is something 

 over 5,000,000 pounds. The Central American states 

 and Venezuela still continue to furnish large supplies, 

 while Mexico does not loom to the front with the 

 bigness of a few years ago. 



It has frequently been said that low prices would 

 decrease the cultivation of coffee, but no evidence has 

 yet been produced that there is any decrease in coffee 

 culture. On the contrary, there appears to be an increase. 

 — St. Louis OrocevK 



SEEDTIME AND HARVEST. 



[Not poetry, but a good deal of common sense for 

 cultivators of the soil. — Ed.] 

 The sowing time and reaping are surely linked together. 

 The issue often pending on the rain and clime, and 



whether 

 The tiller has attended to his duties with the soil 

 By making a good seed-bed, not thinking of the toil. 



*** 

 Economy of labour is good enough 'tis true 

 To warrant an endeavour to limit it all through ; 

 If while the work we spare thus we do not touch 



our purse, 

 And show our progress downward from bad right on 



to worse. 



Temptations most alluring assail the planter's heart 

 To well reduce the labour and try by scheming part, 

 To make secure his profits without the t^il or care. 

 Which trouble those who patiently and well the soil 

 prepare, 



*** 

 But .lince the world began it has been thus decreed 



That from the sweat of brow no tiller can be freed, 



Put without fit preparation the soil can never do 



The will of those who work it, or cheer them fully 



through. 



*** 

 Then with good will bestow ye that daily meed of toil. 



Which surely will reward you with an abundant spoil, 



In sowing time be thorough that in reaping time you may 



Rejoice in full and plenty and make a good display. 



# * 



* 



Resist the wily tempter who whispers " never mind, 



The soil is there and seed too, so in good time I'll find 

 A crop all ripe to garner whether I work or play." 

 Beware ! or lessened profits will chill you with dismay, 

 •^PhnUv and Farmer. 



COFFEE-TEA. 



(TO THE EDITOR OF THE "ADELAIDE OBSERVER.") 



Sir, — The following extract from the " Chemistry of 

 Common Life," by Professor Johnstoa, is, I think, of 

 suflBcient interest to warrant me in asking you to 

 publish it. — I am. Sir, &;c., Conrad N. Wornum. 



" Attention has been drawn to the use of the leaf of 

 the coffee-tree as a substitute for that of the tea-tree. 

 In 1845 Professor Blume, of Leyden, who had travelled 

 much in Java, made known in Holland that this leaf 

 WAS 80 used in the Eastern Archipelago, and recommend- 

 ed it for trial in Europe. Subsequently it was known 

 in this country by Professor Brande ; and at the Great 

 Exhibition, in 1851, Dr. Gardiner showed specimens of 

 prepared coffee-leaves, announcing at the same time 

 that they contained theine, and suggesting that they 

 should be substituted for our ordinary tea. These, 

 along with other circumstances, have drawn the atten- 

 tion of Eastern merchants to the subject ; and it appears 

 from various communications which have been made 

 public that the use of coffee-leaves in this way is an old 

 practice in the Eastern Archipelago. In the Dutch 

 island of Sumatra especially, prepared coffee-leaves 

 form the only beverage of the whole population, and 

 from their nutritive qualities have become an important 

 necessary of life. The leaves are roasted over a clear, 

 smokeless bamboo fire till they become of a brownish- 

 buff colour. They are then separated from the twigs, the 

 bark of which, after a second roasting, is rubbed off and 

 used along with the leaves. In this state they have an 

 extremely fragrant odour, resembling that of a mixture 

 of tea and coffee. When immersed in boiling water 

 they give a clear brown infusion, which, with sugar and 

 cream, forms an agreeable beverage. Mr. Ward, many 

 years settled at Pedang, in Sumatra, thus narrates his 

 experience in regard to the use of the coffee-leaf in 

 that island : — ' The natives have a prejudice against the 

 use of water as a beverage, asserting that it does not 

 quench thirst or afford the strength and support the 

 coffee-leaf does. With a little boiled rice and infusion 

 of the coffee-leaf, a man will supfiort the labours of the 

 field in rice-planting for days and weeks successively, up 

 to the knees in mud, under a burning sun or drenching 

 rain, which he could not do by the use of simple water, 

 or by the aid of spirituous or fermented liquors. I have 

 had the opportunity of observing for twenty years the 

 comparative use of the coffee-leaf in one class of natives, 

 and of spirituous liquors in another, the native Sumat- 

 rans using the former, and the natives of British India 

 settled here the latter ; and I find that while the for- 

 mer expose themselves with impunity to every degree 

 of heat, cold, and wet, the latter can endure neither 

 wet nor cold for even a short period without danger to 

 their health. PJngaged myself in agriculture, and being 

 in consequence much exposed to the weather, I was 

 induced several years ago, from and an occasional use of 

 the coffee-leaf, to adopt it as a daily beverage, and my 

 constant practice has been to take two cups of a strong 

 infusion with milk iu the evening as a restorative after 

 the bu.siness of the day. I find from it immediate re- 

 lief from hunger and fatigue. The bodily strength is 

 inert ased, and the mind left for the evening clear and 

 in full possession of its faculties. On its first use, and 

 when the leaf has not been sufficiently roasted, it is said 

 to produce vigilance ; but I am inclined to think that 

 where this is the case, it is rather by adding strength 

 and activity to the mental faculties than by inducing 

 nervous excitement. I do not recollect this effect on 

 my.self except once, and that was when the leaf was 

 insufficiently roasted. As a beverage the natives univers- 

 ally prefer the leaf to the berry, giving as a reason 

 that it contains none of the bitter principle, and is more 

 nutritious. In the lowlands coffee is not planted for 

 the berry, not being sufficiently productive, but for the 

 leaf the people plant it round their houses for their o\m 

 use. It is an undoubted fact that everywhere they 

 prefer the leaf to the berry.' {Phaimaceutical Jonrnalf 

 vol. xiii., p. 208). 



" He adds further that while the culture of the coffee- 

 plant for its fruit is limited to particular soils and more 

 elevated climates, it may be grown for the leaf wher- 

 ever, within the tropics, the soil is sufficieotly fertile. 



