2f2 



THE THOPicAL Aonicvtrvnisr. 



cr, t, imo. 



[It must then be a case of ' J>clenda est Carthacio' 

 croton-oil trees taking the place of Carthage. "Out 

 with them" will be the cry ol our tea-planters, and 

 the only cjuestion will be that of compensation to the 

 oroton-oil tree cultivators. — Ed. 



Charcoal of the coconut shell is specially used 

 by native goldsmiths in meltiug gold and silver. 

 Why ? Is it that it yields more intense heat ? 

 Charcoal is variously used in electric lighting. Pro- 

 fessional or scientific men might try ditt'erent kinds 

 of Indian charcoal and ascertain if any of it is 

 specially fitted for the purpose. There is the i/ercum 

 charcoal, that of the coconut shell, that of oomi, 

 the husk of rice, and the arecanut, and so on. if 

 I remember aright, charcoal is also used in forming 

 galvanic batteries. Trials might result in some useful 

 discovery which might yield a little fortune to the 

 discoverer ! — Madras Mail. 



Gutt.v-Perciia. — Sir John Kirk, writing in December 

 last, forvcarded a sample of native African gutta-percha, 

 the produce of a yet unknown tree which he fouud 

 at Mombasa. From the pa{)crs now published, it 

 would appear that after examination of the specimen 

 there remained no doubt that the substance would 

 prove an acceptable addition to the present supplies, 

 its value being about iOt?. per lb. At the same time 

 Sir .John Kirk also forwarded specimens of some 

 Indiarubber taken from plants supplied from Kew 

 Cardens about five years ago, these having flourished 

 and propagated freely at Zanzibar. The report on this 

 specimen valued it, if taken from the trunk of the 

 tree, at about Is. Oii. to 2s. per lb as Sir Joseph 

 Hooker, late Director of the Royal C4ardtns at Kew, 

 remarks, " the attention of Her Majesty's Consular 

 ofhcers in these countries (India-rubber producing 

 states) cannot be too closely addressed to matters 

 of this kind, which are not merely of great scientific 

 interest, but may from the basis of a lucrative and 

 beneficial trade." — Indian Agriculturist. 



Planting Prospects in St. Lucia. — A. St. Lucia 

 correspondent thinks King Sugar is dead, and blames, 

 the Government and the planters for not initiating 

 other industries which it will pay to cultivate. This 

 is all very well, but it is very difficult to get out of 

 an old groove. It cannot be done in a day, neither 

 can it be done without money. Still, if there be no 

 prospect of reviving King Sugar, then, obivously, 

 something will have to be done if the estates are 

 not to run to seed. From the market returns it will 

 be seen that tamarinds, turmeric coconut oil, cinchona 

 bark, chillies, cloves, ginger, and mace sell at rates 

 which would pay for the trouble and expense of 

 their cultivation. Now, as it is well known that the 

 soil of St. Lucia is friendly to the cultivation of all 

 these articles, might it not be as well if the good 

 people there were to give some of them a trial. — 

 Planters' Ga-.ette. 



Ok\i>on Tea Gardens. — Messrs. Eucker and Ben- 

 craft, the well known brokers, of 37 Mincing Lane, 

 have just published a second list of Ceylon Tea 

 Gardens, shewing the names, districts, and acreage, 

 of about POO different properties arranged in alpha- 

 betical order of districts.* In presenting this list to 

 their clients they remark :—" AVhen our first list was 

 published in November, 1885, about lo,000 acres were 

 under Tea. Xow, including as Tea (/rardens those 

 estates which are growing tea among coffee and cin- 

 chona, the figures approximate 120,000 acres, or nearly 

 three times as much. We have written so fully from 

 time to time to urge upon Planters the great neces- 

 sity of striving after (juality, that we risk appearing 

 wearisome by reminding them that very strong brisk 

 Havory China Tea, with a fair leaf, can be bought at 

 from 7d to 8il per lb. in this market, and that if 

 Ceylon Tea is not kept away above this class in quality, 

 the results must be simply disastrous. It must be 

 borne iu mind that such a list as this is necessarily 

 incomplete, as fresh ground is being, broken cv^ry 



If Made up froni otjr Directory. — Ed, 



day, but it niay be of some use if only to .signal 

 ' Caution ' iu view of v/hat must be legarded as a 

 certain over production of Tea." — Planters' QaLCtto. 



Makint. Tea in Japan. — The Japanese host never 

 intrusts the making of tea to his servai.ts on high 

 occasions, and the tine art of the process was fully 

 shown us in the dainty management of every article 

 of the service before the host. The teapot was a 

 little jeweldike thing that could be set — handle, spout 

 and all — inside of one of the common-sized coffee cups 

 that a foreigner draws once or twice at a breakfast, 

 and the cups were of line cloisonne, with plain en- 

 amelled linings, each no larger round than the circle 

 of a tulip's petals could inclose. With tliem was a 

 small pear-shaped pitcher, a beautifully wrought 

 bronze teapot in which the boiling water was brought, 

 and a lacquer box containing the caddy of the choicest 

 leaves from the fine tea gardens of II ji district — a tea 

 so rare and expensive that none of it is ever exported 

 or known abroad, and only the wealthiest Japanese 

 can afford to buy the precious leaves. Our host, taking 

 an ivory scoop carved in the shape of a large tea leaf, 

 filled the little teapot full of loosely heaped leaves, 

 and then having poured the hot water into the pitcher 

 that it might cool a little, poured it into the teapot. 

 That part of the tea-making was most puzzling to 

 us of the Occident, who had been taught, as the lirat 

 principle of tea-making, that the water must be boil- 

 ing at the minute it touches the leaves, and that un- 

 less at boiling-point, tea made with ic is flat and un- 

 profitable. Our Japanese friend explained to us that 

 to the most critical and epic\ireau tea-drinkers of his 

 country boiling water was an abomination, as it scorched 

 hte leaves, drove out the fine fragrance in the first 

 cloud of steam, and extracted all the bitterness instead 

 of the first sweet taste of the young leaf. " It may 

 be all well enough for the coarse black tea of China 

 to pour boiling water on it," said this most delightful 

 Japanese, " but the delicate leaf of our cultivated tea 

 plant does not need it." And we bowed submissively 

 and promised never more to apply Chinese processes 

 to Japanese tea-leaves. — Miss ficidinore's Kioto Letter 

 ill the Grocer. 



TfA Coi'FEE, AND SUG.VR IN THE UnITED 



States. — The other day, says the Pall Mall, we 

 printed statistics showing a great increase in the 

 consumption of beer and tobacco iu the United 

 States during the past financial year. As the New 

 York Tribune points out, a still better test of the 

 condition of the entire population, however, is the 

 consumption of tea, coffee, and sugar. Well, the 

 consumption of sugar last year was 10 per cent, 

 greater than the previous year, which means a 

 consumption of more than 50 lb. for every in- 

 habitant yearly, a quantity that has never been 

 used except in one year in the entire history of 

 the country. Twenty years ago the people used 

 only iJO lb. each. The consumption of tea was 

 over 1.27 per capita, as against 1.17 lb. in the 

 previous year. This is a consumption less than 

 was recorded in the years 1881-83. But in 1866 

 the consumption was scarcely more than a pound 

 for every person. The quantity of coffee consumed 

 last year was probably 0.17 lb. per capita. But 

 that is more than was ever consumed in any 

 previous year. It is nearly 1 lb, more than was 

 consumed in 1881, a year of great prosperity, and 

 2 lb. more than was consumed in 1876, ten years 

 ago, and more than double the quantity consumed 

 in 1866, twenty years ago, when the consumption 

 was only 4.37 lb. per capita. Surely, says the 

 Tribune, these are not evidences of starvation. If 

 the people drink two cups of coffee where they 

 needed one in other years when general prosperity 

 prevailed; if they take more cups of tea, at least 

 four where they formerly used three ; and if they 

 use for sweetening the tea and coffee ffvc pounds 

 of sugar where they used to be content with three, 

 if is safe to say that they are not in abiolute waut 

 oi tbe uecessaried oi iUe. 



