2Sa 



THE TROPICAL AOKJCULtUHtST, 



[Ocf. i, ib^. 



supplies, auil others, entoriug tlio market with orders 

 for Europe, make prices fluctn-ite from day to day. 

 The history of tlie late rise iu value at Java and 

 Oeyion was solely and suddeu and unexpected enquiry 

 from these parts for a product that no previous 

 attention had been paid to. 



Like most articles, kapok is not without its adult- 

 erations, imitations, and frauds. The practice recently 

 brought to our notice of mixing " cotton Hy," the 

 refuse of cotton with it, which is worth in this market 

 only from id. to l^d. per lb., is a gross fraud upon 

 the trade and consumers. Two lb. of the mixture is 

 not equal in filling to i^lh. of the true article, besides 

 being devoid of its elasticity, for no vegetalsle sub- 

 stance is so dead and hard as cotton fly. We have 

 been shown the ordinary Hessian bags fiUed with kapok, 

 as used by the trade. Wc notice the bags of 

 Indian and Ceylon were alike, 48 lb. A bag was then 

 filled of the .lava, especially for us, as the latter is 

 only sold iu "the original'" straw bales — this weighed 

 30 lb. Then we were shown a bag of the spur- 

 ious stuff, which had not even the appearance of 

 fulness as the others we examined, but this to 

 our surprise weighed 72 lb. — it was merely an 

 illustration of weight between kapok and the refuse 

 of cotton mixture. We asked the firm showing it 

 to us how it coidd be detected. Were the trade 

 aware of the fraud? They replied, very few; they 

 only knew it did not fill so well, meaning it required 

 ir.ore to do the same work, and as a consequence 

 some would take nothing but the Java, but its real 

 defects was its deadness and lumpy nature. 



Underselling and cheapness being the mother of 

 this nefarious device, we can only characterise such 

 counterfeits as the surest means of killing a promising 

 trade, like other modes of adulteration, in becoming 

 established and universal, they cease to be profitable 

 to anyone. Ouce the more honest trader commences 

 to find he stands alone in selling an apparently 

 similar article at a higher price, and that his cus- 

 tomers as a consequence are going elsewhere, he 

 he will soon begin to furnish a like substitution to 

 cope with competitors, till quality and price becomes 

 so diminished that the trade succumbs to its own 

 vices and follies. Let us hope the kapok trade will 

 not meet thi^ fate. 



The following method will enable one to discover 

 whether kapok is mixed with cotton Hy or other 

 substances of its kind: — The principal feature of 

 kapok is the total want of strength of the fibre, 

 being soft almost like eider-down, brittle and 

 eliistic — the tibre of the cotton Ily on the other hand 

 is broad and harsh, possessing great strength, with a 

 tendency to twist. In examining a small sample 

 where a mixture is suspected, it should be ilrawn out 

 slowly between the fore-fingers and thumbs of the 

 two hands, observe how on the slightest pressure the 

 kapok fibre easily seimrates, if mi.xed with cotton 

 fly, the latter will be detected by its strength iu 

 resisting this pressure, then by drawing the staple in 

 the other direction and thus alternately from hand 

 to hand, the kapok successively escaping pressure 

 leaves the cotton fly exposed and intact. This is 

 merely a rougb and ready test, but examining the 

 sample through a microscope, the difference between 

 kapok fibre and the staple of cotton fly is observed 

 without difficulty. We might animadvert on this 

 subject further, but we have called attention to the 

 iniquity, and we hope our remarks may be felt in 

 the proper (juarter. To speak mildly, it is most unfair 

 to those houses who have won a -justly earned reputation 

 in the trade for honest dealing. We could wish 

 that our calling attention, not only to the unfairness 

 of such competition, but to the dishonesty of such 

 action would lead to its being totally discontinued. 

 Those, however, adopting such means have not usually 

 any compunctions of conscience, and appeals to their 

 commercial morality seldom leads to satisfactory 

 results ; however, we can but do our best in the matter, 

 and that is to caution the trade and general public 

 to exercise care in buying, and pay attention to the 

 few hints we hpve tbrowu out. 



It has a bright future before it, and we have little 

 doubt "that, with the invention of proper carding and 

 spinning machinery, it will be used in the fabrication 

 of articles of clothing, and prove a formidable rival 

 to its allied substances. It has already been used for 

 making gun-cotton, a substitute for beaver fur, con- 

 verted into half-stuff for paper-making, making silk 

 buttons and fringes, and by the Indians, who make 

 beautiful fabrics of it. In Bombay, the fibre of the 

 bark i.s used as a substitute for flax, and in Bengal 

 the natives collect the milky juice as a substitute for 

 shellac and gutta-percha. The seeds have almost the 

 same value as cotton seeds, being exported to Europe to 

 extract the orl, and fetch from £3 to £.5 per ton. 



A kapok mill !ias been erected by Messrs. Lynas 

 and Gwynne on the Sandridge road, in this city, 

 which is kept constantly going. To these geutlemeu 

 we are much indebted for being allowed to inspect 

 the process of cleaning .and teasing the article, and 

 for their lucid explanation of trade matters. 



In our next we shall give an account of another 

 new fibre, the Dook of the Areng-tree, which Messrs. 

 Gather wood, Welsby, and Oo. have introduced here as 

 a substitute for curled hair, the coarser fibres being 

 employed for cordage and brushware. — Buchanan's 

 Montldi/ Rei/iater. 



^ 



Acorn Coffee. — In Germany " acorn coffee '' is used, 

 and greatly, liked, as a substitute for ordinary coffee, 

 and is considered to be very strengthening for con- 

 sumptive people and delicate children. The acorns 

 are gathered in autumn, when they are ripe, shelled, 

 and, after being cut into pieces of the size of coffee 

 berries, they are thoroughly dried in front of the fire, 

 or in a cool oven. They are then roasted like ordin- 

 ary coffee, until they becon^e a cinnamon-brown colour. 

 Immediately after roasting, the acorns are ground or 

 pounded in a mortar, to prevent there becoming tough. 

 Whilst the coffee is being ground or pounded, a very 

 light butter is added, and the coffee is then placed 

 in air tight bottles. For children, prepare in the same 

 way as ordinary coffee, using a quarter of an ounce 

 to a pint of water, adding milk and sugar to taste. 

 Young children should take it with two or three parts 

 of milk. For adults, half an ounce of the coffee may 

 be used fo a pint of water. Acorn coffee and ordinary 

 coffee are frequently mixed, and the decoction is found 

 very palatable. In their raw state, acorns are known 

 to be powerfully astringent, but they lose this quality 

 in the process of roasting. In some respects acorn 

 cotftju is preferable to coffee proper, having none of 

 the drying properties attributed to the latter — 

 CasielL's Dictionary of Cooker;/. 



Thk Weduiinc-Ft.ower. — This is what is known 

 botanically as Iris or Morxa Kobinsoaiana, the giant 

 Iris of Lord Howe"s Island, and one of the most 

 disappointing garden plants even introduced into 

 English collections. Many have tried, and perhaps 

 a few are even yet trying to induce it to flower, but, 

 so far, no one iu Europe has yet succeeded. We 

 began to fuspect that there was some condition 

 peculiar to Lord Howe's Island aud essential to the 

 flowering of this Iris, till we learned that in the Hakgala 

 experimental gardens in Ceylon plants of it h,\d been 

 raised and flowered iu about a year from seeds pro- 

 duced from Australia. This is what Mr. Nock says 

 of the Hakgala plants : — " Planted round a pond are 

 several interesting plajits, among them being the 

 Wedding-flower, a gigantic Iris. One flower-spike 

 contains from 120 to 200 blooms, which come out a 

 few at a time, but only last 21 hours: the plant is iu 

 flower for sevi^ral mouths." Hakgala is at a high 

 elevation in Oeyion, the temperature being perhaps 

 somewhat similar to that of Italy. Many interest- 

 ing plants are growing there, amongst tliem being 

 the splendid Tree Fern found only in Oeyion, viz : 

 Alsopliila Orinita, of which several fine specimens 

 may be seen at Kew. In Ceylon, however, high-up 

 the sunlight must be much more intense than any- 

 thing we get, SI ill the A\'edding-flower may not really 

 require all this light to make it flower. What does 

 it want that we fail to give it here.— '/V/«e Garden, 



