April 2, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



793 



of the weather as a factor in diminished crops. The 

 rainfall figures are neither so complete nor so sug- 

 gestive as we expected. The amount of rainfall and 

 its persistency or otherwise are, no doubt, important 

 considerations, as much in tropic as in temperate 

 agriculture, and our readers may be able to draw some 

 conclusions from the table as it stands, but, apart from 

 rtcords of cloud, wind and temperature, we cau 

 scarcely do more now than say what we have repeatedly 

 •aid, that abnormal weather has added to the evil 

 effects of hemileia vadatric and grub in enfeebling our 

 trees and lowering crops. With more seasonable weather 

 we might hope for less fungus, loss grub and more crop. 



COMPAKATrVE TABLE OF EAIKT^VIL. 

 One month pREviors to and during the Blossoming season. 



Jlarch 6th, 1883. 



J. Stoddaht, 

 Actiug S. G. 



Efi-kctsof Shelter in Preventing Disease in Blue 

 GCTMS. — We regret that a communication dated Nuwara 

 Eliya, February 9th, slioukl have been del.iyed. It runs 

 thus :—" The following facts may throw some light on 

 the ■juestion : 'What ails our blue gums?' I have 

 three nuraeiiis, one within the jun;;le and thereby shel- 

 tered : one partially sheltered, and the other exposed 

 to the full foiTO of the S. W. monsoon. The latter 

 has very few sound plants, the partiall)- sheltered 

 has a good many diseased, and the one in the jungle 

 scarcely any ; not l"'^. Though this would tend to 

 prove the monsoon has to do with the disease, it dofs not 

 tell us how ; and one would also conclude that cinchonas 

 and tea sheltered by the blue gums would or should 

 not suffer so much as those more exposed." 



EuBBKR Adulteration. — A Paris correspondent of 

 the Eiir/inar says : — " You are probably not aware that 

 indiarubber is now adulterated witli finely-pulverised 

 cork. Pulverised cork is worth about 4Jd per lb., 

 while the indiarubber to which it is added, "Heating 

 q'lality," is wortli Os. per lb. or more. — Chemist and 

 I)riig(jist, 



Tea. — It is stated at Davjeeling that the tea season 

 promises to commence early. New leaf is making its 

 appearance in many gardens. With a little rain, 

 manufacturing should commence in a few days. 

 Coolies are suffering very much from fever on the 

 Terai gardens, and labour is scarce in consequence. 

 A few cases of small-pox have been reported from the 

 Terai and Kurseong during the week, — Pioneer. 



The " Man " Tree.— A con-espondent asks :— " Can 

 you tell me the English name of the timber the 

 Sinhalese call 'man' or ' mann ' ?" " W. F. " -writes : 

 — " There is no such name for a timber tree of Celyon 

 that I am aware of. In Moon's Cat. pf. 2, p, 28, No- 

 464, he gives the .Sinhalese word ' Man,' and ' Kiri. 

 man,' and ' /Et-kukuruman.' The former has no 

 botanic name, the latter is the Gardenia uli(jinosa 

 Rox., but is a small shrubby thorny plant. Send me 

 a bit of the tree in flower or fruit. No English name 

 for it." 



Mocha Coffee.— In reputation this coffee has al- 

 ways undoubtedly stood high and is one of the choicest 

 kinds grown in any part of the globe — in short, the 

 palm for excellence in unroasted coffee may be said to lie 

 between yellow Mocha (short or long berry), finest 

 Blue Mountain (Jamaica,) and Cannon's East India 

 plantation Mysore. Neilgherry Hill, Naidoobatum, and 

 plantation Ceylon eoft'ees m.iy be classed next for weight 

 and boldness of bean, and washed Rio, Costa Rica 

 Guatemala, and other Central American sorts are also 

 much liked by the home and export trade here for 

 being of good colour and closely made ; but none have 

 ever gained the name that Mocha has, and singular to 

 add, none have sunk into such obscurity as Mocha has 

 in Europe for many years past. As far back as 1S64-6S, 

 the year's imports, deliveries, and stocks of that de- 

 scription at this port were of small extent, viz : — 



1SG4 1865 1866 1867 1868 

 Tons Tons Ions Tons Tons 



Imports 308 324 163 384 397 



Deliveries, home consumption 534 216 1U9 211 252 

 „ export ,, 229 206 49 179 158 



Stock, end of December . 232 121 129 134 103 

 And only within the past three years the figures for 

 the first forty-one weeks have also been very diminut- 

 ive, as under : — 



Imports Home con. Exports 



Tons 



200 



260 



500 



Stock 



Tons 



265 



140 



220 



1882 



1881 



1880 

 The above statement shows more clearly than any 

 argument how insignificant a position Mocha coffee 

 occupies as compared with other kinds, and also 

 how undue an amount of interest has been directed to 

 an article that has become almost entirely neglected 

 and out of date in the United Kingdom. Mocha coffee 

 is seldom or never drunk by itself, its scarcity and 

 dearuess here standing in the w-ay of that, and it is 

 principally used for blending with other grades that 

 require greater strength and fulness of aroma and 

 flavour. When skilfully mixed witii fine East India 

 plantation growths, it is pronounced by experts to be 

 the perfection of cofi'ee. From this scanty supply that 

 comes in from abroad, it can easily be understood that 

 the consumption of pure Mocha coffee by the general 

 population is an impossiblity, without reckoning the 

 almost prohibitory prices now ruling, which are, as 

 they mostly have been in years gone by, much higher 

 than those cuirent for other descriptions,— O/oce^-, 



