July i, 1882.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



6r 



oils aums they spend anuvially in furtherance 

 of their object ?), lot them start a penny sub- 

 scription, anJ offer a substantial prize for the best 

 and most reliable and economical coftee roaster for 

 the working man. The amount of the subscriptions 

 wonld make up a large sum, but it would be well 

 spent, for it would assist to free the people to a great 

 extent from the adulteration of coffee left them by 

 our legislature ; but more important of all, the work- 

 in;; classes would have freshly roasted coffee always 

 ensured to them, and the spread of the delicious aroma 

 throughout our streets and lanes woxild soon make 

 the rouster a household want. 



A short paragraph on this question might be inserted 

 with advantage ill the TrojjkalAijriniltiirixt, for the ques- 

 tion narrowly concerns coffee planters' interests, therefore 

 it is within the scope of that journal. Moreover, the 

 Tropical AyriciiUuriM is cii'culated in many countries 

 (including no doubt America) where adulteration is 

 ramiMut. [This coiiiinunicatioii will appear in the 

 T. A.— Ed.] 



Not many years ago it was possible to get really 

 good coffee served to you at the French hotels and 

 cafi5s. Now good coffee in France is almost as scarce 

 as in England. At the tune I refer to it was no un- 

 common sight to see men retailing coffee in the streets, 

 the ben-ies being roasted on the spot as re- 

 quii-ed. Now-a-days coffee roasting is mostly deleg- 

 ated to the grocers, and cheap Brazil and vile 

 mixtures usurp the place of the fine grades formerly 

 used. A Public Opinion advertizement sheet received 

 by a late mail has the following : — 



How TO Study Economy 1 



Use RippingilU's Patent Oil Cooking Stoves. 



Odourless, SiHokeless, Portable, Safe, and Cleanly. 



Tbey will roast joints or poultry, boil fish, vegetjible.s, &c. ; 

 fry chops, steaks, or bacon ; bake bre.id or pastry ; toast ; hc-at 

 flat irons ; and, in fact, do the entire work of a kitchen fire ; 

 over which they have the advantage of bfing lit or extinguished 

 ill & moment. They save keeping a fire in warm weather, and 

 fur domestic use and economy they are uneciualled. 



Three Meals a Day for Foiu: to Six Persons can be Cooked for 

 a Penny, Prices from a few Shillings. 



Write for Illustrated list and full particulars to 118 Holborn, 

 London. 



"The Company is prepared to lend on hire 

 stoves of approved manufacture for hfc.iting or cook- 

 ing purposes. Patterns of various makes and sizes 

 are kept at the Company's offices from which 

 consumers can make a selection. The Company will 

 fi.x the i-toves, supply the material, and make all 

 uecessary connections at cost price, an estimate of 

 which, including the annual rent of the stove selected, 

 can be obtain' d from the Company's inspectors." 

 Vide Gas Light and Coke Company advertizement. 



A Company has just been formed at Dashwood House, 

 New Broad St., London, for the .suppyl of direct 

 pure coff-p, tea, &c , in small quantities — to small cnn- 

 sum.ers. Capitid, £10,000. 



On the Continent today a vast amount of rooney is 

 spent in coloring cheap green cnffees to resemble fine 

 oolory Ceylon, and so probably the Germans and Aus- 

 trians swallow no end of poisonous pigments while 

 Briti.-hers are dosed with the innocuous chicory. 



A COFFEE-ROASTER IN EVERY HOUSEHOLD. 



With regard to the idea, suggested in the foregoing, 



possibly at no previous period in the history of the 



world could xiirE be more truly designated as money 

 than at the present day. Especially is this the case 

 with the working classes. Therefore, the roaster would 

 require to bo made on principles admitting of no waste 

 of time. 



CINCHONA CULTIVATION IN CEYLON. 



SOME PACTS A^fD PIGUKES. 

 Ksnewcd Succirubra bark yielding 5-30 per cent of 

 sulphate of quinine must be considered a valuable 

 product, and this is the return given in a report re- 

 ceived by a Ceylon planter from Dr. Paull, the well- 

 known London Analyst. In another case local 

 analyses which gave 2'22 per cent from shavings 

 taken off in September last made the returns from 

 the renewed shavings stripped in February and March 

 no less than 3-82 per cent, wliile instead of 4 ounces 

 at the former date the owner after some months got 

 5 ounces of wet bark per tree. This is very satis- 

 factory ; but, as if to counterbalance the effect, we 

 have another case presented to us wherein the second 

 analysis after a considerable interval shewed a worse 

 result instead lA an improvement on the first ! 

 In an exceptional cae? of this kind it is very im- 

 portant that all the circumstancee of treatment of the 

 tree operated on by covering it or leaving it bare 

 weather after shaving, mode of drying the shav- 

 ings, &c., should be observed and stated. The 

 opinion has become current now that Septem- 

 ber is about the best time to strip or shave bark 

 aiialy.'ses shewing the amount of alkaloids to be largest 

 then, but the ftnproved return got above in March after 

 seven months' growth was surely as good as could 

 be expected. At the same time, considerable doubt 

 as to the accuracy and reliableness of analyses pre- 

 vails in planting circL-s.* More satisfactory 



* Since writing the above, we have received the 

 following from a Colombo merchant : — "I send here- 

 with the mail of Sth May wiih a paragraph on 'Dis- 

 crepancies in Analyses,' which I Uiitik is important. 

 It Certainly is suggestive. If such dilierences occur 

 in analyzing a purely mechanical mixture, how much 

 faith shall we place on analyses of chemical or natural 

 mixture, such as the alkaloids in cinchona bark ! Most 

 of us in the Fort have ha • experiences of very great 

 discrepancies in this direction; and what is to be done 

 to get at the truth ? In tlie mail paragraph, the 

 Dr. Dupr<! mentioned is the same who analyzed the 

 contents of the stomach of the boy Percy John 

 po. soiled by Lamson, and on whose evidence we may 

 say he was hanged ! And yet he cannot analyse tlie 

 quantity of chicory in collee." The extract is as 

 follows : -- 



" DisCEEPANcrES IN ANALYSES. — Some remarkable disclos- 

 ures of varying manner and results of analyses were 

 made at the meeting of the Bu-kenhead Town Council 

 on Thursday. Sometime back Jlr. Alexander, a Tranmere 

 grnccr, was summoned for selling coffee largely adulter- 

 ati d with chicory, a certificate of the adulteration being 

 given by Dr. Vacher, inedical officer of health. j\Ir. 

 Alexander denied the adiUteration, and his contention that 

 tht! coffee was pm-e was supported by several public 

 analysts, and by the analyst at Somerset-house. The 

 summons was consequently dismissed. On the ad\-ice of 

 Dr. Vacher, who persisted in the accuracy of his results 

 after three testes, the He.aith ( ' inmittee appointed a sub- 

 committee to investigate the s.bjcct. They prepared sam- 

 p'es of coffee adulterated in var.,ius proportions with 

 cliicory, and submitted them to various analysts, with tho 



