THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[July i, 1882. 



J COFFEE. 



W/e mali e no apology for once more calling the atteu- 

 tioiV of our readers to the importance of ensuring that 

 coffee supplied to the public shall be genuine, and we 

 are pleased to find that this matter is attracting the 

 attention of members of the House of Commons, and 

 that Sir E. Lechinere on Mouday night, in putting a 

 question as to the Treasury njinute of January 20th, 

 and the encouragement held out thereby to professional 

 adulteration of coffee, put the saddle on the right 

 horse, and directed bis inquiry to the Eight Hon. Joseph 

 Chamberlain. In the very able speech which the Pre- 

 sident of the Board of Trade made in the late debate on 

 Free Trade he stated that, whereas the consumption of 

 articles of luxury, and notably tea and cocoa, had 

 steadily increased, the consumption of coffee had under- 

 gone a decrease. The right boa. gentlemau, with a 

 surprising naivete, stated that he was unable to account 

 for this— " possibly the public taste had changed." 

 Now, one cannot possibly believe that the taste for 

 •what passes for coffee has decreased. The preachings of 

 the temperance party and the fact that "coffee pali.ces" 

 have beeu established by thousands throughout the 

 country point in another direction, and the success of 

 private traders and public companies in palining oft' 

 mixtures makes it very certain that the consumption of 

 drinks wliicb are tlattei-ed l>y the name of coffee has 

 undergone an enormous increase. If iNIr. Chamberlain 

 wishes to know why the consumption of coffee has de- 

 creasid, we must refer him to our anno'ation of March 

 25th, by which he will find that, out of thirty-seven 

 samph-s of coffee bought in London during the mouth 

 of February 1882, only two were genuine, and that not 

 a few cont.iined as little as 10 per cent, of true coffee. 

 It is idle to contend, as Mr. Chamberlain did in his 

 answer to Sir E. Lechmere, that the recent Treasury 

 minute does not tend to increase the practice of aduller- 

 ation : for facts are strikingly agaiust him ; and if this 

 obnoxious minute be not cancelled, Mr. Chamberlain 

 must rest under the imputation of giving the assistance 

 of the Board of Trade to unprincipled traders. Why 

 should the importation of mixtures of coffee with chicorv, 

 " and any other vegetable matter," be encouraged, 

 and of what use is it to the public ? Surely those «ho 

 prefer their coffee mixed can mix it for themselves. 

 In these days of " bold advertisement" every tradesman 

 ouglit to be compelled not only to sell mixtures as 

 such, but to give on each paclcot an • xact statement 

 of the nature of the mixture and its percentage com- 

 position. When this is done there will, perhaps, be an 

 end of the outrageous cheating which takes place in 

 connexion not only with coffee, but with hundreds of 

 " patent" foods bearing incomprehensible names. Coffee 

 may bo looked uijon as a home product, being largely 

 produced in the British Empire, and, although we do 

 not ask for " protection" f.jr our countrymen from any 

 legitimate competition, we think they have a right 

 to demand that the Government shall at least ei.suro 

 that those who import roasted vegetable refuse aud 

 sell it as coffee shall at least be made to pay dearly for 

 the privileges which the Board of Trade allows to 

 them. Coffee uuroasted aud raw pays a duty of 2d. per 

 lb. If imported mixtures were saddled with a duty 

 of sixpence, the importation of chicory and other 

 (valuable?) vegetable matters unmixed would not be 

 hindered, the British public would be able to get 

 these mixtures more cb.-aply tluiu at present (because 

 the protit of the dishonest trader would be lessened), 

 and a genniae and proper pi otectiou would be afforded 

 to our "countrymen uho have invested th.ir capital 

 in coffee plantations. Coffee is ii stimulant and possesses 

 stimulating properties which chicory and roasted cab- 

 bage stumps do not, and we feel sure that, until the 

 working man is made to understand the stimulating 

 value of coffee, and is enabled to feel that a jaded 

 oervoua Bystem is more benefited by an infusion of 



the coffee berry than by a glass of gin, the temperance 

 movement will take no firm hold of the population. 

 Those who seek for stimulation from coffee should buy 

 it raw aud roast it and grind it for themselves. — Lancet. 



NO 



REWARD FOR A REMEDY FOU 

 DISEASE. 



LEAF- 



The following correspondence has been forwarded to 

 U9 by the Secretary to the Planters' Association of 

 Ceylon : — 



Colonial Secretary's Office, Colombo, 8th May 1882. 



Sir, — X am directed by the Governor to [transmit for 

 the information of the Planters' Association the accom- 

 pauying copy of a despatch and of its enclosure from 

 the iSecretary of State for the Colonies. — I am, sir, your 

 obedient servant, (Sigd.) J. A. Swettenham, 



For Colonial Secretary. 



The Secretary, Planters' Association, Kandy. 



Do\vuiug Street, 4th April 1882. 



Sir, — I caused your despatch No. 75 of the 15th Feb., 

 suggesting that a reward should be offered for the dis- 

 covery of a remedy for the coffee leaf-disease, to be 

 referred to Sir J. Hooker, for an expression of his opin- 

 ion, and I now have to enclose a copy of his reply. 



3. I agree with Sir Joseph Hooker and with Dr. Tri- 

 men that no advantage would result from the offer of 

 such a reward, but that, on the contr.ary, it would en- 

 courage false hopes, and might possibly lead to con- 

 siderable inconvenience. I do not therefore feel able to 

 sanction either the offer of a reward or the grant of pe- 

 cuniary assistance to experiments in connection with the 

 coffee disease.— I have &c., (Sigd.) Kimbeklet. 



Governor Sir J. E.Longden, K.O.M.G. 



Royal Gardens Kew, March, 22nd 1882. 



Sir, — I am directeil by Sir Joseph Hooker to acknow- 

 ledge the receipt of your letter of March 21st requesting 

 an opinion upon the proposal, supported by the Governor 

 of Oeylon, that the Goverument of the colony should offer a 

 reward for the discovery of a remedy for the coft'ee leaf- 

 disease. 



In the first place it must be remarked that the very 

 language in which the proposal is embocfied involves a 

 fallacious conception of the point at issue. It is only by 

 a loose analogy that the enemy which the coffee plant 

 is suffering from in Ceylon can be called a disease at all. 

 There is no evidence whatever that the coffee plant itself 

 is constitutionally enfeebled or mihealthy. But it is now 

 open to the attacks of the hemileia, a fungus or parasitic 

 plant which more or less eats it up. What is meant 

 therefore by "a remedy agamst coffee leaf disease" is 

 really some method of either destroying the fungus or 

 obviating its attacks. And the discovery of such a method 

 has been the object aimed at in .aU action taken in the matter 

 since the ravages of the hemileia began to inflict serious 

 loss on the coffee planters. 



The first thing to do was to find out everything possible 

 about the hemileia an<l the mode of life which it pursued. 

 The researches of Messrs. Berkeley, Broome, Thwaites, 

 Abbay and Morris established some important facts. The 

 whole subject has been in addition exhaustively studied by 

 Mr. Marsh.^U "Ward, a skilful investigator, who has spent 

 two years in Ceylou for the piu-puse at the Goverument 

 expense. We now Imow all that it is practically important 

 to know about the hemileia and the question is what 

 helpf id indications do we draw from the knowledge ? 



There appear to be three directions in which it is possible 

 relief may be obtained : — 



1. The spores (seeds) of the fungus are blowu about by 

 the wind. This being the case the recommendations of 

 Mr. Marshall AVard in respect to this point are of the 

 greatest import.ince. They are to be found in paragr.aph 

 7 page 29 of his third report. " Diseased leaves slioidd be 

 collected and destroyed aud every means possible era- 

 ployed to prevent the ingress of winds, cultivation 

 should be du-ected to these ends, and the pruning 

 and maum-ing, as far as pos.sible arranged, so that 

 large masses of young foliage are as seldom as possible 



