8oo 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[April 2, 1883. 



passed away and a system of free labor is fimly estab- 

 lished in its place, these very planters themselves will by 

 the first to forget the sacrifice and to wonder why they 

 opposed so beneficial a change. Another result of the 

 crisis will unquestionably be some modification in the 

 system of agriculture now employed. The t/rnnde hivoura 

 (great estates) of this country has clearly had its day 

 and can no longer serve a useful purpose. It is now an 

 aVjsolute hindrance to development. It grew out of the 

 employment of slaves, and with slavery it must pass away. 

 Until that time comes, immigration will find no secure 

 footiug, and free labor no real encouragement. It is idle 

 to talk of securing colonists through contracts to work 

 the large plantations, for no such system can be even 

 moderately successfid. "SVhat Brazil most needs is a cla.ss 

 of small farmers, owing and working their own lands; 

 and these can only be procured after the extinction of 

 the great estates which are now so fatal to all real agri- 

 cultural ilevelopmeut. If the crisis into which Brazil is 

 now entering will hasten the e.xtinction of these two 

 great obstacles to her industrial progress, none of the 

 s.'icrifices of which planters are now complaining will be 

 too great a price for the service rendered. Instead of 

 heavily mortgaged estates, administered by soft-handed 

 idlers who run to the government whenever their credit 

 fails, or their crops are injured, or the prices of their 

 products become unremunerative, — instead of a class of 

 this charactiT, Brazil will have men who toil with their 

 own hanils, who will have no favors to ask except to be 

 let alone, and who will look upon unremunerative prices 

 for one product as a signal that something else must be 

 tried. It is little to the credit of the planters of today 

 that they find nothing else to do than the abandonment 

 of their colfee plantations just because prices are low 

 and slavery i.s doomed. — Bio News. 



THR BEER OF THE FUTURE. 



TO THE EDITOR OP THE TIMES. 



Sir, — It may be interesting to your readers to learn 

 that, owinc; to the partial failure of this season's 

 English hops, together with a large demand to supply 

 the American market, values have advanced to such 

 an extent that substitutes are eagerly sought after in 

 the Miucing-Iane Market, and drugs which can, on 

 account of their bitter qualities, be used in the manu- 

 facture of beer, hare been in speculative demand to 

 such an extent that in some cases the values have ad- 

 vanced .300 to 400 per cent. It has gener.ally been 

 supposed that beer could only be marie "bitter" 

 through the medium of the hop plant ; but this iu- 

 nonent- delusion must be given up, the laws of supply 

 and demand having taught us that there are other 

 plants not familiar to Kent or Surrey which can be used 

 for the same purpose. Colombo root, well-known for its 

 tonic qualities, has advanced in value from '22s, at 

 which it was obtainable a month since, to 9o3 per cwt. ; 

 camomiles from 40s to 120s ; quassia from £5 to £40 

 per ton; Guinea grains which have always been more 

 or less in use for brewing purposes, from 323 to 60s 

 ))er owt. ; and the most surprising of all, Cheretta, a 

 drug which a month since was almost unsaleable at 3d 

 per pound, has actually been sold at .Ss to Ss (id per 

 pound. Most of these are very harmless bitters, but 

 what a tine opening this must be for the Blue Ribbon 

 Army .idvocates to set before their disciples, the com- 

 position of the "horrid mixture" called " bitter beer." 

 — VVe are, sir, your obedient servants, 



Joseph Brothers, Brokers. 

 10 and 11, Mincing-lane, London. 



[Why is cinchona bark omitted ? — Ed.] 



What Causes Inferior Quality Teas ? — My theory 

 is thnt a tea bush, if not maltreated before the 

 close of its fifth year, will stand almost any amount 

 of maltreatment up to its eighth year, and during the 

 iicriod will give its maximum yield ; but that, if ia 



and after the sixth year one or two sticks are not 

 cut down to the collar year by year for renewing 

 the bush by bringing up fresh free-celled wood, the 

 yield will be found to diminish, and the leaf be 

 b/ianjee and incapable of producing high quality teaa 

 after the 8th year. — Indian Tea Gazette. 



The People op England use about 51b. of tea 

 a head every year to 1 lb. of coffee. In France the 

 average annual consumption of colfee is about 40,000 

 tons, giving 3-53lb. a head. In Germany and in Hoi- 

 laud the pr. .portion is 5'31b. a head, in SwitzHrbind 

 6'GSlb., and in Italy only 1051b.; while in Belgium 

 it amounts to 91b. a head, which is the higliest ti^ure 

 reached by any European country. — Friend of India. 



An India-eueeek Oil has been patented in Ger- 

 many as a protection against rust. It is produced 

 by steeping thin strips of india-rubber in the rough 

 oils obtained from the dry distillation of coal, lignite, 

 or peat. Its further treatment is a secret, but when 

 prepared a thin coating, painted over bright iron or 

 steel, preserves it against oxidisation, by forming a 

 dry skin, which lasts for a long time.— Melbourne 

 Aryus. 



The Year 18S2 in Brazil. — The internal state of 

 Brazil at present is far from satisfactory. The fall 

 of prices for the one great product of the country 

 has caused much loss and anxiety among phanters, 

 and already there is talk of abandoning that industry. 

 As a great part of the coffee plantations now produc- 

 ing are new, it is probable that very few will be 

 abandoned and the production will lie kept up. In 

 the slavery question, however, lies the prime sources 

 of danger at the present moment. .Several isolated 

 insurrections have occurred during the year, chiefly 

 in Sao Paulo, wh, re the planters are thoroughly 

 alarmed. Nothing has been done to pacify the slaves 

 and to improve their condition ; on the contrary, 

 there is a very apparent disposition among slave- 

 holders to make the most of the remaining years of 

 slavery. To that end they are worked harder than 

 ever, few promises are held out for their future libera- 

 tion and improvement, and they have the disturbing 

 influence of a 2 per cent, per annum emancipation 

 constantly before their eyes. Under such conditions 

 discontent is inevitable. Aside from this question 

 which forebodes a time in the near future when there 

 will be no regular labouring element left on the 

 plantations, it is noteworthy that no intelligent effort 

 is being made either to retain the freedom on the 

 plantations, or to secure a permanent labouring ele- 

 ment through free immigration. Efforts are being 

 continually made to obtain colonists, but the aim is 

 rather to secure semi-servile labourers through long 

 term contr.aots, than free labourers who will seek to 

 own and till thtir own lands. In busiiie-s tlie year 

 has been disastrous to a high degree. A large amount 

 of trade is always going on, but this has been very 

 largely confined to articles of prime neces-sity. Brazil 

 being an importer even of a great part of her food, 

 there must always be a large volume of business 

 done. Aside from this, however, the state of trade 

 has been highly uusaiisfactory. In the coffee trade 

 there has been an extraordinary amount of business 

 done in view of the state of the market. Tiie closing 

 prices of the year show a decline of over 25 per 

 cent, during 1SS2, while the risks have been largely 

 increased owing to the tickle state of foreign luiirkets. 

 Notwithstanding these facts, the export for the year 

 has been enormous, amounting to 4,061,0.')9 bags, or 

 a decrease of only l,'i6, 541 bags from the export of 

 1881. The net results of this enormous trade has 

 of course been greatly reduced, and planters are 

 complaining that their industry has become unre- 

 munerative ; but it ia still the one great factor in 

 Brazilian trade. — Rio News. 



