412 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[November i, 1882. 



A COFFEE SYNDICATE? 

 Trevandrum, Travanoore, Sept. 19th, 1882. 



Sir, In your issue of the overland Ceylon Ohserrcr 



of the 2nd Sept., 1 notice a reference to a resolution 

 passed at our late general meeting on the subject of 

 a Coffee Syndicate, and I therefore take the liberty of 

 offering a few words in explanation. 



First ot all, however, let me disclaim any intention 

 on the part of our Association of starting the Syndic- 

 ate ourselves. The Ceylon Association, being by far 

 the largest and most influential body of all those 

 interested in coffee, should take the initiative, if it 

 cares to do so : we merely offer the suggestion, what- 

 ever it is worth. 



It is, think, I generally agreed that the adultera- 

 tion of coffee in England has increased to such au 

 extent that, unless some very decided steps are taken 

 for its prevention, it will not be worth while continu- 

 ing to grow coffee at all. 



The first thing that suggests itself is to frame a 

 very strong and united remonstrance to the English 

 Government against : — 



1st. The adulteration of coffee with any other 

 substance whatever. 



2nd. The use of the name of coffee for substances 

 which are intended to imitate or replace it. 



For there is a great injustice done in even borrowing 

 the name. Every one knows that coffee is a great 

 preventative of fever, that it is the most invigorating 

 drink after a hard day's work, and that it has many 

 other properties that I need not detail here. When 

 then people fail to find in the adulterated coffee they 

 buy all the benefits they expect from it, they not 

 only condemn the substance they have been drmking 

 but consider that its valuable properties have been 

 overestimated. 



But it is necessary to go a step farther, or it may be 

 many years before the British public will appreciate 

 the value of pure coffee ; so much is it accustomed to 

 adulteration. When in England a few years ago I 

 met an old schoolfellow who assured me that, though 

 he went to the trouble of getting his coffee pure, he 

 always bought chicory to mix with it, as he found it 

 too strong alone. No amo\int of legislation could 

 prevent this. A person who was accustomed to the 

 use of sanded sugar or watered milk would probably 

 find the purer articles hardly to his taste on first 

 trying them, but, if it was properly put to him that 

 he was loading his stomach with substances which 

 if they did hini no harm, could do him no gond 

 would probably give the purer article a trial. 

 be it observed, the most that is claimed for 

 adulterants is that they are harmless. 



It is our duty then to give the British public an 

 opportunity of comparing the two, the pure article 

 and tbe adulterated. Now the best way of doing 

 this, and one which seems also to have suggested it- 

 self to the BrazU planters, is to form a Syndicate in 

 London to advertize, distribute samples, and extend 

 the kmjwledge of Ceylou and East Indian coffees through 

 Great Britain in every way. To turn for an instant 

 to a parallel case. The Tea Syndicate of Calcutta 

 was formed at the suggestion of the Indian Government 

 at the time of the Melbourne Exhibition, to introduce 

 Indian teas into Australia. Twenty thousand rupees 

 were raised by subscription, and ten thousand more 

 were given by Government towards the expenses, and a 

 further sum of six thousand rupees was, added by them 

 when the Syndicate decided upon trying to open a 

 market in America. Thougb it has been such a short 

 time in existence, we all linow how successful the at- 

 tempt has been. It may be objected that this is 

 scarcely a similar case, because our coffee is already 

 retailed in England but is it really so? Is it not no- 

 toriously difficult to get pure coffee at the grocers' 

 shops : indeed, but for the prevalence of adulteration. 



he 

 For, 

 these 



date coffee and other abominations would never have 

 obtained a footing at all ; so unlike are they to the 

 real article. 



This, sir, is our suggestion, and I trust it may com- 

 mend itself to some of your leading men. As things 

 stand at present, and while the grocer has the power lo 

 adulterate indefinitely, it is evident that the English 

 market is cnntrolled by him and not, as it should 

 be, by supply and demand; nor can we ever hope to 

 be' compensated for short crops by increased prices, 

 so long as he retains this power. And if all the 

 capital expended, all our labour and all the dis- 

 comforts we uudergo have but one result, and that to 

 swell the profits of those who risk nothing, the sooner 

 we cease to grow coffee the better.— I remain, sir, yours 

 faithfully, T. F. BOURDILLON. 



Secretary, Travancore Planters' Association, 



SHOEFLOWER. 



Dear Sib, — I believe some tune ago there was a talk 

 about the shoeflower as an article of diet, especially to 

 European and foreign palates unaccustomed to our fiery 

 "curries." The ordinary four-petal flower * is an article 

 of food as good as its manifold congener — a flower that 

 measures, when fully developed, four inches in diameter 

 and has five distinct blossoms embodied in one ; but 

 the ([uantity required to meet the requirement is very 

 large. Of the latter, nine or a dozen will make a 

 dish, the preparation of which is very simple. Pick 

 the petals, say of a dozen flowers, wash and add 9 

 s. diluted salt aud 6 billings or any other vegetable 

 (except lime juice, which, by a singular chemical non- 

 affinity, injures the mess and makes it tasteless) and 

 a few sliced onions. When over the fire mash the 

 contents into a paste and add 9 s. of the thick 

 first extraction of coconut milk, boil it to perfection 

 and you will find it "a dainty dish to set before a 

 a king." A few leaves of -spinach added will give the 

 mess a delightful flavour. That the shoe-flower is a 

 powerful anti-scorbutic and blood purifier I found out 

 by experiment. A scrofulous lad placed by me on a 

 strict diet that consisted of shoeflower curry, rice 

 aud gingelly oil, got over his troubles within one 

 mouth ; his skin is clear, and the fellow is as round 

 as a pumpfvin. I cultivate the plant largely for the 

 flowers, which I eat freely, and give my children ; 

 and I strongly advise your readers to do the same, 

 particularly those whose palates are avei-se to hot 

 curries. — Yours truly, COOK. 



[The shoeflower (Hibiscus Rosa sinensis) so called 

 because its petals are used for blacking shoes, is used 

 by native cooks universally to give a rose color to 

 all kinds of stewed fruits, auch as mango, puieapple, 

 plautaui, &c. It is mucilaginous and harmless like all 

 the members of the family' to which it belongs — the 

 MalvacccK. We quote the following account of the shoe- 

 flower from "Drury's Plants of India": — "In 

 Chma they make these handsome flow-ers mto gar- 

 lands and festoons on all occasions of festivity, and 

 even in theu- sepulcliral rites. The petals of the flowers 

 are used for blacking shoes, and the women also 

 employ them to colour their- hair aud eyebrows black. 

 They are also eaten by the natives as pickles. The 

 lea\'es are considered in Cochin China as emollient and 

 slightly aperient. The flowers are used to tinge spu-it- 

 nous liquors and the petals when rubbed on pajjer com- 

 municate a bluish purple tint which forms an excellent 

 substitute for litmus paper as a chemical test. Rheede 

 says that the root triturated with oil is useful m 

 menoi-rhagia, and that the tender leaves rubbed ivith 

 butter are applied to boils to bring them to maturity. 

 The leaves are prescribed Ijy the natives in smallpox, 

 but are said to check the eruption too much." Eheede, 

 £>0H, Ainstie.] 



* Always fine petals. 



