462 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



[December i, 1882. 



COFFEE. 



TO THE EDITOR OF THE LONDON "TIMES." 



Sir, — Tbe letter on oofifee in The Times of the 

 6lh instau! cannot be too widely read. 



'I'he coffee trade of this couutry ought to have a 

 grnat future before it by largely increased consumption, 

 but while o'licory is allowed to be added in any quantity, 

 Bu long as it is sold as a mixture of coffee and chicory, 

 and as police reports show frequently 75 per ceut. 

 chicory (value about 3id to 4d per lb ), no wouder 

 the public decide againt the so called coffee at prices 

 from Is. upwards. 



Vendors of these mixture should be compelled to state 

 by a plain label on each paoknge the proportion of 

 coflei- th V contain. This wonid at once c.uiso the 

 consumer to purchase oofifee and chicory separately and 

 the taste for coflfee would rapidly increase. Compar- 

 atively few now ever taste a cup of good coffee, and 

 e\ eu those who do so at home are afraid to order it 

 as a beverage when away from home, knowing the 

 risk they run of beiug served with some unpalatable 

 mixture. 



September 7th . Yours truly GROCEK. 



TO THE EDITOR OP THE LONDO.'J TIMES. 



Sir, — Since the subject of Brazillian coffee lias been 

 brought forward I should like to be allowed space 

 for a few more remarks upon this staple production 

 of one of the largest empires in the world. 



The washed coffee referred to in The Times of today 

 by "A shipper of Thirty Years" has a certain re- 

 semblance to Ceylou coffee, but tbo fact of its being 

 eqn.'jUy good is very questionable. The Brazilians 

 themselves disdain to make use of this style of coffee as 

 a beveiBge, and its sale in Loudon is probably owing to 

 its favourable appearance allowing it to be success- 

 fully mixed with Ceylon coffee. Washed cofifee, 

 caf4 lavado or cafe despulpado, forms a very small 

 fraction of the Brazilian crop, by far the major portiin 

 undergoing a different process of preparation altogether. 



The oofifee-growiug land of Br.nzil extends over such 

 a large tract of country and divi rsity of soil that a 

 great variety of qualities are obtained. The United 

 States are chiefly eupijlied from Rio de Janeiro, where 

 the cofifee, strong and bitter in taste, contrasts 

 markedly with that exported from Santos, whose 

 product, in Norih America, comes under the head of 

 mild coffees. 



The earthy taste spoken of by your correspondent 

 is scarcely attributable to its being left on the 

 ground after falling, as the coffee is picked from 

 the trees and spread out to dry on a " torreiro" or 

 large drying ground "f beaten clay, and the colour 

 and taste of the bean are mainly depemlent on the 

 amount of dust it contrives to pick up while in 

 this situation. 



One peculiar feature of Brazilian coffee is its quality 

 of improving by age, the native epicures never drink- 

 ing C'lffee that has not been kept lor two or three 

 or more years ; how far this peculiarity is due to 

 the evaporation of rank essential oils 1 am not pre- 

 pared to say. 



It is only reasonable to suppo.-e that Brnzilian 

 coffee will eventually be more largely consumed in 

 Great Britain since the supplies fiom Ceylon are 

 rapidly d>creaeiug, and, from what the Americans 

 Buy, lis Costa Rican and Central American rivals ai'e 

 already feeling the low prices a serious hindrance 

 to lucrative production. 



On the Continent Santos coffee evidently finds 

 favur, witness the large shipments to Havre, Ant- 

 werp, and Hamburg, und indeed, were it better 

 known, I think the British would prefer the deli- 

 cious, aromatic flavonr of good old Santos coffee 



at 403 pT cwt. to the equally expensive compounds 

 of chicory, &c., or the hypothetically greater ex- 

 cellence of Ceylon and Bast Indian at a cost more 

 than twice as great. — I am sir, yours truly, 

 September 7th. Y'pirahga. 



Tea,— In the Consular report on the trade of tlio 

 Persian Gulf, the following remarks occur, and are 

 worth the attention of the Calcutta tea Syndicate : — 

 "There has been an introduction of tea from Japan 

 into Persia, which is s:iid to find much favour'. In 

 former times Persia received tea throui;h India from 

 China, and supplied Russia ; later, owing to prohibi- 

 tions, Russia commenced to supply Persia with tea 

 brought overland from China into Russia, The Indian 

 teas seem little known in Persia hitherto." — Produce 

 Markets' Beniew. 



From experiments recently made, it appears that 

 the rSh soil prevalent in some places in in the North- 

 western Provinces, can be utilized for the manufacture 

 of caustic soda for paper making purposes, and that 

 as good caustic liquor can be made from it, as any 

 that comes from England. Papermills in this country 

 must doubtless import a large amount of caustic soda 

 from England for the manufacture of paper ; but a 

 considerable saving in this respect could perhaps now 

 the country, were utilized for the purposes of paper- 

 making. The Upper India paper mills at Lucknow 

 are making caustic soda from reh and success hag 

 attended its elforts. The Government of India has 

 brought the subject to the notice of the several paper 

 mills and have invited opinions on the feasibility of 

 so utilizing reh soil. — Indian World, 



■ South-West Wynaad. — A correspondent writing- 

 from the subranges of the Nilgiris, states: — "Like 

 yourselves we have suffered heavily in the valley 

 during the past monsoon in the matter of cin- 

 chona, mostly this and last year's planting and 

 notably so at 3,000 feet, where the land is flat and 

 the subsoil retentive ; in some cases over 50 per 

 cent. On steeper hind at an altitude of 4,500 fi^et. 

 our loss does not exceed 5 per cent, and not 1 per 

 cent, amongst 3, 4, and ,5 years old plants. Our rain- 

 fall up to date averages from 140 to 180 inches 

 against a yearly average of 85, and yet with this 

 heavy fall coffee is looking splendid : not a speck 

 (if leaf disease from one end of the valley to the other. 

 About two months ago we had a little on your 

 old friends the "chic." These are now looking 

 wi-U and full of vigour, but no crop unless on Hope", 

 where some of them are bearing at the rate of 3 

 tons an acre." [Tons, while a big crop in Ceylon 

 this year is 3 ctvts. per acre ! — Ed.] 



Wood for Tea Boxes. — The Indian Planters' Gazette, 

 referring to a letter from Mr. Horsfall to the editor 

 of the Ceylon Observer writes : — " The veriest tyro in tea 

 knows that the utmost care is necessary iu selecting 

 wood for boxes. In Upper India the c\m ( Pinus lomjifolia) 

 was tried simply because it was plentiful and i-asily 

 w rked, but its resinous smell was fatal to its use, and 

 planters had to fall back on mango wood. Toon wood is 

 ailniirably adapted for this purpose, but its price is 

 prohibitive. Whatever wood a planter Uics, he must 

 avoid that which emits a strong odour, either pleasent 

 or otherwise." Regnrding our suggestion of paper tea 

 biixes. the same writes : — "There is rally nothing out 

 of the way in this idea Papier indclie is, when properly 

 made, water-tight, and that it possesses strength as well 

 ia thewn by its being used in America for locomotive 

 wheels. It has also tbe two great advantages ol being 

 perfectly free fn.im smell, and of being extremely light. 

 A worse thing might be done than trying our contempo- 

 rary's suggestion." 



