43 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[November i, 1883. 



Orange Wines. — A writer in the Semi-Tropic Ca- 

 li/omia describes bis experience in m«king orange wines 

 from the wild orange of Florida years ago. He says 

 that it cannot be surpassed for medical purposes, 

 and sold when only eight months old for §,3 per gallon. 

 The oranges must be perfectly ripe. Peel them and 

 cut them in halves, crosswise of the cells ; squeeze 

 into a tub. The press usfd must be so close that the 

 seeds cannot pass into the must. Add 2 lbs. of white 

 sugar to each gallon of the sour orange juice, or 1 lb. 

 to each gallon of sweet orange juice ; and one quart 

 of water to each gallon of the mixed sugar and juice. 

 Close fermentation is necessary. The resultant wine 

 is amber-coloured, and tastes like dry hock, with the 

 orange aroma. Vinegar can be made from the refuse, 

 and extract from the peels.— CViemis^ and Druggist. 



Agricultuke in China. — The following estimate 

 by the North China Htrald of Chinese Agriculture 

 will tuke most of our readers by suprise : — "From 

 the time of Shen Kung, the Divine Husbandman, 

 down to the present day, the pursuit of agriculture 

 has always been held in high estimation by the Chinese. 

 Next to the study of the priceless literary treasures 

 bequeathed by the sages of old, the tilling of the 

 Earth, the great 'Mother' of Chinese mythology, 

 ranks in dignity and honour. It is difficult to say how 

 many grains of superstition may be found in this time- 

 honnurt-il idea, or whether it takes its rise entirely from 

 utilitaiian considerations. It is also difficult to re- 

 cnncile the great deference professed towards agricul- 

 tural science in China with the very imperfect results 

 that are produced. There is no doubt that, in spite of 

 the honour bestowed on those who guide the plough 

 and scatter se>d, farming is in a very backward state. 

 Chinese fruits are proverbially poor, tasteless, and 

 often worm-eaten. Chinese vegetables are greatly in- 

 ferior to those of Eurojie, while as regards horticul- 

 ture the results are meagre in the extreme. 'J he fact 

 is that in the art of tilling the soil, as in most other 

 arts, China is really backward. The Chinese have 

 advanced to a certain point, and there stopped. It 

 appears, to them, sufficient to pay an exaggerated 

 deference to agriculture in the abstract, and, doing 

 what their ancestors have done before them for cen- 

 turies, to leave the results to Heaven." 



Coffee and Chicory. — The Bailt/ Netvs says : — 

 "Some forty years ago coH'ee was coffee. Chicory 

 was a malum prohibitum, a thing not to be toler- 

 ated. Then followed its toleration, not a full toler- 

 ation, but a toleration coupled with a condition. 

 The condition was observed in tlie use of the familiar 

 packet announcing that the grocer sold the packet as 

 a mixture. No other adulteration was allowed, and 

 the result was most unexpected. The trade adopted 

 the permission, but the public did not adopt the 

 coffee, at least they did not do so for a long time. 

 Chicory was legalized ; but the increase in the sale 

 of coffee did not keep pace with the increase in the 

 census returns. And now the Revenue Act of the 

 last Session start* coffee under new conditions. All 

 sorts of vegetable substances may now be mixed up 

 with the coffee of commerce, only the mixture must 

 be sold as a mixture and in quarter-pound packets 

 or packets containing an even nuinber of quarter-pounds, 

 with each quarter-pound subject to a penny tax. 

 We may eat beans and turnips and dandelions — what 

 the Germans call Gesuudheits Kaffee — and there will 

 be every variety of beverage and fluids witli all names, 

 at all prices, and with all properties. Onevaiiety, in- 

 deed, weprobably shall not sec. To the other miitures 

 which shall constitute the coffee of the future, cliicory 

 will not be added. The reason is not hyfjieuic but 

 •commercial. Each adulteration bears its own siitcial 

 tax. Chicory brings in its own return to the revenue, 

 and the beana and the dan delions would bring in 

 theira, and the British taxpayer won't pay both." 



Coffee in Brazil.— Mr. Consul Ricketts, in his 

 report on the trade of Rio de Janeiro in 1880, says : — 

 '"There is probably no country in the world more 

 suited as regards soil and climate to the growth of 

 the coffee tree than Brazil ; but notwithstanding this, 

 the production of coffee does not increase in the same 

 ratio as it does in some other countries, such as the 

 Philippine islands, central America, and Ceylon.* The 

 same remark applies also to Java, where the coffee 

 beau has for a long time past formed one of the 

 principal articles of export. But this result lias in 

 each instance proceeded from different causes, for, 

 while in the Dutch East Indian possessions it has 

 been brought about more especially by the action of 

 the Government, which — having taken upon itself the 

 anomalous position of ruler and trader — placed num- 

 erous restrictions on the producer, in Brazil it has 

 arisen from a system of laljour, which, under any cir- 

 cumstances, could not receive much expansion; but 

 what might not be effected as regards the cultivation 

 of coffee if the present difficulties surrounding the 

 question of labour were removed ?" — Produce Markets' 

 Review. 



Peermaad Hills to Pandy Land.^ — A fine road ia 

 the Peermaad road for 32 miles; it runs through 

 a very pretty hilly country, which is well watered ; 

 nestled among the trees are comfortable looking houses, 

 standing in their own gardens, with the never failing 

 coconut, arecanut, sago palm and plantains every- 

 where. In the valleys are sugar cane and paddy, the 

 latter largely predominating. Passing Varoor, 17 

 miles from Cott'iyam where there is a Traveller's bun- 

 galow, (with a cot, a table and two chairs by way of 

 furniture) we pushed on to Kangerapillay, 23 miles, 

 where there are two houses belonging to planters ; 

 here we called a halt and spent ihe night, leaving again 

 next morning, after early tea, and reaching Muondy- 

 kyam (32nd mile) in time for breakfast. In sight of a 

 bungalow on the top of a hill at the head of the Ghat, 

 which certainly commanded ii most lovely view, but 

 the place wore an abandoned appearance, though there 

 were signs of cure and attention having been dis- 

 played in years gone by. We noticed some grevillia 

 robustas, cypresses and a wealtli of roses under the 

 windows, with ivy clambering all over the walls; w? 

 noticed some tea. a tine kind of hybrid Assam, which 

 appeared to be doing remarkably nell, though appar- 

 ently no attention had been paid to it for some time ; 

 and some peach trees, and the wreck of what had 



been a kitchen g.arden. Came in sight of the H 



bungalow and estates. Heie we met with a hearly 

 welcome, — the regular planter's hospitality, and we 

 were soon made jolly and comfortable. After a {;lance 

 at the Tote, whicli looked very flourishing, with heaps 

 of coffee berries all over the trees, and a few on the 

 ground, which the man.iger groaned over, as he said 

 "Confounded winds, never saw such weather in my 

 life as we've had ; put a big crop on. and the wind 

 comes and knocks off a deuce of a lot " — but, planters, 

 like farmers at home, are known to be fond of a 

 grumble, and never like to own to being satisfied. For 

 our own part, it struck us that you might sit under 

 some of the trees, ami pick coffee till you were blue in 

 the fice. We pushed on to the A — y, where the 

 sporting owner showed us some of his magnificent 

 trophies, bison, sambur, ibex and other heads ; an ex- 

 ceedinj^ly handsome I quor case, made out of an 

 elephant's foot, uttraeted our attention. This estate, 

 too, looked in wonderfully geod heart. A visit to two 

 or three more estaies near by. all in a most promising 

 condition, brought our Peermaad stay to n close. — At. 

 Mail Cor. 



* A very strange mistake, over-production in Brazil 

 being the result of C(jnc6ntrating slave labor on coffee 

 —Ed. 



