January i, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



599 



multiplied and successfully cultivated in all our hill 

 statious. Bees are being constautly transported to 

 Australia and America from England. Coffee and 

 ciuclioua pl;mters are those who are most likely to 

 succeed, and to them I would especially recommend 

 this interesting and useful occupotion. 



Madras, 9th Dec. Robert Fischer. 



PUEE OOFrEB AND TEA. 



(To the Editor of the "Flanters' Gazette".) 

 SiE, — The interesting extract from Truth which you 

 published in your issue of 1st September, aud your valu- 

 able article on the same subject in the issue of 16th 

 September, both convincingly establish the necessity for 

 strenuous efforts beiug made (in the interest of the pub- 

 lic no less than that of the producers), to spread, might 

 I not say create, a taste for piure coffee and tea. Aud 

 the present time seems specially favorable for success in 

 such efforts: a great temperance war spreading everywhere 

 over the land, as evidenced not merely by tlie bright blue 

 bailges worm by high and low, but by statistical proof in the 

 great falliug-off of the revenue from beer, wine, .and spirits. 

 The failure of cortee taverns to supply a good and palat- 

 able article in tea, coffee and cocoa, may or may not be 

 owing to their proprietors being over anxious to make 

 their establishments as profitable as possible to themselves. 

 I, myself, think it owing greatly to the practical difficulty 

 of supplying these beverages in their perfection at a 

 moment's notice to an indefinite number of customers; the 

 necessity for keeping a large quantity readi/ made for an 

 indefinite length of time, not admitting of the preserva- 

 tion of the fine but evanescent aromas on which their 

 palatableness so much depends. (I throw out the hint 

 to all large brewers of tea, coffee, aud cocoa, to brew less 

 largely in single quantities, and to brew oftener in small 

 quantities, the smaller the better, as occasion arises; and 

 also to be careful that the water used be fresh water just 

 brought up to the bod, and not hot water which has re- 

 mamed a length of time in the boiler, and been thus ren- 

 dered hard). The difficulties that exist in public establish- 

 ments do not however apply to the preparatiou of small 

 quantities for home use; but here it would seem the public 

 are largely ignorant of the attractive properties of the genu- 

 me article, and this owing to the persistency with which 

 mixtures and blends (a very convenient word for the passing 

 off of inferior rubbish) are offered for sale. I cordially 

 therefore support the suggestion of Truth, that some firm 

 should take to selling " packets of pure ground coffee," 

 only I think tliat the producers themselves might lead the 

 way by co-operative combinations. As long as the articles 

 of produce are supplied in their purity to the public it 

 would be out of place on tlie part of "producers to inter- 

 fere with the usual channels of trade, unless indeed they 

 thought a too high price unduly kept thehr produce from 

 free use by the public; but regard for the venerable cus- 

 toms of the trade ceases where the interests, not only of 

 the public, but also of the producers, are sacrificed by 

 them. And the suggestion I make will, if there be any 

 value in it, tend not to interfere, but to rectify, not to 

 divert, but to widen and deepen, so that the circulation, 

 freed from hindrances, may flow more freely and purely 

 in their former channels. Tlie object I think producers 

 should keep mainly before them is to create a taste where 

 none exists, and to foster it where it has been formed. 

 The interests of all parties wiU be beneficially affected by 

 the spread of a taste for the pure unadiUterated article. 

 As has been found in the case of Indian ami Oeylou teasj 

 the public though apparently paying a higher price are 

 sa\-ing 50 to luti per cent, iu theu^ tea bills, and have, 

 fm-ther, an article that gives greater satisfaction ; the pro- 

 ducer is encouraged by realizing paying prices for his crops; 

 and the trade benefitting also by these higher prices, find 

 their operations very much sunphfied. A good healthydemand 

 i.s then what we desire for our coffee, tea, andcocoa, and the 

 disco'iragement of all manner of adulterations and mixtures. 

 Now to help in effecting this I suggest that planters 

 should co-operate in establishing stores in London aud the 

 large to\vns for the direct su/,pfy of theur produce to the 

 public. It is beyond the power of individual proprietors to 

 start such stores, owing to the necessary expense and also 

 to the want of sufficient variety in the produce of a suigle j 



estate to meet all the requirements of different tastes X 

 do not propose that all the produce of the estates should be 

 sent to these stores, but only a small quantity from eacli 

 estate. These stores should be situated in well-fVequented 

 quarters and then: existence well advertized, so that the 

 public may know wtiere they can get (and it would be 

 well also to say taste) genuine unadulterated coloniiil pro- 

 duce. That these stores will be self-suppoiting may be 

 shown from the accounts of Hie lljqier Assam Tea Com- 

 pany, which last year retailed £ll,(i74 worth of tea and 

 cleared a net profit of £1,323. The object, however of 

 these stores should be mainly to extend the taste for piu-e 

 produce, which will thus create a larger demand which 

 cannot but beneficially afl'ect the prices in Mincing l.ane 

 An effort in the direction I am pointing out is beinij 

 maiie tor a co-operation of Ceylon tea planiera (whose 

 lot, throu.h the scourge v{ leaf-dieease in their colTee 

 properties has of late been a very hard one), the proposal 

 briefly being that each estate entering the co-operation 

 should contribute a certain sum towards the preliuiinarv 

 general expensos of the fitting up the store, advertizing 

 &o., and that the store should be under the direction of 

 a paid manager. The teas to be sent by'each estate are re- 

 quired to be of certain standards. It is not prop osed 

 that t he prices should be cutting prices. Each estate w ould 

 be credited with the amount realized for its teas and 

 debited with its proportion of the store expenditure' aud 

 of commission, while all the contributing proprietors will 

 participate equally in the profits realized from ihe com- 

 missiou. While a certain quantity of tea from each estate 

 will be kept in stock, and the teas of all estates will be 

 sold at certain uniform prices, it must be left to the man i - 

 ger of each store to order the teas required over and. 

 above their amount from such estates as his experience 

 shows arc preferred by the public. (Blends of leas of 

 the various estates will also be kept, so as to ensure a 

 constant supply of teas of uniform quality). A wholesome 

 emulation will be created among the producers to excel 

 in public favour, while each wUl share to a certain ex- 

 tent in the good fortune of his more favorite brother. It 

 is to be hoped the central store of this co-operation will ba 

 opened within a few months, and that its success will 

 lead to .'-imilar co-operations on the part of other pro- 

 prietors in India and Ceylon to push not only their teas 

 but also Iheir cofiees. In considering the probability of 

 success for such ventures, the reduced and very low 

 rates at which parcels can be sent to any railway station, 

 and .shortly to any house in th kinKdom,must not he lost 

 sight of,as a woll-adveitized org.anization would he pr.ictically 

 within the reach of every household. J. D. VdS. 



— -♦- 



_ African Trade.— As an energetic commercial nation 

 It musi be aOmitted that Beluium takes high rank, aud 

 she s^ems anxious to still further extend her foreign 

 trade. A Belgian company has recently fitted out'a 

 vessel with a large cargo of articles which it is designed 

 to trade tor palm oil and ivory through the natives on 

 the West Coast of Africa. A party of colonists 

 accompany the expedition ; they will erect a house on 

 the coa.5t, and endeavour to maintain a Belgian trading, 

 station. This plucky enterprise— the first of its kind in 

 Africa, so far as Belgium ia oonoerned— deserves to 

 succeed.— iJ Trade Journal. 



GuATERiA LONGirouA differs from most timbers iu 

 its quality of beiug tit for use unseasoned We copy 

 from the proceedings of the Madras Horticultural 

 Society:— "i;ead letter from Colonel H.McLeod, R. A 

 Superintendent Gun Carriage Factory, Mad. as, dated 

 23rd Octob.r ISS-', stating that the Inspector-General 

 of Oidnance has tauctioned the purchase of six &'i(0«eria 

 lonqijctut trees from the Society f.r use in the Factory 

 at R-JO each, the trees to be left standing till required- 

 that this tree is most valuable in the manufacture 

 of any article in which flexibility is required, and can 

 be used, in fact is better used, green ; and that such 

 articles as sieve-hoops, drum-hoop«, &o., can be very 

 readily made from this wood which bends without 

 trouble, and once bent retains the curves given. 

 Resolved that the trees referred to be sold to the Guii 

 Carriage Factory, there being many mure in the gardens. " 



