534 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[January i, 1883. 



adulterants were prohibited and genuine coffee were 

 siippli'd to those who demand "toffee," there would 

 at once be an increased consumption of genuine 

 coffee to tbe extent of 26,000 tons, or there- 

 abouts — not to say anything of the iucrease which 

 might be expected to arise by the supply of an article 

 80 superior ! Our consumption would then be more 

 nearly in accordance with that of France and other 

 couutriee. 



Xo put this great question right is worth a great 

 effort, and I woulil suggest that a.a foul- trade is utterly 

 repugnant to free trade, the cause should be so com- 

 mended to free traders as to enlist them wilh us 

 iLstead of letting our enemies appeal wrongfullj to 

 them uB jastifying fraud and contending for its legal- 

 izatioTi ! The question has never once in my exijerience 

 been discussfd in Parliament. It has been rarely 

 brought forward and then always " ctipboarded." Its 

 treatment has been shameful and the retail coffee 

 trade is a disgrace and a blot on the age in which 

 we live. 



Count on ray heartiest co-operation in whatever may 

 be done to promote the cause you have so effectively 

 espoused. — I am, dear sir, jours faithfully, 



GEORGE WALL. 

 George Wall, Esq., Colombo. 



Loudon, 2ud November 1882. 



Dear Sir, — I have to thank you for your letter of 

 19th August which I found here a few days ago on 

 my return from the Contiueut. I am glad to see that 

 the CoLimbo Chambei of Commeice have reconsidered 

 their views on the subject of coffee adulteration, and 

 that they now see things as they really are. I have 

 every reason to believe that the 37 samples which I 

 have had analyzed represent very fairly the kind of 

 stuff which is sold throughout the United Kingdom 

 under the name of coffee. The whole quantity was pur- 

 chased in the course of two days, by clerks and porters 

 in our employment living in various parts of London 

 and its sulmrbs, and wlinm I instructed to purchase 

 half lb. of coffee at the various shops which they passed 

 on their way home. The result was certainly very 

 instructive, and the analysis puljlished has done more 

 I believe, than anything elee in opening the eyes of 

 people who hitherto 9hru^;geil their shoulders and pooh- 

 poopbed the idea of exten.-ive adulteration. 



Mr. Gladstone, for one, appeared to be impressed 

 with it, otherwise he would not have broughi forward 

 his budget proposal ; Imt Mr. Chamberlaiu and Mr. 

 Courtney were too much for him, and he weakly gave 

 in to them, and had it not been for the energetic 

 efforts of Mr. Magniac, Mr. William Rathbone and 

 our Chamber of Commerce, we should not have got 

 anything at all. As it is, the thin end of the wedge 

 has been got in, and I hope it is only the tirst step 

 in the right direction, provided all those interested 

 will put their shouUUrs to the wheel. 



As jou very justly remark, the adulterants sold in 

 this country under the name of coffee must represent 

 a total of over 26,000 tons annually. I confess I had 

 not thought of working out the proportion. Any- 

 how, on a moderate calculation, we may assume that 

 not less than 20,000 tons of coffee are displaced annually 

 by the sale of wretched or foul substitutes. It 

 surely is worth fighting for, to try and recover a 

 portion at least ot the lost ground. It remains to be 

 seen how the question is to be brought furward in 

 Pari ament next session, but in the meantime much 

 can be done by those interested in coffee. 



I believe that a Company with a sufficient capital to 

 push in all parts of the United Kingdom the sale of 

 pure coffee (raw, as well as roasted, or ground) and 

 advertising in the way in which the thing has to be 

 pone now, for the purpose of lighting and trying to 

 upset the vile substitutes on every possible occasion. 



might do a great deal of good. The idea has been 

 taken up warmly in several quarters and I hope 

 before long such a concern will be started. 



I enclose copies of the new regulations issued by 

 the Customs and Inland Revenue. What a complicated 

 machinery! And what hope is there that Government 

 officials will really try to enforce those regulations ? 

 They appear to me to be a condemnation of the line 

 taken by Government on this subject. They have had 

 the weakness to give in to the remonstrances of the 

 Dale Cofee Vompany, of the importers of French Coffee, 

 the manufacturers of Malt Coffee, and other sellers of 

 spurious stuff, and are prepared to sacrifice the in- 

 terests of the British public, and of the British colonies 

 and possessions, to those of swindling and fraudulent 

 traders. — I remain, dear sir, yours faithfully, 



H. PASTEUR. 



FLAX FOR PAPER-MAKING PURPOSES. 

 The Govermnent of India have sent us a copy of 

 an extract from the "Dundee Advertiser" regarding 

 the utilization of flax stalks for paper-making pur- 

 poses, with the remark that the subject seems to be 

 of some importance. The extract runs as follows : — 



EXTEACT FitOM THE " DoNDEE ADVERTIZEE " EEGAEDING 

 THE UTILIZATION OF FLAX STALKS FOK PAPEEMAMNG 

 PDEPOSES. 



" Farmers will be glad to hear that there is a fair pros- 

 pect of a new industry for them. From careful experiments 

 made in the south a new use has been discovered for 

 the flax plant. The flax is sown in fallow and in clean 

 land instead of a wheat crop. "When it is within ten 

 days of being fully ripe the flax is pulled and dried in 

 the straw as if it were oats. Then it is stacked in the 

 usual way. When convenient the rippling is done. This 

 process used in Scotland to be done by two men, who 

 sat facing each other ou a plank. Fixed between them 

 was a coarse heckle, called a "rippling cieme." The flax 

 straw was sharply drawn through the heckle, and the 

 golden bolls fell in a rich heap on the floor. A quicker 

 and cheaper process will, no doubt, be devised. It 

 would seem that farmers, however, have devoted for more 

 attention to implements for grain than tor fibre. Well, 

 when the seed is thus removed the fibre is sent, not to 

 be .steeped, not to the lint mill, but to the paper mill. 

 The price given for the straw is £4 10s per ton. The 

 papermaker steeps it, and then grinds it all up, wood and 

 fibre together, and the result is paper of a superior qual- 

 ity. Experiments have shown that from £14 to £16 an 

 acre is not at all an unreasonable expectation from this 

 simple crop. The farmer gets rid ot the costly and difficult 

 process of steeping and drying the fibre. He gets it off 

 his hands at once. It is a low-priced article, and freights 

 must always give the farmer o»t the spot a great advantage 

 over a rival who has to pay them upon an aitiele so low in 

 price. No farm where linseed is abundant can fail to grow 

 richer. Every living creature thrives. The poultry grow, 

 and they lay with linfeed feeding as with no other food. 

 Linseed boiled with an interior barley, gives a feed for horses 

 which soon makes their skius shine; and if used wilh mo- 

 deration, and specially with regular feeding of cut oats, it 

 cannot be surpassed. Than oats from the stack — grain and 

 sirawcut into chaff, with boiled linseed and barley — two or 

 three times a week, nothing can be better. No farmer needs 

 to be told the eifect of liiteeed on feeding catile. But espe- 

 cially on milk cows is the advantage of the use of Imseed 

 most manifest. Where, as in Russia, (ve have long winters, 

 milk, cream, and butter of uniform excellence can i e pro- 

 duced, and are produced, all the year round by those in the 

 secret. An old tjcotch gentleman, long resi lent in Russia, 

 used to describe the way linseed is used there. At night 

 the cook takes a big handful, puts it in a shalloiv fan, tills 

 ii with water, and sets it on the stove. In the morning 

 when she toes to milk she sets the pan before the cow, and 

 as a result of this, even in the depth of a Russian winter, 

 milk, cream, and butter in perfection are abundant in the 

 household. 'Jhen the manure, as every iarmer knows, 

 where good cake is largely used, is also altogether 

 different. If much hnseed is consumed on a &rm 



