iSo 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[September i, j8S4 



the present time only ruin of the owner is prognosti- 

 cated . ilternative is hardly allowed to Impossi- 

 ble. The question is, in what way were the estates worked 

 to an advantage then.? I reply, that a cooly was expected 

 to do a fair day's work, and, as a rule, his employer 

 was present to see that done, with like regard to quality 

 and quantity. The cooly does not work now as then, 

 but why not ': He can and will; it such be insisted 

 upon, and there is no doubt that the earlier all combine 

 to give iair pay tor only fair work the earlier will the 

 change for the better result. I append a copy of an actual 



innate of 1861, Wynaad, and it will be 1 

 ili.:t Hi ■ figures represent a fairly liberal amount for tbe 

 . poctive works. For this lam indebted to a Ian 

 acquaintance fur preserving amongst his papers such testi- 

 mony of the working figures of by-gone days and if 

 tho same, will in any way help any of my brother- planters 

 over thii .stile of present difficulties the end of this will 

 be gained. Old Planter. 



Estimate for Opening 200 acres of Coffee Land in 1 Sfil: I 



300 

 200 



Tools 



Buildings 



Roads 



Nurseries . . 



Felling and planting 100 

 acn s at It 10 



Supei iuti ndence 



< !ontiug( ncies 



Cost of cultivating plant- 

 ed land 



Pulp house, store Mach- 

 inery 



Picking, curing & trans- 

 port at BlOOp. ton 



400 

 600 



1,000 

 500 



'j, ooo 

 800 



too 



200 

 100 



4,000 



3,000 



500 



l, ) 



3,0i 

 800 



l,i 00 



300 



2,000 



3,500 



2,000 



To 20 tons coffee at R500 pei ton 



To 00 tons coffee at B500 per ton 



33,00: 



l 



Rupees 



36,400 



30,000 



Mail. 



Balauce to debit Rupees 0,100 



COFFEE MAKING. 



List week I gave some remarks on "A Cup of 

 Tea," with the chief reasons for its bad effects, 

 which nearly all spring from some error of making. 

 At present I purpose giving a few hints as to the 

 making if coffee, which I hope may prove acceptable 

 to m-'iiy. C. ffee properly made is a great instit- 

 ution ; it is almost mi at and drink. Ou a cup of good 

 coffee taken with bread for breakfast, a man can 

 work as hard as if he had had a heavy meal of 

 meat. I believe if good coffee could be got, well 

 made, and at a low price, it would take the place 

 of the beer which is such a curse to Melbourne as 

 to many other places, and wou'd supply a temperauce 

 drink which is such a necessity to working men. On the 

 continent good drinkable coffee can be got at the most 

 nls me cabaret, but that cannot be said of Alls- 

 tral'a. As for the coffee to be obtained at the rail- 

 way refreshment rooms and on the steam-boats, it 

 is simply an abomination. To make coffee that is 

 notir'ilii' g as well as palatable, jou must alter,.! to 

 tbe following directions : -Mrs. Glasse in her old 

 y book says "First catch your bare," so in 

 making coffee you should first get your coffee, lie- 

 cause a great deal of the stuff we drink is not ci ffi e 

 at all, it is a v le compound of chicory, ae irns, and 

 what not. Certainly a little chicory is an improve- 

 ment, but the quan'ity should be iullnitesiin.il ; it 

 odds to the strength, but at the sacrifice of the 



3, 



300 



3,000 



6,000 



Rupees .. 10,000 12,000 11.100 13,o00 



10,000 



Rupees 22,000 



flavor. Then chicory is cheaper than coffee, and 

 there is always the (larger that ccflee may be is- 

 tensively adulterated with it. I would strongly re- 

 commend the practice of roasting coffee at home, 

 though cooks as a rule steadfastly set their faces 

 against it. Every continental cook and housewife 

 roasts her own coffee, and the process is very simple, 

 There are several machines for doing it, but what 

 i ■ illy used is simply the fryiug pan. The lire 

 .-'oil not be too strong and the coffee beans should 

 be stirred with a spoon, so -that they may all get 

 thoroughly roasted, until of a dark mahogany color, 

 not black. They should thou be taken off the tire 

 and allowed to cool. Coffee should be freshly roasted, 

 so it is well only to do a small quantity at a 

 In rorne countries they pound the beans in a mortar 

 instead of grinding them, but a small hand mill is 

 not au expensive article and is most useful. Coffee 

 beans improve by age, although they are not nice if 

 I for a ling time, and they should be kept in 

 a dark place. Iu making coffee I believe that more 

 strength is to be obtained by simple boiling than by 

 any other plan, but beware of over boiling. The 

 water must be boiling. If the coffee be put in all at 

 once, the coffee pot or pau should be put on a geutle 

 lire and merely allowed to come up two or three 

 times to the boil, ami each time quickly removed. 

 Before being put down to settle, pour out a cup or 

 two of the liquid and return it immediately into the 

 vessel, or pour in half a breakfast cupful of boiling 

 water. The vessel should then be put near the lire 

 for five or six miuutes, and gently poured out, or, 

 what is better, strained through a liue filter or flan- 

 nel bag into the coffeepot for the breakfast table, tnk- 

 ing care not to shake it. Some people prefer add- 

 ing the coffee to the boiling water by tea&poonfula 

 til it comes to the boil, and theu taking it off at 

 once. Professor Liebig, I believe, recommends boil- 

 ing one half of the coffee for a few minutes, and 

 then throwing iu the other half without letting it 

 boil. The former extracts the strength, and tho 

 latter preserves the aroma, For all ordinary purposes 

 tolerably clear coffee can be thus got ; but if extra 

 clearness be required, then mush up a raw egg, shell 

 and all into a s:op basin full of coffee powder, and 

 boil as before. In France they very generally merely 

 filter, but the coffee is less strong. I shall only 

 add two more hints and those are— (1) Put plenty of 

 coffee in, and (2) always use boiling milk. The coffeo 

 must be strong to admit of hot milk, i. e. , milk just 

 come to the bail, and coffee should be always taken 

 quite hot. — Leader. 



TEA-.XOILS. 



It is a matter of some astonishment that more atten- 

 IS not been paid to the nature of soils inosi 

 able to tea. What does an analysis of soil reveal to the 

 planter? What new light does it throw upon the sub- 

 ject ? What has Government done to assist in tho way of 

 enlightening us on tho subject? The answer to til se 

 is the same, nil. When tea cultivation was first 

 started, an idea prevailed that nothing hut teelah or liiil 

 land would suit tea, and in many instances precipices 

 were planted, and have been now, to a great extent, 

 abandoned, and nothing but flat land will go down with 

 ors. So Far as Assam, and in this we include 

 is i I tea cultivation goes i u 



lands situati d at ell rations varying from sa\ 25 to 200 feet 

 above sea-level, ami as yet it would be impossible to -ay 

 what i lited it best. When attention was first 



drawn to Sylhet as a tea-growing district, grave doubts 

 existed as to whether the nature of the soil suited tea, but 

 it has been pretty satisfactorily proved that it does, at 

 the same time what conclusion can one draw when in 

 Assam proper, several estates we could mention are situ- 

 ate along side " paddy lauds " — and in several instances on 



. i tilth uli d successfully. 



