J4? 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[August i, 1885. 



The Largest Mat in the world covers the circus ring 

 of the Oovent Garden Theatre. It is made of unbleached 

 coconut Hbre, and has a soft pile four inches thick. 

 Its weight is more than two tons. — Avieiican Grocer. 

 The Sweet-scented Verbena. — The lemon-plant, or 

 Bweet-soentcd verbena of our gaarden (Aloysia citrridra) 

 holds a foremost place among Spanish herbs. Every 

 leaf of it is treasured and dried for winter use, and 

 it is regarded as the finest cordi.al and stomachic in 

 the world. It is taken in two ways— either made into 

 a decoction with hot water and sugar and drank cold 

 as a vcfresco and tonic, or, better still, with the morn- 

 in" and evening cup of tea. Put a sprig of lemon 

 vet-bena, say live or six leaves, into the tea-cup, and 

 pour the tea upon it ; you will never suffer from 

 flatulence, never be made nervous, never have cholera, 

 diarrhoea or loss of appetite. Besides, the flavour is 

 simply delicious ; no one who has once drunk their 

 pekoe with it will ever again drink it without a sprig 

 of lemon verbena.— GarrfeHccs' Chronicle. 



Our Produce in the London Market. — A well- 

 informed London correspondent writes to us by this 



mail : " It is not supposed that prices for Bark will 



fall much lower than they are now in spite of the 

 fall in the price of quinine recorded yesterday, namely 

 33 Gd for Howard's in oz. bottles. The supply from 

 South America has entirely ceased, aud the trade are 

 now prepared to receive some 12- to 13,000,000 lb. from 

 Ceylon by 30th September. Ceylon Cocoa is again 

 realizing enhanced prices, while prices for good coloury 

 plantation Cofifee have risen some 10s per cwt. in the 

 last month. Common kinds about Ss to Ss during 

 same period. The Cardamom market is a shade steadier." 

 The Keelino Isl.^nds. — " A Naturalist's Wan- 

 derings in the Ea«tern Archipelago." By H. O. 

 Forbes, F. R. c. s. The first place visited by our 

 traveller in his long circular tour was that 

 extraordinary little coral archipelago, the Keeling 

 Islands, long since made famous in scientific litera- 

 ture by Mr. Darwin. As no other tourist had 

 visited the atoll for purposes other than those of 

 strict business or by stress of weather since 1836, 

 Mr. G. C. Boss, the king of the islands, was 

 naturally gratified at receiving in fulness of time 

 his first genuine morning caller. Mr. Forbes's 

 account of this narrow ribbon of land, 

 with a palisade of palm trees its calm la 

 thundered upon from without by the 

 artillery of an entire ocean, is one of 

 interesting portions of a most interesting aud 

 valuable book. So tiny is this precarious wall of 

 coral, rising sheer from the bed of the ocean, that 

 as Mr. Forbes sat talking with his liost on his first 

 night far into tlie small hours of the morning, he 

 could fetl the very foundation of the laud thrill 

 under his feet at every dull boom of the surf upon 

 the outward barrier. Xet wee as the islets are, 

 they have none the less a romantic history of iheir 

 own ; rival dymistics have ruled over coolies jind 

 cocoa nuts on tlieir coral shores, and a glorified 

 beech-comber has collfc.ed a harem of all miuuled 

 Oriental nationalities under the friendly shade of 

 their remote palm trees. Mr. Eoss hinnelf, the sur- 

 vivor of the better line, has raised the Keelings 

 into a little model patriarchal commuuity, judici- 

 ously tempered with lathes and steam mills, and 

 parentally overlooked by the benevolent proprietor 

 aud his wife aud family. The purposu of Mr. 

 Forbes's visit to this reniute spot was of course to 

 test the truth of the rival theories aa to the origin 

 of coral islands ; aud the result of his researches 

 teu.l to show that the Keeling reef foundation has 

 arisen iu the manner suggested by Murray, Semper, 

 and Agassiz, but'that the islets themselvee are due to the 

 combined action of storms, and the slow elevation of the 

 volcunically upheaved ocean flooring— i'aW Mall Uudgd, 



enclosing 



l<>ou, and 



ceaseless 



the mo it 



KiCE CtiLTivATiON AND MANURE. — Mr. John Hughes, 

 Analytical Chemist, writing on June 19th, says: — 

 " with attention to irrigation works, Ceylon should 

 produce more rice and a new industry be called 

 into existence in the low country. Some thousands of tons 

 of manure are sent from England to Spain aumially 

 for the growth of rice where irrigation is in full force." 

 Thb Labour Traffic in the Southern Pacific— 

 "Great excitement has been caused thioughout tjueens- 

 land," says the Brisbane correspondeot of the London 

 Times, " by the publication of the Report of the 

 Royal Commission appointed to inquire into the 

 conduct of the labour trade in New Guinea and the 

 adjacent islands." The Report reveals awful iniquitits : 

 there is no question that South Sea labour traffic must be 

 stopped, and as cooly immigration is not allowed, the 

 Queensland sugar enterprize, in which 5 millions 

 sterling are embarked, will be ruined. As for coffee, tea, 

 cacao, &c., these are all out of the questiim. If sugar 

 kept up in price, however, white nieu might possibly 

 do the work. The one thine that seems too much for 

 them is the cutting and trashing of the canes under a 

 tropic sun. 



Tea Prospects in Japan are very poor, to judge 

 by the Japan Mail :— At this moment dollar prices seem 

 to be about on the level of those of 18s4 at the same 

 period, but there, too, the loss of 10 per cent.^ on the ex- 

 change into Kiiisatsu must be severely felt. The tea men 

 also speak of a shortfr crop than the last, owing to 

 the damage done by late frjsts, and to the poor yield 

 of the slirubs in consequence of a deficiency of 

 manure. And tea, no less than silk, has to contend 

 with low prices in foreign countries. At last dates 

 from New York, good Japanese tea was selling at 20 

 cents per pound, owing to small demand and the 

 prospect of abundant supplies of Ooloongs from 

 Formosa. If from this price be deducted the export 

 duty, the packing and curing expenses, the freight, 

 insurance and other charges, aud the cost of mani- 

 pulating the leaf, it is impossible that anything what- 

 ever should be left for the grower of the tea. Alto- 

 gether it must be confesed that the outlook for 

 1885 is peculiarly dismal, aud we heartily pity the 

 poor cultivators who have to face it. 



Java Teas.— The aim of the tea planters of Java has 

 been almost exclusively to secure a large out-turn per 

 acre and a beautiful leaf : iu both these they have suc- 

 ceeded, the produce per acre being nearly double that of 

 the Indian gardens, and their finest teas being the most 

 beautiful the world produces ; unfortunately, however, 

 quality in the cup has been almost entirely neglected, 

 consequently, their teas eujoy and evil reputalion with 

 blemlers, the general ruu being thin, oaky and earthy, 

 aud sonic of the lowest kinds are so sour and nasty as 

 to ruin auy bleud however sparingly introduced. Of late 

 years, however, some estate managers appear to have 

 realized the wisdom of amiug at a higher standard of 

 quality; seed has been imported from India, aud improve- 

 ments in cultivation aud maiiulaeture have been iutro- 

 duced with most beneficial results; but for some years to 

 come Java teas will have to be very cautiously handled 

 by blenders, and probably the wiser aud safer course is 

 to let them entirely alone, as the coiiimou grades are 

 worse than useless, and, as a rule, even the better kinds 

 rapidly " go oft " if kept. 



The classes of Java Tea are as follows :— 



AVhole leaf kinds. Broken kinds. 



Flowery pekoe BrCiken Howery pekoe 



p^.]t(,e Broken pekoe 



Pekoe souchong Pekoe dust 



Souchong Fanuings 



Congou Broken tea 



Bohea Dust. 



The chests used to be papered in a somewhat similar 

 manner to Chinese packages, but from many estates they 

 are now sent plain to resemble Indian chests, and some 

 lire sulliciently unprincipled to actually mark the chest 

 as containing Indian teaa.—LewU .)■ Oo.'i Tea Circiiiar, 



