204 THE YEAR-BOOK OF AGRICULTURE. 



On the Influence of Water in Cooking Vegetables, 



MR. S. W. JOHNSON communicates to the New York Country Gentleman the following 

 recent memoranda of Professor Boethger, of Frankfort, " On the influence of water in cooking 

 vegetables" : 



"If one portion of vegetables be boiled in pure (distilled or rain) water, and another in 

 water to which a little salt has been added, a decided difference is perceptible in the taste 

 and odor, and especially in the tenderness of the two portions. Vegetables boiled in pure 

 water are vastly inferior in flavor. This inferiority may go so far, in case of onions, that 

 they are almost entirely destitute of odor or taste, though, when cooked in salted water, 

 they possess, in addition to the pleasant salt taste, a peculiar sweetness and a strong aroma. 

 They also contain more soluble matter than when cooked in pure water. Water which con- 

 tains l-420th of its weight of common salt is far better for cooking vegetables than pure 

 water, because the salt hinders the solution and evaporation of the soluble and flavoring 

 principles of the vegetables. This explains the advantage of the general use of salt in cook- 

 ing, and the impossibility of correcting, by subsequent additions of salt, the want of flavor in 

 vegetables that have been boiled without it." 



Use of Coffee among the Natives of Sumatra. 



A COKRESPONDENT of Hooker's Journal of Botany gives the following account of the man- 

 ner of using coffee among the natives of Sumatra ; he says : 



In going up the river Chenaku, I saw everywhere coffee planted about the houses, and in 

 every case the fruit dropping and decaying on the ground. Upon inquiring, I found these 

 people drank an infusion of the leaves and entirely neglected the berries. I was anxious to 

 taste this and see it prepared, and had an opportunity of doing so. A number of young 

 twigs of the plant were gathered, with their leaves, and, after being cut to about a foot in 

 length, were placed closely together between two strips of bamboo, tied at the ends, so as to 

 form a dense disc of green leaves about eighteen or twenty inches in diameter. This 

 was then held over a clear, blazing fire (the ends of the bamboo serving for a handle) 

 until the leaves were of a rich, brownish-green color, and perfectly crisp and brittle. The 

 latter part of this process requires some care, as, when nearly dry, the leaves are almost as 

 inflammable as gunpowder, and if once they catch the flame the whole is consumed in a mo- 

 ment. When dry, the leaves are pounded by crushing in the hand. The powder of the 

 leaves is infused in boiling water, exactly like tea, though in much larger quantities ; it pro- 

 duces a dark-brown liquid, looking like coffee, smelling like green tea, and tasting like a 

 mixture of the two. It is very pleasant, however, and refreshing, and I can understand how 

 these people are passionately fond of it. The curious part of it is, that, while theine, caf- 

 feine, and theobromine have been found (nearly identical as they are in composition and pro- 

 perties) in use in three distinct parts of the world, and valued for the same exhilarating 

 qualities, here is a people, little raised above savages, using in an independent manner one of 

 these very plants, being evidently uninstructed, as otherwise they would have used the berry. 



Chinese Method of Scenting Tea. 



A CHINA correspondent of the London Athenceum furnishes the following information re- 

 specting the methods of scenting tea, as practised by the Chinese. He gays: "I have been 

 making inquiries for some time past about the curious process of scenting teas for the foreign 

 markets ; but the answers I received to my questions were so unsatisfactory, that I gave up 

 all hopes of understanding the business until I had an opportunity of seeing and judging for 

 myself. During a late visit to Canton, I was informed that the process might be seen in ope- 

 ration in a tea-factory on the island of Honan ; and accordingly embraced an opportunity to 

 visit the place with an eminent Chinese merchant. When we entered the tea-factory, a 

 strange scene was presented to our view. The place was crowded with women and children, 

 all busily engaged in picking the stalks and yellow or brown leaves out of the black tea. For 



