64 AGRICULTURE IN THE TROPICS [PT. II 



neglected, but in the future this will have to be more carefully 

 regarded. 



Other directions in which improvement is to be looked for 

 are in the general application of green manuring, in the more 

 scientific use of bulk manures for flavour, in the selection of the 

 best seeds for propagation, and in the manufacture. 



Mate or Paraguay Tea. This plant (Ilex paraguayensis) 

 furnishes one of the staple drinks of South America: it contains 

 a considerable proportion of caffein, the alkaloid to which coffee 

 owes its stimulating properties. Many attempts have been 

 made to introduce this drink in northern countries, but the 

 mistake has been made of trying to introduce it as mate, and 

 no success has been attained, as was the case with kola. What 

 should be done is to mix it in small proportion with tea or 

 coffee, calling the mixture by some fancy name including tea or 

 coffee in the title, and as the taste for the mixture grows 

 increase the proportion of mate. 



The consumption in South America, where the plant is 

 native in southern Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, is enormous. 

 Brazil exports about 140,000,000 Ibs. a year, besides consuming 

 a good deal locally ; and Paraguay also a very large amount, 

 most of it going to Argentina. 



The plant is but rarely cultivated, but occurs wild in great 

 abundance. The young branches are cut, and dried over a fire 

 of aromatic wood, until the leaves are crisp, when they are 

 broken off and packed to go to the grinding mill, where they 

 are ground into a fine powder in a large iron pan, and packed 

 for market. 



