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The World's Commercial Products 



to any great distance inland. It is an elegant shrub ten to fifteen feet high ; but 

 sometimes rises into a small tree of twenty to twenty-five feet. The oval, toothed leaves, which 

 are about an inch long and very smooth, were once extensively used by the natives of North 

 America as tea, the preparation of the beverage being very similar to that of ordinary tea. 



The method of preparing cassine was comparatively simple. The leaves and tender young 

 branches were carefully picked, the season chosen being the time of harvest. The leaves 

 were dried in the sun or shade and afterwards roasted in ovens, remains of which are still 

 found in the Cherokee region. The roasted leaves were kept in baskets in a dry place until 

 needed for use. An infusion of cassine leaves with boiling water gives, after cooling, a liquor 

 of little taste and slight odour. But, if boiled for an hour, the infusion becomes a very dark 

 liquid, resembling strong black tea of an odour not unlike that of Oolong tea. The taste is 

 similar to that of inferior black tea, quite bitter, but with little flavour. 



Besides the different varieties of " tea " described above, there are several plants the leaves 

 of which are used by people in various parts of the world for the preparation of a refreshing 

 drink. Thus, in the Australian colonies the leaves of species of Leptospermum and Melaleuca, 

 plants belonging to the Eucalyptus family, have been employed as tea, though the quality is 

 not all that could be desired. The famous " Bushman tea " of South Africa is prepared 

 from Cyclopia genistoides, and the lemon grass yields an infusion which is drunk 

 by natives of some of the inland districts of India. " Bourbon tea," sometimes 

 known as " Faham tea," is especially interesting since it is one of the very few examples of 

 a product of economic value derived from the Orchid family. The orchid in question is 

 Angraecum fragrans, which is found growing as an epiphyte on the trees of the forests of Bourbon, 

 or Reunion, and Mauritius. It is a perennial, producing a few green leaves which have a 

 persistent vanilla-like odour. The beverage is prepared by pouring cold water on to the dried 

 leaves, and boiling the liquor for about ten minutes in a tea kettle or other closed vessel. 

 It is then emptied into the cups or tea-pot, and sweetened according to taste. The tea possesses 

 an aroma of great delicacy, and leaves a lasting fragrance in the mouth. 



COFFEE 



The popularity of coffee needs no emphasising, and yet it is only during the last 250 years 

 that this beverage has come to be generally used in the civilised countries of Western Europe. 

 Coffee is now one of the important plants of tropical agriculture, and the annual value of the 



product is enormous. 

 It has been estimated 

 that there are some 

 50,000 coffee estates in 

 the world, and that 

 they annually produce 

 coffee to the value of 

 over £50,000,000. 



To a greater degree 

 than most other agri- 

 cultural i n d u s.t r i e s , 

 coffee cultivation has 

 been subject to strange 

 vicissitudes. Originally 

 all the coffee consumed 

 in Europe came from 

 Arabia, then the West 

 Indies, and, later, Java 



A COFFEE PLANTATION AT BASOKO 



