422 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



in Rood-lane, Messrs Walker, Larabe and Co. 

 'The consumption of green tea in this country," 

 they replied, 'is infinitesimal. The principal 

 consumption is in Morocco, where it is the uni- 

 versal drink of all classes, In Portugal and 

 Persia also there is a market for the finest green 

 tea, and there is an enormous consumption of it 

 in Canada and the United States. 1 



It is not easy to find an everyday consumer of 

 green tea. The "Daily Graphic" representative 

 found one. 'If you once acquire the taste for 

 green tea,' said this connoisseur, 'and know how 

 to drink it, it's awfully nice." 



'How do you drink it ? 1 



'A.stbe Moors do. They take it with all their 

 meals, Put, say, six leaves of mint and six lumps 

 of sugar in the pot with the tea, and brew all 

 together. They sometimes use lemon-scented 

 verbena leaves instead of mint. The taste is 

 brisk and pungent. The Moors drink it so largely 

 because their food is farinaceous, and the tea 

 acts as a sort of corrective. They drink it in 

 glasses and without milk. It is better without 

 milk. ' 



Jewish houses in London are the principal ex- 

 porters of green tea to Morocco. It is a sort of 

 barter, and money seldom passes. Green tea, 

 soap and candles, go out in enormous quantities, 

 as well as Manchester shirtings and cotton goods. 

 The Moors in return ship to the Jewish dealers 

 in London goat-skins, gums of all kinds, millions 

 of eggs in the season, and quantities of canary, 

 cumin, fenugreek, and other seeds. Sometimes 

 the green tea is transhipped at Marseilles. The 

 bulk of it comes from China to London, how- 

 ever, and is transhipped here. LondoD, there- 

 fore, does a large business in green tea, though 

 the home consumption is small. 



Many people are more susceptible to green 

 tea than to coffee as a stimulant. English 'Var- 

 sity graduates drink it when they are cramming 

 for exams ; just as the Russian increase is due 

 to the Mahomedans of Central Asia drinking it 

 because it is a stimulant, and their religion for- 

 bids the use of intoxicants. Among the English 

 upper classes there is a small but steady demand 

 for green tea. A West End manager explained 

 that if a man is accustomed to going to big din- 

 ner parties and drinking many wines he wants 

 something the next morning that will strike his 

 palate at once. He is more satisfied with a cup 

 of green tea on this account, because of its dis- 

 tinct flavour. " It is a very poor liquor," added 

 the manager, "of the colour of brandy. The 

 green teas we sell are commonly for use in con- 

 junction with black teas. We may have a cus- 



tomer who likes Ceylon tea with a flavouring of 

 scented orange pekoes— say 2 oz. of the latter to 

 14 oz, of Ceylon. Some people would say 2 oz. 

 of green tea is too much. By itself green tea is 

 unpleasant. It has a sort of herb flavour and is 

 an acquired taste. After several weeks, perhaps, 

 you begin to like it." 



Green tea is dear this season, partly because 

 America is paying such high prices for it. Last 

 year the United States came to a curious deci- 

 sion not to admit green tea if " faced " (or artifi- 

 cially coloured.) On a London retailer's price 

 list it is quoted thus ;— Fine gunpowder, 3s Id 

 to 4s Id ; fine to finest hyson, 3s 5d to 4s 9d ; 

 hyson, 3s Id. 



As to other fashions in tea it may be noted 

 that China tea, although its consumption is small 

 compared with the others, is profiting as a result 

 of the doctors "booming" it as having no tan- 

 nin and being better for dyspepsia. — Grocers' 

 Journal. 



ALGERIAN VEGETABLE FIBRE. 



Vegetable fibre, or crin vkg6tal, is made from 

 the leaves of a dwarf palm which clings to the 

 soil tenaciously. Its presence was a serious 

 obstacle to the pioneers of Algerian colonisa- 

 tion, and it had to be fought foot by foot. It 

 was not then known that the plant would be- 

 come a source of wealth to the colony, and that 

 it would be more and more sought after as a 

 commercial product. The palm grows abun- 

 dantly in Algeria in sandy soil, among rocky 

 mountains, as well as in rich, deep soil. Heat 

 cold, rain and drought do not harm it. After seve- 

 ral attempts had been made to utilise the palm, 

 satisfactoiy results were obtained in 1847. The 

 leaves were separated by a comb into long and 

 flexible filaments, which were twisted into rope 

 shape. The palm leaves are plucked by the 

 Arabs only when they have nothing else to do, 

 the work being poorly paid. In years of drought 

 it is their only resource. Treated on the spot, 

 simply and economically, and slightly dried, the 

 leaves are sold by local manufacturers to export 

 firms on the sea coast, where, after a few days' 

 exposure to the sun, they are made up into 

 bales. Crin vcgital serves well for stuffing fur- 

 niture and mattresses, and it can be used for 

 cleaning and polishing floors, wood, and brass 

 work. Its use for domestic and other purposes 

 is causing increased sale, re placing many other 

 more expensive articles. The most important 

 customers for Algerian crin vegetal are the 

 United States, Italy, Germany, Austria, Belgium 

 and France. — Royal Society of Arts Journal, 

 September 27. 



