476 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, [January i, 1890. 
Mr. Holmes said it might apP e * r r a ther curious at 
first siebt that a French pbarmacien should mistake 
a member of the natural order L°gani acese f or one 0 f 
the Rnbiacese, but this mistake na d pi a ; n ]y arisen 1 
from want of good knowledge of systematic botany- 
wbich he was afraid had been rather neglected of 
latli years, in comparision with morphology and biology. 
The real point of distinction between the two orders 
was that: in the Rubiaceas the ovary wis inferior, 
while in the Loganiacese it was superior. M. Lapeyrere, 
in his communication published in the Bulletin de la 
Societe d' Acclimatation, had figured the ovary of his 
Musscenda borbonica as superior, which showed that 
he did not understand that the genus Musscenda, as 
belongine to the Rubiacese, should have an inferior 
ovary. The Gcertnera vac/inata bore a strong resem- 
blance in texture and shape of the leaves and in 
colour and arrangement of the flowers to Musscenda; 
but in the latter genus the seeds are minute, whilst 
in the plant figured by M. Lapeyrere thev were large 
and only one in each cell of the ovary. The opposite 
character of the leaves and the presence of interpe- 
tiolar stipuleR in both natural orders might also have 
further misled him. The mistake made by M. Lapey- 
rere was one therefore that might easily arise in the 
absence of good books of reference or of an imperfect 
practical knowledge of botany. 
Mr. Greenish asked if these berries had been 
treated in a similar way to coffee, roasted and ground, 
and, if so, did they yield a substance which would be 
at all suitable as a substitute for Coffee. 
Mr. Christy said there were plenty of very excellent 
substitutes for coffee, but as the law now stood they 
could not be used as coffee. And drink made from 
a new seed must be called by a new name, and 
that was what the public would not accept. If this 
were introduced, although it might have the taste 
and smell of coffee, if it were declared by the 
Pharmaceutical S"ciety not to be coffee, it could 
not be sold as such. 
Mr. Lomas thought it rather strange that this French 
chemist should sta f e that the berries contained caffeine 
if they absolutelv contained none. 
Professor Ddnstan said they were stated to contain 
caffeine, and were put forward on that ground. Mr. 
St. John, the British Consul, tried them, and said 
they were much less fragrant than coffee. They seemed 
to present no advantage over ground date stones and 
coffee substitutes. 
The President remarked that probably all berries 
when roasted were more or less aromatic. He must 
say he sympathized with the public on this question ; 
he believed in coffee, and did not believe in any of 
the thines which were substituted for it. He also 
believed in the phvsioWici'l action of coffee, and 
could tell what it was without analysis. There was 
no doubt it was advantageous that the public taste 
should gravitate towards good things, and in the case 
of coffee, until a few years ago English people, as a 
rule, knew nothing about it. That which was sold 
as coffee was a mixture which was not coffee, but he 
would not say what it was. Those who had once en- 
•joved the luxury of real coffee, properly made, woul<^ 
naturally rebel against having anything substituted for 
it. He concluded by proposing a vote of thanks to 
Professor Dunstin. which was carried unanimously 
— Pharmaceutical Journal. 
♦ 
COFFEE AND CINCHONA IN JAVA, 
The East Java Agricultural Company has held its 
annual meeting, at which the report of the proeeed- 
incr vear w«.» presented. It is a satisfactory statement. 
O r the coffee undertaking Sirah Tapah only 100 of 
the 139 bouws have been worked, in consequence of 
the unfavourable weather. The crop of Kali-Padang 
will be small, but on the average a sufficient crop 
maw be expected for 1889 The expectations of the 
crop have been realised, and the quantity 
amounted to 6,350 piculs of coffee. The cultivation 
of the Cinchona undertaking Roekasarie amounted to 
633,000 trees, which number has been increased by 
57,0 J ) grafts as well as by 10,000 succirubras. From 
the second cultivation about 15,170 Amsterdam pounds 
of Cinchona bark were obtained, of which 9,414 Amster- 
dam were shipped. The shipping and working charges 
may be estimated at c. 12 to c. 15 per Amsterdam 
pounds when shipped by sailing vesse's, so that bark 
of 3 per cent, will not give profit in the event of the 
unit declining to c. 6, and, moreover, the charges for 
managing the undertaking have still to be taken into 
account. The production of coffee compared with the 
former year was much better, being 6,375 piculs, which 
were sold at an average price of c. 51 55-100, which 
proves the good quality of the coffee. Of the bonded 
loan f. 6,000 can be redeemed, and the debt is thus 
reduced by f. 10,000; f. 10,500. The dividend was fixed 
at 12£ per cent., or f. 125 per share of f 1,000, of 
which already 50 guilders have been paid — London 
and China Express. 
« 
" THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST."* 
This Journal has been strongly recommended to the 
Local Agricultural Boards and others as the best cur- 
rent periodical treating of Tropical Agriculture, and 
anyone may satisfy himself of the wisdom of this 
advice by referring to the very complete Index publish- 
ed in the June number (to be found in the Public 
Library) ; this number completes the Eight Volume, 
aud it will have to be confessed that its scope is quite 
encyclopcsdic, its contributors practical and accurate, 
and in every way it might serve as a model of what 
could be done in "Trinidad," if every one would take 
the excellent advice given by Mr. Hart in his second 
Lecture, " Our work," and pull together for the 
common good. 
Reviewing the last three numbers from a West 
Indian point of view, there is much in which we have 
a common interest with our Cingalese brethren, but, 
many of their leading staples being foreign to us aud 
occupying considerable space, the pages devoted there- 
to would probably be turned over unread, but even in 
these pages there are lessons for us to learn, viz. : — 
Tea. — This is perhaps their leading staple, but one 
that is out of the question in Trinidad ; it has supple- 
mented Coffee in Ceylon on many estates, the one 
having been cut down to make room for the other, 
much in the same way that we once cut down caue to 
plant cocoa The manner in which this product has 
been established on the failure of Coffee (due to the 
fatal leaf disease) should prove a valuable lesson to our 
half-hearted planters. Another notable fact is the mar- 
vellous way in which they canvas, advertise and push 
the sales of this product in all the markets of the 
world. Thus we have the Ceylon Tea-planters' Associ- 
ation everywhere to the front in London, and the 
Ceylon- American and Ceylon-Australian Association to 
force the product into notice in each country- Is it 
quite hopeless to suggest a similar policy here with 
regard to Cocoa ? Could agents do nothing for us in 
England and America, and will alarmists as to the 
future of Cocoa admit what is said in the Ceylon 
Journal, " that there is ample room in the world for 
all the Coffee, Tea and Cocoa that can be produced " — 
the population increase faster than production, and 
these staples must be properly regarded as necessities 
rather than luxuries. 
Coffee. — The main interest under this head is in 
the fact that its cultivation is being rapidly abandoned 
in Ceylon as well as in the Java, and perhaps that 
helps to explain the present favorable price of the 
article and at the same time opens the field to us. In 
Ceylon they are now coming to the conclusion at 
which we had arrived long ago — that coffee can be 
grown with great advantage at the sea level. There 
the soil is mostiy poor and it must be heavily manured ; 
but with our rich vegas we might look forward to a 
production that would be astounding to the Oeylon 
planter. In Ceylon also the system of shipping in the 
parchment is in favour, and that should be a gr at en- 
* " The Tropical Agriculturist " — A. M. & J. Fergu- 
son, Colombo, Oeylon ; London Agents, John Had- 
don & Co. 
