February t, 1890.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
COCOA, COFFEE, AND TEA EXHIBITS 
IN THE PABIS EXHIBITION. 
The representation of cocoa munufacture at the Ex- 
hibition is very full and complete, our friends from 
Holland taking" a decided lead numerically, as well as 
in regard to the area of space occupied. Ohief among 
the Dutch exhibitors in this branch of commerce is 
the eminent firm of Messrs. C. J. Van Houten and 
Zoon, who have no less than five distinct exhibits 
illustrative af their coooa and its mode of distribution 
to the public. In their prinoipal building, a handsome 
annex constructed in the sixteenth century style of 
Dutch architecture, and of which we give an illustra- 
tion, cups of the firm's cocoa are served to visitors by 
young girls dressed in national costumes as worn by 
the women of north and south Holland, Friesland, and 
Zea'and. Crowds of visitors flock to this elegantlv. 
fitted pavilion each day, and partake of Messrs. Van 
Houten's refreshing beverage. Elsewhere in the 
grounds forming part of tbe Netherlands section of the 
Palais des Industries Diverses, the firm's second exhi- 
bit is to be seen, consisting of a pretty chalet de- 
signed in the ancient Dutch style, its interior artisti- 
cally furnished and ornamented with the engraved 
certificates received by Messrs. Von Houten at pre. 
vious exhibitions, with glass cases holding medals 
awarded to them, and with orders conferred upon them 
in recognition of the excellence of their manufacture. 
A third exhibit of the firm will be found in the Palace 
of Food Products on the Quay d'Orsay, where among 
other goods in the Dutch section a pvramid of Van 
Houten's cocoa, enclosed in boxes and export cases, 
attracts much attention. The Javanese village near 
tbe Place des invalides contains another of the firm's 
exhibits, tended by natives from Java, among whom 
and throughout the Dutch Indies generally Van 
Houten's cocoa is, we learn, very popular. The fifth 
exhibit of the firm is placed in the Colonial section 
of Holland, and comprises, appropriately enough, the 
model of a cocoa plantation, showing visitors how 
tbe cocoa is harvested, the case containing this 
model being flanked with cocoa-trees, thus fittingly 
completing a most interesting display. In the firm's 
establishment at Weesp five steam-engines are em- 
potyed to dry very complicated machinery fitted up 
in he factory, which is illuminated by the electric light, 
land occupied by about 450 work-people. Despite its 
capacious proportions, it appears that this factory is 
not vet sufficiently extensive to meet the increasing 
demands upon its resources, and that a new structure 
on a much larger scale will soon become necessary. The 
accessories to the factory include a workshop where 
the boxes and cases used for packing the cocoa are 
made by the firm, some 40.000 tin boxps being turned 
out every dav from this workshop; while there is also 
a printing-office attached to the factory. In addition 
to the establishment at Weesp, Messrs. Van Houten 
& Zoon have a sptcial factory in Germany, situate at 
Dnsseldorf, where they employ some sixty persons in 
packing and dispatching their cocoa to German cus- 
tomers only. Messrs. J. S. Fry & Sons, of Bristol and 
London, are the sole representatives of the English 
cocoa trade in tbe section devoted to Great Britain. 
They have a handsome stand decorated in black and 
gold, aud containing samples of their pure concen- 
trated cocoa, prepared by a new and special scientific 
process, through which extreme solubility is secured 
aud the finest flavour developed. Messrs. Fry also 
show chocolate in great variety. 
The display of tra at the Exhibition is by no means 
extensive. There is a handsome Indian pavilion in the 
grounds, certainly, but this buiWing, which has been 
ns iriated with the names of Indian tea growers, and 
erected at a cost of several thousands of pounds, com- 
prises for the most part small shops, where Oriental 
wnres are sold, the principal being that of Messrs. 
Liberty. We searched diligently for the exhibits of 
our Indian tea growers. The only trace of them we 
could find was in the most prominent part of the 
Pavilion, the centre, where the Great Tower-street Tea 
Companv were carrying on an ABO kn.dof business. 
Considering that there was supposed to he in this spot 
73 
a display by our Indian tea growers, we expected to 
see exhibited something connected with the production 
of that article, instead of which we found the names 
of various tea districts and gardens simply made the 
appanages of tbe trade of an individual firm. The 
whole affair is undoubtedly a tribute to the commer- 
cial enterprise of Mr. Thomas Lough (Great Tower- 
street Tea Company) and Messrs. Liberty (Regent- 
street), as well as an evidence of the sleepiness of the 
Indian tea growers or of their Association. 
The Compagnie Francaise, of Paris, show samples of 
tea put up in little fancy packet-shaped tins, each 
holding about 1 oz. or 1| oz. On the labels covering 
the tins is the statement: "Imported by the Com- 
pagnie Francaise; 'souchong fin,' box of ten cups 
for 50c." 
Russian tea, or tea as sold in Russia, about which 
everybody talks, is shown by Messrs. Perloff et Fils, 
of Moscow. We have sampled some of it as supplied 
in Paris, and we find it to be a fair representation of 
the medium grade of tea which is used in the Moscow 
district of Russia. No doubt the Parisians are pleased 
to pay the high price asked for this tea, on account of 
the novelty of the article; but in our opinion a very 
much higher class tea can be obtained at less money in 
Moscow or of Russian shippers in London. 
With a view of giving our readers information as to 
what coffee in Paris actually is, we recently visited 
the coffee-roasting works of Monsieur Ernest Trebucien, 
Oours de Vincennes, Paris, the most noted manufac- 
turer of the article. His celebrated "Caf6 des Gour- 
mets," consists of blended coffees, highly roasted and 
coarsely ground. After roasting, the berry is thinly 
coated with a sugar syrup, by which it is considered 
the aroma is preserved. Monsieur Trebucien has fur- 
nished us with samples of this coffee, which we find 
has the flavour so popular in Paris. It is a thick coffee, 
and more suitable for taking with cognac, according to 
the French fashion, than coffee of a sli.bly acid 
flavour, and not too highly roasted, which is perferred 
by many connoisseurs in this country. We are told 
that M. Trebucien does one-fortieth of the trade in 
France, which amounts annually to 68,000 tons ; where- 
as the yearly consumption of coffee in the United 
Kingdom, acceding to the latest Board of Trade 
returns, is under 13 500 tons. Monsieur Trebucien's 
display at tbe Exhibition is a very interesting one. com- 
prising samples of his " Oafe des Gourmets " packed in 
tins, which are retailed at 95 centimes per tin of 125 
grammes, about equivalent to 3s. per lb. ; roasted 
whole coffee of various growths, and condensed coffee 
and chocolate put up in card-board boxes, &c. His 
chocolate is excellent. The quotation we have 
given above is bigh, but it includes a heavy French duty 
of 7§d. per lb. If the public at home would pay 2s. a 
lb. for coffee, or a price something like it, instead of 
going for the low-priced mixture, we are sure that the 
trade here would equallv supply a very fine article. 
Being a member of the Jury, M. Trebucien is liors con- 
conrs as an exhibitor. — Ceylon Advertiser. 
♦ 
PROCEEDINGS OF THE AGRICULTURAL 
AND HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF INDIA. 
Cotton Experiments. 
In response to applications from the Society, seeds 
of local standard kinds of cotton were received for 
Mr. Cameron's experiments in Mysore, from the Di- 
rector of the Agricultural Department Dewas State, 
the Cantonment Magistrate, Agra, and Mr. Wishart 
of Cawnpore, who wrote : — " Mr. J. C. Nicholls, C. S, 
Judge of Cawnpore, has sent to me your letter of 
the 17th instant, with a request that I [will supply 
the cotton seed required by you, this I have much 
pleasure in doing, and have forwarded to your ad- 
dress under separate cover, two lots of 2h lb. each 
marked A. and B , the former called Jamiiapar, and 
the latter Dcn/sec. Various kinds of Cotton come 
into the market, these are mixed together, and thus 
form the standard qualities of classes which are 
shipped for Cawnpore." 
