io6 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [August i, 1887. 
those teas are like, I send you the report for public 
ation along with these notes. Tea is only in its experi- 
mental stage in Johore. The great drawback to planting 
there has been the want of proper labor. Chinese are 
plentiful and do contract work, such as roading, drain- 
ing, &c. very well, but as a day laborer, John is a failure. 
Tamils have gone over in small gangs, but the Indian 
Government would not allow the planters to recruit 
labor on the Coast and take them to Johore, because 
there was no British Resident in the Sultan's territory. 
This has now been overcome by the Sultan allowing 
a protector of Immigrants to be stationed there; so 
the British Government have now no objection to coolies 
going over. They are paid much about what we pay 
in Ceylon. The Sultan offers every attraction to 
Europeans to open up land. There are thousands of 
acres of virgin forest to choose from, and roads are 
being constructed to open up those parts that are in- 
accessible by river. The rainfall is very evenly distribut- 
ed over the year, and exceeds 100 inches. Now that 
the labor question is solved, I have no doubt that 
Johore will be able to compete favorably with India 
and Ceylon in the tea markets of the world. — I am, &c. 
EASTWARD HO. 
Colombo, 23rd June 1887. 
The following is the report alluded to above: — 
Having examined and tasted the following teas, we 
now beg to hand our report and valuations, as under, 
viz.: — 
Johore Estate. 
Colombo 
Descrip- London equiva- 
Mark. tion. value. lent @ Remarks. 
Exch. 
1/51-16. 
Johore Bro, Pekoe 1/3, 1/4, 80 cts. Blackish, even semi- 
broken Pekoe and 
Fannings, leaf mix- 
ed, with ends soft 
flavory liquor, wan- 
ting strength, little 
flat. 
Do. Pekoe 1/0^,1/1 63 „ Blackish, greyish, 
fairly made Pekoe 
Souchong leaf, few 
ends, plain dark li- 
quor, fair strength. 
Do. Souchong/ 10J, /ll 51 „ Blackish well made 
Pekoe Souchong 
leaf, dark malty 
liquor, very flat. 
A. H. Thompson, 
p. p. Somerville & Co. 
These teas have gone off ; otherwise they liquor 
fairly well and the appearance is good. The liquors are 
more on Indian than Ceylon stvle.— A. H. T. — Local 
" Times," 
KOLA NUTS. 
Sir Augustus Adderley very much understated the 
following items of information, viz., the value of kola 
nuts, and the preparation of coffee in London ; and 
Mr. D. Morris, the Assistant-Director of the Govern- 
ment Gardens, Kew, made matters worse by getting 
a letter from a well-known firm of druggists to support 
his criticism on the paper. Mr. Lascelles-Scott tried to 
set Mr. Morris right at the meeting, as he was working 
at this important article, and knew the facts of the 
case. In regard to the letter signed by Mr. H. Arnold 
(on behalf of Messrs. Burgoyne and Co.), he wrote 
to the best of his knowledge in regard to the fort- 
nightly auction sales; but the fact is that kola nuts 
come to Liverpool, and are sold there ; and when they 
come to London the brokers offer them direct to us, 
as they know we are the buyers. Besides these, quan- 
tities come to us and other consumers direct from the 
West Coast, and therefore do not appear on the 
market reports. This explanation is only due to Sir 
Augustus Adderley, who had evidently taken much 
pains to master the facts he placed before the Society. 
The demand for .sound kola is far beyond the 
supplies, and lately Is. per lb. has been paid here 
for sound nuts fur the whole parcel received. We 
have orders, which we are tryiug to execute, for 
30 tons, and 100 tons would be taken if we could only 
get supplies of sound nuts, dried in the shade, at 5d. 
or 6d. per lb. 
Kola chocolate is selling at 4s. per lb., and since 
it has been found of so much service in the hospitals, 
its regular use is ensured. We suffer in this country 
owing to the Government having no one to advise 
on such a food as this for the troops, and if I could 
have been present at the meeting, I should have said 
much more than you can afford me space for. Three 
of the Governments of Europe have ordered the 
preparation of the kola paste in quantity for army 
food. The experiments show that men can subsist 
on one ounce of kola for twenty-four hours, 
without the gnawing feeling of hunger and thirst, and 
when they can get food, they do not suffer from any 
inconvenience. This is thought to be due to the caffeine 
combined with the other constituents of the nut", 
wheu mixed with a vegetable fat. 
Wherever coffee has been found indigenous, it has 
been observed that the natives pick it and dry it in the 
cherry, or outer skin, and it is well kaown that this 
improves the quality, and the flavour is better retained, 
even for years. In many places merchants can com- 
mand supplies of coffee in the form of " dry cherry,' ' 
or in the " parchment," and some parcels in the cherry 
I sold to houses who roasted it with the outside jacket 
on, but as this required experienced roasting, the pro- 
prietors of the coffee warehouses saw the necessity, 
and ordered sets of the most approved coffee-dressing 
machinery, and erected them in London, and large 
quantities of coffee are treated here which command 
the full market price. During the last two months I 
have been seeking for some means of turning the large 
stock of coffee husks to some account, with the profes- 
sional assistance of Mr. R. H. Harland, f. c. s., and 
of Messrs. Cross and Bevan; coffee dressers can find 
no use for these husks. The great advantage of this 
established enterprise is that the large companies 
opening up Africa can purchase the dried coffee in 
small quantities, and have it home in bags, and as soon 
as it arrives it can be sent at once to the warehouses 
to be decorticated, and placed on the market. Messrs. 
Major and Field, of Red Lion Wharf, allow me to 
state that in 1836 they decorticated 10,000 bags of 
coffee, and that in one vessel they received over 3,000 
bags of coffee in parchment to be decorticated. 
They further state that they have 100 tons of the 
husk which they would be glad to find a use for at 
a very low price. I hope tint the readers of the 
Society of Arts Journal will be able to turn to account 
this information, and feel disposed to circulate it 
among their friends, as coffee has risen so enormously 
in price during the last few mouths. 
In conclusion, I would like to put on record another 
fact, viz., that kola is being mixed with some of the 
preparations of coffee which enables the vendors to 
state that their mixture contains " no chicory," which 
is of great importance now that it is proved that 
the addition of chicory conduces to the growth of 
hemorrhoids. — Thos. Christ?. — Journal of the Society 
of Arts. 
CAOUTCHOUC-YIELDING PLANTS. 
The remarks which appeared in the issue of the 
Journal for June 3, on " The Useful Plants of Mauri- 
tius " are important to those who take an interest; 
in the flora of Mauritius, and more especially to tho e 
who would like to see our Colmies producing those 
vegetable products which we are obliged to seek else- 
where. 
I wish, however, to point out au important omis- 
sion which deserves attention. Of course, in a botanic 
garden, it is impossible to find room for everything, 
and I would venture to say that our Oolouial 
friends in this respect are too exclusive ; a great 
deal is left outside for want of space, attractiveness 
apparent absence of utility, and difficulty of adapting 
