September t, 188 r.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
281 
Ma 
some 
introc 
Mr. ( 
hirds 
have 
of ba 
able 
ostric 
in M 
uritius. — The subject of ostrich farming is causing 
interest here, this species of industry having been 
Uiced by one of our wealthy landed proprietors, 
jE&ry Lieuard, who imported several pairs of 
from Arabia and the Cape. These ostriches 
already hatched broods ; and, as there is plenty 
i ren laud nu the coast of the island, it is prob- 
that, before many years pass over our heads, 
1 farming will be one of the "things that be" 
auritius. Ihe Cape papers are eagerly searched 
nr Creole and French colonists for items in re- 
to the rearing and sale of ostriches &c, and a 
lation in French, from a Natal paper, has just 
published iu the Cernien, our leading French 
al, reporting the sale of some pairs of these 
at from 50 to 87'; guineas per pair. — Cor. 
PLANTING IN T FIJI. 
A correspo: 
dent (" Pioneer ") 
favours us with the 
following : — 
" I heaid 
from a friend in Fi 
i the other day, who 
writes : — ' Th 
e prospects of coff 
ee do not seem very 
brilliant in I 
$1 at present. I 
have heard nothing 
of the result 
on Great Amalgam, 
but am afrai 
1 it has not been si 
ccessful, as one would 
have heard i 
f the disease had I 
cen checked. 
" Stephens 
her coffee plantation 
on the islai 
?he owner of Great 
Amalgam Jut 
n of £20,000 to the 
Government 
treatment bv 
d his estate during the 
The matter has been 
it about 
two or three men. 
of Vauua Levu. He has 1 
and was one of the first t< 
in Ceylon before that. H( 
the prospects of coffee in 1 
" Cinchona is being plan 
Copperah. cotton and sugar are tho main products of 
b'iji, and tho export of the fiist and last will very 
largely increase when the wide acreage of coconuts 
planted within the preceding five years comes into 
be&riog, and when the three large new sugar mills 
n:>w being put ou Viti Levu are crushing to their full 
power.'' 
CEYLON TEA IN MELBOURNE. 
Mr. Hector Mackenzie advise? having sold the 
Kandaloya estate "pekoes" in Melbourne at Is lOd 
per lb., the pekoe souchong at Is 3d, and duet at 
H)', 1 per lb. in bond. Ho was sending on a lot of pekoe 
souchong to Dunedin, where he expects to get Is 5d to 
Is b'd per lb. Mr. Mackenzie has been offered from 
Dunedin, New X aland, '.V/d per lb. for Coy Ion codec, but 
18 holding out for 10S 1, as he thiuks prices are sure 
to go up. Ho also asks if Ceylon planters have doue 
anything about the "Syndicato" business, adding: 
•— " I am not afraid of taking up most of the work- 
ing hero. I agree with you that it ia a mistake to 
force- the market. I think if you can't work a 
Syndica o, if I wore appointed agent for one or two 
good estites, I am sure I coul I always get pretty 
good prices. I am working all my sales privatolv, 
and won't go to auction as long as 1 can sell to the 
grocers privati ly." 
THE ADULTERATION OF TEA. 
TO Till: BDITOflOr TIIK JIKLBOUUNE AltCUS. 
Kir,— My letter t<> tho Boaid of Health, copy of 
Wfiioh woa published in Tht A rg ■ i of 261 i .1 ma-, was 
call I forth by tin confiiMon then existing regarding 
tho ohoraoter of grcon tea term black tea, In that 
letter I maintained and proved successfully by docu- 
mentary evidence that all green tea is artificially 
"Tho four samples of green tea in the office" may 
be passed over. They are probably pure underfer- 
mented teas. Other statements and assertions in Mr. 
Evertird'a letter are simply unsupported, and cannot 
rest for a moment against the posi'ive documentary 
evidence I adduce to the contrary. Further, he must 
show better authority than his own for doubting- 
scientific investigation, and I see at once that to 
Mr. Everard's scepticism on this point is due the 
lamentable ignorance he displays in diseus-ing this 
tea question. If he had any knowledge of the manu- 
facture of tea — and there are plenty of worts on the 
subject— he would not have asserted that "withered 
tea leaves were sent home,' because all tea is withered 
in the first process of manufacture, and it is a most 
unlikely fact that any tea planter would have exported 
his produce at this stage. 
Wanklyn on tea analyses clearly and scientifically 
proves how easy it is to tell the true tea leaf by its 
botanical character, from all other leaves. Again, 
the true tea-leaf is noted by its extraordinary richness 
in nitrogen over all other leaves. 
The ash of tea, remaining after incineration of the 
leaf, is another good test, and tables given by lead- 
ing analysts are a pretty certain guide to the detcetiou 
of aduberation. 
•Perhap* the extract of tea, or that part drunk in 
the infusion or cup of tea, is the most important, 
and no tea should fall below 30 (the standard at home). 
Some of the Indian and Ceylon teas go to 52. This 
extract contains the essential oil or flavour which 
pleases the palate ; and the active principle, theino 
I think it will now be perfectly clear to the intel- 
ligent reader that the analytical chemist should be 
the best judge of what, is wholsome to the tea-drinker 
and that " wattl -bark" would be instantly detected 
by such a judge, however much Mr Everard might 
disguise the same in his samples of tea. 
The tea-' aster is probably the best authority on 
the liavour of tea, and in a ready way can give an 
opinion on the leaf and strength, but beyi nd this he 
cannot go. 
Messrs. Cosmo Newbery and Dunn must have 
analysed some 500 samples of tea, and they may be 
considered first-elas3 analysts of this product, and 
their efforts to rai-e the standard of tea used by the 
community should have the support of all tea mer- 
chants and others connected with tho trade. The 
Chinese are masters of tho situation Wo cau only 
take what they will give us, and they are perfect 
adepts iu the manipulation of the leaf. They dy e 
and face their teas so well that wo have the spectacle 
of Mr. Everard filling your columns with pecans of 
praise in favour of his blooming giceu teas of the 
north, the same tea in the hands of the expert aud 
analyst showing facing and dye material. -I am, &c.» 
July 1st. J. O. Moody. 
Sir, —In the As-cmbly last Thursday, tho Attorney- 
General admitted his inability to do d thoroughly with 
this quest on. Ho stated that 10 years ago he was 
Commissioner of Cuntoms, and now, as the highest law 
officer of the Ministry, he was neither the exponent of 
the customs • or tho law iu such cases. He also slated 
fciiat ho hid i ho agent-general in his front. I will 
remind him i b it he had tho Chamber of Commerce in 
Ins i ear, bir all, all are silent. 
Will you ploaso allow mo to stato that up to tho 
time of th.< expiry of the East India Company's 
trading charters in 1S34— or rather the suspous on of 
of tho charters, vile the statute William IV. — it 
was the custom in Kngland to d«al with tea foa. 
damaged or otherwise unlit for consumption, to plac 0 
