November i, 1881.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
435 
This seerna to mo almost like sending Indian tea to 
China. 
Other speakers followed in the same strain, and Mr. 
Magor, tho secretary, in tendering thanks for the 
confidence placed in himeelf and his colleagues, said : — 
It is no idle boast to say that Indian tea is superior 
) that of China and Japan (cheers) and that con- 
sequently it only requires to become known to extend 
its consumption. To make it known is the end and 
aim of the Syndicate, and with this object in views, 
it must be obvious to all that tho present opportunity 
should be availed of for keeping the market well sup- 
plied to meet all demands. Mr. Magor said you 
will have learnt from the Chairman that all tea which 
has been sent down has met with a ready sale and 
has gono into consumption, thus stimulating an in- 
quiry which will give an impetus to the trade before 
leaving it to private cnterpriso to develop. With re- 
gard to America, it is a moot point whether we should 
endeavour to meet tho public tasto by an imitation 
of Japan teas, or make auy alteration in our manu- 
facture to suit their market. He was of opinion that 
our tea will have a better chance if it stands on its 
own merits (cheers.) They had no doubt about its 
quality — the only drawback is the prejudice that al- 
ready exists in favour of a much inferior article. We 
must DO forget, however, that Japan teas, which have 
now such a hold on the American taste are of com- 
paratively recent introduction, and have had to make 
their way against the competition of tho older China 
growtli, in tho same way as we shall have to compete 
with them. He did not under-rate the difficulties of 
overcoming these prejudices, and he did not anticipate 
that we shall command immediate success, but he 
was quite satisfied that, as the teas become known, 
they will make their way against all competition, 
and it may be our pleasing duty to elevate the taste 
(for tea) of a great nation like America (Loud cheers.) 
NEW SUBSTITUTES FOR COFFEE. 
(Translated from the " Indische Mercuur.") 
In a German paper it is remarked that the leaves 
of the coffee tree are really better adapted for use 
than the coffee leaves themselves. Tuey are specially 
rich in oaffein and tannin. According to a chemical 
analysis of Profesaer Henhouse the leaves of the Sumatra 
coffee contain T26 p. c. of caffeiu, besides tannin, but 
very littlo tugar and fat. The amount of soluble con- 
stituent* is much greater in the coffee leaves thnn in tho 
beans. As caffein and tannin are by far the most 
important constituents of coffeo ; the use of coffee leaves 
a substitute has much to recommend it. Tiie leaves 
should Ik: simply dried — as is the case with tea leavei, 
and could be brought into the market in this condition 
The preparation of the dried leuvcB could bo done in 
eh a way that they could be roasted in the same 
m. uiiir at) coffee, with tho addition of about 10 p. c. of 
sugar, and coffee made from the grouiid powder by means 
of boiling water. A coffee substitute, consisting 
of a mixture of roasted coffee leaves aud roasted corn, 
can in a certain sense entirely take.the place of coffee, 
as this mixture, in couaequence of its containing 
eaU'oin and aromatic products of roasting, which owe 
thrir 01 in o bo tannin, approaches very closely to tho 
composition of true coffee, whilst in tho ordinary substit- 
OH for coffee .10 trace is to bo found of these substauees. 
The h itory of coffee substitutes is more than 
ordinarily interesting : tho first attempt at the manu- 
facture dates from tho second half or last ccutury. 
In the year 1700 thcro were already in Magdeburg 
coffee rubetitiite manufactories, which prepared tho 
fflubrj root. This industry extended to such an 
extent that in 1B-I0 there were already -11 coffee 
•ubstitut •> manufactories with '_\5l)0 workmen. What 
success has attended the manufacture of coffee sub- 
stitutes in other countries may be judged from the 
fact that in France alone six million kilograms of 
chicory root are consumed, not to mention all the 
other materials from which coffee substitutes are manu- 
factured to an equal extent. The continental theory 
of Napoleon I. gave a specially strong impetus to the 
manufacture of artificial coffee, as it did also to 
the manufacture of beetroot sugar and soda. From 
the narrative of travellers we know that coffee sub- 
stitutes are used by other nations also. In Arabia 
a kind of coffee is prepared from the roasted seeds 
the so-called Durrah plant and sold under the name 
of Sudan coffee. Several negro races prepare other 
seeds in like manner, and the Tunguses even the seeds 
of a poisonous plant, viz. the henbane. In our August 
number (/. M. 1880) we spoke of several new European 
coffee substitutes, and we shall not therefore refer to 
these, except to say that they have none of the effects 
on the nervous system which true coffee produces. 
It therefore seemed not uninteresting to notice the use 
of roasted coffee leaves, as in these are found the sub- 
stances (especially caffein) which exactly constitute the 
peculiarities and characteristics of coffee. 
TEA AND SILK FARMING IN NEW ZEALAND. 
Some six years ago we directed attention to the 
island of Ceylon as likely to become an important tea- 
producing country in the future, and to Australia as 
a vast field for sericiculture. Since then the strides 
taken by the former country in tea growing and 
manipulation have been simply extraordinary. This 
will be admitted when we mention that at the late 
Melbourne Exhibition the tea-planters of Ceylon carried 
off 11 first awards out of a total of 49 bestowed, and 
altogether, they secured 3G honours for the 78 sam- 
ples they exhibited, out of a total number of 270 
awards earned by 506 samples shown by the various 
tea-producing countries. It is with a feeling of pleasure, 
therefore, that we congratulate our protege of 1875 on 
having taken so distinguished a position in the great Colo- 
nial gathering of 1SS0 and 1SS1. It is not our purpose at 
presentto re-directobservation totheprogress of the sister 
occupation in Australia, although we understand that 
silk culture there has been fairly successful ; but rather 
to allude to an importaut proposal, having for its 
objects the farming of tea and silk as a twin industry 
in New Zealand, which is at present being discussed 
in this country. 
Practical persons have for some years been studyiug 
the scheme in all its bearings, and are assured that 
the North Island possesses many of the necessary ad- 
vantages, and that tho province of Auckland offers 
nearly all of them. There the temperature rise3 to 
between 90 1 and 100° Fahr, nearly every summer, 
with occasional leaps to 110°; the mean of the coldest 
month is 51°, and that of the warmest GS°. Snow is 
seldom eeen, except upon tho mountain summits, and 
even slight frosts are a curiosity on account of their rare 
appearance or their evanescence Moderate showers spread 
over ISO days of the year, fall annually to the extc at of 
47 inches; the hot blighting winds and dust storms of 
Asia, so devastating to vegetation and so baleful to the 
silkworm, are unknown ; and the mulberry, ailanthu*, 
oustor-oil plaut, and numerous semi-tropical shrub., and 
trees flourish profusely in tho open air. For China and 
Japan tea these advantages promise tho perfection of 
climate, and the rarity of frost favours the belief that 
the indigenous Assam shrub might also bo successfully 
cultivated. Wo have used the guarded expression that 
Auckland offors nearly all tho advantages desiderat- 
ed for tea and silk farming, tho exceptional circum- 
stance being tho want of cheap labour. Were it pro- 
posed to cultivate and prepare either product by iUolt", 
we should [eel pretty well assured that iu no sparsely 
