May i, 1882.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
975 
terest of pla 
fortunes of 0 
Surely in th 
the evidence 
part of the - 
trade in colic 
voice on thu 
for redrew. 
1 = 111). 
it a time when tho 
■ at tboir lowost ebb. 
now produced and of 
intermeddling on the 
with the legitimate 
a singlo dissentient 
the claim preferred 
the members of the 
of Commerce ought 
any other coffee-producing country perhaps, has suffered 
through the abominable and long-continued English 
adulterations. London is still the great dcpdt for our 
coffee, and if the homo consumption had been a healthy 
one uninfluenced by mixturos and adulterations as is 
the case with tea, we may feel sure that our fine coffees 
would have been in greatc 
.pie 
?hc sooner the 
undeniable mischief of the present system is remedied 
the better: tho immediate effect may be slight, but 
unless the English coffee trade is placed on a sound 
basis once for all, the decrease in consumption which 
has gone on for several years back will continue until 
only the most trifling quantity of the genuine bean is 
required for Great Britain. We trust the hands of 
Messrs. Pasteur, Dickson and other friends of Ceylon 
in this matter, will bo heartily and unitedly supported 
henceforward by the local public until a grave injustice 
and a scandal to honest fan- trade is removed. 
COFFEE ADULTERATION AND MIXTURES. 
To the Editor of the Ceylon Observer. 
Sir, —It is satisfactory to see the energetic and 
effective manner in which this subject has been taken 
up by our enlightened friends at home. Their action 
contrasts strongly with that of the Committee of our 
local Chamber of Commerce, who did not think the 
matter of Mitlicient interest of importance to be re- 
ferred to the members of the Chamber, but disposed 
of it themselves in a curious and discrepant style. 
Our good friends at homo must not be loft to fight 
the battle alone, however ; for victory will not be 
• isily or quickly won. The retailers are a large, 
powerful and unscrupulous body, who exercise agreat 
influence at tho poll. Ministers would bo very chary 
of exciting their opposition or displeasure. Moreover, 
the profit pained by the substitution of spurious and 
worthless imitations which are sold in the name and 
ofton also at (he price of genuine coffee, is f;ir too largo 
to be conceded without a desperate struggle. We ought, 
therefore, to bucklo on our armour, and enter the 
lists in hearty support of those who have so vigor- 
ously espoused our cause and commenced the siege of 
the enemy's stronghold. 
The existing law, 'as now administered, is entirely 
a -ainst us ; and offers tho greatest facilities and en- 
e 'uragement to the fraudulent dealer, who cau palm 
off in the name "I' coiYco any trash whatsoever, hnw- 
ever worthless it may b 0 , uot only with impunity, 
l.ii! under the direct sanction of the law, provided 
only that the composition or substitute bo labolled a 
" mixture," and contain a proportion, however in- 
significant, of genuine coffee. There are tin imongst 
a 1 who would havo us believe the dealers are our 
Men U, and tint the mixtures they vend are int mded 
to in ike our eoffc palatable ! Th reduh.U" p 1 on 
contend that 'ho consumers buy these mixture hy 
prtferenctt ; that thoy could easily procure geuui' e 
coffee, but they prefer the clear ami dirty stuff which 
the good-natured retailers substitute. We are asked 
to believe that the sale of our genuine, wholesome 
coffee is promoted by the well-meaning, kind procedure 
of those who cater for the British public ; aud that, 
it' it were not for th 
commended to the r 
with horsebeans, I 
articles, our coffee 
would be sufficient! 
levices by which it is 
f the people by association 
and such like toothsome 
fall in'o utter disrepute! 
it worth answering at all, 
d by a reference to the way 
of real coffee is proved to 
as these practices prevailed, 
t itself is utt'-rly unworthy 
But, though the argument itself is utt-rl; 
of any notice, and could only originate in ignorance 
or in the defence of fraud, the fact on which it rests 
its only claim to common-sense cannot remain un- 
contradicted but must be proved to be u great mis- 
take. It is certainly true that the existing law pro- 
vides for the supply of genuine coffee, and for the 
punishment of its fraudulent adulteration ; but it is 
also true that the protection the law affords against 
fraud applies practically to only a very few persons, 
who do not need it ; and is utterly unavailing to the 
million whom it should benefit. The fact is that 
customers of the higher class applying at the best 
shops for coffee would certainly be supplied with the 
genuine article, because, in that case, both vendor 
and vendee are aware of the penalty for a breach of 
the law, but the working man asks for coffee, and 
is supplied wi'b substitutes more or less vile, at 
prices little, if at all, below the value of the genuiue 
article. The fact is that the million do not 
receive genuine coffee even when they ask for it. 
They are supplied with a mixture or a substitute, 
either in bold defiance of the law, (what avails legal 
redress to a customer of this class whose dealings are 
in ounces and whose means are in pence.') without 
label or description ; or under shelter of a precaution- 
ary label, perhaps in type too small to be noticed. 
In inviting the attention of friends at home to this 
subject on my recent visit, I laid much stress on 
this aspect of our case ; I begged them not to rest 
satisfied with the analyses of samples purchased by 
messengers of respectable appearance, or who might 
be suspected of an object. In order to ascertain what 
is regularly supplied to the million in the name of 
coffee, I pointed out the necessity for obtaining samples 
purchased, by persons of that class, at the shops to 
which they resort. Acting on this principle, I obtained 
samples from London, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, 
Chesterfield, Preston and other large towns; and our 
Londou friends also have obtained samples from London 
and its environs. In all these cases the purchasers 
were instructed to ask for ground coffe>; and to accept, 
without question or remark, whatever should be given, 
and to pay the price demanded. And what was the 
result ! Of 37 samples purchased as coffee by our London 
friends, two only wore genuiue ! 18 wore mixtures, and 
wi re so labelled for the protection of the vendors ; — 3 
werelabelled as specialities, but even these were not what 
they professed to be ! They wore adulterated substi- 
tutes ! The renmiuing 14 were handed across the 
counter, without any attempt at disguise, in opeu 
defiance of the law, and proved to be mixtures in 
which the proportion of real coffee varied from 7 to 
o4 per ceil'. ! The rest of their constituents wero 
chicory, finings, dates, dandelion and some other un- 
recognized substances. Such are the articles the work- 
ing man receives from his purveyor when be cukt for 
coffee ■' Such in practice is tho operation of the law 
as regards the retail tra-ie in coffee ! 
As regards tho samples obtained from th» towns in 
the country, 46 in number, ■ preliminary examina- 
tion of about 20 proved them <i// to bo mixtures. Not 
oue of tho "0 was genune ! Further exam. nation 
and analysis was precluded, as my eyes would not 
