976 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
[May i, 1882. 
bear the strain of microscopic research. The samples 
will therefore be handed to the Planters' Association 
to be made such use of as they may deem proper. 
Be it remembered that the samples above mentioned, 
those which were bought iu London as well as those 
from the country, were supplied as coffee. They there- 
fore represent what the million receive as coffee 
and accept as exponents of the flavour and qualities 
of the genuine article! The working man's taste 
and opinion of coffee, based on his experience of 
the stuff sold to him as such, is not likely to be 
very high! No wonder he complains I hat '-coffee" 
does not agree with him. A gentleman who pro- 
cured some of the samples for me, said that his work- 
people had ceased to drink coffee, because it dis- 
agreed with them ! No wonder that the genuine article, 
as so fraudulently substituted has fallen into disuse, 
and that the trade has become almost monopolize;! 
by proposed substitutes. Tbe great bulk of the retail 
trade in coffee in the United Kingdom now consists 
of substances whioh do not even profess to be genuine 
coffee. They are advertized in flaming posters in 
almost every grocer's shop, as French, Bate, Dandelion, 
or pig coffee, or aB Pearson's, Branston's, Frank's 
and everybody else's coffee, except Nature's own. In 
all these substitutes the proportion of real coffee is 
only just eo much as will serve to palm off the other 
constituents. The proportion which the trade in real 
coffee bears to that of its substitutes may be inferred 
from the fact that, at the great Food Exhibition in 
the Agricultural Hall in London last October, I could 
see only one poor plate of coffee' beans with about 
half-a-pound of genuine coffee on it, though the counters 
aroaued under piles and pyramids of canisters, with 
flash labels, representing many tons of substitutes 
and mixtures, all deriving such virtue as they posses- 
sed from the small admixture they contained of the 
article they so effectually supplant. 
Let struggling coffee planters form their own 
opinion from the foregoing facts as to what is the 
practical effect of the existing law as regards 
coffee adulteration and mixture, and let them join 
hand and heart in the effort now on foot to obtain 
some amelioration of the present condition. The argu- 
ments set forth in the draft memorial, submitted to 
the P. A. last year, are substantially the same as 
those adduced by Mr. Pasteur and his energetic allies ; 
and they are more than confirmed by the facts of the 
case, as recently ascertained. Let the planters ex- 
hume that draft, and amend it if they please ; but 
let them not indulge the delusion, which led to the 
shelving of the movement last year, to wit : that 
the million in our country know the flavour and quali- 
ties of genuine coffee, and buy the substitutes with 
that knowledge in preference !— Yours faithfully, 
G. W. 
COFFEE ADULTERATION. 
The following is Mr. H. Pasteur's second important 
letter on this subject :— 
London, 20th Feb. 1882. 
The more the late order of the Treasury concerning 
the importation of coffee, chicory, and mixtures is con- 
sidered, the more unfair and unjust the action of Go- 
vernment must appear, not only to those engaged in the 
coffee trade bub to the general public. To state that 
coffee is one of the best and most useful of beverages, 
and t! at its use ought to be encouraged on economical 
as well as sanitary and moral grounds, is to repeat a 
truism It is esteemed as such, and its use encouraged 
in a )l countries, save one, una its consumption is steadily 
increasing everywhere except in Great Britain. In 
, the eon umpti.n is at the rate of over 8 lbs 
, per annum ; in Germany, with a duty of 21. 
jjer cwt., it is 5 lb. per head ; in France, with a duty of 
60s per cwt., it is 4 lb. per head. In England it was 
nearly 2 lb. per head in 1847 with a duty of 36s per cwt., 
but now, with a duty of 14s per cwt. it is less than 1 
lb. per head, and yet we import annually some 70,000 
totiB of coffee or five times the quantity consumed. The 
reason of the growing disfavour for the article is solely 
and entirely owing to the wholesale system of adultera- 
tion, which flourishes under the regulations permitting 
the sale of, and since the 20th January, the importation 
of any hind of stuff mixed in any proportion with coffee. 
That the regulations hitherto in force did not protect 
the revenue is amply proved by facts ; the duty on 
coffee yielded £216,800 in 1879, £203,500 in 1880, and 
£199,600 in 1S81 ; and the aggregate received in 1881 
for duty on coffee and chicory is actually less by some 
£4,000 than the amount received in 1880. Do the Lords 
of the Treasury believe that, by extending the duty to 
other vegetable substances imported mixed with coffee 
and chicory, they will protect the revenue under that 
bend ? They might know, and they ought to know, that 
the result will be exactly the reverse; the public will 
leave off more and more drinking the wretched stuff 
which is sold to them under the name of, or coupled 
with the name of coffee, and they will take to beer and 
spirits instead. 
But, setting aside the question of revenue, another as- 
pect of the case appears to have entirely escaped the at- 
tention of their lordships. Is it just, or right or fair, 
that the name of coffee should be used as a sort of de- 
coy ? and that, by tacking to it some other name or 
epithet such as chicory or French, Jersey, Date, or Tig 
coffee, any kind of worthless or nasty substances should 
be allowed to be mixed with it for the sole object of 
getting a profit which could not be got, if those articles 
were sold under their proper name. The public are 
powerless to protect themselves against those practices al- 
though we are gravely told that the persons who infringe 
the regulations of the Sale of Food and Drugs Act render 
themselves liable to prosecution ; the endless formali- 
ties required, and the expenses of analyses, &c, are such 
that the offending person is almost sure of immunity, 
or at the most, if prosecuted by the excise officers of a 
fine so light as to be a matter of perfect indifference to 
him. 
The Government can scarcely disclaim any idea or in- 
tention of inviting o.dulteration by their recent action. 
If proclaiming to the world that henceforth permission 
is given to import any hind of vegetable substances mixed 
with coffee, without any restriction as to the proportion 
of the mixture, is not an invitation to adulterate, then 
words must have suddenly ceased to have the meaning 
they have always had before. In fact the foreigner is 
told :-" We allow you to mix any quantity you like of 
saw-dust, of acorns or roast carrots or cabbage stalks 
with coffee or chicory, and you may import them here ; 
our customs officers will charge you a duty of 2d per 
lb. ; but, as you will be infringing the Adulteration 
Acts our Board of Inland Revenue officers may then 
proceed against you or your agents, and levy fines for 
such infringement." 
The Treasury allow the importation of stuff which 
they know to be spurious and of no value, and unsale- 
able here or anywhere else, except under a fictitious 
name. I repeat : is it right or just, or moral ? Why 
countenance or allow tli6 importation of those mixtures? 
What are the interests which appear to Government so 
worthy of being encouraged and protected at the ex- 
pense of t he British public and of all those engaged in 
an important article of trade? It cannot be for the 
sake of placing within reach of the million a wholesome 
and pure beverage at a a reasonable price; for those 
wretched mixtures are sold at Is per lb., whilst good 
pure coffee can be bought in the shops, roasted and 
ground, for lOd or lid per lb. 
We are told that mixtures and adulterations can be 
prepared hero privately, without paying duty, on the 
