24 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Jult i, 1893, 
ters and brokers to " bulk " tea in bond in the case 
of Jots not exceeding twelve obestt) or thirty boxes, 
even though the teas had arrived by different ebips and 
from different gardens. In sach casen the garden marka 
on the boxes shoald be obliteritted, and the words 
" bulked " or " blended" put on instead. In the case of 
the balking of tean from the aame gardens, no indica- 
tion need be placed on the chests to show that they 
have been toaobed. The dealers dory that any bulk- 
ing takes place. One dealer writes; — "We cannot touch 
package that has not been duty paid, nor raa auy 
person, except the Onstoms ofBcers, bai.dle the same 
package." But the Cnstoms regulations specially refer 
to the " bulking of teas in bond," and, as a matter of 
fact, the Secretary of the Customs Board writes under 
date of the 25th ult. isformiDg Mr. Knott (hat ' an 
order was signed for the bulkiog uf packages" rent 
by the very firm whose statement haa just been quoted. 
In the same letter from Mr. Prowse, the Lustoms 
secretary, it is stated that, " beyond seeing that the 
regulations of the department were fulfilled in the 
actual operation, the ofiioers were not concerned in 
tbe matter." From his experience Mr. Knott coa- 
oludes that the only wsy, to protect merchants from 
being victimised is to insert on the "permit" given 
when the duty is paid tbe fact whether tbe tea has 
been "bulked'' while lying in bond, with tbe date 
of the operation. The dealer could then see whether 
tbe " balking" took place before he got bis samples 
or afterwards. 
OoKFEE Mixtures. — Grocers are not enamonred of 
Dr. Cameron's Sale of Food Act Amendment Bill, 
whereby he proposes, with regard to the (ale ot 
coffee and chicory, that the percoutsge of admixture 
shall be stated on tbe Inbel. Tbe coffee tntde 
section of tbe London Chamber of Commerce have 
considered this matter, snd have passed the 
following reBOlntioD : — "That this section of the 
London Chamber of Commerce hesitates to sap. 
port the proposal to make a declaration of propor- 
tions of coffee and chicory compulsory, on account o( 
the difficulty of proving what proportion of each eub- 
stance a given mixtnre contains, and also that tbe 
proportions themeelven are no guarantee of tbe value 
of tue mixture. 
HotLV Tea. — Paraguayan tea or Zerba Mate is 
pretty well known. A writer in Chambers' Journal 
deecribes the .four species of holly used in the New 
World as a herbage. These are " Ilex Paraguayensis " 
in South America, " Ilex gongonha " and " Ilex ' 
theezans" in Brazil. "Ilex Paraguayensis," Yerba 
mate, or, as it is sometimes called, Paraguay 
tea, is yielded by a tree twelve to twenty-five 
feet in height, very leafy, and which at a dia- 
tanoe bears' some resemblance to an orange-trce. 
It grows wild in large natural plantations in 
Paraguay, and also in various localities between the 
rivers Uruguay and Parana. It is supposed, also, 
at one time to have been indigenous to Brazil. 
Yerba mat^ has been in use among the South American 
Indians from time immemorial. Mst6 is sometimes 
drunk in the same way as wo take tea ; but the more 
usual method is to suck it through a tube, after the 
fashion of American driuks. Gourds are often em- 
ployed as cups, and these may be tastefully mounted ; 
and the tube or bombilla, which is furnished at the 
lower end with a perforated bulb or strainer to prevent 
the leaves entering the mouth, is often made of electro 
silver. The taste for the infusion is very soon acquired 
and onoe the habit of taking it is formed, it is very 
difficnlt to break it. It is extremely refreshing and 
restorative, especially after great fatigne has been 
t'odnred, and many travellers have testified to its valae 
aD.der these conditions. It is also said to exert a 
benOfioial action upon tbe internal organism, which 
tea a.'od coffee are incapable of doing. Tbe North 
Caroline species (" Ilex vomitoria " or "Ilex cassine" 
was a most important plant at one time, as is evi- 
denced b^ the fact that every traveller of repute that 
has visited tbe country haa made mention of it. In 
addition to being used as an ordinary beverage with milk 
and sugar it v?aa at times partaken of by men only, with 
great ceremonial and awfnl invocations. Why it has 
into djsusQ ^9 * beverage it is difficult to earmise 
Possibly its odour and lagt«', whiob are not so pleaaanl 
an in the fragrant tea of China, Ct-ylon, and India, 
has something (o do with it. It is Mid tu becba>p«r 
than these teat; hot we are afraid thai this adTaotair« 
will scarcely be discovered. Id tbe Argentiue and the 
sdjaoeut countries male-drinkiog is quite au insti- 
tution. Alihough there are said to b« about forty 
thousand fi^uare miles from Virfiinia to Texas upon 
which tbe plaut grows, we fear it will never rorover 
its agcecdency in popular estimation.— W. aiwf ('. 
May 12. 
COFFEE PBOSPECTS IN THE STRAITS 
The price of coffee continues to be high ; and 
from Borneo, from the Malay Peninenla, and from 
French Indo-China comes ne'ws of coffee estate ex- 
tension. It was only the other day that we referrv>d 
to an innovation in the working of a coffee estat* 
in Malaya, an innovation which, if it answered ei- 
pectations, would show that there is more gold in 
coffee than in the average gold mine. The picture 
was fanciful, and only the bright side was presented. 
People have yet in theii minds the incalculable 
suffering which fell upon Ceylon through tbe failure 
of coffee, while there are yet other circumstancs 
outside tbe realms of fungi that make the Ida 
of the planter not altogether happy. Patting 
avidekll ttje dreams of wealtb, and theoooimeots upon 
the probabilities, it is remarkable how well the cotfea 
planting iuduHtry is now progressiiig in Malaja. On 
all aides we hear of goud crops or how well tbe crop ia 
coming on. The Slr«its Liberian coffee is of such 
good quality that applioitious for seed come in froia 
tbe foreign conntries in the ceightoarbood. Tonquic, 
Frenob Indo-China, has already received aconaigDment 
for planting porposef. We onderstand that the aeed 
supplied to Tonqain came frnm Jobore where tbe 
coffee is particularly free from leaf diseasr, an es'entisl 
element in rearing coffee trees. The country in Johore 
is being more taken up for coffee; aiid, in Muar, 
there ia springing up a demand for good seed cof- 
fee. In Selangor and bangei Ujong, the fornier 
a most important country tV.r this article of tbe 
table, coffee is reported to be doing exceedingly well 
as it is in other parts of the Kiitive States where 
tbe soil has been found saitable for its life. Tbe 
prospects for coffee planting in the Straits and 
Xative States are good. Planters cannot be said to 
be laying themselves opeu to the the danger which 
threatened and crushed Ceylon. Malayan coffee es- 
tates are not closely looked together, but are in- 
deed wide apart and neither is tbe whole coontry 
thrown open to coffee only; so that shoald the 
monster fungi, or otbrr eimilar disease, pat in ao 
appearance, it can only affect one or two estates at 
the most. Planters have good reacoo to be grateful 
for tbe rising market which is mainly due to short 
crops elsewhere. The outlook for Straits coffee ia 
bright.— S^ra)>« Times. 
Mabooogepie (Coffea bp.)— This superior Brazilian 
Coffee, a plant of which was introduced by the Ac- 
climatisation Society of Queensland four years ago, 
continues to thrive admirably, and is at present 
ehowiug signs of an excellent crop. The plant is 
now 9 feet high, with a spread of 6 feet 6 inches 
of tbe lower branches; in habit it much resembles 
the Liberian Coffee, the foliage being much larger 
than tbe Arabian sort. Last year's crop of berries 
was all sown, and about a dozen and a half of plants 
will be available for distribution in the spring. About 
300 berries are already set on the plant, and about 
a similar number are in younger stages of develop- 
ment. Six grafted plants were sent out last year, 
but up to the present no returns have come to hand 
as to the success attending their growth. In good 
soil this Coffee shotild produce good results. The 
ground at Bowen Park, although rich, is not of 
sufficient depth to fairly test the plant's capabilities ; 
but it is hoped that with some of the young plants 
being at present raised, experiments in more favoured 
soils and situations will prove this new CoSee tQ 
be a BiQst profitable cropper.— (?ar<ien<r4' Chronicle, 
