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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST [August i, 1893. 
to decline, a declioe that has contirjued ever fince, in 
spite of fuithcr rrducticcs in the duty, which ie n w 
only 1-ls. jKr cwt. 
Coffee ifl largely sdnlterattd viitb the root of a platt 
which grows fret-ly in Europe, viz., the wild fn nvc, 
or chirory. It is posfible that on the CoitintDt 
chicory was ueed as a drink btfore the introductiou 
of c( ffe - ; certhioly it has beou freeiy imported ii tj 
England since 1833 to be D)ixfd with coflfee. Soon 
alter this d:.te it'< cultivation became popular in 
England ; but by 1860, when duty was first levied 
on it, the bon e production bad all but died away 
avain uixUr the etrfBB of foreign cmpetition. It 
hat ofK-u b^eu elated that the fit clino of coffro in 
public favnur is duo lo ihe all but invariable priFCDce 
of this bilter-tastiiic adnlterout, but it muft Ie 
reDitmbtred that tho latter is no kss used in Belgium 
and DeLDQaik without causiug any apparent dctliLe 
in thi; ccnsumption of coffee. 
In their report for ItiSS, tie CustOmB CommifRionei r 
note that sotne coffi'O miituren f-old by ri'taileiH 
coLtsin us much as 90 per cent of chicory, aud discuss 
the opinion of the trade tliat the sale of such mix' ures 
injuriouEly affects tbat of pure colfce. Tbis they 
admit to some extent, but urge tbat the growing 
preference for tta a .d cocoa b chiefly due to the 
email amount of time and trouble required in the 
preparat'on of these latter. 
The duty on chicory ie pligbtly less than tbat on 
coffee, ai.d the receipt therefrom vary from 32 to 
38 per cent of these fiom the latter. In 1882 a tax 
of ^d was imposed, by meRD« of a stamp on the 
lobe), on every ^ ib. of ccffte mixture containing 
any vegetable matter other than coffee or chicory. 
There were 2,242,739 mch labels issueri in 1882, 
but the numbtr rapidly declined to 887,763 in '89, 
though it rose slightly iu '90. 
Tde OuBtoms (Jommissionero would probably not 
be sorry to lose the modeet £200,000 or less yielded 
by oofEte and chicory, seeing that wbereas we con- 
sume 72 per ceut of the cocoa we import, and 67 
pi r ctnl of the tea, we only keep 29 per cent of 
iLe coffee, the anty on which is thus nncefl>arily 
collected at a high comparative oest. 
COCOA. 
Cocoa is generally classed by the Chancellor of the 
Exchequer iu what is called the " coffee group, " 
aiid thus undeservedly comes in for a chare of the 
aunuftl sigh heived over the want of elasticity shi \vq 
by the group. 
Coooa and chocolate ore manufactured from the 
exceedingly nutritious fruit of tbe cacao theohroma. 
Since 1832, when the previously hi avy duty wes 
reduced, the drinks prepared from cocoa have been 
rapidly and deservedly rising in puVlio favour. The 
consumption was only "OlS lb per head in 1831 ; i'l 
1852 it was -121 ;iQ 1872 •244'aud in 1891 -571. In 
1888 the Customs Commissioners cotod tbat the 
consuiXipliou of cocoa hnd iucreased 7.5 per cent, iu 
eight years, owing to its nutritiousness, its ease of 
preparation, and iis cheapness in public cocoa rooms, 
of which the number was rapialy growing. They 
held that it was " largely diaplacino^ coffee, and no 
doubt also alcoholic drmks." — H.and C. Mail, May 9. 
THE USE OF KOLA. 
With reference to the report of tbe recent s^le 
of a large quantity of kob-nuts in Holland in our 
last issue, Mr. Thomas Ohris'.ie writes : — " I bear 
that the kola-nnts tbat wire sent from Holland to 
Frat;ca were wanted for two purpose? — tbe better 
quality for the food of man, »nd the rorr.monquality 
to improve the ' horse-brearl ' which is being made 
in France to replace bay. Tbe French have never 
bien clever in meking, storing, or cutting bay for 
transport, but this year the hay crop in France 
has failed altogether, and so a oemand for food to 
be pressed into brick-bread, or • briquets,' after being 
ground and mixed, has sprung up in that country. 
The Americans have already had to face this q\ies- 
tion and have found thut nothing answered better 
thnn poplsr-wood as a base for the ' briqnelr.' I 
w<i8 ri-coinmeded by frieeds in Paris to kiiopt thie 
wood ior motf ibxn one reason, etipi-cid'y ae it in 
koowD und they < an comajtnil any qoaniity. We 
hnve eapplied koU-powiitr for ;ear« to certain 
tet'ders ot horses here, and a *w»ll quant ty m'x.>d 
with tbe food answera well."— CVtef/tist and Drugyist. 
CLEARING OFF OLD CINCHONA BAKK 
STOCKS. 
We call attpr tion to tbe following cariouB episode 
of b .rk sales related by the CJiemitt and Druijgisl : — 
Id our Trade Be pert ne refer to an exiraoidioary 
incie'cDt at TueEOay's ciucbona auclicns, viz., the 
sale of ICS bales of hard i-'ilayo bark, imported ten 
years ago, when f.ood bark of tbis kind was still 
quoted at 29 p r lb. The greater part o( thid 
particular parcel was bark of very poor quality, 
however, and even at tbe time of ite importation 
it went from London to tbe CoDtinent, and rice 
ve.ma, without finding a bayer. At an average value 
of, Bay, Cd a pound, the 46.3 packages which wire 
old on Tuesday represented, at tbe t in>>, a value 
of about i'l, 500. They have teen siuoe quietly 
resting in a warebcuse, tbe owners of whicn, tail- 
ing to find tbe warrantboldere wbo are 
responeible for the rent, advettieed them for 
Eale " witbout receive" the other day, in accordacoe 
wi:h an Act of Parliament which gives tbcm 
the right to difpose of unclaimed goodB lo this 
manner after a certain period. Tbe wairant- 
bolders, of course, knew better than to reveal tbeir 
identity, and at the bark tales abcut two-tbirde c( 
tbe bark was sold, much to tbe amuEement of all 
present, at the record breaking prices of onc-Eigbtb 
to one-sixteentb of a penny a pcuod for tbe greater 
part, while (be best lols brought from lid to 2d. 
per lb. Tbe aggregate amount realised by tbe lot 
was about 1802. lor »bicb the happy buyete sttuieJ 
about 2G tons of cinchona. Everybody was amusc^d 
excepting probably tbe original importers wbo are 
said to have refused from 4d to Cj per lb. (or tbe 
parcel ten years ago. The lowest-priced lots were 
bought by German quinine-makers the remainder by 
varloufl druggists. Even the best 'ots do not contain 
more than 1 per cent., while the oemmoner kinds 
arc said to repretjent 1 .se than J per cent, of eulphate 
of quinine. Still, the bark puicbased by tbe 
diuggists is partly packed in bicie-serons which are 
worth when in gocd condition abcut ds. a piece. 
■ 
COFFEE NOTES. 
A telegram from the city of Mexico says that 
energetic preparations are being made in Vera Cruz 
and Oaxaca to extend the cultivation of coffee. 
Large sales of land suitable for the purpose have 
taken place, and the culture is expected to assume 
great proportions in a few years. It is also stated 
that this year s coffee crop in Oaxaca will be very 
large. There is no doubt that the ruUng prices of 
coffie are stimulating coffee productidjQ in all the 
countries that have suitable land to spare, but for some 
years the effects of the iucreased planting will probably 
be slight, as the coffee tree does not bear until the 
fourth year. — Jlcrchayits' Rcvictc, Xev: Yorh. 
An editorial in the Aiiicrican Grocer ridicules the 
notion that the duty on Venezaelan, Columbian and 
Haj'tian coffiC has materiallj' enhanced the value of 
all Hinds of coffee in this market, but an advertisement 
in the same paper, over the signature of a jobbing 
firm, stated that owing to the duty shortening the 
supply from those countries, the advertisers are 
importing Java coffee to till up the gap. The supply 
of Java in this market is very much heavier than a 
year ago, which fact bears out the statement in the 
advertisement, Java coffee is more costly than the 
