464 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Jan. i, 1894. 
This 18 what J. Albert de MsnHelslo eaid in 16G2 at 
p. 195 of bis " Voyages and Xrave's " concernii)(? onr 
NEW PRODUCT. "As ff t Tsia it is a kind of 'J'l/e or 7'ea 
liut tha plaut is mncli more delicate aod n)ore Li?hlj 
esteemed than that of TI16. Persona of quality keep 
it very ofirefully in earthen pot8 w 11 stopped 
and luted that it may not take wind, but the 
Ja.pponescs prepare it quite olherwise than is done in 
Europe, for instead of infuBing it iuto warm water, 
they beat it as small as powder and take the tea as 
much as will lie on the point of a knife and put 
it iato a dieh of Porcelain or earth fnll of fealhiug 
water, in which they st'r it till the water be all Krceii, 
ftnd then drink it as hot as they can endure it. It is 
excellent good after a debau h, it being ccitain there 
is not anything that allays the vapunrs and ttil's 
the stomach better than this herb doth. The pots 
they make uie of about this kind of drii k are the 
most precious of any of their bonsehnld s'ulf inasmnch 
as it ii known that there have been Tsia pots which 
had cost betweeu six and seven thuuatiud pounds 
sterling." 
While I was at Aberystwyth m North Wales 
lately I made the following cotes on the names of 
SOME WELL-KNOWN ESTATES IN CEYLON : — 
Fenmyuydd. The name siguiGej " mountain-top, ' 
and was given to the village from respect to the 
mansion of the eame uime whioh is famijus for beiug 
the place where Owain Tudor was born in 1384. 
Peurbos. The name of tbis village sigiiifies ttie "top 
of a meadow or plain." From 2>en, heard, eni, and 
rlws, meadow, mocr. 
Pauihyn. Hhi/n, means a promontory. lUie, run, rain, 
Acd rhyn are Otsrivalives of the Sanskrit ri. Jtliedeg, 
ruuuii g ; reindeer, tlie running di.'er, rhf, hwifi. 
Penrhyn, a poiut of lan'l that rjiiS into the Sta. Rhine, 
a rapid river. The Rlnjiis &Ta numerous in our iHland 
Jtindow point near Ziston : I'enrhyn in Ooruwail : 
Mhynd in Perth : the Kins uf Ualway, &c. 
Ab'irgele. Tbis pleasuut market town is so called 
from its situation near tbe mouth of the river Gde. 
The river according to some, acrives its name Irom 
gele, leech. A considerable number of leeches were 
seen at tbe tstuary in olden times, but we are in- 
cltoed to think tbe word is a cuutractiou o. ,'/c/cii, 
ooze, 80 called Irom the very nature of the water. 
liugrtly (? Begele). Ben, an ox: and i/e/i/, a cjr- 
rnptiuu ot gelly, grove, signifying f tlia buffalo of 
tbe forest," 
aha above show the u'e of philology : I add one 
to show its abuse : — 
Wrexham. tiomeboJy, more wittily than correctly 
Baid that Gtorecsam me-ins Gvnaig Sam, Sam's wife ! 
Sthangb Facts about Tea and Coiteb. — On account 
of the vast ditfereuce existing in ti e chemical con- 
stituents of water in various districts up aud down 
the country, many of the great wholesale tra and 
eoffee merchants have had to have analyses of the 
different waters in every town aud diatiict in Great 
Britain made, and tbis at tiuormoas expeLse, 
d?he reason of tbis is that a tea or cotfee which 
comes out full of fine flavour and body iu one town 
becomes a very pojr decoction indeed in another, 
tbis being on account of the difference in the effect 
produced by the two qualities oE water, just as the 
waters of Burton or Dublin particularly favour the 
brewing of ale or stout respectively. thtrefore, 
becomes necessary, in order to preserve the reputa- 
tion of any well-known tea, tbat a somewbat different 
blend of tea or quality of coffee, though with the 
same label f hall be sent to different districts according 
10 the peculiaiity of the water. 
One great tei-flrm is declared to have expended 
upwards of ten thousand pounds in chemical processes 
duilUg the past five-ye^rs. (Ansivers |Nov. ISch, 1893., 
A CEYLON PLANTER IN BRAZIL : 
Rio,Ocr. 31st, 1893. 
COFFEE. 
Coflee continues to come down country; it finds 
^ leady st ^e^' eustaiaed prices fcom tnentj? 
to twenty-four milreis an arroba (15 kilos). This 
gladdens tbe heart of the ocffee pltnter, for the coal 
of production has cot increased iu aoytbiug like tbe 
fame proporiion. 
Crops fur the comirg season IttU-'Jo are expected 
to be large, for o/</ ^c/^ee Las given omkll crops during 
the current eeason. These six months l ave betn all 
that could be desired for forming young wood and 
frosts have kept away. 
LABOUB 8CPPLT. 
Cbinete labour supply has not ai yet eomo within 
praolicabl'4 attainment, and tbe cbohra ke^-pt 
hanging about the Mediterranran ports, abicb has 
put a stop to Italian luniigraliou. A. tS. ii. 
P.S. — liy this steamer a sri all box of coflce »eed 
goes to Mr. Oonley, East Africa, as a trial. Tbis befra 
is for Mr. Percy Braiee. A. S. B. 
« 
TLANTIXG ODDS AND ENDS. 
{From ail ex-Cci/lou Planter.) 
Cinchona — Some of my late planting neighbours 
may be glad to read the following cutting from a 
paper, which seems to hint at there being a good 
time coming for those who have saved some of their 
cinchona trees and not cut them all down when 
quinine was a drug in the market in more senses 
than one: — 
" At intervals of a few years cinchona caltiration is 
sute to crop up, the demand for quinine being well 
snstained, especially in the United States, and in 
other countries in which fevers and ague prevail. 
Cinchona has been rushed on several occasions, one 
of the most noteworthy having taken platce in Ceylon 
after the failure of coffee in consequence of the 
disease which destroyed so many plantations. From 
these and other causes the quinine market has been 
glutted, but indications are not wanting of a ri^e 
in the value of that all-important medicine. The 
magnitude of the demand will be better understood 
from a statement recently published by a New 
York house that the imports of quinine (ae sul- 
phate and in the bark) into tbe United iitates in 
1S92 amounted to at least 4,5O0,0O0oz., or half the 
estimated output of all the factories in the world. 
Stocks in the States having become much lighter, 
it is argued that the consumption of quinine iu 
America must be on the increase ; also that generally 
all over the world the consamption is aheaid of the 
production, and that the surplus stocks of former 
years are being used up. Cinchona culture was 
commenced on a small scale in Queensland some 
years ago ; it would be interesting to know how the 
industry has fared. In 1881, the Cinchona Flaulcr'a 
Manual was published by Messrs. A. M. and J. Fergu- 
son, Colombo, Ceylon. It is a comprehensive work, 
and fully up to the times — in matters of culture 
aud marketing." 
" Tea and Bbandy. — The superiority of tea over 
brandy in many cases is beyond question. The idea 
still lingers that alcohol keeps out the cold. As a 
matter of fact mountaineers have found by repeated 
experience that the opposite of this holds true. 
Homt paper." 
The truthfulness of the foregoing I can testify to 
from personal experience and no one has better 
opportunities for testing than the residents among 
the cold, high hills of New Zealand, where I dwelt 
so long. 
HOW TO GEEMINATE TEA SEED. 
A Kotagiri jilanter of much experience kindly 
send.s us tbe following valuable notes: 
" Unless you are perfectly sure ot a long break of 
fioe weather do not sow your seed in open nurseries ; 
but germinate them under cover. Heavy rain rots 
tbe seed so this is an important point. Dig a hole 
about 3 feet deep or less, fill in with well stamped 
fern till half full. Then cover with a layer of soil. 
The seed may now be put io, slightly covered with 
about an inch 01 less of lijfbt sifted soil or sand. 
Keejp (t dnmp watering ab^i^t twice « weekt I 
