132 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. f Aug. i, 1894. 
At Tehinde you ohange into email river steamers 
by which you are conveyed to Eatunga on the 
Shire and thence you ride up 25 miles to Blentyre 
which is to all intents and purposes the capital, 
though the peat of administration is at Zunba, 
40 miles near to Lake Nyassa. There era about 
2G5 Europeans settled in the country. 
THE NEW SEASON'S (CHINA) TEAS. 
Our own Mincing-lane correspondent reports that 
business has been more active in tbe tea market 
through the arrival of tbe new season's Black Leafs. 
Samples were shown on the 4th instant, and sales 
to a comparatively large extent were effected at a 
range of prices which must be satisfactory to im- 
porters. The highest prices so far is 2s 6d per 
lb. The general run of quality proves more on tbe 
useful olas", but of finest there are not as many parcels 
as could be desired, though it is the grade most wanted. 
At current rates merchants will do well to at once quit 
their holdings. 
It may perhaps be noted as a rather melancholy 
fact tbat not a single London paper specially noted 
the arrival of the " Moyune " with the first of the 
new season's teas. 
The run of the " SIcyune" from the Red Buoy at 
Woosung to Graveserul was 34 days 9 hours 40 minutes 
or a few hours shorter than last year, when the time, 
was 35 dajs. Messrs. Wills & Co. (Limited), the 
agents of tbe China Mutual Steam Navigation 
Company at Port Said, state that tbe "Mo}u:e" 
took in at Port Said 570 tons of coil in one hour and 
twenty minutes. — L. and C. Express, July 6. 
TEA ADULTERATION. 
Thaoka to the wise regulation by whioh teas are 
analysed by the Customs Department, tea adulteration 
has been practically made impossible in EDglaor 1 . It 
is Dot so, however, in Sydney. According to our 
go-ahead contemporary, the Westminster Gazette, at 
a recent sitting of the local Parliament onu of tbe 
members, Mr, Neild, " drew from his coat-tail pockot 
a sample of tea, and handed the same to Sir George 
Dibbs for the edification of the authorities." Ten 
days later tbe Premier a°sured tha A?semb y, upon 
the authority of the Government analyst, that the 
tea contained " distinct traoes of lead and antimony, 
to say nothing of wooden chips and shavings, and 
wa», in faot. quite unfit for consumption." 
The sample, it appears, came from a bulk shipment 
of nearly a thousand cheats, most of which had found its 
way into the " festive teapot " before the Parlia- 
mentary exposure. The lead discovered by the analyst 
has been described by a Sydney merohant as " colour- 
ing matter," and he says that if you picked out 
from the tea a piece of stalk you oould write your 
name with it, almost as though yon had a blackiead 
pencil in your hand. It seems that the common 
plan of colouring on tbe plantations is to "involve 
an infusion of lamp.blaok into the leaves, or else churn 
the leaves along with lumps of blaoklead in a 
revolving barrel." A great deal of this mixture is 
we learn, landed in Sydney every year. Does arjy of 
it ever reich London? 
jb^The Westminster' s inquiry if any of this reaches 
London is answered by tbe fact tbat we are protected 
from suoh adulterations by the Customs chemist's 
examinatirns of all imported teas. There is, however, a 
swindle practised with teas which we exposed some time 
ago, aud which is still being carried on by . ome of the 
largest of the much-advertised paoket ted firms, who 
use a "tta-faking" machine. The large refeshment 
caterers and hotels have a great quantity of exhausted 
tea leaves. Theee, on being dried and passed through 
the "tea-making" maohiue, can be, and are, made to 
have the appearanoe of tbe finest teas, and when 
mixed off in moderate proportions with genuine tea 
may be sold to the public without any risk of detection. 
It is only a few months since an offer was made to 
the Aerated Bread Co., by a gang of persons anxious 
to further develop|and exploit this swindle, to oollect 
ti e waste leaves at a eerta : n price from the whole 
of this company's establishments. We understand, 
however, the offer was declined The companj would 
cot lend itself to any turn, practices, aid it i* a pity 
that a similar high sense of honour dees not afflict some 
cf the largest picket tea firms, who have been la'e'y 
freely indulging in this swindle.— Food and Sanitation . 
SEASONING TIMBER. 
The timber, after cutting (known as felliog), thould 
be placed in a dry position, so that the a.r may circu- 
late freely round it. It should not be placed in tbe 
sun or w nd, or it will be sure to " crack " and 
"warp" very much in Crjing. If the limber is 
roughly squared with the sx», it will not split to euch 
an extent as though it were left in tbe round. If 
the tr> es are large, tbey may with advantage be 
cut " on the quarter," alter a period of drying in 
il e whole state. A good plan is to set the timb«r 
uptight, as it will dry much more rapidly. After 
remaining in tbe "quartered" state some time, it 
may be cut up into the desired s ; ze. The boards, 
as cow cut, will require careful atteution before being 
in a fitsta'e to ute. They should be placed in dryiug- 
sheds, with the ends open to the air, avjidicg, if 
possible, posi'ioDS in which the wind will act directly 
np n tb em, The floor should be of some hard mate- 
rial, such as cement, and should be kept perfectly dry. 
Bearers mo.', be placed horizontally between the 
uprights, leaving a space between eaoh equal to tbe 
width of board- ; these bearers should be placed about 
four feet ai art. The boards are placed on tdge with 
strips between them, a nail beiug driven into the top of 
ta ii 6trip to prevent its falling downwards. An 
alternative arrangement is to place the boards one 
upon the other, with strips between each piece, 
taking care to place the strips en-i exactly over the 
other, There are many methods of hasleuing the 
dryiDg of timber, one of which is to p'ace it com- 
pletely under water for a time, afterwards placing 
it on end. This will prevent to a great extent the 
" warpiog " of " stuff when used by tbe joicer. 
Nothing, however, equals natural drying, which make* 
tbe ''stuff " more durable. For timber nsed by the 
carpenter, two years may be stated as a reasonable time 
for it to season, but for the porpose of the joiner it 
should not be used under three years, unless artificially 
dried.— From Work for July. 
Me. D. Maceay on Peb&k.— In a conversation I 
recently had with Mr. D. Mackay I gathered that 
he had a high opinion of tbe future of Perak for both 
kinds of coffee, a ad, moreover, that there would be a 
splendid opening for coconut planting as theie is a 
grand market for the product in Ctina, where the 
growers of tea as well as the crowds in the cities 
are eager buyers of the nut, which realises a good 
price in the bazaars. His opinion of the Waterloo 
estate is that it cannot fail to be a profitable invest- 
ment, the soil aud the climate being both in its 
favor. It is already yielding good returns, and I 
shall not be at all surprised to learn that the current 
report of a coffee plantation in Perak being converted 
into a limited company has referenca to this pro- 
perty, though I cannot be certain in regard to it ; 
but the names ol those mentioned to me in connec- 
tion with the enterprise would point to it. My 
informant thinks that, so long as fine and suitable 
land oan be had in the Straits for BIO per acre, 
few will care to take up laud in Ceylon at RlOo! 
For some time labor and the Government land re- 
gulations 6tood in the way of planting in the Malay 
Peninsula; bat these things are now changed. The 
land regulations are now modified, and Chinese will 
make as good ooffee cultivators as Indians, and far 
more reliable, for these latter get too much pay, and 
as a rule soon go to the dogs^ whilst, if John Chinaman 
has equally good pay he doe9 good work for it. As 
regards coconuts in Perak, it seems that the trees 
come into bearing sooner and bear more heavily 
than in Ceylon.— London Cor., "Times of OeyloB." 
