i 9 o THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Sept. i, 1894. 
Enormous Extension of Tea Cultivation.— We 
premme that Mr. A. Y. Buchanan told our corres- 
pondent in London that bis friends hoped to con- 
clude the purchase of land in Travanoorc which 
"they" in'ended to o< nvert into "200 mil?sof Tea,' 1 
Mefsra. Fiulay, Mnir & Co. were the fmnds re- 
ferred to. This firm are the best judges os to 
whether so large a'i extension of the area under tea 
as is contemplated by them in Travancoro is likely 
to prove remunerative when in bearing, but Cejlon 
men wou'd do well to tike note of this, especially 
those who have thought of op'-ning more land in 
that product. 
" The Natural Hi&tory. of Plants." — Wo have 
received from Messrs. Blaokie & Son the third 
instalment of this excellent work. The present 
volume deils chiefly with the physiology and 
functions of the leaves and the reciprocal aotion of 
plants and soils. As in the case or the last volume 
the illu3trations preserve a high averago of merit. 
Prefixed to the whole is a coloured p'ate of Tro- 
pical Epiphytes in Ceylon, and the diagrams 
plentifully distributed throughout the body are 
peculiarly distinguished by the definiteness of their 
exeoution. Tbe matter is, perhaps, rather more 
abstruse than that coutaino.l in the previous num- 
ber; but it is nevertheless most interesting to 
peruse. Those of our readers who take a pride in 
their libraries should not allow this publication to 
pass unobserved.— Journal of Horticulture. 
The Odour and Use of Onions. — The odour of 
this vegetable, which is what makes it so unplea- 
sant, is due to a volatile oil, which is the same as 
that in garlic, though in the onion it is milder and 
naturally does not last so long. There are besides, 
easy ways of removing at once all unpleasantness 
from the breath. A little Parjley or a fewgraics 
of ooffee, or even a swallow or two of milk, if taken 
after eating, proves an effective remedy. Boiled 
onions are the least objeotionable iu regard to 
odour, and are as eisily digested as any. The 
oil in the onion passes off into the water in which 
the vegetables are boiled, and if the kettle be kept 
closely covered and tbe water ohanged after they 
have boiled five minutes, and then again ten 
minutes later, there wiil be no odour through tbe 
house, and the onions will bo white instead of grey, 
as they so often are. Besides being rich in flesh- 
forming elements raw onions are especially good, 
in breaking up a heavy cold; they aro also sti- 
mulating to fatigued persons, and are otherwise 
beneficial. — " Soientifio Amerioan." 
Coffee in Jamaica. — In a chat which I recer.tl- 
hal with 8ir Henry Blake, Governor of Jamaic», I 
gathered that he has a high opinion of tho future of 
that Island, especially of its coffee industry. On 
my venturing to remark that oue Ceylon planter of 
much experience had not succeeded in making his 
estate pay to any large extent, Sir Ilenry replied 
that his case was entirely an exceptional one ; his 
estate had been purchased under a misapprehension 
as to its acreage, and also as to the condition of the 
planted portions ; the fact was it had seen its best 
days, but for all that; there was, he was convinced, 
a brilliant future for anyone wbo entered on the 
industry with energy, skill, aud sufficient capital. 
There were tens of thousands of seres of good and 
suitable land to be had in the Island, but he would 
not be a party' to ee'ling very large contiguous blocks 
for the cultivation of cne kmd of produce, es he 
• believed thafc that had bean at the bottom of the coffee 
leaf-di*e>3so in Ceylon Bnd elsewhere. I called his 
attention to the steady deterioration of coffee long 
before leaf-diseafe made its appearanco, ts which he 
replied "true, but that was not It af-disease," and he 
reminded me that in a somewhat similar manner, and 
under similar conditions, terrible diseases were not 
attacking fields of tugar canes through the West 
Indies, all due to the bke cause, viz., a fungest pest. — 
London Cor. Local "Times." 
Tropical Australia. — The London Spectator 
remarks as follows on tbe paper in the " Nineteenth 
Century" for August: — 
Sir W. Des Voeux asserts strongly that Tropical 
Australia cannot be made as valuable as Temperate 
Australia, because dark labour cannot be procured 
in sufficient quantity. The settlers will not have 
Chinese, the Polynesian islands are getting depopu- 
lated, and India cannot supply enough coolies. Why 
not? India could supply five million without missing 
them or seriously reducing tbe natural increment 
her population. 
Handbook of the Floba of Ceylon. — .A fter an 
inteival of a twelvemorjth the second part of Dr. Tt.- 
men s excellent w, rk hat h n uiu"d. It contain! 
the Orders Connaraceo to Rubiacca, and an iubVx to 
parts one and two, with 25 qu .no coloured plates, 
il uitrating a sel< cticn of the more, rem* ksble p'aots. 
The author has wite'y alt* re i the mode of publication 
originally decided upou ; buviug separately paged ibis 
part, in<.t ad of continuing tbe pxginatiou from part 
ooe. It i', or «a', expected fa* two more volumes 
of about the same size would complete the work ; bat 
if the proportions if tbe Orders are about the same 
as iu British lidia, a fifth »ill be noceeaarj. — Ktu- 
Bulletin. 
Tiif. Future of Tea.— The Indian Planters' 
Gazette has some em ill remarks on this subjeot: — 
Ou chief endeavours should be n ade to find freeh 
outlets fcr the increasing production ; and it ia cer- 
tainly to tho interests of tbe industry to devote ao 
appreciable share of profits to tbia purpose. No 
matter bow much is nr. iter, it is impossible to 
materially retard progress iu tbe direction of opening 
up Btw areas ; and tt.ougb abandonments do occur 
in some directions, such as referred to in tbe late 
r--poit of the Chcrra Compauy in Cachar, tbese are 
naturally on poor yielding laud, ai.d tbe quantity of 
out-put is reduced to a very small extent. In our 
opiuicn it would be well f< r mauy of us to r<et a 
little and devote our attention to improving tbe o'd 
cultivation, »o as to get a b-tter quality ol Tea from 
tbe bush. We do not item •• 6ne t<a" for which, 
as it has been so of en pointed out, there is on the 
whole, one year with another only a limited demand ; 
but to avoid tbe rough lo hi >g thin hqo u rirg kinds 
ot which so much is offered in these days. Ceylon 
oan give what are kiow as freah flavoury liquors, 
but tbey have not to far bteu succ ssfal in getting 
much str ng'h in'o tLeir fe:i« ; and tl eir n. wspaperg 
are continually sounding a note of alarm regarding 
tbe depr< cintion in quality, and tbe absolute " filth " 
and " rubbish," as they characterize i', which it 
occasionally offered for sale. Here is India's oppor- 
tunity i put as much good quality as yon ran on the 
matket and let Ccjl n instead ot Chiua provide tbe 
poorer teas tbat are wanted to mix with oars. It 
se?ms hopeless to expect the general pubi c even to 
appreciate Indian leas alone. People at home will 
continue ihe old practice of steeping the Tea for any 
length of time ; putting it on ttie " bob " to draw 
as tbey used to with weak Chinas 30 years ago; a^d 
the medical faculty have sounded a note of warn'ng 
as to the nervous affections due to too much Tea 
drinking, which would not h&vi been needed if tea 
drinkers woald only infuse their tea for from three 
to five minutes, and not pj^son themselves with de- 
ooctiocs of theine and tannin fit to kill a horse. Let 
every one preach in season and out of season to all 
their friends at home, tbat tea, infused tor a few 
minutes in boiling water, should tben be pourel into 
a sepira'e tea pot when it miy be left i-tauding under 
a cosy as long as required. Let this system permeate 
from tbe drawing room to tbe kitchen and so through 
all grades of life, and we will keep the doctors on 
our side, and establish a taste for the pure unmixed 
Indian Tea. Tbe doctors' aid is not to be depised : 
it is they who brought whisky into general u6e to 
tbe detriment of the brandy sellers ; and who also 
put many a nervous person off tea aud order them 
cocoa, or even coffee, s-i decreasing tbe number of 
our consumeis. 
