440 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Dec. i, 1894. 
Marks Act because this tea could not be really 
classified as "India" or "China" or "Ceylon," 
being the sweepings of warehouses. All these facts are 
perfectly well-known to the managers of warehouses 
who have sold their " Tea sweepings " to the Ham- 
burg firm. They also knew what was going to be 
done with the tea and that it was to be used as an 
article of food. 
It is hardly to be surprised at, that some of our 
Dock Companies are in such a pitiable position, finan- 
cially, when they will descend to thwart honest 
English trade in this country and actually throw 
their interest and energies into augmenting the trade 
of foreigners who are doing their utmost to cut against 
English industries. I hope next week to be able to 
send you a report of what took place at the meeting.— 0. 
" COCA PATE." 
London, Nov. 1. 
Dbak Sir, — In reading the Tropical Agriculturist I 
note there has been a discussion on the word " Pate." 
When speaking of the material which is made in 
South America and comes over here it is always 
called Pate : this may mean paste, but we look upon 
Easte as something liquid ; this stuff is as hard as a 
rick and I take it to be the native name. — Yours 
truly, COCA. 
INDIA-RUBBER : VARIETIES AND THEIR 
PREPARATIONS. 
London, E. C. Nov. 6. 
Sin, — Last night at the meeting of Chemical Li- 
dustry, Mr. P. xi. Reid, read a paper on oxidised 
Linseed Oil. He showed distinctly the decay in 
Linseed Oil by process of time. In his paper he 
compared the action which takes place with that 
occurring in india-rubber. I do not follow this 
interesting paper any further, as no doubt you will 
see it in the "Journal of Chemical Industry ;" and 
no doubt you will extract the details and also the dis- 
cussion for your Tropical Agriculturist, but I would like 
to add that the President of the Society, who attended 
last night, stated that during his travels in South America 
he had carefully watched the preparation of the 
india-rubber and he wished it to be distinctly un- 
derstood, that it is his opinion, that the vapour from 
nuts or special woods had nothing whatever to do 
with producing the coagulation of the milk. He 
said that in carefully watching the Indians, most 
of the large families or tribes employed a different 
nut or different wood ; but he was convinced that 
the only action upon the india-rubber was the 
drying action from the fire. I was much struck by 
these remarks, because during the week I have 
read with great interest a paper published by Mr. 
Thompson, who is now located in the United 
States of Columbia. He also agrees with this. 
You will no doubt have this paper and if you turn to 
the last report from the Government Gardens in 
Jamaica I think you will see that they also are 
of the same opinion. * I would like to carry the point 
one step farther by saying that the Landolphia 
is known as having a very thin stem and also a 
thin root when in the young state, and naturally 
it will be impossible to tap the stems of this valu- 
able rubber plant. I suggested that it would be a 
good plan to take the stems, cut them to a suit- 
able length and boil them. This has been done on 
the Congo : and I have the results, which may be 
classified thus : — 
The stick very quickly yields the bark and can 
be taken out of the cauldron quite clean without 
any rubber in it. By continuing the boiling the 
rubber falls to the bottom, and the bark, like saw- 
dust is easily extracted. By continuing this process 
the rubber is easily sepaiated sufficiently to make 
it a marketable article. As many of the readers of 
your paper have cultivated the Picus varieties of 
rubber and know how easily they sprout after being 
• "We have quoted already into our Tropical 
Agriculturist.— SHo. T,A, 
cut down, it will occur to them that if the branches 
of these varieties were boiled, both leaves and 
stems they ought to yield the rubber, because the 
actual juice of the rubber has been supposed 
to be insoluble. I have instituted experiments 
with this object in view in different parts, because 
if this plan answers with all the varieties of the 
rubber-yielding plants, then it will be easy to greatly 
increase the vield of rubber — Yours ti ulv. 
THOMAS CHRISTY. 
THE MOON'S INFLUENCE ON "TEA 
FLUSH. ■ 
Talawaki-lc, Nov. 15tb. 
Peak Mk. Editor, — You may be surprised to learn of 
the moon's influence, as a factor in tea flushing (a 
much discussed subject in your columns of late). Let 
me ttand or fall by uiy opinion in public estimation, 
and let practical planters of cxpcrkure say, if, in 
flushing season, the best flush of tin- month is not 
always when "The (Jueen of Nigbt " shims her 
lovely face on it, and the sun his warming fpfloeaoes 
during the day? At this very time the nioou lias 
played her part in forcing on the now abundant flusb. 
Wr are busy, and pressed to keep up to it. Yours 
faithfully, AGHICOLA. 
THE MOON AND TEA FLUSH. 
Dear Sir, — Agricola is desirous " to stand or fall 
in public estimation by his opinion," as expressed on 
this subject. I wonder what will happen if he " falls ? " 
— if, like Lucifer, never to rise again t And if he 
" stands " I suppose we ought to give him a monu- 
ment, or a medal ? But to the question itself. It is 
a curious fact that some men will persist in turning 
away from causes which are obvious and natural — 
staring them daily and hourly in the face — to search 
elsewhere, anywhere, so that it be in the wrong 
direction. Here we have the glorious Sun, the lord 
and giver of light and of life, who makes the wind 
to blow and the rain to fall, summer and winter 
seed-time and harvest, all over the world; yet with 
all this fathomless influence we are asked to ignore 
it, and to turn to the miserable Moon, 1 beg pardon 
the " Queen of Night," to pay our homage and thanks 
giving. "Agricola" does, indeed, save his credit, and I 
suppose his fall, by linking the Sun's " warming in- 
fluence during the day " with the greater influence 
of the Moon's lovely face during the night. Well 
I am rather gone on lovely faces myself, and. there-, 
fore, I don't wonder that the " ilush " al»o likes 
Coming out to-night, 
Coming out to-night, 
To dance by de light ob de moon I 
In Arago's " Popular Astronomy " there is an amusing 
chapter, too long to quote, bearing on this subject. 
Says Louis XVIII to his assembled astronomers, 
" I am delighted to see you all around me ; since you will 
explain to me clearly what the red moon is, and how 
it affects the harvests." " Laplace remained as if 
pinned to the earth." Though so great an authority 
on the moon, he had never heard of the " red moon." 
All he could answer was " Sire, the red moon does not 
occupy a place in astronomical theories ; we are not, 
therefore, prepared to satisfy your Majesty's curio- 
sity." Later in the evening the King joked a good 
deal about the embarrassment into which he had 
thrown the learned astronomers. Laplace heard of 
this, and determined to find out all about the red 
moon. He consulted Arago who more astute replied : 
"I will go and collect information on the subject from 
the gardeners of the Jardin des Plantes and other 
Agriculturists," like Agricola. Well, to cut a long 
story short, it proved to be a popular, unscientific 
belief, or superstition, like the moon and the weather 
lore still so ignorantly believed in. But the red 
moon did not foster growth, but checked it ; that is 
such nights, in Europe, are colder, " the moon was 
by no means," he says, "the agent," but only the 
sign of a clear sky, and " whether she has set or is 
still above the horizon, the phenomenon equally 
occurs. Modesty in scientific matters, as our friend 
in Jaffna has taught us, is a great virtue. 
ONE INTERESTED. 
