135 
August  I,  1892.]  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
brought  to  maturity  during  the  late  little  spurt,  nud 
only  a few  thousand  packages  in  all  have  changed 
hands.  It  mud  be  remembered,  however,  that 
blended  teas  have  almost  entirely  superseded  the  con- 
sumption of  teas  from  original  packages.  Neverthe- 
less prices  re  firmer  and  salts  early  in  the  month 
brisker  than  for  some  time.  During  the  four  weeks 
some  2,500  packages  iu  all  of  India,  China,  and 
Ceylon  growths  have  been  placed,  from  low  to  good. 
Prices  are  not  given  in  any  esse,  but  from  all 
quarters  the  record  denotes  firmness  Th>-  Foschow 
market  opened  oo  9th  inst.,  prices  ruling  lower  ihan 
last  year,  and  business  done  lor  Australasia  lias 
been  extensive.  New  musters  are  expected  towards 
the  end  of  next  mouth. 
NOTES  ON  PRODUCE  AND  FINANCE. 
A Delusive  Hope. — There  has  been  so  little  for 
some  years  to  cheer  the  drooping  spirits  of  importers 
of  Chinese  grown  tea  that  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
that  they  make  the  most  of  anything  of  a hopeful 
nature  they  can  find.  The  reference  by  our  Consul 
at  Hankow  to  the  fact  that  last  year  showed  the 
first  increase  in  the  export  of  black  tea  for  that  port 
for  some  years  has  been  eagerly  seized  upon  in  some 
quarters  as  indicating  a reaction  in  favour  of  Chinese 
tea.  Unfortunately  for  the  hopes  thus  raised  there  is 
no  real  indication  of  anything  of  the  kind.  India  and 
Ceylon  hold  the  market  at  home,  and  if  the  planters 
are  wise  and  enterprising— and  they  seem  to  be  both 
— the  new  markets  will  also  be  steadily  assailed  and 
held  also. 
Another  Ceylon  Tea  Company.  - The  Caledonian 
(Ceylon)  Tea  Plantations,  Limited,  has  just  been 
registered,  with  a capital  of  £30,000,  in  £1  shares. 
The  prospectus  was  issued  on  Monday,  when  25,000 
shares  were  offered  for  subscription,  of  which  10,000 
will  be  allotted  to  the  vendor  as  fully-paid  on  account 
of  purchase-money,  thus  leaving  15,000  shares  to  be 
subscribed  for  by  the  public. 
The  Chicory  Question. — It  will  be  some  consolation 
to  coffee  planters  to  learn  that  the  path  of  the  vendor 
of  chicory  is  not  always  pleasant,  and  that  occa- 
sionally, at  least,  he  is  fined.  An  appeal  case  which 
has  occasioned  some  interest  in  the  trade  has  just 
been  heard  before  Sir  P.  H.  Edlin,  q.c.  The  appel- 
lant in  this  case,  a grocer  in  an  extensive 
way  of  business,  was  a mild  offender  by  com- 
parison with  many  who  are  not  fined,  but  he 
was  not  so  fortunate.  The  facts  were  as  follow:  — 
A young  man  was  sent  by  an  Inspector  under  the 
Sale  of  Food  Act  to  one  of  the  appellant’s  shops. 
He  asked  for  a quarter  of  a pound  of  coffee.  The 
assistant  thereupon  enquired,  “ Do  you  mean  shil- 
ling ? ” The  buyer  said  “ Yes,”  and  was  given  a 
J lb.  packet,  for  which  he  was  charged  3d,  and  which 
bore  a label  with  the  words,  “ This  is  sold  as  a 
mixture  of  chicory  and  coffee.”  He  admitted  that 
he  saw  the  label  before  he  paid  the  money.  The 
mixture,  when  analysed,  was  certified  to  contain 
40  per  cent,  of  coffee  and  60  per  cent,  of  chicory. 
In  the  course  of  the  evidence  of  the  appellant  it 
was  explained,  however,  that  the  mixture  of 
which  the  incriminated  sample  formed  part  was 
one  of  half  coffee  and  half  chicory,  but  that  it  was 
impossible  to  mix  the  substances  so  completely  and 
evenly  that  some  packets  would  not  contain  more 
than  50  per  cent,  of  coffee,  and  some  more  than  50 
per  cent  of  chicory.  The  judge  affirmed  the  con- 
viction for  all  that,  so  that  the  vendors  of  chicory 
mixtures  will  have  take  heed  to  their  ways. — II.  and 
C.  Mail , June  24th. 
* 
Uva  Grass. — The  following  inquiry  comes  from  a 
Californian  correspondent: — “Will  you  kindly  inform 
me  of  the  tame  and  habitat  of  a gigantic  grass  of 
which  I forward  a few  sprays  ? It  is  not  grown  here, 
but  is  imported  and  sold  in  a dry  state  under  the 
name  of  IJva  plumes.  The  plume  itself  is  monstrous, 
being  four  or  five  feet  long.  The  sprays  droop  entirely 
on  one  side,  reminding  one  of  the  fleece  of  a Cashmere 
or  Angora  goat.  The  people  who  furnish  the  plumes 
in  Enrope  will  not  give  the  name  of  the  grass-”  I 
received  a similar  inquiry  from  an  English  correspon- 
dent nearly  four  years  ago,  and  found  that  the  plumes 
were  then  offered  for  sale  by  London  florists  under 
the  came  of  Uva  Grass.  How  they  were  obtained  ia 
not  quite  clear,  some  stiting  that  they  came  from 
the  Congo,  others  from  Iudia.  Oi  comparing  the 
plumes  at  the  Kew  herbarium  it  was  found  to  be 
the  male  inflorescence  of  Gynerium  sacebaroides,  a 
gigantic  reel  which  grows  on  the  river-banks  of 
Gomans  in  Venezuela,  and  in  Brazil.  It  is  one  of 
the  mest  beautiful  of  all  tropical  grasses,  the  stems 
being  twelve  feet  loDg,  an  inch  in  diameter,  with 
leaves  five  feet  long  and  one  inch  in  width,  the  edges 
serrate  and  channeled  along  the  midrib.  In  habit 
the  plant  is  not  unlike  Arundo  Dotiax.  The  panicle 
is  terminal,  at  least  four  feet  long,  copiously  branched 
and  plume  like,  the  1 ranches  a foot  and  a half  long 
and  clothed  with  small  flowers,  which  when  dried 
are  gray-brown  in  color.  The  plumes  sold  in  the 
English  shops  are  six  feet  long,  including  tho  stalk  ; 
they  are  extremely  elegant  and  feathery,  but  are 
sometimes  disfigured  by  dyes  of  various  c<  lours.  There 
is  a large  plant  of  this  grass  iu  cu'tivation  at  Kew. 
It  is  grown  in  the  tauk  which  in  summer  contains 
tie  Victoria  regia,  and  is  as  striking  in  appearance 
as  some  of  the  Bimboos.  No  flowers  have  as  yet 
been  produced  by  this  plant.  It  is  probable  that  the 
plumes  sold  in  London,  and  also,  apparently,  those 
now  sold  in  America,  are  imported  from  Brazil. 
Some  of  the  plumes  were  among  the  exhibits  from 
the  island  of  Dominica  at  the  Colonial  and  Indian 
Exibition  held  in  London  in  1885.  It  is  by  no  means 
unlikely  that  this  Gynerium  could  be  grown  in  the 
southern  states,  particularly  Florida.  I have  rever 
seen  or  heud  of  any  othi  r plant  in  cultivation  in  Enrope 
except  that  at  Kew,  which  was  imported  direct  from 
Venezuela  about  fifteen  years  ago. — Garden  and  Forest. 
[The  above  is  interesting;  but  we  could  wish  that 
the  origin  of  the  name  “Uva,”  so  familiar  to  us  in 
Cevlon,  had  been  explained. — Ed.  T.  A.  1 
A Substitute  for  Cotton.— The  Fiyu  reports 
that  Mr.  Koyama  Bukei,  of  Kumamoto  Prefecture, 
has  invented  a substitute  for  cotton.  He  obtains 
it  from  the  bark  of  the  mulberry  tree.  The  bark 
is  first  suo-dried  and  afterwards  boiled  with  an 
aoid,  being  then  bleached  by  washing,  and  left  to 
dry.  Subsequently  it  is  separated  by  machinery, 
treated  with  medicated  water,  and  finally  freed 
of  its  outer  skin,  when  only  soft  fibres  remain 
from  which  cotton  is  obtained  by  a specially 
designed  machine.  It  is  olaimed  for  the  cotton 
that  it  possesses  many  properties  superior  to  the 
ordinary  staple. — Japan  Weekly  Mail. 
Fungi. — We  are  asked 
“ Do  you  know  of  any  good  cheap  illustrated  in 
color  work  principally  dealing  with  these  from  their 
use  and  value  as  a food  supply  ? Surely  we  have  all 
the  conditions  here  for  growing  these  excellent  vege- 
tables of  the  very  best  in  large  quantities,  but  next 
to  none  are  grown. — P.  W.  K.” 
The  best  works  on  Fungi  we  have  seen  are  by  a 
well-known  naturalist,  Mr.  Cook.  But  we  should 
think  that  any  good  work  on  gardening  would 
contain  instructions  on  the  cultivation  of  the  edible 
mushrooms.  When  cattle  were  allowed  to  graze  on 
the  Galle  Face  Esplanade  in  Colombo,  these  valu- 
able fungi  used  to  be  gathered  in  quantities  by 
Malays,  who,  we  believe  converted  them  into  cat- 
sup. If  our  recolleotion  serves  us  right,  so  long  ago 
as  1847,  Mr.  David  Baird  Lindsay  of  Rajawela 
estate,  Valley  of  Dumbara,  contributed  to  the 
proceedings  of  an  Agricultural  Society  which  then 
existed  at  Kandy  a detailed  account  of  his  suc- 
cessful production  of  edible  fungi.  The  process 
was  to  sow  fragments  of  the  mushrooms  sought  to 
be  grown  over  beds  of  heated  cow  and  horse 
manure.  The  first  authority  available  as  we  are 
writing  is  Hibberd’s  “Amateur’s  Kitohen  Garden,” 
whenoe  we  quote  a few  passages  on  page  13$. 
