438 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Dec.  i,  1892. 
votes  several  pages  of  his  valuable  paper  to  London 
Purple,  and  describes  and  illustrates  the  various  forms 
of  spraying  machines  and  nozzles  used  for  diffusing 
it  in  fine  spray  over  affected  plants. 
The  manufacturers  of  the  London  Purple  responded 
very  liberally  to  a suggestion  made  by  the  Society, 
and  have  forwarded  a quantity  of  their  preparation, 
and  an  American  spraying  machine  fitted  with  Climax 
nozzles,  for  trial  on  tea  gardens.  A supply  of  the 
“ Purple  ” and  the  pump  have  been  forwarded  to 
Kurseong  for  exhibition  and  trial  at  the  Agri-Horti- 
cultural  show  in  progress  there.  The  pump  is  shown 
in  a wood-cut  in  Mr.  Whitehead's  paper ; the  body, 
plunger  and  other  parts  are  made  of  "brass  and 
gun-metal,  and  though  it  is  small  and  very  portable, 
it  is  “capable  of  being  worked  to  a pressure  of  100 
lb.  on  the  square  inch  with  a moderate  amount  of 
hand  power,  though  50  to  60  lb.  pressure  is  sufficient. 
It  sends  a fine  mist  to  a height  of  20  feet,  and  a 
single  stream  from  40  to  50  feet.”  It  should  be 
possible  with  a portable  light  pump  of  such  power, 
for  a couple  of  men  to  go  over  a considerable  area  in 
the  course  of  a day.  This  may  be  practica  ly  settled 
by  the  Kurseong  Show  Committee. — Agricultural  and 
Horticultural  Society  of  India. 
— ♦ 
INDIAN  FIBRES. 
The  officer  in  charge,  Department  of  Land  Records 
and  Agriculture,  Bengal,  forwarded  copies  of  corres- 
pondence with  the  Collector  of  Mozufferpore,  and 
sample  of  fibre  prepared  at  the  request  of  Mr  D'Oyley 
by  Baja  Krist  Indra  Roy  Bahadoor  of  Balehar, 
Rajshahye,  Mr.  D'Oyley  mentions  the  Indian  name 
of  the  plant  furnishing  this  fibre  as  Bariara,  but  was 
at  the  time  unable  to  say  whether  it  is  the  Sida 
rhomboidea  or  S.  lanceolata,  (of  Roxburgh).  It  is 
probably  one  of  the'varieties  of  S.  rhombifolia  (Linn  ) 
which  includes  Roxburgh’s  rhomboidea.  The  Bariara 
fibre  has  been  noticed  or  reported  on  from  time  to 
time  for  a great  many  years,  and  valuations  have 
also  been  made.  Valuations  of  small  samples  of  new 
roducts  are  not  reliable.  It  is  different  with  well 
nown  articles,  but  an  unknown  article  has  to  be 
tested  in  various  ways  and  under  different  conditions, 
the  loss  of  weight  in  manufacture  noted,  and  its  adap- 
tability for  any  purpose  ascertained.  In  the  case  of 
fibre  about  1 cwt.  at  least,  is  required  to  get  reliable 
data  for  rope  making  purposes  alone,  and,  if  the  fibre 
appears  suitable  for  finer  purposes,  at  least  as  much 
more  is  necessary  for  practical  trial.  In  no  case  is 
any  ordinaiy  fibre  worth  the  trouble  involved  in  such 
trials,  unless  it  can  either  be  obtained  wild  in  large 
quantities,  or  can  be  grown  to  give  a good  weight  of 
fibre  per  acre  cheaply. 
The  Deputy  Commissioner,  Akola,  forwarded  speci- 
mens of  two  plants  yielding  fibre  named  respectively 
Barn  and  Arnbara,  and  requested  to  know  then- 
botanical  names.  They  were  identified  as  C otalana 
juncea  {Linn.),  or  sun  hemp,  and  Hibiscus  Cannabinus 
{Linn.)  Ambari  hemp  respectively:  both  are  well  known 
commercial  fibres. — Agricultural  and  Horticultural 
Society  of  India. 
HOW  TO  MAKE  COFFEE. 
A host  of  correspondents  have  been  beseeching  us 
these  many  weeks  past  to  give  them  a recipe  for 
making  coffee.  On  the  principle  of  every  man  think- 
ing his  own  geese  swans,  I believe  that  we  make 
as  good  coffee  in  our  house  as  is  to  be  met  with 
in  most  middle-class  families,  where  the  master  and 
mistress  know  something  about  cookery  ; and  I will 
tell  you  in  a very  few  words  how  our  coffee  is  made. 
We  allow  a tablespoonful  and  a half  for  each  break- 
fast cup  and  we  use  the  best  coffee  that  we  can  get. 
Formerly  we  had  a coffee  mill  and  ground  the  so-called 
beans,  which  are  really  the  seeds  of  the  coffee  berry 
at  home ; but  now  we  are  content  to  use  good 
colonial  coffee,  with  a very  small  modicum  of  chicory 
in  it.  To  make  the  delicious  beverage  we  use  that 
simple  percolator,  of  block  tin  which,  to  my  precise 
knowledge,  I have  seen  used  for  fifty  years.  In  the 
upper  cylinder  of  the  percolator,  we  place  the  coffee, 
we  close  the  top  with  a perforated  block  tin  disc 
to  prevent  the  aroma  from  escaping  during  the  process 
of  infusion  and  the  water  from  falling  with  a rush 
on  the  coffee,  then  we  pour  in  a sufficiency  of  boiling 
water,  and  the  infusion  percolates  into  the  lower 
cylinder,  and  is  in  due  time  poured  out  from  the 
spout  strong-,  and  clear  as  a bell.  That  is  all.  Stay, 
my  cook  tells  me  that  the  percolator  must  be  kept 
from  boiling  again,  which  would  be  fatal  to  its  flavour 
and  its  clearness;  but  it  must  be  placed  on  a “hot 
plate,”  to  prevent  the  contingency  of  its  becoming 
tepid.  Lukewarm  coffee  is  an  abomination,  on  which 
only  tortured  dumb  animals  and  miscreants,  guilty 
of  the  hideous  offence  of  breach  of  promise  of  marriage 
ought  to  be  fed. 
in  case  you  should  think  our  coffee  recipe  too 
rough  and  ready,  I have  given  you  on  the  other  side 
a number  of  recipes  culled  from  long  acknowledged 
authorities  on  the  subject.  As  I say,  there  are  a 
hundred  and  one  ways  of  making  coffee,  but  I have 
found  ours  not  only  palatable  to  ourselves,  but  to 
our  friends.  In  the  morning  at  breakfast  we  drink 
cafe  aulait — one  part  of  coffee  to  three  parts  of  boiling 
milk.  After  lunch  and  after  dinner,  and  altogether 
against  the  advice  of  my  medical  attendant,  I drink 
black  coffee  without  milk  and  with  a little  sugar. 
At  luncheon  I take  no  petit  vert  with  my  coffee;  after 
dinner,  I have  a liqueur  glass  of  green  chartreuse 
with  my  cafe  noir,  and  it  does  me  good.  My  medical 
attendant  may  go  to  Hong-Kong ; and  I have  not 
the  slightest  doubt  that  when  he  dines  at  the 
iEsculapian  Club  he  never  fails  to  take  his  petit 
vert  with  his  coffee.  I remember  dining  once  with 
no  less  than  nine  doctors ; they  all  ate  turtle  soup, 
they  all  took  curry,  they  all  drank  champagne  and 
port  afterwards,  they  all  had  liqueurs  with  their  dem  ie 
tasse,  and  they  all  smoked. 
It  is  amusing  to  read  what  some  old  culinary 
authorities  have  to  say  about  coffee.  Worthy  Dr. 
Kitchener,  in  his  “Cock's  Oracle"  (1827),  observes 
that  coffee,  as  used  on  the  Continent,  serves  the 
double  purpose  of  an  agreeable  tonic  and  an  exhilara- 
ting beverage,  without  the  unpleasant  effects  of  wine  ; 
but,  as  drunk  in  England,  it  debilitates  the  stomach 
and  produces  nausea,  being  usually  made  from  bad 
coffee  served  up  tepid  and  muddy,  and  drowned  in 
a deluge  of  water,  sometimes  deserving  the  title  given 
to  it  in  “ The  Petition  Against  Coffee  ” (1874),  “ a 
black,  base,  thick,  nasty,  bitter,  stinking,  puddle  w'ater.” 
For  making  coffee,  the  doctor  recommended — sixty 
five  years  ago,  you  will  remember — the  use  of  the 
“German  filter,"  which  was  only  a simple  percolator, 
and  he  adds  that  at  least  four  shillings  a pound 
must  be  paid  for  the  coffee,  and  that  at  least  an  ounce 
should  be  allowed  for  two  breakfast  cups.  As  to 
making  coffee  in  the  ordinary  coffee  pot,  the  old 
fashioned  mode  of  boiling  and  clearing  the  liquid, 
it  is  simply  abominable.  I have  read  one  recipe 
where  you  are  told  that  before  you  make  your  coffee 
you  should  put  it  into  a basin  and  break  into  it  an 
egg,  white,  yolk,  shell  and  all.  This  compost  being 
put  into  the  pot,  it  is  to  be  boiled  up  three  times. 
It  will  then,  says  the  prescriber  of  this  nastiness, 
be  as  clear  as  amber,  and  “ the  egg  will  give  it  a 
rich  taste.”  Sometimes  the  dried  skin  of  sole  and 
cod  fish  scraped,  washed,  and  dried,  and  cut  in  pieces 
an  inch  square  were  used  for  settling  the  coffee,  and 
isinglass  was  another  favourite  clearer.  We  had  a 
cook  once  who  maintained  that  the  only  possible 
way  of  clearing  coffee  was  to  throw  a live  coal  into 
the  pot  after  its  final  boil.  That  cook,  I hope,  came 
to  a bad  end. — Sala's  Journal. 
RECIPES. 
Soyer’s  Method. — Choose  the  coffee  of  a very  nice 
brown  colour,  .but  not  black  (which  would  denote 
that  it  was  burnt,  and  impart  a bitter  flavour)  ; grind 
it  at  home  if  possible,  as  you  may  then  depend  upon 
the  quality;  if  ground  in  any  quantity,  keep  it  in 
a jar  hermetically  sealed.  To  make  a pint  put  two 
ounces  into  a stewpan,  or  small  iron  or  tin  saucepan 
