March  i,  1893.]  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
58s. 
TEA  PLUCKING,  CROP  AND  SHIPMENT 
PROSPECTS. 
The  announcement  made  by  our  contemporary  of 
the  “Times”  the  other  day  that  the  “ ooarse 
plucking”  of  tea  was  once  more  coming  into  vogue 
in  the  planting  districts,  created  no  little  pertur- 
bation in  some  quarters.  It  was  so  far  justified 
by  the  apnarent  better  demand  for  the  time,  for 
the  coarser  teas,  and  the  natural  expectation  was 
that,  as  a consequence,  our  tea  shipments  would 
b?gin  rapidly  to  rise.  We  concluded  at  once  to  make 
inquiries  upcountry  and  the  result  we  are  glad  to 
say  is  entirely  contradictory  of  the  report  that  a 
s ason  cf  “coarse  plucking”  had  set  in  and  still 
more  that  increasing  shipments  might  be  expected. 
One  gentleman  with  extensive  means  of  knowing 
what  is  going  on  in  the  tea  districts,  writes : — 
“ I do  not  believe  coarse  pluoking  has  commenced 
ti  any  extent.  A few  places  may  have  gone  back 
to  it  ; but  it  has  not  come  under  my  notice  except 
in  a very  few  places,  and  I have  just  been  all 
round  th9  country.”  That  seems  decisive,  and 
the  opinion  i3  backed  up  by  that  of  another  autho- 
rity who  writes When  tea  prices  rose  a few 
months  ago  the  plucking  became  a little  ooarser 
on  some  estates,  but  absent  proprietors  as  a rule 
are  eo  particular  about  the  quality  of  tho  teas 
that  go  home  from  their  estates  that  euperintei  d- 
ents  are  obliged  to  be  cart  ful  about  the  leaf.  This 
at  any  rate  is  my  experience,  and  if  it  is  that  of 
others  also,  there  need  not  be  much  fear  of  an 
undue  proportion  of  the  lower  grades  finding  their 
way  to  the  London  market  from  Ceylon,  unless,  of 
oourse,  there  is  a great  rush  of  leaf  and  not  enough 
coolies  to  deal  with  it.  The  country  at  the  present 
time  however  is  abundantly  supplied  with  labour.” 
We  learn  further  that  the  latest  reports  received 
in  Colombo  from  the  higher  districts  are  of  un- 
favourable weather  for  the  flush,  the  cold  wind  at 
night  still  prevailing.  And  as  a matter  of  fact  the 
reoeipts  of  tea  here  at  present  are  not  such  as  to 
warrant  any  increase  in  shipments.  The  conclu- 
sion arrived  at  therefore  is  that  (notwithstanding 
the  large  shipment  of  nearly  a million  lb.  by  one 
vessel  in  this  month  as  in  last)  iho  total  export 
for  February  is  not  likely  much,  if  at  all,  to 
exceed  that  for  the  mouth  of  January.  Such  is 
the  effeot  of  the  information  whioh  reaches  us 
from  upcounlry  today  oheoked  by  what  we  have 
learned  in  Colombo. 
ADULTERATING  COCOA 
will  certainly  possess  interest  for  many  of  your 
planters.  In  the  days  when  coffee  was  king  in 
Ceylon  prosecutions  of  this  nature  were  of  almost 
daily  occurrence.  With  tea  superseding  coffee  one 
has  heard  but  little  of  such  cases  as  of  interest 
to  Ceylon  ; but.  it  would  now  seem  as  if  another 
of  your  leading  products  was  to  take  the  place  of 
oofiee  in  our  polioe  reports.  If  the  practice  of 
adulterating  oocoa  shou'd  appear  to  extend,  it  may 
become  the  duty  of  your  Ceylon  Association  to 
renew  the  efforts  it  made  to  check  the  illegitimate 
advertising  of  rubbishy  blends  purporting  to  be 
pure  Ceylon  tea.  Although  those  efforts  were 
put  a stop  to  for  fear  of  harassing  the  trade 
and  so  creating  a feeling  among  its  members 
inimical  to  Ceylon  teas,  there  oan  be  no  doubt 
that  tho  precautions  instituted  by  the  Associa- 
tion did  a great  deal  of  good,  and  there  are 
many  among  us  who  regret  that  its  was  deemed 
advisable,  for  the  reason  above  mentioned,  to  dis- 
continue them. 
Adulterated  Cocoa— At  the  Harlesden  Petty 
Sessions,  yesterday,  James  Henry  Attfield,  an  oil 
74 
and  colour  man,  of  High-street,  Harlesden,  was 
summoned  for  selling  cocoa  adulterated  with  at  least 
40  per  cent  of  starch  and  sugar.  Mr.  Lay  appeared 
for  the  Middlesex  County  Council,  and  Mr.  St.John 
Wontner  defended.  Walter  Tyler,  the  inspector 
under  the  county  council  for  the  western  division 
of  Middlesex,  and  his  assistant,  Edward  Reeve, 
proved  purchasing  a jib.  packet  of  Epps’s  cocoa  for 
3$d.  at  the  defendant’s  shop.  Mr.  Bevan,  the  county 
analyst,  had  given  his  certificate  that  the  portion 
of  the  cocoa  sent  to  him  contained  at  least  40  per- 
cent of  starch  and  sugar.  The  defence  was  that 
the  label  upon  the  packet  showed  that  it  contained 
a mixture  of  cocoa,  arrowroot,  and  sugar.  Mr. 
Wontner  argued  the  case  at  great  length,  stating 
that  cocoa  must  be  adulterated  to  be  made  pala- 
table. Mr.  H.  Epps  said  he  was  a member  of  the 
firm  of  James  Epps  and  Co.  The  starch  was  cer- 
tainly not  ordinary  washing  starch,  but  the  best 
West  Indian  arrowroot.  The  Bench  said  they  must 
convict  because  they  were  of  the  opinion  that  the 
label  did  not  show  the  packet  to  contain  a mixture. 
There  was  a label  upon  the  packet,  but  it  was  in 
learned  and  scientific  language.  The  defendant 
must  pay  a fine  of  40s.  A case  would  be  stated  for 
a higher  Court. — John  Taylor,  a chandler,  of  Kil- 
burn,  was  also  summoned  for  selling  cocoa  which 
contained  60  per  cent  of  starch  and  sugar  and  about 
one  thi  d of  the  fat  usual  in  genuine  commercial 
cocoa.  In  this  case  the  cocoa  was  a ‘2d  packet  of 
Fry’s.  Mr.  Hood  appeared  for  Messrs.  J.  S.  Fry 
and  Sons.  The  purchase  and  analysis  were  proved, 
but  the  Bench  held  that  the  wording  of  the  label 
upon  the  packet  was  clear,  and  showed  that  the 
packet  contained  a compound ; they  therefore  de- 
clined to  convict. 
— London  Cor.,  Jany.  20. 
INTERESTING  NOTES  ON  TEA. 
( Specially  collided  for  the  “ Tropical  Agriculturist  ” by 
A.  M.  Ferguson,  Jr.,  London.) 
Afternoon  Tea. — (16th  S,  iv,  49,136.)  Ina  sketch 
of  the  Count  de  Circourt  (friend  of  Macaulay  and 
Stanley),  by  Hubert  Saladin,  the  Salon  of  Madame 
de  Circourt  comes  prominently  before  as  one  of 
those  frequented  by  the  most  intellectual  Society  of 
Paris  in  1837.  A reviewer  in  the  Revile  Britannique 
for  this  month  suggests  that  to  her  (she  was  a 
Russian)  we  are  perhaps  indebted  for  the  first  5 
o'clock  teas. — K.  H.  B.  ( Notes  and  Queries,  6th  S., 
vi,  Aug.  5th,  1882,  p.  116.) 
The  reviewer  of  Mrs.  Fanny  Kemble’s  Record  of 
a Girlhood  and  Record  of  Later  Life,  in  the  Quaterlg 
Review  for  July,  1882,  p.  117,  says 
“She  dates,  and  (we  think)  somewhat  antedates 
what  has  now  become  an  institution,  the  afternoon 
tea,  from  a visit  to  Belvoi’r  Castle,  in  March,  1842, 
when  she  received  on  several  occasions  private  and 
rather  mysterious  invitat  ons  to  the  Duchess  of 
Bedford’s  room,  and  found  her  with  a small 
and  select  circle  of  female  guests  of  the  Castle 
busily  employed  in  making  and  drinking  tea 
with  her  Grace’s  own  private  tea  kettle.  ‘ I 
do  not  believe  that  now  universally  honoured  and 
observed  institution  of  ‘ five  o’clock  tea  ’ dates  fur- 
ther back  in  the  annals  of  English  civilization  than 
this  very  private,  and,  I think,  rather  shame-faced 
practice  of  it.’  It  was  not  universally  honoured  or 
observed  till  many  years  further  on.”— John 
Churchill  Sikes,  106,  Godolphin  Road,  Shepherd's 
Bush,  W.  ( Notes  and  Queries,  6th  S.,  vi.,  Sept.  30th, 
1882,  p.  277.) 
I first  saw  it  at  a large  country-house  about  the 
year  1830  or  1832.  The  ladies  only  partook  of  it, 
and  very  few  of  them.  It  was  a consequence  of  the 
later  dinner  hours,  but  was  disapproved  by  the 
doctors. — P.  P.  (Fotes  and  Queries,  6th  S.,  vi,,Nov. 
25th,  1882,  p.  438.) 
"When  did  this  modern  usage  of  afternoon  or 
five  o’clock  tea  first  come  into  fashion?  and  did 
