Oct. 1, 1900.] 
THE TEOPICAL AGEICULTURIST. 
237 
a water Hue, and to get this the ridges should be 
made, water ruu down the furrows, and the plants 
placed about 2 inches above the water mark. This 
insures every plant receiving water when irrigated. 
Plant as soon as danger from frost is past. 
Cultivation. — Frequent cultivation is necessary until 
the plants get too large to allow of a cultivator and 
horse passing between the rows. All weeds must be 
pulled out. When the plants are set as before noted, 
all the ridge will be on one side. This must be 
worked dov/u with a cultivator, and then a plough 
used to throw earth on either side of the farrow, 
so that the plants will be midway on the ridge. 
Irrigation. — While the plants are saall water will 
be needed about once in twenty days, but as they 
get larger it will be needed as often as once a week, 
though only in small quantities. The plant seem 
to have no deep rootb-, consequently the surface 
soil must be kept damp. 
Picking. — The field should be gone over about once 
a week after the peppers begin to ripen^ all that 
are fully ripe being taken cff. Great care must be 
exercised to pick all the stem with the pepper. They 
should be allowed to lie in the sun one day oAtei 
being picked in order to toughen the stems and 
prevent them breaking during the process of curing. 
Stringing. — The common method is to cut strings 
of strong, smooth twine SJ feet long. Draw this 
through a needle about 10 inches long, which is often 
made of a bicycle spoke. Peppers having any breaks 
r blemishes must be thrown away, as they would 
oecay before drying properly. Of course, where an 
dvaporator is used these cau be saved. After the 
strings are full and tied they are hung on nails 
sriven into a rough pole or other framework standing 
dbout G feet from the grotind, and left until dry ; 
ar if shelter is available they may be moved before 
oecoming fully dry and hung closely together under 
buoh shelter, but where there is a free cultivation of air. 
s Evaporating. — Many growers prefer evaporating 
instead of drying. The evaporators nsed are of 
various designs and sizes, but they should be large 
enough when the peppers are dried ou strings to 
hold not less than 500 strings. The usual plan is 
to have a furnace with severdl turns of 8 to 10 inch 
pipe in the basement, the peppers being placed iu 
the second storey over a very open floor and v.'ith 
good ventilation. The temperature must be kept at 
110 degrees Fabr., and in this v^/ay the house can 
be refilled about every four days. 
Yield and Price — Both of these, of course, vary 
with the season, soil, and water-supply. Two hundred 
and fifty strings of 5 lb. each is called a paying crop, 
but with all conditions favourable, including a late, 
warm season, as high as 400 strings, or even 2,400 lb. 
per acre, of dried peppers may be grown. Prices 
range from 35 to 7.5 cents, per string if sun-dried, 
and 7i to 124 cents, per lb. if evaporated. — Planting 
Opin ion. 
A DOUBLE TEAGEDY. 
Down from a twig on a Northern Spy tree 
A canker-worm swung in security ; 
He'd eaten all season since first he was hatched, 
As a ravenous glutton he couldn't be matched. 
He slipped inch by inch to the grass-covered ground, 
Where he thought safe concealment mightly surely 
be found 
In which he could pupate till autumn set in ; 
But a hen came that way and she gathered him iu. 
Gathered — gathered — gathered — she gathered him in. 
She gathered him in, and his final rest 
Was there, in there, in her well-fllled chest ; 
And she strolled around in search for more, 
For it tasted better than aught before. 
But I thought of her end, her final act, 
When the farmer'd slice with a carver's tact, 
And remark, as each piece made him look less thin, 
" I gather her in, I gather her in, 
Gather — gacher — gather — I gather her in." 
— American Agricidturist . 
TEA IIN THE PAKIS EXHIBITION. 
Tea is well represented at the Paris Exhibition, 
and vigorous efforts have been made by various 
sections of producers to bring their produce under 
the notice of visitors, says a correspondent of the 
Grocer. China is, as might be expected, in the back- 
ground, and although there is a fair representation . 
of the ordinary products of that country and a good 
Chinese pavilion, tea by itself does not receive any 
special or adequate representation. Close to each 
other in the Colonial portion of the Exhibition, near 
the Trocadero, Japan, India, and Ceylon all have 
pavilioi.s for the supply of cups of tea to visitors 
at moderate cliarges, and there is some interest in 
contrasting the different ways in which the teas of 
each have been put before those likely to wish to 
make use of them. 
As might be looked for with a land which has 
recently and most rapidly adopted the civilisation 
of the West, Japan is well forward in methods for 
attracting attention to its products. The beautiful 
pavilion is surrounded by a garden in the Japanese 
style, planted by gardeners brought over from the 
Imperial gardens in Tokio, iu which there is a pagoda 
(an exact representation of one of the celebrated temples 
in Japan), and some striking and interesting specimens 
of Japanese art, architecture, and industry. There 
is a separate tea-house, the operations of which are 
conducted under the organisation of the Guild of 
Tea iVierchants of Japan. The fabric is of light 
woodwork framing peculiar to Japanese houses, and 
the garden is surrounded by woodwork railings', the 
whole being dainty and characteristic. The method 
of serving the tea is much the same as in the pavilions 
of the other producing countries, but it is some A/hat 
suggestive of the Oriental wisdom and shrewdness 
generally associated with the wily iVIoDgolian. The 
menu presented to visitors affords a much greater 
range of selection, as well as variety in price, than 
do those of the Indian and Ceylon pavilions.' The 
card itself is well got up, printed in French on one 
side and English on the other. It offers a choice 
of the black tea and the green tea of Japan, also 
of the Oolong of Formosa, and for the small sum 
of 5 » centimes a daintily-served cup of tea, with 
cakes, cau be obtained. For 1 fr. the same is supplied, 
v/ith the addition of a small souvenir present and' 
a packet of tea, to be taken home. The latter 
is .Japan tea of most excellent quality, and 
if one is partial to a drink of the ki'nd, is 
likely to impress favourably. Of course it is absolutely 
different in character from the black tea of India 
and Ceylon ; in fact, the difference between the 
infused liquor of an ordinary Japan tea, as con- 
trasted .vith black teas such as are drunk in England 
is greater than that between ordinaj:y tea and coffee.' 
With the sample of tea is given some literature oii 
the subject, printed in French on Japanese paper. 
On the first floor of the tea pavilion there is a 
saloon reserved for the service of ceremonial tea 
in the style followed in Japan. An afternoon call 
there is a serious thing, requiring ample time, and 
of the latter a large part is occupied in se'rving 
tea elaborately. The tea used for this is of a 
particularly tine and delicate character, being 
apparently little more than the dust which covers 
the golden tips on the points of the young leaves. 
It was said to be worth 30 fr. or 40 fr. per lb and' 
was of a very small make, the size being something 
like the very smallest and most powderv dust and 
the colour deep green. A .Japanese lady' in at'tend- 
ance makes and serves this, and visitors take their 
seats on a dais, cross-legged iu Japanese fashion, 
while the lady from Japan sits in the middle with 
an assortment of brushes, dusters, and tea-clnths 
round about her, so as to produce an absoluLe 
cleanliness in all the utensilsj Each part of the 
process is conducted with the utmost care, and when 
the tea is finally prepared for drinking, it is passed 
round in a peculiarly formal manner, with elaborate 
bows on both sides, and has to be drunk out of a basin 
in a fashion which one must see to understand. 
