240 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Oct. 1, 1900. 
where its manufacture was first started. It is 
only in Eui'ope or outside of the producing coun- 
tries that this liat receis'es tlae name ol a city 
which does not make ii-. The finest hats are 
made in Jipijapa and at Montecristi, in the pro- 
vince of Manabi (Ecuador), this industry being 
one of the greatest resources ot the country, 
The toquilla or leaf of a small plant is used for 
this purpose. It grows abundantly in tlie country 
the leaves coming up in the shape of a fan. The 
plant is the Carlndovica 2ml)naia. There are 
jipijapas of all qualities, from tliose costing 
a few pence to those worth several pounds. The 
merit of these last, really marvels of fineness, 
consists as much in the scarcity of the straw 
as in the difficulty of the weaving, and there- 
fore it is exceptional to find tliese hats on the 
general market. The hats of current sale cost 
a few shillings, the finest not exceeding from £5 
to £6 in price. In buying a Panama it is neces- 
sary to ascertain two things— tliat the straw is 
whole and that it is not stiffened. It is not easy 
to recognise this first condition. In order to 
malie two from one, the weavers split the straw 
with such perfection that unless a person is 
accustomed to such examinations it is almost 
impossible for him to distinguish the difference. 
Of equal flineness the hat made from whole straw 
is worth three or four times the one manufactured 
from the straw that has been split. The second 
condition is easily recognised for the hats are 
stiffened to make the straw firmer and wliite. 
Good tuqulUa is white and stiff enough not to 
need any gum, and only ordinary Panamas are 
stiffened.— Journal of the Society of Arts, Aug. 1^ 
COLOPHONY AND TURPENTINE, 
The Forest Department liave recently erected a 
distillery at Nurpur, Punjab, for the manufacture of 
rosin and turpentine from the crude oleo -resin which 
exudes from tha Pinus lonr/ifoUa, a tree which oocirrs 
plentifully in the Western Himalayas and less so in 
the Eastern. The trees are tapped by cutting v.'ounds 
in the main trunk and suspending small earthenware 
cups for the reception of the exuding resin, tiie wounds 
being extended when they cease to flow. The 
samples produced in the factory are very good, 
tlie rpentiue being quite colourless and the rosin 
being pale and clear. The Forest Department 
possesses, of course, a decided advantage in having no 
difficulty about trees to tap, but arrangements might 
be made for the tapping of forest trees on payment of 
a, fee to the depai tment. The business must be a 
lucrative one, as the department has furnished their 
factory with copper plant at a considerable expense. — 
Indian Planters' Gazette, Aug. 25. 
. THE C0FFE3 CROP IN COORG. 
An estimate of the coffee crop in Coorg for 
1900 has been received from the local Administra- 
tion, and the figures aie appended, witli tlie 
estimates of 1899 for conijjariison : — 
1899. 1900. 
Estimated yiel3 (1| cwt. an acre Tons. Tons. 
for Europeans in 1899 and 2 
cwt. in 1900) . . . . 2,089 2,751 
Estimated yield (J cwt. an acre 
for natives in 1899 and ^. cwt. 
in 1900) .. " .. 683 1,120 
Total .. 2,772 3,871 
Estimated average yield per acre cwt. cwt. 
of ordinarily well cultivated 
coffee in full bearing . . 2 2J 
Export of coffee taken from the Tons. Tons. 
toll gitc returns 4,131 2,000 
Average annual expoi't of coffee 
ia the ten preceding years ... B,238 3,32G 
Taking the averaj,'e cfoj) to be about 5,100 tons 
the estimate of 3,871 tons for llio i)resent season 
repre-enls about 78 per eeut of the average against 
5'.i '.i Iter cent in 18U9. — Indian Gardening and 
Planting. 
■ ^ • 
TEA :~THEA OR CHA. 
WHAT CHINESE DRS. SAY. 
" The Cliinese physicians pay that upon the monn- 
tiia Tiepgo grjw'p.b )ve one hundred sorts of Simples 
all of very sovereign virtues. But, amongst all others, 
China is famous tor a herb called Thea or Clia. and 
v.'hereof tlie natives and othftr neighbouring people 
m.ike tlieir drink cilled The-i or Gha, taking its name 
frjni the herb. Of all the places in Cidna this heib 
grows fastest, and in greatest abandano?, in the pro- 
vince of Nanking, near to the city of ijticheu, and 
indeed the same is only found in Ciiina, Siam, and in 
the island of Japan. The leaves thereof are very 
like unto those of Sumack, and that this is a sort of 
Suniack none need to doubt. However, it springs not 
wild, but by manuring; is no tree nor herb, but a 
bush or shrub, which they plant upon little hills three 
feet asunder, and grow as high as a Rosetree, the 
branches whereof are full of fl^v/ors and thin leaves of 
a d;oik greyu colour, v/hich, th jngh they differ not 
in shape, yet they are of several sizes, for upon one 
shrub are at least of five several degrees ia bigness. 
The fir-:t nnd biggest grow upon the lowermost sprigs ; 
nfxt to them follow those of <he next size, and are 
lesser than the fi-st, and so by degrees gro w all the 
other sorts. But so much as thea,» leaves decrease 
upward in bigne-:s so much the more the increase in 
price, for a pound of driel leaves of the first bigness 
is worth five Dutch sbiiiings, that of the second big- 
ness is worth fifty shillings, buD that of the third 
five guilders, that of the fourth fifteen, and that of 
the fifth and last bignes? fifty. Yea, sometimes cue 
hundred and fifty guilders a pound if well prepared. 
Upon the branches grow small green hnoa, which 
produce liltle flowei's vi-ith v.'hite leaves, yellow with- 
in, and in bigness, fashion, and colour very like the 
flower of Sweet Briar, but different from it in smell. 
Afttrthat the flowers are shed, there remains a husk 
which contains a blackish sr-ed, which, being sown 
in the ground, brings forth the third year new bushes, 
f tom whose leaves is gathered every year a rich har- 
vest, and that in such places where it raics andsnowa 
as it does in Europe, so that it is probable enough 
that there might be bushes raised from that seed 
if it were sawu in some shady fruitful European Roil. 
It is full of spreading roots, which lua but shallow 
in the ground, and are good for nothing; but the 
leaves they gather every day, and, drying them in the 
shade, preserve them for their drink Thea, which 
they use instead of boer, not oniy at tables, but upon 
all visits and entertainments, and, which is more 
whosoever has anything to dispatch in the palaces of 
the Grandees is presented as soon as he is seated 
with a cup of this liquor, which is always drunk, or 
rather supped off hot, according to the fashion of the 
ancient Romans, who esteemed more of warm than 
cold water. If at auy time this liquor proves bitter 
to the taste they mingle a little sugar with it, and 
drink it to drive away drowsiness, But such especially 
fiud the benefit in drinking thereof who have over- 
charged their stomachs with eating, or discomposed 
their brains with too much strong drink, for it is a 
very great drier of grcss humours and dispels vapours, 
occasioning sleep. It strengthens the memory, but 
increases gall if drvaik in too great a quantity. In brief, 
they extol the virtues of this drink infinitely, and 
attribute their not having the stone or gout lo' this, 
as they term it, most uoble drink, which we may 
believe the rather because in all our journey forward 
and backward we saw nobody affiicted v/ith these 
distempers. There is a very great difference in the 
manner of preparing and using this liguov between 
the Chinese and those of Japan, for fh.j Japonners 
beat the leaves to a powder, and mingle it with boil- 
ing water in a cup, which they afterwards drink off, 
but the Chinese put the leaves whole into a pot of 
