June 1, 1901.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
855 
IMPORTATION OF TEA INTO FRANCE. 
From 1899. 1898. 
England 
Belgium 
British India 
China 
Other Countries 
Japan 
Indo-China 
Other Colonies 
Paris, April 10th, 1901, 
kilos. 
163,146 
1,465 
124,698 
523,064 
21,422 
838,795 
46,015 
116 
884,926 
kilos. 
175,558 
1,734 
174,951 
448,930 
13,843 
7,400 
822,416 
12,439 
300 
835,155 
NOXIOUS LETTERS ON TEA. 
London, April 24, 1901, 
Sir, — I am glad to .see a protest being made 
againat the attempt ou the part of certain indi- 
viduals, who ought to know better, to advertise 
themselves by posing as purists in the matter of 
Ceylon tea. 
I should like to ask those gentlemen to say what 
percentage of the 300,0r!0, 0001b of tea imported 
last year, or of the 250,000,0001b taken for home 
consumption, consists of the tea which is alleged 
to be dangerous to healtl>. 
In the present day there is a perfect mania for 
discovering bacilli in everything we eat and drink. 
I should think it highly probable that even in 
"Osborne" (or any other) tea a scientist would 
Hod bacilli. We are told the air we breathe is 
full of microbes, and if some of the scientific 
men who are so mad on the subject were 
to have their way we should all have to live in 
hermetically-sealed glass cases, and have our 
food admiui.stered in the form of concentrated 
lozenges cooked at a temperature of 2,000 dug. 
Seriously, however, it is really deplorable tha'' 
men who have a craze for writing should be allowed 
to air their fads in the public press, and lead 
people who are apt to treat everything which 
appears in The Times as gospel truth, to think 
there is some danger in drinking Ceylon tea, 
because, forsoo^i, out of some million and 
a half packages imported last year a few hun- 
dreds possibly of " rubbishy " tea have pased 
the Customs undetected, or have been con- 
demned as unfit for tea drinking. 
I do not for a moment palliate the offience of 
people who ship inferior tea, as has been done 
lately to a small extent, but it is very easy to 
magnify this offence into a serious blot on the 
Ceylon tea industry, which I maintain does not 
exist. 
I enclose my card, and subscribe myself as 
NO RUBlBISH. 
CACAO PODS AND SEEDS. 
Dear Sir, — As " Pod" complains about Mr. 
Carruthers' diagram of cocoa pods, (i:c, I now 
send you an extract from my diary of tests made 
by me in 1894 and 1900, and since kept as niv 
lOS V y 
guide as to what pods to use for planting.— Yours 
faithfully, Cacao Planter. 
1894. 
Pods from 
a Young 
Estate. 
to 9 
1 Forastero Rough 
and red, grooves 
yellow when ripe 
2 Condameera Smooth^ 
red, long grooves 
yellow when ripe 2 to 9 
3 Hybrid Smooth, 
red with green 
grooves, when 
ripe yellow 2 to S 
4 Caraccas Eongh 
and red pink 
grooves, latter 
when ripe yellow 2 to 8 
5 Marawa Rough, 
green, whole pod 
when ripe yellow 2 to 9 
6 Condameera 
Smooth green, 
whole pod when 
ripe yellow 2 to 8 
12 
12 
11 
45 
29 
&1 
P 
3* 
24 U 
10 36 
11 
11 
40 
45 
Total 12 to — J— 233 23| llj 
Say Average 2 to — 
1894 — Selected small pods 
- 38 5-6 3 5-6 15 
from an old estate 
I had many 3 lb. pods. 
12.16 9A 11 51 4i 
1-3 
Hi 36 4 n 
well manured — though 
1 Forastero Rough, 
red, pink grooves, 
latter j ellow 
when ripe 
2 Oondameera 
Smooth, red, pink 
grooves, latter 
yellow when ripe 1-13 8| 13§ 43 i 2i 
Condameera 
Smooth and green, 
whole pod, yellow 
when ripe 
3 Hybrid Rough red 
with green grooves, 
latter yellow when 
ripe 
Hybrid Smooth red 
with green grooves, 
matter yellow when 
ripe 
4 Caraccas Rough 
red, grooves get 
yellow when ripe, 
Carracas partially 
rough red, whole 
pod pink when 
ripe 
5 Marawa Rough, 
green, yellow 
grooves when ripe |1.2 lOJ llj gi i| 
Marawa Short, " s 
smooth, whole, yel- 
low when ripe 1-2 yi 22 
6 Forastero Hy- 
brid Short, rough, 
green grooves, 
latter yellow when 
ripe 
2-10 11 13i 38 4 2J 
1-8 8| 12 26 3i 2 
1-4 8 llf 35 4i 2| 
M 
Hi 30 3 11 
Jjh li 
1-3 
Total 10 pods 14 to 
Hi 36 4 24 
— 354 391 20& 
The 
Say average 
last three 
16i - 
pods from 
tree 12 years old experimented on— 
35i- 4 21-16 
dying Forastero 
