784 THE TROPICAL 
If these prices can be taken as a criterion, 
Indian Green tea is certainly not getting higher 
prices than Ceylons. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
' Eggs. — Remember that the hen that is 
foying needs about twice as much feed as she 
would need if not laying. Like many other 
machines, she must be furnished the material from 
which to manufacture her finished product. — Agri- 
cultural Gazette of New South Wales, March. 
Monthly Tea Averages in London.— 
The table we publish elsewhere from Messrs. 
Geo. White & Co. s annual tea report is 
always looked forward to with high interest. 
For 1902 Udapussellawa and kindred dis- 
tricts are first with 8§d average— ^th below 
last year, and still gths below 1900. Mas- 
keliya similarly shows a drop of Jd ; but 
Lower Dikoya, Kellebokka, Matale and Kelani 
Valley a rise of ^th. Others ars stationary 
e.g. Hantane, Kurunegala, Kakwana and 
Kalutara, while falls are seen again in Pus- 
eellawa (^), Udugama (J), Haputale and 
Madulsima (J), and in the general average, 6g 
as against 7d— and 73 in 1900. Kurunegala, 
&c , 5id, is the lowest average recorded for 
1902, 
Collar-pruning for Ceylon tea.— An 
Indian planting correspondent, Mr. A Cooke, 
who asked in our columns the other day 
whether collar-pruning had ever been done 
-Iwice on Ceylon bushes, has a fairly com- 
plete answer in the most useful remarks given 
elsewhere by a local planter, signing "Still 
uncollared." The treatment is a drastic one 
and— like mostdrastic treatment every where — 
is in Ceylon only applied to the worst cases, 
teas of bad jdt. At the same time there may 
be collar-pruning and collar pruning !— if Mr. 
Cooke has confused the two operations of 
"coppicing" and "stumping" which are 
carefully distinguished elsewhere. The poorer 
the jdt, the more attention the bush requires, 
to be kept in passable condition ; and 
whether collar-pruning, or oth^r means, will 
do this, is left to the practical planter to 
find out. 
Caffeine Coffee. — It has long been known 
that coffee beriies usually contain something 
like one per cent of caffeine, the substance to 
which coffee owes its stimulating properties, 
liecently M Bertrand of the Pasteur Institute 
has analysed nine kinds of coffee with interest- 
ing results which are referred to in the Agricul- 
tural Neivs Barbados. The beans of one species 
{Ooffea Humblotiana) contained no caffeine, and 
iu another species (C. mauritiana) only O'O? per 
cent, was present. These two varieties are thus 
for all practical purpose? free from the simulating 
alkaloid. In Arabian coffee (C. arabica), obtained 
from various sources, the caffeine present varied 
from 0 83 to 1'60 per cent. Liberian coffee (C, 
Hberica) yielded between 1-06 and r45 per cent. 
The new African coffee (C. stenophylla) appears 
very rich in caffeine, r5'2and 1'70 per cent. being 
the results of two analyses recorded, Coffea 
Canephora gave the highest caffeine contenr, 
1 97 per cent. The paper is printed in L'Agriail- 
lure pratique des pays chauds, Year II., pp. 
'2n'\3.— Journal of ' the Society of Arts, 
^larch 27. 
AGRICULTURIST. [May 1, 1903. 
Green Tea in America.— The American 
Grocer, March 18th, states : — "Messrs. Wisner 
& Co. received advices from Shanghai stating 
that no further supplies of green teas can be 
obtained from the country, as the whole of 
this season's crop has been marketed. The 
point is of particular interest when the large 
size of this season's production of green teas 
is taken into consideration." This will con- 
tinue until about the first week of June when 
the first of the new seasons shipments should 
begin to arrive from China. Japan, we note 
in an Eastern paper, has again commenced to 
make black tea to suit the Russian taste. 
Poisons and Pksts — Quite recently we have 
seen a preparation intended for the destruction 
of auts. This preparation, as we have been in- 
formed, contains arsenic in very large quantity, 
namely, not less than 24 grains to the ounce, two 
grains being a fatal dose. A pint bottle would 
thus contain sufficient arsenic to poison one hun- 
dred and fifty or more adults. The actual cost of 
the " mixture " is estimated at about threepence 
half-penny. What the selling price is we do not 
know, but in all probability it is one which admits 
of a very large profit. It is trne that to the sam- 
ple we saw a label with the word " poison " was 
affixed bat the bottle was an ordinary medicine 
bottle with nothinj/ distinctive about it to prevent 
carelessness or accident,— G^ardeJim-' Chronicle, 
April 4. 
The Pinehurst Tea Experiment.— The 
only fault we have to find with Mr. Shep- 
herd's letter on the tea experiment of which 
he is in charge is that it does not convey 
sufficient fresh information to dispel the 
cloud he seems to feel has been caused by 
Mr. Larkin's uncomplimentary remarks. We 
are glad to hear that it is so far progress- 
ing that he has asked Government for tea 
machinery, indicating increased manufacture, 
and, even if it be of academic interest only, 
all tea planters will be glad to hear how 
the Pinehurst experiment is getting on from 
time to time. Of course it is within the 
bounds of possibility that this pleasure will 
be tempered, with those whose interests are 
, against any development of fresh tea-pro- 
ducing countries ; but for this we have still 
a little while to wait. — ? 
The Manufacture of Green Tea and 
Black—" G. T." who has evidently demon- 
strated the matter to his own personal 
satisfaction firmly adheres to his former 
contention. We referred his letter to our 
correspondent who wrote on Saturday and 
he suggests " that it would be interesting if 
" G. T," were to give particulars of his 
process, so that some more knowing one 
may give him the tip how to save loss in 
weight. It is a pity that he should go on 
losing '1 per cent weight when Mr. Judge 
and perhivps a few Ceylon planters also, can 
give such advice as will save this loss. Un- 
less he expresses 4 per cent solid matter 
from his leaf, when squeeezing out the 
surplus water, how can there be loss in 
weight ? If he sends this stuff out of his 
factory drains to manure his fields he may 
of course get a corresponding return from his 
bushes at a later period, which may satisfy 
him." Some other green tea manufactures 
in Ceylon might also give us the benefit of 
their experience on this question, 
