June 1, 1903.] THE' TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
817 
■'*BAS OKIGINALI.Y PUT FORWARD IN CKYLON 
AND BENGAL DID NOT APPEAR AS GREEN 
" ' TEAS AT ALL 
'altid i great deal of talk was wasted in eodeavouriag to 
stamp them as ' Oolont; ' and ' Namouna ' — quite 
different articles. But with J«pan teas tbe case is 
different and both coloured and uucoloured fjreen teas 
are produced in that countr; the technical description 
being 'basket-fired' and 'pan-fired.' Basket-firing 
answers toour hot air drying on mesh trsysaad produces 
a tea olive or brown-black m the dry leaf. Pan-tiring 
describes itself and produces the green grey colour 
which the Japanese heighten with artificial colouring 
matter to the prejudice Of the tea. Here then we 
have the necessr j nomenclitare if we require to 
describe one teas; 'basket fired ' and ' Dan fired' will 
describe our teas as well as the Japane e article, that 
is for all these grades that are intended to reproduce 
Japan. For China type hyson, gunpowders, etc., no 
,8Uoh description appears necessary for the trade. 
. THE TERM FACING " 
or " faced," we are informed by a reliable New York 
aathority, does not apply to the teas but to ihe 
packages, which in the case of Japan and China are 
generally " faced " with paper. The Calcutta Hong 
or factory now to be established will probably be able 
to put these matters on a good footing, and as a 
leading Calcutta firm are interesting themsel'Ves in 
the establishment, it is probable that Indian green 
tea will be organised on recognised lines before long. 
■^IndLidm, Planting and Oardening, April 18. 
.:.;.:.,.,! ^ : 
f ; . WEBER ON RUBBERS. 
In' fciie literature bearing upon india-rubber we 
very frequently find the statement that even the 
most carefully prepared and purified rubber on 
exposure to the litjlib and atmosphere soon loses its 
wliite co'our, and tarns dark brown owing to oxi- 
dation. I am in a position to declare this statement 
entirely erroneous. I possess samples of Castillo.-), 
rubber prepared by myself on the large scale, and 
which for over eight months have been exposed to 
air and light without the slightest change in their 
colour having taken place. The fact that these 
samples are entirely free from every trace of albu- 
men goes a long way to prove that the well-known 
discoloration of india-rubber is really due to the 
albumen it contains. 
■ Even washed and dried rubber may be very far 
ftom being a pure product. Cases are by no means 
e>(ceptional of even the better qualities of African 
rubbers in the Washed and dried State containing 
not more than 85 percenter even less of actual pure 
rubber. This is a point which certainly fully 
deserves the attention of tbe rubber manufacturer. 
By way of an example, I quote the analysis of a 
washed sample of black Kassai, which, on receipt 
at the factory, was not considered altogether satis- 
factory, but was, in spite of this, taken into work, 
with ihe result that no end of tiouble arose 
about the goods manufactured from it. These were 
the results of theanalyais (0|{,th,e washed and dried 
rubber_be it noted) :— ^y/y^^,, 
'' ■■]*•*) , 0.3 per cent. 
Eesius 
, J,, jAlbuio^n 
2. .3 
do 
do 
do 
20.3 per cent, 
be seen that this 
the manufacturer 
From these ligmes it will 
washed and dried rubber whiol 
assumed " to be practically pure " rubber, con- 
tained not more than 80 per cent as actual rubber, 
tbe rest consisting of rather considerable per. 
centagesof impurities. —/nrfi« i?(//*ie;' JoriDwl, 
March .30. 
TEA PLANTING IN THE KAXGRA VALLEY- 
The class of Tea Planters who seem to fare best 
in the Kangra Valley are, fioui what I hear from 
the Kangra cJiowdri here, the native plan t:ers, who, 
as a rule, have only small gardens, but are grain 
growers as well, they make nothing but green tea. 
The price of tea estates has, I fancy, come down 
with the fall in tea, writes the Kulu correspondent 
of the C. and M. Gazette. I know one of the oldest 
plantations, the owner of which told nie that he 
liad paid £4,500 sterling for it, in 1863. At his 
death in 1879, though it had been greatly improved, 
as well as enlarged in the outturn, it only fetched 
R25,000 less than one half, even at the then rate of 
exchange. The most remarkable i)r''?e for tea that 
ever I heard of, was the yield of a garden down 
Assam way, owned by a company of Bengali babus, 
their entire season's crop sold in the open market 
at nine pies per lb. It must have .nade a curious 
brew! Cinchona planting was al-o tried to soma 
extent in the Kangra Valley but the experiment 
seems to have been .soon abandoned, the winter 
climate being found unsuitabie u> the trees, if I 
remember rightly. — Indian Daily News, April 20. 
THE GENTILE ISLE OP PALMS, 
brings a stronger sun, a more generous warmth 
'I'wo or three days out from Liverpool winter 
resolves into the sweetness of spring. The grev 
seas change to brilliant blue It is a gentle, lovely 
welcoming into the choicest pleasance thatJSature 
can offer in all the range of all the seasons. The 
traveller is made free of the delij^lits of summer 
without the long woaiy writing for those «easous 
in the land that has bred the men who Lave done 
and are doing the work of the world. Assuredly Las 
Palmasin Grand Canary that gentle Isle of Palms, 
not a place for the workers of the world, except as 
a resting place from the strug<;!e— a temporary 
refuge from the turbulence of moderi; existence. 
Long living here would ^ul n the Briton to kinship 
with the laughing, lai .uorous, pleasure-loving 
children of the sun. A month will send him back 
to his northern home, a giant refieshed with the 
best of Natuie's wine, Las Palmas is perfect. It 
is far enough south for the northerner to catch his 
first glimpse of the Southern Cross. It is far 
enough north for the men who march on the 
outposts of Empire along the Afiiean cost to come 
here tor lecuperation. At this time of the year 
it is a favourite rendezvous of the English. The 
Elder-Dempster tourist tickets give a first-elass 
return, with a fortnight's board at tbe Hotel 
M6tropole for £1-5. Las Palmas is becoming more 
and more every year a resort which can compare 
in popularity with Nice, Mentone, or any pampered 
city of the Riviera. Grand Canary is 9tlO miles 
nearer the equator than any place iu tlie south 
of France, 
TROPICAL SORF. 
The surf thunders on its shores as it does in 
all tropical climes. The microbe is unknown ; 
ozone of the sea is fatal to the bacillus with 
murderous intent. Mosquitoes are not numerous, 
and they are of a harmless kind. Moreover they 
are only out by night, and every bed is furnished 
with nets through which tlie inquisitive insects 
cannot pass to their luiman prey. The person who 
occasionally happens to lie awake for a few uj •»- 
ments in this somniferous air at night may he^-r 
their sharp ping-pong cry and know that they • - 
assaulting his net in vniu. In spire of its s 
