126 
THE TROPICAL AGPJCULTUElST. 
l^AuG. ], 1S99. 
THE PKICE OF ANNATIO. 
Deau Sir,— In answer to your enquiry, 
tlie preseafc low iJi'ice of aniiatto is said to be 
due to a f;illii)^'-oli' in the use of the dye for colcnr- 
inf:; cliee'^e in Germany to which country the seed 
was ;',hiefly iinpoi ted from Africa. It remains to be 
seen whether this seed has ji;one to otlier coiintries 
and sold at the lowest prittes. 'i'h'.s Ljives rise to the 
suspicion that eiiemical or aniline dyes are more in 
use now for jnirposes for which ainiatto was used 
before. Tiie fall of prices in 1S90-91 was due 
to over-production in Ceylon. Hut tlie following 
year the price of cacao rose, which led to annatto 
lands being cleared and cacao planted. From 
what was still left, care was taken not to export 
the dye in seed. The manufacturing works at 
Crystal Hill started purchasing all the raw 
material produced in tlie island. 
This had the tendency of gradn.iily rai.-^ing 
tlie price again ; and the trade jjreferred buying 
the made dye rather than the raw si'c 1, as it 
came to be known tliat while the latter docs not 
keep long but deteriorates, if kept unused for 
more than five or si.x months, the former can 
be kept for any length of time — in fact it deve- 
lopes and improves in strength the longer it was 
kept. Of course, the present low prices have 
affected the Ceylon-made dye too, and except in 
Holland there has been no demand for it anywhere 
else in Europe for the last eighteen niotiths or so. 
Under the circumstance the present insect pest so 
destructive, both to the crop and the plant, seems 
10 be proviil«ntial.— Yours truly, PLANTER. 
HYBRID COFFEE IN THE STRAITS : 
FREEDOM OP COORG COFFEE TREES 
FROM LEAP-DISEASE. 
Klang, Selangor, Straits Settlements, 
Jtine 15. 
. Dear Sib, — In the year 1893, I got souie 
Coorg Avabia-n seed over here aucl planted 
eight acres, in two {jatches of fiv^e and three 
acres each, on hills in the middle of large 
Liberian clearings. 
From an economic point of view, this re- 
sult was not a success, though at first the 
trees came on splendidlj^; but grown at sea level 
in this latitude, a satisfactory result could 
hardly have been expected : blossoms mostly 
brushed, owing perhaps to insufficient shade, 
and the trees have never at any time up to 
the present yielded more than 5(3 to 60 berries 
each. But the experiment has not been al- 
together without interest, inasmuch as plants 
raised from the seed of these trees are 
showing distinct hybrid characteristics, tak- 
ing more after ti e Arabian parent, but 
being fuller in the leaf and with their pri- 
maries further apart. At present the few 
hundred plants I have growing are only 
aboirt six months old from seed, so it is im- 
possible to say how they will turn out; but 
in view of Mr. Cameron's extremely inter- 
e3ting report upon coffee in Coorg, I need 
hardly say they will be watched most care- 
. fully. 
Perhaps the strangest feature of thi? small 
exp-'riment has been the fact that I have 
novtu' seen' a spot of leaf-disease on one of tlie 
Arabian trees yet, although t!)e two sniall 
tloariugs are stirroimded with, Liberian, 
scarcely a tree of which is free frojM it. 
Vv'hen the surplus plants were very thick in 
the nurseries, two or three, certainh' not 
more than half a dozen, were attacked with 
a spot or two, and I then rooted up and 
destroyed the nursery, l)ut though I have 
often examined the two clearings very clo.sely, 
being struck by the strange phenomenon, 
not a sign of HemUciu have I ever detected. 
— I am, dear sir, yours faithfully, 
E. V. CAREY. 
RUBBISH IN TEA. 
Upcountry, June 'M. 
Dear. Sir, - J fancy the stuff your Loudon 
correspondent describes .as taken out of 14 
chests of tea nurst ha\e beeii the results of 
tampering with ciiests aftei- they left the 
factory and tea was iji transit. Such taiu- 
pering has lieen known, i)ut it is not always 
foimd out. — Truly y<nn-s, 
FACTORY BULKED. 
R UBBER-PREPARING MACHINE. 
June 26, Upcouutry. 
Dear Sir,-- Can you tell me if Mr. Thomas 
Christy's Rubber Macliine has arrived in the 
island, and who are his Agents in Ceylon? 
— Truly vours, 
RUBBER-F\ARMER. 
[We caunot answer: possibly this puJdica- 
tion may bring the required inforination. — 
Ed. T.A.] 
HOW TO INFUSE CEYLON TEA. 
Dkar Sir. — May I call attention fo .-i 
small omission in Mr. Kelway-Bamber's 
handy and useful brochure on the Dietetic 
Value of Tea? He says (4) " put the required 
quantity of tea into the hot tea-pot," etc. — 
hut novt'here specifies " the required (juan- 
tity !" Now, of course, the great advantage 
of " Ceylon over China tea for Australia, 
America and the Continent is that you 
need not use so much : the old rule was a 
good tea-spoonful for each person, and one 
for the pot. With Ceylon tea, the one for- the 
pot and some more may be dispen.sed with.— 
"i'ours truly, 
HOUSEKEEPER, 
|V.'e obtained through the courtesy of a 
friend, a copy of the above, and agree with our 
corres])ondenc that the " little omission " 
requires to be supplied in what is otherwise 
a most excellent and instructive little guide. 
In our own little pamphlets, cards and hand- 
slips we have said : — " Put one small tea- 
spoonful of tea for each cup required." — 
Ed. T.A.] 
IMPRESSIONS OF KALUTARA TEA 
DISTRICT, 
Ambagamuwa, July 3. 
Deau Sii;,— If my impressions of what I saw of 
the K'alutara tea district can be of any in- 
tejest to your readers, the following is at your 
disposal. In company with yet another K.T.B. 
I proceeded last week to Kaiulara, taking ad- 
