318 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 
[Nov, 1, isefi. 
"Tka Prnuing."— a veteran tea planter 
wrU/Ci! tliafc on this subject,— " opinions now are 
jusfc as diverse as they were 20 to 30 years u^o." 
Florida Velvkt Beans— a Vcyaugofla plan- 
ter, to whom we sent a few seerls, lias been 
more successful than the enrrenpondents whose 
complaints we published on Saturdaj', He writes, 
" I first put down tliree seeds in a bed in the 
flower garden, two of whicli failed to sprout ; 
the third is getting on vigorously as a healthy 
plant, but does not grow at the rate of three 
inches a day ! The reniaiuing four seeds I put 
down about a week after. Of these, three ger- 
minated ; but one plant was nipped, evidently by 
a " blo()d^^ucker," and died. The other two are 
flourishing." 
" Tub AonicuLTOitAL Gazette " of New Sonth 
Wales, Vol. IX. Part 7th. Contents for July, 1898; 
— Wheat Testing— A Description of tlie Mill ; Th« 
Caterpillar Plague; The Flora of Mount Koscimsko : 
Botanical Notes — Supposed poisoning of Sheep by 
Niitivo Fuschia ; White Cedar Berries ; Methods of 
Coramon Seu3el"'iirniin(<; Britisli Miller's Ret)uiri!ment» 
in Wheat ; The Importance of Drainage to Agricul- 
ture ; Highland Cattle ; Pure Water for Fai mera and 
Dairymen; Eoouoinical Feeding; Fruit Inspection ; 
Poultry Notes ; Bees, and How to Manage thera. 
VII.; The Production of Honey; Improvement of 
N S.W Live Stock ; Bee Calendar for August ; 
Orchard Notes for August; Notes for Northern 
Rivers District ; Practical Vegetable and Flower 
Growing for August; Gonoral Notes; heplies to 
Correspondents ; List of Agricultural Societies' Show* ; 
Label for Specimen. 
" The Queensl.^nd Aguicultuhai, Jouhnal," — Vol. 
III. Part 2. The following are the contents for 
August, 1898 : — Aaricultnral and Pastoral Confer- 
ence ; Maize-growing on the Darling Down ; W heat- 
growing; Cow pea, the Coming Crop for Central 
Queensland ; Coffee ; Noxious Weeds arid the Ne- 
cessity for their Eradication ; Agriculture— The 
Queensland Agricultural College S The Sweet Po- 
tato ; Panicum in tlie Bundaberg District, J. W. 
Fawcett ; Silos ; A. Labour-saving Too), P. Mac- 
Mahou ; Purcliuse of Cane by Density, 11. Dnpont ; 
The Black JJlanritius, . A A. Benson; Darying ; 
Viticulture ; The Orchard ; Botany : Popular Bo- 
tany ; Tropical Industries — Coffee in Queensland 
and other Parts ; Coffee-picking at Cairns ; Pis- 
ciculture ; General Notes ; fjist of Agricultral, Hor- 
ticultural, and Pastoral Association in Quensland ; 
The Markets ; Orchard Notes for August ; Farm 
and Garden Notes for August ; Cultural Notes for 
Tropical Queensland ; Publications Received ; Public 
Announcements. 
Ceylon anu China Tea Soils.— Mr. Jolin 
Hughes of Mark Lane has been telling our Lon- 
don Correspondent that never before has he had 
so many orders for the Analyses of Cevlon tea- 
soils, and that tiie cause is found in tlie " poorer 
teas " now produced, Mr. Hughes has yet to 
see the indignant remonstrance against the sup- 
posed deterioration of Ceylon teas put forth by 
Messrs. Bagot, Metcalfe, Roberts and other 
planters in Upper Dimbula and Dikoya. It is 
noteworthy, however, that we have not seen 
letters to the same eflect from districts which 
grew coffee for 20 or more years on their soils 
before tea was pat in. It is probably from old 
coffee districts that Mr. Hughes has chiefly got his 
orders? And thevv^ can be little doubt of the 
need and value of manures in such cases. We 
do not see any advantage for the present in 
getting samples of China tea soils or analyses, to 
compare with ours in Ceylon. Unless the different 
climatic conditions, the difference of jat, and the 
varying modes of cultivation were fully taken 
into account, any comparison would be almost 
useless. 
Coffee in Brazil and the Woblo'i 
SUPPLV.— The American* as the largest con- 
sumers, are naturally much interested in 
coffee and Consul I'rank Hill <,f JSanio* fur- 
nishes a very elalxiiate lieport dcaJin^i with 
Brazil chiefly, but also with nearly ull coflw- 
growincf countries, of wiiicli early j.roof »haet8 
arc sent um under date June 2(Jih, 1898. 
The niost interesting part to us u ilje imro- 
duclioii which is coiici.^e and well put :— 
ViKiBTiKs or Coffee and Coffee Tiiek*.— Of th« 
twenty-two Tuieti^s of coffee pUnts (a, rubiaceoM 
plant whose original habitat w&s Abybsinitt <, seven 
belong to Asia, eleven to tlie west const of Africs 
two in Central and East Afric:i, and two ju Maar<I 
tius. Among the different vai-ietics, the following may 
be enumerated: Arabia, Mocha, Myrtle, Aden aud 
Bastard, Moorish; Marrou, of Reunion; Mourovian 
coffee of Gaboon ; Saurine, yellow coffee (cafe ama- 
rello), red coffee (cafe vernitlho); and the common 
coffee of Mexico and CentrHl and South America. 
All these varieties are variously subdivided, takiof 
name from the districts »bere they are pioduced or 
from ports whence they are shipped. For example, 
Brazil coffees are Rio, Santos, Bahia. Ceaia, etc! 
The ordinary coffee shrub ie an evergreen plant 
that grows to a height of about 20 feet, with 
oblong, ovate leaves. The frjit is a Hesby berry, 
having the appearance and size of a eniall cherry! 
E ich fruit contains two seeds, embedded iu a yel- 
lowish pulp; the seeds being enclosed su a thin mmn- 
branous eudocarp. 
Regions Sirr.\Bi.E to CoFFEE.rvLTriiE — The regiona 
beat adapted to the cultivation of coffee are well- 
watered mountain slopes, at an elevation of fr-)iu 
1,000 to 4,000 feet above sea level ; in latitudes lying 
between 15° north and l&o south, although it is nulti- 
vated with succfcKB from 2iCi north to *J<-' south of th* 
Equator, where the temperature does not fall below 
65° F. Frost is a deadly eneuiy of the plant, and 
excessive heat hindeis its normal growth. The low 
hot lands of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea region— 
which produces the best cocoa in the world -and th« 
South Atlantic are not adapted to its culture, the 
coffeo lands in all these regions being found on the 
highlands that rise from the sea. On the American 
continent, coffee ie produced all the way from Para- 
guay to Mexico; tha Argentine Republic, »hile, the 
United States, and Canada being either too far north 
or south for its growth. The shape, size, and color 
of the seeds are the points that determine the com- 
mercial value of coffee. The shape depends upon the 
particular part of the plant upon which the seed 
glows, the size upon the nature of the locality 
of the growth; and the color on the degree of 
maturity of the fruit at the period of gather- 
ing the crop. Brazil is the great coffee country of 
the world being credited with 66 per cent of the 
total product. Nearly all the twenty States that form 
this vast mesopotamit extending from the Amazon 
to the River Plate produce coffee; but the true 
coffee zone is confined to the States of Rio de 
Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Espirito Santo, and Minas Geraes, 
Sao Paulo being the banner coffee State. This' 
coffee finds its outlet at the ports of Santos, Rio de 
Janeiro, and Victoria. 
The most astonishing statement made ia 
that Venezuela has now about 404,000 acres 
of coffee yielding 304,800,000 lb. (2,721,428 
cwt-i of crop, of which two thirds are con- 
sumed in the country ! This part of the 
Keport we are not prepared to ac2ept as 
correct, especially as a good deal of the coffee 
is said to be young. Hitherto, the maximum 
estimate for the Venezuelan crop was one mil- 
lion cwt. ; but nothing was said about home 
consumption. Still, we cannot believe that 9J 
million Venezuelans consuuie 80 lb. of coffee per 
annum per head (man, woman and child). Tji^ 
thing is absurd ! 
