Kov. 1, 1898.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
good aroma and flavour in the !eat (as in Darjeeling) 
you could make superline "green'' tea. Of 
course with a bull dog jam-ram contrivance like 
our rolling macliine it will be impossible to 
treat our leaf so delicately that it will become 
tea and remain green. But we shall be able to 
imitate the (jolongs ami semi-green t-jas, 'Ahich 
are wanted in large quantities. Keal green tea, 
probably requires the gentle touch of a maiden's 
hand, and not 12 to 40 horse-power to call it 
into existence. 
At one time of the year, between May and 
July, tlie tea bushes in Assam are liable to what 
is called "stunted" Hush. The .ehoots are very 
tiiick, short and solid, the stalk zig/ags between 
each leaf (just like tlie vanilla stem.) 
When the blight is very severe the shoots are 
very small, and come out in clusters, as many 
as 60 ill a bunch. The yield falls off, but the 
leaf is peculiarly rich in quality. 
It is possible that real green tea is made from 
lejif of this description. 
The green tiy is supposed to cause "stunted" 
flush ; it is known in Sylhet but never affects 
the flush to the same extent as in Assam. In 
1886 I made tea in Sylhet which had a strong 
Darjeeling aroma, from stunted Hush. 
We should ne\'er forget that we want to lift 
40 million pounds of tea from Jjondon to America 
and that to do so we must have no " maiden's 
hand" business, but put our horsepower into 
the job. " Green tea" is a misnomer, and we want 
some short term to express our intentions : — 
Light Indian Tea ) 
Ceylon \ would do fairly well. 
Indian or Ceylon "Silver Tip " would sound 
well for the finer grades, as all these teas liave 
silver (instead of gold ) 
white \ ,, ,, yellow ( buds or tips. 
" Indian China," or " Indian Japan tea " would 
be honest and would probably show the Americans 
that our China tea is better than that from 
Ciiina and so induce them to favour it. 
ASSOCIATION. 
Mr. Mackenzie is in America, get him to send 
samples of required tea to every tea planter, 
and if possible get him to send directions 
with e.ach sample stating whether the tea 
was panned, or made over open charcoal fires. 
Appoint an American broker to value gratis every 
sample of tea sent to him, and ask him to give 
advice as to quantity of tea to be sent in a 
break, and the form of package. Then appoint 
a'Committee to receive funds and to do all the 
business with the dealers, ami the factories. 
That is to say to advance to the gardens on 
their teas according to the valuations of your 
broker, and to allow credits to dealers and 
colUctdues, and to pay up balances due to gardens. 
40 million pice represents 6 lakhs and 25,f'00 
rupees. Surely this would be enough to p'ly the 
broker and the Committee, and any losses on 
tea, and free samples and i)amplilets, &c., &c. 
If the plan succeeds we shall gain about four pice 
per pound on our whole crop. And what is the 
alternative to doing the work ou'selves? It is 
that we shall jjay at least four pice and pro- 
l)al)ly eight pice per pound to intcrnoediates. We 
shall have to find out (after many failures) what 
is wanted, and how to sell it, and it will take 
U9 at lea--t live years to get 40 million pounds 
of "Ameiican" tea on to the American market, 
as an annual demand. And if we leave this 
project to individuals and the fate of chances it 
IS quite certain that a very large bulk of ab- 
solutely bad tea (which will result from want of 
knowledge in new methods), will be foisted on 
the market, and give our tea a bad name to 
start with. But under professional guidance, the 
dealers will be able to get good °ea from' \\«., 
and in large quantities, and it will be their 
own fault if tlicy dabble with small paicels of 
inferior tea sent by those who will not join the 
Association, or who have been turned out of 
the Association for their inability to make the 
tea that is required. ' a. c. 
THE LARGEST RUBBER IMPORTS YET. 
Daring the fiscal year ended Jane 30, 1898, the imports 
of crude India rubber andGutta percha into the United 
States v/are larger than in any corresponding period in 
former years, while the declared valae was even more 
in excess for former ftgnras. The ofiacial statement 
follows ; — 
Pouads. Value. 
.. 46,055,693 §25,386,010 
636,477 159,331 
.. 46,692,170 $26,545,391 
.. .36,692,114 §17,558,183 
.. 40,618,314 16,781,533 
. . 41,068,401 18,475,382 
.. 34,256,556 15,162,333 
. . 42,129,958 17,964,667 
. . 40,284.444 19,833,090 
.. 34,672,924 18,020,804 
The official returns show the average value of India 
rubber (exclusive of Gutta percha) imported during the 
last fiscal year to have been 55-1 cents per pound, aa 
against 42 8 cents per pound in the fiscal year 1892* 93, 
or five years ago— India Uuhhtr World Sept. 1. 
India-rubber .. 
Gutta-percha . , 
Total 
Total 1896-97 
„ 1895 96 
„ 1894-95 
„ 1893-94 
,. 1892 93 
„ 1891-92 
„ 1890-91 
FLORIDA VELVET BEAN. 
Under this name a leguminous plant has been 
prominently recommended in American journals aa 
a forage plant and as admirably adopted for green 
crop manuring. Recently the beans have been offered 
for sAle in this country. As frequent references 
have been made to Kew, it is desirable to place on 
record what is known of the plant and its capabili- 
ties. As to its identity, it was from the first 
conjectured that the seeds belonged to a plant 
very near the common purple-flowered Cowhage or 
Cow-itch plant of the tropics, Mucuna pntriens. The 
difficulty, in the absence of adequate specimens 
in identifying it with this was the facS that in the' 
cow-itch plant the pods are densely covered with 
stinging haiis of a brownish colour. A plant so 
formidably armed, it was thought, eould not safely 
be recommended for general cultivation. The name 
^vst f!,\yeu, Dolichos multijioms (Dioclea iJoykiuii), waa 
clearly wrong. In these circumstances we are glad 
to find from the (Jueeiuland A</ricidtu,al Journal, 
vol. ii. pp. 370-371 (with a plate), that the plant hna 
flowered and fruited in that colony, and that Mr, 
F. M. Bailey, f.l.'--., the Colonial Botanist, has iden^ 
tified it Mucuna pruriens, var. utilis. In this variety 
of the cow-itch plant the pods are appirently 
dev. id of stinging hairs. It is probably .)/. niitis of 
Wall., described in the Flora of British India (vol. 
ii., p. 176), as " a cultivated variety " with velvety 
not hairy pods. This is figured in Wiqht'.i Icmies 
(vol. i., t. 280) According to Watt's l>'ictio<iarij of 
the Ecovomic Products of India, '• the young tender 
pods are cooked and eaten as a vegetable. " What 
m>.y also prove to be the same plant, with jet black 
seeds, is cultivated as a rotation crop on sugar estatea 
in Mauritius, under the name of " Pois Alascate " 
The accounts given by interested parties in America 
respecting tlie agricultural value of the Florida 
velvet beau, must be received with caution. It ie 
undoubtedly a rapid grower and affords a large yield 
