Oct. 1, 1908.] 
THE TROPICAL AaRIOULTURIST. 
261 
PRODUCE AND PLANTING. 
The example of India and Ceylon in the matter of 
tea growing has stimulated a desire to 
Experiment with tea seed 
in every likely place on earth, whether in British or 
Foreign poasessiooa. From time to time we hear of 
Buccespfnl experimenta with tea planting in 'he South- 
ern States of America, in the Caucasus, Jamaica, and 
elsewhere, but time alone can show whether the 
sanguine expectations will be realised and the produc- 
tion placed on a permanent footing. In some parta of 
Africa the outlook for tea is said to be encouraging. 
Natal haa already proved that it can grow lea success- 
fully, and we learn that with a view to the cultivation 
of tea on an extensive scale in the German Oam^-roon 
territory, the authorities have sent a Germ-in pr feasor, 
Dr Preusa. to collect the best varieties of seed and 
shrub from Ceylon and Darjeeling. 
In the report of Professor Thorpe, the principal 
chemist of the Government Laboratory, upon the work 
of the laboratory for the year ending March 31, it is 
stated that tea is examined by 
TEA INSPECTORS, 
appointed under the Sale of Pood and Drugs Act, 1875, 
at certain of the principal places of importation, and 
consignments suspected to be of doubtful purity are 
sampled and sent to the Cuatoma L^iboratory for 
further teat. During the past year these samples have 
increased from 998 to 1,521, but the proportion of those 
rejected as unsuitable for home oonsnmpiion waa almost 
exactly equal to the average for the last ten years — 
viz., a little over 11 per cent. One of the most fre- 
quent causes of rejection is excess of sand, which often 
exceeda 10 per cent, and in one instance waa as high as 
16 per cent. The rejected tea is allowed either to be 
exported or to be used duty-free in the manuf -ictnre of 
cafieine. More than 90 per cent of the tea imported 
comes from India and Ceylon, India sending by far the 
larger portion; and less than 10 per cent comes from 
China and all other countries. The importation of 
extract of tea (as well aa extracta of coffee, chicory, 
and tobacco) is prohibited, but occasionally samples 
suspected to be of this nature are submittod for teat. 
Our New York contemporary, the " Tea and Coffee 
Trade Journal," states tbat " the Japan Tea Commis- 
sion is now ia the U S on a tour of inspection with a 
view to inoreaaing the demand for Japan tea in 
America. The party's progress eastward from Seattle 
has been marked by interviews with the members in 
the public Preas, in which some plans of the group 
are revealed. Japan tea has been most popular in this 
country in the West, and the opening of the great 
North- West has, therefore, most interested the visi- 
tors, who have scrutinised with customary Japanese 
minuteness all things that were to be seen. They 
express themselves as pleased and determined that the 
soil shall become tributary to Japan tea." 
" The members," says our contemporary, " have also 
been pleased to tell about the Japan Tea Central 
Association, with the American newspapers called the 
Japan Tea Trust, and, because sanctioned by govern 
ment, and, consequently novel, worthy of respectful 
consideration. Conc"rning this Association Oommis- 
aioner Aizawa ia quoted as having said : ' The Aa- 
Booiation numbers 1,200,000 members and controls not 
only the tea for export, bat also the tea kept for 
home conaumption, and there are practically no tea, 
plantations outside the Aasooiation, which was formed 
under permission from the government. A salient 
feature of the Administration of the Association is the 
committees which are constantly travelling over the 
country inspecting the plantations. The tea has to ba 
of a certain grade and condition, or it is refused. In 
the factories also there are Inspectors, and every 
shipment of tea is examined before it is put on the 
market, and if it does not come up to standard it is 
rejeoled. All exported teas go through this examina- 
tion, as well aa nearly all that sold for domestic use, 
so the mark of the Association is a guarantee that the 
grade and ^atJity of any particular tek are what they 
are represented to be. The Association hns already 
an agency in Chicago and one in New York, and there 
is also a branch in Montreal, Canada, but we do not 
think we are doing the business in this country that 
we should. We consider that tea ia a healthier drink 
than coffee, and that when Japanese teas are well 
known here a very large quantity will be consumed in 
the United States, The trade between the two 
countrlea ia growing every year, and we intend to see 
that the tea trade sharea in the general advance. My 
particular mlasion here is to examine into the market 
and to endeavour to ascertain the best steps to take to 
pu-h the sale of Japanese teas. I shall visit nearly 
all the priacipxl cities in the country before retarning 
to Japan.' " — JI. and C. Mail. 
CACAO OR COCOA (THEOBROMA CACAO.) 
There are but few plants that have had such a 
varied range of usefulness and established auch a 
rapid reputation and popularity in ao short a apace 
of time as the Cocoa, or, perhaps more properly, 
the Cacao plant ( Xheobroma Cacao), and probably 
no plant has ever had the distinction of playing such 
an important part as a social reformer, for in this 
letter respect everyone knows that, in the hands of 
Messrs Cadbury, a new and model village haa sprung 
up near Birmingham under the name of Bourneville 
which will ever ba associated with the celebrated plant. 
To meet the increased demand the Cacao-tree 
haa become widely cultivated in most tropical 
countries. Amongst the British West Indian Islands, 
Trinidad has alwavs atood in a foremost position for 
the quality of its Cocoa. 
In Sir Diniel ^'orri^'s Report on the Economic Re- 
sources of the West Indies, he states that Cacao cultiva- 
tion has been established in Trinidad from its earliest 
days. The total area under regular cultivation in 1879 
was 24,158 acres, and though the average at the time 
the report was written was not given, it was estimated 
at a considerably higher figure. In 1881 the Exports 
of ' 'acao were of the value of £266,613, which had 
increased in 1895 to £620,634. 
In Jamaica the report said that Cacao cultivation 
was introduced by the Spaniards, and in 1671 there 
were sixty-five walks in bearing, and many new ones 
in cultivation. Th^se had practically disappeared 
soon after the English occupation, and the present 
cultivation was not more than thirty years old. In 
1876 the value of Cacao exported from Jamaica waa 
only £1,286, which had increased in 1896 to £17,528. 
In most of the other islands Cacao has been culti- 
vated with more or less success, beside which it 
has been successfully introduced into Ceylon, 
as well as into British India, where it ia said trees 
raised from seed come into full bearing at the age of 
five or six years, after which period they yield about 
150 lb of seed annually. 
For the successful cultivation of Cacao, beside 
the requisite soil and climate, an equable and regular 
rainfall, as well as some protection or shelter from 
prevailing winds, are necessary. If shade-trees are 
required, they should be put in the ground either 
before or at the same time as the Cacao-plants, if 
they are intended to provide temporary shade for a 
few months. In the West Indies, Bananas and Plan- 
tains are put one between each Cacao-plant, and thesa 
last for two or three years while permanent shada- 
treea, which are chiefly haid-wooded plants, are placed 
at distancea of about 40 feet, and the three or four 
years afford a permanent shade. By giving ample 
apace between the Cacao-plants, many other plants 
of a useful character may be planted between them 
without impoverishing the ground during the first two 
or three years. They assist in keeping the gr nud 
cool and moist and freer of weeds. In planting belts 
of trees around plantations aa a protection against 
winds, such trees should be of some economic valae, to 
as to give some return. 
