382 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTOEIST 
[Dec, 2, 19«1. 
are gathered fresh and tender, infused in boiling 
water, and then served with sugar and milk added, 
although the poorer classes do without the addition 
of the last luxury. The prep iration is known as 
pachachi>/a or green tea, and it is highly valued as 
a night drink for patients ailing with certain dis- 
orders, for the leaves possess carmioaiive, anti-<p;is- 
modic and other medicinal properties Tlie people of 
Arabia and Abyssinia make their tea from the twigs 
and leaves of the shrub known as Ca'ha ednlii. 
Slender shoots of the j)'ant along with the attached 
leaves are gathered aud made into buaJles, and 
when required for use, a decoction is prepared which 
is said to be pleasant to the taste and very similar 
to ordinary green tea. The leaves are also chewed 
by the labouring classes in Arabia and Abyssinia 
when food is soaroo or when work deraendiug phy- 
sical endurance has to be accomplished, for they 
are believed to possess the property of sustaining 
haman energy. Cafta, as the beveraga is properly 
ca'led. had to make a struggle to obtain populirity 
among the Arabs, for when it was first brought iat ) 
nse, the orthodox condemned it on the ground ihit 
it was excessively stimulating, and, therefore, taboo 
to Mahomedans, But a Council of l^arjied and 
holy men asseaibled to discuss the matter and ar- 
rived at the conclusion that though a stimalant, the 
drug was not sufficiently intoxicating to be included 
in the category of drinks forbidden by the Koran. 
It is said to profiuce great hilarity of spirits and 
to remove drowsiness. The leaves of a spscies of 
liyclranr/ea are very largely u^ed in Japan as tea, 
being prepared in the form of a deooction, and the 
beverage is so highly valued by the Jap? that they 
call it, with true Oriental imagery of expression, 
Ama-tuja, or the Tea Heaven. In Tasmania and 
the i'alkland Isles, species of myrtle are .used for 
tea, the leaves being infused and furnishing a fra- 
grant and fairly palatable drink, which has, however, 
to be made weak, as the leaves possess emetic pro- 
perties. Other species of trees belonging to the 
myrtle order, such as the Gliphyia nitida, in Ben- 
coolen, the Tjzptoip'.mium., in some of the Austral- 
asian Colonies, and the Eur/ mia in Chili, at'e all largely 
used by the Natives for the same purpose. It is 
almost a matter of history that a certain species 
of myrtle often served for tea on board the vessels 
of Captain Cook's expeditions in the South Seas. 
In parts of Siara, a leaf known as Laoten is the 
substance which furnishes the people v/ith their drink. 
The leaves are steamed, tied np into bundles and 
buried in the earth for several days, and after they 
have undergone a process of fermentation they are 
taken out and either drunk as tea or chewed. Like 
the cafta of the Arabs, this tea is supposed to im-' 
part powers of endurance to those who partake of it. 
The leaves are so prepared that they keep well for 
over a year. 
A particular species of tsimlax, the roots of which 
constitute the sarsaparilla of commerce, was at one 
time very extensively employed in Australia as the 
tea of the Natives, and thereby came to obtain the 
title of Botany Bay tea. In parts of Africa, a legu- 
minous plant, akin to the English broom, furnishes 
the leaves known as Bush tea, the prepared drink 
possessing an agreeable smell and a pleasant taste, 
not very different from the tea that ia served at our 
own tables. Another leguminous plant is used in 
Chili as a substitute for the more famous Mate or 
Paraguay tea. Mate itself is of considerable im- 
portance, being very largely used in Paraguay, Brazil 
and other parts of South America. It is also known 
as Jesuits' tea and St. Bartholomew's tea. It is 
plucked from an evergreen plant of the holly tribe, 
the leaves being roasted on the branches, stripped 
off when dry, and coarsely powdered. The powder, 
with sugar to taste, is thrown into a cup, which ia 
then filled with boiling water. Sometimes, burnt 
Rugar and lemon squash are added to heighten the 
flavour. The beverage is not drnnlc, but is shipped 
through a gla/»a tubs. Xhreejbrevya are oommpnly 
made use of, the first one being the most pleaaao 
to the taste and 'cut slig'atly stimulating, the other 
two being very much stronger, and yet harmless. 
Mate has been drunk by the Natives of South America, 
almost from time immemorial, and it is call jd Jesuits 
tea merely because the Missionaries were the first 
to cultivate it systematically, and just in the same 
manner as quinine is known as Jesuits' bark. 
Afternoon mite is as fashionable in Sontli America 
as five o'clock tea in English drawing rooms. The 
consumption of mata in the various South Ametican 
Eapublics ia from 30 to 40 millions of pounds an- 
nually. The Braziliau variety of t_hia tea is knowu 
as Gougonha. " 
In Norih America, we fiud another species of 
holly largely used by the Indians for the manufac- 
ture of a kind of black tea, which is said to coutaiu 
the active principle of China tea and to possess 
certain advantages over tha latter. It is sometimes 
called Appala-hiaa tea. The Uoitsd .Slates Goveru- 
miut lias lately interested itself in this shrub with 
a view to ascertaining whether it c-juld not be brought 
under systematic cultivation. In the same region, 
the Isivis of a species of Vihartnua or honeysuckle 
are mixed with the above, the result being locally 
considered a fairly satisfactory blend. In Tropical 
and Central Africa, a species of j?i'^(!ioriii«i, or daisy, 
makes an excellent tea, the dried laares, which are 
used for the purpose, eiviug an aromatic smell and 
an agreeable taste. The use of this tea, which is 
now known in Mauritius, Ceylon aud elsewhere, is 
said to be harmless. Tiis leaves are also possessed 
of valuable medicinal properties. This tea, it may 
ba mautionad, is commonly knowu as Ayapi la. In 
parts of the E !,st, Ocymtciii leaves furnish what ia 
known as Tuisi taa, while the dried leaves of the 
wild marjoram are a popular substitute of China tea. 
Two other specie? of maijoram are employed in North 
America for the preparation known as Oswego tea, 
while an allied species of rosemary is another occa- 
sional substitute for tea. It may not be generally 
known that in Sumatra and soma of the adjoining 
isLtnds, as well as in parts of India, the poorer 
classes, with whom necessity is the mother of in- 
vention, employ the roasted leav-s of coffee for an 
i'.ifusion which goas under the name of coffee tea, 
but we would doubtless w.nt our palates especially 
educated to discover anything satisfying in such a 
wonderful decoction. In North America, two species 
of heath are pretty largely used as substitutes for 
China ts\, one variety going by the name of Sal- 
vador tea and the other of Lxbrador tea. Turning 
to Europe, we are at once reminded of the extensive 
use to which a species of Mulieiu or Figwort has 
been used for centuries by tne Germans in the pre- 
paration of tea, the flowers and not the leaves being 
used, and care being taken to detach the hairy fila- 
ments w'nich cover the flowers and which would 
cause a most irritating sensation if taken into the 
mouth. Mullein his been so largely employed that 
it has obtained the name of The de V Europe. Finally, 
it may be mentioned that the familiar English cow- 
slip was once largely used in England by the lower 
orders for the manufacture of a tea by the name 
of i^aigle. It would not be difficult to mention the 
names of several other plants, shrubs and herbs, 
whose leaves, flowers or roots have at some time or 
other administered to the service of man as substi- 
tutes for tea, but enough has been said to show that 
our familiar friend, China tea, is not the only be- 
verage that the world has drunk out of " the cup 
that cheers but not inebriates." YoR. 
Madras Mail, Ilth Oct. 
— ^ — _ 
Manure por Tobacco— Where wattle ashes can he 
procured, they are said to form an excellent manure 
for tobacco. Mr. J. M. Van Leenhoff, tobacco expert 
in Nital, states that they may be used for procuring 
a mild, good burning tobacco. The ashes should bg 
ploughed in very shallow, four or five months beforf 
