Jan. 1, 1902. J 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
487 
during the process of manufacture. This 
hardly agrees with his present statement, 
but this is immaterial, my contention being 
that during the process of oxidation c^erta^n 
ethereal tiavouring substances 
which give flavour and 
and that by the addition 
mire of the cell 
soluble, thereby increasing 
strength. Undoubtedly if a 1 
enzvme is added, or 
to most 
improve 
are formed 
aroma to the tea, 
of a proper enzyme 
contents are rendered 
flavour and 
arge excess of 
it is allowed to act for 
too long a time, there will be a loss of 
delicate' flavour through the over-oxidation 
and rendering insoluble these delicate 
flavouring materials, the. same as there 
would be by over-ferinentation, buu the 
one can be guarded against as easily as the 
other. „ ^ , 
By the addition of the enzyme 
teas, the infusion is considerably 
in body and colour, by the larger quantity 
of the cell contents rendered soluble, and 
it remains to be seen whether with all teas 
an improvement in the flavour takes place, 
I sincerely hope that for the sake ot the 
tea industry it does not. as that would mean 
a levelling-up of all qualities. . 
I have known nf the oxidising enzyme m the 
tea for a considerable time, but have always 
hitherto thought it inadvisable to try to 
introduce chemistry into tea manufacture, 
in case we might reduce the industry to a 
level with that of Indigo. But now tiiat the 
Japanese and the Ceylon and Indian lea 
Planters' Associations have taken the matter 
up it behoves all of us to do our best. 
Unfortunately our tea season up here is 
over for this year, so I am precluded from 
continuing my experiments in manutacture 
and am reduced to those of the laboratoij- 
The enzyme can be demonstrated in the 
tea leaf by crushing a leaf, and then adding 
a few drops of tincture Guiac, when a blue 
colour will appear. It may be necessary in 
some cases to add a few drops of Peroxide 
of Hydrogen, to intensify the re-action or, 
in extreme cases, when there is deficiency 
of enzyme and an excess of tanning, to dis- 
solve out some of the latter first with alco- 
hol. If the chemically pure article is re- 
quired it can be dissolved out of the tea 
with water, the tanuin absorbed with ge- 
latin, and the enzyme precipitated by add- 
volumes of alcohol. -Yours taith- 
tive 
fully, 
C. R. NEWTON. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
Fiji up to date : Usbful Information 
FOR Plx'NTERS. -Apropos a correspondent's 
request for further information with regard 
to Fiii, we have pleasure in publishing a few 
para-'graphs from " the Statesman s Year 
Book " for I9UI, which may be of interest to 
him and other readers :— 
For the purposes <>f naiive government the 
colony is divided into 17 provinces, in 11 ol whitU 
a superior native chief exercises, under the title or 
KoUo Tui of his province, a form of rule wiiich re- 
cognises to a large degree the customs and the 
system of administration by which the people 
governed themselves prior to the establishment 
amongst them of a European form of government. 
Ju six of the provinces tlaere are Euiopeaa olficera 
as commissioners. About 175 native chiefs of in- 
ferior de;4ree aie eiujiloyed by the Crown in subor- 
dinate adiuinistraiive capacities, and receive 
salai ies from the Government. There are also 35 
naiive stipeiidiary magistrates associated with 10 
European ma<iistrates in the adniiuislration of 
ju-itice. A European commissioner resides in 
Kotnmali. 
With regard to religion we learn on the 
same authority, that the number of persons 
attending worship in the native churches 
of the Wesleyan Mission in 1899 was 94,032 
and attending the churches of the Roman 
CAtholic Mission, 9,195. Two public schools 
receive state aid to the extent of about 
£75 > a year, one in Suva and one in Levuka. 
During"l899 the Wesleyan Mission had 1,499 
schools with 20,464 scholars, while the Roman 
Catholic Mission had 146 schools with 1,832 
scholars. The revenue and expenditure (ex- 
clusive of that on account of Polynesian and 
Indian immigration) for the four years 
providing to 19J0 have been as follows : — 
Year. Revenue. Expenditure, 
1896 .. £73,869 ... £73,099 
1897 .. 74,492 ... 73,232 
18:^8 ... 94,165 ... 87,594 
1899 ... 98,621 ... 95,568 
Production and industry are described as 
follows :— 
There are live sugar mills in the Colony, with an 
aggregate nominal daily output of 204 tons of dried 
sugar, one tea factory, with an aggregate nominal 
daily output of 400 pounds of dried tea, 16 boat- 
building yards, two soap works, two saw mills. In 
1899 there was under cultivation by European 
settlers :— Bananas, 2,228 acres; coconuts, 20,891 
acres ; maize, 518 acres ; sugar-cane, 23,160 acres ; 
yams, &c., 177 acres ; tobacco, 34 acres; peanuts, 
230 acres : tea, 210 acres ; rice, 714 acres ; pine- 
apples, 157 acres. There were in the colony, at 
the end of 1899, 2,083 horses ; 16,940 cattle ; 995 
sheep ; and 9,146 Angora goats. 
In 1899 the value of the total foreign 
trade for the year was £744,900, of which 
£263,044 was imports and £481,856 exports. 
The principal exports in 1899 were— sugar, 28,403 
tons, valued at 340,603^. ; copra, 7,617 tons, 
valued at 77,330/. ; green fruit (consisting chiefly 
of bananas), 30,607i. ; Colonial distilled spirit, 
132,440 oallons, valued at 16,343Z. ; pea nuts, 220 
tons, valued at 3,182/. ; pearl-shells, 39 tons, 
valued at 3,092?. ; beche-de-mer, 37 tons, valued at 
2,344?.; maize, 13,660 bushels, valued at 1,366Z. , 
vanilla, 9 ewt., valued at 1050Z. 
During the year 1899 the total number of mer- 
chant vessels entered at the ports of entry as 
arriving in the colony was 96 steamers of 115,237 
tons, and 34 sailing vessels of 13,462 tons. Of these 
vessels 115 were British, two American, eight Nor- 
wegian, two German, one Danish and two Tongan. 
Total tonnage entered and cleared in 1899, 235,447 
tons. 
In 1899 there passed through the post office in 
local correspondence 267,910 letters, 163,077 
papers, and 30,570 book-packets; and in foreiga 
correspondence 153,536 letters, 145,637 papers, 
23,0,i9 book-packets, and 1,278 parcels. A Money 
Order system has been established with the United 
Kingdom, Canada and the Australian Colonies. 
An overland telephone from Suva to Ba, 120 miles, 
has been constructed. 
Moneys, weights, and measures are the saraq as} 
ia the United Kingdom, 
