226 THC TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [October i, 1891. 
has been caused to some extent by a doubt upon 
the epeoinl su'nject o£ tannin in teiv and how far 
local interests might be pffectcU by Ib.a pu'^'roa^ 
tiori ot' full itiforrnaiion reif e:i!it g it j:i regard 
io Ooylon teas. But we aru now informed Ihy.t 
the lea Oommitteo of the Ceyioa Associatioa in 
London has passed, a resolution requesting our 
Planters' Aesoeiation to act upon Mr. Hughes' 
advice and have the analyses proposed by him 
made. It seems certainly deBifi'.ble that this 
matter should be exnuiiued into as closely as 
possible. Th") view adopted by Mr. Hughes, that 
the higher the proportion of tannin in tea the 
more it is valued in tha London market, may 
tend towards considerably modifying the opposi- 
tion said to have been heretofore felt to make 
public the exact proportion contained in the teas 
of our island growth, ii such opposition has 
really existed. 
Now, however groat may be the proportion of 
tannin in some of our teas, it by no means 
follows that it is necessary that the drinkers of 
these to whom it might be injurious or disagree- 
able should imbibe it. Tannin is said to be 
scarcely ever present to any extent in the first 
cup of infusion obtained from tea if the time 
allowed for the tea to stand be limited to some 
three minutes or .so only. It is the second cup, 
after the leaf had been subjected to the influence 
of the boiling water probably for some ten minutes 
or so, that contains the tannin extract. This 
fact is commonly recognised by tea drinkers, and 
a larger proportion of milk is given to this second 
cup than is supplied with that of the first in- 
fusion drawn oS. By a few persons, perhaps, the 
second cup is that most appreciated, but these 
bear, we should say, but a small proportion to 
the whole army of tea drinkers. We do not our- 
selves pretend to say whether Mr. Hughes' view 
is right or wrong ; but if it be tbe former (as we 
incline to believe) it is desirable that we should 
know it, as it might most materially affect the 
question o£ demand for our teas in European 
countries. 
Ihere i? another point which seems to have 
been slated by Mr, Hughes that will obviously 
call for consideration. He deems it to be 
desirable that the samples he may be called 
upon to analyse should be selected on the estates, 
and fresh from the curing operations, to bo at 
once packed in hermetically sealed tins and sent 
home to him. We should naturally conclude 
from this that Mr. Hughes regards it to be a fact 
that our teas as now packed, transported and 
bulked in London undergo a certain modification 
of their characteristics during those operations. 
But what are we specially seeking as the result 
to the proposed aualyees ? Is it not to obtain a 
guide as to what teas are best suited to the 
varied tasti s of home consumers ? If so, and in 
that case, it would seeua to us to be desirable that 
the analyses should be made of teas as they ara 
delivered to those consumers, and not as they 
come fresh from the operation of curing on the 
eslate ? However, as to this we must leave decision 
to thoeo of more experience than ourselves ; though 
unless good reason can bo given, it would seem as 
if liny result to be obtained must be fallacious, 
if the tea as submitted to analysis and the tea 
as delivered, in London, is to be tea possessed of 
dilleront characteristics. Double analyses would 
Hcem desirable indeed, of tha teas as freshly manu- 
factured and specimens of the same teas when 
they reach the Loudon market. Now that the 
question has assumed the important phases we 
have described, tlie clearing up of the points now 
n dispute must be mor9 than ever desirable. 
NEW FODDER PLANT. 
Mr. Hart (at the merticg of tbe TriuiJad Ceutrkl 
Agrioiilturi}! Bnard,) s lid Mr. Henry Wariier hnd given 
liotice o£ a que.iti„'u Letwuen tbis <^n'i las: meeiiug. 
It was : — " To ask tho Goverumenfc Botanist whether 
thrt new fodder plant spoken of so highly io the Tropi- 
cal Agriculturist, ot 1st .January, 1891, aud cftlled 
thertiu tho LatJiyrus Si/lvtstris is known to biin, aud 
whether he is aware of the exioteiice of thtssplauts in 
Trinidad or no^ If not growing in Triuidad at the 
preseut time does the Governmeut Botanist intend to 
introduce into the colony or has he already taken steps 
to this eun ? ' 
Dr. flo Verteuil : Is it a grass ? 
Mr. Hart : No. Lathyrtin Sylvesiris is the plant in 
qaeslioo, it is nearly allied to I'icia or vetch. It is 
dispersed all over the globe chiefly in temperate climes 
or the mountains of the tropics. A variety of iai/^T/j-MS 
Sylvestris is the " everlasting pea," which is cultiyated 
in European gardens for the sake of its flowera. It 
appears that m Ceylon they have been planting a 
variety of .-jpeoies, and some one has been writing about 
it in the Tropical Agrindturist. I have not had an 
opportunity of seeing this article ot looking it up, as 
the question was only to put to me this morning ; 
but I may eay this that I do not thiok a European 
plant would be likely to thrive in the tropics. Some 
years ago the vetch which thrives in European coun- 
tries was introduced into Jamaica, and had now be- 
come acclimatised there. It was naturalised on the 
hills but it would not grow on the plains. It ought 
to be known whether such plants would thrive here, 
and we might procure seed and try it, but I don't 
think the trial will be attended with any amount of 
success. Sic Joseph Hooker gives Laikyrua Sylvestris 
as a native of Great Britain and South Europe. 
Dr. de Verteuil: I think it will do better in Southern 
Europe than in this climate. — Tiiaidad Agricultural 
Record. 
♦ 
RICE IN JAPAN. 
The absence of trustworthy statistics showing 
the progress of sericulture, tea production, and 
rice-growing since the restoration, is often laoiented 
by persons interested in the trade of this country. 
Some general facts are known, but it appears to be 
exceedingly difficult to obtain exact returns. Recently 
Vh^Fiyu published au interesting statement giving a 
rude idea of the development of rice culture since the 
close of the sixteenth century. In 1598 (third year 
of Keiclio), wo read the area of land under rice 
was 1,311,000 cho (3,277,000 acres), the produce 
of which aggregated 8,500.,000 koku (94,905,000 
bushels), beiug at the rate of a little over 
29 busliels an acre. Out of this amount our con- 
temporary asserts that no less than 12,000,000 kohu, 
had to be paid as taxes, namely, two-thirds of the 
whole produce — but we can scarcely credit this 
figure. A century later 16'JO, wheu the couotry had 
enjoyed peace for a hundred years and the Tokugawa 
dynasty was firmly established, the yield of rice had 
increased to 25,800,000 koku, a difference of nearly 
40 per cent. Thenceforth until 1832 no statistics are 
given, but in April of the latter year we are told 
that accurate returns gave the total produce of 
rice as 30,558,917.84 koku, from which it appears 
that tbe increase between 1690 and 1832— a 
period of 142 ^ years— had been only 18 per cent,, 
against an increase of 40 per cent in the previous 
100 years. Fifty-six years later, 1888, the area under 
rice cultivation was 2,685,886 cho (6,714,715 acres) 
and tlie aggregate produce was 38,645,583 knku 
(198,251,840 bushels), or a little over 29 bushels an 
acre. Thus the increase in this preriod was 26 per 
cent,, a fact bearing significant testimony to the 
prosperous condition of the country during the 
past half century. It was natural (hat in the 
decades immediately succeeding the termination of tha 
long era of internecine war which the 2'aiko and tbe 
Shogun lyeyasu brcnght to an end, a great iiapetus 
