THE TROPICAL AQRiCULTURiST. [December i, 1891. 
allowed to ferment for two to four hours, they pass 
iuto a " Sirocio tea-dryiug machine, and, after ex- 
posure to b t air at 300 dt grees for about 20 minutes, 
tbey ate ready for packing for aespAtchto the Loudon 
warehouse. 
The esseuce of Mr. Snelling's system lies, it will be 
seeo, in the adoplioa of the regular tea-j^rowerb' 
methods, and in perfecting it he enjoyed tho advantage 
at the outset of the practical co operation of one of the 
best known of theAsfam pla'iters, Mr. Patrick Eugees 
Macgregor, who undertook the manipulation of 1 lie 
first samples of hops that were treated at Mnidttone 
ladt jear. The ordinary system of hop drying for 
brewers purposes takes about ten hours, during which 
the hops are exposed to the fumes of sulphur and 
charcoal. In the "Sirocco'" the process is rapid end 
effectual, ncd the bops come in contact with nothing 
but heated air. 
Here, then, ends the Maidstcue pirt of the 
history of the hop ica manufacture. Tiie 
blending takes p'aoe in the L ndon warehouses and 
here it may be well to note that none but carefully 
selected India and Ceylon teas are used. The bop, 
notwithstanding its crufihiag and sifting, requires 
some further cutting ia a uiac'jine to ensure its 
perfectly mixing with the finer leaf of the teashrub, 
but in the mixing process theie is nothing distinctive 
apart from what may be feen in any tea warehouse. 
Hop coffee snd hop cocoa are other preparalion.s 
which are covered by Mr. Snelling's patents, and 
the production of which forms r part; although a 
minor one, of the Company's operations. In these 
cases, to ensure a perfect mixinre, the hops are 
ground to an impalapalle ponder. The bop C-C a, 
in particular, is a very pleafant preparation, tlie 
bitter of the hops connteracticg to a great extent 
the native greasiness of the cocoa li^ivour which is 
objectiooabJe to many people. 
Kentish people are proverbially loyal to 
their nfltive industries. Above everythina they believe 
iu hops, and the hearty way in which I op tea has been 
taken up locally is very edifying. Ail the tea dealers 
sell it; you may get it, I bef.eve, at all, the hotels — or 
at least, m my experience, at the leading one ye aTcient 
Boll. 
For the original and existing Hop Tea, Company con- 
fines its field of operations to Great Britain aloDe, 
but Mr. Snelling has secure 1 his patent rights where- 
evor they can be secured a'l over the world, and the 
Hops Tea Foreign and Cclonial Syndicate (Limited) has 
recently been regi-'tered, with the object ef dealing, 
eitherby sale or licerc, with the patents granted for 
Belgium, Denmark, France, Indin, New South Wales, 
New Zealand, South Australia, Tasmnida, Victoria, the 
United Stales, Canada. QueenslanJ, Norway, Sweden, 
and Russia. The shares in the syndicate are being 
privately subscribed, but soae proportien will be oflered 
to the public, »ud agents and licensees everywhere are 
in demand. — European Mail 
VISIT OF AN AMERICAN PROFESSOR 
TO CEYLON. 
The American Professor Goodale who visited the 
Ceylon botanical gardens some time ago. calling, when 
in Colombo, at the Observer Office, communicates the 
result of his visit to the American Journal of 
Science. But for a regrettable oversight the detsils 
would have appeared in our columns Bomo time ago. 
1. Botanic Gardens in the Equatorial Belt and in 
tho South Seaa (First Paper.)— It is my purpose 'o 
give, in the following notes, some account of tho iiiore 
important Botanic Gardens visited by me during a 
recent journey. The tour carried me from Genoa, 
through the canal at Suez, to Gtylou, in which country 
Peradenia and Hakgala wore examined ; thenec to 
Adolaiile in South Australia ; Melbourne and Geeiong 
in Victoria; Hobart in Tasmania; Duuoiliii, Christ- 
church, ond \V( llinKt<in, in New Zealand ; Sydney 
in Now South Wales ; Brisbane in Queeublauel ; 
Buiteu^torg in Java ; Singapore in the Straits Settle- 
ment ; Saigon, Hong Kong, and Shangha', in China ; 
and Tokio iu Japan. Wiih the exception of Shanghai 
and Tokio, the visits were made a', lavorable seasons : 
in norihora China and iu Japan the spring was not 
far advanced, but the eaily flowers were in perfec- 
tion. 
Tte journey was undertaken with a view of secur- 
ing from tho establishments in question for the 
Uuivtraity Museum at Cambridge, specimens illus- 
trative ot the useful pro i nets ot the vegetable 
kiiigc'om. In every iLS'auce, the writer rLet with a 
coidial reception and received innumerable conrtesifeS 
for which ho desires to thank a^ain the directors, 
curators, »nd superintendents of the various botanical 
establishments. Every facility '.-.aB afforded for care- 
ful infrpection of the; workings of the gardens and 
meseums, and, it tbould bo added, of the educational 
institutions with which soiue of them were connected. 
A satisfactory photographiccutfit reudered it possible 
to supplement the collection of photographic views 
which were purchaseable at mosc points ; so that 
the series, now stored in the Museum at Cambridge, 
may be regarded as ono of the largest yet brought 
together. It ocmprises views not only of groups 
ot plants bo'h iu gardens and in their wild state, 
but o' individual plants as well. Early next year 
these illustrations will be accessible to visiting na- 
turalists. 
The present sketch will follow essentially the route 
outlined in a prececing paragraph, beginning with the 
gardens in Ceylon. 
Peeaduniya and Hakgala (Ceylon).— After tho 
desert of Egypt and Arabia, and of treeless Aden 
have been parsed, tho traveler ccmes, by an abrupt 
transition, upon t'opical luxuriance of vegttition. 
There is to be sure, a disianc glimpie of Socotra, 
bnt its shores aro too far Kway fo , yield anything 
plainly discernible, nnd even Miuicoy, an Island lying 
between the Maldives and Laeeadivt.", gives only a 
iairit suggestion of plant life. Its lovv-jying laud is 
fringed. with scattered coconut palms, of which, later, 
one sees so many. Before reaching Ceylon the ship 
passes within sight of tho southern point of India 
but not near enough to shov>' what its plants aro 
like. In fact, therefore, the arrival in the hartor of 
Co'omlo brings a surprise, Comir.g co-^rri to tho 
shore, and extending as far as the eye can reach ou 
either side, are crooked* coconut palms, here and 
there intermingled with trees Laving foliage of the 
deepest green. A botanist is struck at once by the 
superb capabilities of such a country for a tropical 
garden. These capabilities were not overlooked by 
she Dutch, who succeeded the Portuguese in posses- 
sion. A Botanic Garden was founded by them at 
S ave Island in Colombo, but when the Dutch were 
driven out by the British it fell into neglect. There 
was, however, at this peiiud, au excellent garden 
connected with the country place of the first English 
Governor, near Co otiibo, which at the beginning of 
his century was undir the charge of a naturalist, 
who gave it somewbtt the character of a botanical 
garden. 
In 1810, Sir Joseph Banks sketched the plan for 
a Botant'cal Garden in Slave Island, Colombo, and 
succeeded in trsnsferring thither from Canton, Mr. 
Kerr, who becime its ohiff. According io tho work 
from which I have derived these facts, the Slave 
Island garden was found subject to flood.", and eou- 
srqueutly the C' iablishmcnt was moved to Kalutara. 
One finds here and there iu Co'ombo traces of the 
old occupaucy remaining in the i ames of some of 
the street!-, — " Kew" for instance. From Kslutara 
Iho garden was transferred ia 1821 to its pretent 
site. Sincj that time, tho large garden baa catab- 
li^hed four branches, in order to secure all the 
advaclugea which can come from haviug land at' 
different altitudes and with different exposures. 
The branch gardens are (1) Badulla, founded in 1886, 
in \he CEsteru part of the leland, with an elevation 
* Crooked conveys the idea of sharp angh whereas 
the cocouut palms aro gracefully bent, — En. T, A, 
