474 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [January i, 1892. 
The Addltekation op Peoduce. — Tea nnder Ihis 
category occopies much tbe same position as the 
Bubject-matter of the we)l-known chapter on " Snakes 
in Iceland." There is no tea adulteration now if the 
ofiBoisl report on food anslyeia issued by the Local 
Government Board may be taken as conclusive. 
The following shows samples of some produce 
examined during the year, and the percentage of 
cases in which adulteration wan reported : — Cofifee : 
Number of samples examined, 1,733 : number of pam- 
plea adulterated, 266 ; perceutage adulterated in 1889, 
14 '9 ; percentage adulteratfd in 1890, 15 3. Sugar: 
Numter of samples examined, 216 ; number of samples 
adulterated, 34 ; percentage adulterated in 1889, 0; 
percentage adulterated in i890, 13'8. Pepper : Number 
of samples examined, 1,329 ; number of ssmples adulter- 
ated, 75 ; percentage adolterated in 1889, 8'9 ; percent- 
age adulterated in 1890, 5'6. Tea : Number of faraples 
examined, 849 ; number of samples adulteiatcd, 0 ; per- 
centage adulterated in 1889, 0 5 ; percentage adulterated 
in 1890, 0 0. The number of samples of coffee condemn, 
ed is very high, the adulterant being almost invariably 
chicory, and the proportion used being often enormous. 
Proceedings were taken in 171 cases, and fines amount- 
ing in the aggregate to f 179 were imposed. Of these, 
one was of £20, two of £10, two between £5 and £10, 
•ndfour of £5. Of the 246 eamplea of sugar examined, 
nearly one-sevonth were reported as having been co- 
loured with an aniline dye of an amber tint in order to 
make white crystals of beet sugar imitate the most 
valuable Demerara. The quantity of the dye used 
however, ia very minute. In the caee of pepper, 
adulteration a few years ago was on the inciease, 
owing to the nse of ginger fibre from which the active 
properties had been abstracted by the ginger beer 
manufactories, and which, after being dried, was ground 
up with peppercorns. This practice, however, seems 
to be now out of favour, and the percentage of samples 
condemned, which in 1886 was no less than 13, sank 
in 1890 to 5-6. 
Smart. — In his monthly Journal, Might and Day, 
Dr. Barnardo makes the fillowing announcement : — 
" The Oalukola Tea Company will give Id to the 
Homes for every pound of tea sold, the labels for 
which are sent to me. As a pound of tea is sold for 
2s, this ofier amounts to nearly 5 per cent on all 
Bales. As I can personally bear witness to the really 
fine quality of this tea (every packet of which has 
been sealed up in CevloD), I imagine I am doing my 
readers as good a service in bringing it to their 
notice as I shall do my Homes if a vast number of 
labels are forthwith returned to me by purchasers." 
A Sugar Boom. — There is a " boom " in sugar, 
the price of which has advanced in Mincing Lane 
more than £1 lOs per ton. The advance has 
been established without the excitement which has 
characterised similar movements of past years, end 
has been due, not to the unreasoning fears of bear 
opei'dtors, but to the steadily-growing conviction that 
without the check of enhanced values, consumption 
will more thin abeorb the world's supply. Year by 
year the psoduction of sugar has been on a more 
gigantic scale, but this year the crop of beet sugar 
— the basis of speculation — is stated to be seriously 
deficient. — II. and C. Mail, Nov. 20. 
A POSSIBLE COALFIELD NEAR MADEAS, 
Twenty years ago Mr. R. Bruce Foote, late of the 
Geological Survey of India, in company with MessrH. 
0. A. Oldham and W. King alto of the Geological 
burvey, examined and mapped geologically the District 
in tlu: neighbourhood of Madras, and pub'ished the 
result'* iu the '' Memoirs of the Geological Survey of 
India " Vol. X., Part 1. At that time certnin plunt bods 
were indentiticd as corresponding with the R ijinsihal 
Series of the Upper Gondwana syptem, but o /■ ing to 
the very level ralure of the country, and the difBculty 
of obtaining sections, it was impossible to say posi- 
tively what formation lay next below these plant beds, 
it was however, supposed that tbe Lower Gonuwanas, 
the formation in which nearly all tbe coal seams are 
found in India, might possibly be found at some 
depth below. Now, after a lapse of twenty years it 
baa been proved beyond all doubt that the Lower 
Gondwanas are present and the discovery i? due to 
the enterprise and perseverance of the Rev. S. Doainic, 
a prieat of the Roman Catholic Church, in sinking 
an artesian boring with the object of obtaining a 
permanent supply of water. This torirg he com- 
menced BO far back as April 1886, but owing to vari- 
ous interruptions oE the work, it was not sunk further 
than 272 feet by Ust May. In that month Mr. Bruce 
Foote went at Father Dominic's invitation, to inspect 
the boring which is situated in Place's Gaidecs, in 
the Conjeveram taluq of the Ohingleput District, and 
to give his advice on the prospects of the boring. 
The results of the inspection were publ'shed at the 
end of last August in a Government Older on Mr. 
Bruce Foote's report, which we publith in another 
column. The opinion there expressed by Mr. Bruce 
Foote does not appear to have impressed the Madras 
Government much, although it sanctioned an additional 
grant of R.500 to Father Dominic for carrying the 
boring down to a greater depth. Two gentlemen 
in Madias, however, contidered the subject of such 
enormous importance that they immediately paid 
a visit to Place's Gardens, carefully inspeoted 
the specimens raised from the lowest parts 
of the boring, and have since obtained regular 
information in regard to tbe further indications dis- 
closed by ils progress downwards. The boring has 
now reached a depth of 296 feet, the Jait 24 feet 
having pierced a bed of black clay which has become 
steadily richer in bitumen, and under whicli there are 
fair reasons for hoping that a coal eeam maybe met. 
In the meanwhile a more detailed report has, we 
understand, been obtained from Mr. Bruce Foote, who 
has expressed, in even more decided termF, his opi- 
nion thit an extensive coal field will probably be found 
under, or in the neighbourhood of Place's Gardens. 
Bleasrs. Leighton aiid Co., who have the matter iu 
hand, after obtaining Mr. Brnce Fcote's advice as to 
what lands to select, have lest no time in applying 
to Government for prospecting rights over a large 
tract, and they huve received aesurances from the 
Madras GovernmeLt that it will do everything in its 
power to expedite the work of proving whether coal 
is to bo had there or not. A Company, to be called 
The Arconum Coal Company, L'mited, is already in 
course of formation, and it is intended to raise captal 
in the first place to search for coal seams by means 
of steam boriDg machinery. — M. Mail, Nov. 18tli. 
[If coal is found near Madras there may yet 
be hope for coal in Ceylon. — Ed T. A.] 
♦ 
PALAIS INDIEN TEA HOUSES. 
The statutory general meeting of the Palais Indien 
Tea Houses, Limited, was held on Friday at the oflBees 
of tbe company, Eoabester Buildings, 138, Leadenhail 
Street, B. C, Mr, R. B. Magor in the chair. 
The Secretary (Mr. F. A. Roberts) read the notice 
convening the meeting. 
The Chairman said : — Gentlemen, — As this is merely 
the statutory meeting, there are no accounts to submit 
to you. But as it web thought possibJe there might be 
some shareholders present who would like (o have some 
information about the progress of the company, and 
what it has been doing, a few facts and figures have been 
prepared, which I will submit to yo'5. The origin 
of tha business is familiar to you. The Indian tea 
importers subscribed the sum of £3,000 ti bring 
forward their products at tbe Paris Exhibition, 
1889. Owing to the very large sum that had to be 
paid to the British Commission and tha unsuitable 
situatio'i of the Indian Palace, it was found that 
if the committee had withdrawn from Paris at the 
cloFeof the KxhibitioQ most of the money would have 
leeu ex,;ended without any pronounced advantage to 
the tea industry, and any effect that might have been 
produced in the minds of the French people with re- 
