THE TROPIOAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[January i, 1*^92. 
In Ohina tea is sometimes infused in a teacup, and 
sometimes in the cup from which it is drunk, la 
Japan the tea-leaves are ground to powder, anJ, aftfr 
infusion in a teacup, the mixture is beaten up until it 
heoomes frothy, and then the whole is swallowed. 
The Chinese flrink their tea in a pure state; the 
Russians tike it with lemon-juice ; and the Germans 
often flavour it with rum, cinDamon, or vanilla. In 
England we know it is customary to add cream, milk, 
ot] sugar, but for oorpaient people the Kusaian mode 
would be the beet. 
Ceylon tra is now justly tsking a high place in 
public favour. There i,"? no doubt it is more wholesome 
and more delicately flavoured than any other, and 
as it contains more t'fieine and less tanniu than In- 
dian and Chinese teas, is more healthy. It does not 
injure the most delicate stomach, or disajrree with 
those whose digestive po^vers are weak. When its 
virtues become fully known it will take the p^aoe of 
all other teas. It is a difiicalt matter ti got pure 
Ceylon tea ; most of those fold with high-soundin? 
names as Ceylon tea are simply mixtures and blends 
in which common China tea predominates and the 
names of the estates they are supposed to come from 
exist only in the imagination of the teadealer. One 
or two owners of Ceylon plantations do import their 
teas direct to the consumer ; in this case it is a 
guirantee of their purity, and under these circums- 
tances they can be bought much cheaper than where 
they have passed through the hands of the importer 
the broker, and the tea-dealer. 
Those who would like to have Ceylon tea in its pure 
and natural state can get it from the A.gra Ceylon Tea 
Association, of 76, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W. 
C, who import their teas direct from the estates in 
Ceylon of Mr. H. R Fatquharson, M. P,, and it is 
handed to the consumer pure and unmixed as it leaves 
the factories.* Independently of its good quality 
and freedom from tannii), Oeylou tea is machine mide 
and is not, like Chinese tea, handled and pressed in 
dirty and squalid huts, and by the hands and feet of 
the unwashed Mongolian. 
COFFEE : ITS UiE-1. 
'Cofifee,' says Dr. Pavy, 'is said to have been in 
use in Abyssinia from time immemorial, and in Persia 
from A. D. 875. It was used in Oonatautinople about 
the middle of the sixteenth century, in spite of the 
violent opposition of the priests, and in 1554 two coffee 
houses were opened in that city. It was introduced 
into Europe in the seventeenth century. It was dr i ik 
in Venice soon after 1615, and brought into England 
and France about forty yoiirs after.' Like tea, coffee 
produces an invigorating and stimulant effect, without 
bein^ followed by any depresiion, and fully justifies 
the estimation in which it is held. It increabes the 
action of the pulse, and is more heating than tea, 
while at the same time it arouses the mental facalties 
and 80 disposes to wakefulness. To make the infusion 
properly 2 oz. of freely-ground coffee should be used 
to each pint of boiling water. 
Ooffde ii especially useful to those who suffer from 
redundancy of fat, as it has the powr of relieving the 
sensation of hunger and fatigue, aud may be used two 
or three times a day n a b.;vei age. It has all the 
advaotajres of a stimulant without the ill-effects fol- 
lowing alcohol in its various forms. It exerts a marked 
BuHaiuing influence under fatigue and privation, and 
sustains the strength where a restricted diet is neces- 
sary, and this enables arduous exertion to ba batter 
borne under the existence of abstinence or a defici- 
ency ot food. 
THE OUTPUT OF BRITISH MINERALS. 
There has recently been issued from the Home 
Office a tabular return, showiog the annual output 
of the principal minerals produced ia the United 
Kingdom, from the year 1860 to the year 1890. 
• Th3 writer's son is a pupil on this eat.ito, and I 
gather thusa facts from him, a'ld cirUioly csu speak 
from experienca of the doliciouH flavour of thcso 
teas. That sold at 29 per lb. is incomparable. 
The term United Kingdom i'loludes the Isle of 
Man and Ireland. The quantity in tons, and the 
value in pounds, are given for each year. The 
compilations have been made from Official Returns, 
by Mr. James B. Jordau, the clerk of Mineral 
Statistics. Copies of the return may be obtained 
from Messrs. Byre and Spottiswoode. For the 
benefit of our readers, the figures for last year (1890) 
are culled from the report : — 
Mineral Quantity Value 
Tons £ 
Alum clav (Bauxite) 11,527 5,783 
Alum shale 6,420 802 
Arsenic (white arsenic, crude and 
refined) prjduced from arsenical py- 
rites not included in tlie next liuo 7,-76 00,727 
Arsenical pyrites !j,114 4,414 
Barytes 25,3.53 29,684 
Clays (China clay, potters' clay, ful- 
lera' earth, &c., but exclusive of 
ordinary clays) 3,308,214 899,166 
Coal 18-,G14,288 74,953,997 
Cobalt aud nickel ore 81 260 
Copper ore and copper precipitate: — 
Copper ore 12,133 27 801 
Precipitate 345 4,670 
Fluorspar 268 392 
G-old ore (auriferous quartz) S75 431 
Gypsum 140,293 57,991 
Iron ore 13,780,767 3,926,445 
Iron pyrites 16,018 7,666 
Lead ore 45,651 40o,164 
Man,5ane3e ore 12,4 14 6,7.33 
Ochre aud umber 19,068 17,475 
Oil; shale 2,212,250 608,369 
Phosphate of lime 18,000 29,500 
Salt I rock salt, and salt obtained 
frome brine) 2,146,819 1,100,014 
Slates aud slabs 4.34,3i2 1,027,2.35 
Sulphate of strontia 10.276 5,138 
Tin ore {''black tin' , 14,911 782,492 
Wolfram 104 1,848 
Zinc ore 22,011 109,890 
It is to be note! that, in addition to the above, 
small quantities of other minerals are oooasionally 
produced, e g. ores o£ antimony and bismuth, bog 
iron ore (used for purifying gas), jet, lignite, 
petroleum, plumbago, silver ore, steatite and ura- 
nium ore. 
"A very large qjantity of stone usad for building 
and other purposes is also annually raised, besides 
chalk, ordinary clay, gravel, &a., the total quantity 
of which cannot be accurately ascertained, but the 
value in 1890 was estimated to be upwards of 
£d,lQ^,QQO:'— Chemical Trade Journal. 
China Tea Losses.— We learn that the China 
Association has been asked to take up the oun- 
sideration of China tea, in view of the heavy losses 
which have been made this year, and the great 
decline which continues unchecked. A meeting 
will be shortly called to consider the matter. — 
L. and C. Nov. 27th. 
Perak Tea. — The Manager of the Cicely and 
Hermitage Tea Estates, Mr. Fred. Watson, passed 
through Panang today with 2,000 pounds of tea 
(or Singapore. — This is the first crop from these 
estates prepared by special machinery, the pre- 
paration of the leaf, formerly, having been done 
by hand. — Straits Indevcndent, 9th Dec. 
Tea-Drinking in Japan. — The A theneeum in 
a review of Sir Edwin Arnold's new book " Seas 
and Lands" says: — 
Th« author enlarges, too, on the institution of 
tea-drinking, a much more serious affair than the 
banquet, the strict ctiqn(>t'e and ceremonisl recalling 
in a strange way the kava drinking of the Pacific 
Islandp. Tho " cha-no.yu " (literally " tea of honour") 
is, indeed, not to be epokeu of lightly, and the author 
describes with much gravity the prescribed treatment 
of tho " honourable hot water," the reverent hand- 
ling of the cup, and the refined conversation which 
:'.lone is permissible during the function. It may, 
perhaps, ba to Buddhisuo, as the author declares, 
that the Japanese owe not only the tea-leaf, but hovy 
" to honour, enjoy, and infuse it." 
