March t, 1892.] 
THE TROPiCAL AGRICULTURIST. 
63s 
This is the finest and most delicious tea the world 
can produce, and is equal, if not superior, to what 
is sold by most tea dealers^ and grocers at 2s 6d to 
3s 6d per lb. 
While on the other side we read : — 
TO ALL LOVEBS OF THE FHAGRANT BEVEHAOE. 
Mr. Lipton lias pleasure in intimating to his cus- 
tomers and the public in general that the extensive 
purchases he has made in Ceylon tea estates enable 
him to supply the most delicious tea the world can 
produce, at i^rices impossible for any other tea dealer 
to sell at. 
His estates, which cover many thousands of 
acres of the best tea land in Ceylon, are at an ele- 
vation of 5,000 feet, where nothing but the choicest 
teas are grown ; and, to give an idea of the labour 
required in the cultivation and nianufacture of tea 
on these estates, there are several thousand natives, 
independent of Europeans, constantly employed. 
And then the opinions oi' the Ceylon press are 
quoted — and all to promote the sale of blench 1 
Too bad this, I eay. 
• _<^_ _ . 
STAINING CEYLON WOODS. 
A corresponcleat asks ua if wo can give or 
obtain information for him relative to the methods 
available for changing or improving the colour of 
Bome of the commoner among the many varied 
woods that are locally available for furniture and 
other purposes. It is rather a coincidence that 
this request should reach us just as we were ad- 
vocating justice being done to Ceyion's forest 
wealth in the structures for the distribution of 
tea at Chicago. The larger proportion by far os 
our more valuable woods must, o£ course, be 
excluded from any list of timbers to which the use 
of any btaining material would be an improve 
ment; but we think it will be admitted that there 
are some of the commoner descriptions that would 
be improved by the application of tomething of 
the sort. When writing this we have particularly 
in our mind the jakwood from which nearly all 
our commoner furniture is made. But we must 
except in this case one particular feature in re- 
gard to that wood. Ugly as iis yellow colouring 
is when now, there is no wood that better rep;i.ys 
in the course of time the application of what 
is known among energetic workmen at home 
as "elbow grease." If this most valuable 
of applications is bestowed systematically upon 
jakwood furniture, in the course of time it not 
only deepens the colour to a close resemblance 
to Spanish mahogany, but imparts to it a lustre 
which no other application could give to it. And 
the beauty of this "elbow grease" is that its 
eiiects are lasting, and may be revived with but 
slight eiiort after years of neglect and lying by. 
But ,as our correspondent justly points out, itj is 
not everyone who, being unable to afford the 
luxury of more expensive woods, would care to 
wait the result of this comparatively slow-acting 
though efficient ageut. What he asks for is a 
suggestion as to how the results obtained by time 
and hard work may more quickly be secured. As 
to jakwood wo may reply that the application of 
washes of thick lime water, of about the con- 
sistency of cream, will soon discharge the yellow 
colouring mattor from the wood, and if, when dry 
after such application, boiled oil be rubbed on, 
or, better still, good varnish be applied, it will 
be very difficult to distinguish the results from 
those of a longer and more laborious process. 
Wo have seen the whole of the ceiling boards 
of an open Gothic roof so prepared (with boiled 
oil); and it was almost impossible to distinguish 
those in colour from the dark teak of which tho 
prinoipala oi the loot weiQ framed. Not lou^s 
ago too, in the case of new doors to a house 
in Colombo, a liberal use of varnish so changed 
the native yellow of jak to a handsome mahogany 
colour, that a planter who had never previously 
seen such a transformation was lost in surprise 
and admiration. By means of a ferruginous prepa 
ration too, jakwood can be stained so as very 
closely to resemble ebony. We are in pofcsession 
of two book-cases which more than forty years 
ago were made and stained under the direction 
of the late Mr. J. I. Straohan. Thoy have been 
in our possession some thirty-five years or more ; 
end with only an occasional renewal of the staining 
on much rubbed parts in polishing, they have so 
passr=d for real ebony, that yesterday a member 
of our family was much amazed to learn that 
what he had all his life regarded as ebony was 
a jakwood imitation. We can understand that 
Ruskin would include such imitations in the same 
scathing condemnation with stucco trying to ape 
stone : the world in general, however, is not so 
particular as to the ethics of oonatruction and colour. 
The one objection to ebony furniture is its pon- 
di rousnePB, an objection which does not apply to 
stained jakwood. Then again, nadun is one of 
those woods in constant use that may be 
brightened up and the tone deepened by the use 
of plain linseed oil, and this it weil rubbed in 
will secure the permanence of the improved colouring. 
This wood, nadun, may be constantly used when 
thus darkened for the repair of English-made 
furniture of walnutwood, especially for such items 
as are made of the oft-used American walnut. 
That itseli is an artificially coloured wood, and 
stocks of it lay for years reserved in the London 
timber yards, until it chanced to someone to find 
out a good medium for colouring and brightening 
the dull grayish-looking wood. We recently 
described the perfect harmony of a well 
prepared nadun chimaey-piece with the walnut 
framing of a mirror. The darkened jakwood 
we have above referred to has also been used 
with great success for replacing large fiat surfaces 
of mahogany veneer which so often succumb to 
the influences of this climate or to the damp of 
a sea voyage out from home. Further than these 
instances our own experience has not carried us, 
but there are probably many among our readers 
who could add to the list of native woods which 
would repay the application of artificial colorants. 
Possibly there are many of our more plentiful 
woods which might beneficially supplant the supply 
of jakwood, if means were known whereby their 
colour might be deepened or brightened. A series 
of experiments on specimens of wood supplied 
by the Forest Department, might be tried at the 
Government Factory, where, we understand, a sub- 
stitute for jakwood, which is becoming scarce, is 
greatly desiderated. 
A PARASITE. 
His receptiou was threefold. 
His ambition ludicrous. 
His aihievemeot wonderful. 
Deceit No. 1— That he was only a creeper. 
„ No. 2— That his roots were in the ground. 
„ No. 3 — That the leaves he bore were 
Tea leaves 
No' 1 — He was a creeper inasmuch as a hang- 
mann rope is a cravat. No. 2— His roots in the 
Kruuud might have been pulled up by a red ant ; 
but to loosen his ombrHce of the Tea I had to 
insert niy knife blade, and then at varying distances 
I found his creeping woody stem had whiteTOots of 
a qui rter inch, gimlot-like imbedded in the Toiiwood. 
No. 0— In this he told fo much truth thiU njude it 
(juite appaiout he livud at a table other tbiui bis 
owu, for the Hatterer had t'oaud » ooft place Iq wftrai'< 
