680 
THP TROPICAL AGRidULTURlST. [March i, 1892 
These be grand words, my Rossendale friends, 
which, when you weigh tbem up and analyse thetn 
thoroughly yoa will fiud they much resemble a 
" coffee " (?) mixture containing 85 per cent of chicory. 
Vain is thn snare set in the sight of any bird. Do 
what I will, I cannot rouse up Sir Wilred Lawson 
on this chicory quesliou — nor do I find any rospon.sa 
from the leaders of any of the great (emperftnce 
leaguers — either churc^i or secular. Peradveuture they 
are all a.sleep and must be awakened. The press too, 
seems almost culpably indifferent to the question. 
Ib it because the grocery interefrt is so very strong in 
this country that editors are afraid of meddling with 
it? Out and out cases of poisooiiig, &o., &c., or of 
some dreadful scandal have a free run of the press but 
m case such as I have protiuced surely merits equal 
publicity. Certainly everyone is entitled to know to 
what extent they are being robbed, and if the snle of 
" coffee mixtures" should, under a new Act of Parlia- 
ment, still be legalized, they should bear in unmibtak- 
able typo and figures a true " Enumeration'' as to their 
contents. Chambers's Encyclop.eiiia has the following 
on •' chicory." — " It lias a Ions carr it like root of a 
dirty or brownish yello^v colour — it grows in waysides, 
borders of fieldS; &c. — it contains a goo l deal of sugar, 
but otherwise does not serve to supply the animal 
economy with any useful ingredients. It gives off a 
dark brown colour to witer, when an infusion made, 
and hence its main use in coffee." — '' Oak-bark tan, 
logwood and mahogany dust, and even the livers of 
horses and bullocks, are said to be employed in its 
adulteration." Wliat " adultsrated chicory" may cost 
per pound I know not, but tlie finest " Bruges" 
chicory is worth, wholesale, in London, about 33s per 
cwt., or about S^'i per pound. 
Need I say more ? I have already tre'-passed some- 
what severely npon your spaoe, but the subject is 
Burely deserving of it. Lancashire people are known 
to be the li irdest working people in the whole world, 
but if they are to give up taking unadultt rated beer, 
for heaven's sake let their " non-intoxicating bever- 
ages" be equally pure and above all suspicion. Tea is 
now credited with being po-itively pure, but what says 
the editor of the Produce MarlceW Review, on De- 
cember 19th, 1891, under heading ''Tea'': — " It would 
be better if many of these very obiectionable parcels 
were stopped by the Customs from being offered for 
home oonMumption." Here is work to " undo" for 
the Gladstooians, and ''work to do" for Sir Wilfred 
L»wson and all Tebtotalleks. 
5ih January, 1891. 
p. S.— The Secretary of the London Chamber of 
OtTumerce, in his letter quoted above, refers to their 
accep'iince of a "compromise" — whatever could the 
" origina,'" bill have been like ? if I remember cor- 
rectly Mr. ^rladstone promised a "fair field" to both 
coffee'and tea— J'fder'pressure. Parliamentary history 
records how, pVflCv'cally speaking, he, at the last mo- 
ment almost, thrf'w tee bill to the wolves ! Last year, 
the Enjperor ot Germany kicked out of his empire every 
bogus coffej bean making machine and every bogus 
coffee beau. 
PLANTING IN JAVA, 
Mr. G. P. Hill writes from Ayer Dingifl, Kar 
Eiiin, Java, '2\.at Jan.: — 
Here we have i«»M Oct. 18911 polished a 6,000 
odd piculs (cletn) crop and looking ro-^9ard to 5,f)m» 
picals this season. Size of estato 500 bouws say 80U 
aore.s about. Last dry season Usted six months which 
syems t) Huik the colf-ie trej. At any rate at this 
elevati.m :!,OI)l) to 3,300 ft. , , ■ 
Coifeo is here xrowo undi^r shade. The dadnji is 
preferred but for somi; yb!ira past wo liave had our 
trees killed by some uuknowu dii-onse. Tlio oj)y 
aother kinds of ihado tr 'cs used in Java are tno 
AUIrria molnccana or Sengcn (Alln:.::i<i ^tiprUata) 
nother much likel tho A. U. especiiilly »:> account 
of its being vry brittle, (and .some othfr' sins). Wo 
3.re trying Ficus '/lonirialu and drevillea rolm»ta 
both strongly recommended by Mr. J. P. Hunt in a 
letter to the T. A. in Nov. 1889. 
After considerable time and some correspondence 
the seeds were got from Colombo. The silk oat (G. R.) 
is quite unknown this end of the island, and the 
knowing ones object to the Ficus glomerata because 
it belongs to a bad tribe, they say, the Ficus family 
being surface feeders, viz., throwing np numerous 
rootlets along the surfii.ce of the soil, eating up all 
moisture and "humus.'' However, the F. glomerata 
is also a stranger here. 
Most of your space in the Tropical Agriadtv.rist i 
(very natnrHlly) taken up with tea. I tliink, however 
coffee should not be forgotten, and if you could pu 
me in the w^y ot learning more about the Ficu 
(/lomerata and other kinds of shade trees, I should 
be much obliged. 
[Ficus glomerata is a favourite shade tree for 
ooffee in India, and of Grevillea robusta they say in 
some parts of Southern India that this beautiful 
and valuable tree is actually a remedy lor leaf 
disease. The masses of leaves deposited must have 
a fertilizing effect.— Ed. T. A.] 
INDIAN TEA DISTRICTS ASSOCIATION 
AND TEA FREIGHTS. 
A meeting, which was largely attended, of the 
Aesociatioo was held on Tuesday to consider the 
qut^stion of ocean freights. The Chairman (Mr. R. 
B. Magor) detailed the negotiations that bad tnken 
place Ijetween the sub-committee and the representa- 
tives in London of the steamer companies that run 
on the Brahmapcotra stating that the latter had 
assented in great measure to the propo-als of the sub- 
committee in relation to a further agreement for a 
period of five years, and hsd accepted some of the 
modifications with the committee considered fair in 
the schedule of rates. The committee had heard, 
however, with some surprise that the steamer com- 
panies, ignoring the negotiation.'' with the sub-com- 
mittee, had been offering to the members of the 
Association individually a form of agreement in which 
nearly all matters were decided in their own interest, 
asking tbem to bind themselves to the companies for 
a period of seveu years (or nearly a lifetime). He 
WS8 glad to find ihat this step had not met with 
much success, and he hoped that members would 
refrain from accepting any form of agreement other 
than that approved by the committee. He thought 
that the committee had just grounds of complaint 
against the steamer companies for lack of straight- 
forwardness in the matter. Resolutions pledging the 
meeting to uphold the action of the sub-committee 
were unanimously passed. — if. and C. Mail, Jan. 22, 
_ ^ 
PLANTING IN MALAY STATES. 
Mr. Wataofl at Bentong has planted abou 
twenty acres of land with Liberian coffee, and 
the experiment would appear to give the great- 
est promise. With this exception, however, 
very little ji or nothing has been effected by 
European planters with a view to testing the 
resourcas ot the country for agricultural enterprise. 
Little doubt can exist, however as to the fertility 
of the soil, and from the few facts in our possession 
there would seem to be every reason to believe that 
planting might be successfully carried on in the 
State if labour could be obtained in sufficient 
quantities at reasonable rates ot wage. The Pahang 
Explorntion and Development Company has erected 
Hav? mills, and has done substantial work at Kuala 
Pahang. The company has not, however, been 
altogether successful in its arrangements with native 
wood cutters, and frequent misunderstandings as 
to prices, measurements, &c.. have caused the 
Malays to lose oonfidonce and to he yeluctant to 
work for the company. This difficulty will no 
doubt be eventually overcpme, and as tha property 
