September i, 1890.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 
199 
not weighed the cotton, but if you think the in- 
formation is worth giving to the public, please give 
weight. The tree grows for years. I have seen trees 
near Kegalla and Nawalapitiya loaded with pods 
and said to be from 10 to 16 years old. The oil from 
seed is used as medicine by the natives, the refuse 
I should think would be as good as castor cake. 
During the cotton famine I sent a sample through 
Messrs. C. Shand & Co. to Liverpool and was offered 
2|d sterling more per lb. for it than was being paid 
for Tinnovelly at the time. The sample I sent was 
grown on Oadurnally, Dumbara. I had 25 trees 
each. Sea Island, Barbados, Nankin, Pernambuco, 
I got the latter name from Dr. Thwaites of Pera- 
deniya. 
I gave a lot of the seed which was given to the 
Cotton Spinning Company, perhaps the Managing 
Director of the cotton trinity might inform us of 
its worth as compared to other cotton now grown 
in Ceylon. — Yours very truly. 
JAMES EOBERTSON. 
[We referred the cotton to the Hon. Mr, Mitchell, 
who writes:— “I return Mr. Robertson’s letter you 
sent me with the Pernambuco cotton, sometimes 
called Peruvian and Kidney. The seed weighed 
748J grains and the clean cotton weighed 282 grains. 
The percentage of clean cotton was thus about 28. 
This kind of cotton is about the best the natives 
can grow as it is hardy, bears well, and is a perennial. 
The difficulty is to get seed in quantity. The cotton 
is of similar value to the Egyptian sort, and we value 
it locally at 30 cents per lb. clean.” — E d. T. A>2 
“ TEA FOR PRICE.” 
— Will you inform me through your columns 
what is the correct definition of the term so often 
used by London brokers in their circulars “ Tea 
for price.” — Yours truly, 
I INTERESTED IN TEA. 
j [We referred to a leading tea buyer, who replies: — 
“ I cannot give you an exact definition for teas 
' coming under this heading of ‘ Teas for price’— 
so much would depend on market and range of 
1 values. All classes and qualities selling at and 
under about lOd I should consider ‘ Teas for 
: price ’ now. — Ed. T. A.] 
I Mr. John Hughes on Tannin in Teas. — 
, Until the appearance of Mr. Hooper’s paper and 
I figures, the popular idea certainly was that the 
delicate flavour, so conspicuous in high-grown 
teas (Darjiling and Kangra Valley teas, for 
' instance), was due to the smaller proportion of 
tannin contained in such teas, compared with 
low grown Assams and others of similar character. 
Mr. Hooper’s experiments led him to an opposite 
conclusion, and he was induced to believe that the 
tea which contains most tannin is the most 
; i valuable. Mr. Hughes, in his letter to the Plan- 
,1 ^ ters’ Association, which we publish furl her on, is not 
I willing to receive Mr. Hooper’s conclusions, because 
I the facts do not seem sufficient to justify them, 
I Mr, Hughes 'is specially not prepared to receive 
' Mr. Hooper’s dictum that the proportion of tannin 
j in tea can be affected by neither altitude nor 
' process of manufacture. The questions at issue 
, are so interesting and so important that we can- 
not doubt the ready acceptance by the Associa- 
tion of Mr. Hughes’s offer to conduct, at a specially 
moderate scale of remuneration, analyses of Ceylon 
teas with a view to determine the proportion of 
, tannin in such teas. The results compared with 
average selling prices will justify conclusions as 
’ to the points at issue, and may lead to improve- 
ment in modes of manufaoture. 
Tea Blend, s. — “W hat is a tea blend is 
the question agitating the minds of tea dealers 
in the old couhtry and the Home and Colonial Mail 
— see the Tropical Agriculturist — discusses it at some 
length. Of course grocers can sell any blend they like 
if they truly describe it. But it is melancholy to see 
the immorality of the pleas put forward. Deli- 
berate falsehood is condoned as merely Pickwickian 
story-telling 1 
Tea in Japan. — The Japan Weehly Mail of 28th 
June says : — The Tea trade has slacked off some- 
what, which may be attributed to two causes, the 
quantity already fired — nearly 20,000 piculs more 
than aE the same date last year, and to the in 
feriority of the second crop leaf, which is said tO' 
be decidedly poor in cup. Notwithstanding that 
sales have dragged to some extent, prices remain 
unaltered. 
MILK. 
Cow's MILK has a stronghold in our dietaries. 
Its plastic powers are considerable, and with its 
riclinc«3 in butter the equilibrium of this plastic 
power is maintained by a corresponding amount 
of carbo-hydrates (i.e., sugar). 
With regard to the characters and qualities to be 
sought for in the milk when drawn from the 
cow, the supply presents different characters 
during the three successive periods of the operation. 
The milk, of a bluish tinge at first, chiefly con- 
sists of whey or serum, with a small proportion of 
casein, and no butter. In the second period the 
secretion is white, containing less whey, a larger 
proportion of casein, and very little butter. The 
fluid during the third stage acquires a yellow colour, 
due to the presence of the butter; some casein is 
present, and the amount of whey considerably dim- 
inished. 
One of tne disadvantages of cow’s milk is the 
peculiar solid character of its cured, which irritates 
and inflames the infant or invalid stomach. This 
disadvantage, however, is obviated by the use of a 
Zymine Peptonizing Powder, which has the property 
of predigesting a pint of milk, and so rendering 
it fit for any stomach, no matter how perverted 
the digestion may be. 
The milk of the cow when predigested by means 
of such a powder yields a product almost identical 
an physiological, chemical and physical properties 
with human milk. So remarkable a resemblance 
to woman’s milk is yielded by this digestive agent 
that it suggested to Prof. Leeds the term, “humanized 
milk,” as aptly descriptive of the product. 
Artificial feeding is far from being considered 
as necessarily prejudicial to health. The conviction 
is more and more frequently finding utterance from 
physicians specially acquainted with this subject 
that feeding by means of a good bottle, such as the 
Burroughs, Wellcome & Co.’s Patent Thermo-Safe- 
guard, is to be preferred to the services of a jwet 
nurse; and thus, if cow’s milk can be made to 
to agree with an infant, it is to be preferred to 
mother’s milk, in cases where this is not of normal 
quality and quantity. 
Cow’s milk, owing to its variable quality, its 
tendency to undergo putrefaction, and its absorbent 
character, ought to be obtained from a good diary 
wliere it is not likely to absorb germs of disease. 
We have known scarlet and typhoid fever traced to 
milk standing in the houses of farmers whose 
families happened to be suffering from one of those 
diseases, and from its afterwards being delivered by 
the milk dealer to his customers. Again, adulteration 
and dilution are generally widespread, and in 
towns are often a just subject of complaint. “ Health 
London, 
