634 TH£ TROf^lCAL AQRiCULtURlST. [March 2, 1891. 
bacteria have to account for everything nowadays. 1 
am surprised that General Booth has not made use 
of them in hi,s new book, — Australasian. 
Cleaning Machinery. — The simplest and most effi- 
cacious method of thoroughly cleaning the various parts 
of machinery that have become gummed and dirty by 
the use of fat oils for lubricating purposes, is by using 
a strong soda lye; lior each 1,000 parts by weight of 
water take about 10 or 15 parts by weight of caustic 
soda or 100 parts ordinary soda. Let the solution boil 
and enter the parts to be cleaned; either boil them 
in this lye or let them steep in it for some time. 
All the dirt and oil resin is completely dissolved there- 
by, and it remains only to rinse and dry the parts. 
The action of the lye is such that it enters into 
combination with the oil and forms soap, which is 
readily soluble in water. In order to prevent the 
hardening of the lubricant on the machinery parts, it 
is only necessary to add about one-third kerosene. 
An occasional lubricating with kerosene alone is to be 
recommended . — American Engineer, 

HOW TO MAKE TEA. 
WILL ONE POUND OF TEA MAKE 300 CUPS ? 
How to Make a Cup of Tea, is a matter the 
majority of housewives have yet to learn, in the 
Public Ledger, Philadelphia, we find the following 
Mr. Editor : — My attention has been called to a 
query, in a recent issue of the Ledger, as to the 
accuracy of my statement that one pound of tea would 
make 300 cups. While the question or individual 
opinion upon this point may be of but little intere st 
to the public, the actual facts in relation to an article 
so extensively used may he of value. 
My calculation was based upon the following facts : 
Tea testers ordinarily use a silver 5-oent piece for 
weighing the exact quantity of tea required for a cup. 
As there are about twenty. five 5-cent pieces to an 
ounce, and as there are sixteen ounces to a pound, it 
follows, that one pound of tea will actually make 400 
cups, according to the standard of strength ordinarily 
required by professional testers. The cups used for 
this purpose contain, however, one-fourth less than the 
average domestic tea cups. It will, therefore, be seen 
that after making due allowance for the difference in 
the size of the cups, the number will be very close to 
300. 
The surprise with which this statement is generally 
received demonstrates how little the economical fea- 
tures of this delicious and wholesome beverage, when 
rightly made, are known. If the following directions 
were carefully observed, and a good quality of tea used, 
no doubt this economical beverage would be much more 
generally appreciated- 
Directions , — Put the tea leaves into an earthen or 
agate ware pot (never use metal), and stand on back of 
stove until the leaves get thoroughly warmed. Then 
pour on water that has been freshly boiled, and which 
is boiling thoroughly at the time. Let stand on back 
of stove for about ten minutes, where it will keep 
hot, but not boil. 
At the expiration of that time the tea will be 
perfect and if you desire it to remain so, pour off the 
liquor into another vessel, so as to separate it from 
the leaves. The common allowance is one teaspoonfnl 
to each cup, but as some prefer more strength than 
Others, it is evident that each tea-maker must decide 
for herself whether the teaspoon shall be "slack,” 
“ even” or " heaping.” 
In serving, have the cups and cream warm, and 
pour the cream into the cup before putting in the tea. 
Finley Acker. 
— American Grocer, 
Oeanoes. — The Tavares Herald says that a citizen 
of Apopka City, Fla., has started a budded orange 
tree to be sent to the World’s Fair, which contains 
eighty-five buds, bearing, representing twenty-six 
dilleront varieties of the citrus family — oranges, 
lemons, limes, grape fruits, shaddock, etc . — American 
Grueer 
BABE AND DBUG BEPOBT. 
(From the Chemist and Druggist,) 
London, Jan. 15tb. 
Cinchona.— The first cinchona auctions of the year 
were held on January 13th. The quantity of bark 
offered was hardly so large ts might have been ex- 
pected from the fact that there has been no public sale 
here since December Jdth, and that in the meanwhile 
the arrivals have been very considerable. The tota 
quantity catalogued consisted of: — 
Packages Packages 
Ceylon cinchona ... .1,968 of. which 1,697 were sold 
East Indian cinchona,. 
1,147 
do 
'846 
do 
Java cinchona 
. 86 
do 
33 
do 
B. American cinchona.. 
. 509 
do 
410 
do 
West Coast African 
cinchona 
. 80 
do 
79 
do 
Total 
3,740 
do 
2,968 
do 
A dull tone prevailed throughout the auctions, and several 
parcels were bought in, owing to impossibility of placing 
them at the limits for which they were held. The 
unit, though haraly as high as at the preceding sales, is 
scarcely quotably lower, and may be placed at about 
Ifd per lb. The assortment of the bark offered was 
somewhat below the average, although a few lots of fins 
Succirubra barks were shown, which realised high prices. 
The following are the approximate quantities purchased 
by the principal buyers 
Lbs. 
Agents for the Mannheim and Amsterdam works 218,239 
Agents for the Brunswick works .... 131,383 
Agents for the American and Italian works 85,938 
Agents for the Frankfort o/M. and Stuttgart works 57,410 
Agents for the Auerbach factory .... 37,550 
Messrs. Howards & Sons 34,813 
Mr. Thomas Whiffen .... 3,050 
Sundry druggists and spectators .... 75,337 
Total quantity of bark sold ... 643,720 
Bought in or withdrawn ... ... 142,886 
Total quantity offered 
786,606 
A fairly large quantity of bark was secured by the firm 
of brokers who are reputed to act on behalf of a 
syndicate of speculators, and who have appeared as pur- 
chasers at the auctioi s of late. 
Java Cinchona. — Yellow branch chips 4|d to 5d; fine 
ground ditto 7Jd ; fair root 7d per lb. 
South American Cinchona.— The only variety offered 
of this class of bark consisted of cultivated Bolivian 
Calisaya, of which about 23,000 lb iwere sold at from A^d 
to 7d for sound broken small and lirregnlar to good 
bright medium quill. A parcel of fine quality was bought 
in at lO^d per lb. 
West coast African Cinchona.— A parcel comprising 
11,228 lb of .this barb, recently imported via Lisbon, was 
included in the auctions. It consisted of fair bright 
Succirubra quill, medium size, cud nearly tbe whole of 
it sold at Ajd for the best, and 3d per lb for the poorest 
lota. Chips bought 4d per lb. All the bark was in a 
more or less damaged condition. 
Essential Oils.— T he market is generally quiet, Citro- 
nella being held for |d per oz on the spot, while the 
c.i.f. quotation from Ceylon is lO^d per lb for tins, but 
we do not bear of any business thereat. Lemongrass 
l|di per oz on the spot, and 1 7-16ths d per oz c.i.f. 
Quinine. — Business has been dull this week, and, so 
far as we can hear, it has been restricted to a total 
of about 15,000 oz on the spot (all second-hand)— viz. 
B & S and Auerbach at 12 1 per oz, and later on a 
small parcel of Brunswick at 12Jd per oz. The total 
imports of quinine into the United States during the 
year 1890 are returned at 3,384,300 oz. In 1889 they were 
2,431,441 oz. 
— 
“Kew Bulletin.” — As an appendix to the 
Kev} Bulletin for IS90, an index to the Kew Reports for 
1862 — 1882 has been published, which will be of great 
service to those interested m economic botany. The 
Bulletin, it may be added, is intended to furnish in 
a detailed and timely form the information formerly 
included in the annual reports. Serviceable as the 
Bidletinie, it does not, however, take the place which 
the Report used to do, and many interested in the pro- 
gress of botany and scientific horticulture as illustrated 
in the gardens, herbarium, library, and museum, 
would gladly Welcome an annual report as well as a 
monthly bulletin, — Gardeners’ Chronicle, 
