Oct.  I,  1896. J 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
257 
produce  a much  thicker  beverage  than  pure  cocoa, 
as  well  as  a much  sweeter  oue,  and  no  doubt  for 
this  reason  mixtures  are  relished  by  many  persons ; 
but  it  appeared  desirable,  from  a dietetic  point  of 
view,  that  some  more  x^recise  information  should  be 
given  on  the  labels  as  to  the  xnoportion  of  actual 
cocoa  x>reseirt  than  is  provided  by  the  mere  state- 
ment that  the  cocoa  is  “combined  with  other  in- 
gredients, the  purity  and  wholesomeuess  of  which 
are  guaianteed  in  accordance  with  iho  Act  of  Par- 
liament,’’ or  similar  inscriptions.  The  best  mixtures 
were  two  samples  representing  a well-known  make 
of  mixed  cocoa,  consisting  of  50  per  cent  of  cocoa 
from  which  none  of  the  original  cocoa  butter  had 
been  removed,  the  remainder  being  sugar  and  starch 
(arrowroot)  in  equal  parts.  Six  more  samxjles  re- 
presenting other  makes  contained  not  more  than 
40  per  cent  of  cocoa  partly  deprived  of  its  fat,  the 
remaining  00  per  cent  being  sugar  and  starch.  One 
sample  contained  not  more  than  30  per  cent  of  cocoa, 
and  two  not  more  than  25  per  cent,  while  five  sam- 
ples contained  not  more  than  20  per  cent  of  cocoa 
or  less,  the  remainder  of  the  sample  in  every  case 
consisting  of  sugar  and  starch  in  about  equal  pro- 
portions. With  a few  exceptions  the  cocoa  present 
was  partly  deprived  of  its  fat,  though  in  some  few 
cases  the  whole  of  the  original  cocoa-butter  was 
present.  This,  however,  seemed  to  be  the  exception 
and  not  the  rule,  although  one  plea  put  forward 
for  the  manufacturer  of  cocoa  mixtures  in  preference 
to  real  cocoa  was  that  the  admixture  of  sugar  and 
starch  obviated  the  necessity  of  removing  part  of 
the  original  fat.  From  the  foregoing  remarks  it 
would  be  seen  that  in  the  case  of  cocoa  mixtures 
it  was  necessary  to  purchase  from  2 lb.  to  5 lb.  of 
the  mixture,  according  to  quality,  to  obtain  1 lb.  of 
real  cocoa — a fact  which  should  be  borne  in  mind 
in  comxjaring  prices. — Jl.  <0  O.  Mail,  Aug.  12. 

GRAPE  CULTIVATION  AT  THE 
AGRICULTURAL  .SCHOOL. 
Wo  have  today  seen  a sample  of  the  giapc.s 
grown  at  tlie  Agricultural  School  and  can  testify 
that  they  j)resent  a very  promising  apiiearance, 
justifying  tlie  Government  in  continuing  the 
expeiiment  which  has  been  carried  on  during 
tlie  xiast  year.  They  have  a nice  flavour  and  in 
the  opinion  of  connoiseurs  are  up  to  the  average 
of  grajie.s  grown  in  Australia.  The  variety 
shown  us  is  what  is  called  the  “Golden  Chasselas” 
and  the  crop  numbers  about  2.50  Imnches.  Amongst 
the  grapes  grown  is  a blade  variety,  but  they 
are  not  rxuite  mature.  It  is  hoped,  liowever, 
that  they  may  be  ready  for  plucking  within  a 
week  or  ten  days.  The  experiment  so  far  can  only 
be  characterised  as  successful  and  it  has  had  the 
ellect  of  encouraging  others  to  enter  upon  viticul- 
ture. We  trust  the  Government  will  sec  its  way 
to  continue  the  experiment  which  promises  so  w eli. 
-e> 
“NITRAGIN  : AN  IMPORTANT  ANDVANCE 
IN  THE  SCIENCE  OE  AGRICULTURE.” 
The  above  is  the  heading  of  a brief  but 
im]iortant  jiaper  in  the  Contemporary  lievicir  for 
August,  by  Mr.  C.  M.  Aiknian,  D.sc.  It  is  of 
more  practical  interest  to  agriculturists  in  the 
mother  country,  and  indeed  is  not  applicable  to 
planting  in  Ceylon  (unle.ss  in  some  parts  of  the 
lowcountry  ?) ; but  its  xierusal  cannot  but  prove 
XU’oli table : — 
Among  the  many  important  results  which  have 
followed  from  the  brilliant  researches  of  Pasteur, 
not  the  least  interesting  has  been  the  discovery  of 
the  highly  beneficent  role  performed  by  micro-organic 
life  in  agriculture.  ^Vo  now  know  that  in  nearly  every 
department  of  farming  the  “ubiquitous  germ’’  plays 
its  part ; and  that  to  the  presence  on  his  farm  of 
different  kinds  of  microbes  the  farmer  is  almost  as 
much  indebted  as  to  the  presence  of  his  larger  stock. 
The  functions  discharged  by  bacteria  in  the  dairy 
are  now  recognised  to  be  of  the  most  valuable  order ; 
wliile  in  the  bacteria  of  milk  the  bacteriologist  is 
finding  an  ever- widening  field  of  investigation.  The 
various  changes  which  tuat  invaluable  article  of  food 
undergoes  are  all  to  be  traced  to  the  action  of  its 
microbic  denizens ; and  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say 
that  the  knowledge  thus  gained,  during  tlie  last  few 
years,  has  done  much  to  revolutionise  the  dairyman’s 
art.  With  the  information  we  at  present  possess  on 
this  subject,  there  should  be  no  difficulty  in  keeping 
milk  perfectly  fresh,  even  in  the  midst  of  summer, 
for  any  reasonable  x^eriod  of  lime.  Of  course  this 
involves  the  expenditure  of  a certain  amount  of  care, 
and  the  application  of  precautionary  measures;  but 
these  latter  are  so  simple  in  their  nature  that  they 
cannot  be  regarded  as  offering  any  serious  obstacle 
to  their  satisfactory  accomplishment.  The  timely 
application  of  the  process  of  Fasteur^sa! i .n*  is  all 
that  is  required  ; and  we  may  confidently  look  forward 
to  the  time  when,  in  the  w'ords  of  another,  “the 
purveyor  will  bring  his  supply  of  milk  round  in 
bottles  at  any  hour  of  the  day  that  may  be  conve- 
nient, exchanging  the  full  bottles  for  the  empty  ones, 
as  does  the  vendor  of  beer,  aerated  w'aters,  and  other 
similar  comestibles;  and  the  housewife  will  keex)  them 
to  use  as  she  needs,  with  the  certainty  that  when 
the  bottles  are  opened  the  milk  will  be  as  pure  and 
as  tresh  as  it  was  when  it  left  the  cow'.”f  We  need 
scarcely  s.ay  that  such  a result  is  calculated  to  in- 
crease very  largely  the  cou.sumption  of  milk  by  the 
public.  It  v/ouUl  also  render  its  use  very  much  safer. 
There  can  bo  little  doubt  that  the  well-known  dangers, 
connected  with  the  spread  of  infectious  diseases,  as- 
sociated with  t'ae  use  of  milk,  prejudice  many  people 
against  it. 
Rut  a still  more  striking  result  of  the  application 
of  bacteriological  science  to  the  xiractice  of  dairying 
has  been  afforded  by  the  recent  introduction  of  the 
use  of  “ pure  cultures”  of  bacteria  in  butter-making. 
In  this  respect  dairying  has  followed  the  example  of 
brewing.  Many  of  our  readers  are  doubtless  aware  of 
the  enormous  service  which  the  introduction  of  the  use 
of  pure  yeast  cultures  has  effected  for  this  latter  in- 
dustry ; and,  while  the  use  of  pure  lactic  cultures  but- 
ter-making can  scarcely  be  said  to  have  done  as  much 
for  the  dairying  industiy  as  pure  yeast  cultures  have 
done  for  brewing,  yet  it  promises  to  do  much  to  im- 
prove the  manufacture  of  butter,  and  to  helxi  the 
dairyman  to  secure  that  uniformity  of  quality  on 
which  the  success  of  his  business  so  largely  depends. 
'The  object  of  this  paper  is  to  bring  before  the 
readers  of  this  Rccienj  the  latest  application,  in  the 
domain  of  agriculture,  of  the  great  principle  of  in- 
oculation, and  which,  in  many  respects,  is  of  a more 
striking  nature  than  anything  yet  accomxrlished  by 
this  line  of  research.  It  consists  of  the  inoculation  of  the 
soil  with  pure  cultures  of  bacteria  for  the  purpose 
of  promoting  plant-growth.  Indeed,  since  the  intro- 
duction of  the  practice  of  artificial  manuring,  it  seems 
to  the  present  writer  to  be  the  mo.st  important  ad- 
vance made  in  the  art  of  husbandry  in  recent  years. 
The  full  economic  value  of  this  important  inno- 
vation can  only  be  realised  by  those  familiar 
with  the  scientific  and  economic  x^i'oblems  of 
agriculture  ; but  some  conception  of  its  import- 
ance may  bo  afforded  by  the  statement  that  it 
offers  a practical  solution  of  the  great  xiroblem  of  how 
to  utilise  for  vegetation  the  boundless  stores  in  the 
air  cf  one  of  the  most  important  of  all  plant-foods— 
viz.,  nitrogen— a problem  which  we  may  add,  has  long 
■”  Pasteurisation,  a process  named  after  the  dis- 
tinguished French  chemist,  consists  in  the  application 
of  temperatures  considerably  below  boiling  temper- 
ature, yet  sufficiently  high  to  destroy  bacterial  life. 
Milk  may  bo  Pasteurised  by  heating  it,  for  twenty 
minutes,  to  a temperature  of  about  150°  Fahr.  The 
flavour  possessed  by  milk  which  has  been  boiled, 
so  disagreeable  to  many  people,  is  thus  avoided  by 
such  treatment. 
t Dr,  Loud,  in  Royal  Agricultural  Society’s  Joumal. 
June  30,  ISUO, 
