THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
764 
[Mav 2, 1858. 
The Secretary read the following letter and en« 
closure from Dr. Morris 
Kew, 29th October, 1897. 
Dear Harrison, — I am in receipt of your letter of 
the 28th September, respecting the samples of coff*. e 
sent frcm British Guiana. The latter were duly 
received and I was greatly interested in looking over 
them. There is no doubt coffee can be grown in British 
Guiana. That was evident from the samples. But it 
was equally evident that the preparation of the 
produce is in a very crude and primitive state. In 
order to obtain a commercial opinion upon the vari- 
oirs sorts of coffee, I selected two of the best of 
the Arabian and Liberian samples and forwarded 
them to Messrs. Lewis and Peat, the well-known 
Produce Brokers in Mincing Lane. I enclose their 
report. Considering the great fall in prices re- 
cently, this is a very promising statement. It is 
admitted that the coffee itself is good, but it has 
been so badly prepared that it has lost nearly one- 
half its value. You will notice that if the coffee had 
been properly prepared the market value w'ould have 
been from 60s to 80s per cv.t. 
The suggestion in regard to shipping coffee to this 
country in parchment is one that should receive 
seri us attention. You will find plenty of informa- 
tion on the subject in the Kew Bulletin. See June, 
1893 page 158. I enclose one on Liberian coffee 
herewith. When parchment coffee* is cleaned in 
London, it costs only about 2s 6d per cwt. This is 
much less than the cost of clearing by hand and 
the product is of much greater value. Liberian coffee 
is not so readily cleaned ; but it can be done. It 
would be of great service to those engaged in coffee 
growing to let this be widely known. 
All that really need be done in the colony is to 
pulp the coffee. This is a simple process and several 
good machines are available to be worked by hand 
or by power. Particulars of suitable machines as 
used in Jamaica could be obtained from Fawcett 
The suggestion made byMessrs. Lewis and Peat in 
regard to cacao is an important one. Cacao was very 
depressed not long ago, but it has apparently picked 
up again. There is always an ebb and flow in the 
price' of colonial produce, but there is one matter 
always to be borne in mind and that is, a really 
good commodity well prepared and skilfully presented 
will always stand a better chance than an inferior 
one. I am glad to hear rice is being taken so vigo- 
rously. — With kind wishes &c., D. MOERIS. 
Professor Harrison, f.c,s., f.i.c, 
Messrs. Lewis & Peat toRoyal Gardens, Kew, 
6, Mincing Lane, London, E.O., Oct. 26, 1897. 
Dear Sir,— We duly received your favour of the 23rd 
instant, with sample’s of coffee from British Guiana, 
which we have carefully examined, and beg to report 
upon same as follows ; — 
Arabian.— No. 1 Canal, small, broken, and very 
mixed in colour, some green and some foxy, appa- 
rently grown from East India seed and badly pre- 
pared, value about 38s to 40s per cwt. West Bank, 
ditto, peaberry, value about 5&s to 60s. 
Liberian. — West Bank, mixed in size and very poor 
in colour, value about 38s per cwt. Essequibo River, 
good, bold, clean, and well prepared, value about 45s 
per cwt. In reference to the Arabian samples, it is 
quite evident that they have not been prepared in 
the right way. The coffee is a good deal damaged 
and broken in cleaning and of all colours. We 
woul 1 suggest sending home small parcels, well cured 
and dried in parchment that can be cleared here, 
taking great care that berries which have fallen 
on the ground and thereby spoiled are not mixed 
with the good berries. We should probably get a 
much better result. 
Coffee, such as samples now before us, owing to 
the very low prices now ruling for Santos and Rio 
descriptions from Brazil, cannot possibly pay, but 
might eventually do so if cured and cleaned properly, 
* I send a sample of parchment coffee in a separate 
packet by this mail. 
in other words, good ana fine coffees may keep up 
in value, and good ordinary sorts remain very low. 
Our opinion is that if a well cured sample could be 
produced it would bring 20.s to 30s per cwt more, say 
60s to 80s. At present there is no chance of Liberian 
going up, there is too much Brazil. 
Have your friends thought of cultivating cocoa ? 
We should recommend this if the ground is suitable. 
Present prices range from 65s to 75s per cwt and 
the prospects are good, whereas except for fine coffees 
the outlook is not bright. — We are, etc., 
(Signed) LEWIS A PE.AT. 
On the motion of Mr Messer, a vote of thanks was 
accorded to Dr. Morris for the trouble he had taken in 
the matter, the Secretary being directed to convey the 
same. — Timchri. 
COFFEE. 
The year is notable for a heavy decline in prices, 
due to an enormous increase in the crops of the 
world, only partially offset by an increase in the 
deliveries, which are reckoned as consumption. The 
latter shows an increase of over 7 per cent over 1896. 
The decline in prices has been most marked in 
Brazil sorts and lower grades of mild coffee. The 
average yearly cost of No. 7 Rio, in 1897, was 7’73 
cents against 15 cents in 1896, a drop of 481 percent. 
On January 1st 1897, the world's visible supply 
was 4,024,968 bags, since increased to about 6,500,000 
bags, notwithstanding the gain noted in consump- 
tion. We have recently so fully outlined the 
position of coffee, and noted each month in detail 
the movement, that a further review at this time 
would be a needless repetition. The outlook is for 
a period of heavy supplies and low prices for at 
least two years to come. The aggregate of the world’s 
crop is over 2,500,000 bags above present annual re- 
quirements . — Ilmcaiitin Planters' Jlonthly, Feb. 1898. 
MARKET FOR MINOR PRODUCTS. 
March 26. 
Oil Citronella, is quiet at Is l|d per lb. on the 
spot. 308,402 lb. were shipped from Ceylon from 
January 1 to March 1, of which 199,592 lb. went 
direct to America and 102,788 to the United Kingdom. 
Oil Eucalyptus, is in good demand and firmer. 
Is lOd to Is lid per lb. is the price for good brands, 
and up to 2s 3d for special brands, such as “ Platy- 
pus.” There has recently been inquiry for oil con- 
taining about 50 per cent of eucalyptol, in view of 
the requirements of the new British Pharmacopoeia. 
— Chemist and Druggist, March 26. 
« 
OIL OF LEMONGRASS. 
Adulteration of this oil continues. Referring 
to the article by Mr. J. C. Umney in the 
Chemist and Druggist of December 18, 1897, a 
German linn of distillers confirm the ob.servations 
tlierein reconled, and state that three kinds of 
oil may be met with in the market — («) natural 
lemongrass oil, sp. gr. 0'9041, optical rotation — 
3 18°, and solubility in 7U-per-cent. alcohol 1 in 
3 ; (6) oil deprived of citral,sp. gr. 0 9102, which 
is insoluble in 70-per-cent, alcohol, and, being 
heavier than that solvent, sinks in it ; (c) lemon- 
grass oil adulterated with oil of lemon, sp. gr. 
0 8 ■186, o])lical rotation -f 18 20°, insoluble in and 
swims upon 70 per-cent alcohol. We also learn 
that Andropogon citratus D.C., the plant from 
which lemoiigrass oil is distilled, is now grown 
at St. Thomas in Portuguese West Africa, and 
the oil distilled from it agrees in physicalcharact- 
eristics with East Indian oil, butitisoptic.ally inac- 
tive. In our report ol March 5 we mentioned the im- 
p irtation by Mr. Schlesinger of Tonkin verbena 
oil. This has now been chemically examined, 
and found to contain 70 per cent, of citral,^ 
Chemist and Druggist, March 26. 
