428 
THP TROPICAI. AORlCULrUKiS^ 
DtCEMHt. 1, 
thoQSaudg of fine coffee treen laden with crop, meat of 
which would have ripened in another week or tveo, 
were completely washed away, leaving ugly gaps on 
what was but a short time ago splendid and unbroken 
fields of healthy coffee. The wot weather during 
October has prevented the crop from ripening. Most 
of the planters on the slope of the Nilgiris anticipated 
an early crop this year, in oonsequenoe of the blossom 
having come out in February or a month earlier than 
usnal. In September picking commenced, and if wo had 
had the ordinary October weather wc would havo been 
in the height of the picking season by this time | but 
with such Whatber as we bad, all rain and no sun, very 
little crop was gathered during last month. A couple 
of weeks at least of dry weather is wanted to bring 
on the crop. In your issue of the 29th ultimo "iriauter" 
attributes the recent fioods on the Coonoor Qhant to 
atmospheric disturbance caused by continuous blasting 
on the biilgiri Railway works, and to establish this 
theory he says that the last recorded floods took plsoe 
in 1868 daring the eonitruotion of the new Ghaut 
oad. I shall express no opinion as to the efieot 
Masting mi^ have with regard to rain, but the heavy 
rains in 18(» came down after the Obant road was 
oomplelod. During last February, when there was no 
blasting going on, we had very abnormal weather, 
from 14 to 20 inches of rain having fallen in different 
S arts of Ooonoor, the average fall in previona years 
uring that month being from 1 to 2 inches. To what 
will “ Planter” attribute the February rains '! — M. Mail, 
THE PLANTERS, THE TEA FUND AND 
THE CHICAGO EXHIBITION SPECIAL 
SUBSCRiraiON. 
We regret to learn that defeotions of contri- 
butors to the Tea Fund oontinue. Some, wo fear, 
ars only too glad to find an oxouse for ceasing 
to pay ; but wo are glad to bear that others 
are giving to the speoial Chicago subsoription 
the equivalents of what they previously contributed 
to the Fund. They really ought to give more ; 
for those of us who have continued to subscribe 
to the Tea Fund (in inoreased ratio proportionate 
to increase in crops) will bo expected to contri- 
bute also to the epeoial fund. Mr. Wm. Mackenzie 
is more sanguine than we are about the speoial 
subscription, for we fear that arguments impeach- 
ing the oonduot of the directors of the Tea Fund 
with reference to that unhappy Tea Company will 
be deemed more oonolusive by many than appeals 
to their patriotism, their duty and even their 
prospective self-interest in favour of liberal sub- 
Bcriptions to the Ghioego fund. Nothing will please 
US better than a tesnlt whiob will shame our 
doubts and nogative our fears. Wo hear of an 
address to proprietors of estates in the great district 
of Dimbula, whiob is to be attaoked in divisions 
by oolleotors, with the hope that B25,000 will be 
thus realized I The idea is not so extravagant as 
it seems, for the distriot of Dimbula is believed to 
comprise one-sixth of all the tea in the island. If 
Dimbula contributed the sum mentioned and other 
districts gave in proportion, the sum of £15,000 
would no doubt bo realized. We feared wo were 
going beyond our tether when we put £10,000 
before the planters as a sum to aim at, but 
the larger amount can be contributed, aud if 
it is available it can be ail most usefully 
and reproductively spent in making our tea 
and its merits known not only m Araorioa 
but amongst the many nations, peoples and lan- 
guages, representatives of which will assemble at 
the Worla's Fair. We sincerely trust that all 
miBunderstandings, jealousies and even diilorenoes 
of opinion amongst all interested in Ceylon tea 
will be laid aside in favour of earnest and united 
efiorts towards of a really good and (tfrotive 
appearauco of our great staple at the Cbioago 
Exhibition. A loug pull and a strong pull and a 
pull altogether, and now markets for Ceylon toa 
will bo conquered so as to banish the bugbear 
of “ OvEH-PBOuucTioN ” wbioli now is BO ominously 
pourtrayod on tlio oanvas of our future. 
HOP TEA. 
A number of gentlemen inteiosted in the tea trade 
aud representatives of llie Press were invited on 
Thursday to inspect the laolory at Maidstone of the 
Hop Tea Company. Upon their arrival Mr. H. A. 
Bnelling (the patent ee of the process) at once proceeded 
to explain the various motliods by which the hops 
are prepared for admixture with variuiu blends of tea. 
In the first inslaucc, he stated, (hey are allowed to 
wither. This is elfooted by placing them on rows of 
wicker trays with half-inch webbing, thereby allowing 
a current fresh air to continually pass through them 
The hope are then passed under powerful rollers. 
Fermentation is thus produced. This fermentation 
has the etfeot of modifying and partly destroying the 
bitterness of the bop, and at the same time darkening 
the liqnor produced therefrom. The next stage is to 
bake the hops by the “ Sirocco” system. Mr. Snolling 
claimed that by the iutroduotion of hops prepared by 
his patents not only is the flavour of the tea improved, 
but imp being a sedative it counteriotod the too 
exciting efi'eot of tea upon the nerves- Further than 
this, it modified tho undesirable astringeuoy of ordinary 
tea. He aUo stated that since tho ostabli>-bmeol of 
the company hop tea had been growing greatly in 
favor, and that this sucoess bad led to the formation 
of a syndicate for acquiring the Foreign and Colonial 
patents, 
Subseqaeutly a hinobeon was given, at whiob the 
Mayor of Maidstone presiderl. Mr. Mathew A. Adams, 
K. B. o. 8., p. r.c., F. G. s., in the oonrse of the sub- 
sequent proceedings, said tiiat a ohomical analysis 
discovered in bops an unusual abundance of alkaloid 
Theino, the snbstinoe to which tea owed its valuablo 
properties as a food, giving tranquility in nervous 
excitement, and, by some wondetlnl means, while pre- 
venting waste of nervous energy, promoting intellectual 
activity. He expressed a confident opinion that hop 
toa woold bo a great boon to many persons who for 
verious reasons were not able to take ordinary tea. 
Daily Oracle. 
TEA TRADERS’ TALK. 
[Under this heading tho dmeWcari Grocer is pub- 
lishing information and gossip on tea. In the 
number for October 7th a very clearly printed map 
of India aud Ceylon showing the position of the 
principal tea distriots is given. A glanoe at this 
map shows by how large a portion of the Indian 
Empire, Ceylon aud the Western Ghauts, as scenes 
of tea culture in the south, are separated from 
Kangra in the extreme north, with Dshra Dun and 
Eumaon, forming a group yielding fine-ilavoured 
but not luxuriant orops. These distriots are again 
separated by a long stretoh of tho Himalayas 
from Darjeelmg and the groat homes of the plant, 
Assam and Sylhet. Between these north-eastern 
districts and Ceylon there is a long line of coast 
and an expanse of ocean, the ooast line being 
broken only and close to Assam by the small tea 
distriot of Ohittagoug, while the insignilioant group 
of estates in Chota Nagporo slightly lessens the 
long distanea between Darjeeling and the Nilgiris. 
Over. production being a real danger already, it is 
well (or toa growers that Burma has not, and is 
not likely for a prolonged period to have, labour 
in proportion to soil and olimate suitable lor too, 
which is indigenous. — Eu, 7’, .4.] 
