464 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST 
[Jakuart i, 1892, 
it was soiuo time ago, the ooDtnmptioii evidently sha- 
ping towards better quality than hitherto The qunu- 
tity of Ceylon tea brought forward has again boen mo- 
derate, and prices (with thoesouption of the conimauest 
grades, wbiob, in sympathy with the loner Indian and 
China growths, are rather easier to buy) have been firmly 
maintained. The quality of the teas now coming for- 
ward contiuues to be generitlly satislactory, but really 
juicy teat above Is arc somewhat scarce and in strong 
demaiiJ.” 
How TO Make and Duink Coffkb.— T he dec'luo of 
coffee in public favour is disou'sed by the liritish Me- 
JicalJouiiuU, and the renson ascribed in some measure 
to the ignorance or apathy exhibited ns to proper 
methudsof making and drinking it. Notwithstanding 
the reduction of thu duty on coffeo, and the fact that 
the best coffee is sold in Great Britain obeapor than 
anywhere iu Europe, it is steadily falling, wo read, in 
consumption. There aro (says the authority referred 
to) many theories put forward to explain this. One 
is that coUee is more adulterated here than on the 
Continent. That is certainly not the case. It is oasior 
to get pure ooifee here than in France, Anslria, Italy, 
or Germany. The next and mostcommon explanation 
is that we don't know how to make good coffee here. 
But that again is a fallacy and Us terms a misstate- 
ment. We all know how to make gcod coffee, and 
there is no one who cannot make it. All coffee-drinking 
races, that is to say, all the Latin People and some few 
of the Tentonio, understand very well that the infusion 
or the deoooticn of ouffee (and, culike tea, coffee may 
be and is made ail over Europe almost os well one as 
the other) is not a fluid like tea, to be {mbiloJ in 
copious dmngbts. A weak infusion of coffee is a taste- 
less and almost naascous draught; it loses all its aromp 
and delicacy of flavour when dissipated in an oceau 
of hot water. The only way to drink coffee in large 
draughts is to make a small quantity of strong coffee 
and add to it an amount of hot milk ; of course, cold 
milk is out of the question. That is what wo all 
drink abroad for *' the first breaktast," and find it 
excu'leut ; but in Eugland we miss the lessen, and 
demand ot the broukmst coffee an impassibility ; half 
a plot of an aqueous infusion of coffee, made still 
more tasteless very often with cold milk. So long as 
the lliitisb ooffee-drinkvr persists in trusliug coffee as 
if it were tea, and swallowing it by the pint, he will 
always find that he gets something uupluosing to his 
pslate. 
The Addltehaiion of Coefek.— C ommenting on the 
remarks of the JiritM Medical Journal, the Ikiiltf 
Telegiaph puints oot, with truth, that : " in all 
probability the real causoi of the falling off in the 
British coniiimptiun of coffee adverted to by onr 
contemporary are precisely those wbicb it positively 
repndiatea us baseless and delusive, that is, the too 
common adulteration of the article itself with 
chicory and other even cheaper and nastier subslances, 
and the provslont ignorance in respect to the true 
Bccrol of eflioiont and palatable preparation.” It adds ; 
" Ooffee-mtkiog iu its every stage— from the roasting 
of the berry to its final decootioii iu Ibo form of 
powder— is an art, by no moans difficnlt of mastery, 
bat the stndy and practice of which call tor close 
attention as well as a certain measure of intelli- 
geuceuii the part of its votarise. This is why it 
has never bneu adequately cultivated in Eugland, 
where the rough-and-ready methods of preparing all 
sorts of meals aro still popular, where tbo foreign 
‘culinary artist’ rapidly besom Js demoralised and 
‘forgets his cunning,’ and where the rarest of house- 
hold treasures is a uslive cook, at once painatnkiug 
in small matters and ambitioua to rise above the 
prosaic level of ' plain roost and boiled* and of the 
sDsipid breakfast coffee thst ’everybody knows how 
to make,’ Ju point of fact, it is not only with respect 
to this beverage, so deliciously prepared in Continental 
kitobens, thst the igaoraiioe and perversity ot English 
cooks make themselves daily manifest in coaiitluss 
iusulsr households, but in relation to ‘after-dinner' coffeo 
as well, the native ooufuctiou of which iu public and 
private ettablisboiouts alike, is, fur the must part 
execrable, Uf this delectable liquid— at once a relish, 
stimnlsnt, and digestive — it may with truth be said that 
only one of its varieties is known to English coffee- 
makers, who seldom manufacture evtn that one 
ill such sort as to make it the crowning joy of a 
succulent repast. ” 
Coffee I’rospects. — The reaction favouring im- 
portrrs, noticed at the date of onr last, is well main- 
tained. The fact of the lowcat point beiug roacbml was 
sufliaioiit to induce general buying (says Messrs. 
Wiisju, Smithetl ic Co.), and ns stueks are absurdly 
smsll coaipared with former years, competition was 
coiicentrsteii ou the little catalogued at auction. Every 
description of coffee on the spot shows a further 
improvement iu price. Cotisiderablo trausuotions at 
advancing rates are reported in Brazil daacriptione, and 
importers are strong, holders' firmness being osused in 
the first place by the smallneasor ihereoeipts, and again 
by rovotutiu mry o itbreaks in Braz I, which, it was 
feared, would prsvont pro luce reaching the coast; 
but this disturbing element now appears less likely. 
Businors is, of course, restrioted by the dearth uf 
arrivals, the trade finding exlreme difficolty in exe- 
cuting orders, ani the now crops of various growths ate 
anticipated with some eagerness. The only new coffoo 
to band ut present is .Tamaica, of which growth one 
parcel was iuoludoJ in the auctions. The quality of 
this was bettor than that of the first sbipment, being 
mure carefully garbled, but the flavour was not satisfac- 
tory. Attention givou by tho planters to thh careful 
outiug and picking will be well repaid by the eu- 
bauced sale value. Jamaica ot good even beau, free 
from blacks, is iu high favour with the home trade, 
and alwaya oommsnds oompetition when common 
parcels for export. Very little Coda Eioa or Guate- 
mala wore oatalogued. More important quantities of 
Oolonibian were sold at extreme prices. The rise 
during the furtouigbt is from 2s to 4s, making the 
recovery from the recent lowest puiot about 8s per cwt. 
The tcrmiual markets have sbenu activity, consi- 
derable bnsicess being effected, and quotations show 
an irregular advauoe of 2a to Sa per owt., some posi- 
tions having arisen even more. The statistical position 
again favours importers, stocks everywhere showing a 
further reduction with a decrease in the visible sup- 
ply of the world. European stocks November 1st 
(tons) : 1891, <18,784 ; 1890, 47,480 ; 1889, 8.-,,(XI0 , 
1888, 71,100; 1887, 140,180. European stocks 
October 1st (tons) : 1891, 64, 220 ; 1890, 82,000 ; 1889, 
101,240 ; 1888, 76,930 ; 1887, 150,380. A oironlar from 
Holland gives the world's visible supply as : — 
November 1st (tons) : 1891, 151,820 ; 1890, 128,891 ; 1880, 
176,200; 1888, 150,105; 1887, 231,869. Uotober let; 
(tons): 1891, 158,730; 1890, 13‘2.722 ; 1889, 182.100, 
1838, 138,500; 1887, 221,200.—//. and G. Mail, 
Nov. 13th 
THE .TAllE OF TEA. 
Commonting on some remarks made iu afloanoial 
paper to tbo effect that, by tho present mode of taring 
tea packages, the Gevornment luse .£25,000 peraununi 
iu the shape of the fourpeuay (per pound) duty, and 
that the producer or importer alee suffers to tho extent 
of from 1 to 2 per coot, on the uet weight, the Grocer 
says ; — “ Almost anything can be demoustrated by 
figures, and, in order to arrive at this sum, an isolated 
iustaucc of a small consignment of twenty-eight ohosts 
of Ceylon tea has been selected, upon which (hero is 
apparently a loss of thirty-six pounds on a net weight 
of '2,402 lb- ; but whether this arises from the process 
of taring alone, or from the two operations of ascer- 
taiuing first the grossiweigUt and tbeu .the tare, is not 
even mentioned. The remedy for the present assnmed 
nnfair slate of things is to tarn out every package of 
tea, and have an aooouut taken of each one. 
This in theory eounde juat, but iu practice it 
would be found alniost unworkable, consider- 
ing the very large number of packages im- 
ported, and would be undesirable to buyers, and 
absolutely unjust to grocers in tho oountry. At pre- 
sent the Customs authorities select a certaiu unmber 
of packages iu every pacoel of tea, and if they iiod 
