496 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 
(January i, 
the debenture bonds ns they tell to be psid. 1 
further saw that, at such a time, what the baub 
would require was a strong-backed firm in the posi- 
tion of agents in India. On hoard that outward 
steamer I found myself in the company of two gen- 
tlemen representing one of the wenUbicit tea agenoy 
firms in Oalcntta, and who. moreover, were known 
to be on the outlook for fnrthrc tea busimss. Under 
them cironmstances I oousiderod mysell to be aoting 
for the bank's true interest in reviewing its position 
with them in order that it might be improved, it is 
very well to say that I bad no authority. Had the 
BOhemo produced been carried out in the peaceful way 
intended, the result would have been beneficial alike 
to board and shareholders, and instead of being balmed 
I would, as iu another inataucu where 1 overstepprd 
my limits of authority, have received thanks for the 
common sense ezercsed. 
The proposal to have tho bank’s agenoy transferred 
at the proper time to a strong agency firm, has the 
stamp of the board itaoU imprinted upon it, for 
Biieh is now the very scheme which they recommend 
and which, ten years ago, 1 foresaw to be a oom- 
ing necessity. Had this step been takeu, say three 
years ago, instead of waiting till a osll was to be made 
they could have selected their own agents. 
1 have only to add that the motives assigned to 
me by the chairman aro as ungenerous as they aro 
unfair. The bank’s welfare bad my first and chief care 
during the nine years of my service, whilst at the 
meeting of 20tb instant, as well as previously, the 
chairman bold my p roziea as a shareholder. — if ours 
truly. D, M. Stewart. 
London, Nov, 24tb, 1891i 
Coconut DieEass in Jsuaioa. — The Bulletin of 
the Botanical Department of Jamaica, lor Septem- 
ber, oontaina a report by Mr. W. Fawoett, Di- 
reotor of Public Gardena and Plantations, on a 
disease oansing the death, on a large scale, of 
the coconut palms in the neighbourhood of 
Montego Bay. The disease first attack the tissues 
of the youngest parts. There is no evidence that 
it is produced by an insect, and Mr. Fawcett 
considers it is duo to an "organized ferment." 
In the supplement of the JavMica Gatette for 
September is the remark that the disease is 
"rapidly destroying the coconut walks in tho 
parish of St. James, end that, if not checked, 
in a very few years the coonnut will cease to be 
a product of this parish, indeed if not of the 
island." — Nature. 
Good News for Coconut Planters. — It is said 
that the Admiralty authorities aro devoting their 
attention to the remarkable properties ot a new 
material, which it is claimed will make an 
almost impenetrable lining to a ship’s sides. 
This is made ot the oellnlose of ooconuts, which 
has tho property of absorbing eight times its 
weight of water, and several experiments have 
been made with it under Government auspices at 
Portsmouth. The material is made into squares, 
which aro afiixed to the interior plates of vessels, 
and it is asserted that it is extremely diffioult 
to penetrate. It is olaimed that the material will 
work a complete revolution in the present system 
of ships’ protection . — Coloniee and India, [This 
statement has been going the round for several 
years, back.— Ed. T. .1.] 
OuiNA V, Indian Tea. — A Glasgow oorrespondont 
writes 1 notice in your last issue that efforts are 
being made to bring China tea to the front again. I 
am dead against this Indian rubbish, I find great 
difiionity in getting sny China — I mean genuine 
stuff — and especially good tea. Whsn next I go to 
China I must make arrangements for having the 
article sent home. Have you any friends in the 
China tea line in London ? 1 should be so glad to 
get a speoimsn or two of good China tea, and then it 
price and quality are approved to buy a considerable 
quantity. Can you help a poor fellow who does not 
want to be dosed with so much tannio acid as is 
ooniaiued in tho Indian article ? I am at one with 
the views expressed by Sir A. Clark on this subject. 
—L. and C. F.xprest, Nov. 27th. [Sir A. C ork is to 
be oongratnlaled on one a herent.— Ed. T. .l.j 
Clove Auction in Zanzirar.— A Beuter’s tele- 
gram fr,.m Zanzibar, dated November 2lBt announces 
that the first public auction sale of oloves, eubj>‘Ot 
to duty, was held there that day. There was a largo 
attemlonoo. Mr Gerald Portal, thenew British Consul- 
General was present, and stated that it was hopid 
to make Zanzibar the centre of the trade of East 
Africa, and that it would probably be declared a free 
port for imports at the beginning of next year. 
Public sales of oloves will hencefoith be held fort- 
nightly. We understand that the spioe trade here 
are quite in doubt of tho rosults (if any should ensue) 
which this innovation may have upon the London 
market. London is now the largest centre for oloves, 
but yet, if our^ information is oorrect, the announoe- 
ment that public sales had been instituted in Zanzibar 
came upon dealers here as a surprise. It is well 
known that the Sultan of Zanzibar derives a con- 
siderable proportion of his revenue from an export 
duty on cloves, and it is sarmisod that the bulk of 
the oloves offered by anotion in Zanzibar may be 
those whiob are said to be sometimes tendered to 
the Saltan in lieu of cash by exporters. One of Mr. 
Poital’s chief duties is thought to be the reorganisa- 
tion of tho finanoca of the Sultan, and it is probably 
in connection with this matter that the sales have 
been instituted. — Chemist and Druggist. 
The Truth About COfi-ee — NotwiihstaBdiug the 
reduction of the duty on coffee and the fact that the 
best coffee is sold in Groat Britam cheaper than any- 
where ill Europe, it is steadily fsilirg in oonsumption. 
There are many theories put forward to explain this 
One is that coffee is ruore adulterated here than ou 
the Ooulieeut. This is certainly not tho ease. It is 
easier to get pure coffee here than in France, Austria, 
Italy, or Germany, for abroad it is nsnally largely 
mixed with chicory, and is likod all ihe bettir for 
it. The critics who are fond of praising “ coffee as 
yon get it in France ' are, in fact, praising a heavy 
admixture of chicory with coffee, vvhich they depre- 
cate hero, greatly preferring to have the opportunity 
of making Ihe combfiation optional. The next and 
most common explanation is that we don’t know how 
to make good ooffoo here. But that again is a fallacy 
and its terms a misrtatemeut. We all know how to 
make good coffee, nud there is no one who cannot 
wuke it. It is in fact so easy to make good oi.ffee 
that it is almost impossible to make it badly 
if only ono condition is observed which depends not 
on the " making the coffee,” but understanding the 
principle of drinking coffee, which everyone imdor- 
Btnuda abroad, and whiob the travelling Briton per- 
foroo practices because he has no chance of doing 
otherwno, and fall, in with "the enstoms of the 
'’“'ii I?' , . coffee-drinking races nnder.stand very 
‘bat Ihe infusion of coffee is not a fluid like tea, 
to be imbibed in copious draughts. A weak iufiision 
or coffee is a tastelesH and almost nauseous draught ; 
It loses all its aroma aud deliesoy of flavour wheu 
diasipatod in an ocean ot hot water. This is prob- 
ably due to tho fact that its flavour is largely duo 
to empyreumutio oils, which will not biar copious 
aqueous dilution. The only way to drink coffee in 
In^o draughts is to make a small quantity of strong 
coffee and add to it an ample amount of hot milk : 
cold milk is ont of the question. The small cup of 
blaoK coffee” is to be had oow everywhere aa good 
lu England as elsewhere. But so long as the British 
ootfeo drinker persists in treating coffee as if it were 
fi “l swallowing it by the pint, he will always 
hnd that he gets something unpleasing to his palate. 
^■ortHsh M^dtCdl Journal* 
