February i, 1892.] 
THE TROPICAL AORJOULTURIST. 
567 
exett all theic energies to compel evoryono to bccom® 
teetotalerfl.” 
A.ad it is with a wish to emphaBiso this advice that 
I now venture to nsk you for a further portion of 
your space. Sir Wilfred Liwson, in hi* letter of 
‘‘fippenl'’ which you poblish today, although you 
state it bag not your sympailiy, writoa 
“It is one of the glories of 13us'land that her citizeng 
sb-innd in good works for relieving the sick end 
ftfliictod.” 
Now, I should like to ask this “ gcod ” citizen 
"^bose fault i* it that ihe labouiiag classeR in our still 
glori, us “ Uritf-d Kingdom ” are utterly unabJo to 
obtain a cup of really ge uiino good c'‘fE»?e when they 
^sUforit? There h*s rocertly h cu a fomc”- bat heated 
discussion in tin Londt'u and provircittl ]»resK on this 
subject. Tao Britlfh Medical Jonrnal of the 
7th iustanfc, und**r “ The tru’h ab mt cefFee,” to^'k it 
vlgoronely with Iho view of upsetting loy statement 
that 
‘‘ Todr.y, in aU probahiUty. ours is the only country 
whero, by itn tax laws with r< Rp< ct to the sale of coffee, 
the working cla'^s^s aro almost nnablo to procure it 
»n a pure slate.” 
Tho haily Telegrayh on the 10th instant, in ao 
0‘litorial occupying ttiore thati a columT\ rnfut'^d tht5 
RtatemeutH made hy kho editor of the BriUah Medical 
and, in fact, made it*‘ v^ry U)t” for him, as 
toilowf, 
‘ With regard to the adulteration tli-^ory.it positively 
l^’^sertg that pure cotTof* is nu re easily to be obtained 
jn this conttiry than in France, Anntria, Itily, or 
'jeroiany. Wliy ihia should ha so, ho ^eviT, docs i.ot 
app^nr, and we couloss onrrelvvs unprepared to place 
implicit fHith in fo Bweepiog nn allegittion while totally 
uusuppoftprl by satisfactory evidence fo its correctnrs*. 
^ven slhvuld it be coiictuHively dcmonstraiOAl that cctfee 
purer in Ij^i^don than in Tari®, or snj other coati* 
Jieutal cnpit„j, we shoukl only be co.mpollod to avow 
I'Ur proforeoco for the inipuror article, irasuiuch as it 
® uciqucstioijably much more pahitahlo than the 
geninno giuff as prepared for us in our own dear 
ativc land. This ia a fact as thoroughly HfoertaiDed 
th'** recognised by travelled Englishmen 
of fi with it as to tho snperiority 
lue iJrench, Austrian, and G»*rn)an tnclhoda ol 
*‘blTee over our own. Yet tho Jiritis^k 
j raiccU ./awitja/, which cor'aitily ha* tho conr.nge of 
h( boldly assertB that we ** all know 
ag ^ n»Rkegood coffee,” which may be regarded 
nnk Tir amazing Btutementg ever 
but oolunjo* of a scient'fio periodical, 
HavJnr/ ^hero is no one who cannot make it.” 
akrflinWi- these tremendoui BRaorlioQS, it 
Th« to disprove them, &o. 
of an of the 12th iuBt, had also “a gem” 
to t ot' this subject which cughtti be dear 
IiawR,.r?*^**u ^ ^ teetotalers*’ like Sir Wilfrid 
doinw *1 anxious to bo cuL'Hged in 
llfFA ; works for relieving tho sick and nfflioted.” 
Gooff * extract from tho article referred to: — 
hnd th »re dismayod sod di'-lressod to 
Oroftt iV . • ®®*^^'*™ptiou i.i offfeo is dcoiiting in 
by tKt*‘V**‘**V ’ txiay he oxp'ainml, perhaps 
Contain: fi Dr. Stokes h.*8 discovered 
of i?oni/ ^ li' ** chicory. A cup 
berrv tea Enhlia i hougUolders should bay the 
•^ud Rrmd it in their own kitchens, 
The V# *7 ami tibovo nil, trsn^paront. 
ccffln n *■‘010 for 'M are 
«0 >U Eugland. concludes bysnying- — 
»nd nubP« beoome the duty of food inspectors 
‘ion ?f on,? •‘Ji** Pani-h llm athiltera- 
for tho ^ coffee, .„d as ,ho deman.i 
an.i t j Rradiiilly rendeta it more exnpinive 
ma ke^ o drSKTlbe 
of BomeW Porohaae a packet 
Bomobody a pure chicory, wliioii will turn out fcn 
%“‘*oawith 70 per ociit of coffee 
uoto. Medical Journal, iu lou)? editorial 
uotoa, aRain returuod to tho eubject o i the 
14lh and 2Ut inttaut, under the respective 
hsadingg cf C<»ffoe a* it is made in England,' 
and ” Tho Coffee Drinker’s Lainoot.” All the papers I 
have rcforr‘ul to aio well worth reading, not only by 
“good teetotilers,” but by “good citizens,” gonorally, 
aud particularly by promoter* of ouoh “ glorioua ** 
iuhtitutieng as “ village dubs ” referred to in your 
editorial of today. Winn it is remembered what Sip 
Andrew Clark tone of the ablest phyaioiang of tho 
present day) hag l»ttly had the ooorage to say 
with respect t> the fffeofc of “ strong tea;” 
and wlut has appeared in the papers I have 
referred to with respect to the cxcelloooe of “pure 
coffo Ls a stimulating beverac^ ihfro is every 
reason why wo should have two strings to oar 
bow, a demand fl<*onep or later ciufit be made upon 
nnr Legislature for an nmendinont of the present 
proit t itl'd laws with resnrettothe sale ef coffee tu the 
poDple of llio United Kingdom. In this connection, 
:md ia the interest of all con-erntd, I cannot refrain 
from calling public attention tD tho following ex- 
tract from 0 letter, dated tho 17 th instant, re- 
CMved by me in reply io my inquiry from the 
eectetary of the London Chamber of Commerce 
“ As regards tho purity question, you are quite right 
in asHaruing that this Chamber was interested in 
the mattr*r gome year* ago, when Mr. Gladstone's 
Hill, to which you refor was passed. We did all 
wo could in Parliarrx nt to get the'’exaot proport’ous 
of the difforc’ut ingredients indicated on the 
labels. The Presidei t of the Chamber (at this timo. 
Mr. ADguiao, M. P.) brought in an anaeudment id 
this (ffi'c', but the grocery interest, which preferred 
that no indication ahould be giver, was too strong 
for ns and we had to rc ‘opt tho compromise oontaiued 
in the Act as it i ocv standr.” 
That is to say. the gre'it Lihcrnl leaders of that 
time, the G. (). M. btit g ibeu tlr lu- id of the Govern- 
ment, by allowing free licence aIoioh^ to Ihegrocersin 
tho tale of ‘‘ chioorv mixed with cot?('e” and sold sim- 
ply as A coffee mixture, B*'.cured the grocers’ votes, but 
drove tho people of thihcrnntry fioni coffee— anyway* 
it mu^t be logically oouceded, drove ihem moro and 
more iu ih-) duec ion of the beer and whiskey taps— 
for, he Dr, Stokes, th * public analyst f^r Paddington, 
states (Hoe SlandanI of I2th instant) 
‘ Ihe people have reithcr the time nor patience to 
read all the flummery which may l o giveu away with 
H pound of coffee — tho pnrcha-'f'r ought to possess a 
legal right to get what h** asks for r.rul pays for.” 
And yet f be Sd same astute Liberal IradeTS. who, sot 
Chring then one jd n-' to tho consequences, entered 
into this disgraccfullv ;ihominable :irraugrmenl with 
the grocers, are acbitUy ai the same g*rao with the 
teetotalers, who arc to solve their ** Local Option’ 
Bill passed, if they will, by their votes, in the mean- 
time but coTistmt to stoop and act as a fulcrum to the 
lover of thcG.O. M. while he makes bis second and, 
no dont t, final attempt to topplo over the United 
Kingdom, li^honld he succeed, tho story of Samson 
Aj.'oui>to*» ’Aill be repeated, only on a more gigantic 
seal and W E. G. will become — ia this hi* little va- 
nity ?—.i grvat hihtorioRl persooiigo for all timo. Well, 
“good trc'clnl 'rs,” while listening to tho voicoof (he 
charmer, will, T have no doubt wbatevor, remember, at 
a crisi.s like thr pr ’-seut, that, though they ars “ good 
te t'lfalerR.” tl '-v are, first of all, Good Oitisrns. 
Nov.26lh, 1891. 
[Tho trulh Beoins to be that preference is more 
and more given to tea from its greater cheapness, 
its more easy preparation and its freedom from 
aclullorntion Bub all the same ocffoo ought to 
receive fair play by the proportion of chicory admix- 
ture being always stated on the packets. — Ed. T. A,] 
THE GRASS FAMILY, 
BV H. C. C. 
Mi'dge came ia from among the flowers, washed her 
Imuils, bathed luir hot face, and as she hoard the 
tia-bcll, walked ♦(> the dining-room saying, “lamao 
tired of (his horri 1 grass that I proraised'gran^ma to 
keep out of hor tlower beds. What’s grass gopd for 
