680 
THP 7ROPJCAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[March i, iSgs 
These bo grand words, my Rossendale frieucis, 
which, when you weigh them up and analyse them 
thdFGugbly yon will find they much rosomblo a 
“ coffee " mixture coiUalning 85 per cent of chicory. 
Vain is tne snare set in the sight of any bird. Do 
what I will, I cannot rouse up Sir Wilred Laweou 
on this chicory question — nor do I find any rpspocH • 
from the IcaiietH of any of the great temperanre 
leaguers — either church or secular. Peradventuro they 
are all aKioep and must be awakened. The press too, 
seems almost culpably indifferent to the question. 
Is it because the grocery interact is so very strona in 
this eouniry that editors arc afraid of meddling with 
it? Out and out casiH of poirouing, &P.» itc., or of 
some dreadful renuda! have a free run of the pres^i but 
a case aunh as 1 have produced surely merits eqnnl 
publicity. Certainly everyone is entitled to know tn 
what extent they are being robbed, and if the si’Iecf 
“ coffee mixtures” should, under a new Act of Parlia- 
ment, still be legalized, they should bear in numistak* 
able type and figures a true “ Kuumerution” na to their 
couterits. ChamberB’s BncycloproJia baa the following 
on •• chicory.”— “ It lias a long carr »t like root of a 
dirty or biownieh yellow colour — it grows in waysides, 
borders of fieliia, &c. — it contains a goo 1 deal of sugar, 
but otherwise docs not serve to supply the animul 
economy with any nssful ingredients. It gives off a 
dark brown colour to witer, when an infusion made, 
and b^'oee its main use in coffee."— “ Oak-bark tan, 
logwood and mahogony dust, and even the livers of 
horses and hiiUoclis, are said to bo rmploycl in its 
adulteration.” What ” ndultfrated chicory” may cost 
per pouud I know not, but the flnest ‘‘ Ilruges” 
chicory ia worth, wholesale, in Dondon, about SSs per 
cwt., or about 8^d per pouud. 
Need I say more ? I have already tro-pnssod some- 
what severely opon your space, hut the subject is 
surely deserving of it. Ijanrashiro peop e are known 
to be tho h irdeet working people iu the whole world, 
but if they are to give up taking unadulti rnted beer, 
for heavou'dsake let (heir “non-intoxicating hover* 
ages" bo equally pure and ttbovo all suspicion. Tea is 
now credited with being poutively pure, hut what says 
the editor of the Produce Markets' on De- 
cember I9th, 1H91, under heading *• Tea": — It would 
be better if many uf these very obji cLionnble parcnlB 
were stopped by the Cusioms from being offered for 
home ooiuiuinption.” Here is work to ” uudo” for 
the Gladsioniaiis, and **work to do” for Bir Wilfred 
Lawson aud all Tektotallres. 
5th January, 1891. 
P.8.— The Secretary of the London Chamber of 
Coioroeroe, in his letter quoted above, refers to iheir 
acceptduce of a •< compromise”— whatever could the 
“ origiDal” bill have been like? if I remember cor- 
rectly, 6lr. Gladstone promised a “fair field” to both 
coffee aud tea— mider'preasure. Parliamentary history 
records how, orAOtioslly speaking, he, at the laet mo- 
ouent AlinoHt, (brew (be bill to the wolves 1 Last year, 
.the Emperor ol (fermany kicked out of hia empire every 
iboguB coffej bean making maohino aud every bogus 
coffee Won II. 
PLANTING IN JAVA. 
Mr. G. P' Hill writes from Ayer DJngin, Kar^- 
8aaD Java Jan.i"^ 
Here we 'b«e ii«t lOot, polished "ff » 
svlSd picuU (oleuij crop an'' lo«W"K «-««<> 'oS aWI 
pieais this eesson. Size of «stn " b"lf 80» 
aares abunt. Lssl drjr 8ea,on Ustad s... 
jvbioli 
At 
liny rai. 
at ihi" 
■eeetas tj salt the ouffoo trej. 
eleration :I,OW to ,1,300 ft. 
CoSee is here grown uiiJtT eliaile. The daclt)! i, 
preferred but for some years past wo iiave Itad our 
trees killed by some nnknowii diseste. The ojly 
kinds of shade tr-es iisetl in lava are tne 
■^hbzzia muluccana or Scnnon (AWizzia stijm/ata) 
"Other innoh likol tho A. M. especinlly on nroeuot 
are’*'! brittle, (and some otiitr sins). We 
- trying Jt'icus ylonwata and (Irerillea robusia 
both strongly recommended by Mr. J. P. Hunt in a 
letter to the T. A. in Nov. 1889. 
After considerable time and some correapondenco 
the seeds we^e got from Colombo. The eilk cak (U. R.) 
in quite nnknown this end of the island, and the 
ktowing ones object to the t'icut glomerata because 
it belongs to a had tribe, they say, the Ficus family 
being surf.ice feeders viz., throwing np nnmaroua 
rootlets along the surface of the soil, eating up all 
moisture aud “humus.’’ However, the F. glomerata 
ia also a strauger here. 
Most of your space in the Tropical Agriadiuriet i 
(very nstnrnlly) taken up with tea. I tliiuk, however 
ootfee should not be forgotten, and if you could pu 
me in tho way of learning mnre about the Ficu 
glomerata and other kinds of shade trees, 1 should 
be mnoh obliged. 
[P'iciM glomerata is a favourite shade tree for 
ooiiee in India, and ol Oretillea robusta they say in 
some parts of Southern India that this beautiful 
and valuable tree is aotaally a remedy for leaf 
disease. The masses of leaves deposited must have 
a fertilizing effect. — E d. T. A ] 
INDIAN TKA DISTRICTS ASSOCIATION 
AND TKA FREIGHTS. 
A meeting, which was largely attended, of tho 
Ass'iciation waa held on Tuesday to consider the 
question of ocean freights. The Chairman (Mr. K. 
It. Magor) detailed tbo negotiations that had taken 
place between the sub-committee and the represelitii- 
tives in London of the steamer companies that run 
on the Urahnmpi otra stating that the latter had 
assented in great measure to the propo-ala of the sub- 
ciimmitteo in relation to a further agreement for a 
period of five years, and liad accepted some of tho 
mudificitlions with the committee considered fair in 
Ihe scbedule of ratoj. The oommitteo had beard, 
however, with some aurprise tliat the steamer com- 
panies, Ignoring tho negutiatiuns with the siib-com- 
initloe. Iiad been offetiug to the members of the 
Association iedividnally a form of agreement in which 
nearly all matters were decided in their own interest, 
asking them to biud themselves to the companies for 
a period of seven years (or nearly a lifetimo). Ho 
waa glad to find ihat this step had not met with 
much success, and he hoped that members would 
refrain from accepting any form of sgroeiiieut other 
than that approved by tho oommittie. He tlionght 
that the committee bad just grounds of complaint 
against the steamer companies for lack of .traiglit- 
forwardnesa in the matter. Kesoliitlons pledging the 
meeting to uphold the action of the suh-eommittee 
were unauimously passed. — 11. and ( Mail, Jan. 22. 
I’LANTlNd IN MALAY STATES. 
Mr. Watson at Bentong has planted abou 
twenty acres of land with Liberian coffee, and 
the experiment would appear to give tho great- 
est promise. With this exception, howeven 
very little [ or uotliiiig has been efteoted by 
European planters with a view to testing the 
resonroes of the country for agricultural enterprise. 
Little doubt can exist, however as to the fertility 
of the soil, and from tho low facts in our poBsession 
there would seem to be every reeson to believe that 
planting might bo successlnlly carried on in the 
State, if labour could be obtained in sufficient 
quantities at reasonable ratps of wage. The Pahang 
KTplnration and Development Company ha» erected 
saw ffiills, and has done substantial work at Kuala 
- 'ilv* pofppany has not, however, been 
Pahans. "sful in Its arrsfigements with native 
altogether suoci.. —•ni taiuandsrstandjngs as 
wood cutters, and freq.. w.vo causpd ll'fl 
to prioes, measurements, Ao., ... ' — * ‘u 
Malays to lose confidence and to be rcluou.... 
work for the company. This ibfli' ulty will no 
doubt bo eventually overcome, and as tha property 
