a i * ; ; i as ne ae is ei i a pacrhct fy ah, + heyy a ; tag ai i" 7 : ; a i stag 2h eh tah SI Paani hata ie mR * = i 7 ; A a A Cia ; : ac bea Sawa. Hints ts Parad + arity i : ie 5 oa fa By Fi S Fi Bs es Bu " , 7 " i ig, i" "s Me At 5 tala hs + >, ¥. » mae Sao, yy %. r 7 : % Aa 7 5 DAN ; se sans RS A MANNA EN hate: SSSR EA OE RET TNA RA ESA REN i : Bote Sa oa ta tg rte teach Rh aes Soh re SESS Sue | peated aS. + ae 4 } . ee SIMMONDS’S COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. THE COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM, CONSIDERED IN THEIR VARIOUS USES TO MAN AND IN THEIR RELATION TO THE ARTS AND MANUFACTURES ; FORMING A PRACTICAL TREATISE & HANDBOOK OF REFERENCE FOR THE Calonist, Moanuterturer, Hlerchant, ond Consumer, ON THE CULTIVATION, PREPARATION FOR SHIPMENT, AND COMMERCIAL VALUE, &e. OF THE VARIOUS SUBSTANCES OBTAINED FROM TREES AND PLANTS, ENTERING INTO THE HUSBANDRY OF TROPICAL AND SUB-TROPICAL REGIONS, &c. > 9. \ \ps , 4 BY PY LY SIMMONDS ¥ a J 3 1) SGONORARY AND CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL AND COMMERCIAL SOCIETIES OF JAMAICA, BRITISH GUIANA, ANTIGUA, BARBADOS, KONIGSBERG, CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, NATAL, THE NEW YORK STATE SOCIETY, THE NOVA SCOTIA CENTRAL BOARD OF AGRICULTURE, THE SOCIETIES FOR PROMOTING AGRICULTURE IN PHILADELPHIA AND NEW ORLEANS; ONE OF THE EDITORS OF ‘‘ JOHNSON’S FARMER’S ENCYCLODDIA ;’’ MANY YEARS EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR OF THE ‘‘ COLONIAL MAGAZINE,” &c. &c, . LONDON: Tor. A. DAY, 13, CAREY SEREET, LINCOLN’S INN. MDCCCLIY. \O Le): ? 2 LONDON : PRINTED BY PETTER AND COMPANY, 102, CHEAPSIDE ; AND NEW STREET, BLACKFRIARS. LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. African Steam Ship Company, 3, Mincing Lane Archbell, J., Esq., Pietermaritzburg, Natal Assam Company, 30, Great Winchester-street Aubert, Honourable J. M. A., M.C., St. Lucia Botanical Society (the Royal), Regent’s Park Burton, C. H., Esq., 133, Fenchurch- street Boddington, Messrs. & Co., 9, St. Helen’s Place Bristol Chamber of Commerce, Bristol Brown, Messrs. & Co., 4, Pancras Lane Begg, Thomas, Esq., 3, Corbett Court, Gracechurch-street Bow, J. B. De., Editor of Commercial Review, New Orleans Breede, L. Von, Esq., Natal Breen, H. H., Esq., St. Lucia Barbados General Agricultural Society British Guiana Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society Browne, Hunter & Co., Messrs., Liverpool Bagshaw, John, Esq,, M.P., Cliff House, Harwich Berry, Richard L., Esq., Chagford, Devonshire Blyth, Messrs., J. & A., Steam Engine House, Limehouse Blyth, Philip P., Esq., 23, Upper Wimpole Street Brown, Messrs. Robert & Co., 25, Lawrence Pountney Lane Carmichael, Sir James, Bart., Sussex Gardens Christopher, J. S., Esq., 26, Coleman-street Challis, Alderman, 32, Wilson Street, Finsbury Childs, R. W., Esq., 26, Coleman Street Cape of Good "Hope Agricultural Society Campbell, C. T., Graham’s Town, Cape of Good Hope (3 copies) Central Board of Agriculture, Halifax, Nova Scotia (5 copies) Crum, H. E., Esq., (Messrs. J. Ewing & Co’s.,) Glasgow Clegg, T., Hsq., Manchester Carleton, Percival A., Esq., Stipendiary Magistrate, Bahamas Davis, Messrs. T. E. & W. W., manufacturers, 159 and 160, Whitechapel Road Dinneford, Messrs. & Co. 172, New Bond-street Denoon, Messrs. D. & Co., 6, Adam’s Court, Old Broad-st. Decasseres, Phineas, Esq., Falmouth, Jamaica Dod, Francis, Esq., Savanna le Mar, Jamaica Duke, Sir James, M.P., Portland Place Dunbar, Messrs. D., & Sons, 95, Fore-street, Limehouse Dennistoun, Messrs. J. & A., Glasgow Drysdale, Hon. J. V., Colonial Secretary, St. Lucia Drumm, Mr. W.., Chemist, Barbados (12 copies) v1 LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. Ede, Francis, Esq., Great Winchester-street Ede, Limbrey, Esq., merchant, Winchester-street Edmonds, E., junr., Esq., Bileomb Brook, Bradford, Wilts Evett, Thomas, Esq., Trelawney, Jamaica Forbes, Dr., F.R.S., Burlington-street Fielden, J. Leyland, Esq., Feniscowles, Blackburn Fox, Mr. C., Paternoster Row Foster, T. C., Esq., Natal Hramgee, Neeswanjee & Co., Bombay Forman, Mr. R. B., 14, Mincing Lane Franks & Co., Messrs., 35, Fenchurch-street Grey, The Right Honourable Earl Grassett, Elliot, Esq., 6, Chesham-street, Belgrave Square Gray, Messrs. B. C. T. & Co., Great St. Helen’s Gray & Co., Messrs., Commercial Chambers, Mincing Lane Glasgow, Messrs. Alexander & Co., Glasgow Glasgow Chamber of Commerce and Manufactures Harker, George, Esq., 102 and 103, Upper Thames-street Henry, J. G., Esq., Bickno!lon House, Williton, Somerset Holloway, Thomas, Esq., 244, Strand Hanbury, Daniel, Esq , 2, Plough Court Howard, Messrs. James & Frederick, Bedford Haywood, James, Esq., Birmingham Henley, The Right Honourable J. W., M.P. Humphreys, E. R., L.L.D., Cheltenham School Haynes, Robert, Esq., Thimbleby Lodge, Northallerton Howson, Rev. J. 8., M.A., Principal of Liverpool Collegiate School Howard, W. M., Esq., Barbados Hitchins, Richard, Esq., Kingston, Jamaica Hamilton, William, Esq., 22, St. Vincent Place, Glasgow Hodge, Honorable Langford L., Antigua Tfill, Benjamin, Esq., 86, Gloucester Terrace, Hyde Park Gardens Innes, J., Esq., Moorgate-street Isle of Thanet Agricultural Association, Ramsgate Jamaica Association, 1, New Square, Lincoln’s Inn Jamaica Royal Agricultural Society Jennings, J. H., Esq., Stipendiary Magistrate, St. Lucia Jung & Burgtheel, Messrs., 2, Winchester Buildings Johnson, OC. W., Esq., F.R.S., Croydon Keane, Charles C., Esq., Bermuda Keating, Thomas, Es}., St. Paul’s Churchyard Keeling & Hunt, Messrs., Monument Yard Lee, D. M‘Phee, Esq., Bermuda Livesay, Drs., R.N., 35, Nelson Square Lloyd, B. 8., Esq., Birchin Lane Liverpool, Library of Collegiate Institution Lawton, Isaac, Esq., Kingston, Jamaica (2 copies) Lyons, George, Esq., Falmouth, Jamaica (2 copies) Lawrence & Co., Messrs., Madras (3 copies) Losack, F. C., Esq., Trelawney, Jamaica Lord Mayor, The Right Honourable, Mansion House t_ LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. Laird, J. M., Esq., African Steam Ship Co., Mincing Lane Laurie, W. C., Esq. 6, Great Winchester-street Lane, Crawford & Co., Messrs., Hong Kong (12 copies) Molesworth, The Right Honourable Sir William, Bart., M.P., Eaton Square McCulloch, J. R., Esq., Her Majesty’s Stationery Office Morewood, Edward Esq., Compensation, Natal Morewood, J. J., Esq., 1, Winchester Buildings Martin, R. Montgomery, Esq., 21, Victoria Road, Kensington McHenry, George, M.D., 12, Danzie Street, Liverpool Masterman, John, Esq., M.P., Nicholas Lane, City Mayers, J. P. Esq., Staplegrove, Barbados Mouat, Richard, Esqg., R.N., H. M. Dockyard, Port Royal, Jamaica McHugh, R. G., Esq., St. Lucia Marryatt, Charles, Esq., Laurence Pountney Lane Mason, J. P. and Co., 18, Mincing Lane Mosely, Mr. E. N., Nassau, Bahamas. Michelli, Mr. F., Gould Square Nesbit, J. C. Esq., F.G.S., Scientific School, Kennington Lane Newdegate, C. N., Esq., M.P., Blackheath Natal Agricultural and Horticultural Society Newcastle, his Grace the Duke of, (2 copies) New York State Agricultural Society, Albany Noble, Messrs. G. & J. A., 11, George Yard, Lombard Street, Pakington, Right Hon. Sir John S., M.P. Poole, David, Esq., Analytical Chemist, 18, Jubilee Street, Mile End Road. Poole, Braithwaite, Esq., London and North Western Rail- way, Liverpool. Pitts and Gavin, Messrs., Kandy, Ceylon. Porteous, The Honorable James, Jamaica. Prescott, George W., Esq., 62, Threadneedle Street Rowland, Messrs. Alex. and Sons, 20, Hatton Garden (3 copies) Ransomes and Sims, Messrs., Implement Makers, Ipswich (2 copies) Rolph, Thomas, Esq., M.D., Portsmouth. Richardson, Robert, Esq., 3, Jernyn Street, St. James’s Richardson, Mr. J. M., Cornhill Rowe, Sir Joshua, Chief Justice of Jamaica Roberts, Charles, Esq., 38, Mincing Lane Russell, Graham, Esq., 63, Miller Street, Glasgow Rothschild, Baron, Lionel De, M.P., New Court, Swithin’s Lane Sampson, M. B., Esq., City Editor of the Times, Lombard Street Saunders, Trelawney W., Esq., F.R.G.S., 6, Charing Cross Staunton, Sir George Thomas, Bart., M.P., F.R.S., Hants Strousberg, B. H., Esq., F.R.G.S., Editor of ‘“ The Merchant’s Magazine.” Straube, Dr., 36, Moorgate Street Stephens, Henry, Esq., Editor of “ Book of the Farm,” Edinburgh Vil LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. Stewart, Charles, Esq., 4, Adam’s Court, Old Bond-street (2 copies) Schomburgk, Sir R. H., British Consul, St. Domingo Sewell, William, Esq., St. James’s, Jamaica Stephenson, R. Macdonald, Esq., East India Railway, Calcutta Simmonds, Richard, Esq., R.N., Admiralty, Somerset House Simmonds, J. G., Esq., R.N., H. M. 8. Crane, West Coast of Africa Simeon, Hardy and Sons, Messrs., Cork Samuelson, B., Esq., Britannia Iron Works, Banbury Stanford, Mr., 6, Charing Cross Trade, The Honorable the Board of Tennent, Sir J. Emerson, M.P. Travers, Messrs., and Co., 19, St. Swithin’s Lane Thibou, James B., Esq., Antigna Tollemache, Honorable i, Hillmagham Hall, Ipswich Thornton, Edward, Esq., Statistical Depadaene East India House Weeding, Thomas, Esq., 6, Great Winchester Street (2 copies) Weguelin, T. M., Esq., 7, Austin Friars Wyld, James, Esq , Great Globe, Leicester Square Westgarth, Ross and Co., Messrs., Melbourne, Port Philip Wortley, S. S., Esg., Cumberland Pen, Spanish Town, Jamaica Wray, Leonard, Esq., Natal Wells, Charles, Esq., Grenada Woodifield, R. D., Esq., Custom House Woods, R. C., Esq., Straits Times, Singapore (20 copies) Wilson, Mr. Effingham, Royal " Exchange Buildings (2 copies) Yeatman, Rev. H. F., L.L.B., Stockhouse, near Sherborne Young, Bryan, T., Esq. , Barbados WORKS CONSULTED. Srumonps’s CotontaL Macazrnz, 15 vols. Porter’s TRopicat AGRICULTURIST. Paxton’s Botanical DicTIoNaRy. Lawson’s Mercuant’s Macazing, 2 vols. Proressorn Rove, on the Productive Resources of India. Crawrurp’s History oF THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO, 3 vols. LoGan’s JOURNAL OF THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO, 3 vols. REPoRTS AND DocUMENTS CONNECTED WITH THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE East Inpra Company, in regard to the Cultivation and Manufacture of Cotton, Wool, Raw Silk, and Indigo in India. JOURNAL OF THE AGRICULTURAL SocIETY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA, Mreuen’s ORIENTAL CoMMERCE. Urne’s DicTIoNARY OF ARTS AND MANUFACTURES, AND SUPPLEMENTS. Cuase’s History oF THE CAPE oF Goop Hope. Proressorn Batrour’s Manuva oF BoTANY. Dupon’s TRAVELS In SovuTH AmeRiIcA, 2 vols. Count Danpoto on the art of Rearing Silk Worms. JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS OF THE NEw YorK STATE AGRICULTURAL Society, 7 vols. PripHam’s History oF CEYLON AND ITs DEPENDENCIES, 2 vols. THE MAURITIUS. TRANSACTIONS OF THE Roya AGRICULTURAL Society oF Jamarca, 5 vols. THe Barpapos AGRICULTURAL SocretTy’s REpPorTER, 2 vols. Low’s DissERTATION ON THE AGRICULTURE OF THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. M’Cuxitocn’s Commerctat Dictionary, last Edition and Supplements. Hount’s New York Mercuant’s Macazinz, 27 vols. De Bow’s CommerctaL Review, New Orleans, 6 vols. Renny’s History oF JAMAICA. ScHompurck’s History oF BARBADoS. Breen’s History or St. Lucta. CaPTaIn BEEVER’s AFRICAN MEMORANDA. PeRerra’s ELEMENts oF Materta Mepica. Spry’s Prants, &c., required for India. Hoorer’s Mepicat DicTIoNaRy. PERLEY’s REPORTS ON THE ForEST TREES AND FISHERIES OF NEw Brunswick. Essays ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE TEA PLantT IN THE UNITED Srares, by Junius Smith, L.L.D. Tae Manocany TREE, its Range, &ec. Tue States or CentRaL America, by John Bailey, R.M. Tue Inpustriat Resources or Nova Scotia, by A Gesner. REpPoRTS ON THE Past AND PRESENT STATE OF H. M.’s Cotontat Posszssions, for the years 1849-50. . Pooue’s Statistics oF COMMERCE. Patent Orrice REPORTS oF THE UNITED States, 1849-50. De Bow’s InNpusTRIAL RESOURCES OF THE SOUTHERN AND WESTERN STATES or America, 4 vols. x WORKS CONSULTED. OFFICIAL AND DzEscRIPTIVE CATALOGUE OF THE GREAT ExuHIBitTion; Part 1. —Raw MarTeriats. Dr. O’SHAUGHNEsSY’s BENGAL DISPENSATORY. ARCHER’S Economic Botany. A Few Worps on THE Tea Dvuttzs, by J. Ingram Travers. OBSERVATIONS ON THE VEGETABLE PRopucts oF CEYLON. GENERAL STATISTICS OF THE British Emprre, by James McQueen. A History oF THE VEGETABLE Kinepom, by W. Rhind, THE STATISTICAL Companion, by Banfield and Weld. Fortune's TRAVELS IN CHINA. Batt on TEA CULTURE. Proressork Royle on Corton. LicTURES ON THE RESULTS OF THE GREAT EXHIBITION, delivered before the Society of Arts, 2 vols. JOHNSON’S FARMER’S ENCYCLOPDIA. A DissERTATION tPpon THA, by Thomas Short, M.D.; 1758. PARLIAMENTARY PapERs oN TRADE AND NAVIGATION. Tue Hone Kone ALMANAC AND DIRECTORY. JAMAICA ALMANACS, &c. Kererer’s Prize Essay ON THE CaNALS oF CanabA, 1850. Cotman’s CoNTINENTAL AGRICULTURE, 1848. Cuspa In 1851, by Alexander Jones. Martty, on China. CryLon ALMANACS, : Earw’s ENTERPRISE IN TROPICAL AUSTRALIA. CuUNNINGHAM’s Hints FoR AUSTRALIAN EMIGRANTS. Dr. TuRNBULL’s CuBa, with Notes of Porto Rico. Lt. Moopie’s Ten Years IN Sovutu Arrica, 2 vols. FARMER'S MaGazine, 20 vols. Rogertson’s LETTERS oN SouTH AMERICA, 3 vols. Stevenson’s Twenty YEARS RESIDENCE IN SoutH America, 3 vols. JOURNALS OF THE STATISTICAL ScctETIEs oF LoNDON AND Paris. PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL, 19 vols. Tue LEADING AGRICULTURAL PERIODICALS OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE CoLoNIEs. BALANZA GENERAL DE CoMERCIO oF CUBA. Kwnicut’s CycLopmpIA OF THE INDUSTRY oF ALL NaTIons. PREFACE. THe objects and purposes of the following Work are fully set forth in the introductory chapter; but I may be permitted to remark here, that its compilation and arrangement have oc- cupied a very large share of my time and attention, and I can therefore assert with confidence, that it will be found the most full and complete book of the kind that has ever yet appeared. It is not a mere condensation from Encyclopedias, Commercial Dictionaries, and Parliamentary and Consular Reports; but is the fruit of my own Colonial experience as a practical planter and of much laborious research and studious investigation into a class of ephemeral but useful publications, which seldom meet with any extended or enduring circulation—assisted, moreover, by the contributions and suggestions of many of the most eminent agricultural chemists, planters, and merchants of our Colonial Possessions and Foreign Countries. Few are aware of the great labor and research required for digesting and arranging conflicting accounts—for consulting the numerous detached papers and foreign works treating of the subjects embraced in this volume, and for referring to Xil PREFACE. the home and colonial trade circulars, Legislative papers, and scientific periodicals of different countries. The harassing duties appertaining to the position of City editor of a daily paper, coupled with numerous other literary engagements, have afforded me insufficient time to do full justice to the work while passing through the press; and several literal typo- graphical errors in the botanical names have, I find, escaped my attention in the revision of the sheets. I have, however, thought it scarcely necessary to make a list of errata for these. From want of leisure, to reduce all the weights and measures named in the body of the work into English, I have given their relative value in the Index. I have taken considerable pains to make the Index most full and complete, for it has always appeared to me, that in works embracing a great variety of subjects, facility of reference is of paramount importance. Some discrepancy may here and there be found between the figures quoted from Parliamentary returns and those derived from private trade circulars; but the statistics are accurate enough for approximate calculations. Whilst the work has been passing through the press, several important modifications and alterations haye been made in our Tariff. I have throughout found great difficulty in obtaining commercial information from the various Colonial brokers and importers of the City, who, with but few exceptions, PREFACE. Xi have been stupidly jealous of any publicity respecting the staples in the sale of which they were specially interested. The greatest fear was expressed lest any details as to the sources of supply, stocks on hand, and cost prices of many of the minor articles, should transpire. After the results of the Great Exhibition, the exertions making to establish Trade Museums, and the prospect of information to be furnished at the new Crystal Palace, this narrow-minded and selfish feeling seems singularly misplaced. I had not originally contemplated touching upon the grain crops and food plants of temperate regions; but the prospect of a failure in our harvest, the disturbed state of political affairs on the Continent, with short supplies from Russia and the Danubian provinces, and the absence of any reliahle statistics and information for convenient reference on this all- important subject, added to the recommendations of one or two well-informed correspondents, induced me to go more into detail on the Food-plants and Bread-stuffs than I had at first intended, and to treat very fully upon Wheat, Barley, Potatoes, and other subsidiary food crops. This has trenched somewhat largely on my space; and although the volume has been swelled to an unexpected size, I am reluctantly com- pelled to omit some few Sections, such as those treating of elastic and other Gums, Resins, &c.; on tropical Fruits; and on textile substances and products available for cordage and clothing. The latter section, which includes Cotton, Flax, Jute, &c., and embraces a wide and important range of X1V PREFACE. plants, I propose issuing in a separate volume at an early date, with a large fund of statistical and general information. Among those gentlemen to whom I acknowledge myself most indebted for valuable suggestions or important informa. tion, are my friends Sir R. H. Schomburgk, British Consul at St. Domingo, and Mr. R. Montgomery Martin, the well- known Statist and Colonial Historian; Mr. R. D. Wodifield, Deputy Inspector of Imports at the port of London; Mr. Leonard Wray, of Natal, author of “The Practical Sugar Planter ;’ Dr. W. Hamilton, of Plymouth, a talented and fre- quent contributor to the scientific periodicals of the day; Mr. T. C. Archer, of Liverpool, author of “ Economic Botany ;”? Mr. Greene, of the firm of Blyth, Brothers, and Greene; Mr. J. S. Christopher, author of several works on the Cape Colony, and Natal; Mr. B. H. Strousberg, editor of “ The Merchant’s Magazine,” and Mr. G. W. Johnson, the eminent agricul- tural writer, author of various elaborate “ Essays on the Agriculture of Hindostan,” which were written for my “ Colonial Magazine.” : P. L. SIMMONDS. 5, Barae YARD, BUCKLERSBURY, December, 1853. CON THN ES: PAGE INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER eee Objects of the work. Prof. Solly on the demand for a practical book on raw materials. Objects of the Society of Arts and Great Exhibition. Necessity for an attention to the culture of the minor staples of the soil. New objects of industry worthy the attention of Science. Prin- cipal part of our homeward commerce composed of raw materials from the Vegetable Kingdom. Mutual dependence of countries on Commerce for the supply of their wants. System of arrangement of subjects adopted by the author. Many articles of commerce omitted for want of space. Those of tropical and sub-tropical regions chiefly discussed. Hints for the cultivator. Division of zones, and countries lying within each, with their range of temperature. Table of climate; dura- tion and production of the principal cultivated plants. SECTION I.—Driep Leaves, SEEDS, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES USED IN THE PREPARATION OF POPULAR DisTEeTic BEVERAGES Ms 11 Cacao or Cocoa, Varieties and description of the tree. Mode of culti- yation in the Colombian Republics. Enemies of the tree. Expenses of a plantation in Jamaica. Cultivation in Trinidad and St. Lucia. Statistics and consumption. Coffee. Home consumption and reyenue of coffee. Chicory largely substi- tuted for; history of the fiscal changes. Continental demand. Present produce and consumption in various countries. Cultivation in Mocha. Cultivation in India; in Ceylon. Exports from that island. Manures suitable for the tree. Peeling, pulping, and winnowing. Improved machinery. New use for coffee leaves. Culture in Java. Production of America and the West Indies; Venezuela. Statistics of the Bra- zils, Shipments of various countries to the United States. Compara- tive consumption by different nations. Cultivation in Jamaica; Tri- nidad; British Guiana; Cuba; decline of production in this island. Statistics of exports. Preparation of coffee leaves for infusion accord- ing to Dr. Gardner’s patent. Dr. Hooker’s opinion thereon. Tea. Immense consumption of. Liebig’s analysis of. Varieties of the plant. Imports of tea for a series of years. Alterations in the duties. Statistics of import and consumption, revenue and prices. Value and extent of the tea exported from China; first cost at the ports; enor- mous prices paid for superior teas. ‘Total outlay for tea. Consump- tion of tea in China. Export to various countries. Total production. Consumption per head in England; not properly within the reach of the poorer classes. China could furnish any quantity. Mr. Travers on the tea duties. Brick tea of Thibet. Tea annually imported into the United States; proportion of green to black. Range of the plant. Countries in which its culture has been attempted. Its progress in America. The Assam Company and its plantations. Extension of tea culture by the Hast India Co, Mr, Fortune’s travels in the tea dis- XV1 CONTENTS. PAGE tricts of China. Instructions and details as to soil, management and manufacture, by Dr. Jameson and Mr. Fortune. Dr. Campbell’s notes. Mr. A. Macfarlane’s Report. The East India tea plantations in the North-West Provinces. Experimental cultivation of the tea plant in Brazil; M. Geullemin’s report thereon. Paraguay Tea: Mr. Robertson’s description of the collection and manufacture. Sugar. Plants from which it is usually obtained. The sugar cane; its range of cultivation. Production in our colonies. Consumption in the last ten years. Improvements in sugar machinery and manufacture. Quantity of cane sugar annually produced and sent into the markets. Local consumption in India. Present European supply; demand according to the consumption in England. Estimated annual pro- duction throughout the world. Consumption in the principal European countries. Average annual consumption in the United Kingdom. Comparative amount of beet-root and cane sugar produced in the last four years. Gazette prices of sugar in the last ten years. Production of sugar in the United States. Production in Cuba. Pro- duction in the British West Indies. Production in Mauritius. Sta- tistics of imports from the Mauritius. Production in the British East Indies. Production in Java. Production in the Philippines. Chemical distinction between cane and grape sugar. Varieties of the sugar cane cultivated. Possibility of raising the cane from seed. Analysis of the cane, and of a sugar soil, Chemical examination of cane juice. Va- cuum pans. Boiling and tempering. Composition of cane juice. Ra- mos’s prepared plantain juice. Professor Fownes on the manufacture of sugar. Expression of cane juice. Construction of the sugar mill. Quantity of juice obtained by each kind of mill. Position of roilers. Mode of culture and varieties in the East Indies. Soils considered best adapted for its luxuriant growth. Manures. Sets and planting. Aftergrowth. Harvesting. Injuries, from seasons, storms, insects, &e. Mode of cultivation in the Brazils; in Natal; expenses. Com- parison between the cost of production in Mauritius and Natal. Com- parative cost in free and slave countries. Beet-root sugar: variety cultivated ; mode of expression and manufacture; yield of sugar; es- timated profit; extensive production in France; production in the German States. Statistics of the Prussian Provinces of Saxony ; Rus- sia, Belgium and Austria. A Visitor’s account of the French manu- factories. Mr. Colman’s opinion. Proportion of sugar in the beet. Maple Sugar: description of the tree ; its production limited to Amer- ica; extent of the manufacture in Canada and the United States; pro- cesses employed ; statistics of production. Maize Sugar. SECTION II.—Tur Grain Crops, Eprstn Roots anp FARINACEOUS PLANTS, FORMING THE BREADSTUFFS OF COMMERCE oe aS Aw | Statistics of Wheat Culture. Exports of flour from the United States. Adaptation of the soil and climate of the United States to the culture of the cereals. Export of sophisticated (damaged) flour. Kiln drying of bread stuffs and exclusion of air. Value of the ‘‘ whole meal” of wheat as compared with that of the fine flour. Nutritious properties of various articles of food. Composition of wheat and wheat-flour, and the modes of determining their nutritive value. Rotation of crops in connexion with wheat culture. Production and consumption of the United Kingdom. Statistics of other countries. Barley, Oats, Rye, Buckwheat, Maize: Indian corn and meal imported. Crop and ex- ports of United States. System of culture. Rice: Statistics of pro- duction and culture in Carolina. The Bhull rice lands of Lower Scinde. Rice in Kashmir; exports from’Arracan. Millet. Broom Corn. Cheno- podium Quinoa. Fundi or Fundungi. Pulse. The Sago Palms. Manufacture and extent of the trade in Singapore. The bread-fruit tree. CONTENTS. XVII PAGE Kafir bread. The Puanrain and Banana, various products of these palms. StarcH-PRovucING PLants investigated. Characters of starch from different plants. Tenacity and clearness of jellies; per centage of starch yielded, and produce of plant per acre; their meal as articles of export. Indian Corn starch. Rice starchh ARRowroor: East and West India, culture and statistics of. Roor Crops: Potatoes, Yams, Cocos, or Eddoes, Sweet Potatoes, Cassava or Manioc. Nrw Tuse- Rous PLants recommended as substitutes for the potato. MuIscELLA- NEOUS Foop Piants. Licuens and Mosses. FERns, SECTION III.—Srices, Aromatic ConDIMENTS, AND FraGrant Woops. 382 Cinnamon. Limited range of the culture in Ceylon. Analysis of the soil most favorable to the tree. Peeling. Various kinds of bark; com- mercial classification, distinguishing properties of good cinnamon ; suitability of the Straits Settlement for cinnamon plantations; oil of cinnamon ; statistics and exports from Ceylon, and prices realised ; re- duction of the duty ; extent of land under cultivation with the tree; pro- grees of the culture in Java; exports thence to Holland. Cass1a BARK: species from whence derived; imports, consumption and prices. Cassia Buds. Cassia Oil. CanELLA ALBA. CASCARILLA Bark. Cloves: descrip- tion and varieties of the tree. Produce inJava. Introduction into the West Indies. Progress of the culture in Pinang and Singapore. The Clove plantations of Zanzibar. Imports and consumption of the United Kingdom. The Nurmec: Botanical description. Dr. Oxley’s ac- count of the cultivation and management of a plantation ; enemies of the tree. Produce and returns. Preparation of the nuts for market. Statistics of culture in the Straits Settlements. Memorandum on the duties on nutmegs, Exports of nutmegs from Singapore and Java. Imports into the United Kingdom, and consumption of wild and cul- tivated nutmegs and mace. GINGER: description and consumption of. Commercial distinction between black and white ginger. East and West India ginger, directions for cultivation. Shipments from Ja- maica. Comparison between the imports from the Kast and from the West. Total annual imports and consumption. GaLanaaLe Root, CarDAMoms; plants from which derived. Grains of Paradise. Mele- guetta, or Guinea pepper. Prpprnr: description of the vine; range of the plant. Production of the World. The culture declining in Java. Extent of the production in Singapore. Exports from Ceylon. Its introduction into the Mauritius. Shipments from Singapore. Imports and consumption of the United Kingdom. CuILLIEs AND CAYENNE PEPPER : varieties of Capsicum. Pimento: description of the tree; production of the spice limited to Jamaica. Imports and consumption. VANILLA: description of the plant. Its collection and preparation for the market. Commercial varieties. Tonquin beans. TurMERIC: sources of supply. Commercial uses. Value of the Curry stuffs of the East. Imports and consumption. GinsENG: description of—demand for in China, exports from America, and commercial value. Canary, Corian- der, mustard and anise seeds. Purenvux, or Costus. Licnum Axozs, and fragrant woods. SECTION IV.—Dves anp Cotorine Sturrs AND TANNING SUBSTANCES 439 Importance and value of these substances to our manufacturing interests. New specimens and materials recently produced. Miscellaneous notices of useful plants. Lana Dye. Prices of Dyewoods. Red SANDERS Woop. Fustic. Sappan Woop, Camwood and Barwood. Im- ports of Dyewoods. Arnarro. Commercial kinds. Cultivation and manufacture. Imports, consumption and prices. CHAyroot. Wood Dyes. Mangrove Bark. Sumacu. Statistics of imports and prices. B® XVIIT CONTENTS. PAGE SAFFLOWER. Gamboge. Common native dyes. Inpico; plants which procuce it. Commercial sources of supply. Cultivation in Central America, in Jamaica and the West Indies; once an important crop in the United States. The indigo plant a common weed in many parts of Africa. Cultivation in India. Classification of the dye-stuff. Lo- calities best suited to its production. Process of Manufacture. Annual production in the East Indies; adaptation of Ceylon. Extent of the culture in Java; annual exports therefrom ; imports and consumption. Mappsr: extent of the demand for. Enormous profit of the cultivation ; system of harvesting and manufacture. Large supplies received from France. Munszxt, or Indian madder, deserving of more consideration. Loewoop, Fusric, Quercitron. Brazil Wood. LicuEns ror Dyxrne. Henna. OrcH1tLua WEED. Chemical examination of the coloring princi- ples of the Lichens. BarxKs FoR TANNING: cursory notice of a variety of suitable barxs. Proportions of tannin yielded by different barks. Carecuvu : definition of, and whence derived. GAMBIER PLANT: cultiva- tion in Singapore; returns from a plantation. Different qualities of extract and mode of obtaining it. Places of manufacture; average produce. Terra Japonica, a misnomer. Cutch, another name for Cate- chu. Statistics of imports and consumption; the amount and value of Gambier from Singapore. Drvi-Divi: description of. Cork TREE Bark. Mrmosa Bark. Valuable native barks of New Zealand. Man- grove bark. Myropanans. Kino: definition of; sources from whence obtained. VALONIA: statistics of, consumption and prices. SECTION V.—O.nracinous PLANTS AND THOSE YIELDING FIXED oR ESSENTIAL OILS... Hes aie see clsta eee O09 General Remarks. Extensive demand for Oils. Proportion of oil fur- nished by various seeds. Richness of Indian seeds in oil, Rapz Orn. Domba Oil. The Kartu or Grounp Nvt, its extensive cultivation for food and oil. Tea oil. Tobacco seed oil. Poppy oil. Tallicoonah oil. Carap oil. Macaw oil. Madia sativa. Cocum oil. Candle Tree. Cinnamon Suet. Croton oil. Oil of Ben. Patm Orn: progress of the African trade. Imports into Liverpool. Quantity retained for home consumption. Statistics of; imports of the four principal vegetable oils. Oxive Or: description of the tree and its varieties; its cultiva- tion attempted in the United States. Preservation of the fruit. Hx- pression of the oil. Range of prices. Frequently adulterated with cheaper oils. Annual imports and consumption. ALMoNnD OIL. Sesame, or Tre, Oil. Various species cultivated in the Kast: Large exports of the seed from India; native oil mills; processes of expres- sion and manufacture. Sunflower oil. Margose, or Neem oil. Illepe oil. Vegetable butter. Candle nut tree. Colza oil. VuGEraphE WAx. The Candleberry myrtle. The Castor O1n Puant: manufacture of the oil in the East and West Indies. Extent of the imports annually. The oil-cake for manure. Kanari oil. The Coco-nur Patm: descrip- tion of the tree; its various and important uses. Varieties of this palm met with. Wide range of the plant. Directions for its culture ; profits derived from plantations; great attention paid to them in Cey- lon. Commercial value of its products. Statistics of culture in Pinang. Natural enemies of the tree. Copperah and Poonae. Statistical returns connected with its products in Ceylon. Imports and consumption of coco-nut oil. Comparison of the consumption of the chief vegetable oils of commerce. ‘The value and uses of oil-cake for cattle-feeding. YVoLATILE, oR EssenTiAL Orns: description of the most important. Oil of peppermint. Process of obtaining the perfumed oils. Cultiva- tion of Roses in the Hast and preparation of Attar. Lemon-grass oil. Citronella oil. Patchouly. Saronaczous PLANTs. CONTENTS. Igo:¢ PAGE SECTION VI.—Drves, Inctuprne Narcotics AND oTHER MEDICINAL SUBSTANCES 576 The Coca Prant. Cocculus Indicus. Brtret Lear, The Arrca Paum; extensive use of the nuts in the East as a masticatory. Narcotic proper- ties. Catechu, or Cutch; its astringent properties. Davy’s analysis. Value of the Areca nuts exported from Ceylon. The Poppy: increasing con- sumption of Opium in this country. Production of the Drug in India. Large revenue derived therefrom. Variety of the poppy grown; sys- tem of culture pursued. Various modes of consuming opium. Its preparation and manufacture described. Commercial varieties met with. Requisites for the successful culture of the poppy for opium. The Topacco PLANT; species cultivated. Loudon’s classification. Ana- lyses of various samples of tobacco ; statistics of the culture in Brazil ; extent of the consumption; considerations of revenue; memorial of Liverpool Chamber of Commerce. Comparative consumption of tea, coffee and tobacco, per head. Imports and duty received on tobacco in the last five years. Consumption checked in England and France by the high duties. Imports, sales, and stocks, in Bremen for 10 years. Culture and statistics in the United States. Quantity exported from 1821 to 1850. Countries from whence we received our supplies in 1850. Particulars of the tobacco trade in 1850 and 1853. Mode of culture pursued in Virginia. General instructions for the planter. Information as to growing Cuba tobacco. History of the trade and cultivation in Cuba. Statistics of exports from the Havana. Culture of tobacco in the Hast. Analysis of tobacco soils. Progress of culti- vation and shipments in Ceylon. Manila tobacco and cigars. Produc- tion in the Islands of the Archipelago. Suggestions and directions for tobacco culture in New South Wales. Its value and extensive use as a sheep wash. Excellence of the product and manufacture in New South Wales; culture of tobacco in South Australia. MisceELLANEOUS Drues. Poisons. ALoES: varieties of the plant; culture and manufac- ture in Socotra, Barbados, and the Cape Colony. ASArmTIDA. CAMPHOR. Cincnona Bark: commercial varieties of. CaLumBa Roor. CotocyNntTH. Cusess. Gampoce. GENTIAN. IPECACUAN. PNT RODUCT ORY: Tur want of a practical work treating of the cultivation and ma- nufacture of the chief Agricultural Productions of the Tropics and Foreign Countries, has long been felt, for not even separate essays are to be met with on very many of the important subjects treated of in this volume. The requirements of several friends proceeding to settle in the Colonies, and wishing to devote themselves to Cotton culture, Coftee planting, the raising of Tobacco, Indigo, and other agricul- tural staples, first called my attention to the consideration of this fertile and extensive field of investigation. Professor Solly, in one of the series of Lectures on the results of the Great Exhibition, delivered before the Society of Arts, early last year, made some practical remarks bearing on the subject :-— “Tf (he said) you were to place before any manufacturer specimens of all the substances which could be employed in his particular manufacture, and if you could tell him from whence each could be procured, its cost, the quantities in which he might obtain it, and its physical and chemical properties, he would soon be able to select for himself the one best suited for his purposes. This, however, has never happened in relation to any one art; in every case manu- facturers have had to make the best of the materials which chance or accident has brought before them. It is strange and startling, but nevertheless per- fectly true, that even at the present time there are many excellent and abun- dant productions of nature with which not only our manufacturers, but, in some instances, even our men of science, are wholly unacquainted. There is not a single book published which gives even tolerably complete information on any one of the different classes of vegetable raw produce at present under our con-= sideration. The truth of these remarks will be felt strongly by any one who takes the trouble to examine any of these great divisions of raw materials. He will obtain tolerably complete information respecting most of those substances which are known in trade and commerce; but of the greater number of those not known to the broker, he will learn little or nothing. Men of science, for the most part, look down upon such knowledge. ‘The practical uses of any substances, the wants and difficulties of the manufacturer, are regarded as mere trade questions, vulgar and low—simpls questions of money. On the other hand, mere men of business do not feel the want of such knowledge, because, in the first place, they are ignorant of its existence, and secondly, because they do not see how it could aid them or their business ; and if it should happen that an enterprising manufacturer desires to learn something of the cultivation and production of the raw material with which he works, he generally finds it quite impossib.e to obtain any really sound and useful information. In such cases, if he is a man of energy and of capital, he often is at the cost of sending B 2 INTRODUCTORY. out a perfectly qualified person to some distant part of the globe, to learn for him those practical details which he desires to know. ‘This is no uncommon thing; and many cases might be stated, showing the great advantages which have arisen to those who have thus gained a march upon their neighbours.” The Society of Arts, appreciating the importance of from time to time encouraging the introduction of new and improved pro- ducts from our Indian and Colonial Possessions, has offered many gold medals as premiums for a great variety of staples from abroad. The Great Exhibition of the Industry of all Nations brought together an immense variety of productions from tropical re- gions, of which the English public were comparatively ignorant. Attracting public attention, as these necessarily did, information on the best modes of cultivating and manufacturing them will be peculiarly valuable to the colonists, and is as eagerly sought after by many brokers, merchants and manufacturers at home. In consequence of the recent liberal policy of Great Britain, the competition of foreign countries, the want of cheap and abun- dant labor, and other causes, those chief staples, Sugar aud Coffee, which for a series of vears formed the principal and almost exclusive articles of production in our colonies, and which had met with a ready and remunerative sale in the British markets, have either fallen off to an alarming extent, or become so reduced in price as scarcely to repay the cost of cultivation. The partial abandonment of the cultivation of these staples in our colonies has had the effect of crippling the agricultural and commercial enterprise of several of our most valuable t foreign possessions, and throwing out of employ- ment anumber of persons: it behoves us, therefore, to direct atten- tion to some of the many minor articles in demand ; :—to those indi- genous or exotic products of the soil in tropical regions, which, being inexpensive in cultivation and manufacture, might be under- taken with a moderate outlay of labor and capital, and the cer- tainty of a ready and remunerative sale in the European markets ; and could moreover be attended to without neglecting or at all interfering with the cultivation of the leading staples. Tt is evident that the export wealth of tropical regions must be chiefly agricultural, the soil and climate ene peculiarly fitted for the culture of fruits, trees and plants yielding oils, gums, starch, spices, and other valuable products, which no art can raise cheaply in more temperate latitudes. The large and continued emigration of farmers and other enterprising persons from Britain and the Continent to Natal, the Cape Colony, Northern Australia, Ceylon, the Hast India Company’s Possessions and the Straits Settlements, Brazil, New Granada, and the Central American Republics, Texas, the Southern States of North America, and other tropical and sub-tropical countries, renders imformation as to the agriculture and productions of those regions highly desirable. Even to the settlers in our West Indian posses- sions, most of whom have too long pursued the old beaten track of culture and manufacture, comparatively regardless of modern improvements and the results of chemical, scientific, and practical INTRODUCTORY. 3 investigation, recent information on all these subjects, and a comparison of the practices of different countries, cannot fail to be useful. There is much valuable information to be met with in detached papers and essays in the scientific pericdicals of the day, and in colonial and other publications; such as the Transactions and Journals of the different agricultural and horticultural societies of _ the East and West Indies, the United States, Australia, &c., but none readily accessible for easy reference, and which the new settler, proceeding out to try his fortune in those fair and pro- ductive regions of the globe, can turn to as a hand book. I have had much experience in Tropical Agriculture, and for many years my attention has been ma inly directed to this important subject, for which purpose I have kept up a large and extended correspon- dence with numerous agricultural, scientific and other societies abroad ; with experienced pract tical men, and have also received the leading journals of all the tropical Colonies. No one person could be expected to be thoroughly familiar with all the different modes of culture and preparation of every one of the numerous products to be described in this volume; but where my own agricultural experience (of several years in the West Indies and South America) was at fault, I have availed myself of the practical knowledge of those of my colonial friends and corres- pondents best informed on the subject, and am particularly fortu- nate in having many valuable essays on Tropical Agriculture scattered through the different volumes of my “Colonial Ma- gazine.” The discussion of the best modes of culture, properties, ma- nufacture, consumption, uses, and value of the commercial products of the vegetable kingdom cannot be without its value, and the attention of merchants and planters may be usefully directed to various articles, which will be profitable both in an agricultural and commercial point of view; many of which are already sources of wealth to other countries. The introduction of new objects of industry into the colonial dependencies of the British Empire, is no longer considered a mere subject of speculation, but one well worthy the attention of the eye of science; and the fostering hand of care is beginning to be held out to productions of nature and art, which, if not all equally necessary to the welfare of man, yet certainly merit the attention of the cultivator and capitalist, and have great claims on the scientific observer, and on those interested in raising the manufactures of our country to a higher standard. Few who have not investigated this subject are aware of the immense number of countries lying in the equatorial and tropical ranges of the torrid zone, many of which, from the value and im- portance of their indigenous productions, have already attracted considerable notice, and to which still more attention will be di- rected by European nations as the value of their various products becomes more extensively known. B 2 4 INTRODUCTORY. The homeward commerce which we carry on with our numerous Colonies, with our Indian Possessions, and with foreign countries, is principally in articles furnished by the vegetable kingdom, such as the cereal grains, wheat, rice, maize, &c.; vegetables used in preparing dietetic drinks and distilled liquors, as tea, coffee, cacao, and the sugar cane, grapes, &c.; spices and condiments ; drugs; dyes and tanning substances, obtained from the bark, leaves, fruit, and roots of various herbs and trees; the expressed or distilled oils of different plants; fruits in the green, dried, or preserved state ; starches obtained from the roots or trunks of many farinaceous plants; fibrous substances used for cordage, matting, and clothing, as cotton, Indian hemp, flax, coco-nut coir, plantain and pine-apple fibre; timber and fancy woods. These substances, in the aggregate, form at least nine-tenths in value of the whole imports of this country. There are also several products of the animal kingdom dependent on vegetable culture, which might be brought into this category, such as silk and cochineal. V ery few of these products of the vegetable kingdom come to us in any other than an unmanufactured state; they are shipped to this country as the chief emporium and factory of the world, either for re-export or to be prepared for consumption by the millions to whom they furnish employment, sustenance, and articles of clothing. It is a wise ordination of Providence, that the different nations of the earth are as it were mutually dependent on each other for many of the necessaries and luxuries of life, and the means of pro- gress and civilization. Commerce is thus extended, the various arts aud manufactures improved by comparison and competi- tion; and the acres yet untilled in distant lands hold out strong inducements for immigration, their climate and products affording health, freedom, and independence to the over-tasked and heavily taxed artisan and agriculturist of Hurope. Although the systems of tropical agriculture, generally pursued, are peculiar and effec- tive, yet there is no doubt that much improvement remains to be carried out in the practices adopted, in the implements employed, ard the machinery used for preparing the crops for shipment. In the British Isles our insulated position, limited extent of country, unsettled climate, and numerous population, aggregated mn dense masses, have compelled us to investigate and avail ourselves of every improvement in agriculture, arts and manufactures, which experience, ingenuity, and a comparison with the customs of other countries, have placed at our disposal. If we except sandy deserts, and some of the interior portions of the polar regions, it will be found that there is scarcely any country but what is capable of improvement. Indeed, so exten- sive are the resources of agriculture, that further improvements may be most easily effected. Let us then examine and ascertain what new objects may be improved upon, and if by our speculations only one single article, either for food or use, is added to those already in use, or those - INTRODUCTORY. 5 that are already cultivated be improved upon, it is equivalent to an increase of our wealth. An eminent writer has truly remarked that “ Agriculture is the parent of Manufactures, seeing that the productions of nature are the materials of arv.”’ Tn the economy of Providence every fragment of creation seems to unfold, as man progresses in the arts of life, unbounded capa- bibties of adaptation to his every want. We have, indeed, daily illustration of the truth of that trite and homely adage, that “nothing is made in vain.” That quaint old English poet, Herbert, who flourished m the fifteenth century, in a short poem on “ Providence,” has graphi- eally described, in his unique vein, the sentiment which forces itself upon us in view of the numerous discoveries of the age ir which we live :-— “¢ All countries have enough to serve their need. % # * % The Indian nut alone Ts clothing, meat and trencher, drink and can, Boat, cable, sail, and needle, all in one.” “The addition Gt has been well observed) of even a single flower, or an ornamental shrub, to those which we already, possess, is not to be regarded as a matter below the care of industry and science. The more we extend our researches into the productions of nature, the more are our minds elevated by contemplating the variety as well as the exceeding beauty and excellence of the works of the Creator.” The mode of arrangement of the various subjects treated of in- volved some consideration ; two or three plans were open for adoption. ist. To describe the several products in the order of their agricultural importance or commercial value. 2nd. An alphabetical reference, in the style of a Dictionary or Encyclo- pedia; and 3rd. Classifying them under subdivisions, according to their particular or chief uses. The last seemed to me the most desirable and efficient mode, although open to some objections, from the variety of uses to which different parts of many plants were applied. Some, as cotton, indigo, sugar, coffee, tea, &c., would readily fall into their proper division, but others, as the coco- nut, plantain, &c., from the variety of their products, would come under several heads. I have, however, endeavoured to meet this difficulty by placing each plant or tree under the section to which its most valuable production seemed naturally to refer it. There are very many plants and substances wlfich have been passed over altogether, it being impossible, within the limits of a moderate sized volume, to bring under notice even a tithe of the valuable grasses, timber trees, cabinet woods, fruits, &c.; and I have confined myself in a great measure to those which either already are, or might easily be rendered, articles of commerce of some importance. I have shown their present value by quoting the current prices, and brought down, as far as possible, ~ 6 INTRODUCTORY. the statistics of each article to the close of last year, thus render- ing the work valuable by commercial references which could not be found collectively elsewhere. There are some articles of commerce which could not pro- perly be treated of mm a work mitended as a guide on agricul- ture and husbandry, for the tropical planter and cultivator, who purposes devoting his attention to the raising of useful crops and plants on his estate. The forests and jungles of the tropics abound in products of an useful character, the luxurious and spontaneous growth of nature, such as ebony, sandal wood, &c.; but these must be sought for by a different class of settlers; and the mahogany cutter of Honduras, the teak-feller of India, the gatherer of elastic gums, can scarcely be ranked with the cultivators of the soil. I had originally intended to confine my remarks to staples of _ tropical growth, but I have been induced to depart from my pre- seribed plan by the importance of some of the commercial pro- ducts of temperate regions, such as maple and beetroot sugar, wheat, the grain crops, and potatoes. The system of agriculture, and modes of tillage, &c., of separate countries in the Eastern and Western hemisphere, notwithstand- ing their similarity of climate, are as opposite as if each country belonged to a different zone ; and yet much may be learned by one of the other. ' The only essentially useful division of seasons in countries within the tropics is into a wet and dry season, the former being the period of germination, the latter that of fructification. The implements of agriculture required are for the most part few and simple, for no high tillage is necessary, the luxuriance of . vegetation being so great that most of the products of the soil will grow indiscriminately throughout the year, and the only care of the husbandman, after the first preparation of the soil, is to keep down the vast growth of weeds, which might stifle the crops. . In tropical regions there is less demand for manures than in temperate climates, but still there are many additions to the soil that may profitably be made. | Firstly, that most important principle, which has only recently been practically inculcated, is in too many quarters entirely neglected, namely, returning to the soil the component parts taken off by various crops, and which is so generally practised im all good agricultural districts, by a careful rotation of crops. - Liebig has well pointed out this: “It must be admitted (he says), as a principle of agriculture, that those substances which have been remove@ from a soil must be completely restored to it; and whether this restoration be effected by means of excrements, ashes, or bones, is in a great measure a matter of mmdifference.”’ Again he remarks, “‘ We could keep our fields in a constant state of fertility by replacing every year as much as we remove from them in the form of produce ; but an increase of fertility, and con- sequent increase of crop, can only be obtamed when we add more to them than we take away.” Of all natural manures, therefore, a INTRODUCTORY. i the best for each description of plant is its own refuse, or ashes ; enough of these can seldom, however, be obtained. But, as far as they can be restored, this principle i is beginning to be acted upon by the sugar planters of the West Indies, who employ the waste leaves and ashes of the expressed stalk of the cane, after it has been used as fuel, to manure their cane-fields. The vine erowers of Germany and the Cape also bury the cuttings of their vines around the roots of the plants. The cinnamon grower of the East returns the waste bark and cuttings of the shoots to the soil. And in the coco-nut groves of Ceylon, the roots of the trees are best manured with the husks of the nuts and decomposed poonac, or the refuse cake, after the oil has been expressed from the pulp. Analysis of soils is, perhaps, not so essential in countries where virgin land is usually in abundance, and the luxuriance of vegeta- tion furnishes itself, by: decomposition, abundant materials for replenishing the fertility of the soil. But there are some sub- stances, such as muriate of soda, gypsum, phosphate, and other compounds of lime, which may be advantageously apphed. Guano and expensive artificial manures, are seldom required, and, indeed, will not repay the planters for importing. An experienced cultivator can generally judge by a superficial examination, aided by the situation, locality, and appearance of the soul, whether a certain portion of land is fitted for the profitable growth of any particular plant. Depth of soil, and facilities for deepening it, with the nature of the subsoil, so as to know whe- ther it retains or parts with water, are also important considera- tions, because tap-rooted plants require free scope for penetrating deep into the ground. A due supply of water is of vital importance to most crops— and therefore the extent and periods of the fall of rain are essential to be known, as it is not always possible to resort to irrigation. The quantity of labor required for previous tillage, cultivation, and harvesting of different crops, and the available supply, are primary essentials to be considered before entering upon the culture of any staple product, however remunerative it may appear in prospective. Facility and cost of transport to the nearest market or shipping port are the next desiderata to be ascertained, as well as a careful estimate of the cost of plant or machinery necessary. Tt may be desirable at the outset to make a brief enumeration of the countries lying within the different zones, and the agricul- tural products of which come, therefore, more especially under the notice of the tropical planter. Meyen, in his division of the horizontal range of vegetation into zones, extends— 1. The ‘equatorial zone to fifteen degrees on both sides of the -equator. In this division we shall find the Cape Verd Islands, Siérra Leone, Ascension, and St. Helena, the Republic of Liberia, the European and native settlements in the Gulf of Guinea, and on the Western Coast of Africa, Abyssinnia, Zanzibar on. the 8 INTRODUCTORY. East Coast, Mocha and Aden in the Red Sea, the northern portion of Madagascar, the Seychelles, the Madras Presidency, North- ern India, Ceylon and the Nicobar Islands, Sumatra, Siam, Malacca, Singapore and the Straits Settlements, Cochin China, the Phillippe Islands, Borneo, Celebes and the Moluccas, Java and Madura, Banca, the Johore Archipelago, Timor and the eastern group of Islands, with New Guinea, a large portion of Northern Australia, the Marquesas, Society’s and other oceanic islands. In South America the Republics or Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, New Granada, and Venezuela, British, French and Dutch Guiana, and a large portion of the empire of Brazil; Trinidad, Barbados, and most of the islands in the Carribean Sea. This zone has a mean temperature of 783 to 824 Fakrenheit. 2. The tropical zone reaches from the 15th deg. on each side of the equator to the tropics in 23 lat. The mean temperature is 734 to 78% deg. Summer temperature 805 to 86 deg.; winter temperature in the eastern coast districts, 59 deg. In this region is comprised the following countries :—Sandwich Isles, Canton} in province of China, Burmah, Calcutta, and a portion of the Bengal Presidency, the Bombay Presidency, Madagascar, Mauritius and Bourbon; the southern portion of Brazil, Cuba, St. Domingo, Mexico, and Central America. 3. The sub-tropical zone extends from the tropics 23 to 34 deg. of latitude. There are a number of tropical fruits in this region. The winters are mild and vegetation is green throughout the year. In the northern division of the zone palms and bananas grow on the plains. In this region is comprised all the extreme northern portions of Africa, coasting the Mediterranean, comprising Algiers and the Barbary States, Egypt, part of Persia, Cabool and the Punjab; the greater portion of China, Lower California, Texas, the South-Western States of America, the Bermudas, the .- Cape Colony and Natal, New South Wales, Southern and Western Australia—the Government settlements in the Northern Island of New Zealand, the largest portion of Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay and the Argentine Republics, the Provinces of Brazil from St. Paul to Rio Grande, Madeira and the Canary Isles. To define accurately the conditions of temperature which a plant requires to maintain it in a flourishing condition we must ascertain within what limits its period of vegetation, may vary, and what quantity of heat it requires. This most remarkable circumstance was first observed by Boussingault, but unfortunately we do not as yet possess sufficiently accurate accounts of the con- ditions of culture in the various regions of the earth, to enable us to follow out. this ingenious view in all its details. His theory is, © that the time required by a plant to arrive at maturity is as the inverse ratio of the temperature; therefore, knowing the mean temperature of any place, and the number of days which a plant — takes to ripen, the time required at any other point more or less elevated, can easily be ascertained. Peter Purry, a native of INTRODUCTORY. 9 Switzerland, who settled in Charleston in the eighteenth century, in a memorial to the Duke of Newcastle, then Secretary of State, sets out with this postulate, that “there is a certain latitude on our globe, so happily tempered between the extremes of heat and cold, as to be more particularly adapted than any other for certain rich productions of the earth; among which are silk, cotton, indigo,’ &c.—and he fixes on the latitude of 833 deg., whether north or south, as the one of that peculiar character. The following Table, showing the climate, duration and pro- duction of certain plants cultivated in tropical America, is from the proceedings of the Agricultural Society of Grenada. The second column gives the altitude in English yards above the level of the sea. meter. The third, the mean temperature by Fahrenheit’s thermo- The fourth, the average time required to commence bear- ing. The fifth, the number of plants in a Spanish “fanegada”’ of 170 varras, about 153 square yards. duration of each plant. plant in the year :— 2 Level of the Sea, to Cacao (Theobro- ma Cacao) .....> 587 yds. \ Plantain (1/w- Wing yds. to sa Paradisiaca.. \ 1077 | Low A ; (1077 Indian Corn )j,, (Zea Mays) . egos Manioc or 11077 Passa, 5.2. : 1195 Coco nut (Co- cos nucifera) eel Tobacco (Ni- eee cotiana tabacum. 1980 Cotton (Gos- ae SYpiUm.) ...... ae Coffee (Coffea f Be Arabird,) Se 1077to 2250 | 2453 3 Mn. Temp. Deg. Min. 81-17 46°00 81°17 46°00 40°61 SL t7 40-61 36t037°S0 25°20t027 81.17 40°61 45 00 81°17 46°09 81:17 46°00 40°61 33°00 Bilal 46°00 The sixth, the average The seventh, the average produce of each 4 5 6 i Time No. of A required. | plants. Years. wndnes lL vy FB 1 296,269 4 v2) dS O79G eo eee moossam 1844 oF nde DAA. 253: ius =. ECD ObIan a aaeEee 8,304 US4000/340092. se 81 000) eee 6,450 1350 renG Ol Otte 2 gine WE OR rece 8,642 1852 604,299 0.428 ie 5,287 A little cacao is now grown in Antigua, about 19,0001bs. having been exported from that island in 1848, and 2,000 in 1846. Dominica and British Guiana produce small quantities; our imports from these quarters having been as follows :— Dominica. Demerara. | Dominica. Demerara, Ibs. lbs. | lbs. lbs. 18397762) 858082 i '21050 1840 <. 23665 60 2/376 1834 .. 4,767 Ae 86 1841. va% <4 014 ae 129 USB 0-28). 685 ie 126 SAD gue GG oie 98 (SSO ea 2 A LTO 1843. |) SGI ie HOST A896. see LineD 1844. 1746. 2 lS LSS, OSes, 42 1845 6-5, 5)44a Oe US 39i5., ed Oates. 58 The cultivation of cacao in Cuba is of comparatively recent in- troduction, but it is expected to increase, and, in some degree, to supply the place of coffee, which is evidently on the decline there. In 1827, the gross produce of Cuba amounted to 23,806 arrobas, and the exports to 19,053. In the same year, 15,3012 arrobas were imported, so that at that period the production was not adequate to the consumption. The expectation of a great increase of production seems not to have been realized, as the exports of cacao in 1837 were only 5877 arrobas, while the imports amounted to 40,8374 arrobas. There are now about sixty-nine cacao plantations in that island, * According to Breen’s History of St. Lucia up to 1544. CAOAO OR COCOA. 29 | almost exclusively situate in the central and oriental departments, which produced, in 1849, 3,836 arrobas, valued at 19,180 dollars. Hayti exported, in 1801, 648,518 lbs. of cacao; in 1826, 457,592 lbs., and in 1836, 550,484 lbs. The French island of Martinique produces a considerable quan- tity of cacao. In 1763, there were stated to be 103,870 trees in bearmg. The produce exported in 1769 was 11,731 quintals. In 1770 there were 871,043 trees. In 1820 there were 412 square acres under cultivation with cacao, producing 449,492 lbs ; and in 1835, 492 hectares, which yielded 155,300 kilogrammes. I have no later returns at hand. The beverage generally called cocoa is merely the berries of Theobroma Cacao, pounded and drank either with water or milk, or with both. Chocolate (of which I shall speak by and bye) is a compound drink, and is manufactured chiefly from the kernels of this plant, whose natural habitat would seem to be Guayaquil, in South America, though it flourishes in great perfection in the West Indies. It grows also spontaneously and luxuriantly on the banks of the Magdalena, in South America; but the fruit of those trees that are found in the district of Carthagena is preferred to all others, probably from a superior mode of cultivation. Sir R. Schomburgk, in his expedition into the interior of British Guiana, found the country abounding in cacao, “ which the Indians were most anxious to secure, as the pulpy arillus surrounding the seed has an agreeable vinous taste.’”” Singular to say, however, they appeared perfectly ignorant of the qualities of the seed, which pos- sesses the most delightful aroma. Sir Robert adds, they evinced the greatest astonishment when they beheld him and Mr. Goodall collecting these seeds and using them as chocolate, which was the most delicious they had ever tasted. These indigenous cacao trees were met with in innumerable quantities on the 5th of June, 1848, and the following day; and thus inexhaustible stores of a highly-prized luxury are here reaped solely by the wild hog, the agouti, monkeys, and the rats of the interior.—(Simmonds’s Col. Mag. vol.i., p. 41.) The height of the cacao shrub is generally from eighteen to twenty feet; the leaf is between four and six inches long, and its breadth three or four, very smooth, and terminating in a point like that of the orange tree, but differing from it in color; of a dull green, without gloss, and not so thickly set upon the branches. The blossom is first white, then reddish, and contains the rudi- ments of the kernels or berries. When fully developed, the peri- carp or seed-vessel is a pod, which grows not only from the branches, but the stem of the tree, and is from six to seven inches in length, and shaped like a cucumber. Its color is green when growing, like that of the leaf; but when ripe, is yellow, smooth, clear, and thin. When arrived at its full growth, and before it is ripe, it is gathered and eaten like any other fruit, the taste being subacid. If allowed to ripen, the kernels become hard; and, when taken out of the seed-vessel, are preserved in skins, or, more 30 CACAO OR COCOA. frequently, laid on the vijahua leaves, and placed in the air to dry. When fully dry, they are put in leathern bags, and sent to mar- ket: this is the Spanish mode of taking in the crop. A somewhat different method is followed in Trinidad and Jamaica (in the latter island it can scarcely be said to be cultivated now); but ié differs in no essential degree from the principle of gradual exsiceation, and protection from moisture. Chocolate, properly so called, and so prized both in the Spanish continent and in the West Indies, never reaches Great Britain ex- cept as a contraband article, being, like nearly all colonial maau- factured articles, prohibited by the Custom-house laws. What is generally drank under that name is simply the cacao boiled in — milk, gruel, or even water, and is as much like the S; panish or West iG chocolate as vinegar is to Burgundy. It is, without anyexcep- tion, of all domestic drinks the most alimentary ; and the Spaniards esteem it so nece ssary to the health and support of the body, that it is considered the severest punishment to withhold it, even from criminals; nay, to be unable to procure chocolate, is deemed the greatest misfortune in life! Yet, notwithstanding this estima- tion in which it is held, the quantity made in the neighbourhood of Carthagena is insufficient for the demands of the population, and is so highly priced that none is exported but as presents! The manner in which the Spaniards first manufactured this veri- table Theobroma—this food for gods (from Theos, God, and broma, food)—was very simple. They employed the cacao, maize, Indian corn (Zea Mays), and raw cane-juice, and coloured it with arnatto, which they called achiotti or rocow, but which was known in Eu- rope at that time by the name of Terra Orellana. These four substances were levigated between two stones, and afterwards, in certain proportions, “mixed together in one mass, which mass was subsequently divided into little cakes, and used as required, both in the solid and fluid form. 3 The Indians used one pound of the wasted nuts, half a pound of sugar, and half a pound of ground corn (maize) ‘each, and then added rose-water to make it palatable. This the Mexicans called chocolate, from two words in their language, signifying the noise made by the instruments used to mill and prepare it in the water. Many other ingredients were subsequently added; but with the exception of Vanilla, in the opinions of most pers ons, they spoil, rather than improve it. Chocolate, as used in Mexico, is thus pre- eee :—The kernels are roasted in an iron pot pierced with holes ; they are then pounded in a mortar, and afterwards ground between two stones, generally of marble, till it is brought to a paste, to which sugar is added, according to the taste of the manufacturer. From time to time, as the paste assumes consistency, they add long pepper, arnatto, and lastly, vanilla. Some manufacturers vary these ingredients, and substitute cimnamon, cloves, or aniseed, and sometimes musk and ambergris—the two latter on account of their aphrodisiac qualities. The following is the formula given by a late writer :—To six pounds of the nut add three-and-a-half CACAO OR COCOA. 3i pounds of sugar, seven pods of vanilla, one-and-a-half pounds of eorn meal (maize ground), halt-a-pound of cinnamon, six cloves, one drachm of capsicums (bird pepper), and as much of the rocou or arnatto as is sufficient to color it, together with ambergris or musk, to enforce (as he says) the flay or, ‘but in reality to ‘stimu- late the system. There is another chocolate made of filberts and almonds, but this is not considered genuine. In old Spain it is somewhat differently made; two or three kinds of flowers, also the pods of Campeche, almonds, and hazel-nuts, being mixed up with it, while the paste is worked with orange-water. With regard to the manner in which chocolate is prepared in England nothing need be said, as it is too well known to require description. That which has appeared to me the best is “ #ry’s Chocolate,’ which requires only to-be rubbed up with a little boil- ing water, and scalded milk added to it with sugar, according to the taste of the drinker; there is a flavour, however, in this chocolate sometimes of swet, which is probably added to give it a richness which the cacao employed may not possess of itself. In the West Indies they rarely add anything to cacoa but arnatto (sometimes a little fresh butter), though it is often scented and sweetened, and sold in little rolls at five-pence and ten-pence each, currency. It is always boiled with milk, which, though very indigestible when boiled and taken alone, seems to lose this quality when taken with chocolate. Chocolate thus made is much drank, when cold, in the middle of the day, and is considered, both by the negroes ‘and the old settlers, as a most nutritive and salutary beverage. The signs by which good chocolate or cacao is known are these:— It should dissolve entirely in water, and be without sediment ; it should be oily, and yet melt in the mouth; and if genuine, and earefully prepared, should deposit no grits or grounds. That made in the West Indies, and in some parts of Cuba, is dark ; but that manufactured in Jamaicais of a bright brick colour, owing to the greater quantity of arnatto which is used in the preparation, and which, I think, gives it a richer and more agreeable flavor. In an economical point of view, chocolate is a very important article of diet, as it may be literally termed meat and drink; and were our half-starved artisans, over-wrought factory children, and ricketty millinery girls, induced to drink it imstead of the in- nutritious beverage called “ tea,’’ its nutritive qualities would soon develop themselves in their improved looks and more robust con- stitution. The price, too, is in its favour, cacao being eight-pence per pound; while the cheapest black tea, ‘such as even the Chinese beggar would despise, drank by milliners, washerwomen, and the poorer class in the metropolis, is three shillings a pound, or three hundred and fifty per cent. dearer, while it is decic edly mjurious to health. The heads of the naval and military medical departinents in England have been so impressed with the wholesomeness and superior nutriment of cocao, that they have iudiciously directed 3 CACAO OR COCOA. that it shall be served out twice or thrice a week to regiments of the line, and daily to the seamen on board Her Majesty’s ships, and this wise regulation has evinced its salutary effects in the improved health and condition of the men. Indeed, this has been most satisfactorily established in Jamaica among the troops; and the same may be asserted of the seamen in men of war on the coast. But the excellent qualities of chocolate were known not only to the Mexicans and Peruvians, from whom, as a matter of course, the Spaniards acquired a knowledge of its properties; but European nations also acknowledged its virtues. The Portuguese, French, Germans, and Dutch, considered it an exceedingly valu- able article of diet, and Hoffman looked upon it both as a food and amedicine. In his monograph, entitled Potws Chocolati, he recom- mends it in all diseases of general weakness, macies, low spirits, and in hypochondrial complaints, and what since his time’ have been termed nervous diseases. As one example of the good effects of cacao, he adduces the case of Cardinal Richelieu, who was cured of eramacausis, or a general wasting away of the body, by drinking chocolate.* And Edwards informs us that Colonel * Caffeine (the principle of coffee) and theobromine (the principle of cacao) are the most highly nitrogenised products in nature, as the following analysis will show :— Caffeine, according to Pfaff and Liebig, contains— Carbon . : . 49.77 Nitregen . : . 28.78 Hydrogen : . 6.38 Oxygen . : « 16:42 Theobromine, according to Woskreseusky, contains— Carbon . : . 47.21 Nitrogen . : . 85.38 Hydrogen 2 . 4.538 Oxygen .. . 12.80 Of the two, cacao contains the larger quantity of nitrogen; and this chemical fact explains why cacao should be so much more nutritive than tea, though the principle of tea (theine) is nearly identical with the principle of cacoa—tea containing in 100 parts 29.009 of nitrogen. On this subject Liebig has made an observation which I cannot avoid noticing. He says, ‘‘ We shall never cer- tainly be able to discover how men were led to the use of the hot infusion of the leaves of a certain shrub (tea), or of a decoction of certain roasted seeds (coffee). Some cause there must be, which would explain how the practice has become a necessary of life to whole nations. But it is surely still more remark- able that the beneficial effects of both plants on the health must be ascribed to one and the same substance, the presence of which in two vegetables, belonging to different natural families, and the produce of different quarters of the globe, could hardly have presented itself to the boldest imagination. Yet recent re- searches have shown, in such a manner as to exclude all doubt, that caffeine, the peculiar principle of coffee, and theine, that of tea, are im all respects identical.”—(Anim. Chem., pp. 178-9.) We really can see nothing in all this but the manifestation of that instinct which, implanted in us by the Almighty, led the untutored Indian (as we are pleased to call him) to breathe into the nostril of the buffalo or the wild horse, and by that single act to subdue his angry rage, or that impelled the first discoverer of combustion to extract fire from the attrition of two pieces of wood. The American Indian, living ea- tirely on flesh, ‘‘ discovered for himself in tobacco smoke a means of retarding the change of matter in the tissues of the body, and thereby of making hunger more endurable.’”’—(P. 179.) But the wonder ceases, when we reflect that man was endued with certain properties by his Maker which must have been at some remote period, of which we can form no idea, active and manifest the moment CACAO OR COCOA. 33 Montague James—the first white person born in Jamaica after the occupation of the island by the English—lived to the great age of 104; and for the last thirty years of his life took scarcely any other food but chocolate. It is also certain that those who indulge in excesses find their vigor more speedily restored by the alternate use of chocolate and coffee than by any other ingesta; and pigs, goats, and horses, which are fed even on the spoiled berries, are observed to become very speedily fat, and in good condition. But cacao has not only the property of rapidly restormg the invalid to health, strength, and condition, but a very inconsider- able quantity of it will sustain life for a long period. The South American Indians perform extraordinary journeys, subsisting, during these prolonged travels, on an incredibly small quantity of chocolate—so small, indeed, as to render the accounts of travellers upon the subject almost marvellous. In this respect it resembles cofiee, which also possesses the estimable property of sustaining the powers of life, while it modifies and restrains the passion of hunger. : It is a curious fact, and how far this condition may be connected with its powers of sustenance is werthy of inquiry, that chocolate recently boiled, if the operation be performed in a tin pan, is highly electrical; and this property may be frequently manitested by re- peating the process. Cacao, according to Bridges, “ was the favourite staple of the Spanish commerce, trifling as that commerce was; and when the English took possession of the island of Jamaica, it was that which first engaged their attention. The extensive plantations left by their predecessors, who had made it their principal food and only support, soon, however, began to fail. They were renewed; but whether it might be from the want of attention, or of information in the new colonists, the plants never succeeded under their man- agement ; so that, disgusted with the troublesome and unprofitable cultivation, they soon substituted indigo.’ Yet forests cf cacao trees grow wild in Guiana, the Isthmus of Darien, Yucatan, Hon- duras, Guatemala, Chiapa, and Nicaragua; while in Cuba, St. Do- mingo, and Jamaica, it was once an indigenous plant. The foliowing were the expenses of a cacao plantation in Jamaica during the early period of British possession :— £ stg. Letters patent of five hundred acres of land. oe ae Six negroes : : : : : 120 he breathed the breath of life. To inquire how he lost this property is not our business at present, but it is only by supposing the quondam existence of such a property, active and manifest, that can in any way explain a first knowledge of the therapeutic, or threptic, qualities of plants and shrubs. With regard to the identity of theine, caffeine, theobromine, &c., it would be as well that the reader should keep in mind that it is so chemically only, for in appearance, taste, weight, odor, &c., no substances can differ more. Does the palate exert some peculiar action on the ingesta, so as to give to cach a distinct sapor? Or vice versa? : D o+ CACAO OR COCOA. Four white persons, their passage and maintenance . 80 © Maintenance of six slaves for six months ‘ Sina Working implements. : : : ; 9) £233 In four to five years the produce of one hundred acres would usually sell for £4,240 sterlmg. This was a monstrous and most unlooked-for return ; but then, what was it to the profits of sugar, which, owing to the prodigious increase of the slave trade, was fast coming into active operation, and eating up and destroying all other sources and springs of industry? How dearly have the West Indians paid for the short-lived affluence which the sugar cane conferred ! Blome, in his brief account of Jamaica, published in 1672, speaks of cacao as being one of the chief articles of export. He states that there were sixty cacao-walks or plantations, and many more planting; but, for many years, no cacao plantation has existed in Jamaica, all the chocolate used bemg made from imported berries, or the chance growth of a munificent climate and redundant soil! A few scattered trees, Edwards says (and as Lmyself know), here and there, are all that remain of those flourishing and beautiful groves, which were once the pride and boast of the country. They have withered with the indigo manufactory, under the heavy hand of ministerial exaction. Zhe excise on cacao, when made into cakes, rose to no less than £12 12s. per cwt., exclusivegof 11s. 113d. paid at the Custom-house, amounting together to upwards of £840 per cent. on tts marketable value ! The mode of cultivating the cacao is given at some length. by Kdwards ; it is that of the Spaniards, a process strictly followed in Trinidad, where, of all the West India islands, it constitutes a considerable item of exports. It is thus described :—“ A spot of level land being chosen—preference is always given to a deep black mould, sheltered by a hedge or thicket, so as to be screened by the wind, especially the north, and cleared of all weeds and stumps of trees—a number of holes are dug, at ten or twelve feet distance from each other, each hole being about a foot in length, and six or eight inches deep. A very important matter is the selection of the seeds for planting, and this is done in the following manner: the finest and largest pods of the cacao are selected when full ripe, and the grains taken out and placed in a vessel of water. Those which swim are rejected; those chosen are washed clean from the pulp, skinned, and then replaced in the water till they begin to sprout; Banana (Musa paradisiaca), or some other large leaves, those of the sea-side grape (Coccoloba wvifera), for instance, are then taken, and each hole is lined with one of them, leaving, how- ever, the sides of the leaves some inches above ground ; after which the mould is rubbed in gently till the hole is filled ; three nuts are then selected for each hole, and they are set triangularly in the earth, by making a small opening with the finger about two inches deep, into which the nuts are put, with that end downwards from CACAO OR COCOA. oo which the sprout issues.” They are then covered lightly with mould, the leaf folded over, and a small stone placed on the top, to prevent its opening; in eight or ten days the young shoots ap- pear above the ground; the “leaves are then opened to give them hght and air, and a shelter from the s un, either in the shape of plantam or banana leaves, is not forgotten ; but the coco-nut and other species of palm, on account of their fibrous structure and great durability, are always preterred. This artificial shelter is continued for five or six months. But, as a further security to the young plants, for they are very delicate, other trees or shrubs are planted to the south-west of the plants, that they may grow up with and shelter them, for young cacao will grow and flourish only in the shade. For this purpose the coral bean-tree (Erythrina Coralloden- drum) 1s chosen. i should presume there are other trees and plants equally eligible for this purpose, and more useful; but my experience does not enable me to speak positively upon ‘the sub. ject. Should the three seeds placed in each hole spring up, it is thought necessary, when the plants are fifteen or twenty inches high, “to eut one of them down. The two others, if they devaricate, are sometimes suffered to remain, but it does not always happen. that even one of the three springs above the earth ; consequently this additional labor is not invariably requisite. On the fourth or fifth year the tree begins to bear, and attains perfection by the eighth, continuing to produce two crops of fruit per annum, yielding at each crop from 10 Ibs. to 20 lbs. .. according to the nature of the soil. It will continue bearing for twenty years ; but, as it is a delicate plant, it suffers from drought, and is liable to blight. In these respects, however, it does not differ from many other plants, which are even more subject to disease, though not half so valuable. Besides, a proper system of irriga- tion, such as could be had recourse to in many parts of Jamaica, would obviate and prevent these evils. The whole quantity imported into the United Kingdom from the West Indies and British Guiana during the last thirteen years, has been as follows :— lbs, lbs. 1831 : . 41,491,947 | 1842 : 2,490,693 1832 : : 618,090 1843 : 1,496,554 1833 715 G40", | 2844 . 38,119,555 1834 . 1,360,325 | 1845 : . 8,851,602 1835 : : 439,440 1846 1,738,848 1836 . : 1,611,104 | 1847 zi : 3,026,351 1837 : : 1,847,125 1848 : : 2,602,309 1838 : ; 2,147,816 1849 5 p 3,139,086 1839 : ; 959,428 1850 : SP GOL Cur 1840 : A 2,374,283 | 1851 , ; 4,347,195 1841 * 2,919,105 | 1852 3,933,863 Cacao is Sais in the highlands as vei as on the coasts of the north-eastern pen ninsula of the large and rich island of Celebes, which has within the last year or “two been thrown open to foreion trade. The plantations of it are even now considerable, and this branch of industry only requires not to be impeded by D 2 3G COFFEE. any obstacles in order to be still further extended. It forms a large ingredient in the local trade, and furnishes many petty traders with their daily bread, not to speak of the landowners, for whom the cultivation of the cacao affords the only subsistence. The preparation of the product differs from that adopted in the West Indies, but we have not been able to ascertain the practice. We may reckon that 1,200 to 2,000 piculs of 138 lbs. are yearly produced ; the prices vary much, being from 50 to 75 florins per picul.—(“ Journal of the Indian Archipelago,” vol. u., p. 829.) Bourbon now produces 15,000 to 20,000 kilogrammes of cacao annually. Cacao is grown to a small extent in some of the settle- ments of Western Africa, but as yet only a few puncheons haye been exported, all the produce being required for local con- sumption. The following figures give the imports and consumption of cacao into the United Kingdom in the last five years :— Imports. Consumption. lbs. lks. 1848. 6,442,986 : 1849.7 ©: 7,769,234 _ * poanniaE 1550 4,478,252 . 8,103,926 PSoiie . 6,773,960 . * 300naR8 1852 6,268,525 i . 8,882,944 The home consumption is very steady at about 3,000,000 Ibs., yielding to the revenue £15,000 to £16,000 for duty. The pro- duce of British colonies pays 1d. per lb. duty, that from foreign countries 2d; cocoa husks and shells half these amounts; when manufactured into chocolate or cocoa paste the duty is 2d. per lb. from British possessions, and 6d. from other parts. The quantity imported in this form is to the extent of about 14,000 lbs. weight. COFFEE. The next staple I proceed to speak of is coffee—second only in importance as a popular beverage to that universal commodity, tea. I shall proceed, in the first instance, to.take a retrespect of the progress of the coffee trade, and glance at the present con- dition and future prospects of produce and consumption. It will be seen, by reference to the following figures, that the consumption of coffee in the United Kingdom shows a successive decrease, from 1847 to 1850, of 6,414,533 lbs., and a loss to the revenue of £179,614. HOME CONSUMPTION AND REVENUE OF COFFEE FOR THE ~ Years. lbs. £ S24 yt er ee ee 8:262 94350 oe eee 420,988 S25 reer sc aa tae UL O82 OF OR Fee ee, See eee 315,809 Tree) cP spel MeN areata Tiel Opo ee see ee 440,245 AS OOM cute tind odetpetse 20; 2908046 a ae 652,124 1S3 ORee oe CaN ieee « 20:489 94010, 02 pate ree 779,115 USA eee eno stake SON OORT OO ec Fe eee ee 921,551 ES 2k Br MAS Be 24° 1 Aa a RTS 681,616 COFFEE. ae Years. | lbs. £ ae en ee. wa OA OL O09 Os oe, oes! (AWRcy Al Oy ES eariaes ie a 365.7 95,00 boi eee ake Fe «tai 00,008 Mest Sop ce Ses + Ye) De is eee he a eee 746,436 eet aT 0G 08 te eer 710,270 ere 2 yeaa site ot Se ESOC ri ee sre ss 643,216 LEC a eee eran SEO G SA ees eed eae 566,822 i ee SOnGA N64 cee ow. Os 445,739 LCE, ae ere SRO Soy oe tee eek as - 438,084 I estimated, in a little treatise on coffee and its adulterations, which I published in 1850, that not less than 18,000,000 lbs. of vege- table matter of various kinds were sold annually under the deceptive name of coffee. Three-fourths of these 18,000,000 lbs. of pre- tended coffee were composed of chicory, and the remaining fourth of other ingredients prejudicial to health, as well as a fraud upon the revenue. The various substances used in adulterating both chicory and coffee, when sold in the powdered state, have been specifically pointed out and set forth from time to time in memo- rials from the trade and the coffee-growers. Mr. M‘Culloch and other competent judges set down the actual consumption of chicory in the United Kingdom at 12,500 tons per annum. When we consider the vast difference of price between chicory and coffee, as purchased by the wholesale dealer, the temptation to its fraudulent use was obviously great, and there was no penal restriction against it. It will be interesting and useful to trace the history of the trade in chicory from its first introduction. The substitution of chicory for coffee occasioned a loss to ‘hie revenue of three hundred thousand pounds sterling a-year, besides its mischievous effect in adulterating and debasing a popular beverage when used in such large and undue proportions for admixture, and sold at the price of coffee Since the prohibition of the admixture of chicory with coffee, when sold to the public, and the compulsory sale by Treasury minute of the two articles in separate packages, a large and rapid increase in the consumption of coffee has taken place, and the trade is now placed in a healthy position. Whilst the increase in the consumption of coffee from the ist of January, to 5th September, 1852, was but 142,267 lbs. as compared with the same period of 1851; the increase in the remaining four months of the year was to the amazing extent of 2,350,368 lbs. This increased consumption is likely to continue, and our colonial possessions are furnishing us with larger proportionate supplies, as may be seen by the following figures :— TOTAL IMPORTS OF COFFEE IN 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 Produce of British Ibs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. Possessions... 35,970,507 40,339,245 36,814,036 35,972,163 42,519,297 Ditto foreign countries .. 21,082,948 22,976,542 13,989,116 17,138,497 11,857,957 Total 57,053,450 63;315,787 50,803,152 53,110,660 54,377 38 COFFEE. In the year 1832 chicory was first imported to England, sub- ject to a duty equivalent to that levied upon colonial coffee, and permitted to be sold by grocers separately as chicory ; but notices were at the same time issued, that the legal penalties would be rigidly enforced, if discovered mixed with colle. In 1840, in consequence of memorials from the grocers and dealers in chicory, and also from the circumstance of exceedingly high rates then ruling for coffee, together with the disruption of ‘our commercial relations with China, simultaneously advanemg the price of tea (thus rendering both these popular beverages excessively dear to the consumer), an order was issued trom the Treasury to the Excise Board, authorizing the admixture of chicory with coffee; a duty, however, being still maintained on the former of £20 per fon on the kiln- dried, and 6d. per lb, on the powdered root, when imported from abroad. In the year 1845, the cultivation of chicory was imtroduced upon British soil, and, being a home-grown commodity, was e€X- empt from duty, but nevert! heless, by virtue of the said Treasury Order, was permitted to enter into competition with a staple pro- duction of our own colonies, contributing on its import a tax of 60 to 80 per cent. to the revenue of the State. The result, as might have been foreseen, necessarily created and stimulated a demoralizing system of fraud, unjust and destructive to the interests of the coffee planter, and prejudicial to the na- tional revenue. : The effects of so baneful a system being equally manifest upon both consumption and revenue, they are here separately illustrated. In 1824, according to the following high scale of duties, viz., 1s. on West India, 1s. 6d. on East India, and 2s. 6d. on foreign, the Customs derived from coffee was £420,988; in the following year the rates were reduced one-half, and in the short space of three eas the amount yielded had advanced to £440,245, an increase which steadily progressed (partly aided by the admission of the produce of British India at the low duty) until it reached £921,551 in 1840. These satisfactory results justified a further reduction of the duties in 1842 to 4d. on colonial and 8d. (and in the subsequent year to 6d.) on foreign, under which the revenue declined in 1844 to £681,616. In 1846 it had again reached to £756,838, and was oradua'ly recovering itself, when this system of adulteration first be egan to extend itself generally, and since that time the revenue has rapidly declined under the same scale of duties to £566,822 in 1850. In 1824 the quantity retained for home consumption was 8,262,943 lbs., which was augmented to 11,082,970 lbs. in the first year of the reduction of duty, and continued to exhibit an in- crease at arate rather exceeding two million pounds per annum until 1830, when coffee would appear to have reached its limit of consumption without further stimulus, and remained stationary until the modification of duties allowing the admission of foreign coffee, via the Cape, at the colonial rate, when it advanced from COFFEE. 39 23,295,046 lbs. in 1835, to 28,723,735 lbs.in 1840; and consequent upon a further reduction of duties in 1842, the elasticity of the trade experienced a ‘still wider development, and an increase of “nine million pounds is exhibited in the next five years. From that period, however, the general use of chicory has not only checked the progressive increase of this healthy demand, but an annual decline is observable to the extent of above six million pounds in 1850, as compared with 1847. On the 15th of April, 1851, with the view of partly re- medying the grievance of the colonists on this head, the duties were equalized and reduced to 3d. The results are, however, far from satisfactory, either in a fiscal or commercial point of view. Jé is true that an increase in consumption, of one-and-a-quarter million pounds has taken place, but at the sacrifice of £121,000 of reyenue. But this increase, it will be seen, has not exceeded 4+ per cent., whilst there has been a diminution of 214 per cent. in the revenue receipts. Upon investigation, moreover, it will be found that, notwithstanding the fotal increase exhibited, there has been an actual falling off of 894,778 lbs. of colonial coffee in 1851; the items for last year are, however, much more favorable and encouraging for the planters. No reasonable cause can be assigned for this rapid and serious diminution in the consumption of coffee, except the notorious substitution of chicory and other substances. The arguments advanced to account for the falling off in the consumption of coffee, by adducing the increase of tea and cacao for a similar period are fallacious, and contrary to the commercial experience of many years, which convincingly proves these kindred articles to have always simultaneously increased, or diminished, in ratio with the general prosperity of the kingdom, and the prevalence of temperate habits among the community. I shall now proceed to trace the fluctuations in the con- sumption of coffee. At the close of the last century the consumption of coffee was under one million pounds yearly; the only deserip- tions then known in the London market were Grenada, Jamaica, and Mocha—the two former averaging about £5 per ewt., and the latter £20 per cwt. Grenada coffee is now unknown, and Ceylon and Brazil are the largest producers. in 1760, the total quantity of coffee consumed in the United Kinedom was 262,000 lbs., or three quarters of an ounce to each person in the population. In 1833 the quantity was 20,691,000 lbs., or 13 1b. to each person. When first introduced into England, about the middle of the 17th century, coffee was sold in a liquid state, and paid a duty of 4d. per gallon; afterwards, until the year 1732, the duty was 2s. per lb.; it was then reduced to 1s. 6d., since which it has paid various rates of duty ; in the year 1824 it was settled at 6d. per lb. All descriptions of coffee now pay but 3d. per lb. The consumption of coffee in the United Kingdom, for several AD COFFEE. years previous to 1825, varied from seven millions and a half to ~ eight millions and a half pounds in round numbers, the duty being 1s. per lb. on British plantation, 1s. 6d. per lb. on Hast India, and 2s. 6d. per lb. on foreign. From the 5th of April of that year those rates were each reduced to one half, and the immediate con-~ sequence was a steady increase of the consumption until 1831, when it edited to 23,000,000 lbs. The consumption continued, without any material variation, at this rate, or to advance by very slow degrees, until 1836, when the duty on East India coffee was reduced to 6d. per lb.; and this change had precisely the same effect as the previous one, for the consumption again advanced to upwards of 26,000,000 lbs., which was then considered, in a me- morial of the London trade, to be as much as our colonies were capable of producing! We now find, however, one small island, Ceylon, producing a fourth more than this amount annually. The Belgians, a population of 4,500,000, consume more than 33,000,000 Ibs. of coffee annually ; quite as much as is used by the whole 35,000,000 French. The duty on 100 \bs. of coffee in France is more than the common original cost— the Belgian duty not a tenth part; so that the French do not use 1 lb. of coffee per head, while the Belgians consume 7 lbs. each per annum. The proportion in England is not more than 13 |b. per head to the population. The United States are the largest con- sumers of coffee, as it is admitted into their ports free of duty, and can therefore be sold for nearly the price per pound which the British Government levies on it for revenue. The entire con- sumption of the United States and British North America, calling their population 23,000,000 and ours 380,000,009, exceeds ours, on an estimate of population, by sixfold. Thus the average con- sumption of coffee by each American, annually, is about 821bs., while the quantity used by each person in the Kuropean States is less than 14 |b. The changes 3 in the sources of supply, within the last fifteen or sixteen years, have been very remarkable. The British posses- sions in the East have taken the place which our islands of the West formerly oceupied. The British West Indies have fallen off in their produce of coffee from 30,000,000 to 4,000,000 Ibs. Ceylon which, fifteen years ago, had scarcely turned attention to coffee, now exports nearly 35,000,000 lbs. San Domingo, Cuba, and the French West India colonies are gradually giving up coftee-cultiva- tion in favor of other staples; and it is only Brazil, Java, and some of the Central American Republics that are able to render coffee a profitable crop. The export crop of Brazil (the greatest coffee-producing country), grown in 1850, for the supply of the year ending July, 1851, amounted to no less than 302,000,000 Ibs., of this a lar ge quantity remained in the interior to supply the de- ficiency of the current year. It is scarcely thirty years ago that the coffee-plant was first in- troduced into Bengal by two refugees from Manilla; and the British possessions in the Hast Indies now yield 4,2,000,000 Ibs. COFFEE. 41 Sufficient extent has not yet been given to enable it to be decided in what district of Continental India it may be most advan- tageously cultivated. It is in the fine island of Ceylon, however, that coffee-culture has made the most rapid progress. Jé is an important fact that the supply of coffee from Ceylon, even at the present moment, and irrespective of land already planted but not yet come into full bearmg, is in excess of the whole consumption of Great Britain, and the planter is thus com- pelled to carry the surplus to continental markets. The exports of coffee from Ceylon have been rather stationary the past three years, averaging about 300,000 ewt. In the sixteen years ending with 1851, Ceylon had exported 130,083 tons of coffee! The present produce of the various coffee-growing countries in the world, may be set down at the following figures : SOUTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA, Millions of lbs. Costa Rica : 9 La Guayra and Porto Cabello i ; A ess Brazil . i ‘ : Soule British West Indies ; . : 8 French and Dutch West Indies | ; i ih Cuba and Porto Rico . : ue 30) St. Domingo ‘ : ec query ASTA AND THE EAST, Java : : : : rad) The Philippine Isles : : Spear >) Celebes : : : : Of Sumatra : : : : : 5 Ceylon : ; ; Bs Malabar and Mysore : 5 Arabia (Mocha) : 3 616 = 275,000 tons. This I have computed as accurately as possible from the most recent returns, but it falls much below the actual capabilities of production, even with the trees at bearing, and land already under cultivation; and also, in a great measure, excludes the local con- ‘sumption in the producing countries. In many quarters there has been a considerable falling off im the production. The British West Indies, as we have seen, formerly exported 30,000,000 lbs., the French and Dutch West Indies 17,000,000, Cuba and Porto Rico 56,000,000, and St. Domingo, in the last century, 76,000,000. The srowth ‘of coffee has been transferred from the West to the Hast Indies, and to the South American Continent, where labor is more abundant, certain, and cheap. In the East the increase in production has been enormous and progressive, with, perhaps, the exception of Sumatra, which has fallen off from 15 000, 000 lbs. to somewhere about one-third of that quantity. The following statement may be taken as an approximate esti- mate of the actual con sumption of coftee at the present time :— Millions of lbs. Great Britain : : ; 22 Soe Holland and Belgium . ; . 4125 42 COFFEE. Millions of lbs. France . : ; : ee Se German Gastome Union! : , ; . 9 Other copes Countries not included in the Union, } 46 and Austria : A = Siete cdand : inf : é wea ie Mediterranean Osan esis : : ‘ gee Russia . . : : Bree 6 | Sweden and ennse= - : : : oo eee Spain and Portugal : : 3 Pa ae ‘ Cape or Good Hope and Australia : : : 6 United States and British America : : ae (|) 587 A calculation made in the Economist, a year or two ago, gave the following as the probable consumption :-— Millions of Ibs. Holland and Netherlands : : kg - 108 Germany and North Europe . : elf) France and South of Europe . : ; . 105 Great Britain : . ed United States and British America : : a Totally 600 But this estimate is tov high in some of the figures. Great Britam we know, from the official “tables only, consumes 34,000,000 ibs. annually ; the United States and British America not so much as set down by several millions; for the official returns of the im- ports of coffze into the United States show an average for the three years o ERTS June, 1850, of less than 154,000,000 Ibs. ; al- though a Write in a recent number of “Hunt's Merchant’s Magazine, EN York, (usually a well-mformed 2 aap as- sumes 2 consumption of 200,000,000 lbs., for the North American States and Provinces. The quantity of coffee preduced being greater than the con- sumption thereof, the growth of it becomes less remunerative, and consequently we may look for a decrease in the supply. Ceylon, as well as the West Indies generally, British and foreign, are likely to direct their attention to some more protitable staple. A diminished production may further be expected in Brazil, con- sequent on the extermination of the slave-trade and the more sparing exertion of the labour of the slaves. In Cuba the want of labour is so much felt that large engagements have been entered into for the importation of Chinese ; ; and there are many reasons for expecting a diminished production m Java, the next largest coffee-producing country. The necessary consequence of this ex- pected decrease in the quantity of coffee produced will be, to bring the produce as much below the wants a the consumers as it is now above, and this must again result in an enhancement of prices in process of time. If it were thought desirable to extend the production of coffee, there are many new quarters, besides the existing countries m which it is largely cultivated, where it could be extensively grown. COFFEE. 43 We may instance Liberia and the western coast of Africa gene- rally, the interior ranges of Natal, the mountain-ranges on the northern coast of Australia, from Moreton Bay to Torres Straits, &e., &. But the present production is more than equal to the demand; and unless a very largely increased consumption takes place in the Euro; pean countries, the present plantations (colonial and foreign) are amply sufficient to supply, for many years to come, all the demands that can be made upon their trees, a large proportion of which have yet to come mito full bearing. The coffee tree would grow to the height of fifteen or twenty feet if permitted, but it is bad policy to let it grow higher than four or five feet. It comes to maturity in five years, but does not thrive beyond the twenty-fifth, and is useless generally after thirty years. Although the tree affords no profit to the planter for nearly five years; yet after that time, with very little labor be- stowed upon it, it yields a large return. Mr. Churchill, Jamaica, found that 1,000 grains of the wood, leaves, and twigs of the coffee tree, yielded 33 grains of ashes, or 3.300 per cent. The ashes consist of potass, lime, alumina, and iron in the state of carbonates, sulphates, muriates, and phosphates, and a small portion of silica. According to Liebig’s classification of plants, the coffee tree falls under the description of those noted for their preponderance of lme. Thus the proportions in the coffee tree are— Lime salts : ek : ; : Cia Potass salts ; ile . : 5 PAL Silica . : : : : : : 3 100 I shall now proceed to describe the cultivation of the tree and preparation of the berry, as carried on in different countries. Cultivation of Mocha—In Arabia Felix, the culture is princi- pally carried on in the kingdom of Yemen, towards the cantons of Aden and Mocha. Although these countries are very hot in the plains, they possess mountains where the air is mild. The coffee is generally grown half way up on their slopes. When cul- tivated on the lower grounds it is always surrounded by large trees, which shelter it from the torrid sun, and prevent its fruit from withering before their maturity. The harvest is gathered at three periods ; “the most considerable oecurs in May, when the reapers begin by spreading cloths under the trees, then shaking the branches strongly, so as to make the fruit drop, which they collect and expose upon mats to dry. They then pass over the dried berries a heavy roller, to break the envelopes, which are afterwards winnowed away with a fan. ‘The interior bean is again dried before being laid up in store. The principal coffee districts are Henjersia, Tarzia, Oudein, Aneizah, Bazil, and Weesaf. The nearest coffee plantations are three-and-a-half days journey (about 80 miles) from Aden. The following information is derived from Capt. 8. B. Haines of the Indian Navy , aud our political agent at Aden. 4.4. COFFEE. A camel load is about 400 lbs = 24 frazlas or bales. G.C. Commassees. The price of ditto inland : ; : Apo 4] At Mocha, duty to Dewla uncertain . Bake fee one butsha on each frazla_ . : : 25 Weighing and clerk’s fee y ; ; : 20 Packing j 3 : ; 40 Camel ane to the coe : 5 ; eae 50 Cost from Sana to Mocha : 44 15 Coffee is brought into the Sana market i Decami- meen Ja- nuary from the surrounding districts. The varieties are— 1. Sherzee, best—price 1 G.C. frazla 25 butsha. 2. Ouceaime. 3. Muttanee. 4, Sharrazee. 5. Hubbal from Aniss. 6. Sherissee from ditto—price per frazla 1 G.C. 15 B. The nearest place to Sana where the coffee tree grows, is at Arfish, half a day distant. Attempts have been made to introduce the shrub in the garden of the Imaum at Sana, but without success, ascribed to cold. Kesher is mote prized at Sana; the best 1s Anissea, and is sold at a higher price than other coffee, namely, g.c. 12 per 100 lbs. ; inferior, at from 4, 5, and 6. Rain falls in Sana three times in the year. Ist. In January, in small quantities. 2nd. Beginning of June, when it falls for eight or ten days. By this time the seed is sown, and the cultivators look forward to the season with anxiety. 3rd. In J uly, when it falls in abundance. A few farmers defer sowing till this period, but it is unusual when they expect rain in June. The coffee plant is mostly iene erowing near the sides of mountains, valleys, and other sheltered situations, the soil of which has been eradually washed down from the surrounding heights, being that which forms its source of support. This is afforded by the decomposition of a species of claystone (slightly phosphoritic) which is found irregularly disposed in company with a few pieces of trap-rocks, amongst which, on approaching Sana from the southward, basalt is found to preponderate. The cla stone is only found in the more elevated districts, but the debris finds a ready way into the lower country by the numerous and steep gorges which are conspicuous in every direction. As it is thrown upon one side of the valley, it 1s carefully protected by means of stone walls, so as to present to the traveller the appear- ance of terraces. The plant requires a moist soil, though much rain does not appear necessary. It is always found im greater luxuriance at places where there is no spring. The tree at times looks languid, and half withered ; an abundant supply of water to the root of the plant seems necessary for the full growth and per- fection of its bean. Progress of Cultwation in India.—There are said to be ten varieties of the coffee, but only one is found indigenous to India, and it is questionable if this is not the Mocha species introduced COFFEE. 45 from Arabia. The cultivation of this important crop is spreading fast throughout the east, and has been adopted in many parts of Hindostan. In the Tenasserim provinces, on the table land of Mysore, in Penang, and especially in the islands of Bourbon and Ceylon, it is becoming more and more an object of attention. It is known to have given good produce in Sangar and the Ner- budda; also in Mirzapore, as well as Dacca, and other parts of Bengal ; Chota Najpore, Malabar, and Travancore. From three to four million pounds of coffee are now exported from the Indian presidencies annually. The highest quantity was four and a quarter million pounds in 1845, but the progress of culture, judging from the export, has been small. On the hilly districts on the east coast of the Gulf of Siam, the eultivation is carried on on a limited scale. The annual produce is not much more than about 400 ewt., although it is understood to be increasing. The quality of the berry is reckoned to be nearly equal to Mocha, and it commands a high price in the English market. The soil recommended in India is a good rich garden land, the situation high and not liable to inundation, and well sheltered to the north-west, or in such other direction as the prevailing storms are found to come from. A plantation, or a hill affording the shrubs shade, has been found beneficial in all tropical climates, because, if grown fully exposed to the sun, the berries have been found to be ripened prematurely. The spot should be well dug to a depth of two feet before the trees are planted out, and the earth pulverised and cleared from the roots of rank weeds, but particularly from the coarse woody grasses with which all parts of India abound. The best manure is found in the decayed leaves that fall from the trees themselves, to which may be added the weeds produced in the plantation, dried and burnt. These, then, dug in, are the only, manure that will be required. Cow-dung is the best manure for the seed-beds. - The seed reserved for sowing must be put into the ground quite fresh, as it soon loses its power of germination. Clean, well- formed berries, free from injury by insects, or the decay of the pulp, should be selected. These berries must be sown in a nursery, either in small, well- manured beds, or in pots in a sheltered spot, not too close, as it is well to leave them where sown until they acquire a good growth; indeed, it is better if they are removed at once from the bed where they are sown, to the plantation. Here they should be planted as soon as they have attained two years of age, for, be it remem- bered, that if they are left too long in the nursery, they become unproductive and never recover. ‘The distance at which they should be put out in the plantation need not exceed eight feet apart in the rows, between which, also, there should be eight feet distance. The seedlings appear in about a month after the seed is sown. 46 COFFEE. The culture requisite is, in the first stance, to afford shade to the young plants; many consider that this shelter should be con- tinued during the whole period of their culture; but this is some- what doubtful, as it has been found that plants so protected are not such good bearers as those which are exposed. The best - plants for this purpose are tall, wide-branching trees or shrubs, without much underwood. The other culture requisite is only to keep the ground tolerably clean from weeds, for which one cooly on from five to ten biggahs is sufficient. He should also prune off decayed or dead branches. This treatment must be continued until the fourth year, when the trees will first begin bearing, and, after the gathering of each crop, the trees will require “to be thinned out from the superabundant branches, their extremities stopped, and the tops reduced to prevent their growing above seven or eight feet in height; the stems, also, should be kept free from shoots or suckers for the height of at least one foot, ay well as clear from weeds. Irrigation must be frequent during the first year that the plants are removed to the plantation, and may be afterwards advanta-_ geously continued at intervals during the dry and hot weather, as a very hot season is found unfavorable to the plant, drying up and destroying the top branches and the extremities of the side shoots ; whilst, on the other hand, a very long rain destroys the fruit by swelling it out and rotting it before it can be ripened: hence 1t is necessary to attend to.a good drainage of the planta- tion, that no water be anywhere allowed to lodge, as certain loss will ensue, not only of the crop of the current year, but most fre- quently of the trees also, as their roots require to be rather dry than otherwise. | The crop will be ready to gather from October to January, when the ripe berries should be carefully picked from the trees by hand every morning, and dried in the shade, the sun being apt to make them too brittle; they must be-carefully turned to prevent fermentation, and when sufficiently dry the husks must be removed, and the clean cofiee separated from the broken berries. After being picked out and put aside, and then again dried, it is fit to pack. The first year’s crop will be less than the succeeding ones, in which the produce will range from 3 a lb. to 1 1b. in each year, —(Simmonds’s “ Colonial Magazine,” vol. KV.) Ceylon.—Coftee is stated to have been introduced into this island from Java, somewhere about the year 1730. It was extensively diffused over the country by the agency of birds and jackalls. In 1821 its cultivation may be said to have partially commenced, and in 1836, it had become widely extended through the Kandyan provinces. In 1839 not a tree had been felled on the wide range of the Himasgaria mountains. Teenie ay a small plantation was, for the first time, formed. In 1846 there were fifty estates, then ave- raging, each, 200 acres of planted land, and yielding an average Spiel o . crop of 80, 000 ewt. of coffee. Every acre is now purchased in COFFEE. 47 that locality, and in large tracts, or there would have been twice the number of estates in cultivation. In 1848, the Galgawatte estate, situate in this range, at an elevation of 4,000 feet, containing 246 acres, of which 72 were planted, was purchased by Mr. R. D. Gerard, for £1,600. The quantity of land which had been brought under cultivation with ccffee in this island in the ten years previous to the last re- duction of duty in 1844, was, in round numbers, 25,000 acres ; but so rapid was the subsequent increase, that in the succeeding three years, that extent of land was doubled; so that, in 1847, there were upwards of 50,000 acres of land under cultivation with coffee, giving employment to 40,000 immigrant coolies from the continent of India, and upwards of two millions of capital were invested in the cultivation of this staple. The quantity of land under culture with coffee by Europeans, was about 55,000 acres in 1851. Allowing 20,000 acres to pro- duce the quantity of native coffee exported, and 5,000 for that consumed in the island, the total extent of coffee cultivation in Ceylon, European and native, will be 80,000 acres. The produce exported in 1849 was 373,593 cwt., while in the year 1836, when attention was first directed to this island as a coffee-producing country, the crop was not more than 60,330 ewt. Large profits were made by the first planters, more capital was introduced, until, between the years 1840 and 1842, the influx of capitalists, to undertake this species of cultivation, completely changed the face of the coleny, and enlarged its trade, and the produce of coffee in sixteen years has increased sixfold. The general culture resembles the practice in Java. Of the Ceylon coffee, that grown about Ramboddi fetches the highest price, from the superiority of the make, shape, and boldness of the berry. The weight per bushel, clean, averages 56 lbs. ; 573 lbs. is about the greatest weight of Ceylon coffee. The lowest in the scale of Ceylon plantation coffee is the Doombera, which averages 545 lbs., clear, per bushel. The following have been the prices of good ordinary Ceylon coffee in the port of London for the last eight years in the month of January, 1853, 46s. to 48s. ; 1852, 40s. to 42s. ; 1851, 38s. 6d. to 40s. 6d.; 1850, 56s. 6d. to 57s. Gd.; 1849, 31s. to 32s. 6d.; 1848, 31s. Gd. to 33s.; 1847, 3893. 6d. to 41s. 6d. ; 1846, 49s. to 50s. Forest lands are those usually planted in Ceylon, and the ex- pense attendant on clearing and reclaiming them from a state of nature, and converting them into plantations, is estimated to average £8 per acre. The lowest upset price of crown lands in the colony is £1 per acre. Coffee planting has failed over a considerable portion of the southern province of the island, where the experiment was tried. The temperature was found to be too equable, not descending sufficiently low at any time to invigorate the plant; which, though growing luxuriant!y at first, soon became weak and delicate. Nur- series are established for young plants. The districts in which 48 COFFEE. the coffee 1s principally cultivated, extend over nearly the whole of the hilly region, which is the medium and connecting link be- tween the mountainous zone and the level districts of the coast. The mania for coffee planting has recently subsided, in conse- quence of the barely remunerative returns at which that article has been sold, ascribable partly to over-production, and in some measure, perhaps, to the temporary glut of foreign coffee thrown on the British market by the reduction of the duty. As regards the yield, some estates in Ceylon have produced upwards of 15 ewt. per acre, but it is a good estate that will average seven, and many do not give more than 4 ewt. the acre. The shipments from Colombo for five years, are stated below, with the class of coffee :— Plantation. Native. Total. cwt. cwt. cwt. SH oe eee 70,002 ©. 2: GAZ 689 wane 187,891 ils} Vie Baki VE 2A ee 70,991 Sp 162,231 1347... 2) 106,198... 2, 14s aay) ee eee 1843 0 320. AOL AGS ce 88,422 Ree 279,886 1949 (2. 24g oo6 IS Tbe = eee 1850. <5. 198,987 7" 66.699 7 eae ASB. Tl 220471 SS 97.08T eee While, in 1839, the total value of the exports from Ceylon was only £330,000, in 1850 the value of the single staple of coffee was no less than £609,262, and in 1851 had still further in- ereased. I append a memorandum of the quantities of coffee exported from Ceylon since 1836 :— Quantity. Value. cwt. £ 18360 ee kas 60,329 Ey eaten eee 34,164 ARES: ie. As 49,541 TSO eae ia. ete 41,863 18404 oe eee 68,206 oe OEE eae ea: 80,584 oe 196,048 DAD ge BUA aetna ge 119,808 ia are 269,763 cS ee ae 94,847 ee ie 192,891 LSE pipe. pce us 138,957 ay ae 267,663 1845 ene 178,603 ee 363,259 1846 3 eee 173,892 eS ae 328,781 Sd Greipel bey oct 293,221 as 456,624 DBAS een bie ol ce 280,010 he 387,159 CECE Seeks 378598. \ciguiaer Span 545,322 LS AO om fosters, tect. 278,473 see 609,262 LEO) Se ope ere 339,744 Total in 16 years 2,600,832 Average ; 162,552 (Ceylon Almanae for 1853.) The local export duty of two-and-a-half per cent., was abolished from Ist September, 1848. COFFEE. 49 From these figures it appears that, in a period of sixteen years, Ceylon exported two and a half millions of cwts. of coffee. The consumption of coffee, although for a long time stationary in Britain, now that adulteration is no longer legalised, is likely to increase as rapidly as in other parts of the world; and it appears pretty evident that, so long as anything like remunerative prices ean be obtained, Ceylon will do her part in supplying the world with an article which occupies the position of a necessary to the poor as well as aluxury to therich. The exports of coffee from this colony have, withm a few thousands of hundredweights, been nearly quadrupled since 1843, when only 94,000 ewts. were sent away. Dr. Rudolph Gygax, in a paper submitted to the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, offered remarks on some analyses of the coffee of Ceylon, with suggestions for the applications of manures. ‘‘ Waving had,’ he observes, ‘‘my attention drawn to an account of an analysis of the Jamaica coffee berry, made by Mr. Herapath, the Liverpool chemist, I have paid some little attention to the subject of the coffee plant of this island, forming, as it does, so very important a feature in the resources of this colony. The desire that I thus felt for obtaining some information regard- ing the constituent parts of the Ceylon tree and its fruit, was heightened by a knowledge of the fact, that not a few of those coffee estates, which once gave good promise of success, are now in a very precarious state of production. I much regret that the means at my disposal have not allowed me to carry out any guantative analysis, but the result of my labours are sufficiently accu- rate for my present purpose. I have analysed the wood and fruit of trees from two different localities, as well as the ashes of some plants sent me from the Rajawella estate near Kandy, and they all tend to bear out the result of Mr. Herapath’s inquiries. Placing the substances traced in the coffee plant in the order in which they occur in the greatest quantity, they will stand thus :— Lime, potash, magnesia, phosphoric acid, other acids. Of these lime is by far the most prominent, forming about 60 per cent. of the whole. I cannot help, therefore, arriving at the conclusion that, to cultivate coffee with any degree of success, the first-named substance must be present in the soil; or, if not present, must be suppled to it by some process. Now it is a singular fact that the rocks and soils of Ceylon are greatly de- ficient in alkaline matter; and, taking this view of the case, one no longer wonders that many estates cease to produce coffee. That all, or nearly all the plantations did, in their first year or two cf bearing, produce liberally in fruit, may readily be accounted for by the fact that the alkaline poverty of the soil was enriched by the burning of the vast quantities of timber which lay felled on all sides. Whilst this temporary supply lasted, all was well with the planter. Heavy rains, and frequent scrapings of the land with the mamotie, or hoe, soon dissipated this scanty supply, and short crops are now the consequence. But nature, ever bountiful, ever ready to compensate for all deficiencies, has provided to our hands a ready means of remedying this evil of the soil, by scattering throughout most parts of the interior supplies of dolomitic limestone. The dolomite of Ceylon is not pure, far from it, being mixed freely with apatite or phosphate of lime. Even in this very accidental circumstance the coffee planter is aided; for the phosphoric acid thus combined with the limestone is the very substance required in addition. Some of the finest properties in the island are situated on a limestone bottom, and these no doubt will continue to yield abundant crops for a very long period. It has been urged against this opinion that in some districts where coffee planting has proved a complete failure, dolomite is found most abundantly; but H 50 COFFES. [ have very little doubt that the dolomite here alluded to is only magnesian limestone, and which is most inimical to the coffee bush. I am aware that already several manures have been tried on coffee with vary- ing degrees of success. Guano has, I believe, quite failed, and is besides very costly. Cattle manure is said to be effective, and no doubt it is, but it isa costly and troublesome aifair. Bones, ground fine, are now being tried, though they cannot but prove most expensive, especially when imported. A ton of bone dust contains of animal matter, 746 lbs. ; phosphates cf lime, &e., 1,245 lbs. ; carbonates of lime, &c., 249 lbs. The virtue of bones lies in the phosphates far more than in the animal matter, and thus their action on soils is felt for many years after their application. The Singalese cultivators of paddy about Colombo and Galle, appear to have been long aware of the fertilizing effects of this kind of manure, and import the article in dhonies from many parts of the coast: they bruise them coarsely be- fore applying them. The partially decomposed husks of the coffee berry have been tried for some years, and successfully, but they are difficult of collection, and bulky to remove from one part of the estate to another. In Europe it would appear that little is yet known as to the causes of the fertilising effects of oil-cake: some suppose them to arise mainly from the oil left by the crushing process, but this is not at all clear. I do not, however, see that we must look for much assistance from Poonac as a manure for coffee: for the cocoanut tree it is doubtless most valuable, but we have yet to learn that, beyond supplying so much more vegetable matter, it helps the action of the soil on the roots of the coffee bush, which, after all, is what is really required. lor the proper application of the dolomite to land as manure, it should be freely burat in a kiln, with a good quantity of wood, the ashes of which should be afterwards mixed with the burnt lime, and the whole exposed for several days to the action of the air, sheltered of course from the weather. The mix- ture should be applied just before the setting in of the monsoon rains: if the land be tolerably level, the hme may be scattered broad-cast on the surface, though not quite near the plants. When the estate to be manured is steep, then the substance to be applied should be placed in ridges cut crossways to the descent of the slopes. About one ewt. to the acre would be ample for most lands; some may, how- ever, require more. The contents of the husk pits might advantsgeously be mixed up with the burnt lime, when a sufficiency of it has been saved. A planter in Ambagamoe states that he has tried the following remedy for that destructive scourge, the coffee-bug, with great success. He applies saltpetre in a finely-powdered state, dusted over the tree when wet with rain or dew. ‘The operation is inexpensive, as a very small quantity suffices, one cwt. being sufficient for nine or ten acres. It can be applied through a bamboo-joint covered with a perforated top, or any equally simple contrivance. Messrs. Worms’ are reported to have found coco-nut oil an effectual remedy. To sum up the question of manures :— Poonae, the marc or cake, after the coco-nut oil is expressed, is represented to be a stimulating manure; but is not durable. Lime is an useful application, especially to stiff soils, as the coffee tree contains 60 parts of lime. Bone-dust is an excellent fertiliser, but in Ceylon it is found that it cannot be applied at a less expense than £5 per acre. Cattle manure is the cheapest and most available. Guano does not seem suitable. COFFEE. OL Peeling, pulping, and winnowing.—The cottee-peeler, used for se- parating the bean from the pellicle, was formerly a large wheel revolving in a trough, the disadvantage of which was the flatten- ing more or less of the bean when not thoroughly dry. A new machine has been recently introduced, the invention of Mr. Nel- son, C.E., of the Ceylon iron works, by which this evil is ob- viated; its principle being not weight, but simple friction, of sufficient force to break the parchment at first, and, when con- tinued, to polish the bean free from the husk. A very simple winnowing machine for cleaning the coffee as it comes out of the peeler, is ‘attached. From the winnowine machine it runs ito the separating machine, which sorts it into sizes, and equalizes the samples, by which a vast amount of time and ‘manual Jabour are saved. The same principle is intended to be applied by Mr. Nelson to pulping, which will obviate the injury now inflicted by the grater upon the fresh berry. In spite of the greatest care numbers of the beans in a sample, on close examination, will be found scratched or pecked; and when the closest attention is not paid, or the person superintending the process is devoid of me- chanical skill, the injury is proportionate. The ordinary pulping-mill in use, consists of a cylinder of wood or iron, covered with sheet brass or copper, and punctured simi- larly to a nutmeg grater. This cylinder, technically called the barrel, suns upon a spindle, which turns a brass pick on each side of a frame. Immediately in a line with the centre upon which it turns, and placed vertical to each other, are two pieces of wood, frequently shod with iron or copper, called “the chops,’ placed about half an inch apart, or sufficient to allow the passage of “parchment’’ coffee between them. The lower chop is placed so close to the barrel, yet without contact, that all coffee must be stopped by it and thrown out- wards. The upper chop is adjusted to that distance only which will permit the cherry coffee to come into contact with the barrel ; but will not allow the berries to pass on till they have been denuded of their red epidermis by a gentle squeeze against its rough surface. The far greater portion of the pulps are separated by being carried past the lower chops upon the sharp points of the ecpper, and thrown out behind, and a few are left with the parchment coffee. As from the different sizes of the berries, and their crowding for precedence as they descend from the hopper above to the sentle embrace of the barrel and upper chop, some pass unpulped, the coffee as it comes from the lower chop 1s made to fall upon a riddie, which separates the unpulped cherries. These are put back again, and passed through a pulper with the upper chop set closer. The secret of working appears to be the proper setting of the chops, and many have been the schemes proposed for reducing this to a certainty. Perhaps, after all, few plans are better than the old wedges, by tightening or loosening of which the chop is kept in the required position, Within the Jast few years, the machine has been considerably improved by E 2 52 COFFEE. being formed entirely of iron, cog-wheels being substituted in the place of straps and drums to move the riddle, and the riddle itself is now formed of two sieves, by which the chance of unpulped berries reaching the parchment is lessened. On some estates water-wheels have been put up to drive several pulpers at one time, which otherwise would require from two to four men each to work them, but from the costly buildings and appurtenances waich such machinery renders necessary, they are rare. Although the operation of pulping is so simple, it is one which requires the machine to be set insuch a way that the greatest quan- ity of work may be done, or, in other words, the smallest quantity of unpulped berries be allowed to pass through. . On the other hand, the berries must not be subjected to injury from the barrel ; for if the pare oe skin is pricked through, the berry will appear, when cured, with an unsightly brown mark upon it. Several new coverings for barrels, instead of punctured copper, have been tried; among others, coir-cloth and wire net, but the old material is not as yet superseded. Atter pulping, the coffee in parchment is rece ived into cisterns, in which it is, by washing, deprived of the mucilaginous matter that still adheres to it. Without this most necessary operation, the mucilage would fer- ment and expose the berry to injury, from its highly corrosive qualities. As some portion of pulp finds its wav with the coffee to the cistern, which, if suffered to remain would, by its long retention of moisture, lengthen the subsequent drying process, various methods have been adopted to remove it. One mode is to pass the coffee a second time through a sieve worked by two men; another to pickit off the surfaces of the cistern, to which it natu- rally rises. In August, 1846, premiums were awarded by the Ceylon Agri- cultural Society to Messrs. Clerihew and Josias Lambert for the improvements thev had introduced into coffee- pulpers, which, by their exertions, had been brought to great perfection. The first improved complete cast-lron pulper received in the island, was made for Mr. Jolly, from drawings sent home by Mr. Lambert to Messrs. B. Hick and Son, engineers. This pulper is one of the most perfect in every respect that has yet been brought into use, the disadvantages belonging to the old machine having been en- inet remedied. The sieve crank has a double eccentric action. The chops are regulated by set screws, and the sieve suspended in a novel and secure manner, the whole combining strength and efficacy, together with an elegance of form, which will likewise be appreciated. Mr. W. Clerihew, of Ceylon, submitted to the Great Exhibition a model of his approved apparatus for drying coffee (which has been patented in the name of Robert R. Banks, Great George Street, Westminster), and received the Isis gold medal for the same. The intention is to dry the vegetable and aqueous moisture of the berry. Before this is required, the coffee has previously undergone — > on COFFEE. 53 the process of pulping, or removal from the soft fleshy husk. Here let Mr. Clerihew describe the advantages for himself— “‘ When the coffee berry is picked from the tree it bears a closer resemblance to a ripe cherry, both in size and appearance; and several processes have to be gone through before the article known in commerce as coffee is produced. In the first place, the pulpy exterior of the cherry has to be removed by the process of pulping, which separates the seed and its thin covering called the parchment, from the husk. When the pulping process is completed, we have the parchment coffee by itself in a cistern, and the next process consists in getting rid of the mucilage with which it is covered.” Haymeg become assured, both by experiment and by Liebig’s reasoning, that the successive stages of decomposition were wholly ascribable to the action of the stagnant air which occupies the interstices between the beans, and taking into account that a mass of coffee presented a medium pervious to air, it occurred to Mr. Clerihew that it was possible, by means of fanners, working on the exhausting principle, so to withdraw air from an enclosed space as to establish a current of air through masses of coffee spread on perforated floors forming the top and bottom of that space. The plan he carried into execution at Rathgoongodde plantation in 1849. No sooner was the plan put in operation than, instead of stagnant air occupying the interstices of the beans and gradually acting on them, a stream of air was established and flowing through the mass of coffee, each bean of it became sur- rounded by a constantly renewed atmosphere of fresh air. Java.—When Arabia enjoyed the exclusive monopoly of coffee, it could not be foreseen that one day the island of Java would furnish for the consumption of the world from 125 to 180 millions of pounds per annum. The cultivation was introduced by M. Zwaendenkroom, the Governor-General of Batavia, who obtained seeds from Mocha, in 1723. According to official statements the following are the exports. In 1839 there were exported 46,781,729 kilogrammes, valued at 48 million florms. Eight years labor, 1833 to 1841, brought its produce of coffee from 12 million kilugrammes annually, up to 55 millions. In 1846, the exports were 916,876 piculs, but, in 1850 they were only 14,801 piculs. The total coffee crop of Java was in 1850, 1,280,702 lbs. ; in 1851, 1,436,171 lbs. ; in 1852, 1,229, 349 lbs. 1840 1841 Residences in which this produce has been) | cultivated in 1840 and 1841.............. 20 | 20 Number of families destined for the labor .. 470,673 | 453,289 Trees which have yielded a crop....... .| 916,193,894 | 216,085,600 Trees which have produced the average: quan- | tity of a picul of 125 lbs. Dutch.. ie 280 | 248 Quantity of coffee furnished to he ‘godowns | a ial 2” ae a ee eo 706,258 | 877,444 Trees according to the reckoning made in the| month of ‘March, Us4tiand 184200 os... 336,922,460 | 329,898,936 oA COFFER. The comparative result of this table shows—Ist. That, m the year 1841, coffee had been gathered from 20,000,000 more trees than the number in 1840, and that the crop had increased by _ 171,000 piculs. 2nd. That, in the month of March, 1842, there were above 7 millions less of coffee trees than in 1840. This dimimution is merely nominal, seeing that these trees have served to replace those which by their small produce have to be suppressed in the lowlands of the residency of Baylen. On the contrary, the increase of trees, planted from 1839 to 1840, amount to very nearly the same number, of 7 millions. 3rd. That, in the season of 1842, there was planted nearly 20 millions of plants; of which 12 millions are to serve to replace the old trees, and 8 millions are destined to extend this culture. It is calculated that this island will very soon be in a condition to produce a million of piculs or 125 millions more of Dutch pounds of coffee. Previous to 1830, Java scarcely exported as much as 40 millions of pounds. : Culiwation and Preparation of Coffee in Java.—For the follow- ing valuable details Tam indebted to M. de Munnick, the inspector of the agricultural department, Batavia, as contributed to my “ Colonial Mae gazine’”’ (vol. x1. p. 46). Soil and Sitwation.—Hlevated lands are found to be those best suited for the growth of coffee in Java. Land situated between 1,000 and 4,000 feet above the level of the sea may be generally said to be adapted tu the cultivation of coffee. it must not be taken for granted that all ground of less elevation is unsuited. Suitable ground is to be found lower down, but the cultivation on itis more difficult; the tree gives less fruit, and the plant is less durable. Valleys lying between hich mountains are more especially fit for coffee plantations, because the soil which is washed down from the heights affords fresh focd continually to the lowlands ; the valleys themselves are moist, since the hills surrounding them attract the rain; and they are shut out from severe winds by the same protecting enclosure. The soils best suited to the successful growth of coffee may be classed as follows :— Firstly. Cleared forest lands, especially those in which the black leafy, or vegetable mould is found to considerable depth. These are the richest grounds, and will support the coffee plant for many years, and they are also cultivated with the least trouble. Secondly. Dark brown soils, approaching to black, which, with- out having much clay in them, appear to the eye to have a mix- ture of coral. The greater the depth of this coral-like stratum, and of the reddish or deep yellowish soil, the better is the ground for coffee. This kind of land also has sufficient strength and sub- stance to afford nourishment for many years to the plant; but it entails more trouble than the before mentioned soils, because the young plant does not so speedily strike root into it, and sometimes dies, so that provision has to be made against failures. Thir dly. Reddish and loose ground, ‘such as is generally found COFFEE. 5S in the neighbourhood of volcanic lands. This kind is frequently found well adapted for coffee; it flourishes on such land luxur- iantly, but does not last long, as the ground possesses less strength and nourishing substance.* | By digging in different places we become better acquainted with the nature of the ground, but we may take it as a rule, that rich old forest land on which many larger trees are found, and plains covered with heavy underwood, most frequently offer eligible sites for coffee plantations. Grounds in whieh loam is found, and stony soils, are unfit for coffee. But I do not mean by “ stony soils’ land on which many stones are lying, for on that very account it may be mosts uitable : but I mean land which shows a pebbly stratum just below the surface, or such as is of a porous, stony nature. In the choice of situation care must be taken to select that which is as much as possible protected against the south-east wind,. because its dry influence is very 1njurious to the coffee plant, and also prevents the growth of the E7rythrina (known here locally as the Dadap- tree) which is so necessary for its shade. Flat grounds, or gentle declivities, are better tes steep slopes; yet the latter can be well employed if proper care is taken. Cultivation.—After the ground has been cleared in the dry season—that is, after the bushes have been rooted out, the under- growth burnt off, and the thickets removed—ploughing is com- menced in September. When the ground has twice been deeply ploughed, the weeds and roots must be brought together with the rake and carefully burnt. The depth of the ploughing must be regulated by the nature of the ground. Jn all kinds of cultivation, deep ploughing is recommended, but in Java we ought not to plough deeper than the stratum of fertile soil, as a kind of subsoil may be wrought uppermost injurious to plants, and which, before it can become fertile, must for a year at least have been exposec to the atmosphere. The ground having been turned up, should be left exposed for some days to throw off the vapor arising from it; and must then be again ploughed and cleared with the rake. After w aiting for some days, it should be ploughed for the fourth and last time, and made as clean and friable as possible. In emall plantations this is to be done with the spade, but on large estates the roller must be used. This roller consists of a heavy piece of round wood, eight or ten feet long, to a a pole is fastened in the middle to have oxen harnessed to it. It is drawn slowly over the ploughed land, and presses the clods to earth. To give it greater force the driver sits or stands upon it. Before the field has been properly ploughed and rolled in the above way, the middle of October will have arrived, and we then begin to open a path through the plantation from the highest to the lowest point, about two roods broad, and the whole of the * In the West Indies, from my own experience, [ have found this to be one of the worst descriptions of soil. P.L.S. 56 COFFEE. land is then divided into separate parcels. Portioning off the estates into divisions of equal size is a system to be much recom- mended. By this means labor may be equally divided, superin- tended and inspected. Order and regularity, which are necessary in all things, are most especially required in cultivation on a large scale. The size of these parcels is regulated by the nature of the es- tate. On flat or gently declining land they may be greater than on steep grounds, because, in order to prevent the washing away of the soil on precipitous land, the water must be led off by trenches, which of themselves make the divisions of land smaller. On fiat oround the divisions may be each 625 square roods, each of which may contain, if planted— Trees. Trees. 12 feet by 12 ; Se rae) 8 feet by 8 : . 1406 101 10 : - = 900 Bo igs veal E . 2500 The distance between the coffee bushes cannot be definitely laid down, as it depends on the nature of the soil. On the most fertile forest lands twelve feet by twelve is a good distance. Only onlow and meagre grounds, where the tree grows less luxuriantly and strong, can six feet by six be reckoned a proper distance. — Between the divisions a path should be left, one rood in breadth. Along the middle paths and by the side of ‘the divisions drains must be cut, the former two feet in breath and depth, the latter one foot. The-drains along the divisions must be cut m such a way as to conduct the rain-water to the larger drains which flank the middle paths. On precipitous ground, when the coffee is planted, small ridges should be raised between the rows, to pre- vent the rich ei from washing down in the heavy rams. The steeper the land is, the closer these ridges should be; ard care should be taken to incline them, so as to break the descent, the direction of which they should in some degree follow. The first ‘ridges may be made with the branches of the trees which have been felled, or with the rubbish cleared from the ground on the first raking of it. Placing the pickets— When the ground has been worked and divided in the above manner, the pickets are placed. These are slips of bamboo one-and-a-half to two feet long. First—two long canes (which do not stretch like strimg), each one hundred feet long, are marked off in feet according to the distance at which the planting is to take place; heavy stakes are made fast to each end of them, by which they can be well secured on the ground. At the places where they are marked off in feet, strings are fastened so tightly that they cannot be displaced ; and then the canes are laid down and well fixed in the ground, one in the length and the other in the breadth. Picketing does not give much trouble; it ensures regular plant- ing, and makes the daily inspection simple. The planting thus takes place in straight lines, which give an ornamental appearance, and afterwards renders the view over the whole plantation easy. = COFFEE. 5F At every place where a string has been tied, a picket is stuck in the ground ; then the cane is removed to another place, and so on till all the estate is marked out by pickets. After the picket- ing, a hole is made with the arate at every mark; it should be a good foot broad and deep, and the earth inside should be made very fine and clear. The earth is now ready to receive the coffee plant, and the time has only to be waited for when the first rains fully begin. Nurseries.—in the month of October, or earlier, if coffee trees are near at hand, nurseries must be prepared in the neighbourhood of the land about to be planted. This can be done in the ravines, or, if they are too far from the spot where the plants are wanted, pieces of ground most convenient can be selected. If the ravines are preferred, places must be chosen which are shaded by trees not prejudicial to the coffee plants. On ground where there is no trees, the nurseries may be covered, at the height of four feet, with leaves of jack (Artocarpus integr ifolia), areca, or other palm trees, in a manner to admit the air. The ground made loose and fine, coffee plants newly opening, or seeds only, are Be or sown at a distance of four inches square ; 500 square roods will in this way furnish 648,000 plants, which are sufficient for an estate of 300,000 trees. Transplanting from nurseries is absolutely necessary in coffee cultivation, and the trouble it costs is always doubly repaid. Having a choice of plants, a person can be convinced he has taken none but cna trees, and he proceeds therefore with a confidence of success. After the first year, all failures having been nearly replaced, ihe estate is fully” planted, the trees are of regular growth, and no useless clearing is required—a thing which is alway '$ necessary In irregular plantations. lt is easy also to pick the berries from the trees which are planted with regularity ; the work goes on smoothly ; and, when the estate has lived its time, 1t may be abandoned alto- oether, without leaving patches of living trees here and there, which renders superintendence SO very difficult. There should always be a plentiful supply of plants, to give an ample choice and to make up for failures. When plants are placed in the nurseries, they should not have more than two offshcots, or leaves, above each other ; and when the ball plants are transplanted, they should not be higher than a foot, as large plants always give meagre trees. At the end of November or beginning of December, if the nur series are kept free from weeds, and, “if necessary, occasionally watered, the plants will be about a foot high, and will have put forth 4 or 5 leaves; they are then just fitto be transplanted. Then the ground is cloven with the spade, at a distance of an inch and a half round the stem of the plant, to about three inches deep ; the plant, with the ball of earth adhering to it, is carefully lifted out of the ground, and the ball is wrapped i in a jack, plantain, or other leaf, and tied to prevent the earth fallmg off; but, before 58 COFFEE. the plants are thus taken from the ground, it must be moistened to make the earth adhesive. Planting the coffee trees—The plants, which, after the above operation are called “ ball plants,’ are then placed in a bamboo wicker frame, and are carefully carried by two men to the place where they are to be put into the ground. They are then taken out of the frame and placed in the holes next to the pickets. The pickets are removed, and the plant is fixed upright; the leaf sur- rounding the ball is made loose, but not taken away ; the planter presses the plant down with his hand and fills up the hole with fine loose earth, and the business of planting the coffee tree is finished. Planting the Dadap tree.—This is a species of Erythrina, pro- bably H. endica, or H. arborescens ; that used for the purpose in. the West Indies is #. Corallodendrum. In Java, as soon as the coffee is planted, the operation of planting the dadap tree is com- menced. The best sort of dadap comes from Serp or Mienyak ; it is smooth and broad-leaved, and shoots up quickly. Thick young stems are chosen, about three feet long, and the lower part is pointed off. If the dadap i is moist or juicy, it should be cut twenty-four hours before it is planted. The dadap is planted uni- formly by measuring the cane in the same way as the coffee itself. Between every two rows of coffee one of dadap is planted, not on a line with the coffee plants, but alternately with them; thus, if the coffee is eight feet by eight, the dadap is sixteen by sixteen, The dadap i 18 planted to the depth of a foot, with somewhat of a westerly inclination, in order that the morning sun may fall ona larger surface of the stick. The eround must be stiffly trodden round the bottom of the stem, and the upper part of it should have some kind of leaf tightly bound around it to prevent the sap from escaping. When the coffee and dadap plants have thus been put out, every fifth day the young plantation should be carefully inspected, and a picket placed wherever there is a failure, as a mark to the planter that a new plant is there required. This ope- ration of replacing failures is carried on all through the wet season, and the dadaps which have not succeeded are at the same time changed. Keeping wp the estate—lIn the first six months after planting, the estate should be cleaned each fortnight with the hoe; the ground being well moved and the weeds taken out. Those weeds which are too close to the plants to be removed in this manner, must be pulled out with the hand. When the plantation is thus wholly or partially cleaned, the earth must be taken off the weeds, and they must be collected and thrown on the pathways. The weeding in this manner gives at first a great deal of trouble, but it is most advant ageous in the long run, as the weeds are thus easily kept down. Great care must be taken to do away with an old custom of burying the weeds in large holes on the estates. It conduces to COFFNE. 59 bad and slovenly habits, such as cutting off the tops of the weeds by wholesale, and thus giving the plantation an appearance of cleanliness, whilst it, in fact, is as dirty as ever. This is soon discovered by the weeds showing themselves again above ground in a very few days, and even if they rot under ground, they breed insects which are very hurtful to the bushes, and the seeds vegetate. | After the first six months, this weeding will be sufficient if it takes places once a month, but this must be persevered in till the third year, when there may be a much greater interval between the weeding. When the trees are coming to full growth, the hoe should be less frequently used in cleaning; the hand must be used to the full extent to which the branches reach, as the roots of the tree spread to a like distance, and if they are injured the growth of the tree is prejudiced. The well-being of an estate chiefly depends on frequent cleaning of the plantation in the beginning. The idea of some persons that cleaning in the dry season is of little consequence, must be given up, as it is principally at that very time that it is extremely profit- able to remove and clear the ground round the trees in their growth. In the first place, this destroys the weeds which take the nourishment away from the trees; secondly, the ground is rendered more open to receive the slight showers and dews which moisten it, and to benefit by the influence of the air; the roots are thus considerably refreshed. The dew falling on ground which has been recently moved, penetrates at once into it, and does good to the plant; but if it falls on the weeds, the first rays of the sun absorb it, and deprive the tree of this source of refreshment. The dadap is to be taken care of whilst clearing goes on; it must be cropped so as to cause it to grow upright, and to throw as much shade as possible on the coffee without pressing upon it. In warm fertile ground, where the coffee plant grows rapidly, the trees should be topped in the third year; but this should be done sparingly, and as a general measure it is not to be recom- mended; it should be resorted to only as a means to prevent the too rapid growth of the tree, or its running up toa point. Topping and taking off suckers are both necessary on meagre soils, where the trees run much to wood; and it prevents the trees being in- jured in the picking season, which often occurs without this pre- caution. The top or middle stem is broken off at a height of six or seven feet, but care must be taken not to tear the tree ; when the top shoots out again it must be cropped a second time, and it is seldom necessary to do this more than twice. The cropping causes the tree to shoot out in breadth, and to push forth a greater number of sprigs, and good strong ones. ; Picking coffee—When the estate becomes productive, it must in the picking season, just before the work begins, be kept exceed- ingly clear of weeds, and be even swept clean with brooms, in order that the berries which fall off may be gathered up. GO COFFEE. The picking should take place under proper superintendence, the trees be picked row by row, and care taken that each berry is plucked off separately, and not a heap together, by which the trees are torn and the first offshoots prevented. In picking high trees, light ladders should be used, made out of two or three bamboos tied together. Customary preparation of the berry im the pulp—When the coffee is picked and brought ito the village, it is piled up na heap in the open air, and left in that manner for twenty-four hours. Thus heaped up it gets warm, and this creates a certain fermentation of the juice which is in the berry. That fermenta- tion promotes the drying and loosens the silvery pellicle which is attached to the bean inside the parchment, and which cannot be entirely got rid of in any other way. Coffee which still retains that pellicle is called in trade “grey coffee,’ and is lower priced than good clean sorts. After the fermentation, the coffee is spread out in rather thick layers, and turned -over twice a day. If it rains during this first spreading out, the coffee does not require to be sheltered, as the washing causes the juicy substance to eva- porate, and this accelerates the drying afterwards. in proportion as the coffee becomes dryer, the thickness of the layer must be reduced, and the turning over must be more frequent till the coffee is quite dry outside and the pulp has become hard. Then the coffee is laid out on drying floors, which can be easily and speedily covered in rainy or damp “weather, and is dried by the pow erful heat of the sun. This system of drying in the pulp requires six weeks or two months, as it 1s adv isable: not to be over hasty with drying. When the coffee is entir ely dry, it is either at once pounded or placed in the stores to await that operation. In order to know if the coffee be sufiiciently dry, take a handful of it and shut your hand close; shake it to your ear, and listen if the beans rattle freely in the pulp. Or try them by biting the berry, and see if the bean and pulp are both brittle and crisp, which shows that the fruit is dry enough. Preparationof the coffee in the parchment, or the West India system. —Only sound and fully ripe beans can be prepared in the West India manner. In picking, ‘therefore, all unripe, green, or unsound beans must be taken away to dry in the pulp. As soon as the coffee is brought in, it must be pulped. This operation is per- formed by means of small peeling mills. These mills consist of two horizontal wooden cylinders rubbing on a plank; they are covered with hoop-iron, and set in motion by a water-wheel. The coffee is driven under the cylinder, and kept constantly moist ; by being turned through the mill, the pulp is so bruised that the bean in the parchment falls from it into the bamboo open frame, which is placed in front of the mill. The coffee is then pressed with the hand, and falls through the frame into a basket, The pulp, and beans not rid of the pulp, remain on the frame; the first is cleared away, the rest passes a second time into the mill, and this cpera- COFFEE. 61 tion is continued till all the coffee is stripped of the pulp, and the parchment beans are in the basket. When the parchment coffee is thus separated from the outer skin, it is thrown into the washing troughs, and remains there for twenty-four hours; this drains from if the slimy substance adhering toit. After being thus steeped, it is washed with pure water two or three times in the basket, so that it becomes quite free from slimy matter. The parchment coffee is then spread out on drying frames, and exposed for six or eight days to the heat of the sun, till the outside is perfectly dry. To do this equally it must be stirred about everyhour. These frames, which serve also to dry the coifee in the pulp, are made as follows: —A bamboo roof is set up, resting on four wooden pillars, and sloping considerably ; it is covered closely with reeds; its length is ten feet, its breadth six feet; the pillars are from nine to ten feet high; a wooden framework is attached to this, about thirty feet long, or three times the length of the space covered by the roof. On this frame are brought out three platforms, one above the other, which are pushed out by means of little rollers under them; they are ten feet long by six broad, and six inches deep. The borders are of wood, and the bottom of platted bamboo. In rainy weather, or when the drying cannot go on, the three plat- forms are pushed under the covered space. These drying places are set up near the overseer’s dwelling, where they stand free, and are not shaded by trees or buildings. After this first drying on platforms, the parchment coffee is again dried inside the house, and bamboo huts are for this purpose erected on each side of the out- house of the planters. These huts have trays, divided into two or three compartments, one above the other, to keep the coffee sepa- rate, according to the time of its having been picked. The parch- ment coffee is spread out as thin as possible, and turned over with a small wooden rake every hour. In proportion to the dryness of the weather, from one to two months are required to dry the coffee fully. In drying inside the houses, the greatest care must be taken to prevent heating the coffee; this is the great object of the West Indian system, as such heating is very prejudicial. On this account the huts in which the platforms are placed must be very airy, so that the wind may have good play among the trays, on which the coffee must be thinly spread and frequently turned. Pounding.—Coffee in the pulp, as well as that in the parch- ment, must, before being pounded, be exposed for some hours to the sun to make it crisp and hard; but it must be allowed to cool again before the pounding begins, or the beans will be liable to be broken. The pounding is done in small baskets of a conical form, two feet high, at the top eighteen inches in diameter, and at the bottom one foot. These baskets are, up to one-third of their height, thickly woven round with coir, and fastened on the ground be- tween four thick bamboo poles, and with the bottom half an inch in the ground itself. The coffee is pounded by small quantities at a time with light wooden pestles; the baskets must not be 62 COFFEE. more than half full. When the coffee is sufficiently pounded, the basket is lifted from between the poles and the beans are thrown into sieves, on which it is cleaned from skin, and white, black, or broken beans. According to the West Indian system, the coffee must now be instantly put in bags, to preserve iis greenish co- lour, which is very peculiar. If the green coffee is not instantly sent to the packing stores to be bagged, it must be put up in a very dry place, and be turned over once every day, to prevent heating, which damps and discolors the berry. Coffee is grown to some extent in Celebes—the average crop being from 10,000 to 12,000 piculs of 183 Enelish pounds. The production has rather fallen off than increased during the last few years. The whole of the coffee grown must be delivered by the inhabitants to the government exclusively, at twelve copper florins per picul. It is much prized in the Netherlands, and main- tains a higher price in the market than the best Java coffee. As the treatment of the product in Java differs wholly from that which is in vogue in Celebes, and this, in our eyes, is much inferior, I know not whether the higher price is ascribable to the name, or to an intrinsic superiority in quality. It is certam that this cul- tivation is susceptible of much improvement, and might be ad- vanced to a much higher condition. From tables given by M. Spreeuwenberg (“J ournal of the Indian Archipelago,” vol. 1. p. 829) of the quantity of coffee deli- vered from each district of this island, for the years 1888 to 1842, it appears that the average annual delivery of coffee was 1,288,118 lbs. Of the production of Sumatra I have no details, but a very fair proportion is grown there—about five million pounds. Production of America and the West Indies —The cultivation of the coffee plant is largely carried on in South and Central Ame- rica and the West India Islands. Its culture has greatly increased within the last few years in Venezuela, particularly in the valleys and on the sides of the hills. The exports from La Guayra, in 1833, were about twelve millions of pounds, being nearly double the quantity exported in 1830. The price there is about ten dollars the 100 lbs., which is still too high to enable it to enter into competition with the produce of Brazil or Cuba. The total produce of coffee in Venezuela in 1839 was 254,567 quintals. The quintal is about 10 lbs. less than the English ewt. La Guayra.—The exports of coffee from this port in 1796, were 283 quintals. Quintals. | Quintals. ApS 4a: ‘ : . 164,066 | 1846. é i . 175,346 1844, E : . 141,934 ]1847 . ‘ ; . 180,671 to ee é : . 184,585} 1850 . : ‘ . 179,537 The exports of coffee from La Guayra have been declining within the past few years; the shipments were but 153,$01 quin- tals in 1851, and only 124, 623 in 1852. COFFEE. 63 Caracas coffee ranks in our market with good ordinary St. Domingo. The decline im the produce of coffee in the British West India possessions has been very great. In 1838, we imported from the West India Islands and British Guiana 17} million pounds of coliee, in 1850 we only received 44+ million pounds from thence. The shipments from Jamaica have decreased from about 15 million pounds in 1836, to 4 million pounds in 1850; Berbice and Deme- rara, from 5 million pounds in 1837, to about 8,000 pounds in 1850. Production of coffee in the Brazils—Yorty-two years ago the annual crop of coffee in Brazil did not exceed 30,000 bags, and even in 1820 it only reached 100,000 bags. About that time the high price of coffee in England, superadded to the diminished pro- duction in Cuba, stimulated the Brazilian planters to extend its cultivation, and in 1830 they sent to market 400,000 bags, or 64,090,000 lbs., and in 1847, the enormous quantity of 300,000,000 lbs. Jt would seem from the annexed figures that the production of coffee in Brazil doubled every five years, up to 1840, since when it has increased eighty per cent. The increase since 1835 has been upwards of two hundred millions of pounds, and of that increase the United States have taken one half. lbs, 1820 15,312,000 1825 : 29,201,600 1830 j 62,685,600 1835 . 100,346,490 1840 : : . 170,208,800 1850 : . ; 303,556,960 The sources from whence the United States derives its sup- plies of coffee are shown in the following table :— “atts a ia Le ee | | | Years. | Brazil. | Cuba. |St. Domingo.| Java. Total. | 2 ae | PigstOES BIR 1835 . .| 35,774,876 | 29,373,675 19,276,290 | 4,728,890 | 103,199,577 1840. .| 47,412,756 | 25,331,888 | 9,153,524 | 4,343,254 | 94,996,095 1845. .| 78,553,616 | 1,157,794 | 18,090,359 | 3,925,716 | 108,133,369 1850. .| 90,319,511} 3,740,803 | 19,440,985 : 5,146,961 | 144,986,895 1851 . .| 107,578,257 | 3,009,084 | 13,205,766 2,423,968 | 152,453,617 Coffee, up to 1830, paid a duty in the United States of five cents a pound. Since 1832 it has been free. The population of the United States in 1840 was, in round numbers, seventeen millions; the average consumption of coffee for the three years ending 1841, 985 millions of pounds, which gave a consumption of 52lbs. per head. The average for the three years ending 1850, was 143 millions of pounds, and the population was twenty-three millions, which gave a consumption of 64l]bs. per head. In 1830 the consumption was only 3 lbs. per head; but 64 COFFEE. the price ruled nearly double what it was in the three years pre- ceding 1850. In 1821 the consumption per head, to the inhabitants of the United States, was 11b. 40z. In 1830, the proportion had in- creased to 3 lbs. per head, the foreign price haviag fallen fifty per cent. The importation in the year 1831 doubl ed, in cousequence of the reduced duty ; and the consumption per head for the four years ending with 1842, averaged 61b. per head, having qua- drupled to each inhabitant since 1821. ee 1820 to 1840, the Brazilian product increased 1,100 per cent., or 155 million pounds. tn the same time the consumption in the United States increased 137 million pounds; leaving an increase of eighteen million pounds of Rio coffee, besides the enhanced products of all countries, to supply the increased consumption of England and Hurope. The consequence of the duty in England is, that while the United States, with a population of seventeen millions, consumed, in 1844, 149,711,820 lbs. of coffee, Great Britain, with a popula- tion of twenty-seven millions, consumed 31,934,000 Ibs. only, or less than one-fourth the consumption of the United States. In 1851 the figures remained nearly the same, viz., 148,920,000 lbs. in the United States, and 32,564,000 lbs. for Great Britain. The cultivation of coffee forms the present riches of Costa Rica, and has raised it to a state of prosperity unknown in any other part of Central America. It was best n about fifteen years ago; a few plants havine been brought from New Granada, and the first trial being suc cessful, it has rapidly extended. All the coffee 1s grown in the plain of San J ose, where the three principal towns are situatec thirds being produced im the en- virons of the ca ial a fonnehis in those of Hindia, and the remain- der at Alhajuela, and its vicinity. The land which has been found by experience to be best suited to coffee is a black loam, and the next best, a dark-red earth—soils of a brown and dull yellow color being quite unsuitable. The plain of San Jose is mostly of the first class, being, like all the soils of Central America, formed with a large admixture of volcanic materials. Contrary to the experience of Java and Arabia Felix, coffee is here found to thrive much better, and produce a more healthy and equal berry on plain land, than upon hiils, or undulating slopes, which doubt- less arises from the former retaining its moisture better, and generally containing a latger deposit of loam. Tam inclined, in a great measure, to attribute the practice of sowing coffee in sloping land in Java to this fact, that the plains are usually occupied by the more profitable cultivation of sugar- canes. In Arabia, the plains are generally of a sandy nature (being lands which have, apparently, at no very distant geological period, formed the bed of the sea), which may account for the plantations existing only upon the low hills and slopes. A coffee plantation in Costa Rica produces a crop the third year after it is planted, and is in perfection the fifth year. The coffee trees are planted in rows, with a space of about three yards COFFEE. 6a: between each and one between each plant. resembling in appear- ance hedges of the laurel bay. The weeds are cut down, and the earth slightly turned with a hoe, three or four times in the year ; and the plant is not allowed to increase above the height of six feet, for the facility of gathering the fruit. The coffee tree here begins to flower in the months of March and April, and the berry _ripens in the plains of San Jose in the months of November and December, strongiy resembling a wild cherry in form and appear- ance, beg covered with a similar sweet pulp. As soon as the crimson color assumed by the ripe fruit indi- cates the time for croppmg, numbers of men, women, and chil- dren are sent to gather the berry, which is piled in large heaps, to soften the pulp, for forty-eight hours, and then placed in tanks, through which a stream of water passes, when it is continually stirred, to free it from the outer pulp; after which it is spread out on a platform, with which every cofiee estate is furnished, to dry in the sun; but there still exists an inner husk, which, when per- fectly dry, is, m the smaller estates, removed by treading the berry under the feet of oxen; and im the larger, by water-mills, which bruise the berry slightly to break the husk, and afterwards sepa- rate it by fanners. The entire cost of producing a quintal (101 1-5 lbs. British) of coffee, including the keeping of the estate in order, cleaning and fanning the plants, and gathering and pre- paring the berries, is, at the present rate of wages (two rials, or about a shilling per day), calculated at two and a half dollars (equal to ten shillings); but the laborers are now hardly suf- ficient for working all the estates which are planted, so that the price may probably rise a little, though the present rate of pay- ment enables the natives to live much better than has been their wont. The coffee tree bears flowers only the second year, and its _ blossoms last only 24 hours. The returns of the third year are very abundant ; at an average, each plant yielding a pound and a- half or two pounds of coffee. : The price of coffee in San Jose during the months of February, March and April, after which none can generally be met with, was, in 1846, about 5 dollars cash per quintal, the duty (which is col- lected for the repairs of the read) one rial more, so that the spe- culator makes at least ten rials, or about 20 per cent., by pur- chasing and sending the coffee to the port, on his outlay and charges ; but it is often bartered for manufactured goods, and is also purchased before-hand, half being paid im imports and half in cash to the grower. The largest coffee estates of Costa Rica are possessed by the family of Montealegre and Don Juan Moira. The principal of these I have examined. They appear to be very carefully and judiciously managed, possessing good mills for cleaning and husking the coffee, worked by water power; and annually producing 500 tons. The entire produce of the year 1836, amounted to about 3,000 tons, and the crop of 1847 exceeded 4,000 tons, near which E 66 COFFEE. quantity it will probably continue, till the population gradually increases, the laborers, as already mentioned, being barely suf- ficient for the present cultivation. As the value at the present average price in the English market of 50s. a ewt., will give £200,000, the produce of the district will appear pretty con- siderable for a petty American State, possessing only 80,000 in habitants, and just emerging from a half-savage condition.—(Dun- lop’s “ Central America.’’) The cultivation of coffee on the plains of San Jose, in Costa Rica, according to Stephens, has increased rapidly within a few years. Seven years before, the whole crop was not more than 500 quintals, and in 1844 it amounted to 90,000. Don Mariano Montealegre is one of the largest proprietors there, and had three plantations in that neighbourhood. One, which Mr. Stephens visited, contained 27,000 trees, and he was preparing to make great additions the next year. He had ex- pended a large sum of money in buildings and machinery; and though his countrymen said he would ruin himself, every year he planted more trees. His wife, La Senora, was busily engaged in husking and drying the berries. In San Jose, by the way (he adds), all the ladies were what might be called good business-men, kept stores, bought and sold goods, looked out for bargains, and were particularly knowing in the article of coffee. The coffee at Surinam is suffered to grow in three stems from the root, and when one of them does not produce plenty of berries, it is cast away, and the best shoot in appearance next the root is allowed to grow in its room, ‘The trees are not permitted to rise higher than about five feet, so that the negroes can very easily pluck the berries, for gathering which there are two seasons, the one in May, or the beginning of June, and the other in October or the beginning of November. The berries are often plucked of unequal ripeness, which must greatly injure the quality ot the coffee. It is true when the coffee is washed, the berries which float on the water are separated from the others; but they are only those of the worst quality, or broken pieces, while the half-ripe beans remain at the bottom with the rest. Now, in the description I have given of the method of gathering coffee in Ara- bia, it is seen that the tree is suffered to grow to its natural height, and the berries are gathered by shaking the tree, and making them fall on mats placed for them. By this way the Arabians harvest only the beans perfectly ripe at the time, and which must give the coffee a more delicate flavor. A tree will yield each time on an averagetrom 1 lb. to 13 Jb. of coffee, when pulped and perfectly dried. An acre of land planted with coffee, when favored by the weather, becomes more profitable than when it is planted with sugar canes ; but its crops are always very precarious, as the blossoms, and even the berries, are sometimes damaged by the heavy rains, which are much less injurious to sugar canes; wherefore a planter feels himself best secured in his revenue, as soon as he can eultivate them both. COFFEE. 67 Nothing can exceed the beauty of the walks planted with coffee trees, from their pyramidical shape and from their glossy dark green leaves, shining with great brightness, amongst which are hanging the scarlet-coloured berries. Mr. Baird, in his “ Impres- sions of the West Indies,” thus speaks of a coffee plantation :— “¢ Anything in the way of cultivation more beautiful, or more fragrant, than a coffee plantation, I had not conceived; and oft did I say to myself, that if ever I became, from health and otherwise, a cuitivator of the soil within the tropics, I would cultivate the coffee plant, even though I did so irrespective altogether of the profit that might be derived from so doing. Much has been written, and not without justice, of the rich fragrance of an orange grove; and at home we ofttimes hear of the sweet odors of a bean-field. I have, too, often enjoyed in the Carse of Stirling, and elsewhere in Scotland, the balmy breezes as they swept over the latter, particularly when the sun had burst out, with unusual strength, after ashower of rain. I have likewise, in Martinique, Santa Cruz, Jamaica, and Cuba, inhaled the gales wafted from the orangeries ; but not for a moment would I compare either with the exquisite aromatic odors from a coffee plantation in full blow, when the hill-side—covered over with regular rows of the tree-like shrub, with their millions of jessamine-like flowers—showers down upon you, as you ride up between the plants, a perfume of the most delicately delicious description. ’Tis worth going to the West Indies to see the sight and inhale the perfume.” The decline in the quantities of coffee drawn from the West ‘Indies to supply the great demand, is manifest in the following summary of imports from those islands :— lbs. In 1828 they exported about : 30,000,000 1831 the imports from British West Indies were : 20,017,623 1841 Ditto Ditto : : 9,904,230 1850, the last year in which distinct accounts were kept 4,262,226 Decrease from 1831 : 15,755,398 Jamaica.—The coffee plant was first introduced into Jamaica by Sir Nicholas Lawes, in 1728, when it was cultivated on an estate called Temple Hall, in Liguanea, not far from Kingston. In 1752 there were exported 60, 000 lbs. ; andin 1775, 44,000lbs. Until 1788 little attention was paid to this product. In the four years end- ing 30th September, 1794, the average exportation of coffee was 1,603,066 lbs. ; in 1804 it amounted to 22,000,000 lbs. ; and during the three years ending 30th September, 1807, the average annual exportation was more than 28,500,000 lbs.; which, at £6 per ewt., its cost in Jamaica, produced more than £1,700,000. It is calcu- lated that £20,000,000 was invested in coffee estates. The coffee plant thrives in almost every soil about the mountains of Jamaica, aud in the very driest spots has frequently produced abundant crops. In 1844 there were 671 coffee plantations in the island. Coffee is grown in the vicinity of the Blue Mountain Peak ata height of 4,700 feet above the level of the sea, and some of the finest and most productive plantations are in this locality. The branches of a coffee tree, on Radnor estate, covered, in 1851, a space of thirteen feet in diameter, and the tree was about thirteen ears old. In 1789 Hayti exported 77,000,000 Ibs. of coffee, but in 1826 F 2 68 COFFEE. it had declined to 32,000,000 lbs., in 1887 it was 31,000,000 Ibs., and the shipments of this staple are now very inconsiderable. ~ In the West Indies, 1 speak principally of Jamaica, where my experience extended, the soil best adapted for the cultivation of coffee is found to be loose gravelly or stony. A rich black mould will produce a luxuriant bush, which will yield little fruit. Decomposing sandstone and slate, known in Jamaica as rotten rock, mixed with vegetable mould, is one of the most favorable soils. The subsoil should be also carefully examined by a boring augur, for a stiif moist clay, or marly bottom retentive of mois- ture, is particularly injurious to the plant. A dark, rusty-colored sand, or a ferruginous marl on a substratum of limestone, lulls the tree in a few. years. In virgin lands, atter the wood has been felled and cleared, the land is lined off into rows of from six to seven feet square, and at each square a hole is made about eight- teen inches deep, into which the young plant is placed and the earth plied gently about it, leaving from six to eight inches of the plant above ground. Nurseries for raising plants from seeds were formerly made, but for many years this has been neglected, and plantations are set out now from suckers which are drawn and trimmed of their roots, and cut about two feet long. ; The young plants require to be kept well clear from weeds, and four cleanings in the year may be deemed necessary, the plants which have failed must be supplied in order to ensure uni- formity of appearance. All manure, whether fiuid or solid, in warm climates should be applied in wet seasons, where it is not practicable to dig or turn it in to prevent the escape of its volatile and nutritive principles. ~ As respects situation, coffee thrives best on elevated situations, where the morning sun has most influence; and on lower moun- tains, where the temperature is higher, in situations facing the south-east, or where the sun does not act with such intensity. Low mountains, in which the thermometer ranges from 75 to 90 de- grees Fahr., as well as those exposed to sea breezes, are less suit- able for the cultivation of coffee than those districts where the temperature averages 65 to 80 degrees Fahr., and situated at higher elevations in the interior. Asa general rule, it may be asserted that the elevation best adapted for coffee is at an altitude ranging from. 2,000 to 4,000 feet, at a temperature from 70 to 75 degrees Fahr. A west or south-west aspect is the best, and the field should be well shel- tered from the the north breezes. As a general rule in planting in light soils and high temperatures, trees may be placed at the distance of four or five feet, while in stronger soils and lower temperatures the average distance would be from five to seven feet. Topping.—The young tree shoots out its lateral branches at each ot which follow in regular succession, till the tree attains the ‘height of about four feet six inches, when it is usual to top it down COFFEE, 69 to four feet. But care should be taken that the wood has ripened, which is known by its assuming a brown and hard appearance. This strengthens the vegetation of the branches, which begin to throw out buds, and these shortly form collateral branches ; in the course of eichteen months after the tree will have arrived at its bearing point. Trees, after being topped, throw off suckers, Which are called gormandizers, from each jomt, but more espe- cially at the head. They should be plucked off with care, but not cut, as the sap would flow more readily if cut. In pruning, one of the main objects ‘is the admission of a free circulation of air and light through the branches to the root of the tree. No general rules can be laid down for pruning; much must depend on judgment, experience, and a nice eye to ap- pearance and preservation of primary branches for bearing and ripening wood for the ensuing eats 3 well as to regulate and pro- portion the size of the tree tu the functions of the roots in supply- ing sustenance, and the convenience of picking the berries when ripe. Every old bough which has seen its day, every wilful shoot, growing In a wrong “direction, every fork, every cross branch or dead limb, must be ‘cut away. The blossoming, and ripening of the fruit varies according to the situation and temperature of the plantation. In low and hot situations, where the thermometer ranges from 78 to 90 degrees, the tree shows its first blossoms when about two-and-a-half years old. In higher and colder situations the tree will not blossom in profusion aati the fourth or fifth year. if there be hight showers the blossoms will continue on the tree for a week or more, and by the setting of the blossoms the planter can determine what germs will become fruit. The trees will blossom in low situations as early as March, but the April bloom is considered the most abundant. In higher elevations, the trees will bloom even so late as August or September. In warm climates the fruit advances as rapidly, and in a month will have attained the size of a pea; in more elevated and colder localities, it will take two months to arrive at this stage. The fruit will be ripe in from six to eight months after the blossom has set; it ripens in warm districts about the month of August, while in others the crop will not be mature till February. An aere will usually contain 1,200 trees in Jamaica, and the produce would be about 400 lbs. of coffee an acre; or six ounces as the produce of each tree annually. In some instances, but very seldom, one pound a tree may be obtained. A bushel of cherry coffee will produce about ten or twelve pounds of merchantable coffee. The cofiee berry, after being pulped and soaked for a day and night to free it from the mucilage, is spread out on barbacues to dry; im ten or twelve days, if the weather has been good, it will be sufficiently cured for the peeling mill. Mr. W. H. Marah, of Jamaica, in a Prize Essay on the Cultiva- tion and Manufacture of Coffee in that Island, published in my “ Colonial Magazine,’ makes some useful remarks :— 70 : COFFEE. _ The manufacture of this staple commodity, with a view to its improvement in quality, is a subject which demands our serious attention ; and when we ob- serve the vast importance and pecuniary advantage which accrue upon the slightest, shade of improvement either in colour or appearance, it becomes the more imperative on us to use all those means which are available, im order to place ourselves on a footing with the foreign grower. It is true that we are unable to enter the contest with the East Indian or slave cultivator, from the abundance and cheapness of labour which is placed at their command; but by means of our skill and assiduity, we can successfully compete with them by the manufacture of superior produce. To this portion of plantation management I have given an attentive inquiry, and shall stiortly proceed to state my views on the system best adapted to the curing and preparing for market of good quality produce. The fruit should be gathered in when in a blood-ripe state, to all appearance like cherries. The labourers are principally accustomed to reap the crop in baskets, of which they carry two to the field; and when the coffee is bearing heavily, and is at its full stage of ripeness, the good pickers will gather in four bushels per diem, and carry the same on their heads to the works. The fruit is then measured and thrown into a loft above the pulper in a heap. It should be submitted to the first process of machinery, the pulper, within twenty-four hours after, if not immediately; but it not unfrequently happens that the manager is unable to pulp his coffee for two and sometimes three days, by which time fermentation ensues, and it becomes impossible after pulping to wash off the mucilage, which rather adheres to the outer envelope of the berry, and gives the produce what is termeda ‘‘red” or ‘‘ blanketty’’ appearance when spread out on the barbacues. The’ produce is let down by means of a small hole eut into the floor of the loft, or a floating box, into the hopper of the pulper, and by means of a grater forcing the fruit against the chops, the berries are dislodged from the pulp and fall upon a sieve, “which being shaken by the machinery, lets the berries fall into the cistern, whilst the grater catches the pulp and carries it backwards at each evolution of the roller, around which it is encircled. The fruit which might have passed through without being more than half squeezed, and having only ejected one berry, is then returned (after being shaken off by the sieve) into the hopper, to undergo the process a second time. The pulped coffee is then permitted to remain in the cistern for a day anda night, during which period it undergoes | a process of fermentation; it is then washed out in two or three waters, and the whole of the mucilaginous stuff which had risen from the berry by the fermentation is entirely washed off, and the coffee presents a beautiful white appearance. From this the produce is turned out to drain on a barbacue, sloped so es to throw all the water to the cenire, where a drain is placed to carry it all off. In an hour or so after, the coffee may be removed to the barbacues for curing; it is there spread out thinly and exposed to the sun, which, if shining strong, will in eight or nine hours absorb all the water, and the coffee be fit for “housing that day. I say fit for housing, because I have repeatedly seen coffee washed out early in the morning and put up the same evening. I cannot say I approve of the system, though in fine weather it has been attended with success. From the time the coffee is first exposed to the sun till the silver skin starts, is the stage, Im my opmmion, during which the produce suffers most injury. In the fifst instance, it should be kept constantly turned, in order to get the water ab- sorbed as early as possible; and after it has been housed, the greatest precaution should be taken to prevent its heating: and it is for this reason that I disap- prove of early housing, for if wet weather should intervene, and the coffee cannot be turned out, it is sure to get heated. From this neglect I have seen a perfect steam issuing from the house in the morning when the doors have been opened ; and I have known, as a natural consequence, the adhesion cf the silver skin to the berry so firm, that it could not be removed by a sharp penknife without slicing the berry. In a succession of wet weather the produce has remained on the barbacues for several weeks, without the slightest advance in curing; and, unless it be COFFEE. Tt “frequently turned while in this wet state, it is sure to germinate; the berries first . swell, then a thin white spire issues from the seam, and on opening the berry the young leaves will be actually seen formed inside, so rapid is the course of vegetation. I am of opinion that coffee should not be housed till the silver skin begins to start, when no danger can ensue; for if a few wet days should intervene, by turning the coffee over in the house, and allowing a current of air to pass through it, it will keep for weeks. It is at this stage that the parchment skin begins to show itself, for at first it adheres to the inner kernel, but the heat of the sun starts it from i its hold and it separates; thus, on shaking a handful of the produce it will be heard to rattle, a sure indication that the silver skin has risen from the bean, without even threshing it to ascertain the fact. The bean is perfectly white till the silver skin starts; it then begins gradually to assume the dark, or what is called the half-cured appearance. A good day’s strong sun will then half cure it, and by subsequent exposure the produce takes another stage, and gradually loses the half-cured, and assumes a blue colour ; and when the produce is properly cured and fit for the mill, not the slightest dark spot will be percep- * tible in the bean, but it will exhibit a horny blue colour, It is within my observation that coffee has been gathered from the field on the Monday, and prepared for market on the Saturday, in a spell of dry weather; but I have known it also to lie on the barbacues for as many weeks in contrary weather, before it had gone through the same ordeal. With good weather and smooth terraces whereon to cure, nothing but gross ignorance and unpardonable carelessness can produce a bad quality of coffee. The difficulty arises in wet weather, when one’s skill and assiduity is called into action to save the produce from being spoiled. After coffee has been half-cured, the putting it up hot at an early period of the day has the effect of curing it all night. I have noticed produce housed in this manner, and requiring another day’s exposure to fit it for the mill, found perfectly cured next morning. The barbacues should be kept in good order—all ruts and holes neatly patched every crop, for to them and other roughness ses is to be attributed the peeling of the berries, their being scratched, and various injuries which the produce sustains, And while on the subject oF Works,” I cannot help noticing the extreme care- lessness and inattention which, on visiting properties, the works and buildings present to our view. It is utterly impcssible to manufacture good produce un- less the machinery and buildings are kept in good order; and the parsimony which is thus displayed in this necessary outlay is fallacious, when one thinks of the result of one or two shillings per 100 lbs. lost on a crop through this neglect. When the coftee is perfectly cured—which is generally ascertained by thresh- ing out a few berries in one’s hands, and seeing if it has attained its horny blue colour—-it is then fit for milling, which is the second process of machinery which it has to undergo. Here the parchment and silver skins are dislodged from the berry, by means of the fricticn of a large roller passing over the produce in a wooden trough. It is then taken out of the trough, and submitted to the fanner or Winnowing machine, when the trash is all blown away, and the coffee, pass ing through two or three sieves, comes away perfectly clean and partially sized. From this it is again sieved in order to size it properly, hand-picked, put into bags, and sent on mules’ backs to the wharf. It is then put into tierces and sold in the Kingston market, or shipped to Britain. A variety of circumstances tend to injure the quality of the coffee, which it is beyond human agency to control. Dry weather intervening at the particular period when the berry i is getting full, subjects it to be stinted and shrivelled ; and strong dry breezes happening at the same period, will cause an adhesion of the silyer skin which the ordinary process of curing and manufacture will not remove. Late discoveries in the latter have, however, shown the possibility of divesting the produce of that silvery appearance, when brought about under the foregoing circumstances. It is almost unnecessary to state that this improve- ment in manufacture refers to the inventions of Messrs. Myers and Meacock, whose respective merits have already undergone public revision. In reference to Mr. Myers’ plan of immersing coffee in warm watcr, I may be allowed to G2 COFFEE. state that it has come under my own observation, that produce which had pre- viously been heated through some carelessness in the curing, subsequently was exposed to a slight sprinkling of rain, and when ground out and fanned, was found to have lost its silvery appearance. To the invention of Mr. Meacock, a preference has, however, been given, in consequence of the impression that the produce thus immersed in water will absorb a portion of the Hquid, which will deteriorate its quality in its passsage across the Atlantic. Several gentlemen have shipped coftee submitted to this process to England, but I have not learnt the result. It appears very manifest that a great deal might be done in the way of machinery, to relieve produce of that silvery or foxy appearance which is so prejudicial to its value in the British market, and which appearances might accrue from a variety of incidents to which all plantations are more or less subject. i manifest preference is given in the leading European markets to coffee which has gone through the pulping and washing process; but, strange to say, the consumers of this beverage are totally ignorant of the fact , that the pro- duce which is cured in the pulp furnishes a “stronger decoction than an equal quantity of the same which has undergone the other process. Many persons are of opinion that the mucilaginous substance which is washed off in pulping is absorbed by the bean when cured in the pulp, and which gives strength to the produce and enhances its aromatic flavour. On most properties it “has been customary to cure the remnants of the crop in this way, for the use of the plantation; and it has been well noticed by great epicures in the flavour cf the decoction, that the coffee thus cured produced the strongest and best beverage.” Trinidad.—The coffee plant does not succeed well in Trinidad, the tree giving but little fruit, and Denes at the end of ten or twelve years; though the article is always of a superior quality, and has the advantage over that of Martinique and the other Antilles of not requiring age to produce an agreeable beverage. It is from the fault and obstinate attachment to old habits of the planters, that this cultivation has not been more successful in Trinidad. Because coftee trees thrive in St. Domingo, Guadaloupe, Dominica, St. Lucia and Martinique, on the hills, they had con- cluded that it would te the same in. Trinidad; without noticing that the hills of that island are composed only of sehistus covered with gravel, on which lies a light layer of vegetative earth, that the rain washes away after some years of cultivation ; whilst the hills of the Antilles, much more high and cool, are cov ered with a deep bed of earth, nae is retained by enormous blocks cf stone, that at the same time maintain humidity and freshness. WVigsets! Branbrun, of Tacarigua, and Don Juan de Arestimuno, of Cariaco, worthy and intelligent planters, some years ago adopted the plan of planting coffee trees on the plains, m the manner cacao trees are planted, that is, in the shade of the Hrythrina, and this mode of cultivation has perfectly succeeded. Tt is to be hoped that their success will encourage the cultivation of this valuable tree in the united provinces of Venezuela, and in those parts of Trimidad which were deemed untavorable to it from the too great dryness of the climate. in 1796, the year preceding its capture, there were 1380 coffee Ee ors in Trinidad, which produced 330,000 lbs. of coffee. Tn 1802 , the produce had slightly inereased to 358,660 Ibs., but there were two plantations less. ™ COFFEE. 73 In the island of Grenada, according to the returns made to the local Treasury of the staple products raised, while there were 64,654 1bs. made in 1829, the quantity had deer eased to 13 5651 lbs. in 1837. The colony of British Gutenn was formerly noted for its produce of coffee. The following figures mark the decline of the culture of this staple, showing the exports in Dutch pounds :-— Demerara and Essequibo. Berbice. 1834 ae 1,102,200 sighs 1,429,800 1835 Sse 1,289,080 asnaite 1,979,850 1836 ee ee 2,117,230 cies 2,684,100 1837 ai ao 1,849,650 digas 2,217,300 1838 ee 2,486,240 Wied se 1,700,550 1839 eae BELO OS Bre. oa ey 1,255,800 1840 Sonor 1,531,350 Aare 1,825,950 1841 Hees: 568,920 Seo 519,750 1842 Pee 1,372,650 oe © 804,470 1843 Sa 428,800 a eee 999,300 1844 : : 716, 137 seer 774,600 Thus the exports of the colony which in 1836 were 4,801,350 Ibs., had declined in 1844 to 1,490,737; whilst in 1831 we ‘reecived from British Guiana 3,576,754 Ibs. of coffee, in 1850 we only received 8,472 lbs. There are about 500 acres under cultivation with coffee in St. Lucia. The exports, which in 1840 were 323,820 Ibs., had declined, in 1844, to 58,834 lbs. The British West Indies exported to Great Britain, in 1829 and 1850, the following quantities of coffee :— 1829. 1850. lbs. lbs. Jamaica . : . 18,690,654 a 4,156,210 Demerara : : 4,680,118 = herwe: Berbice . : : ; 2,482,898 3 698 Trinidad : 3 ; 73,667 = 96,376 Dominica : : : 949,114 % 792 St. Lucia : : 303,499 ie 39 _ Cuba.—For the ise valuable remarks and details of coffee culture in Cuba, | am Gdeh ied to Dr. Turnbull’s “Travels in the West: ’— At the period of the breaking out of the French revolution, the cultivation of cottee could scarcely be said to have reached the South American continent ; so that till then its cultivation was in a great measure confined to Arabia and the Caribbean Archipelago. Its extreme scarcity during the war enhanced its price so enormously, that on the first announcement of peace in 1814, the plants were multiplied to infinity, and cottee plantations were formed in every possible situation—on the Coste Firme of South America, along the Brazilian shores of that continent, and even at some points on the coast of Southern Africa. To show the extreme rapidity with which the cultivation has been extended, take the statistical returns of La Guayra, the chief port of the State of Venezuela, from whence the whole export of coffee in the year 1789 was not more than ten tons; and of late years from that port alone, and in spite of the internal disunions of the country, it has reached the enormous quantity of 2,500 tons. In the Isle of Bourbon (now Reunion), and the Mauritius and Ceylon, the planters have also applied themselves to this branch of industry ; it ‘has been prosecuted successfully in our Eastern Possessions, and the French government, 74, COFFEE. not content with the natural influence of the universal demand for it, have been endeavouring to stimulate the production by means of premiums and other arti- ficial advanteges. In forming a coffee plantation, the choice of situation and soil becomes a con- sideration of the first importance. A very high temperature is by no means a favourable condition. Ifa spot could be found where the range of the Fahren- heit thermometer did not sink below 75 degrees, nor rise above 80 degrees, and where the soil was otherwise suitable, no planter could desire a more favourable situation. In the mountainous islands of Jamaica and St. Demingo, the nearest approach to this temperature is found where the elevation is not less than 2,000, and not more than 3,000 feet above the level of the sea; and it is most success- fully cultivated in the two islands I haye named. The Island of Cuba being much less mountainous, but at the same time being nearer the tropical limit, the planter in seeking the degree of heat he requires is forced to confine him- self in a great measure to the northern side of the island, where, accordingly, we find that the cultivation of coffee is most successfully carried on, The vicinity of the cafetal to a convenient place of embarecation, enters largely, of course, intv the consideration of the planter when choosing a suitable locality. A compact form is also thought desirable, in order to save the time and labour of the negroes; and the ordinary extent is about six caballerias, or something less than 200 English acres. The locality being finally chosen, such open places are formed or selected, from distance to distance, as may be found most suitable, in respect to shade and moisture, for the establishment of convenient nurseries. ‘The fruit which has been gathered in the beginning of the month of October, and which has been dried in the shade, is preferred tor seed. The seed is sown in drills half a yard asunder, and introduced, two beans together, by means of a dibble, into holes two inches deep and ten or twelve inches apart. The extent of one of these nurseries is generally about 100 yards square, which, with such intervals as I have mentioned, ought to contain about 60,000 plants. A quarter of a caballeria, or about-eight English acres, is usually set apart, in a central and convenient position, for the site of the buildings, and for grow- ing provisions for the use of the labourers on the future plantation. In favour- able seasons it is found that heavier crops are obtained from coffee trees left wholly unshaded; but, in the average of two years, it seems to be settled, in the island of Cuba at least, that a moderate degree of protection from the scorch- ing rays of the sun produces a steadier, and, upon the whole, a more advanta- geous return. The distribution of the land into right-angled sections, and the planting of the trees in straight lines, 1s so contrived as to favour the future supervision of the labourers much more than from any strict attention to mere symmetry. The distance of the trees from each other ought to be regulated by the quality of the soil, and the degrees of heat and shade they are to enjoy. The ranges from north to south are usually four yards apart, and those from east to west not more than three; but the lower the temperature the wider should be the interval, because in that case the vegetation is more active and more rapid, and the tree requires a wider space over which to extend itself. The best season for planting the trees is the middle of the month of May, if there be then a suflicient degree of moisture; but the operation is often per- formed successfully during the rainy month of October; subject always to the risk, however, of serious injury to the young plantation from the north winds which prevail at that advanced season of the year. ‘The holes prepared to re- ceive the plants are eighteen inches in diameter, and about two feet deep. In the island of Cuba there are two rival modes of planting the coffee tree. The one is called “‘ la siembra a la mota;’’ the other ‘‘la siembra a la estaca.”’ By the method “a la mota,” a circle is formed around the plantin the nursery, and care is taken to remove it without disturbing the earth around the roots. The plants are then placed carefully in willow baskets, prepared for the purpose, and carried to the holes already opened for their reception; gathering up the earth around the stem, and pressing it carefully down with the foot, in such a manner as to form a basin or filter for the reception of the rain-water, and for COFFEE, 79 suffering it to percolate among the roots, and also to provide a convenient place of deposit for the subsequent application of manure. The ‘‘siembra a la estaca’’ is differently executed. Such plants are selected from the nursery as are of the thickness of the little finger, or from that to an inch in diameter. In withdrawing them from the ground, great care is taken not to injure or compress the bulbs or buttons within eight or ten inches of the level of the soil, because these are to serve for the production of fresh roots when the “ estaca”’ is afterwards planted more deeply in its permanent position. The greater part of the capillary roots are cut away with a knife; but a few, together with the principal root, are suffered to remain from four to six inches long. In planting them, from three to four inches of the trunk are left above ground. The little basin of earth for the reception and filtration of the rain- water, is not so large in the stake system of planting as in that with the clod of earth ‘‘a la mota;’” but if the soil be poor, it must be proportionably enlarged to admit the application of the necessary quantity of manure. The stake system, requiring much less labour than the other, is generally preferred ; but when there is abundance of shade to protect the young plant from drought, and always, of course, in replacing the decayed trees of an old planta- tion, it is considered more desirable to remove the whole plant, its roots and branches entire, with as much as possible of the adhering soil from the nursery, according to the system ‘‘a la mota.” In the third or fourth year of the plantation, the trees, according to the best system of husbandry, are pruned down to the height of three feet from the ground on the richest soil, and still lower in proportion to its sterility. All the branches which are not as nearly as possible at right angles with the trunk, are likewise removed by the pruning-knite, so that in the following spring the whole stem is covered with fresh shoots. By this operation the power of nature seems to be exhausted, as for that year the trees in general bear no fruit ; but in sub- sequent seasons the lass is amply repaid by a crop often greater than the branches can support, or than the flow of nourishment is always able to bring to full size and maturity. The machinery for removing the external pulp of the coffee-bean is seldom of a very perfect description in this island, and the loss sustained in consequence is often yery considerable. It is almost uniformly moved by the power of horses or oxen, working in a gin, and the name it bears is that of the Descerecador. The Barbecues, when the coffee is laid out to dry, are called indiscriminately Tendales or Secadores. They are more numerous and of smaller dimensions than is customary in the British colonies, where a single barbecue, laid down with tiles or plaster, is considered sufficient for a whole estate. The warehouse for receiving the crop and preserving the coffee after it is put into bags and ready for the market, is generally of such limited dimensions as to be barely sufficient for the purposes for which it is designed; so that, when the harvest has been abundant, or when anything has occurred to interfere with the despatch of what is ready for removal, the constant accumulation is attended with serious inconvenience. In fact, the occupation of the coffee planter has been for some time on the decline in the island, owing to the superior rate of profit derived from the making of sugar; and everything re- minds you of it, the moleno de pilar, the aventador, and the separador, down to the humblest implement of husbardry on the estate. The gathering of the fruit commences in Cuba in August; but November and December are the most active and important months of the harvests. The labourers are sent out with two baskets each, one large, the other small. Every labourer has a file of coffee trees assigned to him; the large basket he leaves near the place where his work is to begin; the other he carries with him to receive the berries from the trees; and as often as it is full he empties it into the large one. The baskets are made of rushes, willows, or bamboo; and the large one is of such a size that three of them ought to fill the barrel, without top or bottom, which serves the purposes of a measure at the Zendal or Secador. Three baskets, or one barrel-measure, of the newly-gathered coffee berry, ought to produce thirty pounds after the process of drying, the removal of the 76 COFFEE. pulp, and the final preparation for the market. When there is a sufficient number, or a sufficient space of Barbecues or Secadors, sixty or seventy barrels only are put together; but from want of room it often happens that the quantity amounts to a hundred barrels. In either case, the whole is gathered into two great heaps, and in this state it is allowed to remain for four-and- twenty hours, in order to subject. it to a certain degree of fermentation. After this, it is spread out to dry over the whole surface of the Barbecue, and until it is sufficiently so, it remains there uncovered day and night. When the dessication is found to be far enough advanced, it is no longer exposed during the night; nor even during the day, if the weather be damp or uniaverable. ‘he sub- sequent operations are certainly not better, probably not so well, conducted as in our own West India possessions. In the fourth year, it is presumed that the agricultural produce of the land, and the first returns of coffee, should be sufficient to meet all the current ex- penses. At the end of the fifth year there ought to be forty thousand coffee _ trees four years old on the estate, 60,000 of three years, and 100,000 of two and one year, the produce of which ought to be at least 400 quintals, which, at a moderate estimate, st ould be worth 2,400 dollars. Thus the calculation goes on until we arrive at the end of the seventh year, when the estate ought to be’ in full bearing: The returns are estimated at 3,000 arrobas, or 750 quintals, which, at eight dollars per quintal delivered free on board, make 6,000 dollars. The minor products of the estate, such as Indian corn, pigs, and oil, are given at 1,130 dollars, making the gross returns 7,130 dollars; and, after deducting the annual expenses, leaving 6,300 dollars as the regular return on the capital in- vested, which, having been about 40,000 dollars, gives about thirteen per cent. ; not certainly to be considered extravagant in a country where twelve per cent. is the regular rate of interest. ‘The produce of coffee from each section is given at 400 arrobas, or 3,590 arrobas for the whole of the nine sections. The average price of coffee, free of the expense of carriage, is assumed to be two dollars the arroba, or eight dollars per quintal, which would give a return of 7,200 dollars, besides the repayment of the rent by the colonists. The cultivation of coffee has been falling off in Cuba for several years past, the crops it is asserted being £00 precarious there, and the prices too low to encourage the continuance of planting. On the northern side of the island is where this decrease is most per- ceptible, several of the largest estates having been converted to the growth of sugar and tobacco, others abandoned to serve as pasture fields, and the very few remaining yielding less and less every yeat. Henceforward the culture of this berry here is likely to be very insignificant, and not many years will elapse before the mount pr oduced will mer ely suffice for the local consumption. About St. Jago de Cuba the cultivation is more attended to, the article forming still their principal export. Taking five quinquen- nial periods, the following figures show the average annual exports cf coffee :-— arrobas. 1826 to 1880 Siik ak Mies haere en Dee a ener ae 1,718,865 1880°2: USSR ee OE A oe oo eases 11835") SASA0 ih 2 ean a) ee a ee ees 1841 ,, 1846 Siaes RM Pa bemh Pec ome Ce came 25 be 1,887,444 1846 ,, 1851 Z ie LIRR ee L ey y 768,244 The better to exhibit fine ORS ease of production throughout the island, I may state that the export from 1839 to 1841 melusive, was in the aggregate 1,332,221 quintals ; 1842 to 1844, inclusive, was in the aggregate ] 217, ,666 quintals ; 1845 to 1847, inclusive, was in the aggregate but 583,208 quintals. The exports of coflee COFFEE. vii for the whole island, were, in 1840, 2,197,771 arrobas; in 1841, 1,260,9203 arrobas. In 1847 there were 2,064 plantations under cultivation with coffee in Cuba, in 1846 there were only 1,670. The production of 1849 was 1,470,754 arrobas, valued at 2,206,131 dollars. From the year 1841 to 1846, the average yearly production was 45,236,100 lbs. ; but from 1846 to 1851, it was only 19,206,100 Ibs. ; showing a falling off of 72 per cent.; the production still further decreased in 1851, it being only 13,004,350 lbs., or 1.52 per cent. less than the preceding year. This enormous decline in the pro- duction of coffee has been caused by the low price of the article in the markets of Europe and the United States, coupled with the more remunerative price of sugar, during the same period ; causing capitalists rather to invest money in the formation of new sugar estates. As a consequence, many coffee plantations have been turned imto cane cultivation; or, being abandoned, the slaves attached thereto were sold or leased to sugar planters. The following is private information from a correspondent :— “We generally plant about 200,000 trees within a space of 500 fect, choosing the strongest soil. I have adopted a different system from the one generally in use here, for they usually plant the trees too near each other. I find by giving them space and air, that the plant develops itself and yields more beans. It is very important to protect the trees from the rays of the sun, for which purpose I lant bananas at intermediate rows; their broad leaves, like parasols, shed a delightful shade round the coffee plant, and tend to accumulate the moisture which strengthens the roots of the young tree. When the tree is about two years old the top branches are lopped off for the purpose of throwing the sap into the bean. Some planters cut the trees so short, that they do not allow them to stand more than five or six feet above the ground; but I allow mine to attain greater height prior to lopping them, whereby they produce larger crops. Nor doI allow my negroes to beat the trees, or force them to pluck a certain quantity a day, for I discovered that they picked the ripe and unripe beans indiscriminately—frequently injuring the trees. I only allow them to shake the tree, and pick up the beans that have fallen during the night.” Coffee exports from the ports of Havana and Matanzas, in Cuba, for the years ending December in Quintals. Quintals. 1839 mcrae 344,725 1845 ieee 42,409 1840 hate 402,135 1846 De. 65,045 1841 arse 212,767 1847 Aes 106,904 1842 lied 314,191 1848 Shs 31,674 1843 ilps 223,265 1849 spa 92,974 1844 186,349 1852 Re 42,510 Porto Rico exported 85,384 cwt. of coffee in 1839. Africa.—Cottee will require some four years to grow before it will give to the cultivator any income, but it should be known that after that time the tree, with little or no labor bestowed on it, will yield two crops a year. The quality of coffee grown in the republic of Liberia, on the western coast of Africa, is pro- nounced by competent judges to be equal to any in the world. In numerous instances, trees full of coffee, are seen at only three years old. 214 casks and bags of coffee were imported from the western coast of Africa in 1846. 78 COFFEE. Coffze, it has been proved, can be cultivated with great ease to any extent in the republic of Liberia, being indig=nous to the soil, and found in great abundance. It bears fruit from thirty to forty years, and yields 10 lbs. to the shrub yearly! A single tree in the garden of Colonel Hicks, a colonist at Monrovia, is “said to have yielded the enormous quantity of 16 lbs. at one eathering. Judge Benson, in 1850, had brought 25 acres under cultivation, and many others had also devoted themselves to raising coffee. It was estimated there were about 30,000 coffee trees planted in one of the counties, that of Grand Bassa, and the quality of the produce was stated to be equal to the best Java. About the villages and settlements of the Sherbro river, and Sierra Leone, wild coffee-trees are very abundant. In several parts of the interior, the natives make use of che shrub to fence their plantations. Coffee has been successfully grown at St. Helena, of an excel- lent quality, and might be made an article of export. Portugal sent to the Great Exhibition, in 1851, a very valuable series of coffees from many of her colonies; of ordinary descrip- tion from St. Thomas; tolerably good from the Cape de Verd islands; bad from Timor; worse “(but curious from the very small size of the berry) from “Mozambique ; good from Angola; and excellent from Madeira. Aden, alias Mocha coffee, is, along with the other coffees of the Red Sea, sent first to Bombay by Arab ships, where it is “ gar- belled,’’ or picked, previously to its bemg exported to England. An excellent sample of coffee, apparently of the Barbera (Abyssinia) variety, was contributed to the Great Exhibition from Norfolk Island. Jt was of good color, well adapted for roasting, and a most desirable novelty from that quarter. . Dr. Gardner, of Ceylon, has taken out a patent for preparing the coffee leaf in a manner to afford a beverage like tea, that is by infusion, “ forming an agreeable refreshing “and nutritive article of diet.’’ An infusion of the coffee-leaf has long been an article of universal consumption amongst the natives of parts of Suma- tra; wherever the coffee is grown, the leaf has become one of the necessaries of life, which the natives regard as indispensable. The coffee-plant, in a congenial soil and climate, exhibits great luxuriance in its foliage, throwing out abundance of suckers and lateral stems, especially when from any cause the main stem is thrown out of the perpendicular, to which it is very lable from its great superincumbent weight compared with the hold of its root in the ground. The native planters, availing themselves of this propensity, often give this plant a considerable inclination, not only to increase the foliage, but to obtain new fruit-bearing stems, when the old ones become unproductive. It 1s also found desirable to limit the height of the plant by lopping off the top to increase the produce, and facilitate the collecting it, and fresh sprouts in abundance are the certain consequence. These are so many causes of the development of a vegetation which becomes COFFEE. om injurious to the quantity of the fruit or berry unless removed ; and when this superabundant foliage can be converted into an article of consumption, as hitherto the case in Sumatra, the culture must become the more profitable; and it is clearly the interest of the planters of Ceylon to respond to the call of Dr. Gardner, and by supplying the leaf on reasonable terms, to assist in creating a demand for an article they have in abundance, and. which for the want of that demand is of no value to them. It ought to be mentioned also, that the leaves which become ripe and yellow on the tree and fall off in the course of nature, contain the largest portion of extract, and make the richest infusion; and I have no doubt, should the coffee leaf ever come into general use, the ripe leaf will be collected with as much care as the ripe fruit. The mode of the preparation by the natives is this. The ends of the branches and suckers, with the leaves on, are taken from the tree and broken into lengths of from twelve to eighteen inches. These are arranged in the split of a stick or small bamboo, side by side, forming a truss in such a manner, that the leaves all appear on one side, and the stalk on the other, the object of which 1s to secure equal roasting, the stalks bemg thus exposed to the fire together, and the leaves together. The slit being tied up in two or three places, and a part of the stick or bamboo left as a handle, the truss is held over a fire without smoke, and kept moving about, so as to roast the whole equally, without burning, on the success of which operation the quality and flavor of the article must depend. When successfully roasted, the raw vegetable taste is entirely dissipated, which is not the case if insufficiently done. When singed or overdone, the extract is destroyed and the aroma lost. When the fire is smoky, the flavor varies with the nature of the smoke. The stalks are roasted equally with the leaves, and are said to add fully as much to the strength of the infusion. By roasting the whole becomes brittle, and is reduced to a coarse powder by rubbing between the hands. In this state it is ready for use, and the general mode of preparing the beverage is by infusion, as in the case of common tea. That it would soon become a most valuable article of diet amongst the laboring classes, and on ship board particularly, if once brought into use, there can be no doubt. The coftee-tree can be grown to advantage for the leaf in the lowlands of every tropical country, where the soil is sufficiently fertile, whilst it re- quires a different soil and climate to produce the fruit *. Dr. Hooker, in the Jury Reports, observes upon the prepared coffee leaves, submitted by Dr. Gardner, of Ceylon, to be used as tea leaves, that they are worthy of notice as affording a really palatable drink when infused as tea is; more so, perhaps, than coffee isto the uninitiated. That this preparation contains a con- siderable amount of the nutritious principles of coffee, is evident from the analysis; but as the leaves can only be collected ina * Correspondent of the Singapore Free Press, December, 1852, 80 TEA. good state at the expense of the coffee bush, it is doubtful whether the coffee produced by the berries be not, after all, the cheapest, as it certainly is the best TEA. THE immense traffic in the produce of this simple shrub, the growth of a remarkable country, hitherto almost entirely isolated from the western nations, is one of the most remarkable illus- trations of the enterprise ‘and energy of modern commerce. The trade in tea now gives employment 1 to upwards of 60,000 tons of British shipping, and about ten millions sterling of English capi- tal, producing a revenue to this country of nearly six millions ster- ling. Every reflecting man will admit that articles of such vast con- sumption as tea and coffee (amounting together to more than 343,500 tons annually), forming the chief liquid food of whole natious, must exercise a great influence upon the health of the people. There is scarcely any country in the world in which a dietetic drink or beverage resembling tea, is not prepared, and in general use, from some exotic or indigenous shrub. The two chief plants laid under contribution are, however, the Chinese tea-plant, and a species of holly peculiar to South America, producing the Para- ) cuay tea. Astoria theiformis is used at Santa Fe as tea. The leaves of Canothus Americanus, an astringent herb, have been used as a substitute, under the name of New Jer sey tea, Tt has been a matter of surprise why tea should be so much sought after by the poorer classes, since by many it is looked on more as a luxury than of use to the human system. The manner in which it acts, and the cause why it is so much in demand by all classes, is satisfactorily explained by Tiebig ; and the benefit, therefore, which will be conferred by selling it at a low rate, and thus placing it within the weans of all, has at last come to be duly appreciated. Liebig says, without entering minutely into the medical action of caffeine, theine, &e., it will “surely appear a most striking fact, even if we were to deny its influence on the process of secretion, that the substance, with the addition of exygen and the elements of water, can yield taurine, the nitro- genised compound peculiar to bile :— Carbon. Nitrogen. Hydrogen. Oxygen. 1 atom caffeine or theine . —= 8 F 2 9 atoms water = 9 9 9 atoms oxygen = Q = 2 atoms taurine . 8 2 14 20 = 2 4 9 10 To see how the action of caffeine, theobromine, theine, &e., may be explained, we must call to mind that the chief constituent of TEA. 81 the bile contains only 3.8 per cent. of nitrogen, of which only the half, or 1.9 per cent., belongs to the taurine; bile contains, in its natural state, water and solid matter, in the proportion of ninety parts by weight of the former, to ten of the latter. If we sup- pose these ten parts, by weight of solid matter, to be chloric acid, with 3.87 per cent. of nitrogen, then 100 parts of theine would contain 0.171 of nitrogen in the shape of taurine. Now this quantity is contained in 0.6 parts of theine, or 2 grains 8.10ths of theine can give to an ounce of bile the nitrogen it contains im the form of taurine. Although an infusion of tea contains no more than the one- tenth of a grain of theine, still, if it contribute in point of fact to the formation of bile, the action even of such a quantity can- not be looked upon as a nullity. Neither can it be denied, that in the case of an excess of non-azotised food, and a deficiency of motion, which is required to cause the change of matter of the tissues, and thus to yield the nitrogenised product which enters into the composition of the bile, that in such a condition the health may be benefited by the use of compounds which are capable of supplying the place of the nitregenised substances pro- duced in the healthy state of the body, and essential to the pro- duction of an important element of inspiration. In a chronical sense, and it is this alone which the preceding remarks are in- tended to show, caffeine, or theine, &c., are, in virtue of their com- position, better adapted to this purpose than all nitrogenised ve- getable principles. The action of these substances in ordinary circumstances is not obvious, but it unquestionably exists. Tea and coffee were originally met with among nations whose diet was chiefly vegetable. Considerable discussion has taken place regarding the tea plants; some say that there is only one species ; others that there are two or three. Mr. Fortune, who visited the tea districts of Canton, Fokien, and Chekiang, asserts that the black and green teas of the northern districts of China are obtained from the same species or variety, known under the name of Thea Bohea. Some make the Assam tea a different species, and thus recognise three: T. Cantoniensis or Bohea, T. Viridis, and T. Assamica. The qua- lity of the tea depends much on the season when the leaves are picked, the mode in which it is prepared, as well as the district in which it grows. The green teas include Twankay, Young Hyson, Hyson, Gunpowder, and Imperial; while the black comprise Bohea, Congou, Souchong, Oolong, and Pekoe. The teas of cer- tain districts, such as Anhoi, have peculiar characters. The first tea imported into England was a package of two pounds, by the Hast India Company, in 1664, as a present to the king; in 1667, another small importation took place, from the company’s factory at Bantam. The directors ordered their ser- vants to “send home by their ships 100 pounds weight of the best tey they could get.” In 1678 were imported 4,713 lbs. ; but in the six following years the entire imports amounted to no more G S82 TRA. than 410lbs. According to Milburn’s “ Oriental Commerce,” the consumption in 1711 was 141,995 lbs.; 120,595 Ibs. in 1715, and 237,904 ibs. in 1720. In 1745 the amount was 730,729 lbs. For above a century and a half, the sole object of the East India Company’s trade with China was to provide tea for the consump- tion of the United Kingdom. The company had the exclusive trade, and were bound to send orders for tea, and to provide ships to import the same, and always to have a year’s consumption mm their warehouses. The teas were disposed of in London, where only they could be imported, at quarterly sales. The act of 1834, however, threw open the trade to China. From a Parliamentary return, showing the quantity of tea re- tained for home consumption in the United Kingdom, in each year, from 1740 to the termination of the East India Company’s sales, and thence to the present time, it appears that m 1740, 1,493,695 lbs. of tea were retained for home consumption. Two years afterwards, the quantity fell to 473,868 lbs., and im 1767 only 215,019 lbs. were retained. Next year the amount increased to 3,155,417 lbs.; in 1769 it was 9,114,854 Ibs.; im 1795, 21,342,845 lbs.; in 1836, 49,842,236 lbs. The return in question also specifies the quantity of the various kinds of tea, with the average sale prices. According to the annual tea reports of Messrs. W. J. Thomp- son and Son, and Messrs. W. E. Franks and Son, the total im- ports of tea durimg the last fifteen years were as follows, reckoned in millions of lbs. :— Years. Black. Green. Total. Home Consumption. NSS Sicgeeees 26:7 86% 2t.= S21 ceees 35,001 .. 386,415 S39 Peteee. 30,644 ...... 1.680) 77s 38,324 .. 986,351 1840 ...:.. 21,063 ..-... fas No Nee eek 28,224 vai ot F46 MSA) 2252 ee 6,303 ...... 31,218 =. 36,884 BSA oes 31,915 ...... SPADE 3 see 41,644 .. 37,054 1845. fs BOIS ne 7540 ee 46,853 .. 39,902 1844 ...... 39,644 ...... S74 Dieses 48,393 .. 41,176 1845 «.-... O2DLS |... 22. 11,790 ...... 5agssS4e0, 4 4aetaey 1846, 258: BORG ie 12,486 ...... 56,503 .. 47,534 1847. i... AGSST 2..0:- 8.968 ....: 55,255 .. 46,247 S429. ie. SL,0E2 © s.ce0- (ASO as 45,123 .. 48,431 1849 .....- 43,234 oo... 9,156 ...... 52,400 ise, S100 HS50) Ss-e- OOLSTS = ---r- 8.427 —---- - 48,300 = eg 1851 .....- 62,369 ..-... 9,131 ...... 71,500 -. 54,000 1852s... 55.525 oe... 9175 ...... 64,700 .. 54,724 The duty on tea was gradually raised from 9d. per lb. in 1787 to 8s.a lb.in 1806. It was 2s. 2d. per lb. until May, 1852, when 4d. per lb. was taken off, and further annual reductions are to be made. Down to the year 1834 the duty was an ad valorem one of 96 per cent. on all teas sold under 2s. a lb., and of 100 per cent. on all that were sold at or above 2s., charged on the prices which they brought at the East India Company’s sales. The ad valorem duties ceased on the 22nd of April, 1834, and under the act 8 and 4 William IV. c. 100, all tea imported into the United TEA. 83 Kingdom for home consumption was charged with a customs duty as follows :— Bohea : E : . Ils. 6d. per lb. Congou, twankay, hyson skin, orange “pekoe, and campol : 22 Souchong, flowery pekoe, hyson, } young hyson, gunpowder, imperial, and other teas not enumerated er ae | In 1836, the uniform duty of 2s. 1d. per lb. on all desoriptions of tea was imposed, which, with the additional 5 per cent. im- posed in 1840, made the total duty levied per lb. 2s. 2d. and a fraction. During the years from 1831 to 1841, in spite of an increase of nearly three millions in the population of the country, and not- withstanding the impetus given to the tea-trade by the abolition of the East India Company’s monopoly in 1833, the increased consumption was only 6,675,566lbs. Great as the increase has been of late years, however, it is very far short of what we might expect to see were the duty reduced to a moderate per centage on the value of the article as it comes from the Chinese merchant. In Jersey and Guernsey, where there is no duty on tea, the average consumption is 43 lbs. per head per annum. The same rate for the United Kingdom would require an annual importa- tion of nearly 150 million lbs. I asserted, many months ago, if the duty could be gradually reduced from its present exorbitant amount to 1s. per lb., the revenue would not suffer much, whilst the comfort of the people would be much increased, and our trade with China greatly improved. Years, Teas Imported, lbs. Entered for Home Consumption, lbs. 1843 42,779,265 35,685,262 1844 50,613,328 41,176,000 1845 53,570,267 44,127,000 1846 57,534,561 46,554,787 1847 55,255,000 50,921,486 1848 47,774,755. 48,735,696 1849 53,460,751. 50,024,688 1850 50,512,384 51,178,215 1851 71,466,421 53,965,112 1852 66,361,020 54,724,615 Aatiaat of iin Seed, on tea :-— Prices of Seund Common Congou per ls. 1841 .. 3,973,668 PM A hg ooh 1s. 7d. to 2s. Od. Meee AGRG Ose SL ae ~ TF 10 ie 4407622: wl. tC. EEC Rent onal gan Sie 1844 .. 4,524,093 e107 FO 1845 .. 4,833,351 b OPLML ae Bie eS ADIOS. 2 Fp Getist G39 Mie. BOGGS66 .... .. ey eer ie 6320515 . . . gs 8 1849 .. 5,471,641 0 .8F 46 S2 1850 .. 5,597,708 0102..1 1 1851 .. 5,902,433 2g sree BE fe 1852 .. 5,985,482 ee ee ee Mr. Montgomery Marin. in hia ask on China, published in @ 2 84 TEA. 1847, gave the average annual consumption of tea, the produce of China, as follows :— lbs. Great Britain and Ireland : . 45,000,000 British North America and West Indies . 2,500,000 Australasia, Cape of Good Hope, &c. . . 2,500,000 British India and Eastern Islands : . 2,000,000 — Total used throughout the British Empire 52,000,000 United States of North America * ; . 7,000,000 Russia . 4 : - 10,000,000 France and Colonies : : 5 : 500,000 Hanse Towns, &c. : : : 150,000 Holland and its Colonies : ; . 1,000,000 Belgium : : 200,000 : Denmark, Swede n, and Norway : ; 250,000 The German States : : : : 500,000 Spain and Portugal j : ‘ : 100,000 Italian States. : : j : 50,000 South American States . : : : 500,000 Total consumption in foreign countries 20,250,000 According to this statement, it would seem that the Enplish eonsume twice the quantity of tea that is used by all the other countries excepting China and Japan. The consumption of tea in Europe and America I pahinatod a year or two ago as follows :— Ibs. RUS Sa Soe. Shee ee Mese oldsteis Memecanaaes «». 15,000,000 United States of America ............00. 18,000,000 AN CO Westra dsiceel: anes ccestiececcaccnesnes 2,000,000 AV OMANG Se Ncceccnncesestscechsseenoce scones 2,800,000 @Cher COUNtIICS'... ss sokevsres sarees tcnee 2,000,000 GreatsBritain’ . Fee. .cctsoc scant concer 50,000,000 Potable wae 89,800,000 The estimated consumption, at the rate of consumption found where taxation is favorable (as for instance 13 pounds—the average of this country) would give the following :-— ewts. ewts. England ............ aigtines 400,000:| Prussia. «<0... ..teccesneeseet (eee eaee se Mirance eto eceiiades neces 510,000 | Belgium .................. 63,000 Germany tos. caseseaesese 400,000 | Russia ..........scceecceuee 900,000 ATUStrip ete e aac ke mene 500,000 | Rest of Europe .......... 750,000 The total exportation of tea by sea from China, was estimated by Mr. Martin in 1847 at 75 millions of pounds, viz. :— mg land. craceccs se einisen « cilsenie due ose senannn case eens. 50,000,000 Winited Stabess. .oc.ses' siosise scmrer'e's seuecuoneieiae: 20,000,006 AllWother’countries 2) -i...ccs.secck ees ss ees Nersesce 5,000,000 75,000,000 which, at 20 taels per picul (183 lbs.) amounts to 11,280,000 taels of silver at 80d. per tael, £8,760,000. The present Chinese duty * This is only one-third the actual consumption. TEA. 85 of two taels five mace, does not include shipping and other charges ; the old duty was five taels, and included all charges paid the Hong merchants. The export by sea is now about 97 millions of lbs. The following was the returned value of the tea exported from the five Chinese ports in 1844 and 1845:— _ 1844. 1845. Manton . sents os OOO ATE yn 2. 2k £3,429,790 Shanghae ........ GIALUS) Wrame seis = <0 e) £O2,046 PEO os 5 op aie e's ZOOOE sfainiss Biss 2,000 TS a eee eee ae ree 544 ECHO -100n 3 ele “orn dhawentueyadat 638 £2,979,589 £3,895,718 The average cost of tea in China at the ship’s side is 10d. per pound, while it is confidently asserted that it could be produced in many parts of Americaat 5d. the pound. ‘The great cost in China is owing to the expensive transportation, the cultivation of the fuel used, the absence of all economy of machinery, &c. It is only by adulteration that tea is sold in China as cheap as 10d. In America the beating and rolling of the leaves (one half of the labor) could be done by the simplest machinery, fuel could be economised by flues, &c. The Russian teas, brought by caravans, are the most expensive and best teas used in Europe. The Chinese themselves pay 7} dollars per pound for the “ Yen Pouchong’”’ teas. Full chests were exhibited in 1851, by Mr. Ripley, of various Pekoe teas, some of which fetch 50s. per lb. in the China market ; whilst 7s. is the very highest price any of the sort will fetch in Eng- land, and this only as afancy article. The plain and orange-scented Pekoes now fetch little with us; but as caravan teas, are pur- chased by the wealthier Russian families. The finest, however, never leave China, being bought up by the Mandarins; for though the transit expenses add 3s. to 4s. per lb. to the value when sold in Russia, the highest market price in St. Petersburg is always under 50s. Among these scented teas are various caper teas, flavoured with chloranthus flowers and the buds of some species of plants belonging to the orange tribe, magnolia fuscata, olea fiowers, &c. The Cong Souchong, or Ning-young teas, are chiefly purchased for the American market. Oolong tea is the favourite drink in Calcutta, though less prized in England, its delicate flavor being injured by the length of the voyage. For delicacy, no teas, approach those usually called “ Mandarin teas,” which being slightly fired and rather damp when in the fittest state for use, -will bear neither transport nor keeping. They are in great de- mand among the wealthy Chinese, and average 20s. per lb in the native market.—(Jury Reports.) The consumption of tea in the United Kingdom may now be fairly taken at fifty-four million pounds yearly, and sold at an average price to the consumer of 4s. 6d., per pound. The money expended for tea is upwards of twelve millions sterling. © S6 TEA. The expenditure of this sum is distributed as follows, in round numbers :— Net cost of 54,000,000 pounds, average Is. eer re ..- £2,700,090 Export duty in China of 13d. alb.. S 337,500 Shipping charges, &c., in China... - 25,000 Freight, &c., China to eae about 2d. 1 per Ih: ee 450,000 Trance, ae: per lb. Soe oi, eok eee 112,500 Commission, about 3d. per “Tb. i el 56,250 Tasting charges, &c., about 3 of a penny per Ib, - cs 28,125 Interest for 6 months on £3, 709,375 at 5 per cent. +... “22 92,734 Total one China £3,802,109 Profit to exporters in China, (about 12 pe cent. Ms oe "445, 116 Landing charges, &.,im England ... . Pe eee 39,000 Cost price in bond in England.. .-+ a, 64,286,225 Duty received by government at 2s, 24d. per ‘Tb. , about .- 8,985,482 £10,271,707 Profit divided among tea-brokers, wholesale and retail dealers, &c. ... . vee eee cet ese een, een eee tae Total outlay by British public for tea, at 4s. 6d. per lb. ... £12,150,000 The tea imported into England in 1667 was only 100 lbs., while for the year ending June 30, 1851, the export from China to Great Britain was 64, 020, 000 lbs., employing 115 vessels in its trans- portation ; and to the United States, during the same time, 28,760,800 lbs., in sixty-four vessels. Within the last five years, the export has increased 10,000,000 lbs. to the United States, and 17,000,000 to Great Britain. These statistics will show the im- mense importance of this article to commerce, and the vast amount of shipping it supports. But let us follow out the statistics a little more in detail. The population of the Chinese provinces, as quoted by Dr. Morison, from an official census taken in 1825, was 352,866,012, and we may fairly conclude that during the last twenty- eight years this population has extensively increased. If we assume the annual consumption of tea at four lb. per head on the above popu- lation ; and this is no unreasonable assumption in a country, where, to quote from Murray’s valuable work on China, tea “is the na- tional drmk, which is presented on every oecaston, served up at every feast, and even sold on the public roads ;’’ we shall have a tolerably accurate result as to the total consumption in the empire. Indeed this computation falls short of the actual relative con- sumption in the island of Jersey, where, as we have seen, nearly five Ibs. is the annual allowance of each individual. - If we multiply the population of China by four, we have— lbs. Total consumption of teain China .. .. 1,411,464,048 Export of Great Britain and Ireland, for the year ¢ ending g June 30,1851 .. .. = 64,020,000 Export to the United States, same 1e period — re : 28,760,800 Export to Holland, returned at 2,000,900 in Davis's ‘aching ga. ae “wate. : ras 3,000,000 TEA. 87 _ Inland trade to Russia és “s 15,000,000 Export to Hamburg, Bremen, ‘Deamark, SSeiel &e., seyen cargoes, about : ae 3,000,000 Export to Sydney, and Reiealasien Colonies, at least “ 6,000,000 Export to Spain and France, four cargoes.. .. pees 2,000,000 Total ibs. 1,533,244,848 The above is exclusive of the heavy exportation in Chinese vessels to all parts of the east where Chinese emigrants are settled, such as Tonquin, Cochin China, Cambodia, Siam, the Philippines, Borneo, and the various settlements within the Straits of Malacca. In comparison with such an encrmous quantity, the 54 million lbs. consumed in the United Kingdom sink into insignificance. £ The cost of tea to America, at the ship’s side in China, say 29,000,000 lbs., at an average of Is. per lb., would be . 1,450,000 The cost to England, 64,000,000, atthe same price. - 38,200,000 The cost to other places, say 25, 000, 000 ‘ : . 1,250,000 Russia, 15,000,000 : ; - : #0, 008 Total . 4 : £6,6 650,000 It is therefore clear, that were the dona’ to be doubled from Great Britain, it would make very little difference in the Chinese market ; since it would be only a question of letting us have six per cent. of their growth of the article, instead of three. When we remember that the tea plant attains to maturity in three years, and its leaves are then fit for picking; and that there is a vast extent of country to which it is indigenous, growing in every climate between the equator and the latitude of 45 degre ees, it is evident that, were there a necessity for it, the actual produe- tion of tea in China could be increased to an almost unlimited extent in the space of three or four years, an extent far more than compensating for the extra three per cent., which might be, in the first instance, required by the British. The certainty of an increased consumption following upon a re- duction in the price of tea to the actual consumers of it, is so obvious as to require demonstration to those only who have not considered the subject. The population of Great Britain and Ireland is, say in round numbers 30,000,000, the actual consump- tion of tea is only 54,000,000 lbs., or little more than one pound and three quarters for each individual. In the nei ighbouring island of Jersey, there are nearly five lbs. of tea consumed by every in- habitant yearly ; ; and as we may fairly infer from analogy that simi- lar resulis would arise from a similar cause, the consumption in the United Kingdom in the same ratio would amount to no less than 150 millions of pounds annually. Tea, observes a most competent authority (Mr. J. Ingram Travers), is the fayourite drink of the people: all desire to have it strong and good, and none who can afford it are without it. But in the agricultural districts the laborers use but little ; numbers of them “make tea with burnt crusts, because the China tea is too dear.” -In Ireland the consumption is greatly below that of 8& TEA. England; there are comparatively few people who do not, on com- pany occasions, make their tea stronger than for ordinary use, and the general economy in the use of tea forms an exception to almost every other article of consumption. As to the working classes in the manufacturing districts, Mr. Bayley, President of the Man- chester Chamber of Commerce, himself a very extensive manu- facturer, and therefore well qualified to speak to the fact, says :— “The common calculation of two ounces per head per week I should think is very much im excess of what the working classes consume. Domestic servants, I believe, have that quantity allowed them, but I should say that the working classes do not consume one quarter of that.’ And yet it is these classes who are the great consumers of everything cheap enough to be within their reach. It is this consumption that, under better earnings, has sustained the steady increase of nearly two million pounds of tea per annum for the last eight years, and still there is such ample room for increase that domestic servants are allowed at least four times as much per head as those working people who value, more than any other class, the cheerful refreshingness of tea, but who, stinted in its use by the exorbitant duty, are tempted and almost driven to the use, instead, of degrading drinks. And if the general consumption of the population should rise to even half servants’ allowance, or one ounce per head per week, the consumption of tea would reach 97,500,000 lbs. per annum. And as to what might be used if the taste for it had free scope, some idea may be formed from the fact that the consumption of such people as have found their way from these countries, where the consumption is f lb. 9 ozs. per head, to Australia, has there risen: to 7 lbs. per head, at which rate the consumption of the United Kingdom would be about 210,000,000 Ibs. per annum, and which, even at a 6d. duty, would produce five milhonsand a half. There is nothing in the air of Australia to give any especial impulse to tea drinking: on the contrary ; in this comparatively cold, damp climate, people would naturally use a hot beverage more largely than in the dry warm climate of Australia; and, after all, great as the Austrahan consumption seems, it is scarcely more than a quarter of an ounce per head per week above the allowance to English domestic servants. The consumption of tea, notwithstandimg the dicta of Mr. Mont- gomery Martin, is destined to a prodigious increase. Nor is it solely to an increase in the consumption of tea, that we must look to prevent any deficiency in the revenue, as there is no doubt that a reduction in the price of the article would lead to a prodigious increase in the quantity of sugar consumed, especially by the lower classes, who seldom take the one without the other. Tt is not, however, merely that they would buy sugar in propor- tion to the quantity of tea that they consume; the circumstance of a smaller sum being requisite for their weekly stock of tea, would enable them to spend a larger amount in other articles, among which sugar would, undoubtedly, be one of the most impor- TEA. 89 tant. The merchant, shipowner, manufacturer, and all connected with the trade between Great Britain and China, are in a position to see the prodigious advantages that such a measure as an exten- sive reduction of the impost on tea would occasion to the general trade of the country; and the public at large, who are not practi- cally familiar with the subject, only require it to be brought before them in a distinct point of view, when the important results of such a reduction cannot fail to be apparent to them. Tea is not now within the reach of the poor man. A person taking tea once a day, will consume about 7% lbs. a year. Ibs. Say 500,000 persons take tea twice a day, or 15 lbs. ayear, is 7,500,000 Say 4,000,000 persons take tea once a day, or 735 lbs.ayear,is 30,000,000 Say 12,000,000 persons take tea once aweek, or 1lb.ayear,is 12,000,000 49,500,000 Which shows that, at present, only one person out of every sixty can have tea twice a day ; one of every seven only once a day ; and that out-of the remaining 13,500,000 persons, only five millions and a half can procure it once in the week. The exact state of the case shows that only eight millions of the people of the United Kingdom enjoy the use of tea, leaving the other twenty-two mil- lions excluded. A Chinese will consume thirty pounds of tea in the year. But it is said we must not, if our accumulated stocks be drank off this year, expect the Chinese to meet at once so huge an in- crease in the demand as to supply us with as much next year. Now on no point of the case is the evidence so clear as upon the capacity of the Chinese to furnish, within any year, any quantity we may require. The Committee of 1847, on Commercial Relations with China, state—‘ That the demand for tea from China has been progressively and rapidly rising for many years, with no other re- sults than that of diminished prices :’’—a fact to be accounted for only upon the supposition that our ordinary demand is exceedingly small in proportion to the Chinese supply. Nor is it an unrea- sonable inference, that if so much more than usual was to be had at a less price than before, any rise of price, however trivial it might be, would bring forward a much larger quantity :* a supposition * Tt is important, in considering what tea may be had from China, to consider the manner of its production. It is grown over an immense district, in small farms, or rather gardens, no farm producing more that 600 chests. ‘‘ The tea merchant goes himself, or sends his agents to all the small towns, villages, and temples in the district, to purchase tea from the priests and smail farmers; the large merchant, into whose hands the tea thus comes, has to refire it and pack it jor the foreign market.’—( Fortune's Tea Districts.) 'This refiring is the only additional process of manufacture for our market. Mr. Fortune elsewhere, in his valuable work, giving an account of the cost of tea from the farmers, the conveyance to market, and the merchant’s profit, states that “the small farmer and manipulator is not overpaid, but that the great profits are received by the middlemen.’ No doubt these men do their utmost to keep the farmers in com- plete ignorance of the state of the tea-market, that they may monopolise the ad- vantages, but it is pretty certain that the news of a bold reduction of duty, and 90 TEA, which is completely confirmed by a review of prices here, and ex- ports from China within the last four years ; and in considering which it is important to bear in mind—l1st, that our tea trade year, on which our account of import, export, home consumption, and stock on hand is taken, is from January to January, and the Chinese tea year from July to July; 2nd, that a rise at the close of the last months of the year in England, influences the next year’s exports from China; and 8rdly, that of late years, since something of decrepitude has fallen upon the Chinese Government, smuggling there, to escape the export duty, has been carried on largely and at an increasing rate, so that the return is considerably below the real export. ; In the Chinese tea year, July to July, 1848-9, the price of good ordinary congou, the tea of by far the largest consumption here, and which, in fact, rules the market, was 83d. to 94d., and the export from China 47,251,000 lbs. The year closed with the higher price, and the Chinese export from July 1849, to July 1850, was 54,000,000 lbs., showing an increase of export on the year of 6,750,000 Ibs. Throughout 1850, here, prices fluctuated a good deal. ‘They were low in the earlier part of the year, but in January went up from 94d. to 1ljd., and from July 1850, to July 1851, the export from China rose to 64,000,000 Ibs., being an increase of ten million pounds on a previous increase of nearly seven million lbs. Prices here, during 1851, varied very much: it was dificult to say whether any rise would be established, but the export still went up and reached, from July 1851, to July 1852, 67,000,000 Ibs., giving a total increase in three years of 19,750,000 lbs. Nor was it pretended that in any of those years the Chinese market showed even the least symptoms of exhaustion. ‘“ We know,’’ say the Committee, “that the Chinese market has never been drained of tea in any. one year, but that there has been always a surplus left to meet any extraordinary demand.’ But the effect of the rise in price in 1850 is still more forcibly shown by a com- parison of our total imports in that and the following year. In 1850 we imported 48,300,000 ibs. ; in 1851, 71,500,000 lbs., being an increase of 23,200,000 lbs. Doubtless the Chinese export, if made up totally with our year, would not account for the whole quantity, part of which is to be set down to Chinese export-smug- gling, and part to arrivals from America and the Continent. The probability is that the crease of price referred to above never reached the Chinese tea farmers ; the supply came from the mer- chants’ stock on band. ‘The rise was, besides, uncertain, and from any established advance a much larger increase of export might be looked for. But the mistake made in England in estimating what tea we may look for from China goes upon the supposition that they grow expressly for us: the fact being, as stated by Mr. Robt. Fortune, in the promise of an immensely increased consumption, would reach even. the Chinese farmers, and make them pick their trees more closely—a little of which amongst so many would make a vast ditterence in the total supply. TEA, 91 his recently published ‘“‘ Tea Districts of China,” “ that the quan- tity exported bears but a small proportion to that consumed by the Chinese themselves.”” On this point the report of the Parliamen- tary Committee is explicit:—‘“ There is a population in China, commonly assumed at above three hundred millions, at all hours in the day consuming tea, which only requires some change of preparation to be fit for exportation; thus implying an amount of supply on which any demand that may be made for foreign export can be, after a very short time, but slightly felt.” Mr. Fortune, in his evidence, says “ that the Chinese drink about four times as - much as we do: they are always drinking it.” Four times as much is probably very much an under-estimate. With rich and poor of all that swarming population, tea, not such as our working classes drink, but fresh and strong, and with no second watering, accompanies every meal. But even taking their consumption at four times as much per head as ours, and their population at the lowest estimate, at three hundred millions, their consumption, setting ours at 55,000,000 lbs., will be no less than two thousand two hundred millions of pounds per annum, or forty times the quantity used in the United Kingdom. As reasonably might the few foreigners who visit the metropolis in the summer expect to cause a famine of fruit and vegetables in London, as we that a doubling of our demand for tea would be felt in China. The further fifty-five million pounds would be but another fortieth of what they use themselves, and would have no more effect upon their entire market than the arrival of some thousand strangers within the year in London would have upon the supply of bread or butchers’ meat. There is no need, therefore, to wait for the . extension of tea plantations, and so far from taking fur granted the statement of the late Chancellor of the Exchequer, “that time must be given to increase production, and that the point of its taking three or four years to make a tea-tree is to be considered in dealing with the duties,’ we have the fact unmistakeably before us, that the production is already so vast, that any demand from us could have no appreciable effect. And as to future supplies, if we should come to drink as much as the Chinese themselves, a matter not at all needful to be considered at present, the Com- mittee report that ‘ the cultivation of the plant may be indefinitely extended ;’ whilst Mr. Fortune, who has been upon the spot, states “that there is not the slightest doubt that there is a great part of the land which is nearly uncultivated now, which, were there a demand for tea, could be brought into cultivation. The cost would be very little indeed; they would cut down a quantity of brushwood, and probably dig over tne ground and plant the bushes. They could clear and plant it in the same year, and in about two years they could get something fromit.’’ As, however, without this extension they have hitherto found enough for the increase of their own vast population, for every extension of de- mand from us and every other foreign customer, whether by land or water, without the least tendency to an advance in price, there 92 TEA. is no need to do more than thus touch upon the undeveloped re- sources of tea production.—Travers on the Tea Duties. The consumption of tea in Russia is very great, as the middling classes make a more frequent use of that beverage than the rest. Every year 60,000 chests of tea arrive at Maimiatchin and Kiakhta, - of the declared official value of £1,185,000 sterling; and to this may be added £38,650 for inferior tea used by the people of the south, which makes the total declared value of the tea introduced about one and a quarter million sterling. The consumption of Russia may be assumed at over fifteen millions of pounds, although we have no correct data, as in the case of shipping returns, to cal- culate from. In 1848, however, the Russians took 136,2174 boxes of fine tea of the Chinese, for which they paid 5,349,918 silver roubles—one million sterling. The quantity forwarded from Kiakhta into the interior consisted of— Poods. Flowery or Pekoe tea 69,677 Ordinary tea 183,752 Brick tea 116,249 Equal to about fifteen million lbs. English. Brick tea of Thibet—A sample of this curious product was shown by the East India Company in 1851. It is formed of the refuse tea-leaves and sweepings of the granaries, damped and pressed into a mould, generally with a little bullock’s blood. The finer sorts are friable masses, and are packed in papers; the coarser sewn up in sheep’s skin. In this form it is an article of commerce through- out Central and Northern Asia and the Himalayan provinces ; and is consumed by Mongols, Tartars, and Tibetans, churned with milk, salt, butter, and boiling water, more as a soup than as tea proper. Certain quantities are forced upon the acceptance of the Western tributaries of the Chinese Empire, in payment for the support of troops, &c.; and is hence, from its convenient size and form, brought into circulation as a coin, over an area greater than that of Europe.—Dr. Hooker, in Jury Reports. — The quantity and value of the tea imported into the United States, from 1821, is thus stated :— Years. Pounds. Value, dolls.| Years. Pounds. Value, dolls. 1821 4.975,646 1,322,636 | 1835 .. 14,415,572 4,522,806 1822 6,639,434 1,860,777 | 1886 .. 16,382,114 5,342,811 1823 8,210,010 2,361,245 | 1837 .. 16,982,384 5,903,054 1824 .. 8,920,487 2,786,312 | 1838 . 14,418,112 3,497,156 1825 .. 10,209,548 3,728,935 | 1839 . 9,439,817 2,428,419 1826 . 10,108,900 3,752,281 | 1840 .. 20,006,595 5,427,010 1827 5,875,638 1,714,882 | 1841 .. 10,772,087 3,075,332 1828 7,707,427 2,451,197 | 1842 .. 13,482,645 3,567,745 1829 6,636,790 2,060,457 | 1843 .. 12,785,748 3,405,627 1830 8,609,415 2,425,018 | 1844 .. 13,054,327 3,152,225 1831 5,182,867 1,418,037 | 1845 .. 17,162,550 4,802,621 1832 .. 9,906,606 2,788,353 | 1846 .. 16,891,020 3,983,337 18383 .. 14,639,822 5,484,603 1847 .. 14,221,410 3,200,056 1834 . 16,282,977 6,217,949 | 1848 . 18,889,217 The annual reports of the Secretary to the Treasury, for the last TEA. 93 twenty years, show a considerable increase in the consumption of tea in the United States, but not so great as in the article of coffee. The establishment of tea shops, in all the large cities of America, is a new feature in the retail trade, dating only some six years back. The average rate of duty, which previously ranged between thirty and thirty-four cents. per pound, was reduced in 1832 to fourteen cents (7d.) a pound. The proportion of green to black used is shown by the following return of the imports :— Ibs. 1844. . Green : : : 10,131,837 Black : : : 4,125,527 | Total: . fei aanees 1845. . Green : : . 13,802,099 Z Black : : : 6,950,459 Total ~. . 20,752,558 The large import of 1840, of 250,000 chests, of which 200,000 were green, was in anticipation of the disturbances arising from the war with Great Britain, and the blockade of the ports. In 1850, there were 173,317 chests of green tea, and 91,017 of black tea exported from China to America; these quantities, with a further portion purchased from England, made a total of about twenty-three million lbs. of tea which crossed the Atlantic in 1850. The imports and exports of tea into the United States, in the years ending Dec. 31st, 1848 and 1849, were as follows :— IMPORTS. 1849, 1848, lbs. lbs. Green . . 14,237,700 13,686,336 Black . 5,999,315 3,815,652 Total... . 20,236,916 17,503,988 EXPORTS. Green . ; 230,470 262,708 Black . : 186,650 194,212 Total... .417,120 456,920 The value of tea imported into the United States during the year ending June 30th, 1851, amounted to 4,798,006 dollars (nearly £1,000,000 sterling) ; of this was re-exported a little over 1,000,000 dollars worth, leaving for home consumption 3,668,141 dollars. The quality of tea depends much upon the season when the leaves are picked, the mode in which it is prepared, as well as the district in which it grows. The tea districts in China extend from the 27th degree to the 31st degree of north latitude, and, aceording to missionaries, it thrives in the more northern provinces. Kvcempfer says it is cul- 94. TEA. tivated in Japan, as far north as 45 degrees. It seems to succeed best on the sides of mountains, among sandstone, schistus, and granite. In 1834, the Hast India Company introduced the cultivation of tea in Upper Assam, where it is said to be indigenous; and they now ship large quantities of very excellent tea from thence. Mr. Boyer, director of the museum at Port Louis, Mauritius, has succeeded in rearing 40,000 tea-trees, and expresses an opinion, that if the island of Bourbon would give itself up to the eultiva- tion, it might easily supply France with all the tea she requires. The culture has also been commenced on a small seale, in St. Helena, and the Cape Colony The cultivation of the tea-tree might be tried with probability of success in Natal, and the Mauritius. The plant grows in every soil, even the most ungrateful ; resists the hurricanes, and requires little care. The picking of the leaves, like the pods of cotton, is performed by women, children, and the infirm, without much ex- pense. The preparation is known to the greater part of the Chinese, of whom there are so many in Mauritius; besides, it is not dificult. A Mr. Duprat has, I am informed, planted a cer- tain extent of land in the neighbourhood of Cernpipe, m that island, but I have not yet learnt with what success. The tea-plant has been successfully cultivated, on a large scale, in the island of eae at an elevation of 8, 060 feet above the level of the sea, by Mr. Hy. Veitch, British ex-Consul. The quality of the leaf is eeoellen The whole theory of preparing it is merely to destroy the herbaceous taste, the leaves being perfect, when, like hay, they emit an agreeable odor. But to rollup each leaf, as in China, is found too expensive, although boys and girls are employed at about two-pence or three-pence per day. Mr. Veitch has, therefore, tried the plan of compressing the leaves into small cakes, which can be done at a triflg expense. It is performed when the leaf is dry; whereas, the rolling requires moisture, and subsequent roasting on copper plates is necessary to prevent mustiness. In this process the acid of the tea acts upon the copper, and causes that astringency which we remark in ail the China teas. The tea of Cochin China is considered inferior to that of China, being less strong and pleasant in flavour. An inferior sort of tea, with a leaf twice or thrice as large as that of Bohea, grows wild in the hilly parts of Quang-ai, and is sold at from 12s. 6d. to 40s. the picul of 183 lbs. The Dutch have devoted much attention to tea cultivation in Java, and the plantations are in fine order. Nearly a million lbs. of tea were shipped thence in 1848; but the tea is said to be of inferior quality, and grown and manufactured at considerable expense. Japan produces both black and green tea. The Japanese prefer the latter to the Chinese green tea. The black tea is very bad. The Japanese tea-tree, is an evergreen, growing in the most sterile places to the height of about six feet. It is described as above, TEA, 95 by Keempfer, as having leaves like the cherry, with a flower like the wild rose; when fresh, the leaves have no smell, but a very astringent taste. Tea grows in all the southern provinces of Japan, but the best green is produced in the principality of Kioto, where it is cultivated with great care. A few years ago, Messrs. Worms attempted the cultivation of tea in Ceylon. The island, however, lies too far within the tropics to offer a climate like Assam, which is situate without them. The plants may thrive to appearance, but that is not a demonstration of their quality. The tea-plant has reached upwards of six feet in height at Pinang, and in as healthy a state as could be desired, but the leaf had no flavor, and although thousands of Chinese husbandmen cultivate spices, and other tropical productions on that island, no one thinks it worth while to extend the cultivation of the tea-plant in Pinang. The Chinese there laugh at the idea of converting the leaf into a beverage. The cultivation of the tea-plant has been introduced into the United States,and those planters who have tried the experiment have succeeded beyond their highest expectations. Dr. Junius Smith had successfully cultivated the plant on his property called Golden grove, near Grenville, in South Carolina. His plants were in full blossom, and as healthy and flourishing as those of China at the same stage of growth. Everything connected with them looked favorable, and Dr. Smith felt abundantly encouraged to extend. the culture of the several descriptions of tea upon his property. It is stated that his expectations were so great, that he contem- plated to place fresh tea on the tea-tables of England and Paris in twenty days, from the plantation. He had a large supply of plants, and tea seed enough fora million more. The black de- scriptions blossomed earlier than the green plant, but the latter also blossomed luxuriantly. He introduced at first about 500 plants of from five to seven years’ growth, overland from the north-west provinces of India, and some from China direct. In the close of 1849, he writes me :— ** During the past year the tea-plant under my care has passed through se- vere trials, from the injury received in transplanting, from the heat generated in the packing-cases, from the want of shelter during the severe frosts of Fe- bruary, from the excessive heat in June, and from the drought of 58 days’ con- tinuance in July and August. The plants were divested of their leaves and ge- nerally of their branches and twigs in February, during my absence in New York. Knowing that the plants were tender, and not fortified by age and ma- ture growth against severe weather, I had directed them to be covered in case a material change of temperature should occur. But these orders were neglected, and they consequently suffered from that cause. The plant is sufficiently hardy to resist any weather occurring in this part of the country, when seasoned for one year. The plant has grown thrifty since April, and the quantity of foliage, buds, and blossoms, show that the root has taken strong hold, and is now fully equal to produce its fruit next autumn, which always follows the year after the blos- soms. I have a variety of both black and green tea-plants. The buds and blossoms of the latter did not appear until a fortnight after the black tea-plant. But the blossoms were larger when they did appear in September, October, No- 96 TEA. vember, and December. From present appearances, I think the blossoms of some of the late plants will continue to unfold until spring. It is not an un- usual thing for the blossoms and the fruit to appear at the same time upon the same plant. In this particular it differs from any plant I have seen. As my chief object, at present, is to cultivate and increase the tea-ntt, it will be a year or two perhaps before I attempt to convert the leaf into tea. ‘The root supports the leaf and fruit, and the leaf the root, so that neither can be spared without detriment. This climate appears congenial to the growth of the plant, and the soil is so diversified in this mountainous district, that there is no difficulty in selecting that best adapted to seed-growing plants, or that designed for the leaf only. Upon the plantation purchased this summer, I have light-yellow, dark-brown, and red clay subsoil, of a friable character, with a surface soil sufficiently sandy to an- swer the demands of the plant. I do not see any reason to doubt, from a year’s experience, that the tea-plant in its varieties will flourish in what I heretofore denominated the tea-growing district of the United States, as well as in any part of China. : The slowness of its growth requires patience. But when once established, the tea-nuts will supply the means of extending cultivation, and the duration of the plant for twenty years diminishes the expense of labor. To illustrate the hardihood of the plant, I may observe, that notwithstanding the zero severity of February frost destroyed the leaves and branches of most of the plants, and those now blooming in great beauty and strength are from roots the growth of this summer, I have one green tea-plant the stem and branches of which with- stood the frost of February without the slightest protection, and is now a splen- did plant, covered with branches and evergreen leaves, affording undeniable evidence not only ofits capability of resisting frost, but of its adaptation to just such a degree of temperature. I have often remarked that the tea-plant requires for its perfection the influ- ence of two separate and distinct climates, the heat of summer and the cold of winter. The thermometer in this vicinity during the heat of summer generally ranges from 74 at 6 o'clock a.m. to 82 at 3 o’clock p. m., only one day during the summer so high as 86. This is a most agreeable temperature, nights always cool, which the tea-plant enjoys, and the days hot and fanned with the mountain breeze. The drought I found the most difficult point to contend with, owing to the want of adequate means for irrigation. I lost 20 or 30 plants through this, and learned that no tea plantation should be established without irrigation. After two or three years there will be little necessity for it, because the depth of the roots will generally then protect the plant. My plantation at Golden Grove is well supplied with water, or I should not have purchased it at any price. It is the first and most important point to secure a southern or western as- pect, a gentle declivity the second, salubrious air and suitable soil the third. Our country is filled witb natural tea plantations, which are only waiting the hand of the husbandman to be covered with this luxuriant and productive plant. I know the public is naturally impatient of delay. Like corn, it is expected that the tea-nuts will be planted in the spring, and the crop gathered in the au- tumn. But they forget that the tea-plant does not interfere with any other crop, and when once planted it does not soon require a renewal. I have sometimes felt this impatience myself, and longed for a cup of tea of my own growing, but I have never had one. Asa husbandman, I must wait some time longer, and let patience have her perfect work.” Again, under date May 1, 1850, he states that he has succeeded admirably in the culture. The plants bear the winter well, and their physiology and general characteristics remain unchanged by the change of climate and soil. The leaf puts out at the same period of the year that 1t does in China. On the 27th of May, 1850, Dr. Smith received a further batch - f THA. 97 of trees, fresh, green and healthful, as if still growing in the plantations of China, after a passage of little more than five -months. These plants, together with the seedlings and nuts, were of the green tea species, and obtained from a quarter situated about 700 miles from Canton. In a letter, dated Grenville, 8. C., June 17th, 1850, with which 1 have been favored, he adds :— *T never heard of the failure of the tea-crop. All vegetation may be re- tarded, or lessened, or augmented, in its production, in a slight degree, by excessive rains, or drought, or cold, or heat, or atmospheric action; but the tea-plant is sure to produce its leaf. From all I have observed, a decided drought is the most detrimental to the health of the tea plant. The almost continued rains which marked the advance of the past spring, seemed perfectly agreeable to the tea-plant, and facilitated the germination of the tea-nuts. Where any vitality remained in the nut, it was sure to germinate. Curiosity, on this point should be restrained, and no picking and pawing up of the nuts permitted. I have seedlings with tap roots four inches in length, where no ap- pearance of germination is visible upon the surface of the ground. The chances are ten to one that the seedling wouid be destroyed by the tamperings of idle curiosity. Let nature have her own most perfect work, and see that the enemy, the drought, is vanquished by an abundant supply of water. From experience, I notice that nothing is more congenial to the germination of the tea-nut than a good stiff, blue, clayed-soil.. The marly colour of the soil is undoubtedly the result of a rich loam, combined with the clay of a lighter hue. The adhesive nature of the clay retains moisture in an eminent degree, and the fertilising qualities of the loam are well known to every bottom land farmer. : Plants put out three weeks ago, after a long voyage from China, are now taking root, and look fresh and vigorous, notwithstanding the recent heat and dryness of the atmosphere. But I have taken unwearied pains in the cultiva- tion. Every plant is sheltered from the scorching influence of the sun, now from 70 deg. to 86 deg. of temperature. Although the soil is naturally moist and clayey, and half bottom land, from the work of gentle acclivities, rising on either hand, yet I have given the plants a liberal watering in the evening, By last summevr’s drought of fifty-seven days, I was taught the absolute necessity of deep digging and deep planting. None of my plants, of this season’s plant- ing, are more than two or three inches above the surface of the ground. If any of the plants have leaves, as most of them have, below that height, they are planted with the leaves retained; none are removed. Some of the _older plants have no leaves remaining, and looked like dry sticks. Many of these are now beginning to break, and put forth fresh leaves.” Tn 1851, Mr. Frank Bonynge set on foot a subscription list of fifty dollars each, to procure tea and various Indian plants for cul- ture in America. That tea can be grown successfully in Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, is almost certain, because the experiment has been pretty fairly tried, as above shown, by Dr. Smith. The ther- - mometer at Shanghai indicates the cold as more severe by thirteen degrees than at Charleston, South Carolina. The cold winter of 1834-5, which destroyed the oranges in Mr. Middleton’s planta- tion, in Charleston, left his tea plants uninjured. The question of cultivating tea in California has been seriously discussed, and will no doubt be gone into when the gold digging mania has a little subsided. There is the necessary labor and ex- perience on the spot, mm some 12,000 or 14,000 Chinese, most of i 98 TEA. whom doubtless understand the culture and manufacture. The climate, soil and surface of California exactly, answer the require- ments for the growth of this plant. The time may yet come when the vast ranges of hills that traverse this State shall present terraces of tea gardens, cultivated by the laborious Chinese, and adding inillions to the value of its products. A company for the cultivation of tea, under the title of the Assam Company, was establishedin March, 1839; and which, with a called-up capital of £193,337, has made up to the present time very profitable progress ; having now got its plantations into ex- cellent cultivation, and all its arrangements in admirable working order, it has sold teas to the amount of £90,000, and has a steamboat, a considerable plant and machinery. In the report of the Company, at their annual meeting, held at Calcutta, in Jan., 1850, it was stated, as the result of their opera- tions, that during the year 1849, the manufacturing season was un- usually cold and ungenial, in consequence of which the development of leaf for manufacture was much checked. Although some loss was sustained, there was considerable increase in the crop notwith- standing, attributable to the continued improvements in the culture which had been obtamed, and improvements over the previous season in some departments of the manufacturmg process. The gross quantity of unsorted tea manufactured in the southern di- vision was 207,982 lbs., being 2,673 lbs. less than that of the previous season, but the actual net out-turn was expected to reach 200,000 lbs. As much as 157,908 lbs. of the crop had been already received and shipped to England. These teas consisted chiefly of the finer qualities. Whilst the crops have been thus sensibly advancing in quantity and quality, and the value of the company’s plantations permanently raised by extended and improved culture, and some increase to the sowings, the total outlay had been some- what less than the previous year, the expenditure being limited to £500 for a crop of 12,000 acres of tea. With more extended gardens, the produce will be raised at a yet lower rateable cost than at present. The number of acres in cultivation in 1849, was about 12,000; these were not all in bearing, but would shortly be so, and the produce from this extent might be estimated at 300,000 Ibs., and the cost of producing this would be about £11,000. 1,010 chests of the produce were soldin London on the 13th of March, 1850, at a gross average of 1s. 114d. per lb. The produce of 1847, sold in England, was 141,277 lbs., at a gross average of Is. 8d. per lb. : that of 1848 was 176, 149 lbs. which sold at the average é& ts; 82d. per ib. - The produce of 1849 was 216,000 lbs., and there was every expectation of the average prices realised being higher than those of the previous years. The season was cold and unfavorable, or the crop would have been 10,000 lbs. more. The exact amounts obtained for the Company’s teas in the five years, ending with 1851, will be seen from the following figures :— TEA. 99 = Net produce, lbs. Average price. £ meh 44 to4: at per tb. ..: ls. 7 1-16d.... -11;518 1848 .. 182,953 os Oe te. 8d 15,486 1849 .. 216,000 As; 94d. 19,350 1850 .. 253,427 ” ae us, Gad: 18,153 1851 271,427 o dye Sad. 22,152 1852 esmtd. 289,000 This exhibits a progressive increase in the aggregate value of the Company’s produce, and this has been effected, it is stated, without any sensible increase of the current expenditure. It ex- hibits also a rise in the value of the tea (157,942 lbs. having been sold at the high average price of 1s. 11d.), a fact strongly indi- cative of its increasing excellence. The details of the crop of the season of 1849 showed a net produce of 237,000lbs. of tea; so that the Company are increasing their cultivation to the extent of nearly ten per cent. per annum, and the increase will doubtless proceed with greater rapidity, whenever the increase of capital enables the directors to extend their operations. In areport submitted to the Directors, by Mr. Burkinyoung, the managing director in Calcutta last year, he thus speaks of the Company’s field of operations and future prospects :— “The box-making is especially worthy of notice for its effective organisation and economical arrangement; the work is performed chiefly by Assamese boys in- structed at the factory: the number of boxes required for the year’s consumption will not be short of four thousand, the whole of which will be made at the factory,—an achievement that cannot be too highly estimated in a country so destitute of mechanical labor. Notwithstanding the high standard of quality and strength to which our teas have already attained, I am of opinion that, as experience advances, and our knowledge and system of plucking and manufacturing the crops become im- proved, and better organised, a higher standard of quality and value may yet be realised; in this opinion the superintendent concurs with me, and the at- tainment of this object is one to which his attention is prominently directed. In the course of my enquiries and trials of different samples of tea in Assam, my attention was directed to one description of black tea, of rough strong flavor, made by a quicker process than that ordinarily used in the manu- facture of black tea: under this mode of manipulation, a quality of tea is produced sufficiently distinctive in its flavor and appearance to render it worthy of attention and trial, and I think, when perfected in the process of manu- facture, calculated to come into popular estimation. Samples of this tea the superintendent will forward to the board for trial. In conducting the operations in Assam, the chief difficulty of importance which has not yet been effectually met is the paucity of labor; this does not, however, exist to the extent of materially checking any of the important operations connected with the production of the tea, but it is felt in the arrear of various descriptions of work, in providing bricks for building, and in the preparation of a stock of seasoned timber and boards for building and box- making; while the out factories would be benefited by a larger proportion of agricuitural labor. Great advance, however, has been made by the superin- tendent in the employment of Assamese labor in contract work: under the arrangement he has established, these contracts are now, for the most part, fulfilled with much punctuality, and there is reason to expect that this system of labor will be further extended. The Kachorie Coolies are‘a valuable class of laborers, but they do not appear to be sufficiently numerous, or to emigrate in sufficient numbers to afford with the native Assamese a supply of labor altogether equal to our wants, so as to render the concern iidependent of Bengal labor. 2 400 TEA. = The tea lands are for the most part advantageously situated, within convenient reach of water-carriage, either by the ‘Dickhoo, ‘Désang,’ and ‘ Dehing’ rivers, or by means of small streams leading to them. ‘The Plantations of the Satsohea and Rookang forests, and on the banks of the Tingri in the Northern Division, are all valuable centres of extension in each district. The lands suit- able for tea cultivation are ample in extent, and of the highest fertility; while the Hill Factories of the Southern and Eastern Divisions, although secondary im importance, are, as regards extent and quality of soil, equally eligible as bases of extension. The prospects of the future, I entertain no doubt, will keep pace with the satisfactory results that have hitherto been realised, looking to the sound organ- isation that now exists in our establishment at Assam, «n organisation that has already taken healthy root, and must in its growth gain strength and perma- nence. J think we may safely calculate, after the current year, upon an annual increase in our production of 40,000 lbs. of tea, until a larzer system of opera- tions can be matured, of which the basis is already laid down, in the new lands cleared and sown during the past cold season, averaging 225 to 250 poorahs ; and this extended basis will be doubtless followed up by annual extensions of simuar, if not larger, area. The concern is now taking a position which will place it on a scale of working commensurate with the objects entertained upon the first incorporation cof the company, the profits now likely to be realised being adequate to all the outlay necessary.” The prices in the last two years in London have beeu fully main- tamed at is. 3d. to 4s. 4d., according to sorts. Of Assam tea, the sales in the London market in 1851 amourted to 2,200 packages, against 1,800 packages in 1850, and all were freely taken (on account of their great strength) ‘at very full prices. Seventy-six packages of _Kumaon tea, both biack ral green, grown by the ‘East India Company, in the Himalayas, as an experiment, were also brought to sale. They were teas of high quality; but being of the light flavored class, and not duly esteemed in this market, they realised only about their relative value as compared with China teas of similar grade. The Souchong and Pouchong sold at 1s. lid. to 1s. 33d.; the Hyson, Imperial, and Gunpowder realised 1s. 72d. to 2s. 6$d. Mr. Robert Fortune, who, in the service of the Horticultural Society of London, gave such satisfaction by his botanical re- searches in China, was, on his return to England, in 1848, engaged by the Directors of the East India Company to proceed again to the Celestial Empire, and procure and transmit to India such a quantity and variety of the tea plant, that its cultivation in the north- western PEpvances would be a matter of mere manual labor. Taving penetrated about 300 miles into the interior, he left Hong Kong in the middle of 1851 for Calcutta, with a large quantity of choice plants, selected in the green tea districts, and these have fiou- rished as well as could possibly be expected ; so that, in the course of a few years, there is every probability that tea will Hie a consider- able article of export from our Indian Presidencies. Mr. Fortune secured the services of, and took with him, eight Chinese, from the district of Wei-chow, under an agreement for three years, at the rate of fifteen dollars a month each. Six of these are regular tea- manufacturers ; the other twe are pewterers, whose sole business i is that of preparing lead casings for tea-che ests. In the British portion of the Punjaub, it has been resolved to e dahl is , Jikowa wl ine Te See eee 1 havths sah FES th dB ee taigwrne eras - : TEA, 104 expend £10,000 a year on the cultivation of the tea plant oa the banks of the Beas, as well as at Anarkullee, and Kotghur in the Simla jurisdiction. mee the Beas there is a series of valleys on to Noonpoor, viz., the Palklun, Kangra, Rillo, &e., from 3,000 to 4,000 feet above the level of the sea, separated from each other by small ranges of hills. The valleys are from three to four miles in breadth, and from s:xty to seventy in length: they ave sheltered on the north by high mountains. They are described as admi- rably suited for the cultivation of the plant, now about to be attempted under the able management of Dr. Jamieson. Should it prove successful, the benefits it will confer on the country will be enormous. ‘Tea is a favorite beverage everywhere with the natives: at present their su pplies come in scanty measure and bad condition, at extravagant charges, across the frontier. The cultivation of the tea plant m the highlands of the Pun- jaub, is likely to be successful, even beyond the hopes of its pro- moters. Thousands of plants sown in 1849 have attained a height of four or five feet, and there seems no reason why tea should not ultimately become an important article of trade in the Punjaub, as well as in Kumaon. The Indian teas are already becoming popular in the English market, and the cultivators have the ad. vantage of a demand which is almost unlimited, and of prices which seldom fluctuate to any great extent. The experiment of growing tea in the Madras Presidency has been often successfully tried, on a small scale. A number of plants supplied by government, through Dr. Wallich, were planted in the Shevaroy hills, about twelve or fourteen years since, and have thriven well; but though no doubt is entertained of the easo with which they could be propagated over a wide extent of coun- try, no attempt has been made to give the cultivation a practical turn, or to make a cup of tea from the southern Indian tree. In Coorg, too, the experiment has been tested with like results, so that sufficient warranty exists to justify trials on the largest scale. Tea plants grow in luxuriance in the open air, at the Botanical Gardens, at Kew. Mr. Bonynge has seen this plant growing wild in N. lat. 27 deg. 30 min. on hills from three to 500 feet in height, where too, there was an abundance of frost, snow and hail. Those persons in Hugland who possess tea plants, and who cul- tivate them for pleasure, should always bear in mind that, even in the tea districts of China, this shrub will not succeed if it be planted in low, wet land; and this is, doubtless, one of the reasons why so few persons succeed in growing it in this country. Jt ought always to be planted on a warm sloping bank, in order ta give it a fair chance of success. If some of the warm spots of this kind in the south of England or Ireland were selected, whe knows but that our cottagers ‘might be able to grow their own tea? at all events, they ‘might have the fragrant herb to lool upon. The Dutch made the first movement to break the charm of 102 TEA. Chinese monopoly, by introducing and cultivating the tea plant in their rich and fruitful colony of Java. That island lies between the sixth and eighth degrees of south latitude. . In 1828, the first experiment in the cultivation of tea was made in the garden of the Chateau of Burtenzorg, at Java, where 800 plants of an astonishing vigor, served as an encouragement to undertake this culture, and considerable plantations were made in many parts of the island. The first trials did not answer to the expectations, as far as regards the quality of the article, the astringent taste and feeble aroma of which caused the conjecture that the preparation of the leaf, and its final manipulation, are not exactly according to the process used in China. At present tea is cultivated in thirteen Residencies: but the principal establish- ment, where the final manipulation is made, is in the neighbour- hood of Batavia. The tea which Java now furnishes yearly to the markets of the mother country, may be stated at from 200,000 to 300,000 pounds. It is intimated that the government mtends to abandon this culture to the industry of private indi- viduals, under the guarantee of equitablé contracts. The mountain range, which runs through the centre of the island, is the most productive, because the tea gardens, extending from near the base, high up the mountains, reach an atmosphere tempered by elevation. The plant escapes the scorching heats of the torrid zone, and finds a climate, by height rather than by latitude, adapted to its nature. But the plant is not confined to lofty ridges. In the plains, the hedges and fences, if one may so call them, are all planted with the tea shrub, which flourish in greater or less perfection throughout the island. But, as has already been intimated, the equatorial latitudes are not the most auspicious for the vigorous growth of a plant that requires a tem- perature equally removed from the extremes of heat and cold, and the quality of the tea is as much affected by the climate as the growth of the plant. A considerable quantity of tea is annually shipped from Java to Europe; but the extension of the cultiva- tion is no doubt checked by the exceeding fertility of the soil, and its adaptation to the growth of the rich products of tropical regions. Mr. Jacobson, inspector of tea culture in Java, has published - at Batavia a work in three volumes, upon the mode of cultivating this plant, upon the choice of grounds, and the best processes for the preparation and manipulation of the leaves. This book, the fruit of many years of experience and care given to the subject, has been well received by the cultivators who devote themselves to this branch of industry. If, by means of careful experiments and experience, the government succeed in conferring on the island of Java this important branch of commerce, she may hope to obtain brilliant results; at all events, it will open to the country a new source of prosperity and riches. An interesting account of the tea plants, and the manufacture of tea, will be found in Fortune’s “ Wandermgs in China,” in TEA. 103 Balls “Account of the Cultivation and Manufacture of Tea,”’ Royle’s “Illustrations of Himalayan Botany,” and his “ Pro- ductive Resources of India.” From Fortune’s “ Travels’’ I take the following extract :— *‘ There are few subjects connected with the vegetable kingdom which have attracted such a large share of public notice as the tea-plant of China. Its cultivation on the Chinese hills, the particular species of variety which produces the black and green teas of commerce, and the method of preparing the leaves, have always been objects of peculiar interest. The jealousy of the Chineso government in former times, prevented foreigners from visiting any of the dis- tricts where tea is cultivated; and the information derived from the Chinese merchants, even scanty as it was, was not to be depended upon. And hence we find our English authors contradicting each other; some asserting that the black and green teas are produced by the same variety, and that the difference in colour is the result of a different mode of preparation; while others say that the black teas are produced from the plant called by botanists Thea Bohea, and the green from Tea viridis, both of which we have had for many years in our gardens in England. During my travels in China since the last war, I have had frequent opportunities of inspecting some extensive tea districts in the black and green tea countries of Canton, Fokien, and Chekiang: the result of these observations is now laid before the reader. It will prove that even those who have had the best means of judging have beén deceived, and that the greater part of the black and green teas which are brought yearly from China to Europe and America are obtained from the same species or variety, namely, from the Thea viridis. Dried specimens of this plant were prepared in the districts I haye named, by myself, and are now in the herbarium of the Horticultural Society of London, so that there can be no longer any doubt upon the subject. In various paris of the Canton provinces where I have had an opportunity of secing tea cultivated, the species proved to be the Thea Bohea, or what is com- monly called the black tea plant. In the green tea districts of the north—I allude more particularly to the province of Chekiang—I never met with a single plant of this species, which isso common in the fields and gardens near Canton. All the plants in the green tea country near Ningpo, on the islands of the Chusan Archipelago, and in every part of the province which I have had an opportunity of visiting, proved, without an exception, to be Thea viridis. Two hundred miles further to the northwest, in the province of Kiang-nan, and only a short distance from the tea hills in that quarter, I also found in gardens the same species of tea. Thus far my actual observations exactly verified the opinions I had formed on the subject before I left England, viz : that the black teas were prepared from the Thea Bohea, and thegreen from Thea viridis, When I left the north, on my way to the city of Foo-chow-foo, on the river Min, in the province Fokien, I had no doubt that I should find the tea hills there covered with the other species, Thea Bohea, from which we generally suppose the black teasare made; and this was the more likely to be the case as this species actually derives its specific name from the Bohea hills in this province. Great was my surprise to find all the plants on the tea hills near Foo-chow exactly the same as those in the green tea districts of the north. Here were, then, green tea plantations on the black tea hills, and not a single plant of the Thea Bohea to be seen. Moreover, at the time of my visit, the natives were busily employed in the manufacture of black teas. Although the specific differences of the tea plant were well known to me, I was so much sur- prised, and I may add amused, at this discovery, that I procured a set of speci- mens for the herbarium, and also dug up a living plant, which I took north- ward to Chekiang. On comparing it with those which grow on the green tea hills, no difference whatever was observed. It appears, therefore, that the black and green teas of the northern districts of China (those districts in which the greater part of the teas for the foreign market are made) are both produced from the same variety, and that that variety is the Thea viridis, or what is com- monly called green tea plant. On the other hand those black and gveen teas which are manufactured in considerable quantities in the vicinity of Canton, 104 TEA. are obtained from the Thea Bohea, or black tea. In the green tea districts of Chekiang, near Ningpo, the first crop of leaves is generally gathered about the middle of April. This consists of the young leaf buds just as they begin to unfold, and forms a fine and delicate kind of young hyson, which is held in high estimation by the natives, and is generally sent about in small quantities as ;resents to their friends. It isa scarce and expensive article, and the picking off the Jeaves in such a young state does con- siderable injury to the tea plantation. The summer rains, however, which fall copiously about this season, moisten the earth and air; and if the plants are young and vigorous, they soon push out fresh leaves. In a fortnight or three weeks from the time of the first picking, the shrubs are again covered with fresh leaves, and are ready for the second gathering, which is the most impor- tant of the season. The third and last gathering, which takes place as soon as new leaves are formed, produces a very Inferior kind of tea, which israrely sent out of the district. The mode of gathering and preparing the leaves of the tea plant is very simple. We have been so long accustomed to magnify and mys- tify everything relating to the Chinese, that in all their arts and manufactures we expect to find some , peculiar practice, when the fact is, that many operations - in China are more simple in their character than in most parts of the world. To rightly understand the process of rolling and drying the leaves, which I am about to describe, it must be borne in mind that the grand object is to expel the moisture, and at the same time to retain as much as possible of the aromatic and other desirable secretions of the species. The system adopted to attain this end is as simple as it is efficacious. In the harvest seasons, the natives are seen in httle family groups on the side of every hill, when the weather is dry, engaged in gathering tea leaves. They do not seem so particular as I imagined they would have been in this operation, but strip the leaves off rapidly and “prom: scuously, and throw them all into round baskets, made for the pur- pose out of split bamboo or ratan. Inthe beginning cf May, when the princi- pal gathering takes place, the young seed-vessels are about as large as peas. ‘These are also stripped off and mixed with the leaves; it is these seed-vessels which we often see in our tea, and which has some slight resemblance to capers. When a sutiicient quantity of leaves are gather ed, they are carried home to the cottage or barn, where the operation of drying is ‘performed. Z This is minutely described, and the author continues :— ‘*T have stated that the plants grown im the districts of Chekiang produce green teas, but it must not be supposed that they are the green teas which are exported to England. ‘The leaf has a much more natural color, and has little or none of what we call the ‘beautiful bloom’ upon it, which is so much ad- mired in Europe and America. There isnow no doubt that all these ‘blooming’ green teas, which are manufactured at Canton, are dyed with Prussian blue and gypsum, to suit the taste of the foreign ‘ barbarians ;’ indeed the process may be seen any day, during the season, by those who give themselves the trouble to seek after it. It is very likely that the same ingredients are also used in dyeing the northern green teas for the foreign market; of this, however, I am not quite certain. There is a vegetable dye obtained from Jsatis indigetica much used in the northern districts, and called Te’nsing ; and itis not unlikely that it may be the substance which is employed. The Chinese never use these dyed teas themselves, and I certainly think their taste in this respect is more correct Ean ours. Itis not to be supposed that the dye used can produce any very bad effects on the consumer, for, had this been the case, it would have been dis- covered before now; but if entirely harmless or inert, its being so must be ascribed to the very ‘small quantity which is employed in the manufacture.” Tn short, the black and green teas which are generally exported to England and the United States from the a provinces of China, are made from the same species; and the difference of color, flavor, &c., is solely the result of the different modes of preparation. —_ —* TEA, 105 T shall make an extract, also, from Williams’s “ Middle King- dom :’— “The native names given to the various sorts of tea are derived fur the most part from their appearance or place of growth; the names of many of the best kinds are not commonly known abroad. Bo/ea is the name of the Wu-i hills, (or Bu-i, as the people on the spot call them,) where the tea is grown, and not a term for a particular soit among the Chinese, though it is applied to a very _ poor kind of black tea at Canton. Swnglo is likewise a general term for the green teas produced on the hills in Kiangsu. The names of the principal varieties of black tea are as follows: Peeco, ‘white hairs,’ so called from the whitish down on the leaves, is one of the choicest kinds, and has a peculiar taste; Orange Pecco, called shang hiang, or ‘most fragrant, differs from it shghtly ; Hungmuey, ‘red plum blossoms,’ has a slightly reddish tinge; the terms princes eyebrows, carnation hair, lotus kernel, sparrow’s tongue, fir-leaf pattern, dragon’ s pellet, and dragon’s whiskers, are all translations of the native names of different kin'ls of Souchong or Pecco. Souchong, or siau chung, means little plant or sort, as Pou-hong, or folded sort, refers to the mode of packing it; Campotis corrupted from kan pei, i. e. carefully fired; Chulan is the tea scented with the chulan flower, and applied to some kinds of scented green tea. The names of green teas are less numerous: Gunpowder, or ma chu, i. e. hemp pearl, derives its name from the form into which the leaves are rolled; ta chu, or ‘ great pearl,’ and chu lan, or ‘ pearl flower,’ denote two kinds of Imperial; Hyson, or yu tsien, i.e. before the rains, originally denoted the tenderest leaves of the plant, and is now applied to Young Hyson; as is aiso another name, mez pein, or ‘plum petals;’ while hz chun, ‘flourishing spring,’ describes Hyson ; Twankay is the name of a stream in Chehkiahg, where this sort is produced ; * and Hyson skin, or pi cha, i. e. skin tea, is the povrest kind, the siftings of the other varieties; Oolwng, ‘black dragon,’ is a kind of black tea with green flavor. Ankoi teas are produced in the district of Nganki, not far from Tsiuenchau fu, possessing a peculiar taste, supposed to be owing to the ferruginous nature of the soil. De Guignes speaks of the Pu-’rh tea, from the place in Kiangsu where it grows, and says it is cured from wild plants found there; the infusion is unpleasant, and is used for medical purposes. The Mongols and others in the west of China prepare tea by pressing it, when fiesh, into cakes like bricks, and thoroughly drying it in that shape to carry in their wanderings. “Considering the enormous labor of preparing tea, it is surprising that-even the poorest kind can be afforded to the foreign purchaser at Canton, more than a thousand miles from tie place of its growth, fur 9d. and less a pound;:and in their ability to furnish it at this rate, the Chinese have a security of retain- ing the trade in their hands, notwithstanding the efforts to grow the plant elsewhere. Comparatively little adulteration is practised, if the amount used at home and abroad be considered, though the temptation is great, as the in- fusion of other plants is drunk instead of the true tea. The poorer natives substitute the leaves of a species of Rhamnus or Faillopia, which they dry ; Camellia leaves are perhaps mixed up with it, but probably to no great extent. The refuse of packing-houses is sold to the poor at a low rate, under the name of tea endings and tea bones; and if a few of the rarest scrts do not go abroad, neither do the poorest. It isa necessary of life to all classes of Chinese, and that its use is not injurious is abundantly evident from its general acceptance and extending adoption ; and the prejudice against it among some out of China may be attributed chiefly to the use oi strong green tea, whichis no doubt pre- judicial. If those who have given it upon this account will adopt a weaker infusion of black tea, general experience is proof that it will do them no great harm, and they may be sure that they will not be deceived by a colored articles Neither the. Chinese nor Japanese use milk or sugar in their tea, and the peculiar taste and aroma of the infusion is much better perceived without those additions ; nor can it be drunk so strone without tasting an uapleasant bitter- ness, which the miilk partly hides. ‘The Japanese sometimes reduce the leaves to a powder, and pour boiling water through them in a cullender, ii the same way that cotiee 1s oiten made.’’ 106 TEA. The followimg valuable details as to the cultivation and manu- facture of tea in British India, are from interesting reports by Dr. Jameson, Superintendent of the Company’s Botanical Gardens in the North West Provinces, published in 1847 in the Journal of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of Calcutta ;— and from Mr. Robert Fortune’s report to the Hon. Hast India Company :— The quantity manufactured.—The quantity of tea manufactured from five plantations, of 89 acres in all, amounted in 1845 to 610Ib. 20z., and in 1846, on 115 acres, to 1,023lb. lloz. The small nursery of Lutchmisser, consisting of three acres of land, gave a return in 1846 of 216ib., or 2 maunds and 56 pcunds ; in 1846 the return was 272lbs., or 3 maunds and 32 pounds. The small plantation of Kuppeena, established in 1841-2, and then consisting of three acres (but increased in 1844 to four), yielded in 1845, 1 maund and 56 pounds, and in i846, 2 maunds and 56 pounds. Thus we have received from a plantation of only five years’ formation, and of four acres (one of these recently added), upwards of 25 maunds of tea, and from another, Lutchmisser, of three acres, Which was established in 1835- 6, 8 maunds and 30 pounds, equal to 272 pounds. I have, in a former report, asserted that the minimum return of tea for an acre of land may be estimated at 1 pucka maund, or 80lb. The only planta- tions that I can as yet bring forward in favour of my assertion, are the two above-mentioned: Kuppeena has not yielded the proportion mentioned, but it was only established in 1841-42, and the tea-plants do not come into full bear- ing until the eighth year; on the other hand, Lutchmisser has given more than the a verage return. I think, therefore, that the returns already yielded are highly favorable, and that though the data are small, they are very satis- factory. Soil best adapted for the tea-plant.—The soil in which the tea-plant is now thriving in the Himalayas and in the valley of Deyrah Dhoon, varies exceed- ingly. At Bhurtpoor and Russiah it is of a light silico-aluminous Se, and abounding with small pieces of clay slate, which is the subjacent rock, and trap (greenstone), which occurs in large dykes cutting through and altering the strata of clay slate ; mixed with the stony soil, there is a small quantity of vegetable matter. The clay slate is metamorphic, being almost entirely composed of mica. In some places it is mixed with quartz, forming mica slate. From the decom- position of these rocks, mixed with a small quantity of vegetable matter, the soil is formed. At Kuppeena and Lutchmisser, the soil is also very stony, formed from the decomposition of clay slate, which, in many places, as at Russiah and Bhurtpoor, passes into mica slate, or alternates with it, and a little vegetable matter. The same remark applies to the plantations of Guddowh, Kouth, and Rumaserai. At Huwalbaugh part of the soil consists of a stiff clay, of a reddish- yellow colour, owing to peroxide of iron. Here, too, the tea-plants, provided that the ground around them is occasionally opened up, thrive well. In Mr. Lushington’s garden at Lobha, in Kumaon, and in Assistant Commissioner Cap- tain H. Ramsay’s garden at Pooree, in Gurw ahl, plants are thriving well in a rich, black, vegetable mould. The soil in the Deyrah Dhoon varies exceedingly from clayey and stiff soil to sand and gravelly soil, or light and free. The soil — at Kaolagir is a compound of the two, neither clayey, nor free, nor light soil, but composed partly of clay ard sand, mixed with vegetable mould, and in some places mixed with much gravel, consisting of limestone, marl, sandstone, clay slate, and quartz rock, or of such rocks as enter into the composition of the surrounding ranges of mountains, viz., the Sewalick range to the south, and the Himalayas, properly so called, to the north, From the above statement, we find that the tea-plant thrives well both in stiff and free soils, and in many modifica- tions of these. But the soil which seems best adapted to its growth may be styled free soil, as at Russiah, or a mixture cf beth, as at Kaolagir, in the Dey- rah Dhoon. In limestone districts, where the tea has been tried, if the super-imposed soil has been thin and untransported, and this ; roved from the decompos ticn of the TRA. 107 subjacent rock, the plant has generally failed; and this has been particularly the ease where the limestone, by plutonic action, has become metamorphic. These districts, therefore, in forming plantations, are to be avoided. From the writings of various authors, it appears that the districts where the tea-plant thrives best in China, have a geological structure very similar to that met with in many parts of the Himalayas, being composed of primitive and tran- sition rocks. Altitude above the sea best suited to the tea plant——To state what altitude is best adapted to the growth of the tea-plant, and for the production of the best kinds of tea, will require much more obseryation. At present the tea-plant thrives equally well at Kaolagir, in the Deyrah Dhoon; at Russiah, in the Chikata dis- trict; at Huwalbaugh ; at Kuppeena and Lutchmisser; and at Rumaserai, or at heights ranging from 2,200 feet above the level of the sea to 6,000 feet. Moreover, the tea manufactured from leaves procured from Kaolagir, has been considered by the London brokers equal to that made from leaves procured trom Lutchmisser and Kuppeena. On the method of preparing ground prior to forming a plantation.—In forming a plantation, the first object of attention, both in the hills and in the Deyrah Dhoon, is a fence. In the former, to prevent the depredations of wild animals, such as wild hog, deer, &c., which abound in the hills, and though they do not eat tea leaves, yet hogs, in search of tubers, in the space of a single night will do much damage by uprooting young shrubs—in the latter, to prevent the stray- ing of cattle. ‘The first thing to be done, therefore, is to dig a trench three feet broad and two deep, and to plant a hedge, if in the hills, of black thorn ( Cra- tegus) ; if in the plains, the different species of aloe are best adapted for the pur- ~ pose. ‘The fence being formed, all trees and shrubs are then to be uprooted ;. _ this is very heavy work, both in the hills and plains, from the vast number of shrubs, allowed by natives (from indolence to remove them) to grow everywhere throughout their fields. Roads are then to be marked off. After this has been accomplished, the land is to be drained, if necessary, by open drains—under drainage, for want of means and the expense, being imprac- _ ticable—and then ploughed three or four times over. The beds for young tca- plants are then to be formed; these ought to be three feet in breadth, alternating with a pathway of two feet in breadth. By arranging beds in this manner much ~ time and labour is saved in transplanting ; in irrigation the water is economised, and in plucking tea leaves a road is given to the gatherer. In transplanting, each plant is allowed 45 feet; this is at once gained, the beds and pathways being formed by placing in one direction the plant in the centre of the bed. Trenching.—On the tea beds being marked off, they are to be trenched to a depth of from two to three feet, in order to destroy all the roots of weeds, which are to be carefully removed. ‘The trenching is to be performed by the fowrah, or Indian spade. In the hills, in many places the fowrah cannot be used, owing to the number of stones. The work is then to be done by the #oatlah, a flat-pointed piece of iron, of about eight inches in length, which is inserted into a wooden handle. It is in form like the pick, and is much used in hill cultivation for wecding and opening up the ground. It is, however, not much to be commended for trench- ing purposes, as natives, In using it, never penetrate the ground beyond a few inches. Fer weeding, however, it is particularly useful, and to such soil is much better adapted than most other implements. ‘ Formation of roads and paths —In addition to the pathways of two fect in breadth, recommended to be formed between each bed, there ought, for general use, to be a four feet road carried round the plantation, and one of 10 feet through the centre. This applies to a limited plantation, that is, of from 200 to 400 acres. If, on the other hand, it was on a move extensive scale, several hackery roads of 10 feet in breadth would be necessary, in order to cart away weeds, &e., or carry mznure to seedling beds. On seeds when ripe, and method to be adopted to ascertain it.—In all September and October the tea seeds ripen, but in the more elevated plantations, as at Ru- maserai, many do not ripen until November. The seeds are contained in a cap- sule, and vary in number from one to seven; to ascertain that they are ripe, 108 TEA. open the capsule, although green, and if their color is a nut-brown, they are sure to be so. If they are not ripe, they are of a reddish-brown above, mixed with white. If the seeds are allowed to remain a short time on the bushes, after they are ripe, the capsules burst, and they fall out; it is necessary, therefore, to remove them before this takes place. On the method of sowing seeds, and season, and on the treatment of the young tea_ plants after they have germinated.—The ground having been first well trenched : and manured, that is, from sixty toseventy maunds of manure given to the acre, © the seeds are, when ripe, to be removed from the capsules, and immediately sown - to the depth of one inch, and very close, in drills 8 to 10 inches apart from each other. The sooner that they are sown after being removed from the capsules the better, as their germinating properties are apt to be destroyed if they are kept for any length of time. Some germinate in the space of a few weeks, others lie dor- mant until February and March, and others do not germinate until the rains. The method of sowing seeds in China is thus described, being similar to the native plan of sowing mangoes in India. ‘‘ Several seeds are dropped into holes - four or five inches deep and three or four feet apart, shortly after they ripen, or in November and December; the plants rise up ina cluster when the rains come on. They are seldom transplanted, but sometimes four to six are put quite close to form a fine bush.””* By this method nothing is gained, and the expenditure of seeds great. If the plants germinate in November, which, as already stated, many do, they ought to be covered with a chupper made of bamboo and grass. In the hills, everywhere at an elevation of 6,000 and 7,000 feet, the ringal, a small kind of bamboo, of which there are several species, is found in great abun- dance, and well adapted for the purpose, and in the Deyrah Dhoon the bamboo occurs in vast quantity ; the market of the Upper Provinces being chiefly sup- plied from that valley and other forests at the base of the Himalayas. Bamboos are also met withto the height of six and seven thousand feet on the Himaiayas in the neighbourhood of Almorah. During the day, in the cold weather, the chuppers ought to be removed, and again replaced at night; as the weather be- comes hot, itis necessary to protect the young plants from the heat of the sun, that is, in April and May, and until the rains commence; the chuppers at this time ought to be put on about eight a.m., and removed again about four p.m. Method of rearing plantations by layers, and by cuttings.—The best season for laying down is when the sap is dormant, or in cold weather; or when in full ac- tion, asin the rains. ‘‘ Laying,” as expressed by Dr. Lindley, ‘‘is notiing but striking from cuttings, which are still allowed to maintain their connection with the mother plant by means of a portion of their stem.’ There are various me- thods of making layers, but the most simple and efficient is to bend down a branch, and sink it into the earth after having made a slit or notch in the centre of the embedded porfion. By so doing, the descent of the sap is retarded, and thus the formation of radicles or young roots is promoted; about five or six inches or more, of the branch, is to be allowed to remain above ground, and in a position as perpendicular to the point where the plant is notched as possible. In three or four months these layers are ready to be removed and transplanted ; the removal of the layers is to be gradual, that is, they ought first to be cut half through, then alittle more, and finally altogether separated. The best season for propagating by cuttings is the cold weather, that is, from November to February ; they may also be propagated, though not with the same success, during the rains; it is necessary to protect them against frost in the cold weather, and from the rays of the sun in the hot. Cuttings put in during the cold weather are ready to transplant.in the rains, and if put in during the rains, they are generally fit for removal in February. On the method of transplanting and seeson.—In transplanting young tea-plants care should be taken to lift them with a good large ball of earth attached to their roots, as they throw out a long central or tap root, which, if cut through, invariably destroys the plant.. On being placed ia the ground, the earth around them is to be well pressed down and watered; the watering is to be continued * See article Thea, by Dr. Royle, in “‘ Penny Cyclopedia,’ vol xxiv.. p. 286. TEA. 109 ~ every third or fourth day, until the plants have taken hold of the ground. Dnu- ring the rains, grass springs up with great rapidity, so as to render it impossible for one man to keep three acres (the quantity assigned by us) clean. This, how- ever, is not necessary, if care be taken to make a golah round each plant, and keep it clear of weeds; these golahs ought always, in hiil plantations where the ground is irregular, to be connected by small Ahauls or channels, in order to make uTigation easy ; by so doing too, water, if the supply be scanty, which often happens in the hills in the hot weather, will be economised. or ; | 5 , % a Tea plant. meee eee Vanek b Bed. Thus i - e Watercourse... | ; We have already stated that 43 square fect ought to be assigned to each plant. In China, according to Professor Royle, three to-four feet are given; this, how- ever, is too smali a space to allow the plant to grow freely. After the tea plants are transplanted, it is not necessary to protect them. The best seasons for transplanting are towards the end of February, or as soon as the frost has ceased, and throughout March, and during the rains, and until the end or middle of November, depending on the season. In transplanting, four parties ought to be employed; viz., one person to dig holes, a second to remove plants, a third to carry them to the ground where they are required, and a fourth to plant. By this means, not only time is saved, but the plants have a much better chance, when thus treated, of doing well. When the seedling beds are extensive, so many of the plants ought not to be removed, that is, a plant left every 43 feet, and these beds added to the plantation. On pruning, best season and mode.—The plants do not require to be pruned until the fifth year, as the plucking of leaves generally tends to make the plants assume the basket shape, the form most to be desired to procure the greatest quantity of leaves; if, however, the plants show a tendency to run into weed, : from central branches being thrown out, this ought to be checked by removing the central stem. In the fourth year a quantity of the old and hard wood ought to be removed, to induce the plants to throw out more branches. The best season for pruning is from November to March. On irrigation.—To keep the tea-plants healthy, irrigation for two or three years is absolutely necessary, and no land ought to be selected for a tea planta- tion which cannot be irrigated. On the other hand, land liable to be flooded during the rains, and upon which water lies for any length of time, is equally detrimental to the growth of the plant. This applies to a small portion of the Kooasur plantation, which receives the drainage of the adjoining hills, and the soil being retentive, keeps the water. Deep trenches have been dug in order to drain it off—these, however, owing to the lowness of the surrounding country, act badly. ‘Three successive seasons plants have been put into the ground, and as often have been destroyed on the setting in of the rains, showing the necessity of avoiding such kind of land for tea plantation. To facilitate irrigation, &c., as already stated, in the Deyrah Dhoon, I have limited the tea beds to three feet in breadth. This is particularly requisite in land so constituted as that of the Deyrah Dhoon, it being so porous, as men- tioned by Major Cautley in his “‘ Notes and Memoranda of Watercourses.” This is caused by the superincumbent soil not being more than from one to three feet thick, in some places more, but varying exceedingly. Beneath this there is a bed of shingle of vast thickness, through which the water percolates ; it is this that renders the sinking of wells so difficult in the Deyrah Dhoon, and which has tended so much to retard individuals from becoming permanent residents; at present there are many tracts of several thousand acres in that valley unoccu- pied from want of drinking water, as for instance, at Innesphaeel. 110 TEA. Where the ground is very uneven, as is the case generally in the hills, the khauwl system, already recommended, ought to be adopted. On the tea-plant; season of flowering, its characters and species, and on the advantages to be derived from importing seeds from China.—From the importance of tea, as an article of commerce, the plant has attracted much attention; and from few qualified Kuropeans having travelled in the tea districts of China, there is much difference of cpinion as to the number of species belonging to the genus Thea. In the government plantations in Kumaon and Gurwahl, the plants begin to flower about the end of August and beginning of September, or, as the seeds of the former year begin toripen. They do not all come into flower at once, but some are in full blossom in September, others in October, November, December and January. Some throw outa second set of blossoms in March, April, and May, and during the rains; so that from the same plant unripe or ripe seeds and flowers may be collected at one and the same time. To the genus Thea, which belongs to the order Ternstreemiacez, the fol- lowing characters have been ascribed : calyx persistent, without bracts, five- leaved, leaflets imbricated and generally of the same size. Petals of the corolla vary in number from five to nine, imbricated, the inner ones much the largest. Stamens numerous, in several rows adhering to the bottom of the petals. Filaments filiform. Anthers incumbent, two-celled, oblong, with a thickish connectivum, Cells opening longitudinally. Ovary free, three-celled; ovules four in each cell, inserted interna'ly into the central angle, the upper ones ascending, the lower pendulous. Style trifid, stigmas three, acute. Capsule spheroidal, 1-7-lobed with loculicidal dehiscence, or with dessepiments formed from the turned-in edges of the valves. Seeds solitary, or two in cells, shell-like testa, marked with the ventral umbilicus. Cotyledons thick, fleshy, ‘oily, no albumen. MRadicle very short, very near the umbilicus centripetal. In the plantations there are two species, and two well marked varieties. The first is characterised by the leaves being of a pale-green colour, thin, almost membraneous, broad lanceolate, sinatures or edge irregular and reversed, length from three to six inches. The colorof the stem of newly- formed shsots is of a pale-reddish colour, and green towards the end. ‘This species is also marked by its strong erowth, its erect stem, and the shoots being generally upright and stiff. The “flowers are small, and its seeds but sparing. In its characters this plant, received from Assam, agrees in part with those assigned by Dr. Lettsom and Sir W. Hooker to the Thea viridis, but differs in its branches being stiff and erect. The flowers small, or rather much about the same size as the species about to be described, and not confined to the upper axils of the plant, and solitary, as stated by them. * By the Chinese manufacturers it is considered an inferior plant for making tea, it is not therefore grown to any extent. The second species is characterised by its leaves being much smaller, and not so broadly lanceolate; slightly waved, of a dark-green color, thick and coriaceous, sinature or edge irregular, length from one to three inches and a half. In its growth itis much smaller than the former, and throws out nu- merous spreading branches, and seldom presents its marked leading stem. This species, therefore, in the above characters, agrees much with those that have been assigned to Thea Bohea by authors. The characters have been mixed up in an extraordinary manner. Thus it has been stated, that the Thea viridis has large, strong growing, and spreading branches, and that Thea Bohea isa smaller plant, with branches stiff and straight, and stem erect. No doubt the Thea viridis is a much larger and stronger growing plant than the Thea Bohea, or rather the plant now existing in the different plantations is so; but in the former the branches are stiff and erect, and in the latter inclined and branches: The marked distinguishing characters between the two species are the coriaceous dark-green leaves in the hea Bohea, and the pales pale-green monhaneous leaves of the Thea viridis. The manner, too, of growth is very striking, and on entering the plantation the distinction is at once marked to the most unob- * Hooker’s ‘‘ Bot. Mag.,” 1.3148. It is the Assam tea plant. TEA. Lit servant eye. This species of Thea Bohea forms nearly the whole of the plantations, and was brought from China by Dr. Gordon. In the plantations there is a third plant, which, however, can only be con- sidered a marked variety of Thea Bohea. Its leaves are thick, coriaceous, and of dark-green color, but invariably very small, and not exceeding two inches in length, and thinly lanceolate; the serratures, too, on the edge, which are straight, are not so deep. Im other characters it is identical. This marked variety was received from Calcutta at the plantation in a separate despatch from the others. _ But in addition to these there are, no doubt, many more varieties, and though it may be a fact that, in certain districts, green tea is manufactured from a species differing from that from which black tea is manufactured, yet, in other districts, green and black teas are manufactured from one and the same plant. The Chinese manufacturers now in Kumaon state that the plant is one and the same, and that it can be proved by converting black tea into green. In manu- facturing teas now in the manufactory, if a large quantity of leaves are brought in from the plantations, one half are converted into green, and one half into black tea. This only shows that much of the green and black teas of commerce are manufactured from one and the same plant. The Assam plant is, from the characters given, quite a distinct plant, and agrees, as already stated, most nearly with the species described as Thea viridis. It would, therefore, be most desirable to procure seeds of this so-called species, and also of other varieties, of which, no doubt, there isa great variety. From the northern districts of China in particular, seeds ought to be imported, not, however, in large quantities, but in quantities of two or three seers, so that they might, on arrival at Calcutta, be sent up the country as quickly as possible, for, if the seeds are kept long out of the ground, not one will germinate; such was the fate of all the seeds con- tained in ten boxes imported by government in 1845, not one having germinated, which was much to be regretted. Had they been sent in small parcels, well packed in wax eloth, to prevent them from being injured by moisture, and placed in an airy part of the vessel in transmission from China to Calcutta, and, on arrival there, sent by dawk banghay direct to the plantation, they would, I am confident, have reached in good condition. It is well worthy of a trial; and seeds ought, if possible, to be obtained from every district celebrated for its teas. It is in this manner, by obtaining seeds of the finest varieties of plants, that the finest teas will be procured. I do not mean to infer that the tea plants now under cultivation are not the produce of fine varieties, for that has been proved by the undoubted testimony of the London brokers, but only that there are, no doubt, many others well worthy of introduction. In confirmation of what I have stated, I may quote the words cf my late friend Dr. Griffith, who, in his report on the tea plant of Assam, says—‘‘ I now come to the consideration of the steps which, in my opinion, must be followed if any degree of success in the cultivation of tea is to be expected; of these the most important is the im- portation of Chinese seeds of unexceptionable quality, and of small numbers of their sorts.”* Dr. Royle, too, who was the first person to point out that the Himalayas were well adapted to tea cultivation, and to whom the credit of re- commending to government the introduction of the plant into Northern India is due, strongly urges the necessity of importing seeds from different localities in China celebrated for their teas. Method and season for plucking and gathering leaves.—The season for picking leaves commences in April and continues until October. The number of gatherings varies, depending on the moisture t+ or dryness of the season. If the season be good, as many asseven gatherings may-be obtained. If, however, the rains are partial, only four or five. These, however, may be reduced to their general periods for gathering—that is, from April to. June; from July to 15th August, and from September to the end of October. But few leaves are * Report on Tea Cultivation submitted to House of Commons. See Blue Book, 1839, p.1—3. + In a short time rain gauges will be established at Bheemtal, Huwalbaugh, Paoree, and Kaolagir, in order to measure the quantity of rain that falls annually, for the purpose of pon aes how much the quantity and quality of the produce of tea is afiected by the weather. : eo, TEA. collected after the 15th of the latter month. As soon as the new and young leaves have appeared in April, the plucking takes place, this being done by the Chinese, assisted by the Mallees. The following is the method adopted :—A certain division of the plantation is marked off, and to each man a small basket is given, with instructions to proceed toa certain point, so that no plant may be passed over. On the small basket being filled, the leaves are emptied into another large one, which is put in some shady place, and in which, when filled, they are conveyed to the manufactory. The leaves are generally plucked with the thumb and forefinger. Sometimes the terminal part of a branch, having four or five young leaves attached, is plucked off. All old leaves are rejected, as they will not curl, and therefore are of no use. As the season advances, and manufactory and plantation works become necessary, the Mallees are assisted in gathering leaves by Coolies. The pro- cess is simple, and thus every man, woman, and child of villages could be profitably employed, on the plantations being greatly extended. Certain kinds of leaves are not selected in the plantation, in order to make certain kinds of tea, but all new and fresh leaves are indiscriminately collected together, and the different kinds separated on the leaves being fired. Method of manufacturing black tea.—The young and fresh leaves on being picked (they only being used, the old ones being too hard, and therefore unfit to curl), are carried to the manufactory, and spread out in a large airy room to cool, and are there kept during the night, being occasionally turned with the hand if brought in in the afternoon; or, if brought in during the morning, they are allowed to lie until noon. Early in the morning the manufacturers visit the airing room, and pack up the leaves in baskets and remove tkem to the manufacturing room. Each manufacturer takes a basketful, and commences to beat them between the palms of his hands with a lateral motion, in order to soften and make them more pliable for working, and thus prevent them, when rolled, from breaking. This beating process continues for about an hour, and it may either consist of one or two processes; the Chinese sometimes finish the beating process at once; at others, they allow the leaves, after being beat for half an hour, to remain a time and then resume it. They now go to breakfast, and in one hour and a half the leaves are ready for the pan. The pans being heated by wood placed in the oven, so as to feel hot to the hands, are filled to about two-thirds, or about three seers of leaves are thrown in at a time—the quantity which a manufacturer is capable of lifting with both hands. With the hands the leaves are kept moving with a rotatory motion in the pan, and when they become very hot, the motion is kept up with a pair of forked sticks. This process is continued for three or four minutes, depending on the heat of the pan, or until the leaves feel hot and soft. They are then, with one sweep of a bamboo brush, swept into a basket, and thrown on to the rolling-table, which is covered with a coarse mat made of bamboo. Each manufacturer then takes as much as he can hold in both hands, and forms a ball and commences to roll it with all his might with a semicircular motion, which causes a greenish yellow juice to exude. This process is continued for three or four minutes, the balls being occasionally undone and made up again. ‘The balls are then handed to another party at the extremity of the table, to undo them and spread the leaves out thinly on fiat baskets and expose them to the sun, if there is any ; if not they are kept in the manufactory. After all the leaves have gone through this process, the first baskets are brought back, and the leaves again transferred to the pan, worked up in a similar manner for the same length of time, re-transferred to the table, and again rolled. ‘This being done, the leaves are again spread out on large flat baskets to cool. On being cooled the leaves are collected together and thinly spread out on flat wicker-worked sieve-baskets, which are placed in others of a deep and of a double-coned shape. ‘The choolahs being lighted for some time, and the charcoal burning clear, they are now ready to receive the coned baskets. The basket is placed over the choolah and kept there for about five minutes. The leaves are then removed, re-trans- ferred to the flat baskets, and re-rolled for a few minutes. This being done, the leaves are again brought together, placed in the conical basket and kept over the charcoal fire for about two minutes. The contents of the conical THA. 113 baskets are then all collected together in a heap, and as much is placed in a conical basket as it will hold, and it is again placed over the charcoal choolah until the tea is perfectly dry. During this time the baskets are frequently removed and the tea turned, in order to allow the leaves to be completely and uniformly dried, and the basket too is generally struck, on removal, a violent side blow with the hand, to remove from the sieve any small particles that might otherwise fall into the fire. Before removing the basket from the choolah, a flat basket is always placed on the floor to receive it, and all the particles which pass through, on the coned basket being struck, are again replaced. On the conical basket being filled, before placing it over.the choolah, a funnel is made in the centre of the tea with the hand, to allow the heated air to pass through. Sometimes a funnel made of bamboo is made for this purpose. After the tea feels perfectly dry, it is packed in boxes, and sent to the godown. Next day the different kinds of tea are picked, and on being separated they are again placed in the conical baskets and heated. During this process the baskets are frequently removed from the choolah in order to turn the tea, so that the heating may be general and uniform. In doing this a flat basket is always placed on the floor, as on the former day (and a flat basket, too, is placed on the top to confine the heat), to receive the conical one, which receive one or two blows to open the pores of the sieve. What passes through is replaced amongst the tea. When it is perfectly dry it is ready for finally packing. The kinds of black tea at present manufactured are—Souchong, Pouchong, Flowery Pekoe, and Bohea. The Flowery Pekoe is manufactured in Sep- tember. Method of manufacturing Green Tea.—On the young and fresh leaves being plucked they are spread out on the ground of the airing room and allowed to cool. After remaining for about two hours, or (if brought in late in the after- noon) during the night, they are removed to the green tea room. The pans being properly heated, the leaves, as in the case with the black tea, are thrown into the pans and kept either with the hand or two forked sticks in constant motion for three or four minutes, and are then removed to the rolling table, and then rolled in the same manner in balls as the black tea. They are then scat- tered most sparingly on large flat baskets and exposed to the heat of the sun. If there is no sun the baskets are arranged in frames, which are placed over the choolah, heated with charcoal. During the drying the leaves are frequently made into balls and rolledin the flat baskets, in order to extract the juice. The drying process continues for about two hours, and on the leaves becoming dry, those contained in two baskets are thrown together, and then four basketsful into one, and so on until they are all collected together. In this state the leaves still feel soft, damp, and pliant to the hand, and are now brought back to the-tea manufacturing-room. Opposite to each of the inclined pans, which have been properly heated so as to feel warm to the hand by wood supplied to the ovens underneath, one of the Chinese stations himself, and puts as many leaves into it as it will hold. He then moves them in a heap gently, from before backward, making these perform a circle, and presses them strongly to the sides of the pan. As the leaves become hot he uses a flat piece of wood, in order that he may more effectually compress them. This process continues for about two hours, the leaves being compressed into at least half of their buik, and become so dry that when pressed against the back part of the pan in mass, they again fall back in pieces. The tea, as by this time it has assumed this appearance, is now placed in a bag made of American drill or jean (the size depending on the quantity of tea), which is damped, and one end twisted with much force over a stick, and thus it is much reduced in size. After being thus powerfully compressed and beaten so as to reduce the mass as much as possible, the bag is exposed to the sun until it feels perfectly dry. If there is no sun it is placed in the heated pan, and there retained until it is so. This finishes the first day’s process. On the second day it is placed in small quantities in the heated inclined pans, and moved up and down against the sides and bottom with the palm of the hand, which is made to perform a semi-circle. This is continued for about six hours, and by so doing the colour of the tea is gradually brought out. af “114 TEA. The third day it is passed through sieve baskets of different dimensions, then exposed to the winnowing machine, which separates the different kinds of green teas. The winnowing machine is divided into a series of divisions, which receive the different kinds according to their size and weight. 1st. Coarsest Souchoo. This tea, owing to its coarseness, is not marketable. 2nd. Chounchoo. This is a large, round-grained tea. 38rd. Machoo, ‘This is also a round-grained tea, but finer than the former. 4th. Hyson. 5th. Gunpowder Hyson. 6th. Chumat. This kind of tea consists of broken particles of other kinds of tea. On being separated, the different kinds are placed in baskets and picked by the hand, all the old or badly curled and also light-coloured leaves being removed, and others of different varieties, which by chance may have become mixed. To make the bad or light-colored leaves marketable, they undergo an artificial process of coloring, but this I have prohibited in compliance with the orders of the Court of Directors, and therefore do not consider this tea at present fit for the market *. On the different teas being properly picked, they are again placed in the heated inclined pans, and undergo separately the pro- cess of being moved violently up and down and along the bottom of the pan for three hours in the manner already described. The color is now fully developed. If the tea feels damp, it is is kept longer than three hours in the pan. ‘The tea is now ready to be packed. Packing.—-As soon as the tea is prepared, boxes lined with sheet lead ought to be ready to receive it. On being packed it is to be firmly pressed down, “and the lead is then to be soldered. Before the sheet lead box is placed in the wooden one it is covered with paper, which is pasted on to prevent any air acting on the tea through any holes which might exist in the lead. The box is then nailed, removed to the godown, papered, stamped, and numbered. It is then ready for sale. From what I have just stated, it will be perceived that box makers and sheet lead makers are essential to form a complete tea establishment. With reference to the box making it is unnecessary for me to make any remark, further than that care is to be taken in selecting wood for making boxes, as it ought to be free of all smell. All coniferous (pine) woods are therefore unfit for the pur-. pose. In the hills the best woods are toon and walnut, and at Deyrah the saul (Shorea Robusta). Manufacture of sheet lead.—Sheet lead making is a much more complicated process, and therefore requires more consideration. To make sheet lead, the manufacturer mixes 13 to 3 seers of block tin with a pucka maund of lead, and melts them together in a cast metal pan. On being melted, the flat stone slabs, under which it is his intention to run the lead, are first covered with ten or twelve sheets of smooth paper (the hill paper being well adapted to the pur- pose), which are pasted to the sides, and chalked over. He then places the under stone in a skeleton frame of wood, to keep it firm, and above it the other stone. On the upper stone the manufacturer sits, and gently raises it with his left hand, assisted by throwing the weight of his body backwards. With his right hand he fills an iron ladle with the molten matter, throws it under the raised slab, which he immediately compresses and brings forward (it having beer placed back, and thus overlapping the under slab by about half an inch) with his own weight. On doing so, the superabundant lead issues in front and at both sides; what remains attached to the slabs is removed by the iron ladle. The upper slab is now lifted, and the sheet of lead examined. If it is devoid of holes it is retained; if, on the other hand, there are several, which is gene- rally the case with the first two or three sheets run, or until the slabs get warm, itis again thrown back to the melting pan. After having run off a series of sheets the slabs are to be examined, and, if the paper is in the least burnt, the first sheet is to be removed, and the one underneath taking its place, and thus securing an uniform smooth surface, is then to be chalked. According to the size of the stone slabs used, so is the size of the sheet lead. Those now in use are 16 inches square by 2 inches in thickness, and are a composition, being principaliy formed of lime. * In China this process, according to the statement of tea manufacturers, is carried on to a great extent, TEA. 115 To make sheet lead boxes, a model one of wood (a little smaller than the box for which the lead is intended) is formed, which has a hole in the bottom, and a. transverse bar of wood to assist in lifting it up, instead of alid. The lead is then shaped on this model and soldered. This being done, the model is re- moved by the transverse bar, and by pressing, if necessary, through the hole.. The lead box is then papered over, in case there should be any small holes in it, to prevent the action of air on the tea, and, when dry, transferred tu the - wooden box for which it was intended. The manufactory.—The rooms of the manufactory ought to be larg2 and airy, and to consist of—Ist, a black tea manufactory; 2nd, a green tea manu- factory ; 3rd, winnowing room; and 4th, airing rcom. At Almorah the black tea manufacturing room is 53 feet long by 20 broad, and the other three, 20 by 24, The walls are 18 feet in height. Implements required in manufacturing.—In the body of this report I have: noticed all the different kinds of implements required. I may however, again briefly notice them, and give a short account of each. Cast-iron Pans—In the manufactory there are two kinds in use, one received from China, the other from England. Both are considered equally good by the tea manufacturers, though in firing green tea they prefer the Chinese ones, as they are thinner, and are thus by them better able to regulate the heat. The Chinese pans are two feet two inches in diameter, and 10 inches in depth, by about one-eighth of an inch in thickness. The English pans are two feet two inches in diameter, and eight inches in depth, and rather thicker than the Chinese. The oven for making black tea is made of kucha brick. In height it is two feet nine inches, in length, three feet, and in breadth three feet one inch. Door one foot five inches in height, and 11 inches in breadth. The base of the oven is 10 inches elevated above the floor of the manufacturing room. Tine oven with double pans for manufacturing green tea, is also built of kucha bricks. It is three feet in height and three feet in breadth; base of oven one foot in height. Door one foot six inches in height, and 10 inches in breadth. The pans are placed horizontally. A brush mace of split bamboo, used in sweeping the tea leaves out of the pans. A basket for receiving tea from the pan when ready to be rolled. It is 2 feet long, and 15 feet broad, and gradually increases in depth from before backwards to 6 inches. It is made of bamboo. The mat made of bamboo for placing on the table when the tea leaves are about to be rolled. It is 8 feet long and 4 feet broad. A flat basket made of bamboo for spreading out the tea leaves when they have been rolled on the mat. These flat baskets are of various sizes, varying from 3 to 5 feet in diameter. A flat sieve basket of 2 feet in diameter, made of bamboo, upon which the rolled tea leaves are placed, and which is deposited in the centre of the double- coned basket. Double-coned baskets. The height of these baskets varies from 2 feet 2 inches to 2 feet 6 inches, external diameter 2 feet 8 inches. In the centre there are some pegs of bamboo to support the flat sieve basket on which the tea rests. Forked sticks for turning leaves. Choolahs. These are formed of kucha bricks, and are 10 inches high, 104 inches deep, and generally about 2 feet in diameter. Funnel made of bamboo to allow the heated air from the choolahs to pass through the tea; itis seldom used, the Chinese tea manufacturers preferring one made in the tea basket by the hand. f _ Oven for firing green tea made of kucha bricks. The pans are inclined at an angle of 50. In front the ovenis 3 feet 2 inches in height, behind 4 feet 8 inches, length 53 feet, breadth 3 feet. Door 10 inches from the base, 1 foot 2 inches high, and 7 inches wide. Frames for placing baskets. The first being inclined. Baskets for collecting leaves. Shovel, &c., used in regulating the fire. 116 TEA. Winnowing machine. This isa common winnowing machine, with a box 2 fect 10 inches in length, 1 foot 2 inches in breadth, and 1 foot 3 meches mm depth, attached to the bottom of the hopper, and closely fitted into the middle of the circular apartment which contains the fanners. This box is entirely closed above (unless at the small opening receiving the hopper) and at the sides. At the base there are two inclined boards which project from the side of the machine 6 inches, and are partly separated from each other by angular pieces of wood. The end towards the fanners is open, the other is parily closed by a semicircular box which is moveable. I shall now give the dimensions ofthe different parts of this machine, which may be useful to parties wishing to make up similar ones to those employed m the manuiactories. External frame 7 feet 2 inches in length, 18 inches in breadth, and 3 feet 8 inches in height. Hopper 2 feet 10 inches above, and 1 foot 8 inches in depth. Frame of box for fanners 3 feet 9 inches in diameter. Hopper frame 2 feet 7 inches. Semicircular box, in length 2 feet 5 imches and 7 inches m depth. Inclined plane at base, first 15 inches, second 13 inches. I may briefly state how this machine acts. With the right hand the fanners are propelled by the crank, and with the left hand the bottom of the hopper is opened by removing the wood. The fiat piece of wood (the regulator) is held in the hand to regulate the quantity of tea that passesdown. An assistant then throws a quantity of tea into the hopper which escapes through the apartment, and there meets the air. The first kind of tea falls down the m- clined plane into one box which has been placed to receive them, the second are propelled further on, and fall into another box, and the lighier particles are propelled on to the semicircular end, and fall into a third box. Note on the culiure of the tea plant at Darjeeling, in 1847, by Dr. A. Campbell, Superintendant.—About six years ago I received a few tea seeds irom Dr. Wal- lich ; they were of China steck, grown in Kumaon. I planted them im my garden in November, 1841, and had about a dozen seedlings in the month of May following, which were allowed to grow where they had come up, and rather close together. The plants were healihy from the commencement, and up to May, 1844, had grown very well; at this period the ground passed into other hands (Mr. Samuel Smith’s), and I lost sight of them until last August, when Mr, Macfarlane, from Assam, who was acquaimted with the tea plant in that province, arrived here. Being desirous of ascertaining how far the climate and soil of Darjeeling were suitable to the tea, I took him to examine the plants, and begged of him to record his cpinion on their growth and qualities, with reference to their age, and his experience of the plant m Assam. The resulé was quite satisfactory. Encouraged by this result, I determined to give an ex- tended trial te the plant, and through the Kindness of Major Jenkins and Captain Brodie, of Assam, I procured a supply of fresh seed m October and November last, which was planted in November and the early part or December. The seed was of excellent quality. It commenced germinating m March, a few plants appeared above ground in the early part of May, and now I have upwards of 7,000 fine healthy seedlings in the planiation. For the information of those who may desire to try the tea calture in this soil and climate, I have to state the mode of planting pursued by me, and other particulars. The ground is a gentle sloping bank, facing the north and west; the soil is a reddish clay mixed with vegetable mould. After taking up a crop of potatoes, and carefully preparing the ground, I put im the seeds m rows six feet apart and six feet distance in the rows. The seeds were placed about three inches under the surface, five in number, at each place about four inches apart—thus :.: On an average, two out of five have come up. The seed- lings commenced appearing above ground early in May, and continued to show until the end of July. The earliest were, therefore, six months in the ground; the latest about eight months. 2 The seed was of China stock, grown in Assam, and of the Assam plant mixed. J am anxious to have the China stock only, and purpose separating the plants of the Assam stock as soon as I can distinguish them, which Captain Brodie informs me can be readily done as they grow up ; the China plants be- gin of a darker color, and smaller than the Assam ones. TEA. 117 I hope to have a supply of the seed of China stock from Kumaon next November, and with it to cause the extension of the experiment at this place. I think that it is reasonable to expect quite as good tea to be produced here as in Kumaon.* I have not tasted the Kumaon tea, but, from the opinion expressed on it in England, I am satisfied that it is a very drinkable beverage, and that with peeve success here, the tea will bea valuable addition to our products. i have recently tried two kinds of the Assam tea presented by Mr. Stokes to a friend. They are excellent teas, and I shall be well content to have an equally good article manufactured here. Mr. A. Macfarlane’s report on the tea plants in Mr. Smith’s ground is annexed :— “ According to your request I have the pleasure of transmitting you my opinion of the tea plants in your garden in this ee The two larger plants have made very good progress, considering their closeness to each other, which prevents them from throwing their branches freely in every direction, but as they have attained so great a size I would not recommend their being trans- planted, because let it be done ever sa carefully, the roots must receive more or less injury, and should the injury be great the death. of the tree is certain, The smaller ones on the contrary are ae stunted; this is caused by their confined situation, being completely choked up by the rose trees, which prevents their receiving a proper supply of light and air, so necessary to vegetation, They are also planted too closely, and, as “the plants are still small, by “availing your- self of the most favourable season, and using great care in ‘the oper ation, they might be transplanted with safety, and should then be placed at a distance or not less than six feet apart. The difficulty of transplanting is oscasioned by the depth to which the root penetrates, as it generally grows downwards, and in a large tree is principally in the subsoil. The larger plants should be pruned of their lower branches to allow a free current of air. This operation is gen- erally performed in November, but any time during the cold season or before the rains, while the plant is at rest, would answer: as I have no knowledge of this climate, I would leave it to more experienced perscns to judge of the pro- per season. To conclude, the plants are in a very healthy condition, and had they been in the hands of a cultivator, would now have been giving a very fair supply of produce. The small sample I tried was of a very good flavor, but on account of the defective manner “of manufacture, f or want of proper materials, no proper judgment can be formed.” (Simmonds’ s Col. Mag., vol. xvi. p. 44.) Report upon the Tea Plantations of Deyra, Kumaon and Gurh- wal, by Robert Fortune, Esq., addressed to John Thornton, Esq., Secretary to the Government, North Western Provinces, dated Calcutta, September 6th, 1851 :-— Kaoracir Tea PLANTatTIon, 1. Situation and extent.—The Deyra Doon, or Valley of Deyra, is situated in latitude 3 deg. 18 min. north, and in longitude 78 deg. east. It is about 60 miles in length from east to west, and 16 miles broad at its widest part. It is bounded on the south by the Sewalick range of hills, and on the north by the Himalayas proper, which are here nearly 8, 000 feet above the level of the sea. On the west it is open to the river Jumna, and on the east to the Ganges, the distance be- tween these rivers being about 60 miles. In the centre of this flat valley, the Kaolagir tea plantation has been formed. Eight acres were under cultivation in 1847. There are now 300 acres planted, and about 90 more taken in and ready for many thousards of young plants raised lately from seeds in the plantation. 2. Soil and eulture.—The soil of this plantation is composed of clay, sand, and vegetable matter, rather stiff, and apt to get ‘‘ baked” in dry weather, but free * Dr. Jameson, in a late commuuication, remarks—“ From the accounts I have received of that place (Darjeeling), I doubt not but that the peu there grown wil yield tea of a superior description.” 118 GEA, enough when itis moist or during the rains. It rests upon a gravelly subsoil, consisting of limestone, sandstone, clay-slate, and quartz roek, or of such rocks as enter into the composition of the surrounding mountain ranges. The surface is comparatively flat, although it falls in certain directions towards the rayines and rivers. - The plants are arranged neatly in rows 6 feet apart, and each plant is about 43 feet from its neighbour inthe row. A long, rank-growing species of grass, in- digenous to the Doon, is most difficult to keep from over-topping the tea-plants, and is the cause of much extra labor. Besides the labor common to all tea countries in China, such as weeding, and occasionally loosening the soil, there is here an extensive system of irrigation carried on. ‘To facilitate this, the plants are planted in trenches, from four to six inches below the level of the ground, and the soil thus dug out is thrown between the rows to form the paths. Hence the whole ofthe plantation consists of numerous trenches of this depth, and five feet from centre to centre. At right angles with these trenches a small stream is fed from the canal, and, by opening or shutting their ends, irrigation can be carried on at the pleasure of the overseer. _ 8. Appearance and health of plants.—The plants generally did not appear to me to be in that fresh and vigorous condition which I had been accustomed to see in good Chinese plantations. This, in my opinion, is caused, Ist, by the plantation being formed on jlat land; 2nd, by the system of irrigation ; 3rd, by too early plucking; and 4th, by hot drying winds, which are not unfrequent in this valley from April to the beginning of June. GUDDOWLI PLANTATION (NEAR Paortz). 1. Situation and extent.—This plantation is situated in the Province of Hastern Gurhwal, in latitude 30 deg. 8 min. north, and in longitude 78 deg. 45 min. east. It consists of a large tract of terraced land, extending from the bottom of a valley or ravine to more than 1,000 feet up the sides of the mountain. Its lowest por- tion is about 4,300 feet, and its highest 5,300 feet above the level of the sea; the surrounding mountains appear to be from 7,000 to 8,000. The plantation has not been measured, but there are, apparently, fully one hundred acres under éultivation. There are about 500,000 plants already planted, besides a large number of seedlings in beds ready for transplanting. About 3,400 of the former were planted in 1844, and are now in full bearing; the greater portion of the others are much younger, having been planted out only one, two, and three years. 2. Soil and culture.—The soil consists of a mixture of loam, sand, and vege- table matter, is of a yellow colour, and is most suitable for the cultivation of the tea-plant. It resembles greatly the soil of the best tea districts in China. A considerable quantity of stones are mixed with it, chiefly small pieces of clay- slate, of which the mountains here are composed. Large tracts of equally good land, at present covered with jungle, are available in this district without inter- fering in any way with the rights of the settlers. I have stated that this plantation is formed on the hill side. It consists of a succession of terraces, from the bottom to the top, on which the tea bushes are planted. In its general features it is very like a Chinese tea plantation, al- though one rarely sees tea lands terracedin China. ‘This, however, may be ne- cessary in the Himalayas, where the rains fall so heavily. Here, too, the sys- tem of irrigation is carried on, although to a smali extent only, owing to the scarcity of water during the dry season. 3. Appearance and health of plants.—This plantation is a most promising one, and I have no doubt will be very valuable in a few years. The plants are grow- ing admirably, and evidently like their situation. Some of them are suffering slightly from the effects of hard-plucking, like those at Kaolagir; but this can easily be avoided in their future management. Altogether, it is in a most satis- factory condition, and shows how safe it is in matters of this kind to follow the example of the Chinese cultivator, who never makes his tea plantations on low rice land, and never irrigates. HAWULBAUGH PLANTATION (NEAR ALMORAH), | Ast. Situation and extent.—This tea farm is situated on the banks of the river Kosilla, about six miles north-west from Almorah, the capital of Kumaon, It is TEA. 119 about 4,500 feet above the level of the.sea. The land is of an undulating cha- racter, consisting of gentle slopes and terraces, and reminded me of some of the best tea districts in China. Indeed, the hills themselycs, in this part of the Himalayas, are very much like those of China, being barren near their summit and fertile on their lower sides. _ Thirty-four acres of land are under tea cultivation here, including the adjoin- ing farm of Chullar. Some of the plants appear to have been planted in 1844; but, as at Paorie, the greater number are only from one to three years old. 2nd. Soil and culture—The soil is what is usually called a sandy loam; it is moderately rich, being well mixed with vegetable matter. tis well suited for tea cultivation. The greater part of the farm is terraced as at Guddowh, but some few patches are left in natural slopes in accordance with the Chinese me- thod. Irrigation is practised to a limited extent. 3rd. Appearance and health of the plants——All the young plants here are in robust health and are growing well, particularly where they are growing on land where water cannot flood or injure them. As examples of this, I may point out a long belt between Dr. Jameson’s house and the flower garden, and also a piece of ground a little below the house in which the Chinese manu- facturers live. Some few of the older bushes appear rather stunted; but this is evidently the result of water remaining stagnant about the roots, and partly also of over plucking; both defects, however, admit of being easily cured. LuTCHMISSER AND KuPpPEENA PLANTATIONS. lst. Situation and extent.—These plantations are on the hill side near Al- morah, and about 5,000 feet above the level of the sea. The situation is some- what steep, but well adapted to the growth of tea. The former contains three acres, and the latter four acres under cultivation. 2nd. Soil and culture.—The soil is light and sandy, and much mixed with particles of clay-slate, which have crumbled down from the adjoining rocks. I believe these plantations are rarely irrigated, and the land is steep enough to prevent any stagnant water from remaining about the roots of the plants. 3rd. Appearance and health of plants —Most of the bushes here are fully grown, and in full bearing, and generally in good health, On the whole, I consider these plantations in excellent order. BHEEMTAL PLANTATIONS. The lake of Bheemtal is situate in latitude 29 deg. 20 min. north, and in longitude 79 deg. 30 min. east. It is 4,000 feet above the level of the sea, and some of the surrounding mountains are said to be 8,000 feet. These form the southern chain of the Himalayas, and bound the vast plain of India, of which a glimpse can be had through the mountain passes. Amongst these hills there are several tals or lakes, some flat meadow-looking land, and gentle undulating slopes, while higher up we have steep and rugged mountains. It is amongst these hills, that the Bheemtal tea plantations have been formed. They may be classed under three heads, viz.— lst. Anoo and Kooasur plantations —These adjoin each other, are both formed on low fiat land, and together cover about forty acres. The plants do not seem healthy or vigorous; many of them have died out, and few are in that state which tea plants ought to be in. Such situations never ought to be chosen for tea cultivation. The same objection applies to these as to those at Deyra, but in a greater degree. No doubt, with sufficient drainage, and great care in cul- tivation, and the tea plant might be made to exist in such a situation; but I am convinced it would never grow with that luxuriance which is necessary in order to render it a profitable crop. Besides, such lands are valuable for other purposes. They are excellent rice lands, and as such of considerable value to the natives. 2nd. Bhurtpoor plontation.—This plantation covers about four and a half acres of terraced land on the hill side, a little to the eastward of those last noticed. The soil is composed of alight loam, much mixed with small pieces of clay-slate and trap or green-stone, of which the adjacent rocks are composed. Tt contains a small portion of vegetable matter or humus. Both the situation and soil of this plantation are well adapted to the requirements of the tea shrub, and consequently we find it succeeding here as well as at Guddowli, 120 THA. ree te Almorah, and other places where it is planted on the slopes of the hills. 37rd. Russia plantation—This plantation extends over seventy-five acres, and is formed on sloping land. ‘The elevation is somewhat less than Bhurt- poor, and although terraced in the same way, the angle is much lower. in some parts of the farm the plants are doing well, but generally they seemed to be suffering from too much water and hard plucking. I have no doubt, however, of the success of this farm, when the system of cultivation is improved. t observed some most vigorous and healthy bushes in the overseer’s garden, a spot adjoining the plantation, which could not be irrigated, and was informed they “‘never received any water, except that which feli from the skies.” In the Bheemtal district, there are large tracts of excellent tea land. In cross- ing over the hills towards Nainee Tal, with J. H. Batten, Esq., Commissioner of Kumaon, I pointed out many tracts admirably adapted for tea cultivation, and of no great value to the natives; generally, those lands on which the mundooa is cultivated are the most suitable. I have thus described all the Government plantations in Gurhwal and Kumaon. Dr. Jameson, the superintendent, deserves the highest praise for the energy and perseverance with which he has conducted his operations. I shall now notice the plantations of the zemindars, under the superintendence of the commissioner and assistant-commissioner of Kumaon and Gurhwal. ZEMINDAREE TEA PLANTATIONS. Ist, at Lohba.—This place is situated in eastern Gurhwal, about 50 miles to the westward of Almorah, and is at an elevation of 5,000 feet above the level of the sea. It is one of the most beautiful spots in this part of the Himalayas. The surrounding mountains are high, and in some parts precipitous, while in others they are found consisting of gentle slopes and undulations. On these undulating slopes, there is a great deal of excellent land suitable for tea cultivation. A few tea bushes have been growing vigorously for some years in the commissioner’s garden, and they are now fully ten feet in height. These plants having suc- ceeded so well, naturally induced the authorities of the province to try this cul- tivation upon a more extensive scale. It appears that in 1844, about 4,000 young plants were obtained from the Government plantations, and planted on a tract of excellent land, which the natives wished to abandon. Instead of allow- ing the people to throw up their Jand, they were promised it rent-free upon the condition that they attended to the cultivation of the tea, which had been planted on a small portion of the ground attached to the village. This arrangement seems to have failed either from want of knowledge, or from design, or perhaps partly from both of these causes. More lately, a larger num- ber of plants have been planted, but I regret to say with nearly the same re- sults. But results of this discouraging kind are what any one, acquainted with the nature of the tea plant, could have easily foretold, had the treatment, intended to be given it, been explained to him. Upon enquiry, I found the villagers had been managing the tea lands just as they had been doing their rice fields, that is, a regular system of irrigation was practised. As water was plentiful, a great num- ber, indeed nearly all, the plants seem to have perished from this cause. The last planting alluded to had been done late in the spring, and just at the com- mencement of the dry weather, and to these plants little or no water seems to have been given ; so that, in fact, it was going from one extreme to another equally bad, and the result was of course nearly the same. { have no hesitation in saying that the district in question is well adapted for the cultivation of tea. With judicious managemert, a most productive farm might be established here in four or five years. Land is plentiful, and of little value either to the natives or to the Government. 2nd, at Kutoor.—This is the name of a large district 30 or 40 miles northward from Almorah, in the centre of which the old town or village of Byznath stands. It isa fine undulating country, consisting of wide valleys, gentle slopes, and little hills, while the whole is intersected by numerous streams, and surrounded by high mountains. The soil of this extensive district is most fertile, and is capable of producing large crops of rice, on the low irrigable lands, and the dry TEA. 121 grains and tea on the sides of the hills. From some cause, however, either the thinness of population or the want of a remunerative crop,* large tracts of this fertile district have been allowed to go out of cultivation. Everywhere I ob- served ruinous and jungle-covered terraces, which told of the more extended cultivation of former years. Amongst some hills near the upper portion of this district, two small tea plantations have been formed under the patronage and superintendence of Cap- tain Ramsey, Senior Assistant Commissioner of Kumaon. Lach of them cover three or fouracres of land, and had been planted about a year before the time of my yisit. In this short space of time the plants had grown into nice strong bushes, and were in the highest state of health. I never saw, even in the most fayoured districts in China, any plantations looking better than these. This result, Captain Ramsay informed me, had been attained in the following simple manner :—All the land attached to the two villages with which the tea farms are connected, is exempted from the revenue tax, a sum amounting only to 525 Rs. per annum. In lieu of this, the assamees (cultivators) of both vil- lages assist with manure, and at the transplanting season, as well as ploughing and preparing fresh land. In addition to this, one chowdree and four prisoners are constantly employed upon the plantations. ‘The chief reason of the success of these plantations, next to that of the land being well suited for tea cultiva- tion, may, no doubt, be traced to a good system of management; that is, the young plants have been carefully transplanted at the proper season of the year, when the air was charged with moisture, and they have not been destroyed by excessive irrigation afterwards. ‘he other zemindaree plantation at Lohba might have been now in full bearing had the same system been followed. From the description thus given, it will be observed that I consider the Kutoor plantations in a most flourishing condition. And I have no doubt they will continue to flourish, and soon convince the zemindars of the value of tea cultivation, providing three things, intimately connected with the success of the crop are strongly impressed upon their minds; viz., the unsuitableness of low wet lands for tea cultivation; the folly of irrigating tea as they would do rice, and the impropriety of commencing the plucking before the plants are strong, and of considerable size. Jam happy to add, that amongst these hills there are no foolish prejudices in the minds of the natives against the cultivation of tea. About the time of my visit, a zemindar came and begged two thousand _plants, to enable him to commence tea growing on his own account. It is of great importance, that the authorities of a district, and persons of influence, should show an interest in a subject of this kind. At present the natives do not know its value; but they are as docile as children, and will enter willingly upon tea cultivation, providing the ‘“‘ Sahib” shows that he is in- terested init. In a few years the profits received will be a sufficient induce- ment. In concluding this part of my Report, I beg to suggest the propriety of ob- taining some of the best varieties of the tea plant which have been introduced lately into the government plantations from China. Dr. Jameson could, no doubt, spare a few, but they ought to be given to those zemindars only who have succeeded with the original variety. Having described in detail the various government plantations, and also thosa of the zemindars which came under my notice in the Himalayas, I shall now make some general remarks upon the cultivation of tea in India, and offer some suggestions for its improvement. GENERAL REMARKS. 1. On land and cultivation—From the observations already made upon the various tea farms which I have visited in the Himalayas, it will be seen that I do not approve of low flat lands being selected for the cultivation of the tea shrub. In China, which at present must be regarded as the model tea country, the plantations are never made in such situations, or they are so rare as not to * The crops of this district, such as rice, mundooa, and other grains, are so plentiful and cheap as scarcely to pay the carriage to the nearest market town, much less to the plains. In Almorah a maund of rice or mundooa sells for something less than a rupee ; barley for eight annas; and wheat for a rupee, 122 TEA, have come under my notice. in that country they are usually formed on the lower slopes of the hills, that is, in such situations as those at Guddowli, Hawulbaugh, Almorah, Kutoor, &c., inthe Himalayas. Itis true that in the fine green tea country of Hwuy-chow, in China, near the town of Tunche, many hundred acres of flattish land are under tea cultivation. But this land is close to the hills, which jut out into it in all directions, and it is intersected by a river whose banks are usually from 15 to 20 feet above the level of the stream itself, not unlike those of the Ganges below Benares. In fact, it has all the advantages of hilly land such as the tea plant delights in. In extending the Himalaya planta- tion this important fact ought to be Kept i in ylew. There is no scarcity of such land in these mountains, more particularly in Eastern Gurhwal and Kumaon. It abounds in the districts of Paorie, Kunour, Lohba, Almorah, Kutoor, and Bheemtal, and I was informed by Mr. Batten, that there are large tracts about Gungoli and various other places equally suitable. Much of this land is out of cultivation, as I have already stated, while the cultivated portions yield on an average only two or three annas per acre of revenue. Such lands are of less value to the zemindars than low rice land, where they can command a good supply of water for irrigation. But I must not be under- stood to recommend poor worn out hill lands for tea cultivation,—land on which nothing else will grow. Nothing is further from my meaning. Tea in order to be profitable requires a good sound soil,—a light loam, well mixed with sand and vegetable matter, moderately moist, and yet not stagnant or sour. Sucha soil, for example, as on these hill sides produces good crops of mundooa, wheat or millet, is well adapted for tea. It is such lands which I have alluded to as abounding i in the Himalayas, and which are, at present, of so little value either to the Government, or to the natives themselves. The system of Ti rrigation applied to tea in India is never practised in China: I did not observe it practised in any of the great tea countries which I visited. On asking the Chinese manufacturers whom I brought round, and who had been born and brought up in these districts, whether they had seen such a practice, they all replied, ‘‘ 0, that is the way we grow rice: we never irrigate tea.’ Indeed, I have no hesitation in saying that, in nine cases out of ten, the effects of irrigation are most injurious. When tea will not grow without irrigation, it is a sure sign that the land employed is not suitable for such a crop. It is no doubt an excellent thing to have a command of water in case of a long drought, when its agency might be useful in saving a crop which would otherwise fail, but irrigation ought to be used only in such emergent cases. I have already observed that good tea land is naturally moist, although not stagnant ; and we must bear in mind that the tea shrub is xot a water plant, but is found in a wild state on the sides of hills. In confirmation of these views, itis only necessary to observe further, that all the Jest Himalayan planta- tions are those to which irrigation has been most sparingly applied. In cultivating the tea shrub, much injury is often done to a plantation. by plucking leaves from very young plants. In China ycung plants are never touched until the third or fourth year after they have been planted. If grow- ing under favorable circumstances, they will yield a good crop after that time, All that ought to be done, in the way of plucking or pruning before that time, should be done with a view to form the plants, and make them dushy if they do not grow so naturally. If plucking is commenced too early and continued, the energies of the plants are weakened, and they are long in attaining any size, and consequently there is a great loss of produce in a given number of years. To make this more plain, I will suppose a bush that has been properly treated to be eight years of age. It may then be yielding from two to three pounds of tea per annum, while another of the same age, but not a quarter of the size, from ovyer-plucking, is not giving more than as many ounces. The same remarks apply also to plants which become unhealthy from any cause ; leaves ought never to be taken from such plants; the gatherers should have strict orders to pass them over until they get again into a good state of health. 2nd. On climate,—I have already stated that eastern Gurhwal and Kumaon TEA, 123 appear to me to be the most suitable for the cultivation of the tea plant in this part of the Himalayas. My remarks upon climate will therefore refer to this part of the country. 5 _ From a table of temperature kept at Hawulbaugh from November 28th, 1850, to July 13th, 1851, obligingly furnished me by Dr. Jameson, I observed that the climate here is extremely mild. During the winter months, the thermometer [Fahr.] at sunrise was neyer lower than 44 deg., and only on two occasions so low, namely on the 15th and 16th of February, 1851. Once it stood so high as 66 deg. on the morning of February 4th, but this is full ten degrees higher than usual. The minimum in February must, however, be several degrees lower than is shown by this table, for ice and snow were not unfrequent ; indeed, opposite the 16th of February in the column of remarks, I find written down @ very frosty morning. This discrepancy no doubt arises either from a bad thermometer being used, or from its being placed in a sheltered verandah. We may, therefore, safely mark the minimum as 32 deg. instead of 44 degrees, The month of June appears to be the hottest in the year. I observe the thermo- meter on the Sth, 6th and 7th of that month stood at 92 deg. at 3 p.m., and this was the highest degree marked during the year. The lowest, at this hour, during the month was 76 deg., but the general range in the 3 P.M. column of the table is from 80 deg. to 90 degrees. The wet and dry seasons are not so decided in the hills as they are in the plains. In January, 1851, it rained on five days and ten nights, and the total quantity of rain which fell, as indicated by the rain gauge, during this month, was 5.25 inches; in February, 3.84 fell; in March, 2.11; in April, 2.24; in May, none; and in June 6.13. In June there are generally some days of heavy rain, called by the natives Chota Bursaut, or small rains, after this there is an interval of some days of dry weather before the regular ‘‘ rainy season’’ commences. This season comes on in July and continues until September. October and November are said to be beautiful months with a clear atmosphere and cloudless sky. After this fogs are frequent in all the valleys until spring. In comparing the climate of these provinces with that of China, although we find some important difference, yet upon the whole there is a great similarity. My comparisons apply, of course, to the best tea districts only, for although the tea shrub is found cultivated from Canton in the south to Tan-chowpoo in Shan-tung, yet the provinces of Fokein, Kainsee and the southern parts of Kiangnan, yield nearly all the finest teas of commerce. The town of Tsong-gan, one of the great black tea towns near the far famed Woo-e-shan, is situated in latitude 27 deg. 47 min, north. Here the thermome- ter in the hottest months, namely in July and August, rarely rises above 100 deg. and ranges from 92 deg. to 100 deg., as maximum; while in the coldest months, December and January, it sinks to the freezing point and sometimes a few degrees lower, We haye thus a close resemblance in temperature between Woo-e-shan and Almorah, The great green tea district being situated two degrees further north, the extremes of temperature are somewhat greater. It will be cbserved, however, that while the hottest month in the Himalayas is June, in China the highest temperature occurs in July and August: this is owing to the rainy season taking place earlier in China than it does in India. In China rain falls in heavy and copious showers in the end of April, and these rains continue at intervals in May and June. The first gathering of tea-leaves, those from which the Pekoe is made, is scarcely over before the air becomes charged with moisture, rain falls, and the bushes being thus placed in such fayourable circumstances for vegetating are soon covered again with young leaves, from which the main crop of the season is obtained. No one, acquainted with vegetable physiology, can doubt the advantages of such weather in the cultivation of tea for mercantile purposes. And these ad- yantages, to a certain extent at least, seem to be extended to the Himalayas, although the regular rainy season is later than in China. I have already shown, from Dr Jameson’s table, that spring showers are frequent in Kumaon, although rare in the plains of India; still, however, I think it would be prudent to adopt the gathering of leaves to the climate, that is to take a moderate portion from the bushes before the rains, and the main crop after they haye commenced. - 124 TERA. 3rd. On the vegetation of China and the Himalayas. One of the surest guides from which to draw conclusions, on a subject of this nature, is found in the in- digenous vegetable productions of the countries. Dr. Royle, who was the first to recommend the cultivation of tea in the Himalayas, drew his conclusions, in the absence of that positive information from China which we possess now, not only from the great similarity in temperature between China and these hills, but also from the resemblance in vegetable productions. This resemblance is certainly very striking. In both countries, except in the low valleys of the Himalayas (and these we are not considering), tropical forms are rarely met with, If we take trees and shrubs, for example, we find such genera as pinus, cypress, berberis, quercus, viburnam, indigofera, and romeda, lonicera, deutzia, rubus, myrica, spire, ilex, and many others common to both countries. Amongst herbaceous plants we have gentiana, aquilegia, anemone, rumex, primuia, lilium, loutodon, ranunculus, &c. equally distributed in the Himalayas and in China, and even in aquatics the same resemblance may be traced, as in nelumbium, caladium &e. And further than this, we do not find plants belong to the same genera only, but in many instances the identical species are found in both countries. ‘The indigofera, common in the Himalayas, abounds also on the tea hills of China, and so does Berberis nepaulencis, Lonicera diversifolia, Myrica sapida, and many others. Were it necessary, I might now show that there is a most striking resemblance between the geology of the two countries as well as in their vege- table productions. In both the black and green tea countries which I have alluded to, clay-slate is most abundant. But enough has been advanced to prove how well many parts of the Himalayas are adapted for the cultivation of tea; besides, the flourishing condition of many of the plantations is, after all, the best proof, and puts the matter beyond all doubt. 4th. Concluding Suggestions.—Having shown that tea can be grown in the Himalayas, and that it would produce a valuable and remunerative crop, the next great object. appears to be the production of superior tea, by means of fine varieties and improved cultivation. It is well known that a variety of the tea plant existed in the southern parts of China from which inferior teas only were made. ‘That, being more easily procured than the fine northern varieties, from which the great mass of the best teas are made, was the variety originally sent to India. From it all those in the Government plantations have sprung. It was to remedy this, and to cbtain the best varieties from those districts which furnish the trees of commerce, that induced the Honourable Court of Directors to send me to China in 1848. Another object was to obtain some good manufacturers and implements frcm the same districts. As the result of this _ mission, nearly twenty thousand plants from the best black and green tea countries of Central China, have been introduced to the Himalayas. Six first-rate manufacturers, two lead men, and a large supply of implements from the cele- bratcd Hwuychow districts were also brought round and safely located on the Government plantations in the hills. A great step has thus been gained towards the objects in view. Much, how- ever, remains still to be done. The new China plants ought to be carefully propagated and distributed over all the plantations; some of them ought also to be given to the zemindars, and more of these fine varieties might be yearly i im- ported from China. The Chinese manufacturers, who were obtained some years since from Calcutta or Assam, are, in my opinion, far from being first-rate workmen; indeed, I doubt — much if any of them learned their trade in China. They ought to be gradually got rid of and their places supplied by better men, for it is a great pity to teach the natives an inferior method of manipulation. The men brought round by me are first-rate green tea makers, they can also make black tea, but they have not been in the habit of making so much black as green. They have none of the Canton illiberality or prejudices about them, and are most willing to teach their art to the natives. 1 have no doubt some of the latter will soon be made excellent tea manufacturers. And the instruction of the natives is, no doubt, one of the chief objects which ought to be kept in view, for the importation of Chinese manipulators at high wages can only be regarded as a temporary measure; ultimately the Himalayan tea must be made by the natives themselves; each TEA. 125 native farmer must learn how to make tea as well as how to grow it; he will then make it upon his own premises, as the Chinese do, and the expenses of carriage will be much less than if the green leaves had to be taken to the market. But as the zemindars will be able to grow tea long before they are able to make it, it would be prudent, in the first instance, to offer them a certain sum for green leaves brought to the government manufactory. I have pointed out the land most suitable for the cultivation of tea, and shown that such land exists in the Himalayas to an almost unlimited extent. But if the object the government have in view be the establishment of a com- pany to develop the resources of these hills, as in Assam, I would strongly urge the propriety of concentrating, as muchas possible, the various plantations. Sites ought to be chosen which are not too far apart, easy of access, and, if pos- sible, near rivers; for, no doubt, a considerable portion of the produce would have to be conveyed to the plains or to a sea-port. In my tour amongst the hills, I have seen no place so well adapted for a cen- tral situation as Almorah, or Hawulbaugh. Here the government has already a large establishment, and tea lands are abundant in all directions. The climate is healthy, and better suited to a European constitution than most other parts of India. Here plants from nearly all the temperate parts of the world are grow- ing as if they were at home. As examples, I may mention myrtles, pomegra- nates, and tuberoses from the south of Europe; dahlias, potatoes, aloes, and yuccas from America; Melianthus major and bulbs from the Cape; the cypress and deodar of the Himalayas, and the lagerstroemias, loquats, roses and tea of China. In these days, when tea has become almost a necessary of life to England and her wide-spreading colonies, its production upon a large and cheap scale is an object of no ordinary importance. But to the natives of India themselves, the production of this article would be of the greatest value. The poor paharie; or hill farmer, at present has scarcely the common necessaries of life, and certainly none of its luxuries. The common sorts of grain which his lands produce will scarcely pay the carriage to the nearest market town, far less yield a profit of such a kind as will enable him to purchase some few of the necessary and sim- ple luxuries of life. A common blanket has to serve him for his covering by day and for his bed at night, while his dwelling-house is a mere mud-hut, capable of affording Lut little shelter from the inclemeacy of the weather. Were part of these lands producing tea, he would then have a healthy beverage to drink, besides a commodity which would be of great value in the market. Being of small bulk compared with its value, the expense of carriage would be trifling, and he would return home with the means in his pocket of making himself and his family more comfortable and more happy. Were such results doubtful, we have only to look across the frontiers of India into China. Here we find tea one of the necessaries of life, in the strictest sense of the word. A Chinese never drinks cold water, which he abhors, and considers unhealthy. Tea is his favorite beverage from morning until night ; not what we call tea, mixed with milk and sugar, but the essence of the herb itself, drawn out in pure water. One acquainted with the habits of this people can scarcely conceive the idea of the Chinese empire existing were it deprived of the tea plant ; and I am sure that the extensive use of this beverage adds much to the health and comfort of the great body of the people. The people of India are not unlike the Chinese in many of their habits. The poor of both countries eat sparingly of animal food, and rice, with other grains and vegetables, form the staple articles on which they live; this being the case, it is not at all unlikely the Indian will soon acquire a habit which is so univer- sal in the sister country. But in order to enable him to drink tea, it must be produced at a cheap rate; he cannot afford to pay at the rate of four or six shillings a pound. It must be furnished to him at four pence or six pence in- stead; and this can be done easily, but only on hisown hills. If this is accom- plished, and I see no reason why it should not be, a boon will have been con- ferred upon the people of India, of no common kind, and one which an en- lightened and liberal government may well be proud of conferring on its subjects.” 126 TEA. I shall now add a description of the Chinese method of making black tea in Upper Assam, by Mr. C. A. Bruce, superintendent of tea culture :— “Tn the first place, the youngest and most tender leaves are gathered; but when there are many hands and a great quantity of leaves to be collected, the people employed nip off with the forefinger and thumb the fine end of the branch with about four leaves on, and sometimes even more if they look tender. These are all brought to the place where they are to be converted into tea: they are then put into a large, circular, open worked bamboo basket, having a rim all round, two fingers broad. The leaves are thinly scattered in these baskets, and then placed in a framework of bamboo, in all appearance like the sides of an Indian hut, without grass, resting on posts, 2 feet from the ground, with an angle of about 25 deg. The baskets with leaves are put in this frame to dry in the sun, and are pushed up and brought down by a long bamboo with a circular piece of wood at the end. The leaves are permitted to dry about two hours, being occa- sionally turned; but the time required for this process depends on the heat of the sun. When they begin to have a slightly withered appearance, they are taken down and brought into the house, when they are placed on a frame to cool for half an hour; they are then put into smaller baskets of the same kind as the former, and placed on a stand. People are now employed to soften the leaves still more, by gently clapping them between their hands, with their fingers and thumbs extended, and tossing them up and letting them fall, for about five or ten minutes. They are then again put on the frame during half an hour, and brought down and clapped with the hands as before. This is done three successive times, untilthe leaves become to the touch like soft leather; the beating and putting away being said to give the tea the black color and bitter flavor. After this the tea is put into hot cast-iron pans, which are fixed in a circular mud fireplace, so that the flame cannot ascend round the pan to incommode the operator. This pan is well heated by a straw or bamboo fire to a certain degree. About two pounds of the leaves are then put into each hot pan, and spread in such a man- ner that all the leaves may get the same degree of heat. They are every now and then briskly turned with the naked hand, to prevent a leaf from being burnt. When the leaves become inconveniently hot to the hand, they are quickly taken out and delivered to another man with a close-worked bamboo basket, ready to receive them. " GiikI5 = .) Gained ge ee 58791986) qeea8G BoB ATA 1852 6,241,581 Ae 687,269 .. 6,928,850 To the foregoing should be added the following quantities of refined sugar and molasses, entered for home consumption. Refined Sugar and Candy. Molasses, Total. Cwt. Cwt. Cwt. 1848 ois 46,292 57 637,050... 688,342 1849 se 70,392 Ps 812,330... 887,722 _ 1850 Ae 116,744 nS 917,588 ., 1,034,362 1851 i 338,734 si Poo eee LL 769 4862-3 x: DT AMIBY 1, 799,942 .. 1,074,723 * There is frequently a discrepancy in the figures in the Parliamentary papers, which will account for a want of agreement in some of these returns, 144 SUGAR. The quantity of sugar refined by our bonded refiners, and ex- ported, is shown by the following figures. The increase ‘in 1851, was one-fourth in excess of the previous year. Cwt. 1848 248,702 1849 222,900 1850 209,148 1851 258,563 1852 214, 299 The following were the imports of sugar into Great Britain, in 1848 and 1851, respectively—and the quarters from whence sup- ples were dei rived :-— 1848—Tons. 1851—Tons. - West Indies 121,600 153,300 Mauritius 43,6060 50,000 East Indies 65,200 78,286 Java and Manila 11,000 20,850 ae Porto Rico, and Brazil 76,900 76,526 318,300 378,962 The production of sugar in the last four years, may be stated comparatively as follows :— CANE SUGAR. 1849. 1850. 1851 1852. | a — - — Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. | Cuba THE 3 220,000 250,000 252,000 320,000 Porto Rico .. : 43,600 48,200 49,500 50,000 Brazil .... 106,000 | 103,c00 | 113,000 | 100,000 United States 98,200 120,400 103,200 110,000 } The West Indies 1. French Colonies .. 56,300 | 47,200 50,000 | 50,000 2. Danish Do. 7,900 5,000 6,000 5,000 3. Dutch Do. 13,800 14,200 15,000 20,000 4, British Do. 142,200 | 129,200 | 148,060 | 140,000 The East Indies _ 70,408 67,300 66,000 60,000 Mauritius 50,782 57,800 65,500 |. 65, "000 Java 90,000 89,900 99,347 104 549 Manila 20,000 20,000 20,000 20, 000 919,182 | 952,200 977,547 | 1,044,542 BEET ROOT SUGAR. 1849. 1850 1851. 1852. | Tons. oaniese. “pea aca en | France 38,009 61,000 75,000 60,000 Belgium 5,000 6,000 8,000 9,000 Zollverein ... 33,000 38,000 49,000 50,000 Russia 13,000 14,000 15,000 16,000 Austria 6,500 | 10,000} 15,000 | 18,000 in aoe | 95,500 | 129,000 162,009 | 153,000 Cane Sugar... 919,182 | 952,200 | 977,547 | 1,044,542 Total....| 1,014,682 | 1,081,200 | 1,189,547 | 1,197,542 | SUGAR. 145 The price of sugar has, however, fallen considerably, and like many other things—corn, and cotton, and tea—has been lower for a long period than ever was known before. Average price per London Gazette. Year ending July 3, British West India. Mauritius. 1842 . . Ouse. Od. : : 1843... . ~ 848. 7d. : : 33s. 10d. i844. 3 2. eas. Od: : F 34s. 7d. 1845, : 8 Sis’ 3d. : : 30s. 38d. 1846 . d Enos ad. - ‘ 34s. 2d. 1847. : fT enees| Aide p - 32s. 1d. 1848 . y . 243, 3d. : : 238. 3d. 1849 . : . 249. 4d. : : 24s. Od. 1850 . : in aOse oGe : : 28s. 8d. 1851 . : 24s. 3 - : 26s. 9d. Half-year ending Jan. 4, 1852 . ; 27s. 3d, : - 26s. 9d. Thus, it is equally clear that the fall in the price has been very considerable since 1845, and that in 1849 and 1850 the price of sugar was about 10s. per cwt., or nearly one-third less than in 1838. The planters complain of the fall of price; and the only question in dispute is whether the fall has been occasioned by the reduction of the duties. Now the reduction of duties subsequent to 1846 and to 1851, was, on brown Muscovado sugar, from 13s. to 10s., or 3s.; and on foreign, from 21s. 7d. to 16s. 4d., or 53.38d. At the same time there was a very large increase of consumption, and the price, as of almost all articles, would not have been reduced to the full extent of the reduction of the duties, and certainly not reduced in a much greater degree, had there not been other causes at work tu reduce the price. Between 1846 and 1851 freight from the Mauritius fell from £4 1s. 8d. to £2 13s. 9d., or 35 per cent. ; and that reduction of price was not made from the planter. Tn the interval, too, great improvements were made in the manu- facture of sugar; and in proportion as the article was produced cheaper, it could be soid cheaper, without any loss to him. I shall now take a separate review of the capabilities and pro- gress of the leading sugar producing countries. Production in the United States ——Sugar cultivation, in the United States, is a subject of increasing interest. The demand is rapidly advancing. Its production in the State of Louisiana, to which it is there principally confined, is a source of much wealth. In 1840, the number of slaves employed in sugar culture was 148,890, and the product, 119,947 hhds. of 1,000 lbs. each; be- sides 600,000 gallons of molasses. Last year, the crop exceeded 240,000 hhds., worth 12,000,000 of dollars. The capital now em- ployed, is 75,000,000 of dollars. The protection afforded by the American tariff, has greatly increased the production of sugar in the United States. From 1816 to 1850, this increase was from 15,000 hhds. to 250,000 hhds. In 1843, the State of Louisiana had 700 plantations, 525 in L 146 SUGAR. operation, producing about 90,000 hhds. In 1844, the number of hogsheads was 191,324, and of pounds, 204,913,000; but this was exclusive of the molasses, rated at 9,000,000 gallons. In 1845 there were in Louisiana 2,077 sugar plantations, in 25 parishes ; 1,240 sugar houses, 630 steam power, 610 working horse power; and the yield of sugar was 186,650 hhds., or 207,337,000 Ibs. _ The introduction of the sugar cane into Florida, Texas, Califor- nia, and Louisiana, probably dates back to their earliest settlement by the Spaniards or French. It was not cultivated in the latter, however, as a staple product before the year 1751, when it was introduced, with several negroes, by the Jesuits, from St. Domingo. They commenced a small plantation on the banks of the Missis- sippi, Just above the old city of New Orleans. The year following, others cultivated the plant and made some rude attempts at the manufacture of sugar. In 1758, M. Dubreuil established a sugar estate on a large scale, and erected the first sugar mill in Loui- siana, In what is now the lower part of New Orleans. His success was followed by other plantations, and in the year 1765 there was sugar enough manufactured for home consuniption; and in 1770, sugar had become one of the staple products of the colony. Soon after the revolution a large number of enterprising adven- turers emigrated from the United States to Lower Louisiana, where, among other objects of industry, they engaged in the cul- tivation of cane, and by the year 1803 there were no less than eighty-one sugar estates on the Delta alone. Since that period, while the production of cane sugar has been annually increasing at the south, the manufacture of maple sugar has been extending in the north and west. Hitherto, the amount of sugar and molasses consumed in the United States has exceeded the quantities produced—-consequently there has been no direct occasion for their exportation. In the year 1815 it was estimated that the sugar made on the banks of the Mississippi amounted to 10,000,000 lbs. According to the census of 1840, the amount of cane and maple sugar produced in the United States was 155,100,089 lbs., of which 119,947,720 lbs. were raised in Louisiana. By the cen- sus of 1850, the cane sugar made in the United States was 247,581,000 lbs., besides 12,700,606 gallons of molasses; maple sugar, 34,249,886 lbs., showimg an increase, in ten years, of 126,730,077 lbs. The culture and manufacture of sugar from the cane, with the exception of a small quantity produced in Texas, centres in the State of Louisiana—where the cane is now cultivated and worked into sugar in twenty-four parishes. The extent of sugar lands available in those parishes is sufficient to supply the whole con- sumption of the United States. Sugar cultivation was carried on in Louisiana to a small extent before its cession to the United States. In 1818 the crop had reached 25,000 hogsheads. In 1834-35 it was 110,000 hogsheads, and in 1844-45 204,913 hogs- SUGAR. 147 heads. Each hogshead averaging 1,000 Ibs. net, and yielding from 45 to 50 gallons of molasses. The number of sugar estates in operation in 1830, was 600. The manual power employed on these plantations, was 36,091 slaves, 282 steam-engines, and 406 horse power. The capital myvested being estimated at 50 million dollars. In 1844 the estates had increased to 762, employing 50,670 slaves, 468 steam- engines, 354 horse power. The sugar-cane is now cultivated on both branches of the Mississippi from 57 miles below New Orleans to nearly 190 miles above. The whole number of sugar houses in the State is 1,536, of which 865 employ steam, and the rest horse power. The crop of 1849-50 was 247,923 hhds. of 1,000 lbs., which, at an average of 34 cents., amounted to nearly 92 million. dollars. The quantity of molasses produced was more than 12 million | gallons, worth, at 20 cents the gallon, about 2,400,000 dollars, giving a total value of close upon 12 million dollars, or an average to each of the 1,455 working sugar houses of 8, 148 dollars. The overflow of the Mississippi and Red Rivers in 1850, shortened the crop near 20,000 hhds., and was felt in subsequent years. Since 1846, not less than 355 sugar mills and engines have been erected in this State. The sugar crop of 1851-52 was 236,547 hhds., produced by 1,474 sugar houses, 914 of which were worked by steam, and the rest by horse-power. Texas raises about 8,000 to 10, 000 hhds. of sugar, and Florida and Georgia smaller quan- tities. In the year ending December, 1851, there were taken for con- sumption in the United States about 132,832 tons of cane sugar, of which 120,599 were foreign imported. The quantity consumed in 1850 was 104,071 tons, of which 65,089 was foreign. Production in Cuba.—The average yearly production of sugar in Cuba has been, in the five years from 1846 to 1850, 18,690,560 arrobas, equal to 467,261,500 lbs., or 292,081 hhds. of 1,600 lbs. weight. The crop of 1851 was estimated at twenty-one and a-half million arrobas, equal to about 335,937 West India hhds. Thus, the increase from 1836 to 1841, has been as 29 per cent.; from 1841 to 1846, as 25 per cent. ; and from 1846 to 1851, as A5 per cent. A portion of sugar is also smuggled out, to evade the export duty, and by some this is set down as high as a fourth of the foregoing amounts. In the three years ending 1841, the exports of the whole island were 2,227,624 boxes; in the three years ending 1844, 2,716,319 boxes; in the three years ending with 1847, 2,805,530 boxes. Between 1839 and 1847, the exports had risen from 500,000 to 1,000,000 boxes. The following table exhibits the quantity shipped from the leading port of Havana, to different countries :— Countries. Sugar boxes of about 400 Ibs. each. 1850. 1851. Spain’ : . SE26F".. .. 101,762 Dnited States : . 146,672 . . 199,204 L 2 148 _ SUGAR. 1850, 1851. England 5 a "25,097" | . 46,615 Cowes and a market » wel s8ar = . 270,010 The Baltic . . 45,085 ° ...) SifSb& Hamburgh and Bremen » 29,271 . . 33,165 Holland . : are) Oe . 26,828 Belgium ; s- 62,849) % . 29,814 France §. : - 44,947. - 46,517 Trieste and Venice 1838;627. . 14,832 Ttalys ; 2 258565 . 6,248 Other places : - 4, LSs888) 2 . | “TG G0t Boxes . .. 743,249 . 872,457 Our West India possessions have, owing to the want of a good supply of labor and available capital to mtroduce various scien- tific improvements, somewhat retrograded in the production of sugar ; which, from the low price ruling the past year or two, has not been found a remunerative staple. - The two large islands of Jamaica and Cuba, may be fairly com- pared as to their production of sugar. From 1804 to 1808, Jamaica exported, on the average, annually 135,331 hhds., and from 1844 to 1848, it had decreased to 41,872 hhds. The exports from the single port of Havana, which in the first named period were 165,690 boxes, rose during the latter period to 635,185 boxes ; so that the shipments of sugar from Jamaica, which were in 1804 to 1808 double those of Havana—in the period from 1844 to 1848, were five times less! Cuba will be able to withstand the crisis of the low price of sugars, better than the emancipated British Colonies, for the following reasons :-— 1. It will find, in its present prosperity, a power of resistance that no longer exists in the British sugar-growing colonies. 2. Because it enjoys in the Spanish markets a protection for at least 16,955 tons of its sugar, or about eight-tenths of its total exportation. 3. Because it has secured a very strong position in the markets of the United States; and both from its proximity to, and its commercial relations with that country, as also from the better quality of its sugar, will command the sale of at least 33,500 tons, or about 16 per cent. of its total production. 4, Because in 1854, after the duties shall have been equalized, it will be enabled to undersell the British article in its own market. 5. Because, not being an exclusively sugar-growing colony, as are almost all British West India Islands, 1t may suffer from the present depressed condition of the sugar market, but cannot be entirely ruined, owing to its having commanding resources, and many other valuable staples,—coffee, copper, cotton, &c, 6. Because, by improving its agriculture and introducing use- ful machinery, railroads, &c., for which it has large available capital, it can produce sugar at a diminished cost. 7. And lastly, because the proprietors have continuous labour at SUGAR: 149 command, until slavery be abolished—of which there seems no present prospect. The slave population numbers about 350,000, and the free coloured population, about 90,000. . The consumption of sugar, during 1847, very singularly tallied with the production of the British Colonies that year —being exactly 289,000 tons; but as 50,000 tons of foreign sugar were consumed, an accumulation of British plantation sugar necessarily remained on hand. The production of the French colonies was 100,000 tons, of which France received nine-tenths. 3 In 1836, Jamaica made 1,136,554 ewt. of sugar. In 1840, its produce had fallen off to 545,600 cwt.; but im the same years, Porto Rico had increased its sugar crop, from 498,000 cwt., to. 1,060,000 ewt. In 1837, Cuba made 9,060,058 arrobas of sugar, equal to 132,765 hhds.; in 1841. it had increased to 139,000 hhds. : The largest crop grown in the West Indies, since 1838, was that of 1847, which amounted to 159,600 tons. The annexed returns of the sugar crops of Barbados and Jamaica, for a series of years may, be interesting :— SUGAR CROPS OF THE ISLAND OF BARBADOS, FROM 1827 Ty 1846 anv 1851. 1827 .... 18,109 hhds. 1834 .... 28,710 hhds. | 1841 .... 17,801hbhds. 1828 .... 28,533 ,, 1835 ..... 25,371 ,, 14s 2. JL Bore 1829 .... 23,486 ,, 1836 .... 26,358 1843 .... 24,587 1830 .... 26,360 ,, | 1837 .... 31,670 .. | 1844 .... 23,147 .. fe 25174 . | 1838..... 83,058 ., 1845 .... 24,767 1832 .... 19,761 ,, : 1839 ..... 28.213 > | 1846 .... 21,936 |. 1833 ...- 28,099 ,, 1840 2; ..-13,589 ,; 1851 .... 48,000 ,, SUGAR CROPS OF THE ISLAND OF JAMAICA, FROM 1790 To 1851. EPO. 5. -3 91,131 hkds.; 1809...... 114,630 hhds.| 1828...... 101,575 hhds. an SrO20 5. + 1810.....: TI 5, 1} E8297 2.02. 97,893 ,, SS 62. - 5 Per a (1k eps dS82922 0°. STBS0L8s: 100,205 ,, pee... Bot ste 2s) p.) ESID cece: LIB TS. ye | BSD. 94,381 ,, 1704 apieAe > 1 1813...... 109,258 ,, IS32s: <0 9S 686.05, = ae 95,372 ,, Lit De tc era 0 a 2 ene Sa,16L ‘a 96,460 ,, PSTD se 127.209. 8 | ASSd 84,756 ,, ‘7 ae 85,109 ,, tS1G6...... TOO382 EBB oe os. 77,970" 5, ¥793.:...0 OOS bo ok AST 12) = 125766 5%" 0) US86e2 67,094 ,, Lic oe Pivreto =, | 18t6.....: PoE GOS 55° | LSS: 61,505 $300... ... MisS84. 5. |) I819%...«. TG S82: 250% S382. 69,613 ,, PSO1 5... PTDOSG Ay gif PBAO8. S2.- EZPG2 Dy iit SUBS, 2 49,243 ,, AD2 3... TAD LISS ho AS2E ek: T19560) 2 01840... 33,066 ,, wS05...... 15,496 4; - | 1822.4... OAD 94 leh O4 eee eo Ages 1804:..... 112,163 _ ,, 1823. hOL O71 1 W842. .,2. 50,205 95 tiS..2... fot sa27 ft} 1824533: ¥06,009-,, CO TYS43 72% 44,169 ,, 1806...... PAG OL Ee ls FS2bes 6 72,0900",, 1 ee NB44. 23. 34,444 ,, 4807......135,203 _,, I8263.2.5. BOG; 12 7, Hilt? 2845..02.0 47,926 ,, 1808...... 1323333. x T5275 F899. ot ub, plSbb:...2 40678. 5, The average of the five years ending 1851, being the first five of Free trade, shows an annual export from Jamaica of 41,678 hhds. The quantity of unrefined sugar imported from the British West. Indies and Guiana in a series of years since the emancipation, is shown by the following abstract :— ; 150 | SUGAR. Cwts. Cwts. Cwis. Cwts. Sugar. Molasses. Sugar. Molasses. 1831 .. 4,103,800 ... 823,306|1841 .. 2,148,218 .. 430,221 1832 .. 3,773,456 .. 553,663/1842 .. 2,508,725 .. 471,759 1833 .. 3,646,205 .. 686,794/1843 .. 2,509,701 .. 605,632 1834 .. 3,848,976 .. 650,366/1844 .. 2,451,063 .. 579,458 1835 .. 3,524,209 .. 507,49511845 .. 2,853,995 .. 491,083 1836... 3,601,791 .. 526,535|1846 .. 2,147,347 .. 477,623 1837 .. 3,306,775 .. 575,657|1847 .. 38,199,814 .. 531,171 1838 .. 3,520,676 .. 638,007|1848 .. 2,794,987 .. 385,484 1839 .. 2,824,372 .. 474,307|1849 .. 2,839,888 .. 605,487 1840 .. 2,214,764 2. 424,141]1850 .. 2,586,429 .. 470,187 Mauritius —In the year 1818 the exports of sugar from this island were but 549,465 lbs., andincreasing gradually to 128,476,547 Ibs. in 1849, or two-hundred fold in thirty-six years. The equalisation of the duties in 1825, and the admission of Mauritius sugars into England on the same footmg as those from the West Indies, had the effect of stimulating the sugar trade of Mauritius, and advancing it to its present remarkable success. Notwithstanding its immense crops, scarcely more than three-fifths of the island is yet under cultivation ; but it has the advantage of a cheap and abundant supply of labor, and much improved machinery has been introduced. The planters first com- menced introducing Coolies in 1835, and were for some time restricted to the single port of Calcutta for their supply. The recent advices from Mauritius furnish some interesting in- formation regarding the progress making in the sugar production of that colony. In reference to the cultivation of the cane, it is stated that by the introduction of guano upon several estates im the interior, the production has been very largely increased ; but as the value and economy of manure has not been hitherto sufficiently estimated, its introduction has not been so general as could be desired. The importance of free labor to the cul- tivation of the estates, has now become fully appreciated by the planters; it being found that an equal amount of work can be obtained by this means from a less number of hands, and that at lower rates of wages than were current in previous years, the average of which is shown in the following table :— Number of Aggregate Average Years. Coolies amount of wages wages per head employed. paid per week. per week. £ S: aGe 1846 47,733 33,484 14 O 1847 48,314 35,338 144 9 1848 41,777 26,627 iz. 1849 45,384 27,625 12 2 1850 47,912 31,664 12 3 1851 42,275 27,832 12 2 In 1826, to make from 25 to 30,000,000 lbs. of sugar, it required 30,000 laborers (slaves); at the present time, with less than 45,000 (from which number fully 5,000 must be deducted as SUGAR. 151 absent from work from various causes), 135,000,000 lbs. are pro- duced, or about five times the quantity under slavery. The coolies are found to be an intelligent race, who have become inured to the work required, and by whose labor this small island can pro- duce the fifth part of the consumption of the United Kingdom, and that with only about 7U,000 acres under cane cultivation. About 10,000 male immigrants, introduced since 1848, are not. now working under engagement, but are following other occupa- tions, and thus become permanent consumers. Some cultivate land on a small scale, on their own account, but very few plant canes, as it requires from eighteen to twenty months before they obtain any return for their labor ; but the most important fact established by this and other official statements is, that only a small number of immigrants leave the colony at the expiration of their indus- trial residence. In the manufacture of sugar from the cane, con- siderable improvement has been effected by the introduction of new methods of boiling and grinding. The vacuum pan and the system of Wetsell are all tending to economise the cost of pro- duction, and to save that loss which for years amounted, in grind- ing alone, to nearly one-third of the juice of the cane. The planters begin to find that they can increase the value of their sugar 30 to 40 per cent. by these improvements, and that their future prosperity depends upon carrying them out. Unfortu- nately, however, here, as in many other of our colonies, a very large number of planters do not yet appreciate the advantages to be obtained by the adoption of improved machinery and manu- facture, or by improved cultivation, and still struggle on under the old system of waste and negligence, which can only result in the ruin and destruction of their property. : In 1827, the number of sugar estates in operation in Mauritius, were 49 worked by water power, 50 by cattle or horses, and 22 by steam—total 111; in 1886, this number had increased to 186, viz. —64 moved by water power, 10 by horse, and 112 by steam. In 1839, the number was 211, of which 188 were worked by steam power—70,292 acres were then under cultivation with sugar. There are now about 490 sugar estates, whereof only 231 have mills—42 are worked by water power, the rest by steam. The annual Mauritius crops, as exported, for the last ten years, have been as follows. The shipments frequently extend beyond a year, hence a discrepancy sometimes between the year’s crop and the year’s export :— Tons, 1842—43 Ae 5G oe 56 aie 24,400 1843—44 By Pies he He ae 28,600 1844—45 sy = ce 3 $e 37,600 1845—46 ane ae ty. bi AP 49,160 1846—47 is a ty ae aS 64,100 1847—48 is ae aie ons ae 59,021 1848—49 9 a ve As ie 50,782 1849—50 $3, a, ate 56 re 51,811 1850—51 ots t Se Rie ce 55,000 1851—52 re Sas . 38 vs 65,080 152 SUGAR. Besides its exports to Great Britain, Mauritius ships large quantities of sugar to the Cape of Good Hope and Australia. ' Its local consumption is moreover set down at about 2,500 tons. The progressive increase in its exports is marked by the follow- ing return of imports into Great Britain from the island :— Cwt. Cut. 1826 ,. ay 93,723 1839eee: -» 604,671 SWAP / ie -. 186,782 1840 -- 690,294 1828 .. .. 204,344 1841 OF .. 545,356 1829 .. .. 861,325 1842 || .. 716,009 1830 .. .. 297,958 1843-4, .. 696,652 183i... .. 485,710 1844 7" .. 645,415 1832. .. 517,553 1845 7" Be OE 1833 °.. .. 921,904 1846 ae -- 845,197 1834... -. 916,077 1847 ». 1,193,571 1835. .. 553,891 1848 °° .. 886,184 1836... .. 558,237 1849 .. 893,524 1837 = ..4 .. 497,302 1850 .. 1,003,296 1838 537,455 1851: .. 999,337 Hast Indies.—Sugar is avery old and extensive cultivation in India. It would probably be within the mark, to estimate the annual produce of the country at a million of tons. An official return shows that the quantity of sugar carried on one road of the interior, for provincial consumption, is about equal to the whole quantity shipped from Calcutta—some 50,000 or 60,000 tons. India is fast becoming a great sugar producing country, al- though its produce and processes of manufacture are rude and imperfect. The Coolies who return from time to time to the © Indian ports, bring with them much acquired knowledge and ex- perience from the Mauritius. In 1825, the import of sugar from the East Indies was but 146,000 cwt., and it fluctuated greatly in Succeeding years, being occasionally as low as 76,600 cwt. In 1837 the quantity imported was just double what it was in 1827. In 1841, it had reached as high as 1,239,738 cwt., and subsequently kept steady for a few years at 1,100,000 cwt.—and for the last four years has averaged 1,400,000 ewt. Java.—Attention has been withdrawn, in a great measure, from sugar cultivation in Java, owing to coffee being found a more remunerative staple. The following figures serve to show the ex- tent of its exports of sugar :— ae Cwt. : 1826... .. 23,565 1888. 1. 873,056 1827... J. 88,357 1889 7): .. 999,895 1828, 75. i Seo 1840... = Satan. 1829 4... oJ 2491,297 1841, .. 1,252,041 1830 .. .. 129,300 1842. .. 1,105,856 T1880 c . -. 144,077 isis. .. 1,162,211 1832... .. 292,706 Teh .. 1,260,790 USB Se, .. 151,128 1845. .. 1,812,500 16341 7 > 443,919 1848) G2. .. 1,798,612 1835: .. 523,162 18504; .. 1,797,874 1836: ,. 1 607,896 ol a ISI: .. 1,987,957 1837. .. 820,063 | 1852.—. .. 2,090,845 SUGAR: 155 In 1840, we imported from Java 75,5383 cwt.; in 1841, 87,342 cwt.; in 1842, 24,922 ewt.; in 1843, 35,161 ewt.; and in 1844, about 72,000 ewt.; but most of this was only sent to Cowes, for orders, to be transhipped to the Continent. Philippines.—The exports from Manila into this country in 1841, were 133,482 ewt.; in 1842, 63,464 cwt.; and in 1843, 48,977 ewt. In the fifteen years between 1835 and 1850, the ex- port of sugar from the Philippine Islands more than doubled :— Tons. Tons. Loh? iar s 11,542 . P64Oe*:, 3 ao 155820 ASaG >. Sr ol 45845 ESA et. .. 18,540 267 sae Ga E2295 1843... Hol 2520 uc ae Se Leste 1844 .. .. 21,528 i ls6/3 seen fan 15,631 Moda =P, .. 24,500 1840. .. Pam 8 ot) 015) 1850 oi 6.2.88, 745 About a third of this is raw sugar, the rest is clayed or refined. It is singular, that though these islands belong to Spain, the export of this staple product to that country should be limited to about 600 tons; America taking about one-sixth, and England and her colonies the remainder. There is now an increased demand for the Australian colonies, consequent upon the large influx of population to that quarter. Export of sugar from Manila in 1850. Piculs. To Great Britain... a a6 ..- 146,926 ,, Continent of Europe Ba ve ... 50,880 », Australian Colonies ate oat . =142,359 »» Singapore, Batavia, and Bombay ste we 1 12,749 ,, California andthe Pacific ... wee .- 29,144 » Lhe United States ee Had oe LOLS : 459,927 The sugar cane occurs in a wild state on many of the islands of the Pacific, but in no part-of the American continent, notwith- standing a contrary opinion has been expressed. The following are the chief varieties cultivated in the West Indies, Louisiana, the East Indies, and Mauritius :-— 1, Common or creole cane, so called from being introduced from the New World. 2. Yellow Bourbon. 3. Yellow Otaheite. 4, Otaheite with purple bands. 5. Purple Otaheite. 6. Ribbon cane. My friend, Mr. L. Wray, in his “ Practical Sugar Planter,” con- siders the Bourbon, and yellow, or straw-coloured Otaheite cane, as identical, but merely altered by change of soil and climate. The yield from these cane-plants seems to be about the same in either Indies, viz., in good land about two-and-a-half tons of dry sugar per acre—sometimes three tons. A very large species of red cane, grown at Gowhatty, in Assam, 154. SUGAR. 13 made favorable mention of for its strength of growth, early maturity, and juiciness; and Mr. Wray strongly recommends the introduction into the West Indies of another fine variety, generally grown in the Straits’ settlements, where it is known by the name of the Salangore cane. He considers they would ratoon better than any other cane, and the return from it is on the average 8,600 lbs. of dry sugar to the acre. “For my own part, I have always reckoned as an average, 3,6C0 Ibs. of dry sugar to the acre as the return this cane will give, on anything like good land, in the Straits, according to the present imperfect mode of expressing and manu- facture; but, considering the surpassing richness of land in the West India Islands, Demerara, and Mauritius, I should not be in any way surprised to find that it would there give even three tons an acre. The Salangore cane grows firm and strong; stands upright much better than the Otaheite ; gives juice most abundantly, which is sweet and easy of clarifica- tion, boils well, and produces a very fine, fair sugar, of a bold and sparkling grain. Much discussion has arisen on the subject of raising the sugar cane from seed, and the possibility has been universally denied among the planters and agricultural societies of the West India colonies. Mr. Pritchard, a sugar planter of Louisiana, in the “United States Patent Report for 1850,” however, states :-— ‘‘Tt is an error to suppose that the cane cannot be propagated from the seed. This may be the case when the seed is obtained from plants that have been pro- duced for a number of years from buds, or eyes. All plants that have been produced in this way for a series of years, lose the faculty of forming prolific seeds ; and the sugar cane is governed by the same laws which govern the whole vegetable kingdom. It cannot, therefore, be expected to produce seeds after it has been cultivated for a great length of time.” The sugar cane is composed of water, woody fibre, and soluble matter, or sugar. In round numbers it may be stated that the proportions are 72 per cent. of water, 10 per cent of woody fibre, and 18 per cent. of sugar. The fluid contents of a cane, according to Dr. Evans, contain 90 per cent. of the entire structure of the stem. 1,000 grains of sugar cane, being burnt, gave 73 grains of ash, which, on analysis, furnished the following components :— Silica . : : : g Bee ti neh} Phosphate of lime : : : Lt Soe Red oxide ofironandclay . : : : Bef Carbonate of potash . ; : : ve Cate pti aie we ay 7 as Dr. Evans’ ‘¢ Treatise on Sugar,” p. 7d. SUGAR. 169 the yellow or light colored, but in less quantity, and is harder to press. Grows on dry lands. Scarce any other sort in Beerbhoom, much in Radnagore, some about Santipore, mixed with light colored cane. Grows also near Calcutta; in some fields separate, in others mixed with pooree or light cclored cane. _ When eaten raw, is more dry and pithy in the mouth, but esteemed better sugar than the pooree, and appears to be the superior sort of cane. Persons who have been West Indian planters do not know it as a West Indian cane. 2. The light colored cane, yellow, inclining to white; deeper yellow when ripe, and on rich ground, it is the same sort as that which grows in the West India Islands; softer, more juicy than the Cadjoolee, but juice less rich, and produces sugar less strong ; requires seven maunds of pooree juice to make as much goor or inspissated juice as is produced from six of the Cadjoolee. Much of this kind is brought to the Calcutta markets, and eaten raw. 3. The white variety, which grows in swampy lands, is ight colored, and grows to a great height. Its juice is more watery, and yields a weaker sugar than the Cadjoolee. However, as much of Bengal consists of low grounds, and as the upland canes are liable to suffer from drought, it may be advisable to encourage the cultivation of it, should the sugar it produces be approved, though in a less degree than other sugars, in order to guard against the effects of dry seasons. Experience alone can determine how far the idea of encouraging this sort may answer. Besides the foregoing, several kinds are now known to the Indian planter. One of them, the China sugar cane, was considered by Dr. Roxburgh tv be a distinct species, and distinguished by him as Saccharwm sinensis. It was introduced into India in 1796, by Earl Cornwallis, as being superior to the native kinds. Itis charac- terised by a hardness which effectually resists most of the country rude mills; but this hardness is importantly beneficial, inasmuch as that it withstands the attack of the white ants, hogs, and jackals, which destroy annually a large portion of the common cane.* Dr. Buchanan found that four kinds are known in Mysore. Two of these are evidently the purple and white generally known; but as this is not distinctly stated, I have retained the form in which he notices them. Restali, the native sugar of the Mysore, can only be planted in the last two weeks of March and two first of April. It completes its growth in twelve months, and does not survive for a second crop. Its cultivation has been superseded by the other. Puttaputti—tThis was introduced from Arcot, during the reign of Hyder Ali. It is the only one from which the natives can extract sugar; it also produces the best Bella or Jaggery. It can be planted at the same season as the other, as well as at the end of July and beginning of August. It is fourteen months in com- * Reports of Dr. Roxburgh, Mv. Touchet of Radanagore, and Mr. Cardin of Mirzapore, Cutna. Papers on Hast India Sugar, page 258. 170 SUGAR. pleting its growth; but the stools produce a second crop, like the ratoons of the West Indies, which ripen in twelve months. Maracabo, Cuttaycabo.—These two are very small, seldom ex- ceeding half an inch im diameter; yet in some districts of Mysore, as about Colar, the last-named is the variety usually cultivated ; but this arises from its requiring less water than the larger varieties. The best varieties are those introduced from the Islands of Ota- heite and Bourbon. Hindostan is indebted for their introduction to Captain Sleeman, who brought them hither from the Mauritius in 1827. He committed them toe Dr. Wallich, under whose care, at the Botanic Garden, they have flourished, and been the source from whence the benefit has been generally diffused. Their supe- riority over those which have been usually cultivated by the natives has been completely established. The largest of the Hindostan canes, ripe and trimmed ready for the mill, has never been found to exceed five pounds; but it is not uncommon for an Otaheite cane,* under similar circumstances, to weigh seven pounds. The extra weight arises proportionately from an increased secretion of superior sap. The sugar is more abundant, eranulates more readily, and has less scum. Other superior qualities are, that the canes ripen earlier, and are less injured by the occurrence of protracted dry weather. Of the history of the sugar cane a popular tradition obtains amongst the natives, that, in very ancient times, a vessel belonging to their country chanced by accident to leave one of her crew, under a desperate fit of sickness, at a desert island, at a conside- rable distance in the Eastern Seas, and that, returning by the same route, curiosity prompted them to inquire after the fate of their companion, when, to their utter astonishment, the man pre- sented himself to their view, completely recovered from his sick- ness, and even in a state of more than common health. With anxiety they inquired for the physic he had so successfully applied, and were conducted by him to the sugar cane, on which he ac- quainted them he had solely subsisted from the time of their departure. Attracted by such powerful recommendation, every care and attention was bestowed, we may suppose, to convey such an invaluable acquisition to their own lands, where the soil and climate have mutually since contributed to its present prosperity. Soil—The soil best suiting the sugar cane is aluminous rather than the contrary, tenacious without being heavy, readily allowing excessive moisture to drain away, yet not light. One gentleman, Mr. Ballard, has endeavoured to make this point clear by describ- * Many are of opinion, that although the juice of this cane is larger in quan- tity, yet that it contains less sugar. There is some sense in the reason they assign, which is, that in the Mauritius and elsewhere it has the full time of twelve or fourteen months allowed for its coming to maturity—whereas the agriculture of India, and especially in Bengal, only allows it eight or nine months, which, though ample to mature the smaller country canes, is not suffi- cient for the Otaheite. SUGAR. T71 ing the most favorable soils about Gazepore as “ light clays,” called there Mootearce, or doansa, according as there 1s more or less sand in their ecomposition.— Trans. Agri-Hort. Soc. 1. 121. Mr. Peddington seems to think that calcareous matter, and iron in the state of peroxide, are essential to be present in a soil for the production of the superior sugar cane. There can be no doubt that the calcareous matter is necessary, but experience is opposed to his opinion relative to the peroxide. The soil preferred at Radnagore is there distinguished as the soil of “two qualities,’ being a mixture of rich clay and sand, and which Mr. Touchet believed to be known in England as a light brick mould. About Rungpore, Dinajpoor, and other places where the ground is low, they raise the beds where the cane is to be planted four or five feet above the level of the land adjacent. The experience of Dr. Roxburgh agrees with the preceding statements. He says, “The soil that suits the cane best in this climate is a rich vegetable earth, which on exposure to the air readily crumbles down into very fine mould. It is also necessary for it to be of such a level as allows of its beg watered from the river by simply damming it up (which almost the whole of the land adjoining to this river, the Godavery, admits of), and yet so high as to be easily drained during heavy rains. Such a soil, and in such a situation, having been well meliorated by various crops of leguminous plants, or fallowing, for two or three years, is slightly manured, or has had for some time cattle pent upon it. A favourite manure for the cane with the Hindoo farmer is the rotten straw of green and black pessaloo (Phaseolus Mungo mas) .* Many accordant opinions might be added to the preceding, but it seems only necessary to observe further, that “the sugar cane requires a soil sufficiently elevated to be entirely free from inun- dation, but not so high as to be deprived of moisture, or as to encourage the production of white ants (¢ermes).” The sugar cane is an exhausting crop, and it is seldom culti- vated by the ryot more frequently than once in three or four years on the same land. During the intermediate period, such plants are grown as are found to improve the soil, of which, says Dr. Tennant, the Indian farmer is a perfect judge. They find the leguminous tribe the best for the purpose. Such long intervals of repose from the cane would not be requisite if a better system of manuring were adopted. Mr. J. Prinsep has recorded the following analysis of three soils distinguished for producing sugar. They were all a soft, fine-grained alluvium, without pebbles. No. 1 was from a village called Mothe, on the Sarjee, about ten miles north of the Ganges, at Buxar, and the others from the south bank of the Ganges, near * Roxburgh on the Culture of Sugar and Jaggary in the Rajahmundry Cir- car; Third Ap. to Report on East India Sugar, p. 2. 172 SUGAR. the same place. There is a substratum of Aunkar throughout the whole of that part of the country, and to some mixture of this earth with the surface soil the fertility of the latter is aseribed :-— i 2 3 Hygrometric moisture, on drying at 212 deg. 25. 2 6 Carbonaceous and vegetable matter, on calemation 1°83 21 40 Carbonate of lime (No. 3 effervesced) . : s- 256 Bo Alkaline salt, soluble : : : 1-0 °° ees Silex and alumina : - : : . 941 941 88-2 ee ———_ 100-0 100-0 100-0 The earths unfortunately were not separated. Mr. Prinsep says the two first were chiefly of sand, and the third somewhat argillaceous. The former required irrigation, but the other was sufficently retentive of moisture to render it unnecessary.— ( Journ. Asiatic Soc., ii. 435.) Manures—The sugar cane being one of the most valued crops of the ryot, he always devotes to it a portion of the fertilising matters he has at command, though in every instance this is too small. In the Rajahmundry district, previously to planting, the soil is slightly manured, either by having cattle folded upon it, or by a light covering of the rotten straw of the green and black pessalloo, which is here a favourite fertiliser. In some parts of Mysore the mud from the bottom of tanks is employed, and this practice is more generally adopted im other places. Thus the fields being divided by deep ditches in Dinajpoor, the mud from which is enriched by the remains of decayed aquatic plants and animals, forms an excellent manure for the sugar cane, and of this the ryots make use, sprea ading it over the surface before the ploughing i is commenced; and when that operation is completed, the soil is further fertilised by a dressing of oileake and ashes. Crushed bones would unquestionably ‘be of the greatest benefit if applied to the sugar cane crop. Not only would their animal matter serve as food for the plants, but the phosphate of lime of the bones is one of the chief saline constituents of the sugar cane. Salt is another valuable manure for this crop. Dr. Nugent, in a Report made to the Agricultural Society of Antigua, observes that salt has been found a valuable auxiliary in cultivating the sugar cane. Many trials of it, he says, have been made during successive seasons, applied g generally ‘to the extent of about nine or ten bushels per acre. It destr oys grubs and other insects, and gives the canes an increased vigor and ability to resist drought. It is a singular remark of the intelligent traveller, M. de Hum- boldt, while speaking of the practice adopted in the Missions of the Orinoco, when a coco-nut plantation is made, of throwing a certain quantity of salt into the hole which receives the nut ; that of all the plants cultivated by man there are only ate sugar cane, the plantain, the mammee, and the Avocada pea , which endure equally irrigation with fresh and salt water. SUGAR: L783 In the West Indies, when the cane is affected by what is called there the blast, which is a withering or drying up of the plants, an unfailing remedy is found to be watering them with an infu- sion of dung in salt water.* Preparation of soil_—tIn the Rajahmundry district, during the months of April and May, the ground is frequently ploughed, until brought into a very fine tilth. About the end of May, or beginning of June, the rains usually commence, and the canes are then tobe planted. If the rains do not set im so early, the land is flooded artificially, and when converted into a soft mud, whether by the rain or by flooding, the canes are planted. In Mysore the ground is watered for three days, and then, after drying for the same period, ploughing commences, this operation bemg repeated five times during the followmg eight days. The elods during this time are broken small by an instrument called colkudali. The field is then manured and ploughed a sixth time. After fifteen days it is ploughed again, twice in the course of one or two days. After a lapse of eight days it is ploughed a ninth time. Altogether these operations occupy about forty-four days. For planting, which is done six days, an implement called yella kudalt is employed. In Dinajpoor, “the field, from about the middle of October until about the 10th of January, receives ten or twelve double ploughings, and after each is smoothed with the moyz. During the last three months of this time it is manured with cow-dung and mud from ponds and ditches. On this account, the land fit for © sugar cane is generally divided into fields by wide ditches, into which much mud is washed by the rain, and is again thrown on the fields when the country dries, and leaves it enriched by innu- merable aquatic vegetables and animals that have died as the water left them. When the ploughing has been completed, the field is manured with ashes and oilcake.”’ About Malda, “the land is first ploughed in the month of Car- tick, length and breadth ways, and harrowed in like manner; four or five days after it is again ploughed and harrowed, as before, twice. In the month of Aghun, the whole land is covered with fresh earth, again twice ploughed, and harrowed in different di- rections, and then manured with dung. Fifteen or twenty days afterwards it is to be twice ploughed, as before ; eight or ten days after which, it is to be slightly manured with dung, and the refuse of oil, mixed together; then twice ploughed and harrowed in dif- ferent directions, so that the clods of earth brought be well mixed together with the land. This preparation continues until the 20th or 25th of the month Pows.” - In the vicinity of Dacca, during “ Cautic or Augun (October, November) the Ryots begin to prepare their ground. They first dig a trench round their fields, and raise a mound of about three feet in height. If the ground to be cultivated is waste, about nine * L’Exploitation de Sucreries, Porter on the Sugar Cane, 53, 321. ' 174 SUGAR, inches of the surface are taken off, and thrown without the enclo- sure. The ground is ploughed to the depth of nine inches more. The clods are broken, and the earth made fine. In Maug or Faugun (January, February) the sugar cane is planted; a month after- wards earth is raised about the plants; after another month this is repeated. The crop is cut in Poous and Maug (December, January). If the ground be not waste, but cultivated, the sur- face is not taken off. After cutting the crop, it is not usual again to grow sugar cane on the same ground for eighteen months, on account of the indifferent produce afforded by a more early planting. In the Zillah, North Mooradabad, the land is broken up at the end of June. After the rains have ceased it is manured, and has eight or ten ploughings. This clears it of weeds. In February it is again manured and ploughed four or five times, and just before the sets are planted, some dung, four cart-loads to each cutcha beegah of low land, and five cart-loads to high land, are added. The land is well rolled after the four last ploughings, and again after the cuttings are set. About Benares and the neighbouring districts, Mr. Haines says, _ that owing to the hot winds which prevail “from March until the setting in of the annual rainsin June or July, the lands remain fal- low till that period. In the mean time, those fields that are selected for sugar cane are partially manured by throwing upon them all man- ner of rubbish they can collect, and by herding their buffaloes and cattle upon them at night, though most of the manure from the latter source is again collected and dried for fuel. When the annual rains have fairly set in, and the Assarree crops sown (in some instances I have seen an Assarree crop taken from the lands intended for sugar cane), they commence ploughing the eane lands, and continue to do so four or five times monthly (as they consider the greater number of times the fields are turned up at this period of the season, the better the crop of cane will be), till the end of October, continuing to throw on the little manure they can collect. Towards the end of October, and in November, their ploughs are much engaged in sowing their winter (or rubbee) crops of wheat, barley, grain, &c.; and at this period they make arrange- ments with the shepherds who have large flocks of sheep, to fold them upon the fields at night, for which they pay so much per beegah in grain. During the latter part of November, and early in December, the fields are again ploughed well, and all grass, weeds, &c., removed with the hoe; then the surface of the field is made as smooth as possible by putting the hengah (a piece of wood eight to ten feet mm length, and five to six inches in breadth, and three or four inches in thickness, drawn by two pairs of bullocks, and the man standing upon the wood to give it weight), over several times for three or four days in succession. This makes the surface of the field very even and somewhat hard, which prevents the sun and dry west SUGAR. 175 wind from abstracting the moisture, which is of great importance at this period of the season, fr, should there be no rai, there would not be sufficient moisture at the time of planting the cane . to cause vegetation. In this state the land remains till the time of plantmeg the eane cuttings, which is generally the 1st to the 15th of February ; but should there have been a fall cf rain in the mean time, or excess of moisture appear, the field is again ploughed, and the hengah put over as before A day or two previous to planting the cane, the field is ploughed and the hengah lightly put over.’— (Trans. Agri- Hort. Soc.vi. 4, 5.) Sets—When the canes are cut at harvest time, twelve or eighteen inches of their tops are usually taken off, and stored, to be employed for sets. Each top has several joints, from each of which a shoot rises, but seldom more than one or two arrive at a proper growth. | When first cut from the stem, the tops intended for plants are tied in bundles of forty or fifty each, and are carefully kept moist. In a few days they put forth new leaves: they are then cleared of the old leaves, and separately dipped into a mixture of cow- dung, pressed mustard seed, and water. A dry spot is prepared, and rich loose mould and a small quantity of pressed mustard- seed; the plants are separately placed therein, a small quantity of earth strewed amongst them, and then covered with leaves and grass to preserve them from heat. Ten or twelve days afterwards they are planted in the fields. In Burdwan, the tops, before they are planted, are cut into pieces from four to six inches long, so that there are not more than four knotsineach. Two or three of these plant tops are put together in the ground, and a beegah requires from 7,500 to 10,240 plants. In Rungpore and Dinajpoor, about 9,000 plants are required for a beegah, each being about a foot in length. In Beerbhoom, 3,000 plants are said to be requisite for a beegah, each cane tup being about fifteen inches long. Near Calcutta, from 3,000 to 8,000 plants are required for a beegah, according to the goodness of the soil, the worst soil needing most plants. In Mysore an acre contains 2,420 stools,. and yields about 11,000 ripe canes. Near Rajahmundry, about 400 cuttings are planted on a cutcha beegah (one-eighth of anacre). In Zilla, North Mooradabad, 4,200 sets, each eight inches long, are inserted upon each cutcha beegah of low land, and 5,250 upon high land. In the district of Gollagore the Ryots cut a ripe cane into several pieces, preserving two or three joints to each, and put them into a small bed of rich mould, dung, and mustard-seed from which the oil has been expressed. At Radnagore, when the time of cutting the canes arrives, their tops are taken off, and these are placed upright in a bed of mud for thirty or forty days, and covered with leaves or straw. The leaves are then stripped 176 SUGAR. rom them, and they are cut into pieces, not having less than two nor more than four joints each These sets are kept for ten or _ fifteen days in a bed prepared for them, from whence they are taken and planted in rows two or three together, eighteen inches or two feet intervening between each stool. Planting. —The time and mode of planting vary. In the Rajah-~ mundry Cirear, Dr. Roxburgh says, that “ during the months of April and May the land is repeatedly ploughed with the common Hindoo plough, which soon brings the loose rich soil (speaking of the Delta of the Godavery) into very excellent order. About the end of May and beginning of June, the rains generally set in, in frequent heavy showers. Now is the time to plant the cane; but should the rains hold back, the prepared field is watered or flooded from the river, and, while perfectly wet, like soft mud, the cane is planted. “The method is most simple. Laborers with baskets of the cuttings, of one or two joints each, arrange themselves along one side of the field. They walk side by side, in as straight a line as their eye and judgment enable them, dropping the sets at the distance of about eighteen inches asunder in rows, and about four feet from row to row. Other laborers follow, and with the foot press the set about two inches into the soft, mud-like soil, which, with a sweep or two with the sole of the foot, they most easily and readily cover.’’—(Roxburgh on the Culture of Sugar.) _ About Malda, im the month of Maug (January, February), the land is to be twice ploughed, and harrowed repeatedly, length and breadth ways; after which it is furrowed, the furrows half a eubit apart, in which the plants are to be set at about four fingers’ dis- tance from each other, when the furrows are filled up with the land that lay upon its ridges. The plants being thus set, the land is harrowed twice in different directions; fifteen or twenty days afterwards the cane begins to grow, when the weeds which appear with it must be taken up; ten or twelve days after this the weeds will again appear. They must again be taken up, and the earth at the roots of the canes be removed, when all the plants which have grown will appear. At Ghazepore the rains set in at the beginning of March, and planting then commences. Near Calcutta the planting takes place in May and June. In Dinajpoor and Rungpore the planting time is February. About Commercolly it is performed in January. The field is divided into beds six cubits broad, separated from each other by small trenches fourteen inches wide and eight inches deep. In every second trench are small wells, about two feet deep. The irrigating water flowing along the trenches fills the wells, and is taken thence and applied to the canes by hand. Each bed has five rows of canes. The sets are planted in holes about six inches in diameter, and three deep; two sets, each having three joints, are laid horizontally in every hole, covered slightly with earth, and oyer this is a little dung. SUGAR. 177 When the canes are planted in the spring, the trenches must be filled with water, and some poured into every hole. At the other season of planting the trenches are full, it being rainy weather; but even then the sets must be watered for the first month. Mr. Haines says that in Mirzapore and the neighbouring dis- tricts, “in planting the cane they commence a furrow round the field, in which they drop the cuttings. The second furrow is left empty; cuttings again in the third; so they continue dropping cuttings in every second furrow till the whole field is completed, finishing in the centre of the field. The field remains in this state till the second or third day, when for two or three days in succession it is made even and hard upon the surface with the hengah, as before stated.’”’—(Trans. Agri-Hort. Soe. vi. 5.) Mr. Vaupell, in describing the most successful mode of culti- vating the Mauritius sugar cane in Bombay, says, that “ after the ground is levelled with the small plough, called ‘paur,’ in the manner of the cultivators, pits of two feet in diameter, and two feet in depth, should be dug throughout the field at the distance of five feet apart, and filled with manure and soil to about three inches of the surface. Set in these pits your canes, cut in pieces about a foot and a half long, laymg them down in a triangular form, thus 4. Keep as much of the eyes or shoots of the cane uppermost as you can; then cover them with manure and soil ; beds should next be formed to retain water, having four pits in each bed, leaving passages for watering them. The cutting should be watered every third day during hot weather, and the field should always be kept in a moist state.”’—(Ibid. i. 43.) About Benares, the sets require, after planting, from four to six waterings, until the rains commence, and as many hoeings to loosen the surface, which becomes caked after every watering. The moister nature of the soil renders these operations generally unnecessary in Bengal. After-culture.—In Mysore, the surface of the earth in the hollows in which the sets are planted is stirred with a stick as soon as the shoots appear, anda little dung is added, Next month the daily watering is continued, and then the whole field dug over with the hoe, a cavity being made round each stool, and a little dung added. In the third month water is given every second day: at its close, if the canes are luxuriant, the ground is again dug; but if weakly, the watering is continued during the fourth month, before the digging is given. At this time the earth is drawn up about the canes, so as to leave the hollows between the rows at right angles with the trenches. No more water is given to the plants, but the trenches between the beds are kept full for three days. It is then left off for a week, and if rain occurs, no further water is requisite; but if the weather is dry, water is admitted once a week during the next month. The digging is then repeated, and the earth levelled with the hand about the stools. N 178 SUGAR. The stems of each stool are ten or twelve in number, which are reduced to five or six by the most weakly of them bemg now re- moved. The healthy canes are to be tied with one of their own leaves, two or three together, to check their spreading; and this binding is repeated as required by their increased crowth. In the absence of rain, the trenches are filled with water once a fortnight. When the Putte-putti is to be kept for a second crop, the dry leaves cut off in the crop season are burnt upon the field, and this - is dug over, and trenches filled with water, and during six weeks the plants watered once in every SIX OF eight days (unless rain falls), and the digging repeated three times, dung being added at each digging. The after-culture is the same as for the first crop. In the Upper Provinces, Dr. Tennant says, if moderate showers occur after planting, nothing more is done until the shoots from the sets have attained a height of two or three inches. The soil immediately around them is then loosened with a small weeding iron, something like a chisel; but if the season should prove dry, the field is occasionally watered; the weeding is also continued, and the soi! occasionally loosened about the plants. Tn August, small trenches are cut through the field, with small intervals between them, for the purpose of draining off the water, if the season is too wet. This is very requisite, for if the canes are now supplied with too much moisture, the juice is rendered watery and unprofitable. If the season happens to be dry, the same dikes serve to conduct the irrigating water through the field, and to carry off what does not soak into the earth in a few hours. Stagnant water they consider very injurious to the cane, and on the drains being well contrived depends im a great measure the future hope of profit. Immediately after the field is trenched, the canes are propped. They are now about three feet high, and each set has produced from three to six canes. The lower leaves of each are first carefully wrapt up around it, so as to cover it completely in every part; a small strong bamboo, eight or ten feet long, is then inserted firmly in the middle of each stool, and the canes tied to it. This secures them im an erect pesition, and facilitates the circulation of the air. Hoeing cannot be repeated too frequently. This is demonstratd by the practice of the most successtul cultivators. In Zilla, N. Mooradabad, in April, about six weeks after planting, the earth on each side of the cane-rows is loosened by a_sharp-pointed hoe, shaped somewhat like a bricklayer’s trowel. This is repeated six times before the field is laid out in beds and channels for irriga- tion. There, likewise, if the season is unusually dry, the fields in the low ground are watered in May and June. This sup- poses there are either nullahs, or ancient pucka wells, otherwise the canes are allowed to take their chance, for the cost of making a well on the uplands is from ten to twenty rupees— an expense too heavy for an mdividual cultivator, and not many would dig in partnership, for they would fight for the water. SUGAR. 178 In the vicinity of Benares, as the canes advance in growth, they continue to wrap the leaves as they begin to wither up round the advancing stem, and to tie this to the bamboo higher up. If the weather continue wet, the trenches are carefully kept open ; and, on the other hand, if dry weather occurs, water is occasionally sup- plied. Hoeing is also performed every five or six weeks. Wrapping the leaves around the cane is found to prevent them cracking by the heat of the sun, and hinders their throwing out lateral branches. In January and February the canes are ready for cutting. The average height of the cane is about nine feet, foliage included, and the naked cane from one inch to one inch and a quarter in diameter. . Near Maduna, the hand-watering 1s facilitated by cutting a small trench down the centre of each bed. The beds are there a cubit wide, but only four rows of canes are planted in each. | It is deserving of notice, that the eastern and north-eastern parts of Bengal are more subject to rain at every season of the year, but especially in the hot months, than the western ; which accounts for the land bemg prepared and the plants set so much earlier in Rungpore than in Beerbhoom. This latter country has also a dryer soil generally ; for this reason, so much is said in the report from thence of the necessity of watering. The Benares country is also dryer than Bengal, therefore more waterings are requisite. At Malda, ten or fifteen days after the earth has been removed from the roots of the canes and the plants have appeared, the land is to be slightly manured, well cleared of weeds, and the earth that was removed again laid about the canes; after which, ten or fifteen days, it must be well weeded, and avain twenty or twenty-five days afterwards. This mode of cultivation it is necessary to follow until the month of Joystee. The land must be ploughed and ma- nured between the rows of canes in the month of Assaar; after which, fifteen or twenty days, the canes are to be tied two or three together with the leaves, the earth about them well cleaned, and the earth that was ploughed up laid about the roots of the canes something raised. In the month of Saubun, twenty or twenty-five days from the preceding operation, the canes are tied as before, and again ten or fifteen days afterwards; which done, nine or ten clumps are then to be tied together. Ta the Rojahmundry Circar, on the Delta of the Godavery, Dr. Roxburgh states, “that nothing more is done after the cane is planted, if the weather be moderately showery, till the young shoots are some two or three inches high; the earth is then loosened for a few inches round them with the weeding iron. Should the season prove dry, the field is occasionally watered from the river, continuing to weed and to keep the ground loose round the stools. In August, two or three months from the time of planting, small trenches are cut through the field at short distances, and so contrived as to serve to drain of Nw 2 180 SUGAR. the water, should the season prove too wet for the canes, which is often the case, and would render their juices weak and unprofit- able. The farmer, therefore, never fails fo have his field plentifully and judiciously intersected with drains while the cane is small, and before the usual time for the violent rains. Immediately after the field is trenched, the canes are all propped; this is an operaticn which seems peculiar to these parts. In Dinajpoor, in about a month after planting, ‘‘the young plants are two or three inches high; the earth is then raised from the cuttings by means of a spade, and the dry leaves by which they are surrounded are removed. For a day or two they remain exposed to the air, and are then manured with ashes and oilcake, and covered with earth. Weeds must be removed as they spring ; and when the plants are about a cubit high, the field must be ploughed. When they have grown a cubit hi cher, which is between the 13th of June and 14th of J uly, they are ‘tied ‘together j in bundles of three or four, by wrapping them round with their own leaves. This is done partly to prevent them from being laid down by the wind, and partly to prevent them from being eaten by jackals. During the next month three or four of these bunches are tied together ; and about the end of September, when the canes grow rank, they are supported by bamboo stakes driven in the ground. They are cut between the middle of December and the end of March.’ If the canes grow too vigorously, developing a superabundance of leaves, it isa good practice to remove those leaves which are de- cayed, that the stems may be exposed fully to the sun. In the West Indies, this is called ¢rashing the canes. It requires discretion; for in ‘dry soils or seasons, or if the leaves are removed before suf- ficiently dead, more injury than benefit will be occasioned. Harvesting.—The season in which the canes become ripe in various districts has already been noticed when considering their cultivation. In addition I may state, that in the Rajahmundry Circar, about the mouth of the Godavery, Dr. Roxburgh adds, “that in January and February the canes begin to be ready to eut, which is about nine months from the time of planting. This operation is the same as in other sugar countries—of course I need not describe it. Their height, when standing on the field, will be from eight to ten feet (foliage included), and the naked cane from an inch to an inch and a quarter in diameter.” In Malda, the canes ave cut in January and February. In N. Mooradabad, upon the low land, the canes are ripe in October, and upon the high lands a month later. The fitness of the cane for cutting may be ascertained by making an incision across the cane, and observing the internal grain. Tf it is soft and moist, like a turnip, it is “not yet ripe; but if the face of the cut is dry, and white particles appear, it is fit for harv esting.— ( Fitemaurice on the Culture of the Sugzr Cane.) Injuries—1. A wet season, either during the very early or in the concluding period of the cane’s vegetation, is one of the worst causes of injury. In such a season, ‘the absence of the usual in- SUGAR. 181 tensity of light and heat causes the sap to be very materially defi- cient in saccharine matter. But, on the other hand, 2. A very dry season, immediately after the sets are planted, though the want of rain may in some degree be supplied by arti- ficial means, causes the produce to be but indifferent. These inconveniences are of a general nature, and irremediable. 3. Animals.—In India not only the incursions of domesticated animals, but in some districts of the wild elephant, buffalo, and hog, are frequent sources of injury. Almost every plantation is liable, also, to the attack of the jackal, and rats are destructive enemies. 4, White Ants.—The sets of the sugar cane have to be carefully watched, to preserve them from the white ant (Termes fatalis), to attacks from which they are liable until they have begun to shoot. To prevent this injury, the following mixture has been recommended :— Asafcetida (hing), 8 chittacks. Mustard-seed cake (sarsum ki khaili), 8 seers. Putrid fish, 4 secrs. Bruised butch root, 2 seers; or muddur, 2 secrs. Mix the above together in a large vessel, with water sufficient to make them into the thickness of curds; then steep each slip of cane in it for half an hour after planting ; and, lastly, water the lines three times previous to setting the cane, by irrigating the water- course with water mixed up with bruised butch root, or muddur if the former be not procurable.* A very effectual mode of destroying the white ant, is by mixing a small quantity of arsenic with a few ounces of burned bread, pulyerised flour, or oatmeal, moistened with molasses, and placing pieces of the dough thus made, each about the size of a turkey’s egg, on a flat board, and covered over with a wooden bowl, in several parts of the plantation. The ants soon take possession of these, and the poison has a continuous effect, for the ants which die are eaten by those which succeed them.t They are said to be driven from a soil by frequently hoeing it. They are found to pre- vail most upon newly broken-up lands. In Central India, the penetration of the white ants into the in- terior of the sets, and the consequent destruction of the latter, is prevented by dipping each end into buttermilk, asafcetida, and powdered mustard-seed, mixed into a thick compound. 5. Storms.——Unless they are very violent, Dr. Roxburgh ob- serves, “they do no great harm, because the canes are propped. However, if they are once laid down, which sometimes happens, they become branchy and thin, yielding a poor, watery juice.” * That the above application would be beneficial, is rendered still more worthy of credit from the following experience:—In the Dhoon, the white aut is a most formidable enemy to the sugar planter, owing to the de- struction it causes to the sets when first planted. Mr. G. H. Smith says, that there is a wood very common there, called by the natives Butch, through which, they say, if the irrigating waters are passed in its progress to the beds, the white ants are driven away. (Trans. Agri-Hort. Soc. of India, v. 65.) ¢ Fitzmaurice on the Culture of the Sugar Cane. 182 SUGAR. 6. The Worm “is another evil, which generally visits them every few years. A beetle deposits its eggs in the young canes; the caterpillars of these remain in the cane, living on its medullary parts, till they are ready to be metamorphosed into the chrysalis state. Sometimes this evil is so great as to mjure a sixth or an eighth part of the field ; but, what is worse, the disease is commonly general when it happens—few fields escaping.” 7. The lowering “is the last accident they reckon upon, al- though it scarce deserves the name, for it rarely happens, and never but to a very small proportion of some few fields. Those canes that flower have very little juice left, and it is by no means so sweet as that of the rest.” In the Brazils, the fact of the slave trade bemg at an end must influence the future produce of sugar, and attention has been lately chiefly directed to cofiee, cotton, and other staples. The exports of that empire in 1842, were 59,000 tons; in 1843, 54,500; in 1844, 76,400 ; in 1845, 91,000; average of these four years 69,720. The exports in the next four years averaged 96,150 tons, viz :—76,100, in 1846 ; $6,300, in 1847; 112,500, in 1848; and 99,700, in 1849. | Mode of Cultivation in Brazit—The lands in Brazil are never grubbed up, either for plantmg the sugar cane, or for any other agricultural purposes. The meonveniences of this custom are perceivable more particularly in high lands; because all of these that are of any value are naturally covered with thick woods, The cane is planted amongst the numerous stumps of trees, by which means much ground is lost, and as the sprouts from these stumps almost immediately spring forth (such is the rapidity of vegetation) the cleanings are rendered very laborious. These shoots require to be cut down sometimes, even before the cane has found its way to the surface of the eround. The labor lke- wise is great every time a piece of land is to be put under cultivation, for the wood must be cut down afresh; and although it cannot have reached the same size which the original timber had attained, still as several years are allowed to pass between each period at which the gr ound is planted, the trees are generally of considerable thickness. The wood is sufiered to remam upon the land until the leaves become dry; then it is set on fire, and these are de- stroyed with the brusd wood and the smaller branches of the trees. Heaps are now made of the remaining timber, which is likewise burnt. This process is universally practised i in preparing land for the cultivation of any plant. I have often heard the method much censured as being injurious in the main to the soil, though the crop immediately succeeding the operation may be rendered more luxuriant by it. I have observed that the canes which grew upon the spots where the heaps of timber and large branches of trees had been burnt, were of a darker and richer ereen than those around them, and that they likewise over- -topped them. After the plant-canes, or those of the first year’s growth, are taken from the lands, the field-trash, that is the dried leaves and stems of the SUGAR. 183 eanes which remain upon the ground, are set fire to, with the idea that the ratoons,—that is, the sprouts from the old roots of the canes,—spring forth with more luxuriance, and attain a greater size "by means of this practice. The ratoons of the first year are called in Brazil, secas; those of the second year, resocas; those-of the third year, ferceiras socas, and so forth. After the roots are left unencumbered by burning the field-trash, the mould is raised round about them ; indeed, if this was neglected, many of those roots would remain too much exposed to the heat cf the sun, and would not continue to vegetate. Some lands will continue to give ratoons for five, or even seven years; but an average may be made at one crop of good ratoons fit for grinding, another of inferior ratoons fit for planting, or for making molasses to be used in the still-house, and a third which affords but a trifling profit, in return for the trouble which the - cleanings give. I have above spoken more particularly of high lands. The low and marshy grounds, called in Brazil, varzeas, are, however, those which are the best adapted to the cane; and, indeed, upon the plan- tations that do not possess some portions of this description of soil the crops are very unequal, and sometimes almost entirely fail, according to the greater or less quantity of rain, which may chance to fall in the course of the year. The varzeas are usually covered with short and close brushwood, and as these admit, from their rank nature, of frequent cultivation, they soon become easy to work. The soil of these, when it is new, receives the name of pawl ; it trembles under the pressure of the feet, and easily admits of a pointed stick being thrust into it; and though dry to appearance requires draining. The macape marl is often to be met with in all situations; it is of a greenish white color, and if at all wet, it sticks very much to the hoe; it becomes soon dry at the surface, but the canes which have been planted upon it seldom fail to revive after rain, even though a want of it should have been much felt. The white marl, barro branco, is less frequently found ; it is accounted extremely productive. This clay is used in making bricks and coarse earthenware, and also for clay- ing the sugar. Led earth is occasionally met with upon sides of hills near to the coast; but this description of soil belongs properly to the cotton districts. Black mould is common, and likewise a loose brownish soil, in which a less or greater proportion of sand is intermixed. It is, I believe, generally acknowledged that no land can be too rich for the growth of the sugar cane. One disadvantage, however, attends soil that is low and quite new, which is, that the canes run up toa great height without sufficient thickness, and are thus often lodged (or blown down) before the season for cutting them arrives. 1 have seen rice planted upon lands of this kind on the first year to decrease their rankness, and render them better adapted to the cane on the succeeding season. Some attempts have been made to plant cane upon the lands which reach down to the edge of the mangroves, and in a few 18+ - SUGAR. instances pieces of land heretofore covered by the salt water at the flow of the tide, have been laid dry by means of drammge for the same purpose; but the desired success has not attended the plan, for the canes have been found to be unfit fot making sugar; the syrup does not coagulate, or at least does not attam that con- sistence which is requisite, and therefore it can only be used for the distilleries. The general mode of preparmg the land for the eane is by holing 1 it with hoes. The negroes stand in a row, and each man strikes his hoe into the ground immediately before him, and forms a trench of five or six inches in depth; he then falls back, the whole row doing the same, and they contimue this operation from one side of the cleared land to the other, or from the top ofa hillto the bottom. The earth which is thrown out of the trench remains on the lower side of it. In the British West In- dia colonies this work is done in a manner nearly similar, but more systematically. The lands in Brazil are not measured, and every- thing i is done by the eye. The quantity of cane which a piece will require for planting is estimated by so many cart-loads; and nothing can be more vague than this mode of computation, for the load which a cart can carry depends upon the condition of the oxen, upon the nature of the road, and upon the length of the eane. Such isthe awkward make of these vehicles, that much nicety is necessary in packing them, and if two canes will about fit into a cart lengthways, much more will be conveyed than if the eanes are longer and they double over each other. The plough is sometimes used in low lands, upon which drain- ing has not been found necessary; but such is the dumsy con- struction of the machine of which they make use, that six oxen are yoked to it. A plough drawn by two oxen, constructed after a model which was brought from Cayenne, has been introduced in one or two instances. Upon high lands the stumps of the trees almost preclude the possibility ot thus relieving the laborers. The trenches being prepared, the cuttings are laid longitudinally in the bottom of “them, and are covered with the greatest part of the mould which had been taken out ofthetrench. The shoots begin to rise above the surface of the ground im the course of twelve or fourteen days. The canes undergo three cleanings from the weeds and the sprouts proceeding from the stumps of the trees ; and when the land is poor, and produces a greater quantity of f the for- mer, and contains fewer of the latter, the canes require to be plexned afourth time. The ecntiings are usually 12 to 18 mches in length, but it is judged that the shorter they are the better. If they are short, and one piece of cane rots, ‘the space which re- mains vacant is not so large as when the cuttings are long, and they by any accident fail. The canes which are used for planting are generally ratoons, if any exist upon the plantation; but if there are none of these, the inferior plant canes supply their places. Jt is accounted more ec fol to make use of the ra- toons for this purpose; and many persons say that they are less SUGAR. 185 liable to rot than the plant canes. In the British sugar islands the cuttings for planting are commonly the tops of the canes which have been ground for sugar. But in Brazil the tops of the canes are all thrown to the cattle, for there is usually a want of grass during the season that the mills are at work. Inthe British colo- nies, the canes are at first covered with only a small portion of mould, and yet they are as long in forcing their way to the surface as in Brazil, though in the latter a more considerable quantity of earth is laid upon them. I suppose that the superior richness of the Brazilian soil accounts for this. Upon rich soils the cuttings are laid at a greater distance, and the trenches are dug farther from each other, than upon those which have undergone more fre- quent cultivation, or which are known to possess less power from their natural composition. The canes which are planted upon the former throw out great numbers of sprouts, which spread each way ; and, although when they are young, the land may appear to promise but a scanty crop, they soon close, and no opening is to be seen. It is often judged proper to thin the canes, by removing some of the suckers at the time that the last cleaning is given ; and some persons recommend that a portion of the dry leaves should also be stripped off at the same period, but on other plantations this is not practised. The proper season for planting is from the middle of July to the middle of September, upon high lands, and from September to the middle of November in low lands. Occasionally, the great moisture of the soil induces the planter to continue his work until the beginning of December, if his people are sufficiently numerous to answer all the necessary purposes. The first of the canes are ready to be cut for the mill in September of the following year, and the crop is finished usually in January or February. In the British sugar islands the canes are planted from August to No- vember, and are ripe for the mill in the beginning of the second year. Thus this plant in Brazil requires from thirteen to fifteen months to attain its proper state for the mill; and in the West India islands it remains standing sixteen or seventeen months. The Otaheitan, or the Bourbon cane, has been brought from Cayenne to Pernambuco since the Portuguese obtained possession of that settlement. I believe the two species of cane are much alike, and I have not been able to discover which of them it is. Its advantages are so apparent, that after one trial on each estate, it has superseded the small cane which was in general use. The Cayenne cane, as it is called in Pernambuco, is of a much larger size than the common cane; it branches so very greatly, that the labor in planting a piece of cane is much decreased, and the re- turns from it are at the same time much more considerable. It is not planted in trenches, but holes are dug at equal distances from each other, in which these cuttings are laid. This cane bears the dry weather better than the small cane; and when the leaves of the latter begin to turn brown, those of the former still preserve their natural color. A planter in the Varzea told 186 SUGAR. me that he had obtained four crops from one piece of land in three years, and that the soil im question had been considered by him as nearly worn out, before he planted the Cayenne cane upon it.—(“ Koster’s Travels in Brazil,’’ vol. 2.) Mr. E. Morewood, of Compensation, Natal, who has paid much attention to sugar culture in that colony, has favored me with the following details, which will be useful for the guidance of others, as being the results of his own experience :— lbs. Produce of one acre ofsugar cane . : ‘ . 12,240 Juice expressed, (or 64 per cent.) : ; . 46,308 Dry sugar . : : s 7,356 Green syrup or molasses . : : . 2,829 This syrup carrying with it a good deal of sugar ovt of the coolers, contains fully 75 per cent. of crystalizable sugar, or . 2 LA Thus the total amount of sugar per acreis. : Se eesti dh The average density of the cane juice was 12 degrees Beaume, or 21 per cent. All the improved cane mills are now constructed to give at least 75 per cent. of juice. With such a mill, an acre would yield 11,075 lbs, of sugar. With proper cultivation I have no doubt the produce could be largely increased; for, as the numerous visitors who have seen this place can testify, my cane fields were not attended to. To enable me to show the cost of producing a crop of canes, you must allow me to go into the expense of cultivating the land first. To keep one ploughman going, a person requires— 20 Oxen at £3 : 5 : - £602 0770 1 Plough ‘ 5 : ae ile, 1 set Harrows : : : dik, hak OREO Yokes, Trektows, Reins, &c. é memioyey (|) yO) £80, 0°. 0 Then the expenses per month will be : — Ploughman’s wages : : - £2710) 80 Board >. : : : em Lae) 1 Driver, 10s., Leaders, 5s. . : sl OSLO 30 Food for two natives : : <, O10 320 Wear and tear of oxen and gear, at 25 per cent. per annum . «Ore £6 18 4 These two spans of oxen will comfortably plough and harrow twenty acres per month, and the cost will thus he about 7s. per acre. Now, let us suppose that a person wishes to put in twenty acres of canes, the expense would be about as follows :— 4 Ploughings and harrowings, 80 acres at 7s. . . £28 0 0 Drawing canefurrows, 4 acres per day, 5 days at 6s. 1 AOS EG. 2,000 Cane tops per acre, at 50s. : : 100 0 O 4 Horsehoeings, at 2s..6d. .. : : LU 4 Handweedings in the rows, at 2s. 6d. : old 20540 Cutting and carrying out canes, at 30s. » 330. 4050 Carriage to Mill, thirty tons per acre, at 2s, . 60s Or at £239 10 0 or £12 per acre. To this must be added the rent of land, say 10s. per acre, with right of grazing cattle, for two years, when the first crop will come in, would bring the expense to £13 per acre. The cane yielding say only three tons of sugar per acre, of which the planter would, most likely, have to give the manufacturer one-third, he will receive forty tons of sugar, costing him SUGAR. 18% £6 10s. per ton, aud worth on the spot, according to advices received from England and the Cape, £15 per ton, at the lowest estimate, or £600. The greatest expense, you will perceive, is the article of tops for planting ; but this ought not to discourage persons. The plants which I imported from the Mauritius some years ago, cost me, on account of many of them not vege- tating, at the rate of £30 per acre. Parties who begin planting now have the great advantage that they can get plants, every one of which, if properly treated, will grow, at one-sixth of that price. How many crops cane will give on good soil in Natal, I am of course unable to state, as the oldest cane I have got has been cut only three times—the last yield (second ratoons) was much finer than the preceding ones, and by adopt- ing the improved manner of cane cultivation, viz., returning all but the cane juice to the soil, I am confident that replanting will be found quite unnecessary ; the expenses for the second and following years will therefore be very trifling. Comparative Statement of the ruling Prices at Natal and the Mauritius of Land, Live Stock, Implements, Labor, and other requirements connected with the cultivation of the Sugar Cane. MAURITIUS... NATAL. oe de | Seni: LAND, per acre, £3.10s.to 20 0 0 | Lanp, per acre, 10s.to . 1 0 .0 Rent oF Lanp. It is not Rent oF Lann, 6d. to . 0 & 0 customary to let land at the Mauritius, except on the system of an equal division of the produce. Manure. Guano, com- CattLte MANvRE in abun- monly used in its dry dance, according to dis- state, also other ma- tance, per load, Is. to . 0 2 6 nures or ccmposts, per (None required on virgin ton, £6 to : we ee 0-0) soil for the first three years_of cultivation.) Live Stock. Mules, 5 of Oxen, of which 12 are re- which are required to quired to each load, £3 each load of 3,000 to Pes each ae besa le aK0) 4,000 Ibs., £30 each . 150 0 0 | Keep of oxen, on pastu- Keep of Mules each, per rage . : peor recs annum ; = tam OF O Lasor. Drivers, each, Colored driver, each, per per month : i OF <0 month , OSE 0 Coolies, including keep, Kafir leader, ditto = 1056 each . et he OF @ Kafirs, including pe White labor, each Tee Aet OL 0 ditto . 010 0 White labor, each per month, £3 10s.to . 4 0 0 Fueu. Cane trash or wood Cane trash or wood Mitt Power. Steam or The same . water . : ImpLements. All agricul- All agricultural labor is tural labor is performed performed with the by the hand-hoe, very plough, harrows, and expensive in its nature. scarifier, with oxen so much lessexpensive than the hand labor at the Mauritius Propuce of the Cane. From 2 to 3 tons . Average from 1 to 4 tons. Cane. Periodical renewal Not yet ascertained, and of the cane, according to | depending on the soil the quality of the soil, every 3 to 10 years 188 SUGAR. MAURITIUS. NATAL. Provisions, &c. Beef, ae £. s, d. | Provisions, &c. Beef, per Ib. 6d. to : 00 8 Ib., 13d. to ; : Bread, per loaf . 00° 6G Bread, per loaf Butter, per lb., is.3d.to 0 1 6 Butter, per lb., 6d. to Rice, the food of the Indian corn, (maize per Coolies, per bag of 180 lbs. 5s.) per 150 150 Ibs., 128. 6d. to . 015 0 lbs. . Oats, per bag, of 100 lbs. Oats, per 104 Ibs. ., 10s. to i2s° Gd. toi sO tS 0 Bran, ditto, 100 Ibs. Bran, not used . 12s. to : ;, = Olds: 29 Beans, per 180 Ibs., 13s. Beans, ditto, 100 lbs. to 20s., or per 100 Ibs. 22s. 6d. to 1) O10 7s. 2d. to Coal, per ton, 40s. to 210 0 The same CHARGE oF MANUFAC- TURE. The manufactu- rer reaps and carries to the mill the canes of the grower, but the latter provides his own bag- ging, and carts away his half of the sugar, the other half being the re- muneration of the manu- facturer The Mauritius principle may be adopted in this colony, with such modi- fications as may be called for by local exigencies . Seco ot oocom Ommwma ‘Ole - oO orf on;m ee ia) Analysis of the foregoing Statement, showing the total compa- rative outlay for sundries connected with the cultivation of Sugar at Natal and Mauritius, computed at the lowest ruling prices. Difference MAURITIUS. NATAL. in favor of Natal Land, 100 acres ‘ lyos.—350 0 Aa 50 0 0 300 0 0 Manure, Guano 10 loads £6— 60 0 0 Cattle Manure, 10 loads Is— 010 0 Live Stock, 10 mules. . |\£80—300 0 0\£15—150 0 0 150 0 0 —————— 10 oxen . . |£12—120 0 0} £8— 30 0 0 90 0 0 Two drivers per month | £1_— 2 0 0 Lo 0 015 0 Coolies, 10 with keep 10 0 0 2 10 Kafirs, 10 ditto lis— 7 10 o} 0 White men, 10 £4— 40 0 0] £4 40 0 0 Beef, 100 lbs. at 6d.— 2 10 Ol1dd.— 0 12 6 117 6 Bread, 100 loaves 6d.— 2 10 0| 6d— 210 0 Butter, 160 lbs. .|ls.3d. 6 5 0] 6d— 210 0 315 0 Rice, 100 lbs., food for Coolies 0 8 4 Indian Corn, 100 Ibs., food for 057 Kafirs 0.2 | Dais. .. 0 12 6 010 0 0 2 6 Beans, 100 Ibs. 1 220 010 0 012 6 Coals 2 00 2-0 0 £897 8 4 £288 0 3 |£554 18 1 The immense saving obtained by ploughing, &c., Mauritius hand labor with the hoe, is not shown in the above figures. over the SUGAR. 189 Table showing the cost of producing Muscovado sugar, and the quantity produced or available in the several countries men- tioned, as made up from the evidence given before the Com- mittee on Sugar and Coffee Plantations ; by T. Wilson. Excess Excess pee: i i of free | Ove yerage verage LA Average available ESSHSE Cost of dabour TRADE |Tcrease cost of Dee donee ae producing |slave or ee : of cost yon A slavery or| last three |°"° Bale. of comput the cost ane COUNTRY, mider, peropuboryy years of present | labor, (2 Brazil] planta. slavery j!abor, for| freedom, eee oxcluctnennwh olan 78.6d roe or com-|the supply) for the |i,’ oF in. Paine per ew.) since pulsory Eeeeebe URey oF terest on |theaver- PRaeree! manci- labor. | ‘United |the United capital, etc.jage cost) a 76 of | pation States, States. eee ae slave- ade lls. per Jabor Cet: 8s. per cewt. British Plantations. | 8- 4.) Tons. ‘Tons | 82 sd. |\sy d.lieieciepee cae PH oc. 6h 7467 |) 8.963 |16 96.5 = 6) 8" Geo ap ee... 6 o| 17,174| 16378|/15 6 |4 67 69 6 EOHAGD dees 2oo50: 1 a 9,634 3,779 17 6 6 6| 9 6 6 6 De MEE seen. 500 5 O| 4,382 5,058 | 19 O S .O1LY O14 G St. Vincent ......... 5 6} 10,056 6,636 | 19 H : 6/11 6114 0O MOBHLO.!...0005..... 5 6) 5,321) 2,514 | 19 611 614 0 St. Lucia, etc. ...... 5 6| 9,600; 8650/19 6 |}8 611 614 O a A 10 0} 68,626 | 30,807 | 22 6 |ll 614 612 6 Pe acs - cazecsses 6 8] 44,178 | 24,817 | 2510 |14 10/17 10)19 2 Trinidad*¥ ......... 3 0} 15,428 | 16,539 | 20 10 9 10/12 10/17 10 Manuritius:........... + 35,000 50,000 20 0 9 O}12 0 C Loo See ee 62,000 | 23 O {12 O18 O Lo it) ae : 7,000 | 20 O Os) C26 Foreign Free Labor Countr. Europe(Beet-root) + 100,000 | 24 4 |13 4/16 4 Foreign Slave, or Compulsory Lab Countries. 2400) a re 15 0} 88,000 15 0 2 French Colonies...| 15 0| 90,000 15 0 | | Slave _ Cuba (Muscovado)| 8 0/220,000 SO ance Porto Rico ..:..205- 8 6} 40,000 8 6[ | labor. a3 ae Louisiana.......... .| 12 6} 100,000 12; 6 : BEAZAIS§: ooc 0-3-0 11 11' 90,000 Lb) 2 * This cost, as taken from the averages given in Lord Harris’s despatches, is lower than the averages given by the witnesses before the Committee. ¢ This beet-root sugar sells, in the continental markets, on account of its inferior quality, at about 4s. to 6s. per cwt. below Colonial Muscovado, so that Colonial Muscovado must be about 33s. per cwt. to enable beet sugar to sell in this market for cost and charges, and allowing no profit to the beet sugar maker. t The cost of producing sugar in Java is taken at the average between the Government contract sugar, and the free sugar, as given by Mr. San Martin. § The cost of producing sugar in Brazil is taken from the Consular return: this return has given no credit for rum or molasses, and has charged 6s. 5d. for manufacturing, fully 3s. 5d. more than the cost in Cuba,—allowance for these two items would give 7s. 6d. as the nett cost per cwt. 190 SUGAR. BEET ROOT SUGAR. The rapid progress of the production of beet root sugar on the continent, especially in France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, and Russia, and its recent introduction and cultivation as an article of commerce in Ireland, renders the detail of its culture and manu- facture on the continent interesting. I have, therefore, been in- duced to bestow some pains on an investigation of the rise and progress of its production and consumption in those countries. During the past three vears, the smallest estimate which can be formed of the quantity of cane sugar that has been replaced by beet root sugar in the chief European countries, is about 80,000 tons annually, with the certainty that, year after year, the con- sumption will become exclusively confined to the former, to the ereater exclusion of the latter; unless some great change shall take place in the relative perfection and manufacture of the two different descriptions of produce. Although, observes the Hconomist, the beet root Sugar produced in France, Belgium, Germany, and other parts of the continent is not brought into competitionin our own markets with the produce of the British colonies, yet it must be plain that the exclusion of so much foreign cane sugar from the continent, which was formerly consumed there, must throw a much larger quantity of Cuba and Brazilian sugar upon this market ; and by this means the increased production of beet root s sugar, even in those countries where it is highly protected, does indirectly increase the competition among the producers of cane sugar in our market. So early as 1747, a chemist of Berlin, named Margraf, discovered that beet root contained a certain quantity of sugar, but it was not until 1796 that the discovery was properly brought under the attention of the scientific in Europe by Achard, who was also a chemist and resident of Berlin, and who published a circumstantial account of the progress by which he extracted from 3 to 4 per cent. of sugar from beet root. Several attempts have been made, from time to time, to manu- facture beet root sugar in England, ‘but never, hitherto, on a large and systematic scale. Some years ago a company was ‘established for the purpose, but they did not proceed in their operations. A refinery of sugar from the beet root was erected at Thames Bank, Chelsea, in the early part of 1837. During the summer of 1839 a great many acres of land were put into cultivation with the root, at Wandsworth and other places in the vicimity of the metr opolis. The machinery used in the manufacture was princi- pally on the plan of the vacuum pans, anda fine refined sugar was produced from the juice by the first process of evaporation, after it had undergone discolorization. Another part of the premises was appropriated to the manufacture of coarse brown paper from the refuse, for which it is extensively used in France. A refinery was also established about this period at Belfast, in the vicinity of which town upwards of 200 acres of land were put into cultivation with beet root for the manufacture of sugar. SUGAR. 191 The experience of France ought to be a sufficient guarantee that the manufacture of beet root sugar is nota speculative but a great staple trade, in which the supply can be regulated by the demand, with a precision scarcely attainable in any other case, and when, in addition, this demand tends rather to increase than to diminish. That the trade is profitable there can also be no doubt from the large capital embarked in it on the Continent—a capital which is steadily increasing even in France, where protection has been gradually withdrawn, and where, since 1848, it has competed upon equal terms with colonial sugars. The produce of France in 1851 was nearly 60,000 tons. The beet root sugar made in the Zollverein in 1851 was about 45,000 tons. Probably half as much more as is made in France and the Zollverein, is made in all the other parts of the Continent. In Belgium, the quantity made is said to be 7,000 tons; in Russia, 35,000; making a total of beet root sugar now manufactured in Europe of at least 150,000 and probably more, or nearly one-sixth part of the present consumption of Europe, America, and our various colonies. In 1847 this was estimated at upwards of 1,000,000 tons ; and, as the production has increased considerably since that period, it is now not less than 1,100,000 tons. The soil of the Continent, it is said, will give 16 tons to the acre, and that of Ireland, 26 tons to the acre. The former yields from 6 to 7 per cent.—the latter from 7 tu 8 per cent. as the extreme maximum strength of saccharine matter. The cost of the root in Treland—for it is with that,and not with the cost of the Continental root, with which the West Indies will have to contend—is said to be at the rate of 16s. per ton this; but will probably be 13s. next season. The cost of manufacture is set down at £7 5s. per ton. Calculating the yield of the root to be 7} lbs. to every 100 lbs., for 26 tons the yield would be nearly 2 tons of sugar, which would give about £9 10s. per ton, putting down the raw material to cost 14s. 6d. per ton, the medium between 16s. and 18s. Thus a ton of Irish-grown and manufactured beet root sugar, would cost £16 15s. per ton. Mr. Sullivan, the scientific guide to those who are undertaking to make beet root sugar at Mountmellick, Queen’s County, Ireland, estimates the cost of obtaming pure sugar at from £16 17s. to £19 18s. per ton, according to the quantity of sugar in the root. Beet root is a vegetable of large circumference, at the upper end nine to eleven inches in diameter. There are several kinds. That which is considered to yield the most sugar is the white or Silesian beet (Beta alba). It is smaller than the mangel wurzel, and more compact, and appears in its texture to be more like the Swedish turnip. For the manufacture of sugar, the smaller beets, of which the roots weigh only one or two pounds, were pre- ferred by Chaptal, who, besides being a celebrated chemist, was also a practical agriculturist and a manufacturer of sugar from beet root. After the white beet follows the yellow (beta major), then the red (befa romana), and lastly the common or field beet root 192 SUGAR. (Beta sylvestris). Margraf, as we have seen, was the first chemist who discovered the saccharine principle in beet root; and Achard, the first manufacturer who fitted up an establishment (in Silesia) for the extraction of sugar from the root. It was not before 1809 that this manufacture was introduced into France. The manufacture sprung up there in consequence of Bonaparte’s scheme for destroying the colonial prosperity of Great Britain by excluding British colonial produce. It having been found that from the juice of the beet root a erystallizable sugar could be ob- tained, he encouraged the establishment of the manufacture by every advantage which monopoly and premiums could give it. Colonial sugar was at the enormous price of four and five francs a pound, and the use of it was become so habitual, that no French- man could do without it. Several large manufactories of beet root were established, some of which only served as pretexts for selling smuggled colonial sugar as the produce of their own works. Count Chaptal, however, established one on his own farm, raising the beet root, as well as extracting the sugar. The roots are first cleaned by washing or scraping, and then placed in a machine to be rasped and reduced toa pulp. This pulp is put into a strong canvas bag and placed under a powerful press to squeeze out the juice. It is then put into coppers and boiled, undergoing certain other processes. Most of the operations are nearly the same as those by which the juice of the sugar cane is prepared for use ; but much greater skill and nicety are required in rendering the juice of the beet root crystallizable, on account of its greater rawness and the smaller quantity of sugar it contains. But when this sugar is refined, it is impossible for the most experienced judge to distinguish it from the other, either by the taste or ap- pearance; and from this arose the facility with which smuggled colonial sugar was sold in France, under the name of sugar from beet root. Five tons of clean roots produce about 43 ewt. of coarse sugar, which give about 160 lbs. of double refined sugar, and 60 lbs. of inferior lump sugar. The rest is molasses, from which a good spirit is distilled. The dry residue of the roots, after expressing the juice, consists chiefly of fibre and mucilage, and amounts to about one-fourth of the weight of the clean roots used. It contains all the nutritive part of the root, with the ex- ception of 43 per cent. of sugar, which has been extracted from the juice, the rest being water. As the expense of this manufacture greatly exceeded the value of the sugar produced, according to the price of colonial sugar, it was only by the artificial encouragement of a monopoly and premiums that it could be carried on to advantage. The pro- cess is one of mere curiosity as long as sugar from the sugar cane can be obtained cheaper, and the import duties laid upon it are not so excessive as to amount to a prohibition; and in this case it is almost impossible to prevent its clandestine introduction. Another mode of making sugar from beet root, practised in some parts of Germany, is as follows, and is said to make better sugar SUGAR. 193 than the other process :—The roots having been washed, are sliced lengthways, strung en packthread, and hung up to dry. The ob- ject of this.is to “let the watery juice evaporate, and the sweet Juice, being concentrated, is taken up by macerating the dry slices in water. It is managed so that all the j juice shall be extracted by avery small quantity ef water, which saves much of the trouble of evaporation. Professor Lampadius obtained from 110 lbs. of roots 4 ibs. of well-grained white powder-sugar, and the residuum afforded 7 pints of spirit. Achard says that about a ton of roots produced 100 lbs. of raw sugar, which gave 55 lbs. of refined sugar, and 15 lbs. of treacle. This result is not very different from that of Chaptal. 6,000 tons of beet root it is said will produce 400 tons of sugar and 100 tons of molasses. Beet root sugar in the raw state contains an essential oil, the taste and smell of which are disagreeable.. Thus the treacle of beet root cannot be used in a direct way, whereas the treacle of cane sugar is of an agreeable flavor, for the essential oil which it con- tains is aromatic, and has some resemblance in taste to vanilla. But beet root sugar, when it is completely refined, differs in no sensible degree from refined cane sugar. In appearance it is quite equal to cane sugar, and the process of refining it is more easy than for the latter. Samples made in Belgium were exhibited at a late meeting of the Dublin Society. It was of the finest ap- pearance, of strong sweetening quality, and in color resembling the species of sugar known as erushed lump. The most singular part of the matter is, that it was manufactured in the space of forty-five minutes—the entire time occupied from the taking of the root out of the ground and putting it into the machine, to the production of the perfect article. it was said that it could be produced for 3d. per 1b. An acre of ground is calculated to yield 50 tons of Silesian beet, which, in France and Belgium, give three tons of sugar, worth about £50; the refuse being applied in those countries to feeding cattle. But from the superior fitness of the Irish soil, as shown by experience to be the case, it is con- fidently affirmed by persons competent to form an opinion, that 8 per cent. of sugar could be obtained there on the raw bulk. The following figures are given as illustrative of the expense of the cultivation of one acre of beet-root in Ireland :— Two ploughings and harrowing. £1 1 @ ~ Expense of manure and carting : 5. 0720 Hoeing and seed ‘ 5 0) 60 Drilling and sowing ‘ ; Oo 70 Rent . are } 2 0 0 £8 12 0 An average produce of 20 tons, at £15 per ton, would leave a profit of £6 8s. per acre, leaving the land in a state fit for the re- ception, at little expense, of a crop of wheat, barley, or oats for the next year, and of hay for the year ensuing ; a consideration of O 194 SUGAR. no small importance to the farmer. The following estimates, re- eently given, are not by any means exaggerated : — 61,607 tons of beet, at 10s. : £30,803 10 0 Cost of manufacture, at lls. per ton. 33,883 17 0 64,687 7 0 Produce 7 per cent of sugar, at 28s. percwt. 136,767 10 0 Estimated profit ; £72,080 3 0 The quantity of sugar made from beet-root in France in 1828, was about 2,650 tons; in 1830, its weight was estimated at 6 million kilogrammes* (5,820 tons) ; in 1834, at 26 million kilogrammes (24,000 tons); in 1835, 36,000 tons; in 1836, 49,000 tons. At the commencement of the year 1837, the number of refineries at work or being built was 543; on an average 20 kilogrammes of beet-root are required for the production of one kilogramme of sugar. The sugar manufactured from the beet-root in France a few years ago was stated to amount to 55,000 tons, or one half of the entire consumption of the kingdom. The Courrier Francais calculated that the beet-root sugar made in France in 1838 amounted to 110 million Ibs., and the journal added, there is no doubt that, in a few years, the produce will be equal to the entire demand. The cultivation then extended over 150,000 acres, and in the environs of Lille and Valenciennes it has sometimes been as high as 28,000 lbs. per acre. From returns of the produce and consumption of beet-root sugar published in the Moniteur, it appears that on the 1st Dec. 1851, there were 835 manufactories in operation, or 81 more than in the corresponding period of 1850. The quantity of sugar made, including the portion lying over from the previous year, amounted to 19,625,386 kilogrammes, and that stored in the public bonding warehouse to 10,556,847. Atthe end of June, 1852, 329 manufac- tories were at work, or two more than at the same period in 1851. The quantity sold was 62,211,663 kilogrammes, or 9,167,018 less, as compared with the corresponding period of the previous year. There remained in stock in the manufactories 91,434,070 kilogrammes, and in the entrepot 4,597,829 kilogrammes, being an increase of 2,568,662 kilogrammes in the manufactories, and a de- crease of 1,292,962 in the entrepots. The manufacture of beet- root sugar is every year assuming in France increased importance, and attracts more and more the attention of political economists as a source of national wealth, and of government, as affording matter of taxation. Thirty new factories, got up upon a very extensive scale, are enumerated as going into operation this year. They are located, with but two exceptions, in the north of France; fifteen of them are in the single department of Nord. Indeed, the manufacture of beet-root sugar is confined, almost exclusively, to the five northern adjacent departments of Nord, Pas de Calais, * The kilogramme is equal to 2 lb, 3 oz. avordupois, SUGAR. 195 Somme, Aisne, and Oise. The best quality retails at 16 cents the pound. {take from a table in the Moniteur the following statement of the number of factories and their location, with the amount of production up to the 8lst May, 1851. At that date the season is supposed toend. A separate column gives the total production in the season of 1842, showing an increase in ten years of more than double, viz., of 41,582,113 kilogrammes, or, in our weight, of 93,559,754 pounds. Number of ~Kilogrammes Kilogrammes Departments. Factories. Prod. 1850-1. Prod. 1842, Aisne : 30 5,307,754 3,103,178 Nord 155 44,142,224 15,334,068 Oise 8 1,589,939 751,746 Pas-de-Calais . 70 16,665,084 5,856,944 Somme 23 3,404,776 2,683,421 Scattered about 18 2,707,190 3,505,602 304 73,817,607 30,234,954 This information was given by M. Fould, Minister of Finance, upon the introduction of a bill making an apprepriation for the purchase of 455 saccharometers, which had become necessary by reason of the late law ordering that from and after the 1st of Ja- nuary, 1852, the beet sugars were to be taxed according to their saccharine richness. The Minister declared that at that date there would be in active operation in France 334 sugar factories and 84 refining establishments. The Moniteur Parisien has the following :— “ Notwithstanding the advantages accorded to colonial sugar, and the duties which weigh on beet-root sugar, the latter article has acquired such a regular extension that it has reached the quantity of 60,000 tons—that is to say, the half of our consumption. France (deducting the refined sugar exported under favour of the drawback) consumes 120,000 tons, of which 60,000 are home made, 50,000 colonial, and 10,000 foreign. The two sugars have been placed on the same con- ditions as to duties, but it is only from the Ist inst. (Jan. 1852), that the beet-root sugar will pay a heavier duty than our colonial sugar. In spite of this difference we are convinced that the manufacture of beet-root sugar, which is every day, im- proved by new processes, will be always very advantageous, and will attain in some years the total quantity of the consumption. In Belgium the produce of the beet-root follows the same progress. The consumption of sugar there was, in 1850, 14,600 tons, of which 7,000 was beet-root, made in 22 manufactories. This year there are 18 new ones, and although their organisation does not allow of their manufacturing in the same proportion as the 22 old ones, they will fur- nish at least 3,000 tons. The quantity of foreign sugar in that market does not reckon more than 4,000 tons. ‘This conclusion is the more certain, as in 1848- 1849, the beet-root only stood at 4,500 tons in the general account. It may therefore be secn from these figures ‘what progress has been made. The same progressive movement is going on in Germany. In 1848 it produced 26,000 tons, and in 1851, 43,000. The following table shows the importance of oe improvement. It comprises the Zollverein, Hanover, and the Hanse OWNS :— o 2 196 SUGAR. Cane Sugar. Beet-root. Totals, Tons. Tons. : Tons. SAB ick cit AO, 000 teaeh la. cstrelseara ee ZOSO0 0%. erence eae 86,600 1849 oat ie 6 D4,000! sec ids be «0 4, 000)5 ats ia eee PBST os 49,000 aa ong ents e oo HO, 000 Gs. ceo niece SROO Thus we find that in the period of four years cane sugar has lost 15,000 tons? and it will lose still more when new manufactories shall have been established. The consumption of Russia is estimated at 85,000 tons, of which 35,000 is beet- root, and what proves that the latter every day gains ground is, that the orders to the Havana are constantly decreasing, and prices are getting lower. In 1848 Austria consumed 40,000 tons, of which 8,000 were beet-root. Last year (1851,) she produced 15,000 tons. The production of the continent rising to 200,000 tons, and the consumption remaining nearly stationary, it is. evident that Bra- zilian and Cuban sugars will encumber the English market, independently of the refined sugar of Java, which Holland sends to Great Britain. When the continental system was established by the decrees of Milan and Berlin, the Em- peror Napoleon asked the savans to point out the means of replacing the pro- ductions which he proscribed: it is to the active and useful impulse which his genius impressed on all minds, that France and Europe owe this fresh manufac- ture—a creation the more valuable as its fortunate development required the co- operation of chemical science and agricultural improvement.” The quantity of sugar extracted from beet-root in the commence- ment of the process, amounted to only 2 per cent. ; but it was after- wards made to yield 5 per cent., and it was then supposed possible to extract 6 per cent. On this calculation the fiscal regulations for the protection of colonial sugars in France were founded ; but -recent experiments have been made, by means of which as much as ten and a half per cent. of sugar has been obtained. The fol- lowing notice of the improved process is given in a number of the Constitutionnel :— “Tt appears that a great improvement is likely to be made in the manufacture of beet-root sugar. Those who are acquainted with the process of this manufac- ture, are aware that M. de Dombasle has the last six years exclusively devoted himself to bring to perfection the process of maceration, of which he is the in- ventor. Adopting recent improvements, this proccss is materially altered, and has now arrived at such a point of perfection that it could scarcelv be exceeded. The Society for the Encouragement of National Industry recently appointed com- mittees to examine the effect produced in the manufactory of Roville. They witnessed the entire progress of the work, every part of which was subjected to minute investigation. Similar experiments have been made in the presence of many distinguished manufacturers. We have not the least intention to prejudge the decision which may be made on this subject by the society we have alluded to; but we believe we are able to mention the principal results that have regu- larly attended the works of the manufactory this year. The produce in coarse sugar has been more than eight per cent. of the first quality, and more than two per cent. of the second quality, in all nearly ten and a half per cent. of the weight of beet-root used; and the quality of these sugars has been considered by all the manufacturers s' tperior to anything of the kind that has hitherto been made, and admits of its being converted into loaf-sugar of the first quality. The progress of these operations is as simple as possible, and the expenses attending the manu- facture are considerably less than that of the process hitherto adopted.” The cultivation of the beet in France appears likely to prove still more advantageous, in consequence of the discovery that the molasses drawn from the root may be, after serving for the manu- SUGAR. 197 facture of sugar, turned to farther advantage. It appears that potash may be made from it, of a quality equal to foreign potash. A Monsieur Dubranfaut has discovered a method of extracting this substance from the residue of the molasses after distillation, and which residue, having served for the production of alcohol, was formerly thrown away. ‘To give some idea of the importance of the creation of this new source of national wealth (remarks the Journal des Debats), it will be sufficient to say that the quantity of potash furnished by M. Dubranfaut’s process is equal to 1-6th of the quantity of sugar extracted from the beet. ‘Thus, taking the amount of indigenous sugar manufactured each year at seventy million kilogrammes (each kil. equal to 2 lbs. 2 oz: avoird.), there may besides be extracted from this root, which has served for that production, twelve million kilogrammes of saline matter, compara- ble to the best potash of commerce ; and this, too, without the loss of the alcohol and the other produce, the fabrication of which may be continued simultaneously. _ According to the present prices, the twelve millions of kilogrammes represent a value of from fourteen. to fifteen million franes. The States composing the German Union possessed towards the close of 1838, 87 manufactories of beet-root sugar in full operation, viz., Prussia, 63; Bavaria,5; Wurtemburg, 3; Darmstadt, 1; other states, 15; besides 66 which were then constructing. The only returns given for Prussia and Central Germany are 1836 to 1838, and the annual production of sugar was then esti- mated at eleven million pounds. The quantity now made is, of course, much greater. At the close of 1838, Austria produced nine million pounds ; she now makes fifteen thousand tons. - The growth of beet-root in Hungary, during the years 1837 and 1838, was extremely favorable, and the manufacture of sugar from it has become very extensive. It has been greatly encouraged by the Austrian government. It was estimated that fifty millions of pounds were manufactured in Prussia and Germany in 1839. In Bohemia there were, in 1840, fifty-two factories of beet-root sugar, and nine for the making of syrup out of potato meal. In 1838, the number was as high as eighty-seven. The Dutch papers state that in a single establishment in Voster Vick, in Guilderland, about five million pounds’ weight of the beet- root are consumed in the manufacture of sugar. The following is a Comparative Statement of the number of Sugar Manufactories, and the Quantity of Beet-root upon which duty was paid for the Manufacture of Sugar in the Zollverein during the years ending the 31st of August, 1846 and 1847 :— “498 SUGAR. Quantity of Beet-root upon which duty was paid for the Manufacture of Sugar. Number of Manufactories. Comparison in Name of the State of! 1846-7 with the the Zollverein. preceding year. 1845-6. | 1846-7. Morein| Less in 1845-6)/1846—7 1846-7. | 1846-7. Prussia. Owts.* | Cwts. Cwts. Cwts. Eastern Prussia . , 2 2 | 12,893] 29,941) 17,548 Western Prussia . — — _— — = ae MOee esa ie. cs 7 8 | 101,422! 121,914| 20,492} — Pomerania . 5 4, 89,865] 121,061} 31,196} = Silesia -. ete 16 22 590,545) 711,632} 121,087 —_— Brandenburg. . 3 3 140,421) 148,066 7,645 — Prussian Saxony 38 42, |2,676,084'3,547,891| 871,817 == Duchies of Anhalt 4 5 | 266,345) 288,082} 21,737) — Westphalia . . . —_ — — — a ce Rhenish Provinces . 2 = 2,479) — == 2,479 Totalin Prussia. . .| 77 86 |3,879,554/4,968,587|1,079,043 ee Luxemburg pies oe pan Bavaria, Kingdom of : 50,952} 46,142 == 4,810 Saxony, es 20,887} 34,230) 13,3438 nue Wurtemburg ,, 59,521} 141,366} 81,846 cS Baden, Grand Duchy . 316,968} 328,608} 11,640 a Nassau, Dukedern Frankfort, Free City Hesse, Electorate 25,376] 23,529 a 1,847 Hesse, Grand Duchy — _ Tins _— Thuringia. . : 36,127} 38,218 2,091 — Brunswick, Dukedom : 65,707| 52,796 =e 12,911 — — — | oe | | | Total, exclusively of Peete Cl) 19 | 21 | 575,538) 664,889) 89,351 —<—<——- —— | . —_—_—__ ee | Total in the Zollverein| 96 | 107 14,455,092'5,633,476/1,168,394 This statement proves that the cultivation of the beet-root, and the subsequent manufacture into sugar, has greatly increased in the Zollverein. Eleven manufactories had been added to the number in the previous year, and an increase of 26 per cent. took place in the quantity of beet-root which was manufactured into sugar. Each manufactory used, upon an average, the following quantity during the undermentioned years :-— 1841-2, 1844-5. 1846-7. Cwts. Cwts. Cwts. In Prussia generally ... ... ... 88,161 50,384 57,774 In the province of Saxony ... ... 55,412 70,423 84,473 In the province of Silesia... ... 38,595 36,909 32,347 In the Zollverein, on an average in each manufactory ... ... 27,237 46,407 52,634 79 Prussian ewts. are equal to 80 English ewts. SUGAR. 199 . The increase is chiefly evident in the province of Saxony, where, in 1846-7, an augmentation of 1,087,851 cwt. of beet-root, in com- parison to the preceding year, took place. If we compare the quantity of beet-root employed in Saxony with that of the whole Zollverein, we find that the former province requires 63 per cent. of the whole quantity used for the manufacture of sugar. The great activity in that province (chiefly in the district of Magde- burg) is rendered more apparent by the following table :— Comparative Statement of the Number of Manufactories, and their Machinery and Utensils, employed for the Manufacture of Beet-root Sugar in the Prussian Province of Saxony during the years 1841-2 and 1846-7 respectively. Province of Saxony. jn par Taps of 1841-2. | 1846-7.| 1841-2. 1846-7. No. No. No. No. Manufactories . , ; ; 40 39 Lb .. 15 Apparatus for grating ; : 58 65 27 32 Hydraulic presses : , | 486 209 72 93 Clarifying pans, with open firing 81 68 24 24 Ditto, by steam > ; ‘ 50 76 33 42 Eyaporating pans,with open firing | 130 123 55 o4 Ditto, by steam SS 5 fess 46 71 28 32 Clarifiers, with open firing . 23 21 14 10 Ditto, by steam : é : 23 28 19 21 Boiling pans, with open firing . 76 61 33 24 Ditto, by steam : : ; 20 35 12 17 Of which there are yacuum pans 8 21 3 9 Steam-enzines . ° : ! 19 40 12 20 Horse-power . ‘ ‘ . | 210 457 153 267 Cattle mills . : : i 19 9 4 2 Cattle employed ; . : 79 38 19 12 ; Cwt. Cwt. Cwt. Cwt. ety et used e| 2,349,774.3,387,280| 1,433,293 | 1,889,463 eee Soon cech mann 58,744| 86,853; 95,553 | 125,964 actory , : : The increase of power by machinery is surprising, chiefly by steam and hydraulic presses, which has not only effected a greater produce, but likewise a much larger increase of the quantity of beet-root required for manufacture. The works where draught cattle are employed have decreased, and are only in use where the manufacture of beet root sugar is combined with a farm. In Russia, in 1832, there existed only 20 manufacturers of beet root sugar, but this number subsequently increased to 100, and they annually produced the twelfth of the total quantity of sugar which Russia receives from foreign parts. The number of those manufactories in 1840, was 140, and the importation of sugar, which reached to 1,555,357 lbs. in 1887, amounted to only 1,269,209 lbs. in 1839. The production of indigenous sugar 1s now set down at 35,000 tons. 206 SUGAR. _ In France, for-many years past, the production of beet-root sugar has been rapidly increasing, in spite of a gradual reduction of the protection which it enjoyed against colonial and foreign sugar, until it has reached a quantity of 60,000 tons, or fully one half of the entire consumption. Independent of the refined sugar exported under drawback, the consumption of France may be now estimated at 120,000 tons, of which 60,000 tons are of beet-root, 50,000 tons of French colonial, and 10, 000 tons at the outside of foreign sugar. The beet-root and the French colonial sugars are now placed on the same footing as regards duty, and a law was recently passed, subjecting beet-root sugar, from the Ist of Ja- nuary, 1852, to even a higher duty than French colonial sugar. Nev értheless, it is admitted that the manufacture of beet-reot sugar 1S highly profitable and rapidly increasing, so that it is likely | in a very short time to exclude foreign sugar from French con- sumption altogether. In Belgium, the production of beet-root sugar is also rapidly Increasing; in 1851 the entire consumption of sugar was estimated at 14,000 tons, of which 7,000 tons were of beet-root, and 7,000 tons of foreign cane sugar. The number of beet-root factories to supply that quantity was twenty-two, but this number has already increased in the present year to forty. Many of these will be but imperfectly at work durmg this season, but it is esti- mated that of the entire consumption of 14,000 tons, at least 10,000 tons will consist of beet-root, and only 4,000 tons of foreign cane sugar. And from present appearances the manufacture of beet-root is likely to increase so much as to constitute nearly the entire consumption. So lately as 1848 and 1849 Lae production of beet-root sugar was only 4,500 tons. In Austria, the consumption of sugar in 1841 was 40,000 tons, of which 8,000 tons were of beet-root, and 32,000 tons of foreion cane sugar. ‘But the production of beet-root has increased so fast that it is estimated to produce in the present year 15,000 tons; and as no increase has taken place in the entire consumption, the portion of foreign cane sugar required in the present year will be reduced from 82,000 tons £0 25,000 tons. The following information, with regard to the state of the ma- nufacture of beet-root sugar on the Continent last year, has been furnished by Mr. C. J. Ramsay, of Trinidad. “My first start was for Paris, where I remained a week, procuring the ne- eessary letters of introduction, to enable me to see some of the sugar works in the provinces. Whilst there I called upon Messrs. Cail and Co., the principal machine makers in France, mentioned the subject of my visit, and requested their assistance. Nothing could have been more liberal than the way in which they treated me. Iwas at once asked to look over their establishment and re- quested to call the next day, when letters of introduction to their branch esta- blishments at Valenciennes and Brussels would be ready for me. This [I of course did, and received not only these letters but some others, to sugar manufac- turers in the neighbourhocd of Valenciennes. Thus prov ided, and with letters from Mr: D’Eickthal,a banker in Paris, to Mr. Dubranfaut, the chemist, to*Mr. Grar, a refiner of Valenciennes, to Mr. Melsens of Brussels, and to another sugar maker near Valenciennes, whose name I ferget, and who was the only SUGAR, 201 man from whom I did not reccive the greatest politeness, I started for Valen- ciennes. My first essay was upon the latter personage, who evidently with a considerable grudge showed me a simple room in his works where four centri- fugal machines were at work—raised the cry of ruin, if the French improve- ments were introduced in the West Indies, and informed me he had nothing else worth seeing. I returned to Valenciennes, thinking if this is the way I was to be treated, I might as well have stayed at home. That this was a solitary in- stance of illiberality, you will presently see. I next called upon Mr- Grar, by whom I was reeeived in a very different manner; he at once offered to show me over his works, and especially that part of them where a new process, disco- yered by Mr. Dubraniaut, was carried on, every part of which was fully ex- plained. Mr. Dubranfaut’s laboratory is connected with these works, and haying inspected the working part of the establishment Mr. G, then took me there, and introduced me to that gentleman, with whom I passed the remainder of the afternoon, receiving a full explanation of his new process, which is this :—a so- lution of hydrate of barytes is made in boiling water—the saccharine solution to be treated is heated to the same degree, and the two mixed together in the pro- portions of 46 parts of hydrate of barytes to every 100 parts of sugar contained in the solution, which has previously been ascertained by polariscopic examina- tion. A saccharate of barytes is immediatcly formed in the shape of a copious precipitate ; this, after beg thoroughly washed and thus freed from all soluble impurities, is transferred into large, deep vats, and a stream of carbonic acid gas forced into it, which decomposes the saccharate of barytes, forming carbon- ate of barytes, and liberating the sugar in the shape of a perfectly pure solution of sugar in water, of the density of 20 to 23 degrees Baumé; the carbonate of barytes being thoroughly washed is again converted into caustic barytes by burning, so that there is little loss in the operation. The whole process is cer- tainly very beautiful, and its economic working has been tried for a year, on a sufficiently large scale to leave no doubt as to the economy of the process in refining molasses, which is the only purpose it has yet been applied to. The Messrs. Grar were so thoroughly satisfied with it, that when I was there they had taken,down their origmal apparatus, and were re-erecting it on“such a scale as to work up all the molasses by it, equal to almost five tons of sugar daily. Owing to this circumstance, I had not an opportunity of seeing the process on a working scale, but was shown the whole proceedings in the ~ laboratory. The only difficulties I see in applying this process at once to the cane juice, are the large quantity of barytes tequired, the expense of re-burning it and the entire change in works that would te necessary before it could be introduced. The adyantage would be, the obtaining the whole sugar contained in the juice, free from all impurities, consequently white, and in the shape of a syrup mark- ing 20 to 23 degrees instead of 8 or 10 degrees, thus saving fully half the evaporation now required. The sugar made in this way, I was told, contains no trace of barytes. To show you the degree of economy practised in such establishments in France, I may mention that the washings of the saccharate of barytes are sold to the makers of potass and soda, who make a profit by boiling them down to obtain what salts they contain. The carbonic acid is obtained by the combustion of charcoal in a closed iron furnace into which air is forced by an air pump, requiring, I believe, about one horse power. From the top of the furnace a pipe leads into a washing vessel, from which the gas is led into the bottom of the vats by pipes. _ At Valenciennes I met with Mr. Cail, who, beside being an engineer and machine-maker, is interested in sugar-making, both in France and in the West Indies, and most thoroughly understands the subject. He invited me to ac- company him to Douai, to see a new set of works which had been set agoing this month. I was of course too glad to accept his invitation, and started with him at six next morning, reached Douai at eight, and then proceeded to the works, which are a few miles out of town. In this work a new process is also employed; it is that of Mr. Rouseau, and is said to answer well. The beet root juice, as soon as possible after expression, is thrown up by 202 SUGAR. a montjus into copper clarifiers with double bottoms, heated by steam at a pres- sure of five atmospheres. To every hundred litres of juice (22 gals.) two _kilogrammes of lime are added (about four and a half pounds English weight). The lime is most carefully prepared and mixed with large quantities of hot water till it forms a milk perfectly free from lumps. ‘The steam is turned off, and the juice heated to 90 deg. A complete defecation has taken place, the steam is shut off, and the juice left a short time, to allow the heavier impurities to subside. It is then run off in the usual manner, undergoes a slight filtration through a cotton cloth placed over a layer of about four inches thick of animal — charcoal, and runs into a second set of copper vessels placed on a lower level than the clarifiers; these vessels are heated by means of a coil of steam piping sufficient to make them boil. A second pipe passes into them, making a single turn at the bottom of the vessel; this is pierced on the lower side with small holes, through which a stream of carbonic acid gas is forced. This decomposes the saccharate of lime, which has been formed in conse- quence of the large excess of lime added to the clarifiers. The lime is precipitated as carbonate. When precipitation has ceased, steam is turned on, and the whole made to boil; this expels any excess of carbonic acid; the liquor is then run off, undergoes a similar partial filtration to that mentioned above, and is then passed through the charcoal filters to be decom- posed. The sugar made by this process, directly from the beet-root juice, is nearly white. The molasses is re-boiled as often as six times ; each time under- going a clarification and filtration through animal charcoal.. And the proceeds of the last re-boiling is certainly in appearance not worse than a great deal of muscovado I have seen shipped from Trinidad. In this work there are about 150 people employed. The work goes on night and day, one gang replacing the other. The whole evaporation is done by two vacuum pans, each 63 feet in diameter, 80,000 kilogrammes of beet-root are used daily, from which about 6,000 kilogrammes of sugar are obtained, equal to about 6 tons English weight. In these and every other works I visited—eight in all—the centrifugal ma- chines were in use, and had in most cases been so for two years; those lately made have been much simplified in construction, and work admirably. Cail & Co., of Paris, arethe makers; their charge is 3,000 francs for each machine (£120 stg.). They require about one and a half horse power each. As they are wrought in France, one machine is about equal to work off a ton and a half of sugar daily, working all the 24 hours. Mr. Cail recommends a separate engine for those machines; so that they can be used at any time, independent of the other machinery. The charge put into a machine is about 80 kilogrammes, from which about 30 to 35 kilogrammes of dry sugar is obtained ; the calculation is, I believe, 40 per cent. I weighed some of the baskets of sugar taken out after drying, and found them 35 kilogrammes. Sugar intended for the machine is never concentrated beyond 41 degrees Baumé; that made from the juice direct is allowed 18 to 34 hours to crystallize, and is put into the machine in a semi- liquid state; the motion at first is comparatively slow; in about three minutes the sugar appears nearly dry; about three-fourths of a gallon of brown syrup is then poured into the machine whilst in motion, and the speed brought up to its highest, about 1200 revolutions a minute; in 3 or 4 minutes more the machine is stopped, the sugar scooped out and thrown into baskets, the inside of the re- volving part, and especially the wire cloth, carefully washed with a brush and water, and a fresh charge put in. The whole time betwixt each charge is about 15 minutes. From the large proportion of molasses you will see very plainly that those who do not intend to re-boil, need not think of centrifugal machines, The sugar dried in this way is not altogether white, but has a slight greyish yellow tinge. Of the other sugar works which I visited, the only one of peculiar interest was that of Mr. Dequesne, near Valenciennes. Here the rocts are first cut into small pieces by an instrument similar to a turnip slicer, then dried in a species of kiln, and stored up till required. In this way I was told beet-root could be preserved with very little deterioration for a full year, and this enables Mr. De- quesne to go on making sugar all the year round. When the sugar is to be ex- SUGAR. , 203 tracted, the dried cuttings are put into a series of closed vessels connected by pipes, and by a system of continuous filtration of warm water through these . vessels the solution of sugar is obtained, of a density equal, I believe, to 25 de- grees Baumé; it is a good deal colored, and requires filtration through animal charcoal. Mr. Dequesne informed me that for five years he had been unable to make this mode of sugar-making cover its expenses, owing to the loss oc- casioned by fermentation taking place in the beet-root; but that he has now entirely overcome that difficulty ; by what means I was not told. The number of macerating vessels is fourteen, ten of which are working at a time, the other four filling and emptying. A greater number of vessels, Mr. Dequesne thinks, would be advantageous, as cold instead of hot water could then be employed. He thinks a similar plan might be introduced in the West Indies with great advantage, and that by em- ploying the proper means to prevent fermentation the sun’s heat would be quite sufficient to dry the cane slices. Mr. Dubranfaut and Mr. Rouseau’s processes are patented in England. The terms for the use of the former would, I was told, be made so moderate, as to offer no obstruction to its being used in the colonies. What Mr. Rouseau’s terms are I could not learn. There are now 288 works making beet root sugar in France, and over 30 in Belgium. The same manufacture is rapidly spreading in Germany and Russia, and is now being introduced in Italy. Whilst at Valenciennes, I learned that two English gentlemen had just preceded me in visiting the works in that neighbourhood, mentioning that they had in view introducing the beet root sugar manufacture in Ireland. The sugar crop of France was last year over 60,000,000 of kilogrammes (60,000 tons). For two years Belgium hgs been exporting to the Mediterranean. One maker told me that he had last year-exported a considerable part of his crop. It would therefore appear, that even beet root sugar can compete in other than the producing country with the sugar of the tropics—a most signifi- cant hint that, unless the cane can be made to yield more and better sugar than is now generally got from it, there is some risk of its being ultimately beaten by the beet root, the cultivation of which is now carried on with so much profit that new works are springing up every year, in almost every country of the continent, In going through the French works, I made inquiries as to how far the pro- eedé Melsens had been adopted, and was everywhere told it was a total failure. I, however, determined to see Mr. Melsens and judge for myself how far it might be applicable to the cane, even if a failure with regard to the beet root. I, therefore, went on to Brussels, enclosed my letters of introduction and card, and received in return a note, appointing to meet me next morning. I found him one of the best and most obliging of men. He immediately offered to go over some experiments on beet root juice with me at his laboratory, where I accordingly spent the greater part of two days with him, and went overa variety of experiments; and from what I saw and assisted in doing, I feel strongly inclined to think that, notwithstanding the French commission at Martinique report otherwise, some modification of Mr. Melsens’ process may be most advantageously employed in making cane sugar if not as a defecator, at least to prevent fermentation, and, probably, also as a decolorising agent. Mr, Melsens showed me letters he had received from Java from a person with whom he had no acquaintance, stating that he had used the bisulphate of lime with complete success; and whilst I was with him he again received letters from the same person, stating that by its use he had not only improved the quality of sugar, but had raised the return to 9 per cent. of the weight of cane. From the letters which I saw, the process appears to have been tried on a very large scale, with the advantage of filters anda vacuum pan. Where the old mode of leaving half the dirt with the sugar, and boiling up to a tem- perature of 340 degrees or thereby is continued, I fear there is not much chance of either bisulphate or anything else making any very great improvement. The use of bisulphate of lime is patented in England and the colonies, but I sige I may state the charge for the right of using it will be made extremely moderate, 204 SUGAR. The points which appeared to me worthy of remark in visiting the beet-root sugar works are, the extreme care that nothing shall be lost—the great attention paid to cleanliness in every part of the process, besides the particular care given to defecation. No vessel is ever used twice without being thoroughly washed. Such a thing as the employment of an open fire in any part of the manufacture is quite unknown. Lverything is done by steam, of a pressure of from 4 to 5 atmospheres. In the more recently started works, the evaporation is entirely carried on in vacuum. In some of the older works copper evaporators, heated by coils of steam piping, and haying covers, with chimmeys to carry off the vapor, are still used; but of the eight works I visited I only saw them in use in one of them, and they are nowhere used excepting to evaporate to the point when the second filtration takes place. The coolers I saw were invariably made of iron, and varied in depth from 2 to over 6 feet. These very deep vessels are used for the crystallization of sugar, made of the fourth, fifth and sixth re-boilings of molasses, which requires from three to six months. One thing struck me forcibly in going over the French and Belgian works ; it was the extreme liberality with which I was allowed to go over every part of them ; to remain in them as long as I pleased; had all my inquiries answered, and every explanation given; in most striking contrast to the grudging manner in which I have been trotted over some of the refineries in England, as if those who showed them were afraid I should gain any information on the subject of their trade. Mr. H. Colman, speaking of the agriculture of the Continent, gives some information he obtained on the comparative cost of producing beet and cane sugar... A hectare (two and a half acres) produces, in the Isle of Bourbon, about 76,000 kilogrammes (a kilogramme is nearly two and one-fifth pounds) of cane, which will give 2,200 kilogrammes of sugar, and the cost for labor is 2,500 francs. A hectare of beet root produces 40,000 kilogrammes of roots, which yield 2,400 kilogrammes of sugar, and the expense of _ the culture is 354 francs. The cost of the cane sugar in this case is 27 centimes, and of the beet sugar 14 centimes only, per kilo- gramme. These are extraordinary statements, and will be looked at by the political economist and the philanthropist with great mterest. There are few of the northern states of Europe, or of the United States, which might not produce their own sugar; and when we take into account the value of this product, even in its remains after the sugar is extracted, for the fattening of cattle and sheep, and of course for the enrichment of the land for the succeeding crops, its important bearing upon agricultural improvement can- not be exaggerated. According to M. Peligot, the average amount of sugar in beets is 12 per cent.; but, by extraction, they obtain only 6 per cent. The cane contains about 18 per cent. of saccharine matter, but they get only about 73. The expense of cultivating a hectare of beets, according to Dombasle, is 354 francs. An hectare of cane, which produces 2,200 kilogrammes of sugar, in the Island of Bourbon, and only 2,000 in French Guiana, demands the labor of twelve negroes, the annual expense of each of whom is 250 _franes, according to M. Labran.— (Commission of Inquiry in 1840.) Sugar has become not only an article of luxury, but of utility, to such a degree, that a supply of it constitutes an important article SUGAR. 205 of importation, and is of national consequence. For sugar the world has hitherto relied on the cane, with the exception of some parts of India, where the sugar palm yields it much more cheaply. The sugar cane is, however, a tropical plant, and, of course, its cultivation must of necessity be limited to such hot countries. France, during the wars of Napoleon, shut out from her Indian possessions or deprived of them, commenced making sugar from beets, and it proving unexpectedly successful and profitable, it has as we have just seen, extended not only over that empire, but nearly the whole of continental Europe, where it forms an important item in their system of cultivation and profit. The manufacture has been attempted in the United States; but though the facts of the ease and certainty with which the beets may be grown and their great value for stock has been fully ascertained, still little progress in the production of sugar from them has been made there. MAPLE SUGAR. There are few trees in the American forest of more value than the maple (Acer saccharinum). As an ornamental tree, it is exceeded by few; its ashes abound in alkah, and from it a large proportion of the potash of commerce is produced; and its sap furnishes a sugar of the best quality, and in abundance. It likewise affords molasses and an excellent vinegar. Inthe maple the sugar amounts to five per cent. of the whole sap. There is no tree whose shape and whose foliage is more beautiful, and whose presence indicates a more generous, fertile, and permanent soil than the rock maple: in various cabinet-work its timber vies with black walnut and ma~ hogany for durability and beauty ; and as an article of fuel its wood equals the solid hickory. Its height is sometimes 100 feet, but it usually grows to a height varying from forty to eighty feet. It is bushy, therefore an elegant shade tree. The maple is indi- genous to the forests of America, and wherever there has been opportunity for a second growth, this tree attains to a considerable ~ size much sooner than might be imagined. In the course of ten or fifteen years the maple becomes of asize to produce sugar. The trees which have come up since the first clearing, produce sap that yields much more saccharine than the original forest maples. The whole interior of the northern part of the United States have relied, and still rely, more on their maple woodlands for sugar than on any other source ; and as a branch of domestic manutac- ture and home production, the business is of no little consequence. The time occupied too in the manufacture is very limited, and occurs at a season when very little other labor can be performed. Hitherto but comparatively little attention has been bestowed upon this important branch of industry in Canada. The inhabi- tants of that province might doubtless manufacture a suflicient quantity of maple sugar to supply the demand or consumption in this article for the whole population of the country. This variety of sugar may be refined, and made as valuable for table use as the finest qualities of West India sugar. On the south shore of Lake 206 SUGAR. Huron, and the islands of that inland sea, there are forests of sugar maple unsurveyed capable of producing a supply for the whole population. The Indians upon those islands have lately turned - their attention pretty largely to the manufacture of sugar from the maple; and many tons have been exported from this source. - If the Indians could obtain a fair value for their sugar, say seven or eight dollars per 100 Ibs., they would extend their operations upon a large scale. Upon these islands alone, there are upwards of a million of full-grown maple trees, capable of yielding each from two and a half to three pounds of excellent sugar per annum ; and if proper attention were given to this branch of production in that quarter, I see no reason why a most profitable business could not be carried on. Every farmer who has a grove of sugar maple, should endeavour to manufacture at least sufficient for the con- sumption of his own family. In most cases 150 trees of medium growth would yield an amount of sap that would make 300 lbs. of sugar, twenty-five gallons of molasses, and a barrel of vmegar. The labor required to manufacture this amount of sugar, molasses, and vinegar, would scarcely be felt by the well-organised cultivator, as the season for the business is at the close of the winter, and open- ing spring, when no labor can be done upon the land. In pro- portion to the amount of labor and money expended in the production of maple sugar, it is as capable of yielding as large a return of profits as any other branch of farm business. It is cer- tainly an object of great national interest to the inhabitants of our North American Colonies, that they should supply their own market with such products as their highly-favored country is capable of producing. Sugar is an article which will ever find a ready sale at highly-remunerating prices, provided that it be pro- perly manufactured and brought into market in good condition. J¢ requires a little outlay at first to purchase buckets, cisterns, and boilers, to stock a sugar bush; but by carefully using the above necessary apparatus, they will last fora very long period. A farmer can supply himself with the suitable materials for performing the sugar business without any cost further than his own labor. The spring is the season of the year that everything should be put in readiness,—even the wood should be chopped and drawn to the spot, so that when the sap commences to run, there may be no impediments in the way to hinder the complete success of the business. | Large tracts of land in the Ottawa district are covered with the true sugar maple. It is found in great numbers in the eastern townships of Lower Canada, where considerable forests of miles in extent contain nothing else, and in other places it is mixed with various trees. There is scarcely a spot in Lower Canada where it is not to be met with. Capt. Marryatt has stated that there were trees enough on the shores of Lakes Huron and Superior, to supply the whole world with sugar. In the United States, the manufacture of the sugar was first attempted about the year 1752, by some farmers of New England, as a SUGAR. 207 branch of rural economy. This gradually spread wherever the tree was known. Now it forms an article of food throughout a large portion of the country. Almost every farmer prepares sugar enough from the trees in his neighbourhood for the consumption of his family durmg the year, and has often a surplus for sale. Tt is much cheaper than muscovado, being sold at from 2d. to 35d. er pound, whilst common muscovado cannot be bought for less than 43d. to 5d. per pound. The province of Canada produced nearly ten million pounds in 1852, 6,190,694 being made in Lower Canada, and 3,581,505 in Upper Canada. The quantity made in Lower Canada in 1849 was only about 1,537,093 lbs. The maple sugar product of the Canadas in 1848 was officially stated as follows :— lbs. Upper Canada : . 4,160,667 Lower Canada. J : : , 2,308,158 6,463,835 This product is therefore of immense importance to the British North American provinces, all of which, under a judicions _system, might be made to produce vastly increased quantities of this wholesome and valuable commodity. The importation of sugar in Canada may very safely be com- puted at £40,000 per annum, and the whole of this amount of money could be retained in the country if the people would only look well to the matter. In tapping the tree, the gouge is the best implement that can be used, provided it is an object to save the timber. It is usual, when using the gouge, to take out a chip about an inch and a half in diameter; but this system is objectionable where the maple is not abundant, as it subjects the timber to decay; it is a better course to make an incision by holding the gouge obliquely up- wards an inch or more in the wood. A spout, or spile, as it 1s termed, about a foot long, to conduct off the sap, is inserted about two inches below this incision with the same gouge. By this mode of tapping, the wound in the tree is so small that it will be perfectly healed or grown over in two years. A _ boiler, of thick sheet-iron, made to rest on the top of an arch, by which the sides would be free from heat, and only the bottom is exposed, is doubtless a secure and rapid process of evaporation. The sides and ends of the boiler may be made of well-seasoned boards, which will answer the same purpose as if made solely of sheet-iron. When the sap is boiled down into syrup or thin molasses, it must be taken out of the boiler and strained through a flannel cloth into a tub, where it should settle about twenty-four hours. The clear syrup should be separated from the sediment, which will be found in the bottom of the tub. he pure syrup must be boiled down into sugar over a slow fire. A short time, how- ever, before the syrup is brought to a boiling heat, to complete the clarifying process, the whites of five eggs well beaten, about one 208 SUGAR. quart of new milk, and a spoonful of saleratus, should be all well mixed with a sufficient amount of syrup, to make 100 lbs. of sugar. The scum which would rise on the top must be skimmed off. Cau- tion is to be observed in not allowing the syrup to boil until the skimming process is completed. To secure a good article, the great- est attention must be bestowed in granulating the syrup. The boxes or tubs for draining should be large at the top and small at the bottom. The bottom of the tubs should be bored full of small holes, to let the molasses drain through. After it has nearly done draining, the sugar may be dissolved, and the process of clarifying, granulating, and draining repeated, which will give as pure a quality of sugar as the best refined West India article. The greatest objections that are advanced against maple sugar are, that the processes made use of in preparing the sugar for market are so rude and imperfect that it is too generally acid, and besides charged with salts of the oxide of iron, somuch that it ordinarily strikes a black color with tea. These objections may be removed without any comparative difficulty, as it has been proved to demonstration, by the application of one ounce of clear lime-water to a gallon of maple sap, that the acidity will be com- pletely neutralised, and the danger of the syrup adhering to the sides of the boiler totally removed. The acid so peculiar to the maple sugar, when combined with lime in the above proportion, is found to be excessively soluble in alcohol; so much so, that yellow sugar can be rendered white in afew minutes by placing it in an inverted cone, open at the top, with small holes at the bottom, and by pouring on the base of the cone a quantity of alcohol. This should filtrate through until the sugar is white; it should then be dried and redissolved in boiling water, and again evaporated until it becomes dense enough to erystallise. Then pour it into the cones again, and let it harden. By this process a very white sample of sugar may be made, and both the alcohol and acids will be thoroughly dispelled with the vapor. The process of making maple sugar it will be seen is very sim- ple and easily performed. The trees must be of suitable size, and within a convenient distance of the place where the operations of boiling, &e., are to be performed. When gathered, the sap should be boiled as early as possible, as the quality of the sugar is in a great degree dependent on the newness or freshness of the sap. There is a tendency to acidity in this fluid which produces a quick effect in preventing the making of sugar; and which, when the sap 1s obliged to be kept for many hours in the reservoirs, must be counteracted by throwing into them a few quarts of slaked lime. During the time of sugar making, warm weather, in which the trees will not discharge their sap, sometimes occurs, and the buckets become white and slimy, from the souring of the little sap they contain. In this case they should be brought to the boiler and washed out carefully with hot water, and a handful of lime to each. In reducing the sap, the great danger to be apprehended is SUGAR. 209 from burning the liquid after it is made to the consistence of molasses, since, when this is done, it is impossible to convert it inte sugar; a tough, black, sticky mass, of little value, being the result. Indeed, constant care and attention is required to pro- duce a first-rate article: for though sugar may be made in almost any way where the sap can be procured, yet unless the strictest care is observed in the processes, in gathering and boiling the sap, clarifying the syrup, and in converting the syrup to sugar, a dirty inferior article will be made, instead of the beautiful and delicious sweet which the maple, properly treated, is sure to yield. The quantity of sugar produced in a year varies considerably from the same trees. The cause of this difference is to be found in the depth of snow, continued cold, or a sudden transition from cold to warm, thus abridging the period of sugar-making. A sharp frost at night, with clear warm days, is the most favorable to the sugar-maker. Perhaps four pounds of sugar from a tree may be a pretty fair average of seasons generally, although we have known the growth to exceed six pounds, and sink as low as three. A man will take care of one hundred trees easily, during the season of sugar, which usually lasts from about the middle of March into April, perhaps employing him twenty days in the whole. Dr. Jackson, in his Report of the Maine Geological Sur- vey, gives the following imstances of the production of sugar in that State :— Lbs. of Sugar. At the Forks of the Kennebec, twelve persons made .... 3,605 On No. 1, 2d range, one man and a boy made .......... 1,000 In Farmington, Mr. Titcomb made ~..............- :. 3600 ine Moascow, thirty families made. .......560..000.-00% 10,500 In Bingham, twenty-five families made ............. 9,000 Hao Concord, thirty families made ...........++2.0..-- 11,000 _A cold and dry winter is followed with a greater yield of sugar from the maple than a season very moist and variable. Trees growing in wet places will yield more sap, but much less sugar from the same quantity, than trees on more elevated and drier eround. The red and white maple will yield sap, but it has much less of the saccharine quality than the rock or sugar maple. The work begins usually about the first of March. The tree will yield its sap long before vegetation appears from the bud: frequently the most copious flow is before the snow disappears from the gronnd. Some persons have a camp in their maple orchards, where large eauldrons are set in which to boil down the sap to the consistency of a thick syrup: others take the liquid to their houses, and there boil down and make the sugar. . The process begins by the preparation of spouts and troughs or tubs for the trees: the spouts or tubes are made of elder, sumach, or pine, sharpened to fit an auger hole of about three- fourths of aninch in diameter. The hole is bored a little upward, at the distance horizontally of five or six inches apart, and about - twenty inches from the ground on the south or sunny side of the Pp 210 SUGAR. tree. The trough, cut from white maple, pine, ash, or bass wood, is set directly under the spouts, the points of which are so con- structed as completely to fill the hole in the tree, and prevent the loss of the sap at the edges, having a small gimlet or pitch hole in the centre, through which the entire juice discharged from the tree runs, and is all saved in the vessels below. The distance bored into the tree is only about one-half an inch to give the best run of sap. The method of boring is far better for the preserva- tion of the tree than boxing, or cutting a hole with an axe, from the lower edge of which the juice is directed by a spout to the trough or tub prepared to receive it. The tub should be of ash or other wood that will communicate no vicious taste to the liquid or sugar. The sap is gathered daily from the trees and put in larger tubs for the purpose of boiling down. This is done by the process of a steady hot fire. The surface of the boiling kettle is from time to time cleansed by a skimmer. The liquid is prevented from boiling over by the suspension of a small piece of fat pork at the — proper point. Fresh additions of sap are made as the volume boils away. When boiled down to a syrup, the liquor is set away in some earthen or metal vessel till 1t becomes cool and settled. Again the purest part is drawn off or poured into a kettle until the vessel is two-thirds full. By a brisk and continual fire, the syrup is further reduced in volume to a degree of consistence best taught by a se experience, when it is either put into moulds ie become hard as it is cooled, or stirred until it shall be grained into sugar. The right point of time to take it away from the fire may be “ascertained by cooling and graining a small quan- tity. The sediment is strained off and boiled down to make molasses. The following is from a Massacausetts paper :— The maple produces the best sugar that we have from any plant. Almost veep One admires itstaste. It usually sells in this market (Boston) nearly twice as high asother brown sugar. Had care been taken from the first settle- ment of the country to preserve the suyar maple, and proper attention been given to the cultivation of this tree, so valuable for fuel, timber, and ornament, besides the abundant yield of saccharine j juice, we could now produce in } New England sugar enough for our own consumption, and not be dependent on the labour of those who toil and suffer in a trepical sun for this luxury or necessary of life. But, for want of this friendly admonition, ‘¢ Axeman, spare that tree,” the sturdy blows were dealt around without mercy or discretion; and the very generation that committed devastation in the first settlements in different sec- tions of our country, generally lived to witness a scarcity of fuel; and means were resorted to for the purchase of sugar, that were far more expensive than would have been its manufacture, under a proper mode of economy in the pre- servation of the maple, and the production of sugar from its sap. Those who have trees of the sugar maple, should prepare in season for making sugar. In many localities, wood is no object, and a rude method of boiling is followed; but where fuel is very scarce, a che eap apparatus should be prepared that will require but little fuel. In some sections, broad pans or kettles have been made of sheet-iron bottoms, and sides of plank or boards, care being taken a . SUGAR. Dae to allow the fire to come into contact with the iron only. These pans cost but a trifle, and, owing to their large surface, the evaporation is rapid. Another cheap construction for boiling with economy is, to make a tight box of plank, some four or five feet square—the width of a wide plank will answer, and then put into it, almost at the bottom, a piece of large copper funnel, say ten or twelve inches at the outer part, and then smaller. This funnel, begin- ning near one end, should run back nearly to the opposite side, then turn and come out at the opposite end, or at the side near the end, as most convenient, being in only two straight parts, that the soot may be cleared out. ach end should be made tight, with a flange nailed to the box. At the mouth of the larze part there should be a door, to reduce the draught; here make the fire, and at the other end have a funnel to carry off the smoke. In this case, there is only sheet copper between the fire and the sap which surrounds the funnel, so that the heat is readily taken up by the liquid, and very little escapes. This is an economical plan for cooking food for stock, steaming timber, &c. For catching the sap, various kinds of vessels are used. ‘The cheapest are made of white birch, which last one season, or less. Troughs of pine, or linden or bass wood, may be made for a few cents each, and they will last for a number of years, if inverted in the shade of trees. But these are incon- venient; and, after the first year, they become dirty, and clog the sap. Pails with iron hoops are the best, and, eventually, the cheapest. By painting and carefully preserving them, they will cost, for a course of years, about one cent each for a year. Mr. Alfred Fitch, in the “Genesee Farmer,” says :— In elarifying, I use for 50 lbs. of sugar one pint of skimmed milk, put into the syrup when cold, and place it over a moderate fire until it rises, which should occupy thirty or forty minutes; then skim and boil until it will grain ; after which [ put it into a tub, and turnon alittle cold water, and in a few days the molasses will drain out, and leave the sugar dry, light, and white. Mr. H. W. Clark, of Oswego, furnishes the following :— On Fining Maple Sugav.—The sweet obtained from the maple tree is un- doubtedly the purest known; but from mismanagement in the manufacture it frequently becomes very impure. Its value is lessened, while the expense of making it increases. Iam sensible that the method which I shall recom- mend is nof altogether a new one, and that it is more by attending to some apparently minute and trivial circumstances, than to any new plan, that my sugar is so good. Much has been written upon, and many useful improvements been made in, that part of the process which relates to tapping the trees, and gathering and evaporating the sap, &c.; but still, if the final operation is not understood, there will be a deficiency in the quality of the sugar. I shall confine myself to that part of the operation which relates to reducing the syrup to sugar, as it is of the first importance. My process is this: —When the syrup is reduced to the consistence of West India molasses, I set it away till it is per- fectly cold, and then mix with it the clarifying matter, which is milk or eggs. I prefer eggs to milk, because when heated the whole of it curdles; whereas milk produces only a small portion of curd. The eggs should be thoroughly beaten and effectually mixed with the syrup while cold. The syrup should then be heated till just before it would boil, when the curd rises, bringing with it every impurity, even the coloring matter, or a great portion of that which it had received from the smoke, kettles, buckets, or reservoirs. The boiling should be checked, and the scum carefully removed, when the syrup should be slowly turned into a thick woollen strainer, and left to run through at leisure. J would remark, that a great proportion of the sugar that is made in our country is not strained after cleansing. This is an error. If ex- amined in a wine-glass, innumerable minute and almost imperceptible particles of curd will be seen floating in it, which, if not removed, render it liable to burn, and otherwise injure the taste and color of it. A flannel strainer does this much better than a linen one. It is, indeed, mmtispensable, As to the quantity of eggs necessary, one pint toa pailful of P 2 212 SUGAR. syrup is amply sufficient, and half as much will do very well. I now put my syrup into another kettle, which has been made perfectly clean and bright, when it is placed over a quick but solid fire, and soon rises, but is kept from overflowing by being ladled with a long dipper. When it is sufficiently reduced, (I ascertain this by dropping it from tke point of a knife, while hot, into one inch of cold water—if done, it will not immediately mix with the water, but lies at the bottom in a round flat drop,) it is taken from the fire, and the foam- ing allowed to subside. A thick white scum, which is useable, is removed, and the sugar turned into a cask, placed on an inclined platform, and left undis- turbed for six weeks or longer, when it should be tapped in the bottom and the molasses drawn off. It will drain perfectly dry in a few days. The sugar made in this manner is very nearly as white as lump sugar, and beautifully grained. We have always sold ours at the highest price of Musco- vadoes; and even when these sugars have sold at eighteen cents, ours found a ready market at twenty. Two hands will sugar off 250 lbs.inaday. From the scum taken off in cleansing, I usually make, by diluting and recleansing, one-sixth as much as I had at first, and of an equal quality. lt is not of much consequence as regards the quality of the sugar, whether care be taken to keep the sap clean or not. The points in which the greatest error is committed, are, neglecting to use a flannel strainer, or to strain after cleansing — to have the sugar kettle properly cleaned — and to remove the white scum from the sugar. An important process of manufacturing maple sugar, which produces a most beautiful article, is also thus described in a com- munication by the gentleman who gained the first premium at the State Fair at Rochester in 1843, to the Committee on Maple Sugar of the New York State Agricultural Society. In the first place, I make my buckets, tubs, and kettles all perfectly clean. I boil the sap in a potash kettle, set in an arch in such a manner that the edge of the kettle is defended all around from the fire. I boil through the day, taking care not to have anything in the kettle that will give color to the sap, and to keep it well skimmed. At night I leave fire enough under the kettle to boil the sap nearly or quite to syrup by the next morning. I then take it out of the kettle, and strain it through a flannel cloth into a tub, if it is sweet enough ; if not, I put it ina cauldron kettle, which I have hung on a pole in such a manner that I can swing it on or off the fire at pleasure, and boil it till it is sweet enough, and then strain it into the tub, and let it stand till the next morning. I then take it and the syrup in the kettle, and put it altogether into the cauldron, and sugar it off. I use, to clarify say 100 lbs. of sugar, the whites of five or six eggs well beaten, about one quart of new milk, and a spoonful of saleratus, all well mixed with the syrup before it is scalding hot. I then make a moderate fire directly under the cauldron, until the scum is all raised; then skim it off clean, taking care not to let it boil so as to rise in the kettle before I have done skimming it. I then sugar it off, leaving it so damp that it will drain a little. I let it remain in the kettle until it is well granulated. I then put it into boxes made smallest at the bottom, that will hold from fifty to seventy lbs., having a thin piece of board fitted in, two or three inches above the bottom, which is bored full of small holes, to let the molasses drain through, which I keep drawn off by a tap through the bottom. I put on the top of the sugar, in the box, a clean damp cloth; and over that, a board, well fitted in, so as to exclude the air from the sugar. After it has done draining, cr nearly so, I dissolve it, and sugar it off again; going through with the same process in clarifying and draining as before. The following remarks from Dr. Jackson, of Boston, may be of in_ terest to the sections of the country where maple sugar is made :— The northern parts of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York, have dense forests of the sugar maple, and at present only very rude processes are made use of in preparing the sugar for market, so that it is too generally SUGAR. 213 acid and deliquescent, besides being charged with salts of the oxide of iron, insomuch that it ordinarily strikes a black color with tea. To remedy these difficulties was the object of my researches; while, at the same time, I was engaged in ascertaining the true composition of the sap, with a view to the theory of vegetable nutrition. I received several gallons of freshly-drawn maple sap from Northampton, Warner, and Canterbury, and made analyses of each lot, separating the acids, salts, and the sugar. I also analysed the sap of the yellow and white birch, which do not give any crystallisable sugar, but an astringent molasses. I shall now communicate to you the process by which I manufactured sugar maple sap, received from the Shakers of Canterbury, who collected it with care in a clear glass demijohn, and sent it forthwith, so that it came to me without any change of composition, the weather being cold at the time. The evapora- tion was carried on in glass vessels until the sap was reduced to about one-eighth its original bulk, and then it was treated with a sufficient quantity of clear lime- water to render it neutral, and the evaporation was completed in a shallow porcelain basin. The result was, that a beautiful yellow granular sugar was obtained, from which not a single drop of molasses drained, and it did not deliquesce by exposure to the air. Another lot of the sap, reduced to sugar without lime-water, granulated, but not so well, was sour to the taste, deliquesced by exposure, and gave a considerable quantity of molasses. Having studied the nature of the peculiar acid of the maple, I found that its combinations with lime were excessively soluble in alcohol, so that the yellow sugar first described could be rendered white in a few minutes, by placing it in an inverted cone open at the bottom, and pouring a fresh quantity of alcohol upon it, and allowing it to filtrate through the sugar. The whitened sugar was then taken and redissolved in boiling water and crystallised, by which all the alcoholic flavour was entirely removed, and a perfectly fine crys- tallised and pure sugar resulted. Now, in the large way, I advise the following method of manufacturing maple sugar. Obtain several large copper or brass kettles, and set them up in a row, either by tripods with iron rings, or by hang- ing them on a cross-bar; clean them well, then collect the sap in buckets, if possible, so that but little rain-water will be mixed with the sap, and take care not to have any dead leavesinit. For every gallon of the maple sap add one measured ounce of clear lime-water, pass the sap into the first kettle and evaporate ; then, when it is reduced to about one-half, dip it out into the second kettle, and skim it each time; then into the next, and so on, until it has reached the last, where it is reduced to syrup, and then may be thrown into a trough, and granulated by beating it up with an oar. As soon.as the first kettle is nearly empty, pour in a new lot of the sap, and so continue working it forward exactly aiter the manner of the West India sugar-boilers. The crude sugar may be refined subsequently, or at the time of casting it into the cones made of sheet iron, well painted with white lead and boiled linseed oil, and thoroughly dried, so that no paint can come off. These cones are to be stopped at first, until the sugar is cold; then remove the stopper and pour on the base of the cone a quantity of strong whiskey, or fourth proof rum. Allow this to filtrate through, until the sugar is white; dry the loaf, and redissolve it in boiling hot water, and evaporate it until it becomes dense enough to crystallise. Now pour it into the cones again, and let it harden. If any color remains, pour a saturated solution of refined white sugar on the base of the cone, and this syrup will remove all traces of color from the loaf. One gallon of pasture maple sap yielded 3,451 grains of pure sugar. One gallon of the juice of the sugar cane yields, on an average, in Jamaica, 7,000 grains of sugar. Hence, it will appear that maple sap is very nearly half as Sweet as cane juice ; and since the maple requires no outlay for its cultivation, and the process may be carried on when there is little else to be done, the manufacture of maple sugar is destined to become an important department of rural economy. It is well known, by the Report of the Statistics of the United States, that Vermont ranks next to Louisiana as a sugar state, producing (if I recollect correctly) 6,000,000 of pounds in some seasons, though the business is now carried on in a very rude way, without any apparatus, and with no great chemical skill; so that only a very impure kind of sugar is made, which, on 214 SUGAR. account of its peculiar flavor, has not found its way into common use, for sweetening tea and coffee. It would appear worth while, then, to improve this manufacture, and‘to make the maple sugar equal to any now in use. This can be readily accomplished, if the farmers in the back country will study the process of sugar-making, for cane and maple sugar are, when pure, absolutely identical. It should be remarked, that forest maples do not produce so much sugar as s those grown in open fields or in groves, where they have more hght, the under-brush being cleared away. In Farmington, on the Sandy River, in Maine, I have seen a very fine grove of maples, but thirty years old, which produced a large yield of very good sugar. A man and two boys made 1,500 lbs. of sugar from the sap of these trees In a single season. ‘Lhe sap was boiled down in potash kettles, which were scoured bright with vinegar and sand. The sugar was of a fine yellow color, and well er ystallised. It was drained of its molasses 4 in casks, with a false bottom perforated with small holes—the cask havi ing a hole bored at the bottom, with a tow plug placed loosely in it, to conduct off ‘the molasses. This method is a good one, but the sap ought to be limed in boiling, as I have described ; then it-will not attach to the iron or copper boilers. The latter metal must not be used with acid syrup, for copper salts are poisonous. There are several towns in the northern sections of Mame, New Hamps shire, and Vermont, that produce more than suflicient sugar for the consumption of their inhabitants. A lot of good sugar trees will average four pounds to the tree, in a favorable season. Many farmers have orchards that will yield five hundred to a thousand pounds of sugar ina year. As this is made ata season interfering very little with the general business of the farm, the sugar that the farmer makes is so much clear gain. There is, on almost every hill-farm, some place favorable for the growth of a maple orchard—some rocky spots yielding little grass, and impervious for the plough. Such spots may be favor- ably chosen for the growth of a maple orchard; and whether the increase be used for manufacturing sugar or molasses, or for timber or fuel, the BEgnn cer of the land will find a profit better than money at interest in the growth of this beautifnl tree, which will spontaneously propagate itself in many positions. Its great excellence consists in yielding sap for the manufacture of vast quantities of maple sugar in the country during the months of spring. An open winter, constantly freezmg and thawing, 1s a forerunner of a bountiful crop of sugar. The orchard of maple trees 18 almost equal to a field of sugar cane of the same area, in the production of sugar. ‘This tree reaches an age of 200 ears. : Vermont is the second sugar-producing State in the Union. The amount of maple sugar produced there in 1840 was over 2,550 tons, being more than 17$ pounds to each inhabitant, allowing a population of 291,948. "At five cents a pound, this is worth 255,963 dols. 20 cents. -The Statistics of the United States census for 1850, show that about thirty-five millions of pounds (15,250 tons) of maple sugar were manufactured in that year :— Be Syed SUGAR. 215 “EE Oe ea 97,541 Brought forward .. 21,291,158 New Hampshire .... 1,392,489 | Mississippi ........ 110 Massachusetts ...... 768,096 | Louisiana .......... 260 Merntent 2.42... - SslogGlb. Arkansas) ich 272 a7: 8,825 Connecticut 2: ...... 375 (8a. ji -Lenmessee. ..c< oo cc. 159,647 LG i 10,310,764 | Kentucky .......... 388,525 New Jersey ........ S886) i OniOe es: cseptia le cars 4,528,548 Pennsylvania ...... 2218-641 | Michigan? jon sss. 2,423,897 Manylamd 22.5.0... Ai 40 Ww indiana, 93.372 ogee 2,921,638 aie 2 192295908)'|, PHMOIS ee: ag ee oe 246,078 North Carolina .... Zi 448; || MIssourn, -:2.50..5 15 2% 171,942 South Carolina...... POO scl conveys ie acces, ea osesuare ate 70,684 CAEP: es ee eds: 507 || Missourin: a. emcee 661,969 EE QOAINA , oes we, ss Ais: | Minnesotacs... ci: 2,950 Carried forward .. 21,291,158 Motalig:<.: exirntevs 32,776,671 There is a balance of about two million pounds produced by Rhode Island, Texas, Oregon, California, Utah, New Mexico, Delaware, and Florida. The above statement does not include the sugar made by the Indians, east of the Mississippi river, which may be set down at 10,000,000 lbs., and west of that river 2,000,000 lbs. Besides the above sugar crop, there was a yield by the sugar maple in the United States in 1850, of 40,000,000 gallons of maple molasses. Maize Sugar.—The stem and branches of Indian corn, during the time that its grain is filling, abounds with sugar, even when grown in this country ; so much so, that it might be turned to account by those of the peasantry who have small plots of ground attached to their cottages; and I applied a simple method by which a rich syrup may be obtained from it, equal in sweetness to treacle, and su- perior to it in flavor. The proper time for cutting down the plant (which should be done within an inch of the ground), is when the corn in the ear is small and full of a milky juice. All the large and old leaves should be stripped _off, leaving only the young and tender ones ; they should then be cut into short lengths, thoroughly bruised, and the juice entirely pressed out from them. Where the means cannot be obtained for expressing the juice by this method, the following may be employed :—After the plants have been cut into small pieces, put them into a large pot or copper, with only just sufficient water to extract the juice; boil for one hour, and then strain off the liquor; to each gallon of this liquor add a wine-glass full of lime-water whilst warm; but if it be the expressed juice, obtained as above mentioned, add double the quantity of lme- water. When the liquor is cold, for every three gallons beat up an egg with some of the liquor; put altogether into a boiler, and boil gently till the syrup acquires the consistence of treacle. Whilst this is going on, the liquor should every now and then be well stirred, and the scum which rises to the surface taken off. This syrup, which will be found a better substitute for sugar than treacle, and more wholesome, should be kept in lightly-covered vessels, in a dry place. My own observations, twelve years ago, acquainted me with the 216 SUGAR. fact, that when the grain in the ear has acquired one half of the full size, the quantity of sugar in the sap has passed its maximum, or begun to decrease, and continues to do so until it disappears entirely. Lopping off the young ears makes shorter work of it. It is like taking the young from an animal giving suck, m which} case the milk soon ceases to flow into the breast, and that which produced it is elaborated into other fluids necessary to the nourish- ment of the different parts of the body of the parent. In the corn-stalk, when deprived of its ears, the elements of sugar are dissipated by inereasing the size of the plant. Sugar may also be obtained from the carrot and the parsnip, as well as from all sweet fruits. It is abundant throughout the vegetable kingdom; it forms the first food of plants when they germinate in the seed; when the first little sprout is projected from a grain of corn, a portion of the farima, or starch, is changed into sugar, which may be called the blood of the plant, and from it is drawn the nourishment necessary to its expansion and ap- pearance above the surface of the earth. In the latter growth of many plants an inverse process Is carried on, as in the Indian corn, which I have just spoken of. In this mstance, as also number- less others, sugar is formed in large quantities in the body of the plant, and elaborated into farina, or starch, in the ear. ‘The elements of which sugar and starch are composed are the same ; the only difference is in their proportions. Chemists, being aware of this, have converted starch into sugar; and could do it with certainty to any extent, were any advantage to be gained by it; but hitherto starch has been higher in price than sugar. SECTION it. THE GRAIN CROPS, EDIBLE ROOTS, AND FARINACEOUS PLANTS FORMING THE BREAD STUFFS OF COMMERCE. THE vegetable substances, from which man derives his principal sustenance, such as the nutritious cereal grains, the tuberous rooted plants and the trees yielding farina, are very widely diffused, and necessarily occupy the main attention of the cultivator; their products forming the most important staples of domestic and foreign commerce. ‘The cereal grasses and roots, cultivated in temperate regions, such as wheat, barley, oats, rye, and the potato, are so well known, and have been so fully described by agricultural writers that I shall not go much into details as to their varieties, culture, &c., but confine myself chiefly to their distribution, produce, statistics, and commercial importance. The food plants may be most conveniently arranged under three heads. Firstly—the Grain crops and legumes, which comprises the Huropean cultivated grasses, wheat, barley, oats, &c. ; and the tropical ones of rice, maize, millet, Guinea corn, &c. Secondly —Palms and other trees yielding farina, including the sago palms, plantain and banana, and the bread fruit tree. And Thirdly—-the edible Root crops and Starch producing plants, which are a some- what extensive class, the chief of which, however, are the com- mon potato, yams, cocos or eddoes, sweet potatoes, the bitter and sweet cassava or manioc, the arrowroot and other plants yielding starch in more or less purity. There is a great diversity of food, from the humble oak bark bread of the Norwegian peasant, or the Brahmin, whose appetite is satisfied with vegetables, to the luxurious diet of a Hungarian Magnate at Vienna. ; : The bread stuffs, as they are popularly termed, particularly wheat and wheat flour, maize, and rice, form very important articles of commerce, and enter largely into cultivation in various countries for home consumption and export. Russia, India, and the United States, carry on a very considerable trade in grain with other countries. Our local production being insufficient for food and manufactures, we import yearly immense quantities of grain and flour. In the four years ending 1852, the annual quantity of corn, of 218 THE GRAIN CROPS. various kinds, imported ito the United Kingdom, exclusive of flour and meal, rice, sago, &c., averaged 8,085,903 quarters. The flour and meal imported, omitting sago, arrowroot and other starches, averaged in the same period 4,143,603 cwts. annually. The annual imports of breadstuffs for food, taking the average of the four years ending with 1852, may be thus summed up— Tons. Corn and grain, 8,085,903 oe at 60 1b. the bushel . 173,270 Flour and meal 207,180 Rice ‘ f : : ; : ; a EKO rd Potatoes 3 42,440 Sago, arrowroot, Ke. 5,000 Totaly 468,707 Some portion of this quantity is doubtless consumed in the arts—as starch for stiffening linens, &c., and for other purposes not coming under the term of food, but I have purposely left out in the calculation about 80,000 to 40, HO quarters of rice in the husk annually imported. Ireland took, in 1849, of foreign grain 2,115,129 quarters ; 1,683,687 quarters in 1850 ; and 2,504,229 in 1851; as well as 256,837 cewts. of various kinds of meal and flour in 1849; 220,107 ewts. in 1850; and 841,680 cwts. in 1851. England also sup- plied her with about 500, ,000 quarters of grain and 850,000 cwis. of meal in each of those years. The comparative returns of the importations of grain into the United Kingdom for the last four years, are as follows, in quarters :— 1852. 185], 1850. 1849. Wheat 3,068,892 3,812,009 3,738,995 3,845,378 Barley 656,737 829,564 1,035,903 1,881,008 Oats 995,480 1,198,529 1,154,473 1,267,106 Rye 10,023 24,609 98,836 240,566 Beans 371,250 318,502 443,306 457,933 Peas 107,017 99,399 181,419 234,566 Maize 1,479,891 1,807,636 1,277,071 2,224,459 Other sorts 8,085 3,432 868 1,150 Quarters 6,667,375 8,124,280 7,930,871 9,651,966 The meal and flour imported in the same years, m cwts., were as follows :— 1852. 1851. 1850. | 1849. Wheat 3,889,583 5,314,414 3,819,440 3,349,839 Barley "212 34 108 224 Oats 521 2,525 5,999 40,230 Rye 92 6,493 964 18,468 Indian corn 742 9,561 11,334 101,683 Other sorts 54 343 163 1,396 Cwts. 3,891,195 5,323,370 3,838,008 3,011,840 Before the famine in Ireland the imports seldom reached 20 mil- lions of bushels of grain and meal of all kinds. In 1848 our imports THE GRAIN CROPS. 219 were about 60 millions ; in 1849, 85 millions ; in 1850, 68 millions ; in 1851, 754 millions; in 1852, 69 millions, with good wheat harvests; showing the great shock received and the slowness of recovery. With a rapidly increasing population in all parts of the civilized world, the production of bread is obviously the first object to be sought after, alike by the statesman and the peasant. I scarcely dare give the calculation of the immense amount which would be realised in any great country, by the single saving of a bushel to an acre, in the quantity of seed ordinarily sown. The same re- sult would follow if an additional bushel could be produced in the annual average yield of the wheat crop. According to Mr. H. Colman, the annual amount of seed for wheat sown in France is estimated at 32,491,978 bushels. If we could suppose a third of this saved, the saving would amount to 10,863,959 bushels per year. Suppose an annual increase of the crops of five bushels per acre, this would give an increase of pro- duction of 54,319,795 bushels. Add this, under improved culti- vation, to the amount of seed saved, and the result would be 65,183,754 bushels—I believe under an improved agriculture this is quite practicable. ; An eminent agricultural writer placed the average yield in Eng- land at eighteen bushels per acre; some years since a man of sanguine temperament rated it at over thirty bushels. In France it is stated, in the best districts, to average twenty-two bushels. These evidently are wholly conjectural estimates. In England Mr. Colman states that fifty bushels per acre were reported to him on the best authority, as the yield upon a large farm ina very favorable season. More than eighty bushels have been returned, upon what is deemed ample testimony, to the Royal Agricultural Society of England, as the product of a single acre. In France Mr. Colman had, upon credible authority, reports of forty, forty- four and seventy-two bushels. It would be of immense impor- tance to any government to know the exact produce grown in any county, or district, or mm the whole country ; and this might be obtained by compelling, on the part of the owner or cultivator, an actual return of his crop; but it is of little use to found such returns on estimates purely conjectural. From the best statistical accounts that can be obtained, the wheat annually produced in the United Kingdom, England, Scotland, ireland is ; 4 111,681,320 bushels. In France it is j ; ; : 198,660,000 , United States é ; : é 1005508,899) 245. The amount of seed ordinarily sown to the acre in France is from two to three bushels. The return of crop for the seed sown is represented as in the best districts averaging 6:25 for one; in the least productive 5:40 for one. My readers may be curious to know the calculations which have been made in some other countries in regard to this matter. 220 THE GRAIN CROPS. CENTRAL EUROPE. Increase Countries. Year. for seed sown. Spain 4 : : : : 1828 . 6 for one Portugal . ; 3 : : 1786 2. 0S Tuscany . : : : ; - Oeies Plains of Lucca . i : : =. | dures Piedmont—Plains of Marengo . : . 4 to five Bologna . : : : : > COs Roman States—Pontine marshes : SP 20a Ordinary lands F : : 5 GHB RE, es Kangdom of Naples—best districts ; =: Doers Ordinary lands ; : bias Malta—the bestlands ‘ 38 to 64,, Ordinary lands : : 22, 25, 30,, NORTHERN EUROPE. Sweden and Norway : : 1838 . 4,50 for one Denmark . : : 4 : 18277 S aeatae, Russia, a good harvest . : : 1819 Gio, province of Tambof : : 1821 4°50,, provinces north of 50 deg. latitude 1821 ees Poland. : : E : 1826 ores. England . : . : : 1830 Oe Scotland . , 1830 Sites Ireland . ‘ 5 é : 1825 ik eee Holland . : : : : 1828 7'90,, Beigium . : : : : 1828 tt tase Bavaria . : : : : 1827 7 to8,, Prussia. : : , : 1817 Oba Austria. : : : : 1812 7°05 ,, Hungary . ; : : : 1812 4 ON Switzerland, lands of an inferior quality 1825 ahaa Of a good quality, 8; of the best quality ED yoke France, inferior lands, 3; best lands eG 7 = (Statistique des Cereales de la France par Moreau de Jonnes.) STATISTICS OF WHEAT CULTURE. As wheat forms the principal nutritious food of the world, claiming the industrious application of labor over the greater part of Europe, throughout the temperate regions of Asia, along the northern kingdoms of Africa, and extending far into the northern and southern regions of the American continents; as it has been cultivated from time immemorial, and has produced in various climates and soils many varieties; it is surprising that so little is generally known of the distinct varieties best adapted to par- ticular climates—and that in Great Britain and the United States we have yet to learn the variety which will yield the largest and best amount of human food! _ At the Industrial Exbibition in 1851, twenty-six premiums only were distributed for specimens of wheat; of these, five were awarded to British farmers, three to France, three to Russia, three to Australia, three to the United States, and one each or severally to other nations. Some beautiful specimens of wheat were exhibited from South Australia, weighing seventy pounds a bushel; which were eagerly sought after for seed wheat by our STATISTICS OF WHEAT CULTURE. 221 farmers and the colonists of Canada and the United States. But as is well observed by Professor Lindley, it has no peculiar con- stitutional characteristics by which it may be distinguished from other wheats. Its superior quality is entirely owing to lccal con- ditions; to the peculiar temperature, the brilliant light, the sou, and those other circumstances which characterise the climate of South Australia. All kinds of wheat contain water in greater or lesser quantities. Its amount is greater in cold countries than in warm. In Alsace from 16 to 20 per cent.; England from 14 to 17 per cent. ; United States from 12 to 14 per cent.; Africa and Sicily from 9 to 11 per cent. This accounts for the fact, that the same weight of southern flour yields more bread than northern, English wheat yields 13 lbs. more to the quarter than Scotch. Alabama flour, it is said, yields 20 per cent. more than that of Cincinnati. And in general American flour, according to one of the most extensive London bakers, absorbs 8 or 10 per cent. more of its own weight of water in being made into bread than the English. The English grain is fuller and rounder than the American, being puffed up with moisture. Every year the total loss in the United States from moisture in wheat and flour is estimated at four to five million dollars. To remedy this great evil, the grain should be well ripened before harvesting, and well dried before being stored in a good dry eranary. Afterwards, in grinding and in transporting, it should be carefully protected from wet, and the flour be kept from ex- posure to the atmosphere. The best precaution is kiln-drying. By this process the wheat and flour are passed over iron plates heated by steam to the boiling point. From each barrel of flour 16 or 17 pounds of water are thus expelled, leaving still four or five per cent. in the flour, an amount too small to do injury. If all the water be expelled, the quality of the flour is deteriorated. The mode of ascertaining the amount of water in flour is this ; take a small sample, say five ounces, and weigh it carefully ; put it into a dry vessel, which should be heated by boiling water; after six or seven hours, weigh it; its loss of weight shows the original amount of water. The next object is to ascertain the amount of gluten. Gluten is an adhesive, pasty mass, and consists of several different princi- ples, though its constitution has not yet been satisfactorily deter- mined. It is chiefly the nutritious portion of the flour. The remaining principles are mostly starch, sugar and gum. On an average their relative amount in 100 parts are about as fol- lows :— Average. Kobanga wheat, the best. Water . ‘ dgilidie:: ~ h2 Gluten . ; eed 6 ae ; kG Starch . : Se Odea. 92 j = 00 Sugar and Gum at pss ae : Be in 100 97 222 STATISTICS OF WHEAT CULTURE. Professor Beck examined thirty-three different samples from various parts of the United States and Europe, and he gives the preference to the Kobanga variety from the south of Russia. There would probably be a prejudice against it in this country, from the natural yellowish hue of its flour and bread. The value of the vegetable food, grain, potatoes, rice and apples exported from the United States within the past few years is thus set down :— Dollars. 1 SU: (me ae Ce eee ream IE Moy S 57,970,356 PBA Obl rn site concpsterads cas ta eee eee 25,185,647 TSO; Sa ee ee 25,642,362 18505 0b So Se eee 15,822,273 To this has to be added nine or ten million dollars more for tobacco, 72 million dollars for cotton, and 180,000 dollars for hops and other minor agricultural staples—making the value of the raw vegetable exports about 98 million dollars. There is further the value of the products of the forest, timber, ashes and bark, tar, &c., which are equal to nearly seven millions more, as shown by the following figures :— Dollars. 1847 ate BG 5,248,928 1848 ip - 6,415,297 1849 - a 5,261,766 1850 - i 6,590,037 It appears from an official document of the American Treasury Department, that the average value of the breadstuffs and provisions annually exported from the United States from 1821 to 1836 in- clusive, was 12,792,000 dolls. ; in 1837 and 1838, about 9,600,000 dolls. ; from 1839 to 1846, 16,176,000 dolls.; and for the last seven years as follows :— Dollars. 1846 ats ve 27,701,121 1847 ae We 68,701,921 1848 os a 37,472,751 1849 A i 38,155,507 1850 ae ae 26,051,373 1851 ae as 21,948,651 1852 A * 25,857,027 Out of the wheat crop in the United States in 1846 of 110 million bushels raised, 10 millions were used for seed, starch, &e. ; 72 consumed for food, and 28 million exported. The 460 millon bushels of Indian corn raised, were thus disposed of; exported to foreign countries 22 million bushels; sold to and consumed by non-producers, 100 million; consumed on the farms and planta- tions of the producers for human and animal food, seed, &c., 338 million bushels. The United States now produce about 120 million bushels of wheat, and nearly 600 million bushels of corn. Their surplus of wheat, for export, may be taken at 20 million bushels, and of Indian corn an almost unlimited quantity. They export about one and a quarter million barrels of flour, and about one million of bushels STATISTICS OF WHEAT CULTURE. 223 of wheat to other markets besides those of Great Britain or her North American colonies, viz., to Europe, Asia, Africa, the West Indies and South America, California and Australia, manufactured flour being the article required for these latter markets. Nearly four million bushels of Indian corn, and 300,000 barrels of corn meal, are exported from the United States to the West Indies and other foreign markets. From the abstracts of statistical returns prepared at the Ame- rican Census office, it appears that Pennsylvania, in 1850, was the largest wheat producing State of the Union. I have had the curiosity to compare the most prominent States in. respect to this crop, and give them below, with the crop of each, as shown by the returns :-— Bushels. Peunsylyanie 2... o. 2 STATISTICS OF WHEAT CULTURE. 23% ing to M. Millon, threatens the nation with an annual loss of from two to three hundred millions of francs. Ifthe bran was entirely valueless, there would be a loss of more than one million a day. t is quite difficult to determine the precise amount of bran which may have been removed from wheat, for various samples contain such a different propor- tion of bran that in the one case a removal of ten per cent. leaves more bran in the flour than a bolting of five per cent. in another. The following is an analysis of bran by M. Millon; the sample being a soft French wheat grown in 1848 :— pamimacexinine Bnd SUGAT 25. .6s. cs Cele oe ese semeeccs 53.00 BS aU MEU OLICO Vela) ie 6 hates cece scan dbs + aces Massie 1.00 gmt OMe eso 3 ctor S/o eb ad aes «4, v.cdtla » s, So tisiars) > sess 14,90 “DDE TELIA EN ee eee ee ne er 3.60 1 COLLATF TERRES 7 RO aia 9.70 PELE o < ¢'a Geb 6 CCG: SERN aoe oe ee a 50 SPN i ee heh chia) sys !2 pore) sre Smale =a ioveysshs », 13:90 Incrusting matter and aromatic principles (by difference).. 3.40 100. The conclusion to be drawn from this analysis is, that bran is an alimentary substance. Ifit contains six per cent. more of woody matter than the rough flour, it has also more gluten, double that of fatty matter, besides two aroma- tic principles which have the perfume of honey, and both of which are wanting in the fine flour. Thus by bolting, wheat is impoverished in its most valuable principles, merely to remove a few hundredths of woody matter. The economical suggestion which springs from these views is, that the bran and coarse flour should be reground and then mixed with the fine flour. Millon states that he has ascertained, by repeated experiments, that bread thus made is of superior quality, easily worked, and not subject to the inconvenience of bread manufactured from the rough flour, such as is made in some places, and especially in Belgium. Opinions similar to those above noticed are entertained by Professor Daubeny. “The great importance attached to having bread perfectly white is a prejudice,” he says, ‘‘ which leads to the rejection of a very wholesome part of the food, and one which, although not digestible alone, is sufficiently so in that state of admixture with the flour in which nature has prepared it for our use.” After quoting the remarks of Professor Johnston on the same side of the question, he adds, ‘*that according to the experiments of Magendie, animals fed upon fine flour died in a few weeks, whilst they thrived upon the whole meal bread.’’ Brown bread, therefore, should be adopted, not merely on a principle of econo- my, but also as providing more of those ingredients which are perhaps deficient in the finer parts of the flour.—(‘‘ Gardeners’ Chronicle,” January 27th, 1849, p. 93. Tie seats of Dr. Robertson may also be here introduced. ‘The advan- tage,”’ he observes, ‘‘ of using more or less of the coverings of the grain in the pre- paration of bread has often been urged on economical principles. ‘There can be no doubt that a very large proportion of nutritive matter is contained in the bran and the pollard; and these are estimated to contain about one-fifth part of the entire weight of the wheat grain. It is, unquestionably, so far wasteful to remove these altogether from the flour; and in the case of the majority of people, this waste may be unnecessary, even on the score of digestibility.” * This subject can also be rendered apparent to the eye. If we make a cross section of a grain of wheat, or rye, and place it under the microscope, we per- ceive very distinct layers in it as we examine from without inwards. The outer of them belong to the husk of the fruit and seed, and are separated as bran, in grinding. But the millstone does not separate so exactly as the eye may by means of the microscope, not even as accurately as the knife of the ve- getable anatomist, and thus with the bran is removed also the whole outer layer of the cells of the nucleus, and even some of the subjacent layers. Thus the * A Treatise on Diet and Regimen, by Wm. Henry Robertson, M, D., vol.i. p. 153. 232 STATISTICS OF WHEAT CULTURE. anatomical investigations of one of these corn grains at once explains why bread is so much the less nutritious the more carefully the bran has been se- parated from the meal.* There can therefore be ttle doubt that the removal of the bran is a serious injury to the flour ; and I have presented the above array of evidence on this point in the hope of directing public attention to it here, as has been done in various foreign countries. After this, it will easily be inferred that Iam not disposed to look with much favor upon the ylan proposed by Mr. Bentz for taking the outer coating or bran from wheat and other grains previously to grinding.t Independently of the considerations which have already been presented, it is far from being proved, as this gentlemen asserts, that the mixture of the bran withthe meal which results from the common mode of grinding is the chief cause of the souring of the flour in hot climates. On the contrary, the bran is perhaps as little lable to undergo change as the fine flour, and then the moistening to which, as I am imformed, the grain is subjected previously to the removal of the husk, is stil} further objectionable, and must be followed by a most carefully-conducted pro. eess of kiln-drying. Nutritious properties of various articles of food.—There seems to be some dif- ference of opinion in regard to the nutritious properties of various kinds of food. it is generally, however, agreed that those which contain the largest proportion of nitrogenous matters are the most nutritious. It is on this account that hari- cots, peas, and beans, form, in some sort, substitutes for animal food. Tubers, roots, and even the seeds of the cereal grasses, are but moderately nutritious. Tf we see herbivorous animals fattening upon such articles, it is because, from their peculiar organisation, they can consume them in large quantities. It is quite doubtful whether a man doimg hard work could exist on bread exclusively. The instances which are given of countries where rice and potatoes form the sole articles of food of the inhabitants, are believed to be incomplete. Boussingault states that in Alsace, for example, the peasantry always associate their potato dish with alarge quantity of sour or curdled milk ; in Ireland with buttermilk. ‘‘ The Indians of the Upper Andes do not by any means live on potatoes alone, as some travellers have said they do: at Quito, the daily food of the inhabitants is /orco, a compound of potatoes and a large quantity of cheese. Rice is often cited as one of the most nourishing articles of diet. Iam satisfied, however, after haying lived in countries where rice is largely consumed, that it is anything but asub- stantial, or, for its bulk, nutritious article of sustenance.” — (** Rural Kecnomy,” Amer. edition, p. 409.) These statements are further confirmed by the observa- tions of M. Lequerri, who, during a long residence in India, paid particular at- tention to the manners and customs of the inhabitants of Pondicherry. ‘‘ Their food,” he states, “is almost entirely vegetable, andrice is the staple ; the inferior eastes only ever eat meat. But all eat kari (curry), an article prepared with meat, fish, or vegetable, which is mixed with the rice, boiled in very Httle water. It is requisite to have seen the Indians at their meals to have any idea of the enor- mous quantity of rice which they will put into their stomachs. No Kuropean cou.d cram so much at a time; and they very commonly allow that rice alone will not nourish them. They very generally still eat a quantity of bread.” t In regard to the proportion of nutritious matter contained in grains of various kinds, it may be remarked that the tables which have been constructed as the results of various experiments are liable to an objection, which will be more particularly adverted to under another head. For example, two substances, by the process of ultimate analysis, may exhibit the same proportion of nitrogenous matter, and still differ very materially in their value as articles of food. Much depends on the digestibility of the form in which this matter is presented to the digestive organs. A strong illustration is afforded in the case of hay, the pro- portion of nutritive matter of which, about 9.71, would certainly not represent * The Plant: a Biography ; by M. H. Schleiden, M.D., Professor of Botany in the Uni- yersity of Jena. English translation, p. 54. + Transactions of the New York State Agricultural Society for 1847, p. 190. In this com- munication, Mr. Bentz does not describe the process which ke adopts, but enumerates some ef its supposed advantages. £ Quoted by Boussingault, Rural Economy, Amer. edition, p. 410. STATISTICS OF WHEAT CULTURE. 233 . its power of affording nourishment to the human system. It is in truth quite impossible to arrive at any other than.approximate results from the operations of chemistry, as to the amount of nutriment contained in a given quantity or weight of any article of food.* It is perhaps not irrelevant to notice in this place some of the researches which have recently been made upon fermentation, and particularly its effects in the manufacture of bread. It appears that when this process is brought about by the addition of yeast or leaven to the paste or dough, the character of the -mass is materially altered. A larger or smaller proportion of the flour is yir- tually lost. According to Dr. William Gregory the loss amounts to the very large proportion of one-sixteenth part of the whole of the flour. He says, ‘‘ To avoid this loss, bread is now raised hy means of carbonate of soda, or ammonia and a diluted acid, which are added to the dough, and the effect is perfectly satisfactory. Equally good or better bread is obtained, and the quantity of flour which will yield fifteen hundred loaves by fermentation, furnishes sixteen hun- dred by the new method, the sugar and fibrin (gluten) being sayed.’’—(‘‘ Outlines of Chemistry,” p. 352.) Another author, Dr. R. D. Thomson, states, as the results of his experiments upon bread produced by the action of hydrochloric acid upon carbonate of soda, “that in a sack of flour there was a difference in favor of the unfermented bread to the amourt of thirty pounds thirteen ounces, or in round numbers, a sack of flour would produce one hundred and seven loaves of unfermented bread, and only one hundred loaves of fermented bread of the same weight. Hence it ap- pears that in the sack of flour by the common process of baking, seven loaves, or six-and-a-half per cent. of the flour are driven into the air and lost.’’—(‘‘ Ex- perimental Researches on the Food of Animals,’ &c., p. 183.) The only objection to the general introduction of this process seems to be the degree of care and accuracy required in properly adjusting the respective quali- ties and quantities of acid and alkali, and which could seldom be attained even by those who are largely engaged in the manufacture of bread. I cannot leave this subject without adverting to a practice which has prevailed in England and France, and perhaps also in this country, of steeping wheat before sowing it in solutions of arsenic, sulphate of copper, and other poisonous preparations. The result has been that injurious effects have often followed, both to those who are employed in sowing such grain, and to those who have used the bread manufactured from it. The great importance of the subject led to the appoint- ment of a commission at Rouen, in France, in December, 1842, haying for its object to determine the best process of preventing the smut in wheat, and to ascertain whether other means less dangerous than those above noticed were productive of equally good results. The labors of this commission extended over the years 1843-’44-’45, and the experiments were repeated two years following on the farm of Mr. Fauchet, one of the commission, at Boisquilaume, in the de- partment of the Seine Inferieure. The results arrived at by this commission are—Ist. That it is not best to sow seed without steeping. 2nd. That it is best to make use of the sulphate of soda and lime process, inasmuch as it is more simple and economical, in no way in- jurious to the health, and yields the soundest and most productive wheat. 3rd. That the use of arsenic, sulphate of copper, verdigris, and other poisonous preparations, should be interdicted by the government.—(‘' Gardeners’ Chronicle,” January 6th, 1849, pp. 10 and 11.) Composition of wheat and wheat flour, and the various modes of determining their nutritive value.—In my former report it was stated that the analyses of the various samples of wheat, the results of which were there given, had been chiefly directed to the determining the amount of rough gluten which they contained. My reasons for adopting this plan, and the arguments in favor of its general accuracy, as compared with other modes of analysis, and especially that by which _the ultimate composition is ascertained, were also detailed. A more full exami- nation of this subject has served only to strengthen the opinion already expressed, that for the great purpose to be answered by these researches, the process which * A Treatise on Diet and Regimen, by Wm. Henry Robertson, M.D., vol. i. p. 140. 234 STATISTICS OF WHEAT CULTURE. I have adopted is, to say the least, as free from objection as any other, and if carefully and uniformly carried out, will truly represent the relative values of the several samples of wheat flour. As this is a matter of much consequence in a practical point of view, I trust I shall be excused for introducing some addi- tional facts in regard to it. The term gluten was originally applied to the gray, viscid, tenacious, and elastic matter, which is obtained by subjecting wheat flour to the continuous action of a current of water. But it appears that this is a mixture of fibrine and easeine, with what is now called glutine, and a peculiar oily or fatty matter. Now these substances may be separated from each other, but the processes em- ployed for this purpose are tedious, and to insure accuracy the various solvents must be entirely pure—a point which, especially in the case of alcohol and ether, is not ordinarily easy to be attained. This will be rendered still more evident by a reference to a French process, which will hereafter be noticed. But were it much less difficult in every case accurately to separate the con- stituents of gluten, it would not, in my opinion, be of the least practical utility. It is to the peculiar mechanical property of this gluten that wheat flour owes its superior power of detaining the carbonic acid engendered by fermentation, and thus communicating to it the vesicular spongy structure so characteristic of good bread.* It may also be added, that the results of more than one hundred trials have satisfied me that a diminution or loss of elasticity in the gluten is the surest index of the amount of injury which the samfle of flour has sustained. Whether, therefore, the sample contains a certain proportion of nitrogen, or whether it contains albumen, fibrine, and caseine in sufficient quantity, it may still want the very condition which is essential to the manufacture of good bread. My objection, therefore, to the mere determination, however accurate, of the proportion of nitrogen contained in wheat flour, or of the various princi- ples which form the gluten, is, that it does not represent the value of the various samples for the only use to which they are applied, viz., the making of bread. The remarks of Mulder, the celebrated Dutch chemist, upon the subject of ma-. nures, are so applicable to this point that I cannot refrain from quoting them. “Tt has,’ he says, ‘‘ become almost a regular custom to determine the value of manures by the quantity of nitrogen they yield by ultimate analysis. This method is entirely erroneous; for it is based upon the false principle, that by putrefaction all nitrogeneous substances are immediately converted into am- monia, carbonic acid, and water! But these changes sometimes require a number of years. Morphine, for example, is prepared by allowing opium to putrefy ; and the process for preparing leucin, ast. bstance which contains 10.72 of nitrogen, is to bring cheese into putrefaction. Cheese, therefore, does not perhaps in a number of years resolve itself into carbonic acid, ammonia, and water, but pro- duces a crystalline substance, which contains no ammonia. Hence the proportion of nitrogen yielded by manures is not a proper measure of their value, and there- fore this mode of estimating that value ought to be discontinued.” T We infer, therefore, that tke proportion of nitrogen furnished by food of various kinds is not the true measure of their nutritious value, and cannot for practical purposes take the place of that process by which the amount of rough gluten is determined. No better illustration can be given of the uncertainty which attends the in- ferences drawn from the ultimate composition, than the fact heretofore stated in regard to hay, the nutritive value of which is placed in the tables containing the results of these analyses, at a figure nearly the same as that of ordinary wheat flour. f In the paper on the ‘Composition of Wheat,” by M. Peligot—(“ Comptes Rendus,” February 5th, 1849)—to which I have already referred, the author gives the results of the various analyses which he has made, and details the process he adopted. ; Aware of the complex and difficult nature of the examination as conducted by him, he seems to doubt in regard to some of the results given in his tables | * Experimental Researches on the Food of Animals, &c., by Rk. D. Thomson, M.D, p. 156. + Chemistry of Vegetable and Animal Physiology, translated by Prof. J. F. W. Johnston, . 684. t See Dr. R. D. Thomson’s Experimental Researches on the Food of Animals, &c, STATISTICS OF WHEAT CULTURE. 235 In the fourteen samples which he analysed, the proportion of water ranges from 13.2 to 15.2, which is a rather higher average than is yielded by our American samples, especially those which have not been shipped across the Atlantic. Of the nitrogenous matter, soluble and insolub‘e, the proportions range from 9.90 per cent. to 21.50 per cent.; the former being from a sample of very soft and white French wheat; the latter from a very hard wheat with long grains, from Northern Africa, cultivated at Verriéres. Another sample from Egypt yielded 20.60 per cent. of these nitrogenous matters, both of which are very remarkable proportions. In describing the process for ascertaining the amount of insoluble nitrogenous matters, this author adverts to their estimation either by the quantity of nitro- gen gas furnished, or of ammonia formed, the last being preferred for substances, which, like wheat, contain only a few hurdredths of nitrogen. The results which he obtained by this method were compared with those yielded by the direct extraction of the gluten by softening the farina under a small stream of water. ‘These results,” says he, ‘“‘ differ but little from each other when we operate upon wheat in good condition, although the gluten which we thus ob- tain holds some starch and fatty matter, while the starch which is carried away by the water contains also some gluten.’ The loss and gain, as I have already explained, and as has been proved by these and other comparisons, are nearly balanced, and the amount of rough gluten will therefore afford a fair exhibit of that of the insoluble nitrogenous matters in this grain. i The salts in the samples of wheat analysed by M. Peligot, were either want- ing or were in small proportion; while the amount of fatty matter ranged from 1°GO to 1°80 and 1°90 per cent. These results agree very well with those which I have obtained. But it is probatle that the proportion is liable to great variation, inasmuch as it is in- ferred that the fatty matter originates from starch through its exposure to the general deoxidising influence which prevails in plants * There are also many difficulties attending the accurate determination of this matter, and which are probably the cause of the higher proportion often given. It is properly remarked by M. Peligot that the ether employed in this process should be free from water, and that the flour ought also to be very dry. By neglecting these precautions, we separate not only the fatty matter, but also a certain amount of matters soluble in the water, which is furnished as well by the wheat as by the ether. It would not, I think, be difficult to point out some incorrect views enter- tained by this chemist, and more especially those which relate to the fatty matter. Some of his processes for the separation of various substances, if not faulty, require so many conditions for success as to render the results, at least in other hands, exceedingly uncertain. But the capital error which he has committed is that concerning the bran, already adverted to, which he considers injurious to the flour, chiefly in con- sequence of the large proportion of fatty matter which it contains. In regard to the soluble nitrogenous matter usually called albumen, from its resemblance to the animal substance of the same name, I have to remark that in my trials the proportion has been found to be considerably less than that often given in tables of the composition of wheat. In one sample it was found to be as low as 0°15 per cont., in another it did not rise above 0°20 per cent. The amount was usually so inconsiderable, that I did not think it worth while to retard the progress of the work by following out processes which could add little to the utility of these investigations. Although much time and labor have been expended upon the analyses of the ash of plants, I have but slight confidence in the results heretofore given. The difficuities which attend the obtaining the ash in a proper condition, and the fact that the products of all the organs and parts of the plants have been analysed together, must necessarily impair the accuracy of the experiments, and render the inferences drawn from them of uncertain value. Much, indeed I may say almost everything, still remains to be done in this department of agricultural chemistry. * Mulder’s Chemistry of Vegetable and Animal Physiology; English Translation, p. 816. 236 STATISTICS OF WHEAT CULTURE. Weight of wheat as an index to its value-—Much has been said in regard to the relative weights of the bushel of wheat of different varieties or under different modes of culture. ‘ As ordinarily determined, this weight ranges from fifty-six to sixty-five or sixty-six pounds, being in a few cases set down somewhat higher. It is said also that the bushel of wheat weighs less in some years than it does in others, and that the difference often amounts to two, or three, or even four pounds, Though this may seem of comparatively little consequence for a few bushels, yet, for the aggegate of the wheat crop of the United States, or for a State, or even a county, it makes a great difference. Thus, were we to estimate the product of one year in the United States at one hundred and ten million bushels, weighing fifty-six pounds to the bushel, and another year at one hun- dred and eight million bushels, weighing sixty-two pounds, the difference in favor of the latter, though the least in quantity, would amount to five hundred and thirty-six million pounds in weight, or more than one million and a quarter of barrels of flour.—(Report of the American Commissioner of Patents for 1847, p. 117.) It may be remarked, however, that it is not after all so easy to determine with accuracy the weight of a bushel of wheat, nor to decide upon the circum- stances which have an influence in increasing the density of a grain of wheat. If the microscopical representations of wheat are to be relied on, it is probable that the increase in the density of wheat depends upon the increase in the proportion of gluten. I have found in several cases that, the proportion of water being the same, those samples of wheat which contain the largest proportion of gluten exhibit the highest specific gravity, or, in other words, will yield the greatest number of pounds to the bushel. But the weight of wheat will be influenced by the proportion of water which it contains; the drier the grain, the greater is its density; a fact which may account for the difference which has been observed in the weight of wheat in different seasons. If this is the cause, the calculation above given in reference to the United States is fallacious—but if the amount of gluten is actually, imstead of re- latively, increased by peculiarities in seasons, it is no doubt correct. I have devised a series of experiments to test the accuracy of the statements made upon this point, but have not yet had leisure to complete them. General conclusions from the analyses of wheat jlour.—The large number of analyses which I have made, and the uniformity of the processes pursued, enable me to draw some general conclusions which it may be useful to present in a connected form. 1. In the samples from the more northern wheat-growing States, there seems to be little difference in the proportion of nutritive matter that can be set down to the influence of climate. ‘Thus, the yield of the wheat from Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa, is scarcely inferior to that from New York, Indiana, and Illinois, although the two latter are somewhat farther south. Local causes, and more especially the peculiarities of culture and manufacture, have more influence, within these parallels of latitude, than the difference of mean temperature. 2. The samples from New Jersey, Lower Pennsylvania, the southern part of Ohio, Maryland (probably Delaware), Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia, * contain less water and more nutritive matter than those from the States pre- viously enumerated. That the samples from Missouri, which is included within nearly the same parallels of latitude as Virginia, do not exhibit so high an average of nutritive matter as those from the latter State, must be ascribed principally to a want of care in the management of the crop, and perhaps also in the manufacture of the flour. - Virginia flour, for obvious reasons, maintains a high reputation for shipment. - 3. The difference in the nutritive value of the various samples of wheat depends greatly upon the variety, and mode of culture, independently of climate. The correctness of the former statement is shown by the much larger proportions of gluten yielded by many of the samples of hard wheat from *TI have had no opportunity of analysing samples of flour from the South-Western States, and therefore cannot extend this comparison to them, ~ STATISTICS OF WHEAT CULTURE. 237 abroad, the Oregon wheat in Virginia, and a variety of Illinois wheat, &c. And in regard to the effect of particular modes of culture, the various analyses ef Boussingault may be referred to, and that in my table of a sample from Ulster county, New York. 4. The deterioration of many of the samples of wheat and wheat flour arises in most cases from the presence of a too large per centage of water. This is often the result of a want of proper care in the transport, and is the principal cause of the losses which are sustained by those who are engaged in this branch of business. 5. There seems to be little doubt that a considerable portion of the wheat and wheat flour, as well as of other breadstuffs, shipped from this country to England, is more or less injured before it reaches that market. Itis also shown that this is mostly to be ascribed tv the want of care above noticed, and to the fraudulent mixture of good and bad kinds. The remedy in the former case is the drying of the grain or flour before shipment, by some of the modes pro- posed, and the protection of it afterwards as completely as possible from the effect of moisture. The frauds which are occasionally practised should be promptly exposed, and those who are engaged in them held up to merited reproach. 6. It has been fully shown, by the results of many trials, that the flour ob- tained by the second grinding of wheat, or the whole meal, contains more gluten than the fine flour. Hence the general use of the latter, and the entire ee of the bran, is wasteful, and ought in every way to be discouraged. . It cannot but be gratifying to us that the average nutritive value of the wheat and wheat flour of the United States is shown by these analyses to be fully equal to, if not greater than, that afforded by the samples produced in any other part of the world. And it will, in my opinion, be chiefly owing to a want of proper care and of commercial honesty, if the great advantages which should accrue to this country from the export of these articles are either endangered or entirely lost. TABLE EXHIBITING THE PER CENTAGE COMPOSITION OF VARIOUS SAMPLES OF AMERICAN AND ForriGN WuHEAT Four, By Lewis C. Brcx, M.D. (1849). E A 4 52 Kind of Wheat Flour, and from 8 sere AE =e ’ whence obtained. = Se & Eis A Po Seb i eaalgie oS =) Country Mills, New Jersey ............ 12.75} 11.55} 65.95} 8.10 65 Mesedermem Wheab nis. teiie eines es 12.80} 12.32] 69.48] 5.90 .50 White Wheat, New Jersey ............ 11.55] 12.60} 66.85} 8.50 .50 eansyivania Wheat. ..0. 0b. oe ke vee 11.90} 13.16] 66.20} 7.25 AYES) ditto MUODKOM gi Occ mines By, oho's 6: 13.35 | 12.73] 66.90| 6.50 02 ditto ditto (2nd grinding) .. | 13.35] 14.72 71,28 65 Pelham Wheat, Ulster Co., N. Y. ...... 10.79 | 13.17] 67.74| 7.60 70 ‘seure Genesce” Wheat ....5....... lool 01 LOS 75.20 55 Perm RE ee Bo hs ba ale ot 12.85| 12.25 73.90 1.90 Oma Wheat, “superfine”: ...5........ 13.00} 9.10 77.80 .10 Metres Wireat, O10. 2s. ivan ones « 13.10} 11.56 | 66.84| 7.90 .60 ditto ditto (2nd grinding) .... | 13.05] 12.69 3.61 65 Michigan Wheat, “superfine” ........ 13.25 | 11.10 74.80 85 Mngrirm NViheat ssi ews «see Charcoal may be regarded as a fair representative of carbon, and water as the representative of both oxygen and hydrogen. It will be seen by the above figures, that over 95 per cent. of wheat is made up of elements which greatly abound in nature in an available condition; and the same is true of all other plants. It is doubtless owing to this circumstance, that a comparatively small quantity of guano and other highly concentrated fertilizers are able to produce crops five, ten, and fifty times greater than their own weight. Azote, or + bh Tins - STATISTICS OF WHEAT CULTURE. 245 nitrogen, in the form of ammonia, or nitric acid, (aqua fortis), and the incombustible part of plants are the elements which least abound in soils, and should be husbanded with the greatest care. The Hon. C. P. Holcomb, of Delaware, furnishes some interest- ing remarks on the wheat crop of the United States :— A short wheat crop in England, Mr. Webster says, atfects the exchanges of the civilized world. In the vast increase-of population in the absence of long wars and famines, the importance of this staple is constantly increasing. Its cultivation is the most attractive and pleasant of all descriptions of husbandry ; and its rewards are generally remunerating, when the soil and climate are fa- yorable, and the markets are not too distant. It is important to know what our relation is to this staple of the world, and what is, and what is likely to be, our contribution to the great aggregate of production. Beyond feeding our own great and rapidly increasing population, it probably will not soon, if ever, be very great. Itisa mistake, I apprehend, to suppose our country is naturally a great wheat-producing country. ‘The wheat district at present, in comparison to the whole exteut of our territory, is limited. It is confined, so far as any appreciable amount is grown, to about ten degrees of latitude and twenty degrees of longitude, and embracing about one half the number of the States. The crop of 1848 is estimated by the Commissioner of Patents at one hundred and twenty-six millions, and our population at twenty- two millions. This gives a less number of bushels, per head, to our population than the consumption of Great Britain, which is generally set down at one hundred and sixty millions, or six bushels to each inhabitant. But with us Indian corn is a great substitute ; so are potatoes and oats in Ireland and Scot- land. Still our consumption of wheat, including the black population, is un- doubtedly less, per head, than theirs. But in the absence of any certain data, to ascertain either the actual production, or our consumption, our only safe course is to take the actual excess, or the amount exported, after supplying our own wants. This, for the fiscal year 1848, being the crop of 1847, amounted, in flour and wheat, to twelve millions two hundred and ninety-four thousand one hundred and seventy-five bushels, although Mr. Burke’s figures would show a surplus of some forty millions! That there was not, and never has been any such surplus in the country is very evident, for the foreign demand was all the time good, and drew away all we had to part with. The crop of 1848 was, undoubtedly, one of the best and largest we have ever grown; yet I have ascertained, by applicationat the registrar’s office, that the exports for the fiscal year 1842, amounted in wheat to but 1,527,534 bushels, and in flour to 2,108,013 barrels, or less by 226,676 bushels than the exports of 1848. Twelve millions is comparatively a small surplus in a favorable season, for a country with a population of twenty-two millions of inhabitants. The loss of a small per cent. in an unfavorable season would at once sink this excess. Let us now notice more in detail the different sections of our country as adapted to the growth of wheat. The New England States, some of them aided in their recent enterprises by bounties offered by the state governments, have failed to insure such success as is likely to encourage them to continue the culture of wheat; or, at all events, to induce them to aim at increasing their product to any considerable extent, since, as one of their own farmers candidly states, “‘the attempt to grow a crop of wheat is an experiment.” The States south of North Carolina, and inclusive of a part of Delaware, have never heretofore succeeded in growing wheat to any considerable extent, though there were periods in their history—before the general introduction of the cul- ture of cotton—when, if it had been practicable to make the cereal one of their staples, they would certainly have done so. Besides the common dangers from rust and blight, the fly, and sometimes the frost—as the past season—they have a most formidable enemy in the weevil. In Upper Georgia, in the Cherokee country in particular, wheat will probably be cultivated to some extent, and a limited cultivation of it by the planters for their own use will probably con- tinue in several of the southern states. But the cotton, ricc, and sugar states, like the manufacturing states of New England, will not soon, if ever, add much 246 STATISTICS OF WHEAT CULTURE. to the supply of wheat; the rich staples of the former, and the varied husban- dry and grazing of the latter, suited to supply the immediate wants of a manu- facturing population, will be likely to receive their attention in preference. Kentucky and Tennessee, though their agricultural history dates back beyond the settlement of the north-western states, have already been out- stripped by at least two of them. In neither of these states has the culture of wheat ever been put forward, and regarded as one of their best staples, or-as very favorably adapted to their soil and climate. Still, notwithstanding the formidable danger from rust, the production of Tennessee is estimated to be equal to nine bushels to each person, and Kentucky about seven and a half bushels. Missouri may be classed with Kentucky and Tennessee, which she much resembles in soil, climate, and productions, except that she raises much less wheat than either, her crop being placed by the Commissioner of Patents at only two millions, or less than four bushels to each resident of the state. But, besides that the ex- perience of the past discourages the idea that these fine states are likely to become great wheat-producing states, the fact that the staple of cotton may be cultivated over a considerable portion of one of them, and that hemp and tobacco are among the valuable products of the other two; that Tennessee is the very largest corn-producing state in the Union, showing her soil and climate are par- ticularly adapted to this description of grain, andthat Kentucky and Missouri are unsurpassed as grazing countries, and there is little ground to suppose that any change in their husbandry will very greatly or suddenly augment the pro- duction of wheat. Let us come now to the States of Indiana, Illinois, Wiscon- sin, and Iowa, and that fabulows wheat district or territory to the west of these again, from which, according to the vaticinations of some, may be drawn sup- plies of wheat to feed the population of both Europe and America, or fill ware- houses that would sustain our people through a longer famine than that which afflicted the people of Egypt! I cannot help thinking that, to some extent, this generally fertile district of country has, so far as the preduction of wheat is concerned, been ‘‘ shouted forth in acelamations hyperbolical.” My own im- pression in regard to it is, including the states last named, derived in part from observation, from intercourse and correspondence with intelligent agriculturists of these states, and from a careful examination of a geological survey of two of them, that the soil and climate of this whole district of country are ot particu- larly favorable to the production of wheat. The popular idea I know to be otherwise. [fam not going to dwell upon it, or to examine the subject at any length. There is a single remark that may help to explain the reputation that has gone abroad in reterence to the wheat-producing qualities of these lands. The prairie sod, when first broken up, generally produces wheat well, often most abundantly, provided it escapes the rust, insect, &e. But, when this ground has been rauch furrowed, becomes completely pulverized by exposure to the at- mosphere, the light and friable mould, of which most of it is composed, drenched, as a good deal of it is, at times, with surface water, fails to hold or sustain the roots of the plant, it is thrown out, or winter-killed ; and ‘* winter- killed,” ‘‘ winter-killed,” ‘‘ winter-killed,’”’ we all know, is among the catalogue of disasters that almost annually reach us. Sometimes, when escaping the winter, the high winds of spring blow this light soil from the roots, exposing them to such an extent, that, in a dry time in particular, the wheat often pe- rishes. When breaking up fresh prairies, there was much encouragement and promise of hope, but which, I believe, has not been, nor is likely to be, realized By wor husbandmen, in the degree that early experiments induced them to ook for. As appears by the last report of the Commissioner of Patents, the crop of Il- linois, in reference to population and production, is below that of Kentucky, and both Indiana and Illinois are below that of Tennessee. The crop of Indiana is set down at 8,500,000, her population at 1,000,000, or equal to 83 bushels a-head. The production of Illinois is stated at 5,400,000, her population at 800,000, or less than seven bushels to each inhabitant--and both these ‘‘fair and fertile plains” are still farther behind the old ‘‘ battered moors” of Maryland and Vir- nia. ater of their wheat, too, is spring wheat, sown often on land where the fall crop had winter-killed, increasing the number of bushels much more than the STATISTICS OF WHEAT CULTURE. 247. value ofthe crop. I have heard it estimated that full one-third of all the wheat shipped from Chicago was of this description. Chicago is their great wheat depot. Several millions of bushels are shipped from this point, the contributions From parts of three States, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Llinois ; and which con- centration of their joint product at this new western city, or something else, seems to have imparted to each and all these states the reputation of great wheat-growing states, though they are, in fact, with the advantage of a virgin soil, behind several of the western states, and two at least of the eastern or Atlantic States. The geological explorations of the Hon. Robert Dale Owen, undertaken under the authority of Congress, throws much light on the character of the soil of Wisconsin and Iowa, and the description given undoubtedly cha- racterizes much of that 1egion of country. The specific gravity of the soil, Mr. Owen states to be remarkably /ight; but what he represents to be a “striking feature in the character of the Iowa aud Wisconsin soils, is the entire absence, in the most of the specimens of clay, and in a large proportion of silex.’ Again, he speaks of their being particularly adapted to the growth of the sugar-beet, which he truly says, ‘ flourishes best in a loose fertile mould.’’ Again, he de- tected no phosphates; but they might be there, as the virgin soil produced good wheat. Sodoés the virgin soil of most of the prairie land.—‘‘ The soil was rich in geine,’”’ &c. ButI submit that this does not describe a wheat soil, hardly in any one particular. Liebig tells us, that ‘‘ however great the proportion of humus in a soil, it does not necessarily follow it will produce wheat’’—and cites the country of Brazil. Again, he adds, ‘‘ how does it happen that wheat does not flourish on a sandy soil (which much of the soil of these states is described to be), and that a cal- careous soil is also unsuitable to its growth, unless it be mixed with a consider- able quantity of clay >” The late Mr. Colman, in his European Agriculture, states, that ‘the soil preferred for wheat (in England) is a strong soil with a large proportion of clay. But the question after all is, not whether these States cannot grow wheat, and in comparatively large quantities, for we know that while their lands are fresh, they can and do—but whether, considering the hazard of the crop from winter-killing, the rust, the fly—the risk from the two former being equal to a large per cent. premium of insurance, they are not likely to find their interest in grazing, in raising and feeding stock, instead of attempting to extend their wheat husbandry. Lord Brougham has said, that grazing countries are always the most prosperous, and their population the most contented and happy. The meat markets of Great Britain are likely to prove better and more stable for us, than their grain markets. The Hon. Henry L. Ellsworth, a distinguished citizen, and large farmer of Indiana—distinguished throughout the Union for his zeal in the cause of agriculture—thus expresses himself on this subject: ‘‘ After a full consideration of the subject, I am satisfied that stock-raising at the West is much more profitable than raising grain. Indeed, an examination of the north-western States shows a vast difference in the wealth of the grazier over those who crop with grain. The profits of wheat appear well in expectation on paper, but the prospect is blasted by a severe winter, appearance of insects, bad weather in harvesting, in threshing, for there are but few barns at the West, or transporting to market, or last, a fluctuation in the market itself.” Such is the opinion of Mr, Ellsworth, the result of observation and experience, himself largely interested in ascertaining the safest and surest course to be pursued. The destiny he has indicated for this beautiful fertile region of country, will undoubtedly be fulfilled; it will become a great pastoral, stock- raising, and stock-feeding country. Ohio stands now, as she did at the census of 18490, at the head of all the wheat States, in the aggregate of production; her crop of 1848 being estimated at 20,000,000, which is about equal to 105 bushels per head of her population. The geological survey of this State, and the character of the soil, as described in the Reports of the Board of Agriculture, in a large range of her counties, a: a “clayey soil,” ‘clayey loam,” ‘ clay subsoil,’ &c., shows Ohio to possess a fine natural wheat soil, if indeed, after thirty years of a generally successful wheat husbandry, such additional testimony or confirmation was necessary. 248 STATISTICS OF WHEAT CULTURE. Michigan has also been successful in the cultivation of wheat. Her burr- oak openings are unsurpassed in producing wheat. They are intervening ridges between low grounds, or marshes and bodies of water, and their location not generally considered very healthy. A doubt has also been suggested as to whether this soil, being a clayey loam, resting on a sandy and gravelly subsoil, is likely to wear as well as some other portions of the fertile soil of the State. The Commissioner of Patents puts her crop for 1848 at 10,000,000 of bushels, which is equal to 235 bushels to each inhabitant! By the census of 1840, the population cf Michigan was 212,267 ; number of bushels of wheat, 2,157,108. Her population in 1848 is estimated at 412.000. While she has barely doubled her population, she has, according to the above estimate, more than quadrupled her production of wheat—increased it at the rate of about one million bushels a year for eight consecutive years, making the quantity she grows to each head of her population more than double that of any State in the Union. We can at least say, and appeal to the past history of the country to show it, that for a period of more than one hundred years, the supply of the Atlantic wheat States has generally been constant, and for the most part abundant. They have furnished the ‘staff of life” to several generations of men, and cotemporary with it, an annual amount for export, that materially assisted in regulating the exchanges of the country. England requires for her own consumption, upon the average of years, somewhere about 32,000,000 bushels of wheat more than she produces. The average annual entries of foreign wheat for consumption in the United Kingdom, for the sixteen years ending with 1845, were about nine and ahalf million bushels. Inasmuch as the average number of acres in-wheat crop were in 1846 about 4,600,000, the average produce 142,200,000 bushels, or over 30 bushels to the acre—an improvement in the harvest to the extent of two bushels per acre, will destroy the demand, and a deficiency to that extent will doubleit. Now as there is an avail- able surplus at the neighbouring ports in Europe, in the Baltic and the Black Sea, of about 18,000,000 of bushels only, whenever there is a demand for home consumption, for, say 20,000,000 bushels, as was the case in each of the five years from 1888 to 1843, larger shipmentsfrom America will take place ; but whenever there are good harvests,as in the six years from 1831 to 1837, in which the deficiency only ranged from 230,000 to 1,000,000 bushels, the trade is not worth notice. It must be remarked, however, that in a country like Britain, where capital is abundant, consumption great, speculation rife, the harvest so uncertain, and the stake so great that a cloudy day transfers thousands from one broker to another, the importation cannot be closely assimilated to tl actual wants of the country. The ordinary yield of grain in t United Kingdom after deductions for seed, is about 400,000,000 bushels, and as nearly 100,000,000 bushels of grain and meal were imported in 1847, there must have been a general deficiency of nearly twenty-five per cent. In the ‘Statistics of the British Empire,”’ the average extent of land under grain culture, &c., in 1840, was estimated as follows :— ENGLAND AND WALES. Produce per Acre. Total Produce. Wheat . -. 3,800,900 35 quarters. 12,350,000 Barley and rye. 900,900 7) 3,600,C00 Oats and beans. 3,000,900 4 a 13,500,000 Whit STATISTICS OF WHEAT CULTURE. 249 SCOTLAND. Wheat . . 220,000 ae 660,000 Barley . . 280,000 gue 980,000 Oats . . 1,275,000 4p, 5,737,500 In Scotland, ten years ago, 150,000 acres were reckoned to be under cultivation with wheat, 300,000 with barley, and 1,300,000 with oats, which is the great crop and chief food of the people. Mr. Braithwaite Poole, in his “ Statistics of British Commerce,”’ 1852, states—“ The annuai average production of all sorts of corn in the United Kingdom has been estimated by competent parties at rather more than 60,000,000 quarters, and £80,000,000 in value; but in the absence of general official returns, we cannot vouch for its accuracy, although, from various comparisons, there are reasonable grounds for assuming this calculation to be as nearly correct as possible. Some persons in the corn trade imagine the aggregate production to approach almost 80,000,000 quarters; but I cannot find any data extant to warrant such an extended assumption.” The estimated produce of wheat, in quarters, and acreage, he states as follows :— Quarters. Acreage. England , ; . 15,200,000 3,800,000 Treland : ; 1,800,000 600,000 Scotland : : 1,225,000 350,000 Total... .15,225,000 4,750,000 The average price of wheat per quarter in the last thirteen years, in England and Wales, has been as follows :-— Ss. +d S.. + de 1840 : y= 66... 4 1847 : 1 69 3-9 1841 ‘ G4" 4 1848 ; 0) 1842 : aso *e 1849 : Ades 1843 : maou. Lt 1850 , » 40.4 1844 : SOs: 1851 ; oo 7h 1845 : . FOU) LO 1852 © - ~. 41. 0 1846 ; PRO -O The best wheat, as well as the greatest quantity, is raised in the midland counties. From two and a half to three Winchester bushels per acre are required for seed, and the average produce varies from twenty-two to thirty-two bushels per acre. THE CONTINENT. The quantity of wheat raised in France in 1835 was 71,697,484 hectolitres, of which eleven millions was required for seed. The average produce per hectare was stated at thirteen and a half hectolitres. The total grain and pulse raised in that year was set down at 204,165,194 hectolitres. 250 STATISTICS OF WHEAT CULTURE. Hectolitres. Maslin ‘ : ‘ : 12,281,020 Barley : : . : 18,184,316 Rye be 32,999,950 Buckwheat : : ; 5,175,933 Maize and Millet : : ; 6,951,179 Oats ; é : 49,460,057 Peas and Beans : : : 3,318,691 Oats, next to wheat is the largest crop grown in France, for the support of two million horses and three and a half million mules and asses. According to the ‘‘ Annuaire de l’Economie Politique de la Sta- tistique,”’ there were 13,900,000 hectares (each about 23 acres) under cultivation with the cereals in France. The primary article of consumption is wheat. At the rate of three hectolitres (1 qr. ¢ bush.) to each individual, every family would require thirteen to fourteen hectolitres, costing 210 to 280 francs (£8 15s. to £11 10s.) according as the price varies, be- tween its present value fifteen francs, and its occasional ‘cost twenty francs. In the reign of Louis XVI, Arthur Young re- ferred with horror to the black bread eaten by the French. Since that time half a century has passed, and whilst the agricultural produce in France has tripled in value, the labourers who produce it continue, from custom and necessity, to eat a detestable bread made from rye, barley, or peas and potatoes; and, to make the matter still worse, it is badly baked, without yeast, and being sometimes kept for weeks, it becomes covered with mould, and altogether presents an appearance enough to turn the stomach of a savage. According to Mr. Mc Gregor’s estimate some ten or twelve years ago, the land under wheat culture was 13,808,171 acres, producing 191,000,000 bushels; and 11,715 acres with spelt, or red wheat, the ‘yield of which was 374, 000 bushels. The other crops were— Acres. Crops, bushels. Maslin 2,251,438 32,000,000 yer. 6,369,879 76,000,000 Batley 2,936,453 45,000,000 Oats 7,416,297 134,000,000 Maize 1,561,372 20,000,000 - Wheat and oats are grown all over Russia, which is the greatest corn land in the world. In Austrian Italy the yield of grain has been reckoned at three million guarters, but this seems rather low. this is maize and rye, and a quarter wheat. It is reckoned that eight million quarters of grain are raised yearly in Denmark, but this seems doubtful. million quarters of. grain, kingdom. however, About one-half of In 18389, a were shipped from that STATISTICS OF WHEAT CULTURE. 251 BRITISH AMERICAN PROVINCES. According to the census return of 1852, the number of acres under grain crops, and the produce in Canada, were as follows :— Lower Canada—Produce. Upper Canada—Produce. Acres. Bushels. Acres. Bushels. Wheat 427,111 3,075,868 782,115 12,692,852 Barley 42,927 668,626 ef 29,916 625,875 Rye 46,007 341,443 oe 38,968 479,651 Oats 540,422 8,967,594 421,684 11,193,844 Buck wheat 51,781 530,417 44,265 639,381 Maize 22,669 400,287 70,571 1,666,513 Flour may be valued at 21s. the barrel. The grain crops*in Lower Canada are taken in the minot, and not in the bushel, except in the townships. In like manner, the acres are taken in arpents. An arpent is about one-seventh less than an acre; and a minot about one-eighth (some say one- twelfth) more than a bushel. During the years 1850-1, Western Canada exported upwards of two million barrels of flour, and three million bushels of wheat, being equivalent. to 13,600,000 bushels of wheat. The value of the wheat and flour exported in 1851 was £404,033. Canadian flour, like that of Genessee, is of very superior quality. WHEAT.—UPPER CANADA, Bushels. To each inhabitant. Wheat crop of 1841 was 3,221,991 or 6.60 Do. 1847 7,558,773. 10:45 Do. 1849 9,706,082 ,, 12:08 Mo, 1851 12,692,852 ,, 13°33 The quantity of land under wheat in Upper Canada was 782,115 acres, showing a yield of about sixteen and three quarter bushels to the acre. ‘The wheat produced in 1852 was valued at nearly two million pounds sterling. LOWER CANADA. Minots. Wheat crop in 1843 was 942,835 or 1°36 Do. 18651 3,070,868) a8 3-46 UNITED STATES. Bushels. Wheat crop in 1839 was ; . 84,832,272 or 4°96 Estimated by patent office 1847 114,245,500 53 5°50 Crop of wheat 1849 100,684,627 o 4°33 In order, however, to institute a fairer comparison, I will divide the States into three classes, viz.:—Ist. States growing over six million bushels. Bushels. Population. Bush. per head. Pennsylvania 15,367,691 2,311,736 6°65 Ohio . 14,487,351 1,980,408 7-32 New York 13,131,498 4,148 182 3:16 Virginia 11,232,616 1,421,661 7°90 Tllinois 9,414,575 851,471 11°06 Indiana 6,214,458 988,416 6°28 Total.... 69,847,189 11,701,924 5-97 252, STATISTICS OF WHEAT CULTURE. 2nd. States growing over one million and less than six mil- lion bushels. Bushels. Population. Bush. per head. Michigan . 4,925,889 397,654 12°39 Winconsin : : 4,286,131 305,191 14:04 Maryland : : 4,494,681 083,081 CT Missouri . .. 2,981,652 682,043 4-38 Kentucky : : 2,140,822 982,405 2°15 N. Carolina. ; 2,130,102 868,903 2°45 Tennessee : > ..1,619;3881 1,002,525 1°61 New Jersey. : 1,601,190 481,555 3°27 Towa . 1,530,581 192,214 7:96 Georgia . :1,088,534 905,999 1:21 South Carolina : 1,066,277 668,507 1:60 Total. ...27,865,240 7,078,131 3-93 3rd. The remaining States and territories. 2,791,470 4,466,246 0°63 Total wheat crop in the United States, 100,503,899 bushels. Population, 23,246,301. Bushels per head, 4°33. Increase :—U. States, 1839 , 3 84,823,272 bushels 5 1849 : : 100,503,896 _,, 15,680,627 Or 18°49 per cent. in ten years. Upper Canada, 1841 : . 3,221 991. , 1851 : 12,692,825 __;, 9,470,861 Or nearly quadrupling itself in ten years. Bushels. Population. Bush. per head. Pr. Ed. Island, 1847 219,787 62,678 3°00 Newfoundland, 1850 297,157 276,117 1:08 New Brunswick, 1850 206,635 193,800 1:06 The Eastern States in 1849 raised 1,090,896 bushels. Popu- lation 2,668,106, or 0°41 each. The population of Upper Canada is 952,904, and allowing five bushels for each, 4,760,020 bushels; and for seed at one anda half bushels per acre 1,173,173. bushels = 5,933,193 ; leaves for export 6,761,668 bushels. More than sufficient to supply the consump- tion of the whole of the Eastern States. Were the population of Lower Canada to consume flour at the given rate, it would require— Bushels. 890,261 at five bushels each . - : . 4,451,305 Seed . : : ; : : 640,000 5,091,305 Grown : : : : : . 38,075,868 2,015,437 Leaving a surplus of wheat in Canada 4,746,231 bushels, or at four and a half bushels for each, equal to 1,054,718 barrels of flour. ; STATISTICS OF WHEAT CULTURE. 253 Professor Johnston in his report on New Brunswick, furnishes some valuable information as to the produce there. The following table of average weights indicates a capacity in the soil and climate to produce grain of a very superior quality :— COUNTIES. Wheat.|Barley.] Oats. | Rye. | yucky Maize. Saint John - . ; moe Or — 4] — 50 — Westmoreland . ° : sh OO 48 353 | — 48 59 aire, Cs | 5B | 60. | 842 | 60 | Ae Charlotte . : : 5 Ae 58) 45 38 — 57 59 King’s - : - . : 593 48 37 — 48 60 eee | CSE 50 | «886k | 653° | 48 | Gl Sunbury . : : : oO 55 38 53 47 57 York : : : : : 63 50 38 — b1 60 Carleton . ; - : .| 64 — 38 — 52 65 Kent : : : 3 12) 63 — 37 — 50 — Northumberland : ie 62 53 37 — 45 57 Gloucester : : : wily O9 51 39 — ans <= Restigouche . : : ie oo 48 42 — — a= The general average weights for the whole Province are, for Wheat : : : 60 11-18 lbs. Barley é : : 50 a Oats : : ; 38 Rye 5 : 525 a Buckwheat : 48 8-11 ,, Indian'Corn . : ; 594 i Potatoes : : : 63 on Turnips : ‘ ; 66 “n Carrots : : ; 63 <3 The annexed statement shows not only the average yield per acre of each description of crop, but affords an opportunity of contrasting it with the like products in the State of New York :— AVERAGE PRODUCE PER IMPERIAL ACRE. g New Brunswick. State of New York. Bushels. Bushels. Wheat ; “ 20 : 3 14 Barley : : 29 ; ; 16 Oats : ; 34 i ; 26 Rye : ; 205 : . oF Buckwheat ; ‘ 332 ; ; 14 Indian Corn . A 412 : . 25 Potatoes . 5 ORAS 2 4 90 Turnips ; . 460 : : 88 Hay . : 12 : ; — A possibility of errer in striking the averages is suggested in the report ; and to guard against it the following statement of the averages derived from the minimum returns is given, viz. :—Wheat 172 bushels; Barley, 27; Oats, 33; Buckwheat, 28; Rye, 18; Indian Corn, 364; Potatoes, 204; Turnips, 389. The diminished averages scarcely affect the question of productiveness, as in every particular they exceed the averages for the favored Genesee Valley and the southern shores of Lake Ontario. While the productiveness of the soil is thus proven by the statements of most experienced farmers, the ayerage prices appear to be equally favorable to 254 STATISTICS OF WHEAT CULTURE. the Provincial growers. The following tables of averages set this in a clear point of view :— AVERAGE PRICES OF GRAIN PER BUSHEL AND PER QUARTER, Per Bushel. Per Quarter. Wheat a 7s. 6d. Bi 60s. Od. Barley 2 4 235 sie 383 8 Oats ae 20) ae 16: 20 Rye re 410 x 38 § Buckwheat a o 9 a 30 0 Indian Corn pe 4 8 ae 37. (4 ROOT CROPS AND HAY. Potatoes as : 1s. 11d. per bushel. Turnips bis BS Lae 3 Eng. Hay se .. 49 0 per ton Carrots i ae 2 5 - per bushel. Man. Wurtzel : ae 2— 1 5 Marsh Hay - -. 20> 0:25 per ton: AVSRAGE MONEY VALUE OF AN ACRE OF EACH CROP. New Brunswick. Canada West. State of Ohio. Wheat SPab6 loa O SS ED 4 wes . US BD eo ee Barley 4 §-138.2-74 1-19: 45>: 544 25h 0 Oats F Gin 3: 16 Pe) 4, Pie LO Rye eae 0 1 5103. eee leet Buckwheat : 5 5 0 3.20 nO ae ae Tid6) 3s Indian Corn 810 4 2°14 4 ee Mid dus () Potatoes LOMO 6°76 0 snl eit Oy 20) = On a review of the foregoing and other tables, Professor John- ston has drawn the following conclusions :— ‘That grain and roots generally can be raised more cheaply in the Province of New Brunswick than in New York, Ohio, or Upper Canada; and that the Province ought to be able to compete with those countries and drive them from its home markets.” Such are the deductions of a skilful and scientific, practical and theoretical agriculturist, from the statements furnished by the most enterprising and successful of our colonists.. Never- theless, I cannot conceal a doubt whether all the elements of comparison have been duly weighed. The result, especially as regards wheat, is so contrary to pre-conceived opinions, that further investigations should be made. Is it not possible that, while an equality of expense in preparing the land for a wheat crop appears to have been assumed, the great care and expense necessary in New Brunswick to prepare the land, and an occa- sional succession of minimum returns would, to a very con- siderable extent, account for the supposed discrepancy ? Wheat has, from time immemorial, been a staple crop in the plains of Northern India, and especially in the Punjaub. The climate and soil are well fitted for this cereal, but owing to defects and carelessness in the agriculture and harvesting, the crops, though excellent, fall short of what most corn-growing. countries produce. Further—owing to foul boats and granaries, and to the moist heat of the months immediately succeeding BARLEY. 255 harvest, the wheat reaches England in a state too dirty and weevelled for market. The hard wheat is preferred by the natives in India to the soft, probably for no better cause than that the hardness of the grain more closely resembles their favorite food, rice. BARLEY. Oats, rye and barley, are the staple crops of northern and moun- tamous Hurope and Asia. In England barley is grown principally in the eastern and some of the midland counties, and chiefly for malting. Jtis most extensively cultivated in the Himalaya and Thibet, replacing in many districts the wheat, and producing an admirable flour. Since the establishment of the studs at Buxar, Ghazepore, &c., oats have been extensively cultivated. It is a winter crop. Although believed to have been indigenous to the countries bordering on the torrid zone, this grain possesses the remarkable flexibility of maturing in favorable seasons and situations on the eastern continent as far north as 70 deg., and flourishes well in lat. 42 deg. south. Along the Atlantic side of the continent of America, its growth is restricted to the tract lying between the 30th and 50th parallels of north latitude, and between 30 and 40 deg. south. Near the westerly coast, its range lies principally between latitude 20 and 62 deg. north. The barley chiefly cul- tivated in the United States is the two-rowed variety which is generally preferred from the fulness of its grain and its freedom from smut. Barley has never been much imported from that country, as the Americans have been rather consumers than pro- ducers. The consumption of barley there in 1850 in the manu- facture of malt and spirituous liquors amounted to 3,780,000 bushels, and according to the census returns, the quantity of barley raised was 4,161,504 bushels in 1840, and 5,167,213 bushels in 1850. In this country barley is extensively used for malting, dis- tilling, and making beer; large quantities are consumed in Scot- land, or carried into England. In Prussia, about ten and a half million hectolitres of barley are annually raised. In the Canary Isles, about 354,000 bushels are annually exported. In Van Diemen’s Land in 1844, 174,405 bushels of barley were grown on 12,466 acres. The quantity of barley made into malt in the United Kingdom in the year ending 10th October, 1850, was 5,183,617 quarters, of which about four million quarters were used by 8,500 maltsters. The quantity of malt charged with duty in the year ending 5th January, 1851, was 636,641 tons; the average price per quar- ter, 26s. 2d. Barley is at present extensively cultivated in the temperate districts and islands of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. In Spain, Sicily, the Canaries, Azores and Madeira, two crops are 256 BARLEY. produced in a year. In North America its growth is principally confined to Mexico, the middle, western, and northern States of the Union, and to the British North American provinces. The introduction of barley mto the American colonies may be traced back to the period of their settlement. By the year 1648 it was raised in abundance in Virginia, but soon after its culture was suffered to decline, in consequence of the more profitable and increased production of tobacco. It has also been sparingly cultivated in the regions of the middle and northern States for malting and distillation, and has been employed, after being malted, as a substitute for rice. Barley, like wheat, has been cultivated in Syria and Egypt for more than 8,000 years, and it was not until after the Romans adopted the use of wheaten bread, that they fed their stock with this grain. Itis evidently a native of a warm climate, as itis known to be the most productive in a mild season, and will grow within the tropics at an elevation of 3,000 to 4,000 feet above the level of the sea. Itis one of the staple crops of northern and mountainous Europe and Asia. It is the corn that, next to rice, gives the greatest weight of flour per acre, and it may be eaten with no other preparation than that of boiling. It requires little or no dressing when it is sent to the mill, having no husk, and consequently produces no bran. In this country barley is chiefly used for malting and distilling purposes. In the year 1850, 40,745,050 bushels of malt paid duty, the number of maltsters in the United Kingdom being from 8,000 to 9,000. About one and a half million quarters of barley were imported in 1849, and a little over a million quarters in 1850, principally from Denmark and Prussia. The counties in England where this grain is chiefly cultivated are Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, Bedford, Herts, Lei- cester, and Nottingham. The produce of barley on land well pre- pared, is from thirty to fifty bushels or more per statute acre, weighing from 45 to 55 lbs. per bushel, according to quality. It is said to contain 65 per cent. of nutritive matter, while wheat contains 78 per cent. The estimated average produce of barley in this country may be stated as follows :— Acres. Cro Ruelind to. epee 1,500,000 235.32 6,375,000 Treland. 2, oss ciao S20 0000). mice 1,120,000 Stotland?’. 7) peas A5O000! 2 ne 1,800,000 2,270,000 9,295,000 The average produce per acre, in the United Kingdom, is 44 quarters in England, 33 in Ireland, and 4 in Scotland. The prices of barley per quarter have ranged, in England, from 386s. 5d. in 1840, to 27s. 6d. in 1842. In 1847 barley reached 44s. 2d., and gradually declined to 23s. 5d.in 1850. 257 OATS. Oars are principally in demand for horses, and the extraordinary increase of the latter has occasioned a proportional increase in the culture of oats. They are grown more especially in the north and north-eastern counties; in the midland counties their culture is less extensive, but it is prevalent throughout most parts of Wales. Nearly twice as much oats as wheat is raised in the United Kingdom, but the proportion grown in Scotland is not so large as is supposed. The following is a fair estimate of the compara- tive production :— Acres. Produce. LO re 22000000) 5 sie 501s 12,500,000 “5 ap ep 5:500,000° .... 11,500,000 mumlardu sc... sees 15800;,000 65. F 6,500,000 Mates oe datos. 1B: 100000" faeerracae 30,500,000 We import annually about i; million quarters from foreign countries and nearly three-fourths of a million quarters from Ire- Jand. The average produce per acre throughout the kingdom is five quarters. The price within the last 10 years has ranged from 28s. 7d. per quarter (the famine year) to 17s. 6d. The oat, when considered in connection with the artificial grasses, and the nourishment and improvement it affords to live stock, may be regarded as one of the most important crops produced. Its history is highly interesting, from the circumstance that in many portions of Europe it is formed into meal, and forms an important aliment for man; one sort, at least, has been cultivated from the days of Pliny, on account of its fitness as an article of diet for the sick. The country of its origin is some- what uncertain, though the most common variety is said to be indigenous to the Island of Juan Fernandez. Another oat, resembling the cultivated variety, is also found growing wild in California. : This plant was introduced into the North American Colonies soon after their settlement by the English. It was sown by Gosnold on the Elizabeth Islands in 1602; ecnltivated in New- foundland in 1622, and in Virginia, by Berkley, prior to 1648. The oat is a hardy grain, and is suited to climates too hot and too cold either for wheat or rye. Indeed, its flexibility is so great, that it is cultivated with success in Bengal as low as latitude twenty-five degrees North, but refuses to yield profitable crops as we approach the equator. It flourishes remarkably well, when due regard is paid to the selection of varieties, throughout the in- habited parts of Europe, the northern and central portions of Asia, Australia, Southern and Northern Africa, the cultivated regions of nearly all North America, and a large portion of South America. s 258 RYE. In the United States the growth of the oat is confined principally to the Middle, Western and Northern States. The varieties cultivated are the common white, the black, the grey, the imperial, the Hopetown, the Polish, the Egyptian, and the potato oat. The yield of the common varieties varies from forty to ninety bushels and upwards per acre, and weighing from twenty-five to fifty pounds to the bushel. The Egyptian oat is cultivated south of Tennessee, which after being sown in autumn, and fed off by stock in winter and spring, yields from ten to twenty bushels per acre. In the manufacture of malt and spirituous lquors oats enter but lightly, and their consumption for this purpose does not exceed 60,000 bushels annually in the United States. In 1840, Ireland exported 2,037,885 quarters of oats and oatmeal, but in 1846, on account of the dearth, the grain exports fell off completely. Most of the grain grown in Ireland requires to be kiln-dried, and is, therefore, of lower value. The oat, like rye, never has entered much into our foreign commerce, as the domestic consumption has always been nearly equal to the quantity produced. The annual average exports from the United States for several years preceding 1817, were 70,000 bushels. By the census returns of 1840, the total produce of the United States was 123,071,341 bushels ; of 1850, 146,678,879 bushels. In Prussia 48 million hectolitres of oats are annually raised. The quantity of oats imported into the United Kingdom, has been declining within the last few years. In 1849, we imported 1,267,106 quarters; in 1850, 1,154,473 im 1851, 1,209,844; in 1852, 995,479. In 1844, 221,105 bushels of oats were raised in Van Diemen’s Land on 13,864 acres. RYE. RyE (Secale cereale) is scarcely at all raised in this country for bread, except in Durham and Northumberland, where, however, it is usually mixed with wheat, and forms what is called “ maslin,”’ —a bread corn in considerable use in the north of Europe. Geographically rye and barley associate with one another, and grow upon soils the most analogous, and in situations alike exposed. It is cultivated for bread in Northern Asia, and all over the Con- tinent of Europe, particularly in Russia, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Holland; in the latter of which it is much employed in the manufacture of gin. It is also grown to some extent in England, Scotland and Wales. With us it is little used as an article of food compared with wheat and oats, though in the north of Europe and in Flanders it forms the principal article of human subsistence, but generally mixed with wheat, and sometimes, also with barley; 100 parts of the grain consist of 65°6 of meal, 24:2 of husk, and 10:2 of water. “The quantity of rye we import seldom reaches 100,000 quarters per annum. BUCKWHEAY. 259 The straw is solid, and the internal part, being filled with pitts is highly esteemed for Dunstable work, for thatching and litter, and it is also used to stuff horse collars. In Ireland there are 21,000 acres under culture with rye, pro- ducing 105,000 quarters. In North America rye is principally restricted to the Middle and Eastern States, but its culture is giving place to more profitable crops. a Bohemia, as in most parts of Germany, rye forms the principal crop, the product being about 3,250,000 quarters annually The three leading varieties cultivated in the United States are the spring, winter, and southern; the latter differing from the others only from dissimilarity of climate. The yield varies from 10 to 30 or more bushels per acre, weighing from 48 to 56 pounds to the bushel. The production of rye has decreased 4,457,000 bushels in the aggregate, but in New York it is greater by the last decennial census than in 1840, by abeut 40 per cent. Pennsylvania, which is the largest producer, has fallen off from 6,613. 373 to 4,805,160 bushels. Perhaps the general diminution in the quantity of this grain now produced may be accounted for, by supposing a corresponding decline in the demand for distilling purposes, to which a larger part of the crop is applied in New York. This grain has never entered largely into its foreign commerce, as the home consumption for a long period nearly kept pace with the supply. The amount exported from the United States in 1801, was 392,276 bushels; in 1812, 82,705 bushels; in 1818, 140,186 bushels. In 1820-1 there were exported 23,523 barrels of rye flour; in 1830-1, 19,100 barrels; in 1840-1 44,031; in 1845-6, 38,530 barrels; in 1846-7, 48,892 barrels; in 1880-1, 44,152 barrels. During the year ending June 1, 1850, there were con- sumed of rye about 2,144,000 bushels in the manufacture of malt and spirituous liquors. According to the American census returns of 1840, the product of the country was 18,645,567 bushels; in 18350, 14,188,637 bushels. Weimported 246,843 quarters of rye andrye meal, in 1849, equiva- lent to 49,368 tons ; but in 1850 the imports were only 94,078 quar- ters, and in 185i they were but 26,323 quarters. About 20,000 acres are under cultivation with rye in Ireland, the produce of which is 100,000 quarters. BUCK WHEAT. BuckwHeat belongs to the temperate and arctic climates, and is cultivated in Northern Europe, Asia, and America for the fari- naceous albumen of its seeds, which, when properly cooked, affords a delicious article or food to a large portion of the human race. It also serves as excellent fodder to milch cows, and the straw, when $s 2 260 MAIZE. cut green and converted into hay, and the ripened seeds, are food for cattle, poultry, and swine. It is raised most abundantly in Central Asia and the Himalaya. In the latter country the different varieties are grown at various elevations, between 4,000 and 12,000 feet. The finest samples exhibited in 1851 were from Canada, but some of excellent quality was also shown by the United States, Russia, and Belgium. The common variety grown in Europe is the Polygonum fagopyrum, and P. emarginatum is grown in China and the East. In this country the produce varies from 2 to 4 quarters per acre. The quantity of seed sown is 5 to 8 pecks the acre. Vauquelin found 100 parts of its straw to contain 29°5 of carbonate of potash, 3°8 of sulphate of potash, 17°5 of carbonate of lime, 13°5 of carbonate of magnesia, 16:2 of silica, 10°5 of alum, and 9 of water. | Tt is believed to be a native of Central Asia, as it is supposed to have been first brought to Europe in the early part of the twelfth century, at the time of the crusades for the recovery of Syria from the dominion of the Saracens; while others contend that it was introduced into Spain by the Moors, four hundred years before. - The cultivation of buckwheat, in one or other of its species, is principally confined to Great Britain, France, Switzerland, Italy, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Russia, China, Tartary, Japan, Algeria, Canada, and the middle and northern portions of the United States. In America from 30 to 45 bushels per acre may be considered as an average yield in favorable seasons and situations, but 60 or more bushels are not unfrequently produced. Accordiug to the census returns of 1840, the annual quantity raised in the United States was 7,291,748 bushels; of 1850, 8,950,916 bushels. The average annual imports of buckwheat into this country have not exceeded 1,000 quarters, until last year (1852), when they reached 8,085 quarters. A small quantity of the meal is also an- nually imported. MAIZE. Matze (Zea Mays), is the common well-known Indian corn forming one of the most important of the grain crops, and has a greater range of temperature than the other cereal grasses. It was found cultivated for food by the Indians of both North and South America, on the first discovery of that continent, and thence derived its popular name. Maize succeeds best in the hottest and dampest parts of tropical climates. It may be reared as far as 40 degrees north and south latitude on the American continent ; while in Europe it can grow even to 50 degrees or 52 degrees of latitude, some of the numerous varieties being hardy enough to ripen in the open air, im England and Ireland. It is now culti- bby St eee MAIZE. 261 vated in all regions in the tropical and temperate zones, which are colonized by Europeans. It is most largely grown, however, about the Republies bordering on the northern shores of South America, California, the United States and Canada, the West India islands and Guiana, on the coasts of the Mediterranean, and partially in India, Africa, and Australia. We see the singular fact in Mexico of land which, after perhaps thousands of years’ culture, is so little exhausted, that with avery little labor bestowed on it, a bad maize harvest will yield two hundredfold profit, while a good crop re- turns 600 fold. This grain adopts itself to almost every variety of climate, and is found growing luxuriantly in the low countries of tropical Mexico, and nearly equally well on the most elevated and coldest regions of the table-land; im the rich valleys of the Cordilleras or the Andes, and on the sandy heights of those mountains wherever a ruil of water can be brought to nourish its roots. In short, it ripens under the sun of America, in every part of both continents. Though wheat is characterised as the most nutritious food for man in all quarters of the world, vet the Indian corn crop of the United States is not second in value to any product of the earth ; cultivated in the middle and Eastern States, nay, even in the rich cotton-growing districts, Indian corn is fast rising in importance, and will soon equal in value that important commercial staple. This indigenous grain yields to the nation an annual average of five hundred millions of bushels, and has, within the last five years, attracted much attention as a life-sustaining food, more particu- larly at the period of Ireland’s severe suffermg, in 1847, and the following years. Nations, as well as statesmen and farmers, have found it an object worthy of their consideration and esteem. When due regard is paid to the selection of varieties, and culti- vated in a proper soil, maize may be accounted a sure crop in al- most every portion of the habitable globe, between the 44th de- gree of north latitude and a corresponding parallel south. Among the objects of culture in the United States, it takes precedence in the scale of cereal crops, as it is best adapted to the soil and cli- mate, and furnishes the largest amount of nutritive food. Besides its production in the North American Republic, its extensive culture is limited to Mexico, the West Indies, most of the States of South America, France, Spain, Portugal, Lombardy, and South- ern and Central Europe generally. It is, however, also cultivated with success in Northern, Southern, and Western Africa, India, China, Japan, Australia, and the Sandwich Islands, the groups of ae Azores, Madeira, the Canaries, and numerous other oceanic isles. Maize is not a favorite grain as bread-corn with the European nations, for although it abounds in mucilage, it is asserted to contain less gluten, and is not likely to be much used by those who can procure wheaten flour, or even rye bread. The large importations which were made by our Government during the prevalence of the potato disease, brought it into 262 MAIZE. more general use among some classes, and the imports for home consumption are still extensive, having been as follows im the last few years :-— 1848. 1849, Indian corn, quarters : 1,582,755 : 2,249,571 9 meal, cwts. : 233,880 : 102,181 1850. 1851. Indian corn, quarters : 1,286,264 E 1,810,425 > Meal, cwts. : 11,401 The trade im maize, or Indian corn, is totally new since 1846. The famine in Ireland in that year, and the potato rot in almost every successive year since, have now fully established it. Like the gold discoveries, the potato rot may be regarded as a provi- dential means of effecting a great change im the condition of society. Those discoveries are not without their influence in the East, and, combined with the potato rot, they have rapidly in- ereased the commerce between the Hast and West of Europe, while they are spreading broad paths between all Europe and the lands in the Southern Ocean. The imports of maize from all parts, in 1852, amounted to 1,550,000 quarters, of which about 1,100,000 quarters arrived in vessels from the Mediterranean, &c., calling at Queenstown or Falmouth for orders. The balance consisted of imports from America, France, Portugal, &c., and also of cargoes addressed direct to a port of discharge, without first calling off the coast for orders. The quantities received in 1851 and 1852 from the Mediterranean were as follows :-— 1852. 1851. Received from qrs. qrs. Galatz . . 293,000 . ~. ®S8e0G7 Ibraila : 362,600 : : 211,779 Salonica . : 35,640 : 2 95,377 Odessa : : 219,170 2 : 74,065 Boyt pee. 60;960- odes 86,260 Italy : 8,250 : : 162,544 Constantinople, Malta, Trieste, and other portsinthe Mediter- ranean . : 190,720 : : 286,358 1,090,340 1,202,450 The various quarters from whence we derive supplies of this grain, are shown in the following table of the imports for the last three years, which I have compiled from the most recent Parlia- mentary returns. MAIZE. _ 263 INDIAN CORN AND MEAL IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED KINGDOM. 1849, | 1850. 1851. PLACES. | Corn Meal. Corn. | Meal.} Corn. {Meal. | qr. cwts. qrs. cwts. qrs. cwts. Russian Ports in a | | Su | 25,519) 19,721 98,176 Denmark... 1,300| 250 5 imever:.- 4... 1,344) | eisai tt 67| Memieeoees .. tC 135,115) 510} 102,978 26| 164,128} 29 Portugal Proper... 61,446| 67,518 53} 12.999) Azores and Madeira .. 17,214 7 7,794 6| 4,356) 1 Spain and Bahama Is- lands .. .. ..{ 26,856 48] 19,982) 48) 34,771 Sardinian Territories. . 13,357) 25 2 1,302; 1 teem -. ... ... 11,481| 95, 15,612) 94] 34,760 Papal Territorie 8,927! 1,876 75,588 Naples and Sicily of 18) 10,066) 101,489 Austrian Territories .. | 90,540 45,748] 73,966 Malta and Gozo 18,198 4,969 11,002 Tonian Islands .. 5,390 7,324) 5,967 Greece 57,520 8,712 3,252 i | 12,767 71,808 127,692 Turkish dominions, in- | cluding Wallachia, | | yelsavia, and Syria | 563,799 re 748,180 ae Ct, 760) West Coast of Africa... | 839 2,322) B. N. A. Colonies 1,645) 164 1,530 4,377 7 U.S. of America .. | 1,170,154/ 100,859] 538,155] 11,253] 295,978}9,522 Brazil 1,253) 468) 726 Other places in. | 1,756 1 — —_—_ . 11,482| 1,807,636/9,561 2,225,459 101,683| 1,277,070 | (Parliamentary Paper, No. 14, Sess. 1852.) The many excellent properties of Indian corn, as a wholesome nutritious food, and the rich fodder obtained from the stalk and leaf for the nourishment of cattle, invite more earnest attention from the farmer and planter in the Colonies to its better and extended cultivation. Though the average quantity of grain from each acre in the United States is not more than thirty or forty bushels, yet it is known that with due care and labor 100 to 1380 bushels may be obtained. In feeding cattle little difference is discoverable between the effects of Indian corn meal and oil-cake meal; the preference rather preponderates in favor of the latter. Corn cobs, ground with the grain, have advocates, but this food is not relished, and swine decline it. 264 MAIZE. Indian corn contains about the same proportion of starch as oats (sixty per cent.), but is more fattening, as it contaims about nine or ten per cent. of oily or fatty ingredients. The following analysis of maize is given by Dr. Samuel David, of Massachusetts : — FLESH FORMING PRINCIPLES.® Gluten, albumen, and casein 12°60 | FAT FORMING PRINCIPLES. Gum, sugar, starch, woody abs, oil, &e. 77:09 Water : 9°00 Salts 1°31 100° Prof. Gorham, in “'Thomson’s Organic Chem.,”’ published in London in 1888, gives another analysis :— Fresh grain. Dried grain. Water . ° ° ° . 9°00 : Starch . : A : 77°00 84°60 Gluten . : 5 : - 3°00 3°30 Albumen : : 3 ; 2°50 2°74 Guim 5 >. : : : : 1°75 1:92 Sugar . ‘ : : : 1°45 1°60 Loss : : : 4 5°30 5°84 100: 100° Professor Johnston supplies a table, which, he says, exhibits the best approximate view we are yet able to give of the average pro- portion of starch and gluten contained in 100 lbs. of our common grain crops as they are met with in the market. From this table I extract the following :— Starch, gum, &e, Gluten, albumen, &e. Wheat flour. . ; é 55 lbs. 10 to 15 lbs. Oatsmer. : : : 65 ,, 18 lbs. Indiancorn. : : 10-3 12 ’ Beans . : : : 40 ,, 28 - 55 Peas... : : : o0- ss 24 ,, Potatoes : : a2 eS 235 The Professor remarks that the ease of oil is, in 100 Ibs. of Wheat flour . : 2 to 4 Oats ‘ é < 5 ,, 8 Indian corn “ . D5, 9 Beans and peas . ‘ ’ 23), 3 Potatoes ° 0 Maize is one of those plants in which potash preponderates, for analysis of its ashes gives the following proportions :— Salts of potash and soda ‘ 71:00 lime and magnesia 6°50 Silica : : 18°00 Loss : 4°50 ——— a 10Q- MAIZE. 265 Dr. Salisbury has also furnished the proximate analysis of five varieties of ripe maize or Indian corn :— Proportions. One hundred grains of each. Water. Dry. Golden Sioux corn, a bright, yellow, twelve-rowed : : : : 15°02 84:98 variety, frequently having fourteen rows Large eight-rowed yellow corn . - - 14°00 86°00 Small eight-rowed ditto : E : 14°03 85°97 White flint corn . : . : : 14:00 86-00 a ei corn, one of the largest varieties of } 14:50 85-50 COMPARATIVE ORGANIC ANALYSIS. | : | ‘ Ohio Small Large White Golden Dent 8-rowed Saoned Flint Corn. Corn, Corn. Corn. Starch . , 36°06 41°85 30°29 49:29 40°34 Gluten . 5°00 4°62 5°60 5°40 7°69 Oil 3°44 3°88 3°90 Bay | 4°68 Albumen : | 4:42 | 264 | 600 | 3:32 | 3:40 Casein . 1-977 | 1°32 222.0) "| 0°75 0°50 Dextrine | 230°]. 5°40 4°61 1:90 3-00 Fibre... Be i 18:50 21°36 26°80 11°96 18°01 Sugar and extract | 7°25 10°00 5°20 9°55 8:30 Water .. | 15°02 10°00 13°40 14:00 14:06 | Large quantities of starch are now made from this grain in Ohio; an establishment near Columbus consume 20,000 bushels of corn annually for this purpose. The offal of the grain is given to hogs, 500 to 600 head being annually fattened therewith. The quality of the starch is said to be superior to that of wheat, and conimands a higher price in New York. A corn plant, fifteen days after the seed was planted, cut on the ard June close to the ground, gave of— Water . ; : - : . 86.626 Dry matter . : : : - 10.374 Ash . : : : : - 1.354 Ash calculated dry . : : : - 13.053 By the above figures it will be seen that nearly 90 per cent. of the young plant is water ; and that in proportion to the dry matter, the amount of earthy mimerals which remain, as ash, when the plant is burnt, is large. This excess of water continues for many weeks. Thus, on the 5th July, thirty-three days from planting, the relations stood thus :— Water : Z : : : - IRS Dry matter . - - ; - Sy; pote Ash . : 7 : ; : =, 2f.dao Ash calculated dry . : : : . 14,101 (Ash very saline.) Before green succulent food of this character is fit to give to cows, oxen, mules, or horses, it should be partly dried. Plants that contain from 70 to 75 per cent. of water need no curing be- 266 MAIZE. fore eaten. The young stalk cut July 12, gave over 94 per cent. of water. Such food used for soiling without drying would be likely to scour an animal, and give it the cholic. | The root at this time (July 12) gave of— Water : : 2 81.026 Dry matter . : ; : : - 18.974 Ash . : ; : F , «2.222 Ash calculated dry . : : : ot Lee (Ash tastes of caustic potash.) Ash of the whole plant above ground, 6.77 grains. Amount of ash in all below ground, 3.98 grains. : So late as July 26, the proportion of water in the stalk was 94 per cent.; and the ash calculated dry 17.66 per cent. The plant gained 21.36.98 grains in weight in a week preceding the 6th September. This was equal to a gain of 12.72 grains per hour. The rapid growth of corn plants, when the heat, light, and moisture, as well as the soil are favorable, is truly wonderful. A deep, rich, mellow soil, in which the roots can freely extend to a great distance in depth and laterally, is what the corn-grower should provide for his crop. The perviousness of river bottoms contributes largely to their productiveness of this cereal. A com- act clay, which excludes alike air, water, and roots, forbidding all chemical changes, is not the soil for Indian corn. When farmers sell corn soon after it is ripe, there is conside- rable gain in not keeping it long to dry and shrink in weight. Corn grown by Mr. Salisbury, which was ripe by the 18th October, then contained 37 per cent. of water, which is 25 per cent. more than old corn from the crib will yield. The mean of many experi- ments tried by the writer has been a loss of 20 per cent. in mois- ture between new and old corn. The butts of cornstalks contain the most water, and husks or shucks the least, when fully matured and not dried. The latter have about 380 per cent. of dry matter when chemically desiccated. : COMPOSITION OF THE ASH OF THE LEAVES AT DIFFERENT STAGES. July 19. Aug. 2. Aug. 23. Aug. 30. Oct. 18. Carbonic acid.. 6.40 .. 2.850 |. 0:65 ~..) 3.50 eon, Siliciat eee. 13.50 .. 19.850 °.. 384.90 <2.) 36.27 7 ee mosou0 Sulphuric-acid. (2.16! .. (1996...) 4:92) V0) 28a eee Phosphates .... 21.60 .. 16/250 .:° 17.00 \.. 13,50) 923) 7@.850 IDibaiey Se ateo te 69... 4.086 .. 2.00 24 sealSSreeeaeO) Magnesia .... of) ws. «2.980... 159 5 Oe eee OFC Potash wc... DOS ee L610 | a LO Somme Oona 7.383 OOS gibawctoren ss 34.39: .. 29.580. ... 921523" 3) 22a ono Chlorine...... 4,55 .. 6.020 .. 3.06 .. 1.63. <. 2:664 Organic acids .. 5.50... 2.400 ...: 3.38 5.) 2ibRe ye 200 98:14 3. 97.750" 6s 98187 we (9988 moO The above figures disclose several interesting facts. It will be seen that the increase of silica or flint in the leaf is steadily pro- gressive from 13} per cent. at July 19, to 58.65 at October 18. MAIZE. 267 Flint is substantially the bone earth of all grasses. If one were to analyse the bones of a calf when a day old, again when thirty days of age, and when a year old, the increase of phosphate of lime in its skeleton would be similar to that witnessed in the leaves and stems of maize. In the early stages of the growth of corn, its leaves abound in phosphates; but after the seeds begin to form, the phosphates leave the tissues of the plant in other parts, and concentrate in and around the germs in the seeds. On the 23rd of August, the ash of the whole stalk contained 193 per cent. of phosphates ; and on the 18th of October, only 15.15 percent. In forming the cobs of this plant, considerable potash is drawn from the stalk, as it decreases from 35.54 per cent. August 16, to 24.69 October 18. When the plant is growing fastest, its roots yield an ash which contains less than one per cent. of lime; but after this development is nearly completed, the roots retain, or perhaps regain from the plant above, over 43 per cent. of this mineral. Soda figures as high as from 20 to 31 per cent. in the ash obtained from corn roots. Ripe seeds gave the following re- sults on the analysis of their ash :-— Silica ; : : : : . 0.850 Phosphoric acid ; : : ‘ . 49,210 Lime ; . : ; ; 0 8.0:075 Magnesia. : : : : . 17.600 Potash : : . - : . 23.175 Soda ; : ‘ : : . 98,605 Sodium ; - ; - : . 0.160 Chlorine : : . ; , - 0.295 Sulphuric acid : ; : : 7 Ocolo Organic acids 5 : ; : . 6.700 99.175 The above table shows a smaller quantity of lime than is usually found in the ash of this grain. It is, however, never so abundant as magnesia; and Professor Emmons has shown that the best corn lands in the State of New York contain a considerable quantity of magnesia. All experience, as well as all chemical researches, go to prove that potash and phosphoric acid are important elements in the organisation of maize. Corn yields more pounds of straw and grain on poor land than either wheat, rye, barley, or oats ; and it does infinitely beter on rich than on sterile soils. To make the earth fertile, it is better economy to plant thick than to have the rows five feet apart each way, as is customary in some of the Southern States, and only one stalk ina hill. This gives but one plant to twenty-five square feet of ground. Instead of this, three square feet are sufficient for a single plant; and from that up to six, for the largest varieties of this crop. Mr. Humboldt states the production of maize in the Antilles as 300 for one; and Mr. H. Colman has seen in several cases in the New England States of America, a return of 400 for one; that 1s to say, the hills being three feet apart each way, a peck of Indian corn would be sufficient seed for an acre. If 100 bushels of grain 268 MAIZE. is in such case produced by an acre—and this sometimes happens —this is clearly a return of 400 for one. Of the whole family of cereals, Zea Mays is unquestionably the most valuable for cultivation in the United States. When the time shall come that population presses closely on the highest capabilities of American soil, this plant, which is a native of the New World,.will be found greatly to excel all others in the quan- tity of bread, meat, milk, and butter which it will yield from an acre of land, With proper culture, it has no equal for the pro- duction of hay, in all cases where it is desirable to grow a large crop on a small surface. Although there has been much written on the Eastern origin of this grain, it did not grow in that part of Asia watered by the Indus, at the time of Alexander the Great’s expedition, as it 1s not among the productions of the country mentioned by Nearchus, the commander of the fleet; neither is it noticed by Arian, Dio- dorus, Columella, nor any other ancient author ; and even as late as 1491, the year before Columbus discovered America, Joan di Cuba, in his “ Ortus Sanitatis,’’ makes no mention of it: It has never been found in any ancient tumulus, sarcophagus, or pyramid ; nor has it ever been represented in any ancient painting, sculpture, or work of art, except in America. But in that country, according to Garcilaso de la Vega, one of the ancient Peruvian historians, the palace gardens of the Incas, in Peru, were ornamented with maize, in gold and silver, with all the grains, spikes, stalks, and leaves; and in one instance, in the “garden of gold and silver,” there was an entire cornfield, of considerable size, representing the maize in its exact and natural shape; a proof no less of the wealth of the Incas, than their veneration for this important rain. 4 In further proof of the American origin, it may be stated that this plant is still found growing, in a wild state, from the Rocky mountains in North America, to the humid forests of Paraguay, where, instead of having each grain naked, as is always the case after long cultivation, it is completely covered with glumes or husks. It is, furthermore, a well authenticated fact, that maize was found in a state of cultivation by the aborigines, in the island of Cuba, on its discovery by Columbus, as well as in most other places in America, first explored by Americans. The first successful attempt to cultivate this grain in North America, by the English, occurred on James’ river, in Virginia, in 1608. It was undertaken by the colonists sent over by the Indian company, who adopted the mode then practised by the natives, which, with some modifications, has been pursued throughout this country ever since. The yield, at this time, is represented to have been from two hundred to more than one thousand fold. The same increase was noted by the early settlers in Illinois. The present yield, east of the Rocky Mountains, when judiciously cultivated, varies from 20 to 135 bushels to an acre. The varieties of Indian corn are very numerous, exhibiting every MAIZE. 269 srade of size, color, and conformation, between the “ chubby reed”’ that grows on the shores of Lake superior—the gigantic stalks of the Ohio valley—the tiny ears, with flat, close, clinging grains, of Canada—the brilliant, rounded little pearl—the bright red grains and white cob of the eight-rowed hemalite—the swelling ears of the big white and the yellow gourd seed of the South. rom the flexibility of this plant, it may be acclimatised, by gradual cultiva- tion, from Texas to Maine, or from Canada to Brazil; but its cha- racter, in either case, is somewhat changed, and often new varieties are the result. The blades of the plant are of great value as food for stock, and is an article but rarely estimated sufficiently, when considering of the agricultural products of the Southern and South- Western States especially. To supply slaves on plantations with bread, including old and young, requires from twelve to thirteen bushels of corn each a year. Taking thirteen bushels as the average consumption of breadstufis by the 22,000,000 of people in the United States, the ageregate is 286,000,000 bushels per annum. The increase of production, from 1840 to 1850, was 214,000,000 bushels, equal to 56 per cent. The production of New England advanced from 6,993,000 to 10,377,000 bushels, showimg an increase of 3,384,000 bushels, nearly fifty per cent. New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland, increased 20,812,000 bushels, more than fifty per cent. In the production of this crop no State has retro- graded. Ohio, which in 1840 occupied the fourth place as a corn- producing State, now ranks as the first. Kentucky is second, Milinois third, Tennessee fourth. The crop of Illinois has increased from 2,000,000 to 5,500,000 bushels, or at the rate of 160 per cent. in ten years. Of the numerous varieties some are best adapted to the Southern States, while others are better suited for the Northern and Eastern. Those generally cultivated in the former are the Southern big and small yellow, the Southern big and small white flit, the yellow Peruvian, and the Virginian white gourd seed. In the more Northerly and Easterly States they cultivate the golden sioux, or Northern yellow flint, the King Philip, or eight-rowed yellow, the Canadian early white, the Tuscarora, the white flour, and the Rhode Island white flint. The extended cultivation of this grain is chiefly confined to the Eastern, Middle, and Western States, though much more success- fully grown in the latter. The amount exported from South Carolina, in 1748, was 39,308 bushels; from North Carolina, in 1753, 61,580 bushels ; from Georgia, in 1755, 600 bushels ; from Virginia, for several years preceding the revolution, annually 600,000 bushels ; from Philadelphia, in 1765-66, 54,205 bushels ; in 1771, 259,441 bushels. The total amount exported from America in 1770, was 573,349 bushels; in 1791, 2,064,936 bushels, 351,695 of which were - Indian meal; in 1800, 2,032,435 bushels, 338,108 of which were 270 MAIZE. in meal; m 1810, 1,140,960 bushels, 86,744 of which were meal. In 1820-21, there were exported 607,277 bushels of corn, and 131,669 barrels of Indian meal; in 1830-31, 571,312 bushels of corn, and 207,604 barrels of meal; in 1840-41, 535,727 bushels of corn, and 232,284 barrels of meal; m 1845-46, 1,286,068 bushels of corn, and 298,790 barrels of meal; m 1846-47 16,326,050 bushels of corn, and 948,060 barrels of meal; in 1850- 51, 3,426,811 bushels of corn, and 203,622 barrels ef meal. More than eleven millions of bushels of Indian corn were consumed in 1850, in the manufacture of spirituous liquors. According to the census of 1840, the corn crop of the Uniied States was 377,531,875 bushels ; in 1850, 592,326,612 bushels. The increase in the production of corn in Ohio has been Gn ten years) 66 per cent. I have also before me the auditor's re- turns for the crop of 1850, as taken by assessors, and the number of acres planted. The auditor’s returns are:— Seventy-three counties : : : - 55,079,374 Darke county é z : ‘ 4 524,184 Twelve counties, average : . : - 8,400,000 Total : : . 64,003,858 This is an advance of 15 per cent. on the crop of 1840, and it is known that the crop of 1850 was better than that of 1849. The number of acres planted, and the average production was :— Acres planted : : : : . . 1,810,347 Bushels produced . : - . . - ee 858 Average peracre . - 2 : . og bush. Considering how large a (fen of hill land is planted, and how many fields are ill cultivated, t the average is high. Many persons have believed that taking all years and all lands into view, the average of corn lands was not more than thirty bushels. But the immense fertility of bottom lands on the rivers and creeks of Ohio make up for bad cultivation and inferior soil. We may see some- thing of the differences in the production of corn, by taking the averages of different counties, thus :— Acres. Crop. Average. Butler - 62,031 < 2,646,353 Be 422 Warren — 42,322 = 1,757,409 te 42 Pickaway a 65,860 = 2. G2td 27 we 40 Ross if 69,520 sie 2,918,958 sig 42 Compare the average of these counties, which embrace some of the best lands in the State, with the following - a Acres. Crop. Average. Carroll us 10,107 Se 316.989 me 32 Jackson mS 15,680 oy. 439,850 x 30 Monroe 6 23,375 Sis 728,249 x 31 Portage ac 10,426 oe 329,529 a S2 =. Vinton 11,413 345,470 30 The last eae contain but litle bottom land, a henee the average of corn is reduced one-fourth in amount. Of these MAIZE. Dia counties, two are full of coal and iron. The resources of the last are more slow to delelop, but in the end will be equally valuable. But a small quantity of the corn of Ohio is exported as grain. It is first manufactured into other articles, and then exported in another form. The principal part of these are hogs, cattle, and whiskey. It is difficult to say exactly how much corn is in this way exported, but the following is an approximation— Bushels. In Fat Cattle . . E . 4,000,000 In Fat Hogs . : : - 10,000,000 In Whiskey . . ; - 2,500,000 Total 5 . 16,500,000 Taking into view the export of corn meal—about twenty millions of bushels—the residue goes to the support of the stock animals on hand, of which there are near three millions, exclusive of those fatted for market. ' The exported corn in the shape of cattle, hogs, and whiskey, is worth about thirty cents cash, while on the farm it is not worth twenty—thus proving that it is more profitable to consume corn on the farm, than to export itin bulk. This fact is well known to good farmers, who seldom attempt to sell corn as a merchantable article. No mining in the world has ever been equal to mining in a fertile soil, and no treasury is so reliable as a granary of surplus products. Indian corn and meal generally find a market in the West Indies, Newfoundland, Spain, and Portugal. It commands a good price, and finds a ready sale in the ports which are open to its’ reception. Deducting one-sixteenth for the amount exported, and one- tenth for seed, the quantity of maize annually consumed for food in the United States by a family of five persons is 85 bushels. Maize may be considered as the great staple of the agricultural products of the States. It is exported in large quantities, in a raw state, or when manufactured into meal. Before it is manu- factured into meal it is dried by a fire, in a kiln prepared for that purpose. By this process the meal is much less liable to become sour on the voyage, and can be preserved much longer in a warm climate. No inconsiderable quantities have likewise been con- sumed in distillation; and the article of kiln-dried meal for ex- portation is destined to be of no small account to the corn-grow- ing sections of that country. The improvement continually making in the quality of the seed augurs well for the productiveness of this indigenous crop, as it has been found that new varieties are susceptible of being used to great advantage. The following was the produce of the different States in the years named, as given in the Official Census Returns :-— 272 MAIZE. 1840. 1841. 1843. 1850. Bushels. Bushels. Bushels. Bushels. WMiaine sre ss 950,528 988,549 1,390,799 New Hampshire ... 1,162,572 191,275 330,925 Massachussetts 1,809,192 1,905,273 2,347,451 Rhode Island 450,498 471,022 578,720 Connecticut 1,500,441 1,521,191 1,926,458 Vermont 1,119,678 1,167,219 1,252,853 New York .. 10,972,286 | 11,441,256 | 15,574,590 New Jersey 4,361,975 5,134,366 5,805,121 Pennsylvania 14,240,022 | 14,969,472 | 15,857,431 Delaware 2,099,359 | 2,164,507 | 2,789,982 Maryland 8,233,086 | 6,998,124 | 6,205,282 Virginia... .. | 34,577,591 | 383,987,255 | 45,836,788 N. Carolina .. 23,893,763 24,116,253 27,916,077 S. Carolina .. 14,722,805 | 14,987,474 | 18,190,913 Georgia 20,905,122 | 21,749,227 | 26,960,687 Alabama 20,947,004 | 21,594,354 | 24,817,089 Mississippi .. 13,161,237 5,985,724 9,386,399 Louisiana ... ce. 5,952,912 6,224,147 8,957,392 Tennessee ... | 44,986,188 | 46,285,359 | 67,838,477 | 52,000,000 Kentucky .. .. | 39,847,120 | 40,787,120 | 59,355,156 | 58,000,000 Ohio ... «. | 33,668,144 | 35,552,161 | 38,651,128 | 69,788,750 Indiana 28,155,887 | 33,195,108 | 36,677,171 | 53,000,004 Illinois 22,634,211 | 23,424,474 | 32,760,434 | 57,000,000 Missouri 17,332,524 | 19,725,146 | 27,148,608 Arkansas 4,846,632 6,039,450 | 8,754,204 Michigan ... 2,277,039 3,058,290 3,092,482 Florida Territory 898,074 694,205 838,667 Wisconsin ... 379,359 521,244 750,775 Iowa T. Be ee 1,496,241 1,547,215 2,128,416 D. of Columbia .. 39,485 43,725 47,837 Total 377,531,875 | 387,380,185 494,618,306 | 500,000,000 Me The Indian corn crop of 1850, for the whole of the United States, is returned as over 500 million bushels, a gain of about 40 millions on that of 1840. ; I give below the quantities of Indian corn and meal which were exported from the United States in the following years : — 1790 1794 1798 1802 1810 1814 1818 1822 1826 1829 1833 1806 0 0. Corn, Bushels. 1,713,241 1,505,977 1,218,231 1,633,283 1,064,263 1,054,252 61,284 1,075,190 509,098 505,381 897,656 437,174 241,570 211,694 566,816 108,342 86,744, 26,438 120,029 148,288 158,652 173,775 146,678 Meal, Bushels. Value. Dolls. 1,286,000 1,138,000 170,000 2,335,405 900,656 1,007,321 974,535 871,814 —(Pitkin’ s Statistics of the United States, and Seybert’s Statistical Annals.) MAIZE. , 273 System of culture pursued in the United States.—Maize, the corn, par excellence, of America, is grown in every State in the Union. Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, and Indiana, are in their order the greatest producers of this grain. In Illinois, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Missouri, Pennsylvania, South Caro- lina, New York, Maryland, Arkansas, and the New England States, it appears to be a very favorite crop. In Massachusetts, the most Northern and least favorable State on that account, being cold, a fair proportion is grown, the aggregate produce being greater there than in any of the grains, except oats ; more, indeed, than might be expected, were not labor somewhat cheaper than in more Southern States, where the climate is more congenial. The ordinary produce is twenty-five bushels per acre; forty bushels is often raised, and in prize crops the weight has come up to 100 bushels per acre. In Ohio the average is fifty-fivé bushels to the acre. The eight and twelve-rowed varieties of Indian corn are those most usuaily grown in New York, and the average pro- duce of a good field in that State is from forty to sixty bushals ; en ordinary ground twenty-five to thirty is a fair crop. The same returns appeared to be derived from ground in New Jersey. Mr. Doubleday, of Bmghampton, New York, estimates the produce of that neighbourhood at forty bushels, and the expense of raising the crop as follows, estimating the worth of the land at twenty- five dollars (say £5) per acre :— Dollars. Cents. The interest of whichis . : : gee a 16 One ploughing with double team, and harrowing 3 Seed and planting , 2 F wae Plaster or gypsum, and putting on the hill : 5) A) 37 Ploughing and hoeing twice, cutting or stalking the corn 2 Husking or thrashing 2 11 62 Average yield, forty bushels; cost of produce, twenty-nine cents. (1s. 45d.) per bushel. Nothing is here put down for manure or cartage, because the fodder, cut up and saved, as usually adopted, is equal to the manure required. It is locked upon that the preparation of ground for corn costs less than wheat; the approved plan is to plant on sward ground, ploughing at once, and turning the ground completely over, then harrowing longitudinally until a good tilth is obtained. Should the soil not be rich enough, stable manure is first spread on the land. Now suppose the corn to sell at seventy-five cents the bushel, the account would stand thus :—~ Dollars. Cents. Forty bushels, at seventy-five cents . : Sew) 00 Cost. ; ; : TT 62 Gain per acre. 5 aa we. 38 or £3 13s. 6d. British money profit per acre. 274A MAIZE. In Lichfield, Connecticut, the cost of produce has been, for the items as stated above, eighteen dollars twenty-five cents, or the cost of each bushel thirty-six and one-half cents. The acre pro- duce was fifty bushels, so that it stood thus :— Dollars. Cents. Fifty bushels, at seventy-five cents . ; . oll 50 Cost : : : ‘ 18 25 Gain . ; é eat) 5 or £3 12s. per acre. j The cost of producing maize varies somewhat in the other States, thus :— Per bushel. Cents. New Hampshire (Unity) the cost was : : 50 Fayette county, Pennsylvania : : : 16 1-4 Donesville, Michigan, only eG ae : 17 1-2 Plymouth, Massachusetts : : : 17 7-10 The cost on producing this crop was small, but it appears to have been a small crop, and did not bring more than thirty cents per bushel. | In Monroe county, the richest land in the State of New York, estimating the land at fifteen dollars per acre, the producing cost stood at :-— Dollars. Cents. Interest at six per cent. . : 0 46 One ploughing sward, cover or stubble 1 00 Harrowing, furrowing, seed, and planting a0) Site Cultivating three times and hoeing . 1 00 Husking on the hill 100 Shelling and cleaning 1 00 5 821-2 This yielded fifty bushels, the cost of producing the bushel was eleven and three-fifths cents. This low cost was owing to the fact of no manure being used; and while it speaks volumes as to the natural fertility of American soils, yet it reflects very disgrace- fully upon the careless system adopted there, as under such treat- ment no land could continue, after some years, to produce a crop which could come into competition with those from newer and less exhausted lands; but if undera good system of tillage the ground was yearly renewed with manure, and those amendments which every soil requires, after a crop has been raised from it, added to the soil in top-dressing and in ploughing-in, we should never hear of the exhausted state of New England land, or see the sons of the soil moving west and cultivating newer soils, thus removing much of the capital and intelligence of a country away from it. Supposing the corn of Monroe county sold at seventy cents per bushel, the balance would appear thus :-— MAIZE. 275 Fi Dollars. Cents. Fifty bushels, at seventy cents - : . 35 00 Cost of produgticn ; . : SEO Oo Lao, Gain . : : 229 PABP IS? or £6 1s. per acre profit. In Northern Chio and in Ilineis the cost of preduction averages twenty cents per bushel. The mode of cultivation in Connecticut and the New England States has been thus described to me by Mr. L. Durand, an ex- perienced agriculturist :—If the soil selected is light and mellow, it should be ploughed and subsoiled in the spring, first spreading on the coarse unfermented manure which is to be ploughed in. For marking the rows for planting, a “corn marker’’ may be used to advantage. It is made by taking a piece of scantling, three inches Square and ten to twelve feet long, with teeth of hickory or white oak inserted at distances of two to four feet, according te the width designed for the rows. Then an old pair gf waggon-thills and a pair of old plough-handles are put to it, and your marker is done. With a good horse to draw this implement, the ground _ may be made ready for planting very rapidly. It is better to leave the ground flat than to ridge it, for the latter mode has no advantage, except when the evound j is wet. The difference in the two modes is chiefly this :—When the ground is ridged, the corn beimg planted between the edges of the furrows, it comes imme- diately in contact with the manure, springs up and grows rapidly the fore part of the season. When the ground 1s left flat, and the manure turned under the furrows, the corn will often look feeble at first, and in growth will frequently be much behind that on the ridges; and the inference early in the season is, that the ridged ground will give the best crop, but as soon as the roots of the corn on the flat ground get hold of the manure (say about the 20th of July), the corn will shoot rapidly a-head, and the full force of the manure will be given to the stalk just at the time of forming the grain. Corn cultivated in this way, if the soil is deeply tilled, will often keep green, while that on ridges is dried up. Many farmers, at planting, shell the corn off the cob, and plant it dry. Others soak it a few days in warm water. But when the seed is only treated in this way, it is very likely to be pulled up by birds and injured by worms. ‘The best way to prevent this is to first soak the corn in a strong solution of saltpetre; then take a quantity of tar, and having warmed it over a fire, pour it. on the corn, and stir with a stick or paddle till the grain is all smeared with the tar; then add gypsum or plaster till the corn will separate freely, and no birds will touch the grain. The time of planting, in the United States, varies with the sea- son and the section of the country. In New England it may generally be planted from the 15th to the 25th May. Where the sround is flat, a light harrow or a cultivator is much better te © 2 276 MAIZE. oy go between the rows than the plough. Formerly a great deal of useless labor was spent in hilling up corn; in dry seasons this was worse than useless. The earth hauled round the stalk does not assist its growth, nor aid in holding it up; the brace roots, which come out as the stalk increases in height, support it; and it has been observed, that in a heavy storm and thunder gust, corn that is hilled will be broken down more than that which is not hilled. The ground which is kept level has also the advantage of more readily absorbing rain, rendering the crop less liable to suffer from drought. The field should have two or three regular hoeings, and the weeds be carefully kept under. In harvesting the following will be found a good plan :—Let two hands take five rows, cutting the corn close to the ground. A hill should be left standing to form the centre of the shock, placing the stalks round it, so that they may notle on theground. After the shock is made of sufficient size, take a band of straw, and hav- ing turned down the tops of the stalks, bind them firmly, and the work is done. Maize may be cut as soon as the centre of the grain is glazed, even if the stalks are green. - There will be sufficient nutriment in the stalk to perfect the ear, and the fodder is much better than when it gets dry before it is cut. Ifthe shocks are well put up, they may stand four or five weeks. The corn may then be knocked out, and the fodder secured for winter use. The report of the Ohio Board of Agriculture for 1849, contains many interesting statements in reference to maize culture, made by the officers of numerous county agricultural societies. In Miami county, 2,030,670 bushels were grown, at an average yield of fifty-five bushels per acre. Three varieties are cultivated : the common gourd seed, for cattle ; the yellow Kentucky, for hogs and distilling ; and the white, for grmding and exportation. According to the returns from Green county, which produced 1,250,000 bushels of corn in 1849, ‘‘ a regular rotation of clover, corn, wheat, and clover again, is best for corn ; and no crop pays better for extra culture.” The Harrison county Agricultural Society reports the pork crop at 4,800,000 pounds; and it gave its first premium for corn to Mr. 8. B. Lukens, whose statement is as follows :— “The ground had been in meadow ten years, was ploughed six inches deep about the middle of April, was harrowed twice over on the 9th May, and planted on the 11th four feet by two feet. It came up well, wascultivated and thinned when ten inches high; three staiks were left ina hill. About two weeks afterward it was again cultivated, and the suckers pulled off. About the last of June it was again cultivated, making three times the same way, as it »was laid off but one way. dee: Expense of culture, gathering, and cribbing, was > wd tee Produce of 3743 bushels, at 314 cents . : 2, LW 10 Profit on three acres. 4 : : . 100 00 The evidence on which a premium was awarded was such as should satisfy any one that 374 bushels were grown on three acres MAIZE. 277 .of land, and at a cost not exceeding 17 dollars 10 cents, delivered in the crib. This is producing corn at less than 5 cents a bushel. Whether the statement be true to the letter or not, it shows conclusively the great value of a rich soil for making cheap corn. The Board of Agriculture estimates the crop of Ohio last year at 70,000,000 of bushels. Taking the United States as a whole, pro- bably the crop of corn was never better than in the year 1849. One that has rich land needs only to plough it deep and well, plant in season, and cultivate the earth properly with a plough or culti- vator, to secure the growth of a generous crop. On poor soils the case is very different. To raise a good crop of corn on poor land, and at the least pos- sible expense, requires some science and much skill in the art of tillage. Take the same field to operate in, and one farmer will grow 100 bushels of corn at half the cost per bushel that another will expend in labor, which is money. It unfortunately happens that very skilful farmers are few in number, in comparison with those who have failed to study and practice all attainable improve- ments. To produce cheap corn on poor land, one needs a clear understanding of what elements of the crop air and water will fur- nish, and what they cannot supply. It should be remembered that the atmosphere is precisely the same over ground which yields 100 bushels of corn per acre, that it is over that which produces only five bushels per acre. Now, the whole matter which forms the stems, leaves, roots, cobs, and seeds of corn, where the crop is 100 bushels per acre, is not part and parcel of the soil. A harvest equal to fifty bushels per acre can be obtained without consuming over ten per cent. of earth, as compared with the weight of the erop. No plant can imbibe more of the substance of the soil in which it grows, than is dissolved in water, or rendered gaseous by the decomposition of mould. | The quantity of matter dissolved, whether organic or inorganic, during the few weeks in which corn plants organise the bulk of their solids, is small. From 93 to 97 parts in 100 of the dry matter, in a mature, perfect plant, including its seeds, cob, stems, leaves, and roots, are carbon (charcoal) and the elements of water. Jé is not only an important, but an exceedingly instructive fact, that the most effective fertilisers known in agriculture are those that least abound in the elements of water and carbon. The un- leached dry excrements of dunghill fowls and pigeons, have five times the fertilising power on all cereal plants that the dry dung of a grass-fed cow has, although the latter has five times more carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, per 100 pounds, than the former. Although it is desirable to apply to the soil in which corn is to grow as much of organised carbon and water as one conveniently can, yet, where fertilisers have to be transported many miles, it is important to know that such of the measure as would form coal, if carefully burnt, can best be spared. The same is true of those élements in manure which form vapor or water, when the fertiliser decomposes in the ground. 278 MAIZE. Carbonic acid and nascent hydrogen evolved in rotting stable manure are truly valuable food for plants, and perform important chemical offices im the soil; but they are, nevertheless, not so indispensable to. the economical production of crops, as available nitrogen, potash, silica, magnesia, sulphur, and phosphorus. These elements of plants being less abundant in nature, and quite indispensable in forming corn, cotton, and every other product of the soil, their artificial supply in guano, night soil, and other highly concentrated fertilisers, adds immensely to the harvest, through the aid of a small weight of matter. In all sections where corn is worth 380 cents and over a bushel, great benefits may be realised by the skilful manufacture and use of poudrette. This article is an inodorous compound of the most valuable constituents of human food and clothing. It is the raw material of crops. Jt is not necessary to restore to a corn-field all the matter re- moved in the crop to maintain its fertility. A part of each seed, however, ought to be carried back and replaced in the soil, to make good its loss by the harvest. In every barrel of meal or flour sent to market (196 pounds), there are not far from 186 pounds of carbon (coal), and the ele- ments of water. When a bird eats wheat or corn, I have reason to believe, from several experiments, that over 80 per cent. of the food escapes into the air through its capacious lungs in the process of respiration; and yet the 20 per cent. of guano left will re- produce as much wheat or corn as was consumed. Imported guano, which has been exposed to the weather for ages, often gives an increase in the crop of wheat equal to three pounds of seed to one of fertiliser ; while it has given a gain of seven to one of corn, and fifty to one of green turnips. Like other grains that have been long cultivated, Indian corn abounds mm varieties. In Spain they count no less than 130, and in the United States the number is upwards of forty. The differ- ence consists in size, color, period of maturation, and hardness and weight of grain. Of size there exists a considerable variety, from Zea Curagua of Chili, and the Egyptian or chicken corn, both extremely diminutive, to the large white flint, and ground seed corn of the United States. The differences in color are the red, yellow, and white. The period of maturation varies, apparently, very considerably ; but it is questionable whether this variation is real, and independent of climate. In the Northern States of America, Indian corn ripens in a shorter period of time than it does in the South, owing, possibly, to the greater length of the summer day in those latitudes. In selecting varieties, some experienced and judicious farmers prefer that which yields the greater number of ears, without regard to their size, or number of rows. Others prefer that which furnishes one or two larger ears, having from twelve to twenty-four rows. In the Northern States of America the yellow corn bears the highest price in the market, and is considered the most prolifie and MAIZE. 279 best suited to feed cattle and hogs. For bread, the white Dutton is preferred at the North, and the white ground seed is used for that purpose in other quarters. Preference, however, is most fre- quently given to white flint corn, which is unquestionably the heayiest, and contains the greatest proportion of farina. _In Mississippi many varieties are grown, principaily those known as flint and bastard flint. The gourd-seed varieties are very ob- jectionable in that climate, prixcipally on account of their soft- ness rendering them unfit for bread, and open to the attacks of insects in the field andthecrib. They require a grain, white, hard, and rather flinty—white because of its great consumption in bread and hommony, in the preparation of both of which their cooks greatly excel. When meal is ground for bread, the mill is set rather wide, that the flinty part of the grain may not be cut up too fine, this being sifted out for “small hommony ;’ the farinaceous part of the grain is left for bread. This hommony is a beautiful and delicious dish. On most plantations the negroes have it for supper, with molasses or butter-milk. 28 S) Barbados yam enc keene nese eer Soe ae 18°75 Old evan ee Ie SiMe at ely RRS Wrasse As ARIS OGG 17:05 TO sAMOther Sanaple foe eile eller alos @elotee ie ere me . 15°35 tT iG aire gy amleene ei jckera eer iier PLC OOT AO Woo. 17°03 STAR CH-PRODUCING PLANTS, 309 1 Be TEL SNS DOU US ro a Or 16°99 PS OSMCCE POLALOM, selec. wie's ¢ en epee et 16°31 Herm HOR ANTM eee 5 tts cw yc ia thie! 6in(sNeiei nisi e,o%sis wie, saciece 16°07 15. Another sample ........ boa Maree sce Wn tate 15°63 16. A third, from a dark colored variety .......... .14°83 From the foregoing list it appears that the sweet and bitter cassava merit attention as starch-producing plants. ‘hey are occasionally grown for this purpose in the colonies, and yield a large ‘per centage of starch; but there exists an opinion, whether well or ill founded, that it is liable to rot linen, and the preference is given here to the starch of arrowroot. It remains to be seen, however, what estimate will be formed of this starch in England, for if it should preve an esteemed variety, there can be no doubt of its proving a highly profitable cultivation. Cassava grows readily in almost any soil, and when the drainage is tolerable, two crops of the sweet variety can, it is stated be grown nayear. I have seen it growing luxuriantly in the light soils of the interior, as well as in the stiff clay soils of the coasts. It is considered an excellent preparatory crop in new and stiff land, on account of its tendency to loosen the soil. Were the bitter variety fixed on, the preparation of Casareep might be combined with the preparation of starch; and as that substance is one of the most esteemed bases for the preparation of various sauces, it is probable that this might turn out the most profitable part of the produce. At all events, bitter cassava would have this advantage over all other starch-producing roots, that the juice of the roots could be turned to account as well as the starch. Of all the plants mentioned in the list, starch is most readily: separated from the arrowroot, in consequence of the tissue being more fibrous, and yielding little or no cellular tissue requiring to be run off the starch. Time and water are thus saved in the process, and were the fibrous residue pressed and dried, 1t could probably be turned to good account in the manufacture of paper. In respect of facility of preparation, the plantain starch, though of excellent quality, ranks lowest, for the flesh-colored tissue in which the starch is embedded is somewhat denser than the starch, and settles down under it, and it is not a little difficult to arrange. the process so as completely to separate the finer parts of this ad from the starch, and hence its color is never perfectly white. Yield of starch-producing plants per acre.—On this subject, as- ao remarked, I do not at present possess sufficiently accurate ata. _ In England ten tons of potatoes are not unfrequently produced per acre; now assuming 15 the per centage of starch, there would be a yield of one-and-a-half tons per acre, which, at the lowest quotation, 28s. a cwt., would give £42 per acre; and were the starch to rank with that prepared from wheat, it- would produce £40 per ton, or £60 per acre. In the thorough. drained land of Demerara, and under a good system of cultiva-. Z 2 340 STARCH-PRODUCING PLANTS. tion, I have no doubt that ten tons of cassava could easily be grown, and if it yielded 25 per cent. of starch, it would be a re- turn of 23 tons, or of £62 10s. per acre, reckoned at the price of otato starch. Of the yield of the plantain we possess much more accurate information. A new plantain walk in this colony (British Guiana) will yield 450 bunches, of 50 Ibs. each, of which, as nearly as pos- sible, 50 per cent. will be of core, containing 17 per cent. of starch, thus producing 17 ewt. of starch per acre. But an old plantain walk, even when free from disease, could not be reckoned to yield more than half this quantity, namely, 84 i ewt. peracre. Considering the value that is set on the plantain as an article of food, and the difficulties incident to the process of making starch from it, it is by no means probable that it will ever be used as a source from which to obtain starch. Of the quantity of arrowroot that can be grown per acre, I have been able (continues Dr. Shier) to procure no information ; but from the price it commands in the market, the facility with which it can be grown, and the ease with which the process of separating the starch can be carried on, it deserves a fair trial here. To cultivate it to advantage it ought to be done on thorough- drained and well-tilled land, planted at the proper season, and not dug till ripe and in dry weather. Of the Tous les mois, I have only been able to procure a single plant, for which I am indebted to the kindness of the Hon. John Croal. As the root was immature, it would be unfair to deduce from the quantity of starch obtained, the per centage gene- rally contained by the plant. Its immaturity was also indicated by the globules being smaller than in the specimen obtamed from Grenada ; in other respects, however, such as the tenacity of its jelly, it stands highest. It is altogether one of the most promising starch-producing plants, and obviously deserves a careful trial. It is a plant that expends a good deal of matter in maturing a considerable quantity of dense and bulky seeds, but as it pro- pagates both by root and seed, it is probable that, as a root-crop, it would be highly advantageous to procure a variety that does not flower. Both the tannia and the sweet potato can. be readily grown, and the produce per acre is large; but from the foregoing tables it would appear that there are other plants whose starch is lkely to be held in greater estimation. Difficulties attendant on the process of preparing starch.—W ere the manufacture of superior starch to be carried out in this colony (British Guiana) on a large scale and profitably, recourse would re- quire to be had to all the well-known means of economising labor. In the cultivation as much as possible would require to be done by eat- tle and implement labor, and this would be the easier to accomplish, inasmuch as, to grow roots to great advantage, the land would require to be thorough drained. When the produce was brought to the buildings, machinery similar to what is already in use in STARCH-PRODUCING PLANTS. B41 Europe, for the purpose of washing and rasping roots, and of separating and washing starch, would suffice with comparatively little manual labor. An ordinary amount of judgment being exercised in determining the proper period of ripeness of the roots, and in selecting seasons when the weather is usually most suitable for conducting the process of manufacture, it does not appear that any unusual difficulty would have to be encountered by growers or manufacturers, unless as regards the obtaining of a suficient supply of good water; for that is essential to the pro- duction of good starch. The ereek water of the colony is generally too brown, and the trench water too muddy, and contains often too much salt to produce starches of the finest color; hence recourse would require to be had to rain water, or Artesian water. The first is remark- ably pure, and it certainly does not appear that were sufficiently capacious reservoirs built, or ponds dug, and protected from in- filtration by the usual well-known means, there would be great difficulty in getting a sufficient supply of rain water. It is done in Bermuda, and why not here? On the other hand, almost all the Artesian wells in the colony contain a large quantity of oxide of iron heid in solution by carbonic acid, and which separates as an ochrey deposit on free exposure to the air. Were this water used in the starch process, it would certainly injure the color materially ; but by a chemical process, exceedingly simple, inex- pensive, and easy of application, it is possible to purify the Arte- sian water, and render it almost as fit as rain water for the pur- pose of manufacturing starch. ‘ In some of the other colonies a great deal of the best starch is produced by the holders of small lots of land, and many parts of the labor being light, and suited for women and children, it is one of the most desirable cultivations for small holders, and would be very beneficial tor Demerara, where the lands of the peasantry too generally lie in a state of utter neglect; yet smali holders could not be expected to be able to compete with those who should grow starch on the large scale, and prepare it with the best machinery. Cassava meal, plantain meal, Sfc., as articles of export.—\t may soon become an important question whether the plantain, or some of the edible roots grown in the tropics, might not be sent to Europe in a fresh state as a substitute for the potato. Many of them, the buck yam and the cassava, for instance, ought to be used when fresh dug, for every day they are out of the ground they deteriorate. This, however, is not so much the case with some of the larger yams. It is worth trying whether the finer sorts that deteriorate by keeping, might not, after being sliced and dried in the sun, become articles of export, either in that state or when ground to meal. For this purpose the bitter cassava, the plantain, and the buck yam are the most promising. Of the bitter cassava mention has already been made as a sub- stance from which the starch and casareep might be prepared. oA2 STARCH-PRODUCING PLANTS. In this case, however, the woody and cellular tissue, with the small quantity of starch left in it by the ordinary starch process, would form far too poor an article of diet to constitute part of the food of man. But the roots might be used as a medium from which to prepare cassava meal, casareep, and the very small quantity of starch which is expressed along with the juice, leaving all the rest of the starch to form part of the meal. It is of such meal that the cassava cakes of the Indians are prepared; and although by no means so nutritive as Indian corn meal*, there can be little doubt that in the Scotch and Irish markets the cassava meal would obtain a preference; and were it exported in quantity it would probably come into extensive use among all classes. The process would be as follows :—After washing i in a revolving apparatus, by which means the adherent earth would be got quit of, and almost the whole of the thin dark colored cuticle become > detached, the roots could be reduced to pulp in a rasping-mill, without the use of water; the pulp might be compressed in bags by hydraulic pressure, whereby the juice, together with a small portion of the starch, would be expressed. After allowing the starch to subside, the juice should be concentrated to about the density of 1:4. The starch would be washed, purified, and dried. The contents of the bags would then be broken up and dried in the sun or in acurrent of air, after which the meal would be sifted through a coarse sieve to separate the coarser parts, which, if their amount was considerable, could be ground and added to the rest. In this state of rough meal it is fit for making the cassava cakes. If ground to flour it might be used to mix with wheat, rye, or barley flour. The process is usually conducted as follows :—The squeezed pulp 1 is broken up, sifted, and exposed to the sun on trays or mats till it is fully more than half dry. An iron hoop of the size and thickness of the cake to be made is then laid on a griddle or hot plate, and the space within the hoop is filled evenly with the somewhat moist meal, no previous kneading or rolling having been employed. As soon as the coarse meal coheres, the. ring is lifted and the cake is turned and heated on the opposite side. . “The heat should not be sufficient to brown the cake. The cakes are finally dried by exposure to the sun. From the dry cassava meal cakes * J have determined the amount of nitrogen contained in the meal made from the whole maize, the growth of the colony, as also from plantain meal; I have also ascertained its amount in cassava meal, prepared in the manner mentioned in the text, and in meal prenared from the cassava sliced, dried, and ground without expressing thejuice. Assuming Liebig’s formula of Pr oteine, namely, C N H O the results stand thus :— 48 6 36 4 Nitrogen. Proteine compounds. Per cant. Per cent. Maize meal (unhusked) : og eis 10°72 Plantain meal aogetste 5 45 Cassava meal (juice expressed) . 386 2°23 Ditio from the sliced and dried roots “73 4°83 STARCH-PRODUCING PLANTS. 343 may be prepared by sprinkling it with as much cold water as to moisten it to the proper point, and then proceeding as above. Hot water cannot be employed, neither can kneading, or any conside- rable degree of compression be used, otherwise the water does not evaporate readily enough; the starch gets too much altered by the heat, and the cake becomes tough. If an acre of well-tilled thorough-drained land yield 10 tons of fresh roots, and I have every reason to believe that such a return might be obtained, I have ascertained that the produce would be 3} tons of meal, 598 lbs. of casareep, and 2 ewt. of starch; and estimating the meal at 1d. per lb., the casareep at 1s. 5d. per |b., and the starch at 40s. per cwt., the gross amount would be £78 13s. 4d. per acre. In ascertaining these proportions, very simple machinery was employed, and had the pulp been better pressed the quantity of casareep would have been considerably greater. From the table given in a former note it will be seen that the cassava meal prepared in this way contains but a very small pro- portion of matter nutritive in the sense of contributing to the formation of blood, and that the expressed juice carries off fully one-half of the proteme compounds contained in the plant, Lichenin is a variety of starch occurring in Cetraria isiandica, or Iceland moss. Indian corn starch.—The advance of science has recently brought to our knowledge the preparation and use of another article, not only important as food, but also essential in the arts. I have had occasion to mention the high value of the Indian corn, and I might with advantage allude to many of its uses and properties; at pre- sent I must confine my remarks to a product from this valuable grain, known as corn starch, and yet another as the fecula of maize. In the close of 1849, Mr. Willard and his associates, of Auburn, established extensive works at Oswego, for the preparation of these important products, their establishment covering an area of 49,000 square feet. As the proprietors have to some extent held unrevealed the process by which they produce a starch more pure than the starch of commerce, we may not indulge in speculative curiosity ; yet I can hardly doubt their great success is mainly at- tributable to perfect machinery, guided by science and talent. The rapid and extended demand for these new products presents suf- ficient evidence of their character, as we are told that about three millions of pounds of this corn starch are demanded annually by the trade, notwithstanding the usual supply of wheat starch is undiminished. A remarkable feature of maize starch is the absence of impurities; upon being subjected to analysis, it is found that only 2 76-100 parts in 1000 are of other matter than pure starch. According to Dr. Ure, wheat yields only 35 to 40 per cent. of good starch, a material extensively used in arts and manu- factures. In addition to starch, the Oswego starch-factory produces from Indian corn a fecula, peculiarly adapted to culinary purposes, pre- senting to our domestic economy one of the most acceptable, pure, 344 STARCH-PRODUCING PLANTS. and nutritious articles of food. Already has it become an indis- pensable household article, and is consumed largely at home and abroad. The factory, though in its infancy, consumes annually 150,000 bushels of corn, equal to about nine millions of pounds in weight. Hitherto the quantities of starch used for laundry pur- poses. and in the manufactories of America, have been produced from costly wheats, though it may be found in many vegetable substances, such as potatoes, the horse chesnut and other seeds. In England, where bread-stuffs, particularly wheat, have been raised in quantities inadequate to the demand for food, attempts have been made to convert the viscid matter of lichens into a gum, for the use of calico printers, paper makers, and ink makers ; for the stiffening of silks, crapes, and the endless variety of dry goods, which, by means of these gums or starch, are made to appear of ereater consistency. Most of these attempts had partial success, yet the making of starch from wheat has not been arrested. The Oswego starch factory has happily mtroduced the use of Indian corn, as a grain producing a larger proportion of pure amvlaceous properties than any other known vegetable substance, proffering to the American manufacturer another economic advan- tage, sustaining, in a most legitimate matter, sound rivalry and com- petition with all the world. JI am not aware whether the Oswego factory has converted its starch into gum—a process easily accom- plished by heat, and thus rendered soluble in cold water, which cannot be done while in its condition of starch. Here is another result of vast importance derivable from Indian corn; and we can well conceive that, in a short period of time, the advantages now derived from the production of corn starch, may have grown into a national benefit. Rice (according to Prof. Solly) contains on an average about 84 per cent of starch; but till comparatively a few years ago, no starch was manufactured from it, notwithstanding its low price, and the large quantity of starch which exists in it. The reason of this was, that the old process of fermentation, by means of which starch is procured from grain, was not found to be applicable to rice; and hence the latter only became available as a source of starch in 1840, when Mr. Orlando Jones introduced his new pro- cess, for which he obtained a patent. This process consisted in macerating the rice for about 20 hours in a dilute solution of caustic potash, containing about 200 grains of the alkali m every gallon; the liquor is then drawn off, the rice dried, reduced to powder by grinding, then a second time digested in a similar alkaline lye for 24 hours, repeatedly agitated. After this it is allowed to settle, and well washed with pure cold water. A prize medal was awarded for this rice starch at the Great Exhibition. ’ Mr. S. Berger, of Bromley, also received a prize medal. He adopts a different mode of preparation. In place of employing a dilute solution of caustic potash to dissolve the gluten and other insoluble matters of the grain, Mr. Berger uses a solution of car- bonate of soda, containing half a pound to the gallon. The rice ARROWROOT. 345 is steeped in cold water for 48 hours, levigated in a suitable mill, and the pulp thus formed is treated with the solution of carbonate of soda for 60 or 70 hours, being repeatedly stirred; it is then allowed to settle for some hours, the alkaline liquor is dtawn off, and the starch is washed and purified. This process was patented by Mr. Berger, in December, 1841. A third process was patented in February, 1842, by Mr. J. Colman; he uses dilute muriatic acid for the same purpose as Messrs Jones and Berger. ARROWROOT, EAST AND WEST INDIAN. TH genuine arrowroot of commerce is the produce of the tuberous rhizomata of Maranta arundinacea, a native of South America, and M. indica, indigenous to the West Indies, but also cultivated in the East. The best West Indian arrowroot comes from Bermuda. lts globules are much smaller and less glistening than those of Tous-les-mois, or potato starch. The peculiar characteristics of the starch obtained from various plants has been particularised and described already in the elaborate investigation of the commercial yield and value of the starch-producing plants. Amylaceous matter of a similar kind to arrowroot is obtained from other species of Maranta, as from some species of Canna, well known under the popular name of Indian shot, trom the similarity of their round black seeds. The arrowroot plant (IZ. arundinacea) is a perennial, its root is fleshy and creeping, and very full of knots and numerous long white fibres. Arising from the root are many leaves, spear-shaped, smooth on the upper surface and hairy beneath. The length of the leaf is about six or seven inches, and the breadth about three towards their base, the color and consistence resembling those of the seed. From the root arise slender petioles upon which the leaves stand, and several herbaceous erect stalks come out between them, rising to the height cof about two feet. A loose bunch of small white flowers is succeeded by three-cornered capsules, each containing one hard rough seed. The propagation and culture of this plant are of the simplest kinds. The roots should be parted, and the most suitable soil is a rich loam. In the Bermudas, a deep rich soil, or one in which marsh or peat prevail, is alone adapted for growing arrowroot in perfection. A correspondent from the Bermudas, (where arrowroot forms the great staple crop of the islands), forms me that he ploughed up a small piece of land, twenty rods (or the eighth part of an acre), with a small plough and one horse. He ploughed it over three times, and the third time planted the arrowroot as he ploughed it. The land had not been turned up before for twenty years. The expenses and profits stand thus :— 346 ARROWROOT. EXPENSE. Cpe ne To the ploughman, harrowing and planting the arrowroot : é 5 : 1-6-0 Arrowroot plants. ; : 16 0 Digging it up SL) One) Deduct half, as the land was planted for the next vear 7 0.10 0 30:4102 0 Balance carried down, being nett profit : 514 0 S700 PRODUCE, By 2,000 lbs. of root at 8s. per 100 lbs. : : Bi DOW By balance brought down as net profit ; 514 0 The above £5 14s. clear profit on the 20 rods, is at the rate of £45 12s. profit for one acre. Now, if a small cultivator were to plant three or four acres, and get only one-half of the above profit, it would give a good return, and would be well worth the trial. Arrowroot requires a good rich red soil, of which there is still much lying waste. The best time for planting it is in April, but it can be planted in March, or indeed at any time after the first of the year, till May: though if taken up and planted before Christmas, you may depend it will not come to any perfection. Arrowroot can be planted im many ways; either in holes made with a hoe, ploughed under, or in drills like Irish potatoes. Now the way I prefer is to prepare the land, then strike the line at two feet apart, and make holes with a pointed stick or dibble six inches apart, putting in each hole one strong plant or two small ones, then cover them up. This is more trouble than the old way, but it gives an excellent crop. It can also be planted lke Irish po- tatoes in drills, two feet apart in the rows, and six inches between the plants. It should be hand-weeded in the spring, because if it is hoed, most likely you will cut some of it off which may be springing under ground, and it will never come up so strong again. Arrowroot requires very strong ground and plenty of manure. Farm yard manure is the best ; ‘next to that green sea-weed drip- ping with salt water—this is an excellent manure, and should be dug in the ground as the arrowroot is taken up. I have no doubt that it would be of great advantage to the planter, if he were to put a cask 1 in a cart, filLit with salt water, and put it on the land a few weeks before it is planted. Some people say that arrowroot does not pay so well, because it has to stay in the grounda whole year ; but then if you have onions you can plant them over it, and so obtain a crop which will pay much better than the arrowroot itself. If you have a large piece of arrowroot ground, take up one halt early, and plant it out ecich Irish potatoes ; then take up the other half later, and with the plants set out your potato ground, that is if you have taken up your potatoes; if not, plant the arrowroot between the rows, in holes; so that when you ‘take up the potatoes, you clean the arrowrcot and loosen the round, which will give a good crop; or you can plant Indian corn very thin over the arrow- ARROWROOT. 347- root ground (if you have nothing else), but be sure to cut it up before it ripens corn, or it will injure your arrowroot crop; or you may plant a few melon seeds over it, and you will have a fine crop of fruit. In 1845 I planted, in the months of January and February, a quarter of an acre of good land, in arrowroot and onions. The expense and profit stand as follow :— EXPENSE, Bip Gb Sais To digging the ground ds 0 0 Planting arrowroot . : - . 0 6 0 Twelve load of sea-weed, atls. . : O12 0 Rotten manure for onions, 10 loads, at 2s, de On20 One bottle onion seed > : : 016 O Sowing onion seed and keeping the plants clean 0 10 0 Planting out onions : 1. 0.0 Cleaning onions after set ou 015 0 Tops and making baskets 180 Pulling, cutting, and basketing 018 O Carting and shipping 05) 70 Digging arrowroot 2 0 10 138 0 Clear profit on quarter acre 2213 9 ao, G9 PRODUCT, By onions sold 20 16 0 By arrowroot . 12 10 9 33 6 9 This is at the rate of £90 lds. clear profit per acre, which is more than double the worth of the land. I have not named the arrowroot plants, because I have planted my land with them again, but they might be fairly put to the credit of the account. The above statement shows what may be done with good land and good management; but evenif a man can only clear £10 on an acre of land, he ought not to grumble. Dr. Ure gives a most interesting and lucid account of the mode of manufacture in the island of St. Vincent, where the plant is now cultivated with great success, and the root manufactured in a superior manner. It grows there to the height of about three feet, and it sends down its tap root from tweive to eighteen inches into the ground. Its maturity is known by the flagging and fallmg down of the leaves, an event which takes place when the plant is from ten to twelve months’ old. The roots bemg dug up with the hoe, are transported to the washing-house, where they are thoroughly freed from all adhering earth, and next taken individually into the hand and deprived, by a knife, of every portion of their skins, while every unsound part is cut away. This process must be performed with great nicety, for the cuticle contains aresinous matter, which ” S48 ARROWROO?T. imparts color and a disagreeable flavor to the fecula, which no subsequent treatment can remove. The skinned roots are thrown into a large cistern, with a perforated bottom, and there exposed to the action of a copious cascade of pure water, till this runs off quite unaltered. The cleansed roots are next put into the hopper of a mill, and are subjected to the powerful pressure of two pairs of polished rollers of hard brass; the lower pair of rollers being set much closer together than the upper. The starchy matter is thus ground into a pulp, which falls into the receiver placed beneath, and is thence transferred to large fixed copper cylinders, tinned inside, and perforated at the bottom with numerous minute orifices, ike a kitchen drainer. Within these cylinders, wooden paddles are made to revolve with great velocity, by the power of a water-wheel, at the same time that a stream of pure water is admitted from above. The paddle-arms beat out the fecula from the fibres and parenchyma of the pulp, and discharge it in the form of a milk through the perforated bottom of the cylinder. This starchy water runs along pipes, and then through strainers of fine muslin into large reservoirs, where, after the fecula has subsided, the supernatant water is drawn off, and fresh water being let on, the whole is agitated and left again to repose. This process of ablution is repeated till the water no longer acquires anything from the fecula. Finally, all the deposits of fecula of the day’s work are collected into one cistern, and being covered and agitated with a fresh change of water, are allowed to settle till next morning. The water being now let off, the deposit is skimmed with palette knives of German silver, to remove any of the superficial parts, in the slightest degree colored; and only the lower, purer, and denser portion is pre- pared by drying for the market. On the Hopewell estate, in St. Vincent, where the chief im- provements have been carried out, the drying-house is constructed like the hot-house of an English garden. But instead of plants it contains about four dozen of drying pans, made of copper, 73 feet by 43 feet, and tinned inside. Hach pan is supported on a carriage having iron axles, with lignum vite wheels, like those of a railway carriage, and they runon rails. Immediately after sun- rise, these carriages, with their pans, covered with white gauze to exclude dust and insects, are run out into the open air, but if rain be apprehended they are run back under the glazed roof. In about four days the fecula is thoroughly dry and ready to be packed, with German silver shovels, into tins or American flour barrels, lined with paper, attached with arrowroot paste. The packages are never sent to this country in the hold of the ship, as their contents are easily tainted by noisome effluvia, of sugar, Xe. Arrowroot is much more nourishing than the starch of wheat or potatoes, and the flavor is purer. The fresh root consists, according to Benzon, of 0°07 of volatile oil; 26 of starch (28 of which are obtained in the form of powder, while the other 3. must be extracted from the parenchyma in a paste, by boiling ARROWROOT. 349 water) ; 1:48 of vegetable albumen; 0-6 of a gummy extract; 0°25 of chloride of calcium; 6 of insoluble fibrine; and 65°6 of water. Arrowroot is often adulterated in this country with potato flour and other ingredients. Dr. Lankester asserts that the value of arrowroot starch, as an article of diet, is not greater than that of potato starch, and that the yield of starch is not greater from the arrowroot than from potatoes; but this I must decidedly deny. Chemical analysis and experience are proofs to the contrary. The analogy arrowroot has to potato starch, has induced many persons to adulterate the former substance with it ; and not only has this been done, but I have known instances in which potato starch alone has been sold for the genuine foreign article. There is no harm in this, to a certain extent ; but it certainly is a very great fraud upon the public (and one for which the perpetrators ought to be most severely punished), to sell so cheap an article at the same price as one which is com- paratively costly. There is, moreover, in potato starch, a peculiar taste, bringing to mind that of raw potatoes, from which the genuine arrowroot is entirely free. This fraud, however, can be readily detected; arrowroot is not quite so white as potato starch, and its grains are smaller, and have a pearly and very brilliant lustre ; and further, it always contains peculiar clotted masses, more or less large, which have been formed by the adhesion of a multitude of grains during the drying. ‘These masses crush very readily when pressed between the fingers, and as before stated, arrowroot is free from that peculiar odor due to potato starch. This may be most readily developed by mixing the sus- pected sample with hot water; if it be genuine arrowroot, the mixture is inodorous, if potato starch, the smell of raw potatoes is immediately developed. If a mixture of arrowroot and potato starch be minutely observed by means of a good microscope, the grains of arrowroot may be readily detected ; they are very small and exceedingly regular in shape, whilst those of potato starch are much larger, and very irregular in shape. But the most con- venient and delicate test of all, is that proposed by Dr. Schar- ling, of Copenhagen. After mentioning the test by the micro- scope, he goes on to state that he has obtained more favorable results by employing diluted nitric acid; and that, if arrowroot or potato starch be mixed with about two parts of concentrated nitric acid, both will immediately assume a tough gelatinous state. This mass, when potato starch is employed, is almost trans- parent, and when arrowroot is used, is nearly opaque, as in the case above mentioned, in which hydrochloric acid is substituted. A mixture of nitric acid and water, however, operates very differently on these two kinds of starch.- The glutinous mass yielded by the potato starch, becomes in a very brief period so tough that the pestle employed for stirring the mixture is sufficiently agglu- tinated to the mortar, that the latter may be lifted from the 300 ARROWROOT. table by its means. Arrowroot, on the other hand, requires from twenty-five to thirty minutes to acquire a like tenacity. The Lancet recently stated that, on a microscopical analysis of 50 samples of arrowroot, purchased indiscriminately of various London tradesmen, 22 were found to be adulterated. In 16 cases this adulteration consisted in the addition of a single inferior product much cheaper in price, such as potato flour, sago meal, or tapioca starch, while in other instances there was a combination of these articles, potato flour being usually preponderant. Ten of the mixtures contamed scarcely a particle of the genuine Maranta or West India arrowroot, for which they were sold. One consisted almost wholly of sago meal; two of potato flour and sago meal; two of potato flour, sago meal, and tapioca starch ; one of tapioca starch; and four of potato arrowroot, or starch entirely. The worst specimens were those which were done up in canisters especially marked as “Genuine West India arrowroot,”’ or as being “ warranted free from adulteration ;’ and one, which contained a considerable quantity of potato flour, was particularly recommended to invalids, and certified as the finest quality ever imported into this country. ‘The profits to the vendors of the inferior compounds are to be estimated from the fact that the price of sago meal and potato starch is about 4d. per lb., while the genuine Maranta arrowroot is from 1s. to 3s. 6d. enulb: : The arrowroot of Bermuda has long borne a high reputation, being manufactured on a better principle and being therefore of superior quality to that produced in Antigua, St. Vincent, and other West Indian islands. The process is tedious and requires a good deal of labor. There is no doubt, however, that the quality of the water has a great deal of influence on the fecula. Bermuda arrowroot is necessarily made from rain water collected in tanks or reservoirs, and the lime and the deposit from houses, &c., may alter its properties. After the root is taken from the ground it is placed ina mill, and is thereby cleansed of its exterior excrescences ; it is then thoroughly washed, when it is ready for the large machine, the principle of which is similar to the “treadmill.” A horse is placed on something like a platform, and as he prances up and down, the machinery is set in play. A person stands at_ _the end, and places the root in the wheel of the machine, which, ‘after being ground, falls into a trough of water. After going through this process, it is re-washed and then placed in vessels to dry in the sun. It is packed in boxes lined with blue paper or tin, and sent to the markets in England and America, where it generally meets with ready sale. At a meeting of the Agricultural Society of Bermuda, held in May, 1840, Mr. W. M. Cox submitted a new arrowroot strainer which he had invented. It consists of two cloth straimers fixed to hoops from 15 to 20 inches in diameter. The strainers work- ing one within the otier, are kept in motion by a lever, moved by hand. The whole apparatus is not an expensive one, and is ARROWROOT. SOL well adapted for aiding the manufacture of arrowroot upon an expeditious and economical plan. A simple method by which starch may be extracted from the fecula with much purity cousists in enclosing the four in a muslin bag and squeezing it with the fingers while submerged in clean water, by which process the starch passes out in a state of white powder and subsides. Two essential constituents of flour are thus separated from each other; a viscid substance remains in the bag, which is called gluten, and the white powder deposited is starch. The principal quarters from whence the supply is derived, are the Bermudas, St. Vincent, Barbados and Grenada, in the West Indies; Ceylon, and some other parts of the East—and a few of our settlements on the West coast of Africa. The annual imports for home consumption average 500 tons. The cultivation of arrowroot for the production of starch in St. Vincent has increased enormously of late years. In 1835, the island produced 41,397 lbs.; in 1845 it exported 828,842 lbs. The exports to 15th June, 1851, were, 2,934 barrels, 2,083 half barrels, 5,610 tins. The culture is year by vear ex- tending, and as, unlike that of the sugar cane, it may be carried on on a small scale with very little outlay of capital, we may reasonably anticipate a still further progressive extension for some years to come. Arrowroot, when once established in virgin soil, produces several crops with very little culture. In the first halt of 1851, 25,027 lbs. were shipped from Montego Bay, Jamaica. The quantity of arrowroot on which duty of 1s. per ewt. was paid in the six years ending 1840, was as follows :— Cwts. Cwts. 1835... SOO ks. Se Sa OM is. .. 2,538 1836 .. Seg SHLOD vex an ( 1639. =. -. 2,264 aa EP eye s; Ce isA0 6 2,124 The imports in the last few years have been in Cwt. Cwt: SSeii: St aca 0,040) 5 oe ESOO H .. 15,980 1848 .. ee NO SO80) = = fe eLsol as = 1849 .. Se eB 2Om. a .. About 500 ewt. are re-exported. East India arrowroot is procured in part from Curcuma angus- tifolia, known locally as Tikoor in the Hast, and a similar kind of starch is yielded by C. Zerwmbet, C. rubescens, C. leucorhiza, and Alpinia Galanga, the Galangale root of commerce. C. angusti- Jolia grows abundantly on the Malabar coast, and is cultivated about the districts of Patna, Sagur and the south-west frontier, Mysore, Vizigapatam, and Canjam, Cochin and Tellicherry. It was discovered but a few years ago growing wild in the forests extending from the banks of the Sona to Nugpore. The particles of East India arrowroot are very unequal in size, but on the average are larger than those of West India arrowroot. pe 352 ARROWROOT. Dr. Taylor, in his Topography of Dacca, speaks of fecula or starch being obtaimed from the Egyptian lotus: (Wymphea lotus), which is used by the native practitioners as a substitute for arrowroot. Chinese arrowroot is said to be made from the root of Nelum- bium speciosum. The original Indian arrowroot is extracted at Travancore, ac- cording to Ainslie, from the root of the Curewma angustifolia. It is easily distinguished by its form, which is sometimes ovoid, sometimes elongated, of considerable size, rounded at one of the extremities, and terminating In a point at the other, often re- sembling a grain of rice. The manufacture of arrowroot on the southern borders of the Everglades, at Key West, Florida, bids fair to become as exten- sive and as profitable as at Bermuda, whence, at present, we re- ceive the bulk of our supplies. The wild root, which the Indians call Compti, grows spontaneously over an immense area of other- wise barren land. It is easily gathered, and is first peeled in large hoppers ingeniously contrived, and thrown into a cylinder and ground into an impalpable pulp. It is then washed and dried in the sun, baked and broken into small lumps, when it is ready for the market. The article is extensively used in the Eastern woollen and cotton establishments, as well as for family use. Arrowroot is cultivated in the interior of East Florida with great success. It is also cultivated to a considerable extent in Georgia, and is, I understand, a profitable crop. The following is the process of manufacture :—The roots, when a year old, are dug up, and beaten in deep wooden mortars to a pulp; which is then put into a tub of clean water, well washed, aud the fibrous part thrown away. The milky lhquor being passed through a sieve or coarse cloth, is suffered to settle, and the clean water is drawn off; at the bottom of the vessel is a white mass, which is again mixed with clean water, and drained; lastly the mass is dried in the sun, and is pure starch. Arrowroot can be kept without spoiling for a very long time. A considerable quantity of arrowroot is Now produced in the Sandwich Islands. In 1841 arrowroot to the value of 3,320 dolls. was shipped, and in 1843, 35,140 lbs., valued at £1 405, was eX- ported, principally to Tepic and San Blas, where it is used as starch for linen. A kind of arrowroot of very good quality was sent to the Great Exhibition of 1851, by Sir R. Schomburgk, which is obtained in St. Domingo from the stems of a species of Zamia, called there Guanjiga ; and the Zamia Australis, of Western Australia, yields even better fecula. The taste was unpleasant and salt, as ifit had been immersed in lime. The other starch, from the Western Aus- tralian Zamia, in quality rivalled arrowroot. This fecula hangs together in chains, quite unlike the ordinary appearance of arrow- root when seen under the microscope. ARROWROOT. 30a The following figures show the exports of arrowroot from Bermuda :— lbs. Value of the exports. 1830 F 18,174 : — 1831 : 77,183 — 1832 34,833 a 1833 44,651 _- 1834 54,471 — 1835 65,500 — 1836 = = 1841 91,230 = 1842 136,610 =e 1843 151,757 £8,682 1844 173,275 10,974 1845 224,480 8,084 1847 —_ 4,716 1848 — 4,747 1849 -- 6,760 1850 854,329 4 In the spring of 1851, 201,130 lbs. were shipped from Ber- muda. In 1848 the quantity of arrowroot in the rough state made in Bermuda was 1,110,500 lbs. ARROWROOT EXPORTED FROM ANTIGUA TO Great Britain. B. N. America. B. W. Indies. Boxes. Boxes. Boxes. 1835 : 1,075 Zs : 20 : 2 — 1836 : : 581 , : 43 3 : — 1837 ; : 100 F a 42 > ; — 1838 P ; 472 f “ 20 ; ; — 1839 : 682 - ‘ — : A 32 1840 P ; 453 -— 30 1841 . : 289 = 10 1842 5 : 082 3 : — — 1843 : : 744 : i a — 1844 ‘ 3 376 — — 1845 5 3 402 5 — Barbados exported in 1832, 16,814 lbs., value £469; in 1840, 387 packages ; in 1843, 302; in 1844, 790 packages; in 1851, 306 packages; these average about 30 lbs. each. Ceylon now produces excellent arrowroot. In 1842, 150 boxes were exported ; in 1843, 200; in 1844, 300; in 1845, 600 boxes. From Africa we now importa large quantity : 250 boxes were re- ceived in 1846. Not unfrequently arrowroot from Africa has been - sent to the West Indies in the ships with the liberated Africans, and thence re-exported to England, as of St. Vincent or Ber- muda growth. The duty on arrowroot, under the new tariff, is equalised on all kinds to 43d. per Ib. The imports and home consumption of arrowroot have increased very largely, as may be seen from the following figures :— 2A B54 SALEP. Retained for home Imports. consumption. los. lbs. LS 2G Rich eee es 318/930" Cito eee 358,007 16) 9 UA 9 SAME E ND en AAO (200 eee eee 516,587 LESSRy: eee aA toro aes ais SSG SLL. oe eee 735,190 1S 1s AR ey Snopes yr apts Fi ig 2845966 a. cys occ SCE 895,406 FESR pastas quae alas aires: 404,738) 20. eee 434,574 18397 WR fae eee ee 303,499 222 ic See 224,792 184 Oleeates aan, hese 108,469. 5. 330,490 IS 4g ey fer Be see Se 555 355535575 454,893 SENS en ee Oe an OP ee 890,136 _.. oe ee 846,832 “USA Bethea trey Gt sno 905,072 7-2. 981,120 SK Ga her Maree arene ire TAS 1,185,968... . 22 eeee 1,211,168 1848 Reuse 906,304: s.25 See cee 933,744 1849 1,036,195, .. cup eeee es 1,032,992 TSH Ogee eh ae oe 17895774: eee eee 1,414,669 USO 8 een ck serosa 2,083,681 So ne ce Ree 1,848,778 SDA No coals eevee ghee 2,139,390 52 72. eee ee 2,024,316 SALEP is the prepared and dried roots of several orchideous plants, and is sometimes sold in the state of powder. Indigenous salep is procured, according to Dr. Perceval from Orchis mascula, O. latifolia, O. morio, and other native plants of this order. On the continent it is obtained from OQ. papilionaceo, and militaris. Oriental salep is procured from other orchidece. Professor Royle states that the salep of Kashmir is obtained from a species of Eulophia, probably £. virens. Salep is also obtaimed from the tuberous roots of Tacca pinnatifida, and other species of the same genus, which are principally natives of the East Indies and the South Sea Islands. The large fleshy tubers of tacca, when scraped and frequently washed, yield a nutritious fecula resembling arrowroot. Salep consists chiefly of bassorin, some soluble gum, and a little starch. It forms an article of diet fitted for convalescents when boiled with water or milk. The price of salep is about eight guineas per ewt. in the London market. A little is exported from Constan- tinople, as I noticed a shipment of 66 casks m 1842; excellent specimens from this quarter were shown in the Egyptian depart- ment of the Great Exhibition in 1851. It was formerly a great deal used, but has latterly been much superseded by other articles. Major D. Williams (“Journal of the Agri. and Hort. Soe. of Tndia,”’ vol. iv., part 1), states that the tacca plant abounds in certain parts of the province of Arracan, where the Mugs prepare the farina for export to the China market. After removing the peel, the root is grated on a fish-skin, and the pulp having been strained through a coarse cloth, is washed three or four times in water, and then dried in the sun. According to a recent examination of the plant by Mr. Nuttall (“ American Journal of Pharmacy,’ vol. ix., p. 305), the Otaheite salep is obtamed from a new species of tacea, which he names T. oceanica. For many years we have obtained from Tahiti, and other islands of the South Seas, this fecula, known by the name of Tahiti and ROOT CROPS. 300 arrowroot, probably the produce of Yucca pinnatifida. It is generally spherical, but also often ovoid, elliptic, or rounded, with a prolongation in the form of a neck, suddenly terminated by a lane. The tacea plant grows at Zanzibar, and is found naturalised on the high islands of the Pacific. The art of preparing arrowroot from it is aboriginal with the Polynesians and Feejeeans. At Tahiti the fecula is procured by washing the tubers, scraping off their outer skin, and then reducing them to a pulp by friction, on akind of rasp, made by winding coarse twine (formed of the coco- nut fibre) regularly round a board. The pulp is washed with sea water through a sieve, made of the fibrous web which protects the young frond of the coco-nut palm. ‘The strained liquor is re- ceived in a wooden trough, in which the fecula is deposited; and the supernatant liquor being poured off, the sediment is formed into balls, which are dried in the sun for twelve or twenty-four hours, then broken and reduced to powder, which is spread out in the sun further to dry. In some parts of the world cakes of a large size are made of the meal, which form an article of diet in China, Cochin-China, Travancore, &c., where they are eaten by the natives with some acid to subdue their acrimony. Some twenty varieties of the Ti plant (Diacaena terminalis) are eultivated in the Polynesian islands. There is, however, but one which is: considered farinaceous and edible.. In Java the root is considered a valuable medicine in dysentery. Within the last three or four years, considerable quantities of a feculent substance, called Tous les mois, have been imported from the West Indies. It is cultivated in Barbados, St. Kitts, and the French islands, and is said to be prepared by a tedious and trouble- some process from the rhizomes of various species of Canna Coccinea, Achiras, glauca, and edulis. It approaches more nearly to potato starch than to any other fecula, but its particles are larger. Like the other amylaceous substances, it forms a valuable and nutritious article of food for the invalid. The large tuberous roots of the Canna are equal in size to the humanhead. The plant attains in rich soils a stature of fourteen feet, and is identical, it is supposed, with the Achira of Cioco, which has an esculent root highly esteemed ; and my friend, Dr. Hamil- ton, of Plymouth, has named it provisionally, in consequence, Canna achira. The starch of this root, he asserts, is superior to that of the Maranta, ROOT CROPS. Amonest tuberous rooted plants, which serve as food for man in various quarters of the globe, the principal are the common potato, yam, cocoes or eddoes, sweet potatoes, taro, tacca, arrowroot, cassava, or manioc, and the Apios (Arracacha esculenta). There are others of less importance, which may be incidentally mentioned, as 2 306 ROOT CROPS. The roots of Zropeolum tuberosum are eaten in Peru, those of Ocymum tuberosum in Java. In Kamschatka they use the root of the Liliwm Pomponium as a substitute for the potato. In Brazil the Helianthus tuberosus. The rhizome and seed vessels of the Lotus form the principal food of the aborigines of Australia. As a matter of curious information, I have also briefly alluded to many other plants and roots, furnishing farinaceous substance and sup- port in different countries. The comparative amount of human food that can be produced upon an acre from different crops, is worthy of great consideration. One hundred bushels of Indian corn per acre is not an uncommon crop. One peck per week will not only sustain life, but give a man strength to labor, if the stomach is properly toned to the amount of food. This, then, would feed one man 400 weeks, or almost eight years! 400 bushels of potatoes can also be raised upon an acre. This would give a bushel a week for the same length of time; and the actual weight of an acre of sweet potatoes (Convolvulus batatas) is 21,344 Ibs., which is not considered an extraordinary crop. This would feed a man (six pounds a day) for 3,557 days, or nine and two-third years! To vary the diet we will occasionally give rice, which has been grown at the rate of 93 bushels to the acre, over an entire field. This, at 45 lbs. to the bushel, would be 4,185 lbs. ; or, at 28 lbs. to the bushel when husked, 2,604 lbs., which, at two pounds a day, would feeda man 1,302 days, or more than three-and-a-half years! POTATOES. THe common English or Irish potato (Solanum tuberosum), so ex- tensively cultivated throughout most of the temperate countries of the civilised globe, contributing as it does to the necessities of a large portion of the human race, as well as to the nourishment and fattening of stock, is regarded as of but little less importance in our national economy than wheat or other grain. It has been found in an indigenous state in Chili, on the mountains near Val- paraiso and Mendoza; also near Monte Video, Lima, Quito, as well as in Santa Fe de Bogota, and more recently in Mexico, on the flanks of Orizaba. The history of this plant, in connection with that of the sweet potato, is involved in obscurity, as the accounts of their introduc- tion into Europe are somewhat conflicting, and often they. appear to be confounded with one another. The common kind was doubt- less introduced into Spain in the early part of the sixteenth century, from the neighbourhood of Quito, where, as well as in all Spanish countries, the tubers are known as papas. The first published account of it we find on record is in “ La Cronica del Peru,’ by Pedro de Cieca, printed at Seville, in 1553, in which it is described and illustrated by an engraving. From Spain it appears to have found its way into Italy, where it assumed the same name as the ROOT CROPS. 357 truffe. It was received by Clusius, at Vienna, in 1598, in whose time it spread rapidly in the South of Europe, and even into Ger- many. It is said to have found its way to England by a different route, having been brought from Virginia by Raleigh colonists, in 1586, which would seem improbable, as it was unknown in North America at that time, either wild or cultivated ; and besides, Gough, in his edition of Camden’s “ Britannia,’ says it was first planted by Sir Walter Raleigh, on his estate at Youghal, near Cork, and that it was cultivated in Ireland before its value was known in England. Gerarde, in his “ Herbal,’ published in 1597, gives a figure of this plant, under the name of Batata Virginiana, to distinguish it from the Batata edulis, and recommends the root to be eaten as a “delicate dish,’ but not asa common food. “The sweet potato,” says Sir Joseph Banks, ‘ was used in England as a delicacy, long before the introduction of our potatoes. It was imported in considerable quantities from Spain and the Canaries, and was supposed to possess the power of restoring decayed vigor.” It is related that the common potato was accidentally introduced into England from Ireland, at a period somewhat earlier than that noticed by Gerarde, in consequence of the wreck of a vessel on the coast of Lancashire, which had a quantity on board. In 1663 the Royal Society of England took measures for the cultivation of this vegetable, with the view of preventing famine. Notwithstanding its utility as a food became better known, no high character was attached to it; and the writers on gardening towards the end of the seventeenth century, a hundred years or more after its introduction, treated of it rather indifferently. “They are much used in Ireland and America as bread,” says one author, “and may be propagated with advantage to poor people.” The famous nurserymen, Loudon and Wise, did not consider it worthy of notice in their “‘ Complete Gardener,’’ published in 1719, But its use gradually spread as its excellencies became better un- derstood. It was near the middle of the last century before it was generally known either in Britain or North America, since which it has been most extensively cultivated. The period of the introduction of the common potato into the British North American colonies, is not precisely known. It is mentioned among the products of Carolina and Virginia in 1749, and by Kalm as growing in New York the same year. The culture of this root extends through the whole of Europe, a large portion of Asia, Australia, the southern and northern parts of Africa, and the adjacent islands. On the American continent, with the exception of some sections of the torrid zone, the culture ranges from Labrador on the east, and Nootka Sound on the west, to Cape Horn. It resists more effectually than the cereals the frosts of the north. In the North American Union it is principally confined to the Northern, Middle, and Western States, where, from the coolness of the climate it acquires a farinaceous consis- tence highly conducive to the support of animal life. It has never been extensively cultivated in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and 308 ROOD CROPS. Louisiana, probably from the greater facility of raising the sweet potato, its more tropical rival. Its perfection, however, depends as much upon the soil as on the climate in which it grows ; for in the red loam, on the banks of Bayou Beeuf, in Dipaciana, where the land is new, it is said that tubers are produced as large, savory, and as free from water as any raised in other parts of the world. The same may be said of those grown at Bermuda, Ma- deira, the Canaries, and numerous other ocean isles. The chief varieties cultivated in the Northern States of America are the carter, the kidneys, the pink-eyes, the mercer, the orange, the Sault Ste. “Marie, the merino, and Western rede in the Middle and Western States, the mercer, the long red, or merino, the orange, and the Western red. ‘The yield varies from 50 to 400 bushels and upwards per acre, but generally it is below 200 bushels. Within the last ten years an alarming disease, or “rot,” has attacked the tubers of this plant, about the time they are fully grown. It has not only appeared in nearly every part of America, but has spread dismay, at times, throughout Great Britain and Ireland, and has been felt more or less seriously in every quarter of the globe. To the greater uncertainty attending its cultivation of late years, must be attributed the deficiency of the United States crop of 1849, as compared with that of 1839. This is one of the four agricultural products which, by the last census, appears smaller than ten years since.—(“ American Census Reports for 1850.’’) The crops in Ireland, where the potato is the principal object of culture, vary from 14 to 10} tons per acre, according to the season ; but in the average of three years ending 1849, the annual growth of Great Britain and Ireland amounted to nine million tons, which, at £3 per ton, exhibits the value at £27,000,000 sterling. Ireland produced in 1847 a little over two million tons, the yield being 74 tons per acre. In 1848 the produce was 2,880,814 tons, averaging only four tons to the acre. In 1849, 4,014,122 tons, averaging 54 tons to the acre. In 1850, 3,954,990 tons; and in 1851, 4,441,022 tons; the average yield per acre not stated. In many parts of Scotland 24 tons to the acre are raised. The sales of po- tatoes in the principal metropolitan markets exceed 140,000 tons a year, which are irrespective of the sales which take place at railway stations, wharfs, shops, &c. The imports into the United Kingdom average about 70,000 tons annually. Potatoes are ex- ported to the West Indies, Mediterranean, and other quarters. For emigrant ships, preserved or dried potato flour is now much used. The following quantities of potato flour were imported from France in the last few years :— Cwts SAS Be oe sgiae eee Mea cg hyo ice on ar eet Ce te tered ea ection 175222 HR ser AS) ah Sy el en en hy se 3,858 a oto) Umea, eee srr, i NANO i APN Ie oreo, SPE eee Mario 12,591 “ BOOT CROPS. 309 We also imported the following quantities of potatoes in the last five years :— Cwts. LOG ook a ee ee ce ee 940,697 eI aa cho) hectadey Scalol So ekaes sl dcisie,e beac 1,417,867 Leth 2 LS ne rs eae 1,348,867 Eel Winkie ei ee aie CO aimee nna Gar ewe 636,771 LOE cc plar scien eae ge ae eae a ae 773,658 Thoroughly dried potatoes will always produce a crop free from disease. Such is the positive assertion of Mr. Bollman, one of the professors in the Russian Agricultural Institution, at Gorigoretsky. Jn a very interesting pamphlet* by this gentleman, it is asserted, as an unquestionable fact, that mere drying, if conducted at a suf- ficiently high temperature, and continued long enough, is a com- plete antidote to the disease, The account given by Professor Bollman of the accident which led to this discovery is as follows :—He had contrived a potato- setter, which had the bad quality of destroying any sprouts that. might be on the sets, and even of tearing away the rind. To harder the potatoes so as to protect them against this accident, he resolved to dry them. In the spring of 1850, he placed a lot in a very hot room, and at the end of three weeks they were dry enough to plant. ‘The potatoes came up well, and produced as good a crop as that of the neighbouring farmers, with this dif- ference only, that they had no disease, and the crop was, there- fore, upon the whole, more abundant. Professor Bollman tells us that he regarded this as a mere accident; he, however, again dried his seed potatoes in 1851, and again his crop was abundant and free from disease, while everywhere on the surrounding land they were much affected. This was too remarkable a circumstance not to excite attention, and in 1852 a third trial took place. All Mr. Bollman’s own stock of potatoes being exhausted, he was obliged to purchase his seed, which bore unmistakable marks of having formed part of a crop that had been severely diseased; some, in fact, were quite rotten. After keeping them about a month in a hot room, as be- fore, he cut the largest potatoes into quarters, and the smaller into halves, and left them to dry for another week. Accidentally the drying was carried so far that apprehensions were entertained of a very bad crop, if any. Contrary to expectation, however, the sets pushed promptly, and grew so fast that excellent young po- tatoes were dug three weeks earlier than usual. Eventually nine times the quantity planted was produced, and although the neigh- bouring fields were attacked, no trace of disease could be found on either the herbage or the potatoes themselves. This singular result, obtamed in three successive years, led to inquiry as to whether any similar cases were on record. In the course of the investigation two other facts were elicited. It was * Les Moyens de prévenir la Maladie des Pommes de Terre. Expériences et Conclusions de A. N. C. Bollman, Conseiller @’état, Professeur, &c. 8vo, St. Petersburg, 1853. 360 ROOT CROPS. discovered that Mr. Losovsky (living in the government of Witebsk, in the district of Sebege), had for four years adopted the plan of drying his seed potatoes, and that during that time there had been no disease on his estate. It was again an accident which led to the practice of this gentleman. Five years ago, while his potatoes were digging, he put one im his pocket, and on return- ing home threw it on the stove (poele), where it remaimed for- gotten till the sprmg. Having then chanced to observe it, he had the curiosity to plant it, all dried up as it was, and obtained an abundant, healthy crop; since that time the practice of drying has been continued, and always with great success. Professor Boliman remarks that it is usual in Russia, in many places, to smoke-dry flax, wheat, and rye; and in the west of Russia, ex- perienced proprietors prefer, for seed, onions that have been kept over the winter in cottages without a chimney. Such onions are called dymka, which may be interpreted smoke-dried. The second fact is this: —Mr. Wasileffsky, a gentlemen residing in the government of Mohileff, is in the habit of keepmg potatoes all the year round, by storing them in the place where his hams are smoked. It happened that in the spring of 1852 his seed potatoes, kept in the usual manner, were insufficient, and he made up the requisite quantity with some of those which had been for a month in the smoking place. These potatoes produced a capital crop, very little diseased, while at the same time the crop from the sets which were not smoke-dried was extensively attacked by disease. Professor Bollman is of opimion that there would have been no disease at all if the sets had been better dried. The temperature required to produce the desired result is not very clearly made out. Mr. Bollman’s room, in which his first potatoes were dried, was heated to about 72 degrees, and much higher. By way of experiment he placed others in the chamber of the stove itself, where the thermometer stood at 136 degrees, and more. He also ascertained that the vitality of the potato is not affected, even if the rind is charred. Those who have the use of a malt-kiln, or even a lime-kiln, might try the effect of excessive drying, for a month seems to be long enough for the process.—(Gardener’s Chronicle.) A Mr. Penoyer, of Western Saratoga, Illinois, publishes the following, which he recommends as a perfect cure and preventive of the potato rot, having tested it thoroughly four years with perfect success; while others in the same field, who did not use the preventive, lost their entire crop by the rot. I+ not only pre- vents the rot, but restores the potato to its primitive vigor, and the product is not only sound, but double the size, consequently producing twice the quantity on the same ground, and the vines grow much larger, and retain their freshness and vitality until the frost kills them. Aside from the cure of the rot, the farmers would be more than doubly compensated for their trouble and expense in the increase and quality of the crop. The remedy or preventive is as follows :—“ Take one peck of fine salt and mix it ROOT CROPS. 36L thoroughly with half a bushel of Nova Scotia plaster or gypsum (the plaster is the best), and immediately after hoeing the potatoes the second time, or just as the young potato begins to set, sprinkle on the main vines, next to the ground, a tablespoon full of the above mixture to each hill, and be sure to get it on the main vines, as it is found that the rot proceeds from a sting of an insect in the vine, and the mixture coming in contact with the vine, kills the effect of it before it reaches the potato.’ I cannot but consider Professor Bollman’s as the most important of the two remedies suggested. The potato crop of the United States exceeds 100 million bushels, nearly all of which are consumed in the country; the average exports of the last eight years not having exceeded 160,000 bushels per annum. . According to the census returns of 1840, the quantity of potatoes of all sorts raised in the Union, was 108,298,060 bushels; of 1850, 104,055,989 bushels, of which 38,259,196 bushels were sweet potatoes. Last year (1852) there was under cultivation with potatoes in Canada, the following extent of land :— Acres. Bushels. Wpper Canada «.........60-.. ili GU2t AE OGPICE sie oh se's aise deve 498,747 BaweriCanada ....00..c0s00e (3,244) PLOGNCE 386 SPICES AND FRAGRANT WOODS. ganic matter cannot sustain vegetation.” Certainly it is not organic matier which supports the cinnamon trees of Colombo. Peeling.—The best cinnamon is obtained from the stalks or twigs, which shoot up in a cluster of eight or ten together from the roots, after the parent bush or tree has been cut down. These shoots are cut once in about three years, close to the ground. Great care is requisite, both as to the exact size and age; for if the bark is too young, it has a green taste, if too old it is rough and gritty. These shoots yield an incomparably fine cinnamon bark. When cut for peeling they are of various sizes and lengths, depending on the texture of the bark. These rods afford the hazel- like walking-sticks so much esteemed by strangers, and which, though difficult to be procured during the prevalence of the oppressive cinnamon regulations, may now be very easily ob- tained from proprietors of grounds producing that spice. Cinna- mon is barked at two periods of the year, between April and December. Those suckers which are considered fit for cutting, are usually about three-fourths of an inch in diameter, and five feet or more long. The first operation is to strip them of the outside pellicle of bark. The twigs are then ripped up length- wise with the point of a knife, and the liber or inner bark gradu- ally loosened, till it can be entirely taken off. While drying they are cut up into long narrow rolls, called “ quills,’ then stuck into one another, so as to form pipes about three or four feet long, which are afterwards made up in round bundles. During the first day the cinnamon is suspended under shelter upon open platforms, and on the second day it is placed on wicker-work shelves, and exposed to the sun until sufficiently dry to be examined and sorted for shipment. ‘It is brought home in bags or bales of 80 or 90 Ibs. weight, and classed before export into three sorts; first, second, and third quality. The different kinds of cinnamon bark may be thus classified, according to quality— 1. That which ranks above all others in quality, is known by the Singhalese name of penne or rasse kuroondu, pees sweet, or honey cinnamon. 2. Naya kuroondu, snake cimnamon. 3. Kapoorn kuroondu, camphorated cinnamon, from the very strong smell of camphor which it possesses. This variety is prin- cipally obtained from the plantations of the interior. 4. Kahate or canalle kuroondu, astringent cinnamon. In this species the bark peels off very easily, and smells agreeably when fresh, but it has a bitter taste. 5. Savel kuroondu, mucilaginous or glutinous cinnamon. This sort acquires a very ‘considerable degree of hardness, which the chewing of it sufficiently proves. It has otherwise little taste, and an ungrateful smell; but the color is very fine, and it is often mixed with the first and best sort; the color being much alike, excepting only that m the good sort some few yellowish spots appear towards the extremities. 6. Dawool kuroondu, or drum cinnamon. The wovod of this GS CINNAMON. 84 tree, when grown hard, is light and tough, and the natives make some of their vessels and drums of it. The bark is of a pale color. 7. Nika kuroondu, wild cinnamon, whose leaf resembles that of the nicasol (Vitex Negundo). The bark of this tree has neither taste or smell when peeled, and is made use of by the natives only in physic, and to extract an oil from to anoint their bodies. 8. Mal kuroondu, flowering cinnamon, because this tree is always in blossom. The substance of the wood never becomes so solid and weighty in this as in the other named species, which are sometimes nine or ten feet in circumference. If this ever-flower- ing cmnamon be cut or bored, a limpid water will issue out of the wound ; but it is of use only for the leaves and bark. 9. Toupat kuroondu, trefoil cinnamon, of which there are three varieties, which grow in the mountains and valleys of the interior about Kandy. 10. We kuroondu, white ant’s cinnamon. The first-named four of these are, however, alone varieties of the Cinnamonum verum. Good cinnamon is known by the following properties :—It is thin and rather pliable; it ought to be about the substance of royal paper, or somewhat thicker. It admits of a considerable deeree of pressure, and bends before it breaks; the fracture is then splintering. It is of a light color, approaching to yellow, bordering but little upon the brown; it possesses a sweetish taste, at the same time it is not stronger than can be borne without pain, and is not succeeded by any after-taste. The more cinnamon departs from these characteristics, th» coarser and less serviceable it is esteemed; and it should be rejected if it be hard, and thick as a half-crown piece; if it be very dark colored or brown; if it be very pungent and hot on the tongue, with a taste bordering upon that of cloves, so that if cannot be suffered without pain. Particular care should be taken that it is not false-packed, or mixed with cinnamon of a common sort. The followmg remarks, by Mr. Dunewille, of Malacca, as to the suitability of the Straits’ Settlements for cinnamon culture, are interesting, although in some instances a repetition of previous observations :-— It appears, from experience, that the soil of Ceylon is more favorable to the growth of cinnamon than to that of any other aromatic plant, and I find the climate of Ceylon, if at all, differs but in a very slight degree from that of the Straits. I therefore conclude that the spice, if cultivated in the Straits, will prove superior to that of Ceylon, if one may judge from the various spices that grow here almost wild, and it would moreover yield a better return than ia Ceylon. My supposition is confirmed from having seen the spice which was prepared last year in Pringet by the Honorable Resident Councillor of Malacca, and which I found to be equally as good in every respect as that grown and cultivated in the maritime provinces in Ceylon. A sandy soil is that which is generally selected for cinnamon, but other soils may be chosen also, such as a mixture of sandy with red soil, free from quartz, gravel, or rock, also red and dark brown soils. Such land in a flat country is preferable to hilly spots, upon which, however, cinnamon also grows, and are known by the name of the “‘ Kandyan Mountains.” The soil that is rocky and 202 888 SPICES AND FRAGRANT WOODS. stony under the surface is bad, and not adapted for the cultivation of cinnamon, as the trees would neither grow fast, nor yield a remunerative return. When a tract of land of the above description is selected, the whole of the ground should be cleared, leaving a few trees for shade, to which the laborers might return for rest and relaxation; these may be from 50 to 60 feet apart. The trees felled should be well lopped, burnt and cleared away, the stumps should be removed with roots, after which they may be allowed to remain, in order to save expense of carriage, merely by observing some degree of order in the disposition, by forming regular rows, of which the intervening spaces are planted with cinnamon. The ground being thus cleared, holes may be dug at eight to ten feet apart, and of cne foot square ; the distance from each plant will depend upon the nature of the soil—that is, the poorer the soil, the nearer to each other should the trees be planted, and vice versa. When this operation is over, should the holes be intended for cinnamon roots, or stumps, the latter must be carefully removed with as much earth as can be carried up with them and placed in the holes, taking care not to return the earth removed originally in digging the holes, which are to be filled with the soil scraped from the surface, which has been previously burnt, exposed, and formed into manure. Should no rain have fallen after the placing of the roots in the holes, the stumps should be well covered, and watered morning and even- ing, until such time as the sprouts shoot out fresh buds, which will be na fortnight or so from the time they were transplanted, when the watering may be discontinued. In a month the new shoots will be three or four inches high ; this much depends upon the weather. If the holes be intended for young plants or seedlings, the plants must be re- moyed with boles of earth from the nurseries, and placed in the holes, taking, the same care as with the stumps, both in watering and covering, in the event of its being dry weather. When the seedlings take root, the coverings should not be removed until the plants throw out a new pair of leaves from the buds, which is a sign of their having taken root. When a plantation is formed of old stumps, all the branches should be cut down within six inches from the ground; this should be done with one stroke of a sharp instrument, in order to avoid the splitting of the stem. From these stumps cinnamon may be cut and peeled within eighteen months from the time of transplanting. Often this is done after the lapse of twelve months from the time of transplanting. From seedlings one cannot expect to gather a crop before two or three years from the time the plants were transplanted, when there will be but one ora single tree, which, when cut down as already shown, four or six inches to the ground, ought to be covered with fresh earth gathered from the space between the rows, and formed in a heap round the plant. The next crop will be three or four times as much as the first, from the number of sprouts the stem will throw out, and so on every year, the crop increasing according to the number of sprouts each stem will throw out yearly from the cuttings. In the course of seven or eight years, the space left between the rows will only admit the peelers and others to go round the bushes, weed, clear and remove cuttings, as the branches from each bush will almost touch each other at their ends. It is essentially necessary to take every care not to allow any creepers or other weeds to grow, the former interfere with the growth of the bushes by en- tangling, because it not only takes out so much of the support feeding the cinnamon trees, but interferes with the peelers during the cutting season, and prevents the branches growing up straight with a free circulation of air. The plantation ought to be kept clean and free from weeds ; the cinnamon requires no manuring, but when the plantation is weeding the bushes should be covered with the sur- face soil and raising the ground round the bush by making a heap of the earth, which answers well in leu of manure. This operation must be attended to as soon as the cinnamon sticks are removed for peeling. The plantation requires weeding three or four times a year during the first two or three years, then twice a year will answer the purpose; as by that time the trees will form into bushes and destroy the seeds of the weeds on the ground. The forming of a nursery is necessary, for which a space of ground, say an acre, should be selected in a rich bit of soil free from stones. Clear the whole brush- - CINNAMON. 389 wood, only leaving the large trees for shade, remove all stones, stumps, and roots, dig the place well six or eight inches deep, then form into long beds of three or four feet wide, put the seeds down nine or twelve inches apart, cover them eight or twelve inches above the ground by a platform, and water them every other day until the seeds grow up and give one pair of leaves, then leave off watering (unless great dry weather prevail, then it ought to be continued) but not uncover until the plants grow up six or eight inches high, and can bear the sun; these seedlings will be ready for transplanting after three months from the time they were sown. ' The forming of nurseries is done at the close of the year, before December. When this is done first, the party commences clearing and preparing the land during the dry season, which is from the beginning of December up to the end of March following. April will set in with heavy rain (it is generally so in Ceylon), and it will continue wet weather till the end of August, very often till September and October, and you have the benefit of four or five months rain. The cinnamon seeds are to be gathered when they are fully ripe, they must be heaped up in a shady place, to have the outside red pulp rotted, when it turns quite black, then have the seeds trampled or otherwise freed from the decom- posed pulp, without injuring the seeds, and well washed in water (just as is done to cherry coffee, before they are made into parchment in the whole shell). Finally, have the seeds* well dried in the air without exposing them to the sun, and then put them in on the ground prepared for their reception. In washing the seeds, those that float on the surface should be rejected. There are five different sorts of cinnamon, viz. :— 1st is called Panny Meers Carundoo. 2nd Sad bigdec 5 2 3rd .. Kahatte ,, " 4th .. Wallee _,, 3 dth .. Savell 9 9 Of these, the first kind is the best of all, the 2nd and 3rd, although inferior, are peeled likewise, the 4th and 5th are spurious. , The distinction in the cinnamon can be known both by taste, the shape of the leaves on the tree, and an experienced “‘ Challya” man will judge the cinnamon by first sight. The quality of the bark depends upon its situation in the branch, that peeled from the middle of the bush or branch being the most swperior, and classed as 1st sort, that taken from the upper end is the 2nd quality, while the bark removed from the base of the branch, or the thickest end, is the inferior, and called the 3rd sort. From the cinnamon bark refused in the sorting store of all kinds, in separating the first, second and third qualities and in making bales for exportation, the refuse is collected, and by a chemical process cinnamon oil is extracted, which sells very high, with an export duty of 3s. or 145 rupees on each ounce, ex- clusive of the British duties payable in England for importation, which is at present one shilling and three pence per pound. f Of the cinnamon roots camphor is made, which sells well both in Ceylon and other parts of the world. Cinnamon, as a medicine, is a powerful stimulant, but it is not much used alone. It is generally united with other tonics and stimulants, but its ordinary use is to mask the disagreeable odor and taste of other medicines. The oil of cinnamon is prepared by being grossly powdered and macerated in sea water for two days and two nights, and both are put into the still. A light oil comes over with the water, and floats on its surface; a heavy oil sinks to the bottom of the receiver, four hours before the light oil separates from the water, and whilst the heavy oil continues to be precipi- Phe cinnamon seeds after washing be exposed to the sun, even for twenty minutes, the shells will crack in two, and this prevents the seeds from growing. + No export duties exist in the Straits Settlements. 390 SPICES AND FRAGRANT WOODS. tated for ten, twelve, or sometimes fourteen days. The heavy oil, which separates first, is about the same color as the light oil, but sometimes the portion which separates last has a browner shade than the supernatant oil. The same water can be used advanta- geously in a second distillation. Professor Duncan informs us that 80 lbs. of newly-prepared cinnamon yield about 2% ozs. of oil, which floats upon the water, and 53 of heavy oil. The same quantity of cinnamon, if kept in store for many years, yields 2 ozs. of light oil and 5 ozs. of heavy oil. Cinnamon oil is obtamed from the fragments of bark which remain after peeling, sorting, and packing. It is distilled over with difficulty, and the process is promoted by the addition of salt water, and the use of a low still. The oil thus obtained by dis- tillation is at first of a yellow color, but soon assumes a reddish brown hue. .1t has an odor intermediate between that of cin- namon and vanilla, but possesses in a high degree both the sweet burning taste and the agreeable aromatic smell of cinnamon. It is heavier than water, its specific gravity beg 1.035. The ripe fruit of this tree yields a concrete oil called cinnamon suet, which was formerly employed to make candles for the Kandian kings. An oil, called clove oil, is also distilled from the leaf, which is said to be equal in aromatic pungency to that made from the clove at the Moluccas. The following were the quantities sold, and the average prices realised during the Dutch rule in Ceylon :— Sos OOO Wee enn 3,750 bales soldat 4 8 all round. 100 Bere ott 04 3,750 - 4 6 i‘ Oreste ei tit 3,500 5 4 4 i UDO ese ast oo 5,000 ‘ Ae ‘ LAO Blan tetre careers 4,000 . De} Ae GORE 5,000 us Bras PSO eee ok 9,500 fs 12 6 i HSA de ea tian 2,500 17 4 - The last quotation appears to have been the highest ever ob- tained for cinnamon, for 17s. 8d. average would give about 22s. for the first sort. In later years we find the deliveries and prices to have been as follows :— s. d. 1 AES IA72 SORES os aan EE Bu 5,934 bales sold at 6 6 all round. DOS yk ee cieeshore hake 3,918 as 6 0 5 SS OMe vecisaoerecevsndlere 5,849 9 if “9 SA De cts vebaceehele sies 1,018 99 SER 9 TS AG UF oe be eis eve amet 3,240 99 eng ” The comparative exports of cinnamon from Ceylon in the first six months of 1853, as compared with the same period last year, are as follows :— 1853, - 1862. lbs. lbs. Quarter ending 5th January .... 99,778 .... 93,291 is Sth April... 78,815 ..0, Webeone Total :.... Be AIRS ORIN 173,693. J, 2285588 CINNAMON. 39] The diminished export was caused by the prospective abolition of the export duty, which came into operation on the Ist July last. The quantity that will be sent to the English market by the close of the year (1853) will be something prodigious compared with the average consumption. From October 10, 1852, to July 22, 1853, the shipments were 406,326 lbs. BRETURN OF CINNAMON EXPORTED FROM CEYLON, SHOWING THE QUANTITY AND VALUE. Quantity. Value. Year. lbs. a8 eres Mt Ae ow ees dle LARD OF esa ad a sl sok ss — Leki: 1 ee SOS HU Oe ae a seen _ SS OMe ers acs ornate DOOMED Se cnt ene — Pes es ee. SOGINOR er a ee Le Ca ee ME OMeb eet el Ne DOO LSiol mace ae eae — Se eee STOO my peste ek eee 24,857 BR casi clase bin PEDAL a See rece 2 Bates 15,207 epee GOOF ene oe! 66,270 ee eS, Oar Ta eo 105,784 LGR. lh er. AOS) 2 aa tare Behar 40,821 LSAT: 8 6570 ao 299 1834 .. 9,913 aes 9,918 Bs 10,004 # 1,638 1835... 8,321 ae 8,982 as 4,489 on 1,647 1886.... 10,296° .. . 6,804 .. (dS 580 7 eee 1887... 109388 .. 9,905 2. BB S767 emeeen 1888. 13,366 ..°° 9,944 2. 3ab649 7 ee eae 1839° 020 8906. “Ls 21S a eee 914 16405 6 65 D881 he Feb 9,749" inst eadbages 1841 .. 4,446 a 5,523 a 5,292 ae Bei ARM Our 4 Oy ee DG baa $680. |. selneon 1843 .. 4,013 a; 5,958 as 4,106 ie 3,254 casks, &e. casks, bags. bags. AHA hi AIGIO 2 es BARRO 6,101: ... 52m, 061 DSA eee OlglO4e uae seg G ZOO ep A: 28,169) 9.22 aee, aoe P8480 40/6. 00,018. 2 2 ne o,042 Soe 31,665 .... 2,950 PBSQR = 40;6ol ee] 25616 eee 32,246 .... 3,859 CHILLIES AND CAYENNE PEPPER. CHILLIES or capsicum are long roundish taper pods, divided into two or three cells, full of small whitish seeds. When this fruit is fresh, it has a penetrating acrid smell; to the taste itis extremely pungent, and produces a most painful burning in the mouth. They are occasionally imported dry, and form the basis of Cayenne pepper; put in vinegar when green or ripe, they are an accept- able present in Europe. In Bengal the natives make an extract from the chillies, which is about the consistence and color of treacle. The consumption of chillies in India is immense, as both rich and poor daily use them, and it is the principal ingredient in all chutnies and curries; ground into a paste, between two stones, with a little mustard, oil, ginger, and salt, it forms the only seasoning which the millions of poor in that country can obtain to eat with their insipid rice. They are worth in the Bombay market about 40s. the candy of 600 lbs. Immense quantities of the capsicum are used by the native population of the West Indies, Africa, and Mexico; the con- sumption as a condiment being almost universal, and perhaps equal in quantity to salt. Ten barrels of these peppers were shipped from Montego Bay, Jamaica, in the first six months of 1851. The wholesale price of chillies in the London market is from 15s. to 25s. the cwt., and there is a duty of 6d. per pound on them. Cayenne fetches 9d. to 2s. the pound. Chill is the Mexican name for all varieties of Capsicum. They CAYENNE PEPPER. 4295 are natives of the East and West Indies, and other hot climates. C. annuum is the species commonly noticed, but there seems to be numerous varieties, which by many are reckoned species. Thus, C. frutescens is a shrubby plant, which, along with 0. minimum, supplies the variety called bird-pepper, it grows to a larger and more bushy size; C. baccatum has a globular fruit, and furnishes cherry or berry capsicum. They are all of the simplest culture, and may even be grown with very little care in England. Culture appears to increase the size, but to diminish the pungency of the fruit. In capsicums irritant properties prevail so asto obscure the narcotic action. Their acridity is owing to an oleaginous sub- stance called capsicin. Cayenne pepper is used in medicine chiefly in the form of tincture, as a rubefacient and stimulant, especially in cases of ulcerated sore throat. It acts on the stomach as an aromatic condiment, and when preserved in acetic acid it forms chilli vinegar. Red pepper may be considered one of the most useful vegetables in hygiene. As a stimulant and auxiliary in digestion it has been considered invaluable, especially in warm countries. A kind called the tobacco red pepper, is said to possess the most pungent properties of any of the species. It yields a small red pod, less than an inch in length, and longitudinal in shape, which 1s so ex- ceedingly hot that a small quantity of it is sufficient to season a large dish of any food. Owing to its oleaginous character, it has been found impossible to preserve it by drying, but by pouring strong boiling vinegar on it a sauce or decoction can be made, which possesses in a concentrated form all the essential qualities of the vegetable. A single drop of this sauce will flavor a whole plate of soup or other food. The “wort” or Cayenne pottage may be termed the national dish of the Abyssinians, as that, or its basis “dillock,” is invari- ably eaten with their ordinary diet, the thin crumpet-like bread of teff or wheat flour. Equal parts of salt and the red cayenne pods are well powdered and mixed together with a little pea or bean meal to make a paste. This is called “ dillock,” and is made in quantities at a time, being preserved in a large gourd-shell, generally suspended from the roof. The “wort” is merely a little water added to this paste, which is then boiled over the fire, with the addition of a little fat meat and more meal to make a kind of porridge, to which sometimes is also added several warm seeds, such as the common cress or black mustard, both of which are indigenous in Abyssinia.—(“ Johnston’s Abyssinia.’’) A great quantity of Agi or Guinea pepper is grown in Peru, the natives being very fond of this condiment. It is not uncom- mon for an American Indian to make a meal of twenty or thirty pods of capsicum, a little salt, and a piece of bread, washed down by two or three quarts of chica, the popular beverage. 430 PIMENTO. THE pimento, Eugenia Pimenta (Myrtus Pimenta), is a native of Mexico, and the West Indies. It flourishes spontaneously and in great abundance on the north side of the island of Jamaica; its numerous white blossoms mixing with the dark green foliage, and with the slightest breeze diffusing around the most delicious fragrance, give a beauty and a charm to nature rarely equalled, and of which he who has not visited the shady arbors and perfumed groves of the tropics can have little conception. This lovely tree, the very leaf of which when bruised emits a fine aromatic odor, nearly as powerful as that of the spice itself, has been known to grow to the height of from 80 to 40 feet, exceedingly straight, and having for its base the spinous ridge of a rock, eight or ten feet above the surface of the hill or mountain. A single tree has fre- quently produced 150 lbs. of the raw, or 100 lbs. of the dried fruit. The fruit has an aromatic odor, and its taste combines that of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves ; hence its common name of allspice. The fruit of Hugena acris is used for pimento. The trunk is ofa grey color, smooth and shining, and altogether destitute of bark. It is luxuriantly clothed with leaves of a deep green, somewhat like those of the bay tree, and these leaves are, in the months of July and August, beautifully contrasted and relieved by an exuberance of white flowers. The leaves yield by distillation a delicate odoriferous oil, which is said to be sometimes passed off for oil of cloves. The berries are gathered before they are ripe, and spread on a terrace, exposed to the sun for about a week, during which time they lose their green color, and acquire that reddish brown tint which renders them marketable. Some planters kiln-dry them. Like many of the minor productions of the tropics, pimento is exceed- ingly uncertain, and perhaps a very plenteous crop occurs but once in five years. In 1800 there were 12,759 bags and 610 casks of pimento imported from Jamaica; in 1824 there were 33,308 bags and 599 casks shipped from the island; in 1829 the quantity exported was 6,069,127 lbs. In the year ending October 1843, the export of pimento from Jamaica was 29,322 bags and 156 casks; in the year ending October 1844, 12,055 bags and 88 casks; in the year ending October 1845, 233 casks, valued at 380s. each, and 59,494 bags, valued at 20s. _. From Ist January to 1st August, 1851, 128,277 lbs. pimento were shipped from the port of Montego Bay, Jamaica. There was a very considerable pimento plantation made in Tobago, some years ago, by a Mr. Franklin, but it was abandoned by his sons, that they might attend the more exclusively to sugar culture. Jamaica exported nearly two millions of pounds of pimento VANILLA. A31 less, in the three years ending 1848, than she did in the three previous to the emancipation of the slaves. The number of pounds shipped annually, in these periods, is shown by the following figures :— Year. Ibs. le Near, lbs. 1830 ee 5,560,620 1846 sah 2,997,060 1631 areas 3,172,320 1847 sods 2,800,140 1832 Bebe 4,024,800 1848 ror 5,231,908 Pimento is imported into this country in bags of about 100 lbs. each. The imports have been :— Year. Imports. Home consumption. cwts. cwts. GS, Gaetan ereeee Gari EM ee ce ne 4,230 TOL eae ine ea Da Og tay) in eean ee 3,419 Men tber he QO Asr ht Oe 3,467 Co HABA Gi i ace Wea tone: 3,935 Le Ce ye aan PAA ATAU SS lige 1B Oo arene ra 8,872 The following is a statement of the imports from the West Indies, and the consumption of the United Kingdom, in pounds :— Entries for Year. Imports. home consumption. Ibs. lbs. 11Gi3, ul laa all SOL sey 1 eee, 305,739 200 oe ee WAGE ASS ks Migs. 296,197 CEES) a ed ANT ODO A i i - sl B, 330,890 1834 Bits: TSS OMAN eet ne 320,719 ase a... MBG 80e. 343,942 fee Oe .. FOO 0781 ete 400,941 SON or ose 0% Pap VAS EE Se ean ls va ae oe 3834,01 BS Mpc ayes BO ae ol) lait seeds” 3839,97 iC. Se A Osea We roi e 309,078 HUA Fes) foie eye's 999,068 eeepc 338,969 eae FSU is ak a Ae 297,201 MAM OL $G6S SIS ee 450,683 Me OP, NOOSE RIN) Ohne ae: 378,096 The imports have been, in— bags. bags DSA or cies «a0 Gates siaat 18,649 USAT cere cgterec se eeoic racers 9,649 Mee nen ee, PAR N UGEOn ce er ae 18,196 MOOI hs cos acea a sie 2002 1889 es oun e eo suse. 24,108 Pimento is worth in the London market Gd. to 7d. perlb. The duty is 5s. per ewt. : VANILLA. Tux fleshy, pod-like, odoriferous fruit of different species of Epidendrum constitute the substance called vanilla, which is used in confectionery for giving a delicious perfume to chocolate, liqueurs, &c. As an aromatic it is much sought after by con- fectioners, for flavoring ices and creams; and also by perfumers, liqueurists, and distillers. The best comes from the forests round 432 SPICES AND FRAGRANT WOODS. the village of Zurtila, in the intendancy of Oaxaca, on the eastern slopes of the Cordillera of Anahuac, between the parallels of 19 deg. and 20 deg. N. All the vanilla which is used in Europe is im- ported from Mexico, Venezuela, and Vera Cruz. It is a native of tropical America, and grows wild in Brazil, Peru, the banks of the Orinoco, and all places where heat, shade, and moisture prevail. There are many species indigenous to the Bahamas, Trimidad, Jamaica, Cuba, Dominica, Martinique and St. Vincent, which would produce considerable gain to the inhabitants if they would give themselves the trouble of cultivating or collecting its fruit. This parasitical plant has a trailing stem, not unlike the common ivy, but not so woody, by which it attaches itself to the trunks of trees, and sucks the moisture which their bark derives from the lichens and other eryptogamia, but without drawing nourishment from the tree itself, like the misletoe and loranthus. The Indians in Mexico propagate it by planting cuttings at the foot of trees selected for that purpose. It rises to the height of 18 or 20 feet ; the flowers are of a greenish yellow, mixed with white. The plant is subcylindrical about eight or ten inches long, of a yellow color when gathered, but dark brown or black when imported into Europe. It is one-celled siliquose, and pulpy within, wrinkled on the out- side, and full of a vast number of seeds like grains of sand, having when properly prepared, a peculiar and delicious fragrance. It should be gathered before it is fully ripe. Different species of vanilla are natives of Guiana, and it is found in large quantities along the banks of its rivers, and in the wooded districts which intersperse the savannahs. The oily and balsamic substance which the minute seeds possess, may be found to have medicinal qualities. Its cultivation can be connected with no difficulties; i1 needs only to plant the slips among trees, and to keep them clear of weeds. It would prove therefore a great addition to a cocoa plantation. In 1825 the price was, in Germany, sixty-six dollars (equal to £9) per pound, and twenty-five to thirty dollars are paid for 1t in Martinique. Humboldt states that the annual value of vanilla exported from the state of Vera Cruz was 40,000 dollars, £8,000 sterling. Some vanilla is exported from Maranham. The cultivation of vanilla, which was introduced into Java in the year 1847, is said to have made considerable progress, there being now no fewer than thirty plantations. The fruit of this orchideous plant is entirely neglected in the province of Caracas, though abundant crops of it might be gathered ou the humid coast between Porto Cabello and Ocumare, especially at Turiamo, where the pods attain the length of nearly afoot. The English and American merchants often seek to make purchases at the port of La Guayra, but with difficulty procure it in small quantities. In the valleys that descend from the chain of coast towards the Caribbean sea, in the province of Truxillo, as well as in the mission VANILLA. 433 of Guiana, near the cataracts of the Orinoco, a great quantity of the vanilla pods might be collected, the produce of which would be still more Abundant, if, according to the practice of the Mexicans, the plant were disentangled from time to time from the other creepers, with which it is intertwined and stifled. When collected to prepare it for the market, about 12,000 of the pods are strung like a garland by their lower end, as near as possible to their foot-stalk ; the whole are plunged for an instant into boiling water to blanch them; they are then hung up in the open air and exposed to the sun for afew hours. By some they are wrapped in woollen cloths to sweat. Next day they are lightly smeared with oil, by means of a feather or the fingers, and are surrounded with oiled cotton to prevent the valves from opening. As they become dry, on inverting their upper end they discharge a viscid liquor from it, and they are pressed several times with oiled fingers to promote its flow. The dried pods, like the berries of pepper, change color under the drying operation, grow brown, wrinkled, soft, and shrink to one-fourth of their original size. In this state they are touched a second time with oil, but very sparingly, because with too much oil they would lose some of their delicious perfume. They are then packed for the market in small bundles of 50 or 100 in each, enclosed in lead foil, or tight metallic cases. There are four local varieties, all differmg in price and excel- lence; viz., the vanilla fina, the zacate, the rezacate, and the vasure. One pod of vanilla is sufficient to perfume a pound and a half of cacao. It is with difficulty reduced to fine particles, but it may be sufficiently attenuated by cutting it into small bits, and grinding these along with sugar. As it comes to us, vanilla is a capsular fruit, of the thickness of a swan’s quill; straight, cylindrical, but somewhat flattened, truncated at the top, thinned off at the ends, glistening, wrinkled, furrowed lengthwise, flexible, from five to ten inches long, and of a reddish brown color. It contains a pulpy parenchyma, soft, unctuous, very brown, in which are embedded black, brilliant, very small seeds. The kind most esteemed in France is called leg vanilla; it is about six inches long, from one-fourth to one-third of an inch broad, narrowed at the two ends and curved at the base; some- what soft and viscid, of a dark reddish color, and of a must de- licious flavor, like that of balsam of Peru. It is called vanilla guorees, when it is covered with efflorescences of benzcoin acid, after having been kept im a dry place, and in vessels not her- metically closed. | The second sort, called vanilla simarona, or bastard, is a little smaller than the preceding, of a less deep brown hue, drier, less aromatic, destitute of efilorescence. It is said to be the produce of the wild plant, and is brought from St. Domingo. A third sort, which comes trom Brazil, is the vanilion, or large 25 434 SPICES AND FRAGRANT WOODS. vanilla of the French market; the vanilla pamprona or bova of the Spaniards. Its length is from five to six inches, its breadth from one-half to three-fourths of an inch. It is brown, soft, viscid, almost always open, of a strong smell, but less agreeable than the leg. 1t is sometimes a little spoiled by an incipient fer- mentation. It is cured with sugar, and enclosed im tin plate boxes, which contain from 20 to 60 pods *. The average annual import of vanilla into Havre, in the five years ending 1841, was about 16 boxes ; in 1842 it was 30 packages. Tonquin Bzrans.—The seeds of the Tongo tree (Dipterix odorata), a native of Guiana, are the well-known tonquin beans used to give a pleasant flavor to snuff. TURMERIC, Tuts article of commerce is furnished by the branches of the rhizome or root-stock of the Curcwma longa, and C. rotunda, plants which are natives of Eastern Asia, but have been grown in England and the West Indies. They. thrive well in a rich light soil, and are readily increased by offsets from the roots. In the East Indies, where it is known as Huldee, turmeric is much employed in dyeing yellow, principally silks, but the color is very fugitive. It is also used medicinally as an aromatic car- minative, and as a condiment; it enters into the composition of curry sauce or powder, and many other articles of Indian cookery. It is cordial and stomachic, and considered by the native doctors of India an excellent application in powder for cleansing foul ulcers. It is grown in, and exported chiefly from, Bengal and Malabar, Madras, Java, and China. The turmeric of Java is in high esti- mation in the European markets, ranking next to that of China, and being much superior to that of Bengal. The seeds of Anethwm Sowa, from their carminative properties, form an in- gredient in curry powder. The price of turmeric in London is from 12s. to 20s. per cwt., according to quality. The entries for home consumption are about 4,000 to 5,000 ewts. annually. It is better shipped in casks or cases than in bags. A kind of arrowroot is prepared from C. angustifolia, another species of this tribe of plants. Amaranthus gangiticus, and another species, are much culti- vated by the Hindoos for their stews and curries. The quantity and value of the curry stuff imported into Ceylon, chiefly from India, has been in the last few years as follows :— Quantity. Years. ewts. packages. Value. SA ere eveiie — eeloie 6,866 184 Sera wei? pu Peng eet ee: wee OAS Tfeyhe) Nc ae 26,347 Sood 109 aiatid 9,664 1850) Se) OABOB At eRe eR gg as oe ea 1S oN ee) 80 HOO ae oe) 23. eee 1852 eee — Bay 9,039 * Ure’s Dictionary of Arts and Manufactures. TURMERIC. 435 - What is comprised under the term “curry stuff,’ I am not aware, but it appears to be a bulky article, for it was imported to the extent of 32,000 ewt. in 1852. There are two varieties of turmeric usually sent mto Europe from the East (whence all the turmeric imported into Europe is obtained), the “lone”? turmeric (Curcuma longa), and the “round,’ or as it is better known the “Chinese turmeric.” The latter description is very rare, the former is the common article of commerce. According to one of my correspondents, Mr. Hepburn, chemist, of Falmouth, Jamaica, the common or long turmeric is indigenous to that island, growing luxuriantiy in the mountainous districts, in rather damp soils, its locality being in the vicinity of rivers, water-courses and springs. In this respect it differs from ginger, which requires a rather dry soil for its culture. I am not aware that this plant possesses the pro- perty of impoverishing the soil like the ginger. From the general habits of the plant in its natural state, we may gather the following rules for our guidance in its culture. The plants should be laid down in rows of five or six inches distant from each other, in a soil moderately damp, of an aluminous or clayey nature, and free to a great extent of the more soluble alkalies, potash and soda, as these, by absorption, may destroy the coloring matter of the plant, and so diminish its value as a dye-stuff. finally, in preparing the roots for exportation, they should be cleansed from all earthy particles, exposed for drying in the shade, and without any further preparation bagged for shipment. | The coloring matter of turmeric is of an orange yellow color, exceeilingly delicate and capable of change, either from the action of light or of alkalies, which turn it to a dark brown color. It is shghtly soluble in water, and readily soluble in an alkaline solution, becoming dark brown. Alcohol extracts the coloring matter. The uses to which turmeric is applied are two: as an ingredient in the curry powder and paste, and as a dye for silk. It was some time ago used as a medicine; but though retained in the “ Pharmacopeeias”’ of the present day, it is entirely discarded by the practitioner as a curative agent. The best Bengal and Malabar turmeric fetches a price nearly as high as that of ginger, and I see no reason why the West India planter could not send it into the British market quite as cheap as the Hast India trader. According to Dallas, 397 bags of turmeric were exported from ‘Jamaica in 1797. . . Turmeric is grown about the city of Patna and Behar. It is much cultivated about Calcutta and all parts of Bengal. One acre ylelds about 2,000 lbs. of the fresh root. It is also grown on the central table land of Affghanistan. The exports from Calcutta in 1841 were 11,000 Indian maunds, and 28,137 in 1842. The value of that exported from Madras in 1839 was 40,000 rupees, or £4,000; in 1840, £4,200. The quantity shipped from that Presidency in 1850 was 6,877 bags. - In the neighbourhood of Dacca about 200 lbs. of seed 1s sown 2F 2 436 PICES AND FRAGRANT WOODS. to the beegah, measuring 80 cubits by 80, and the yield is from 640 to 800 lbs. 140 tons were imported into Liverpool in 1849, for dyeing and for curries ; 414 tons in 1850; 11,554 ‘bags and packages i in 1851; and only 3,595 ditto m 1852. The price in January 1853 was, for Bencal, 10s. to 12s.; China, 12s. to 14s., and Malabar Qs. to 12s. the cwt. The imports into London were 18 tons in 1848, 191 in 1849, and 980 in 1850. The deliveries for consumption, 192 tons in 1848, 270 in 1849, and 870 tons in 1850. In China turmeric is used with Prussian blue in coloring and facing tea. GINSENG. ‘we produce of this plant, as an article of commerce, is confined to our transatlantic neighbours, who have the monopoly of the supply to China. The root of Panax quinquefolium, the American ginseng, is much esteemed by the Chinese, for certain supposed beneficial effects upon the nerves, and for other presumed virtues; but our physi- cians have not discovered any proofs of its efficacy in Europe. The plant is an herbaceous perennial, growing upon the confines of Tartary and China, near the great wall. It is found-wild, flourishing in moist situations, and attains the height of from two to three feet; it is also now produced largely in the northern, middle, and western States of the Union, particularly Virginia, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania, and a considerable trade is carried on with it to China. A variety of the plant was discovered, a few years ago, in the Himalaya mountains, and small quantities have been thence sent to Canton. It is also found erowing in Canada. The root is about three or four inches in length, and one inch in thickness. It resembles a small carrot, but not so taper at the end, and is sometimes single, sometimes divided into two branches. The stem is striated, without branches, and of a red color near the root. The leaves, from four to six of which surround the stem where they form sheaths (bracteal), are simply pinnate. The flower stalk is long and green, the inflorescence a simple umbel. The fruit is a berry of a red colcr, and contains two seeds of the size of mustard seed. ‘The officinal root differs in appearance, according to the country from which it is brought. In Korea and China it is white, corrugated when dry, and covered with a powder resembling starch. In Mandscharia and Dauria it is yellow, smooth and transparent, and when cut resembles amber. The taste of the root is bitter. Crude ginseng now sells in the Canton market at 70 to 80 dollars per picul of 183 lbs., and eured or clarified root at 130 to 140 dollars. The stem of the plant, which is renewed every year, leaves, as it falls off, an impression upon the neck of the root, so that the number of these rings or marks indicates the age of the plant, and CORIANDER AND CARRAWAY SEEDS. 437 the value of the root increases accordingly. The Chinese govern- ment were formerly in the habit of sending out annually 30,000 Tartar soldiers to search for the plant, and each was obliged to bring home two ounces of the root gratis, and for all ahove that quantity he was paid its weight in silver. The Asiatic ginseng is said to be obtained from the root of P. Schinseng of Nees von Esenbeck, P. Pseudo ginseng of Wallich. This root might be pro- eured in Prince Edward’s Island and some of the other British North American colonies. I haye been able to trace, after some iabor and research, the _ progressive exports of this curious article of trade from the United States. In 1790, 813 casks, of the value of 47,025 dollars, were ex- ported; and in 1791, 29,208 lbs. From 1803 to 1807, the annual value of ginseng shippe ed was about 123,000 dollars, and from 1820 to 1830, it averaged 157,000 dollars. The following ficures show the value of the article in subse- quent years :—1831, 115,921 dollars ; year ending 30th Septem- ber, 1835, 94,960 dollars : 1837, 212,899 Ibs., valued at 108,548 dollars ; 184.0, 22,728 dollars ; 1841, 437,245 dollars. The quantity shipped in 1839, from Philadelphia alone, was 317,443 lbs. In 1841, 6387, 885 Ibs. were exported from the United States. The value of that exported in the years ending 30th June, was 1844, 95,008 in dollars, and in 1845, "117,146 dollars ; 110, 000 lbs. were collected at Toledo, Ohio, in 1845. The value of the exports in the following years, ending June 30th, were—1847, 64,466 dollars; 1849, 162,640 ; 1849, ‘182 966 ; 1850, 122,916 dollars. CORIANDER, CARRAWAY, AND OTHER SEEDS. Tue fruits of anise, carraway, coriander, &c., (erroneously called seeds,) are in demand for various ad seca CARRAWAY SEED is imported to the extent of 500 tons annually from Germany and Holland, the price being about 33s. per cwt. it is also now much grown in Hssex and Kent. In the years 1848 and 1849, 7,000 ewt. of this seed was imported, of which nearly the whole quantity was retained for home consumption. CoRIANDER SEED is chiefly used by distillers, to produce an aromatic oil. The quantity imported annually does not exceed 50 tons, and it is brought principally to the port of Hull. It is also cultivated in Suffolk, Essex and Kent. Of Mustarp seep the ageregate quantity imported annually is about 2,000 tons for home consumption, and the flour is used as a well-known condiment to food, &c., and in medicine; the average price being about 9d. per pound. . Anxtse.—The frait of Pimpinilla anisum, under the name of aniseed, is principally imported from Alicant and Germany (the first is preferr ed), but some is also brought from the East Indies. 438 SPICES AND FRAGRANT WOODS. it is an annual plant, largely cultivated in Spain, Maita, and various parts of Germany, and also in the island of Scio, Egypt, and parts of Asia. The imports are not large; 192 cwts. paid duty in 1833, and 315 ewts. in 1840. About 60 ewts. are annually received at Hull from Germany. It is used to flavor liqueurs, sweetmeats, and confectionery of various kinds. Oil of aniseed is obtained by distillation from the fruit, and 1,544 Ibs. were im- ported in 1839. About two pounds of oil are obtained from one hundred-weight of seed. Star ANIsE, Illicum anisatum, is a native of the countries ex- tending from 233 deg. to 35 deg. of north latitude, or from Canton to Japan. The capsules constitute in India a rather im- portant article of commerce, and are sold in all the bazaars. Large quantities are also used in Europe in the preparation of liqueurs. 695 piculs of star aniseed were exported from Canton in 1850, valued at 8,200 Spanish dollars. 81 piculs of oil of aniseed were exported from Canton in 1848, and 105 piculs in 1850, valued at 11,900 dollars. 3,000 piculs of aniseed are exported annually ~ from Cambodia. : PUTCHUK, OR COSTUS. THE substance called costus was highly prized by the ancients, and specimens may be met with ata few of the London drug- houses. It has been shown by Dr. Falconer to be the produce of a genus of the thistle tribe, to which he has given the name of Aucklandia. The root of A. Costus is supposed to be the Costus Arabicus, on the following grounds:—It corresponds with the descriptions given by the ancient authors, and is used at the present day for the same purposes in China, as costus was formerly applied to by the Greeks. The coincidence of the names—in Cashmere the root is called koot, and the Arabic synonym is said to be koost. It grows in immense abundance on the mountains which surround Cashmere. It is a gregarious herb, about six or seven feet high, with a perennial thick branched root, with an annual round smooth stem, large leaves and dark purple. flowers. The roots are dug up in the months of September and October, when the plant begins to be torpid; they are chopped up into pieces, from two to six inches long, and are exported without further preparation. The quantity collected, according to Dr. Falconer, is very large, amounting to about two million pounds per annum. The cost of its collection and transport to a mercantile epot in Cashmere, is about 2s. 4d. the ewt. The commodity is laden on bullocks and exported to the Punjaub, whence the larger portion gees down to Bombay, where it is shipped for the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, and China; a portion of it finds its way across the Sutlej and Jumna into Hindostan Proper, whence it 1s taken to Calcutta, and bought up there with avidity under the name of putchuk. ‘The value is enhanced at Jugadree, on the Jumna, to LIGNUM ALOES. A439 about 16s. 9d. or 23s. 4d. percwt. In the Chinese ports it fetches nearly double that price the cwt. The Chinese burn the roots as an incense in the temples of their gods, and they also attach great efficacy to it asan aphrodisiac. The imports into Canton in 1848 were 414 piculs; in 1850, 854 piculs ; valued at 5,150 dollars. In Cashmere it is chiefly used for the protection of bales of shawls from insects. The exports from the port of Calcutta were, in 1840-41, 19,660 maunds; in 1841-42, 12,847 ; in 1847-48, 2,050 ; in 1848-49, 2,110? ;—worth about £1,500 annually. Specimens of amboyna wood, the odoriferous sandal wood from Timor, clove wood, and other choice woods from the Moluccas and Prince of Wales Island, were sent home to the Great Exhibition in 1851. Lienum Atozs, the eagle wood and Calambak of commerce, yielding an aromatic perfume, is furnished by the Aquilaria malac- censis, and agallocha, in Silhet, an ornamental evergreen shrub. A very high artificial value is placed on the better qualities of this product by the natives of the East; the best quality beg worth about £14 the picul of 133 lbs. This fragrant wood is probably the lign aloes of the Bible. Invense to the value of nearly one million and a quarter francs was exported from Alexandria in 1837. Calambak or eagle wood, the true lignum aloes so highly esteemed in the Hast as a perfume or incense, 1s said to be produced by the _ Alexylum agaliochum, Lour. This remarkable wood contains a large quantity of an odoriferous oleo-resin ; when heated 1¢ under- goes a sort of imperfect fusion, and exhales a fragrant and very agreeable odor. Its price in Sumatra is about £30 per ewt. Inferior specimens are obtained at Malacca. Hagle wood is also obtained from several other trees. The true eagle wood is however very scarce. SECTION IV. DYES AND COLORING STUFFS, AND TANNING SUBSTANCES. OF the several classes of materials collected at the Industrial Exhibition in Hyde Park,in 1851,few possessed so muchimportance in the eyes of the textile and leather manufacturer and chemist as the different products used in the arts and manufactures for color- ing and tanning purposes. These were in a great measure lost sight of by the public at large, bemg scattered about in small quantities in a great number of directions; and, from the minute samples shown, were in many instances overlooked altogether. Besides furnishing some novel and general statistical facts, which may prove interesting, I propose also in this section to draw at- tention more prominently to some of these products, which are at present little known or appreciated. Coloring substances for staining and dyeing are obtained indif- ferently from the animal, mineral, and vegetable kingdoms, but it is of the last alone that I shall have to speak. The importance of a more careful consideration of this subject will be admitted, if we consider how much the prosperity and extent of our cotton, silk, woollen, and leather manufactures depends on a liberal and cheap supply of dyes and tannin, to give beauty and color to the fabrics, and substance and utility to the skins. Even oil colors, for painters’ purposes, which do not come within the scope of my re- marks, form an item in our yearly exports of the value of £250,000, and when we calculate the large amount of cotton, silk and wool worked up, most of which requires various coloring agents, gums, starches, and mordants ;—that nearly 30,000 tons of hides are annually imported, exclusive of those obtained from our now slaughter-houses, besides goat, seal, and other skins—and that the exports of our various manufactures of cotton, linen, silk, wool and leather in 1852, setting aside our home consumption, amounted to nearly fifty millions sterling, we shall be able to form a better estimate of the importance of the various subjects we are about to notice. Great Britain does not pay less than £600,000 annually for DYES AND COLORING STUFFS. 44.0. the dried carcasses of the tiny cochineal insect, while the produce of another small insect, that which produces the lac dye, is scarcely less valuable. Then there are the gall nuts used for dyeing and making black ink. Upwards of £3,000,000 is paid for barks of various kinds for tanners’ purposes, about one million for other tanning substances and heavy dye woods, besides about £200,000 for various extracts of tannin, such as Gambier, Cutch, Divi-divi, and Kino. The aggregate value of the dye stuffs and gum it is difficult to estimate. The beautiful specimens of materials imported from China, India, New Zealand, the Continent, and other countries, and exhibited at the Crystal Palace, proves to us that we have yet much to learn from other nations in the art of fixing colors and obtaining brilliant dyes. The French are much our superiors in dyemg and the production of fast and beautiful colors. Their chemical researches and investigations are carried out more sys- tematically and effectively than our own. Russia imports dye- woods and dyestuffs to the value of five millions anda half of silver roubles annually. Tt was well observed by the Jury Reporters at the Great Exhi- bition, that “a vast number of new coloring materials have been discovered or made available, and improved modes have been devised of economically applying those already in use; so that the dyer of the present time employs many substances of the very existence of which his practical predecessors were wholly ignorant. From the increased use of many of the vegetable colors, and from the improved modes of applying the coloring matters, a demand has naturally sprung up for various dye stuffs; and at the present time, many of the dyemg materials of distant countries are be- ginning to excite the attention of practical men; for though they have been acquainted with many of these substances, it is only recently that the progress of the art has rendered their use desirable or even practicable.” It would be quite impossible, within the limits which I have assigned myself, to make even a bare enumeration of the various plants and trees from which coloring substances and dye stuffs can be obtained, I must, therefore, be content to specify only a few. The roots of some species of Lithospermum afford a lac for dyeing and painting. Dried pomegranates are said to be used in Tunis for dyeing yellow; the rind is also a tanning substance. Sir John Franklin tells us that the Crees extract some beautiful colors from several of their native vegetables. They dye a beautiful scarlet with the roots of two species of bed-straw, Galiwm tinc- torium and boreale. They dye black, with an ink made of elder bark and a little bog-iron ore dried and powdered, and they have various modes of producing yellow. They employ the dried roots of the cowbane (Cicuta virosa), the bruised buds of the Dutch myrtle, and have discovered methods of dyeing with various lichens. In the “ Comptes Rendus,” xxxv., p. 558, there is an account by M. J. Persoz, of a green coloring matter from China, of great 449 DYES AND COLORING STUFFS: stability, from which it appears that the Chinese possess a coioring substance having the appearance of indigo, which communicates 2 beautiful aud permanent sea green color to mordants of alumina and iron, and which is not a preparation of indigo, or any derivative of this dyeing principal. As furnished to M. Persoz by Mr. Forbes, the American consul at Canton, it was in thin plates of a blue color, resembling Japanese indigo, but of a finer grain, differing also from indigo in “its composition and chemical properties. On in- fusing a very small quantity of it in. water, this fluid soon ac- quired a deep blue color with a greenish tinge ; upon boiling and immersing a piece of calico on which the mordants of iron and alumina had been printed, it was dyed a sea green color of greater or less intensity according to the strength of the mordant —the portions not coated remaining white. A berry called Haklewa grows on a iarge forest tree at Bankok, which is used most extensively by the ‘Siamese as a vegetable black dye. It is merely bruised in water, when a fermentation takes place, and the article to be dyed is steeped i in the liquid and then spread out in the sun todry. The berry, when fresh, is of a fine green color, but after being gathered for two or three days it becomes quite black and shrivelled like pepper. It must be used fresh, and whilst its mixture with water produces fermenta- tion. The bark of Datisca cannabina also dyes yellow. It con- tains a bitter principle, lke quassia. A coloring matter is prepared from the dried fruit of the fotilera tinctoria, by the natives of the Hast, to dye orange, which is a brilliant and tolerably permanent dye. It is apparently of a resinous nature. A small quantity of Alkanet root (4nchusa tenctoria), 1s imported from the Levant and the south of France, and is used to color gun stocks, furniture, &c., of a deep red mahogany and rosewood color. Itis brought over in packages weighing about two cwt., the price being 40s. or 50s. per ewt. Turmeric is now imported to the extent of upwards of 800 tons, a portion of this is used in dyeing. The culture and commerce has been already noticed in Section ITI. The bark and roots of the berberry are used in the Hast to dye yellow ; the color is best when boiled in ley. Some of the species of Svmplocos, as S. racemosa, known as lodh about the Himalaya mountains, and S. finetoria, a a native of Carolina, are used for dyeing. The scarlet flowers of Butea frondosa (the Dhaktree), and B. superba, natives of the Sree jungles, yield a beautiful dye, and furnishing a species of kino (Puwlas kino), are also used for tanning. Althea rosea, the parent of the many beautiful varieties of hollyhock, a native of China, yields a blue coloring matter equal to indigo. Indigo of an excellent quality has been obtamed in the East from a twining plant, Gymunema tingens or Asclepias fingens. The juice of the unripe fi fruit, of Rhamnus infectorius, catharticus and virigatius, known as Turkey or French berries, is used for < ae DYES AND COLORING STUFFS. 443 ‘dyeing leather yellow. When mixed with lime and evaporated to dryness, it forms the color called sap-green. A great quantity of yellow berries are annually shipped from Constantinople ; 115 tons were imported into Liverpool last year. The average annual im- ports into the United Kingdom are about 450 tons. They come from the Levant in hair bales weighing three and a quarter cwt., or in tierces of four to five cwt., and are used by calico printers for dyeing a yellow color. They are sometimes called Persian berries. It is a subject of surprise that the common betel-nut of the East has never been introduced for dyeing purposes. The roots of the awl tree of Malabar and other parts of India, Morinda eitrifolia, and of MW. tinctoria, found abundant in all the Asiatic islands, are extensively used as a dye stuff for giving a red color. Jt is usualiy grown as a prop and shade for the pepper vine and coffee tree. The coloring matter resides principally in the bark of the roots, which are long and slender, and the small pieces are the best, fetching 8s. to 10s.a maund. It is ex- ported in large quantities from Malabar to Guzerat, and the northern parts of Hindostan, but seldom finds its way to Europe. The wood and roots of another species, 21. wmbellata, known in the eastern islands as “ Mangkudu,”’ are used extensively for their red dye, in Celebes and Java. Specimens of all these, and of the Lopisip bark, bunchong bulu wood, and the gaju gum (from un- described plants), have been introduced into England. ‘They are said to furnish excellent dyes in the Asiatic islands. Native dyes from Arracan have also been imported, viz., thit-tel and the-dan yielding red dyes, ting-nget and reros, affording dark purple dyes; and thit-nan-weng, a chocolate dye. These would be worth en- quiry, and particulars of the plants yielding them, the quantities available, and the prices might be procured. Dyes and colors from the following plants are obtained in India: several species of Terminalia, Sinecarpus Anacardium, Myrica Sapide, Nelumbiwm speciosus, Butea frondosa, and Nyctanthes arboretrisiis. The bunkita barring, obtained from an undescribed plant in Borneo, produces a dark purple or black dye. A species of ruellia, under the name of “ Room,” is employed in its raw state by the Khamp- tis and Lingphos to dye their clothes of a deep blue. It is de- scribed by the late Dr. Griffiths as “a valuable dye, and highly worthy of attention.” It might, perhaps, be usefully employed as the ground for a black dye. In Nepaul they use the bark of Photinia dubia or Mespilus Bengalensis for dyeing scarlet. The bark of the black oak, Quercus tinctoria and its varieties, natives of North America, are used by dyers under the name of quer- citron. - In thesouth of Europe, Daphne Gnidium is used to dye yellow. The root of reilbon, a sort of madder in Chili, dyes red. A pur- ple tint or dye is obtained from the bark of an undescribed tree, known under the name of “ Grana ponciana,’ growig about Quito; and Stevenson (Travels in South America) says, “if ‘ 444, DYES AND COLORING STUFFS. known in Europe, it would undoubtedly become an article of commerce.’ Another much more expensive species of coloring matter (red) is obtained in various parts of South America from the leaves of the Bignonia Chica, a climbing evergreen shrub, native of the Orinoco country, with large handsome panicles of flowers. The coloring substance is obtained by decoction, which deposits, when cool, a red matter; this is formed into cakes and dried. Dr. Ure thinks it might probably be turned to account in the arts of civilization. The order of plants to which it belongs, contains a vast number of species, all natives of tropical regions, and their value for the production of coloring substances may be worth investigation. It is met with in British Guiana, and the Indian tribes of that district prepare the pigment with which they stain their skin from it; it is called by them “ Caraveru.’’ The coloring matter is used as a dye in the United States, and for artistical purposes would rival madder. Sir Robert Schomburgk thinks it might form an article of export if it were sufficiently known, as its.preparation is extremely simple. The leaves are dried in the sun, and at the first exposure, after having been plucked from the vine which pro- duces them, they show the abundant feculent substance which they contain. Lana Dyz.—A beautiful biuish-black color, known es “ Caruto,” is procured in Demerara and Berbice from the juice of the fruit of the Genipa Americana, Linn.—a tree very common in the colony. The Indians use it for staining their faces and persons. The ana dye was honorably mentioned by the jurors at the Great Exhibition in 1851. The bluish-black color obtained from it is remarkably permanent, a fact which has very long been known, though hardly any attempt appears to have been made to introduce it to the notice of European dyers. Another pigment is prepared by them from arnotto, mixed with turtle oil, or carap oil, obtained from the seeds of the Carapa guianensis (Aubl.). The wild plantain (Urania guianensis) and the cultivated plantain (Musa paridisiaca), the Mahoe (Thespesia populnea), and the pear seed of the Avocado (Persea gratissima), furnish dyes in various parts of the West Indies; specimens of many of these have been imported from British Guiana and Trinidad. Russia produces good specimens of the wood of Statzce cortaria, the leaves and bark of sumach, the bark of the wild pomegranate, yellow berries, Madia sativa, saffron, safilower and madder roots - for dyeing purposes. Avicenna tomentosa, a species of mangrove, 1s very common about the creeks of Antigua, Jamaica, and other West India islands, where it is used for dyeing and tanning. In New Zealand, the natives produce a most brilliant blue- black dye from the bark of the Eno, which is in great abundance. Some of the borders of the native mats, of a most magnificent black, are dyed with this substance. It has been tried in New South Wales; but, as with other local dyes, although found well suited DYES AND COLORING STUFFS. 445 for fiax, hemp, linen, or other vegetable productions, it could not be fixed on wools or animal matter. Dr. Holroyd, of Sydney, some time since, imported a ton of it for a friend near Bathurst. It is of great importance that chemical science should be applied to devise some means of fixing this valuable dye on wool. As the tree is So common, the bark could be had in any quantity at about £3 10s. a ton; and our tweed manufacturers are in great want of a black dye for their check and other cloths. The principal heavy woods used for dyeing are fustic, logwood, Nicaragua wood, barwood, camwood, red Sanders wood, Brazil wood, and sappan wood. All the dyewoods are nearly £2 per ton higher than last year. Common Spanish fustic which in September, 1852, was only £3 10s. per ton, now fetches £6 10s. in the Liverpool market ; and there is a great demand for all kinds of dyewoods. Tampico and Puerto Cabello fustic are now worth £6 10s. to £7 the ton, Cuba ditto, £9 10s. to £10. Sappan wood is £4 higher than last year; barwood has risen cent per cent; logwoods are £2 per ton higher. The followimg were the prices of the different dyewoods in the Liverpool market, on the Ist September, 18538, per ton :— Gisela ee one Seale See N COMMON. Spanish os. ..6.0s.e.e 5 ss 5 10 0 to 6 10 0 STII C OMe nies 5 ieee tyccd n Sore sears 8 6 10 0 O80 rorte Cabello... 6 ohh eu eco a ooo es 6 10 0 i L080 = COLI, a a ea arn Pa 8 00 9 10 0 MOEWOOD, JAMAICR — yiceis cose ce bend see 5 00 (5) 45) (0) Si 1) (QSOs 0 ee i i eee 5 50 5 100 Mamipeaciys CITCCE ss cess scs cess sees 7126 8 00 Indirect and Tobasco ..... Do este inS 6 10 0 080 Nicaracua Woop. iiorde laHache, Solid’ ......55 6000. 0050 9 0 0 11 10.0 - Paierrallioe free evil ea 2 6010. 16100 1 RTOS ip Pe Na ee eae 12 00 14100 eRENVOOD ANCOR het. oe oe hee ck he Gaboom.2" 35 Saat ! (089 PANO OTA Mere, 4 sears tele & a5 oO ales OR Uae 25 00 30100 POET AC ANDERS WOOD - 35.4. cicds 4. sc ens 5 15 0 6 10 0 LDP OOD oidig ois, 8c e's v vies s.v nis 6 oe ne 105-0, OF To On 0 Rep SANDERS woop (Pterocarpus santalinus), which is hard and of a bright garnet red color, is employed to dye a lasting reddish brown on wool. It only yields its color to ether or alcohol. The tree, which is a lofty one, is common about Madras and other parts of India; it is also indigenous to Ceylon, Timor, and other Hastern islands. The exports of this wood from Madras in one year have been nearly 2,000 tons. The imports of red Sanders wood from Calcutta and Bombay chiefly into London are to the extent of 700 or 800 tons a year, worth £6 to £9 per ton. Of Fusric we import from 1,500 to 2,000 tons annually. We derive our supplies from Brazil, Tampico, Puerto Cabello, Cuba, and Jamaica. The best is obtained from Cuba; for while the 44& DYES AND COLORING STUFES. common white fustic from Jamaica and the Spanish Main fetches only £5 10s. to £6 10s. the ton, that of Cuba realizes from £8 to £9 10s. the ton. Sappan Woon (Cesalpinia Sappan) isan article of considerable commerce in the East. It is the bukkum wood of Seinde, and is procured in Mergui, Bengal, the Tenassermm Proyimees, Malabar and Ceylon. in 1842 as much 78,000 cwts. were shipped from Ceylon, but the export from thence has decreased. This island, however, ships dyewoods annually to the amount of £2,000. A large quantity is exported from Siam and the Philippme Islands ; as much as 200,000 piculs annually from the former, and 23,000 piculs from Manila. 38,524 piculs were shipped from Singapore in 1851, and 4,074 piculs in 1852. The picul is about one ewt. and a quarter. Sappan wood yields a yellowish color, like that of Brazil wood (C. brasiliensis) but it does not afford of dye matter 60 much in quantity or so good in quality. Jé forms a large export from Ceylon: the shipments from thence were, in 1842, 77,694 cwt.; in 1848, 1,692; in 1844, 2.592 ; in 1845, 2,854. I have no detailed returns at hand, but in 1837, 23,695 piculs of sappan wood, and 2,266 piculs of roots of ditto were shipped, and in the first stx months of 1843, 22,326 piculs were exported from Manila; a large portion of this comes to Europe, but some goes to China, the United States, Singapore, &e. 15,500 piculs were shipped from Manila in 1844, 5,250 ditto in 1845; and 1,210 tons in 1850. About 3,000 piculs of sappan wood and the same quantity of other dye-stuffs are an- nually imported into Shanghae. The price of straight sappan wood at Shanghae in July, last year, was thirty dollars per picul. In Calcutta, in June last year, 4,000 piculs of the root of Manila sappan wood sold freely at about 7s. 6d. per factory maund, Siam ditto 6s. 75 tons were imported into Liverpool in 1849 ; and 120 tons in 1850, from Calcutta. The imports of sappan wood into the United Kingdom, in 1850, amounted to 3,670 tons, worth £8 to £12 the ton, and this continued the price in January 1853. Camwood, red sanders wood, barwood, and other dye woods, are found in great quantities in many parts of Africa. The dyes of Africa are found to resist both acids and light, properties which no other dyes seem to possess in the same degree. About thirty miles east of Bassia Cove, in the republic of Liberia, is the com- mencement of a region of unknown extent, where scarcely any tree is seen except the camwood. This boundless forest of wealth, as yet untouched, is easily accessible from that settlement; roads can be opened to it with little expense, and the neighbouring kings would probably give their co-operation to a measure so vastly beneficial to themselves. It is impossible to ascertain the exact amount of export of these commodities to Europe and the United States, but it is very great, and employs a large amount of vessels. One Liverpool house imported 600 tons in a single year, worth £9,000. DYES AND COLORING STUFFS. 44.7 In 1841 upwards of 3,000 tons of dye woods were imported into Liverpool from the western coast of Africa. Camwoop (Bapha nitida) is used as a mordant and for pro- ducing the bright red color seen in English bandana handkerchiefs. The imports from Sierra Leone to Liverpool in 1849 were 216 tons, worth £20 to £25 per ton. Gaboon barwood is another variety of this dyewood which is imported from the west coast of Africa, in straight flat pieces, from three to five feet in length; the average annual import being about 2,000 tons, of the value of £4 a ton. : The imports of barwood into Liverpool were in— Tons. Tons. WR erste icaiciss erwisss's 2,000 Lice) A hee saa atoenaae 300 Loo.D eee 1,000 Ga eee a comes eee: 2,012 2h) 4 ee 1,150 HS GOMUMeA cee 1,710 La 5. SR ae 650 | Dyewoods imported in 1850. Re-exported., Logwood an SOOO gh cose culate oinwe ek 4,332 EE ne nce ecsconees Chic Urs eH ceeaaennoe SAaanes sar iial UNC ATAPATA $0.22 .s02--es000 PIO Ge ices ses shies nceaes 112 BE AIAVOD EL sieieislec's vo s'e olen ait's TE SOGEAG. tb cere selene 1,229 SPEEA 2 osoiciceislen\atneiecie o> SeO MOSM sosecicate cece ghee -~ Green Ebony, and K Gee nad } asians DAD TAGE retest la. 8 oaks — MPEG SAN GETS! 50... s00se0se- G5One Mevednissescecets _— GAM WFOON Li ccc)... eseecence BL GR Uae snenecellos ce tet — Brazil and Brazillito ...... 309 _ 59,051 7,444 Thus we perceive the annual consumption of heavy dyewoods in this country, in dyeing cotton, lmen, woollen and silk goods, &c., exceeds in weight 51,000 tons. Arnorto.—tThe plants of this family are chiefly natives of the warmest parts of South America, the Hast and West Indies, and Africa. In America the seeds are called achote or roucou. From the port of Barcelona, in Venezuela, about 2,000 quintals are annually exported. The species grown for its dye is the Bixa orellana. lt is used to impart a bright orange color to silk goods, and to afford a deeper shade to simple yellows. The dry hard paste is also found to be the best of all ingredients for giving a golden tint to cheese of butter. A convenient liquid prepar ation is now sold to dairymen. The Spanish Americans mix it with their chocolate, to which it gives a beautiful rich hue. It is of two sorts, viz. :— 1. Flag or cake arnotto, which is by far the most important article in a commercial point of view, is furnished almost wholly by Cayenne. It is imported in square cakes, weighing two or three pounds each, wrapped in banana leaves, packed in casks. 2. Roll arnotto is principally brought from Brazil. The rolls ‘are small, not exceeding two or three ounces in weight. It is 448 DYES AND COLORING STUFFS. hard, dry, and compact, brownish on the outside, and of a beautiful red color within. The dye is usually prepared by macerating the pods in boiling water for a week or longer. When they begin to ferment, the seeds ougnt to be str ongly stirred and bruised with wooden pestles to promote the separation of the red skins. This process is repeated several times, till the seeds are left white. ‘The liquor passed through close cane sieves, pretty thick, of a deep red color, and a very bad smell, is received into coppers. In boiling, it throws up its coloring matter to the surface in the form ,of scum, which is taken off, saved in large pans, and afterwards boiled down to a due consistence, and then made up, when soft, into balls or cakes of two or three pounds weight. The following description of the manufacture is from Dr.Ure :— “The pods of the tree being gathered, their seeds are taken out and bruised; they are then transferred to a vat, which is called the steeper, where they are mixed with as much water as covers them. ‘ Here the substance is left for several weeks or even months; it is now squeezed through sieves placed above the steeper, that the water containing the coloring matter in suspension may return into the vat. The residuum is preserved under the leaves of the pine- apple shrub, till it becomes hot by fermentation. It is again sub- jected to the same operation, and this treatment is continued till no more color remains. “The substance thus extracted is passed through sieves, in order to separate the remainder of the seeds, and the color is allowed to subside. The precipitate is boiled in coppers till it be reducea to a consistent paste ; it is then suffered to cool, and dried in the shade. Instead of this long and painful labor, which occasions diseases by the putrefaction induced and which affords a spoiled product, “Leblond proposes simply to wash the seeds of arnotto till they be entirely deprived of their color, which lies wholly on their surface; to precipitate the color by means of vinegar or lemon juice, and to boil it up in the ordinary manner, or to drain it in bags as is practised with indigo. “ The experiments which Vauquelin made on the seeds of arnotto imported by Leblond, confirmed the efficacy of the process which he proposed; and the dyers ascertained that the arnotto obtained in this manner was worth at least four times more than that of commerce; that, moreover, it was more easily employed; that it required less solvents ; that it gave less trouble in the copper, and furnished a purer color. ”—(“ Dict. of Arts.’’) Our imports of arnotto for home consumption are from 200,000 to 300,000 lbs. per annum. The plant is grown in Dacca and other parts of India, and the eastern Archipelago. At the Hawaiian Islands, Tongataboo, Rio Janeiro, Peru and Zanzibar, the arnotto is an indigenous shrub which rises to the height of seven or eight feet, producing oblong heavy pods, somewhat resembling those of a chesnut. Within these there are generally thirty or forty irregularly-formed seeds, which are enveloped in a pulp of a bright red color, and a fragrant smell. CHAY ROOT. 449 The imports of arnotto have been as follows :— Retained for lbs. home consumption. MRS tee fl se 2I2Z,981 asics was 1835 fe eae AGRA sh hes signs an BO does. S52 « SOS ee Onin kag a: 294,794 1840 ene AGS AGO ID Uke ee 330,490 POAF Me ices 270,060 Scpm od 296,821 1849 er te 162,400 eae 145,824 1850 SBiai0' aps 301,504 essere 231,280 The price of flag arnotto in the London market, in June 1853, was is. per ib. We imported from France, in 1850, 1,924 cwt. of roll or flag arnotto, of the official value of £21,499 ; and in 1851, 1,253 ewt., worth £13,968. Wood dye exported from Ceylon— Value Quantity s cwts. GES ae BAS TS 1 Ae Sas nae ie — Mere 2,035 eae ee = USSD a eee ee We GOm 4c Sees 5,206 SEL BOO sorta igen ae 776 Lao? Saat ce eres LE Oes Faire onze Men 2,396 Cuay-root.—There is a plant called chay, the Oldenlandia wmbellata, which is extensively cultivated as a dye plant in the Hast, especially on the coasts of Coromandel, Nellore, Masulipatam, Malabar, and other parts of India. The outer bark of the roots furnishes the colormg matter for the durable red for which the chintzes of India are famous. Chay-root forms a considerable article of export from Ceylon. The wild plant there is considered prefer- able; the roots, which are shorter, yielding one-fourth part more coloring matter, and the right to dig it is farmed out. It grows spontaneously on light, dry, sandy ground on the sea coast; the cultivated roots are slender, with a few lateral fibres, and from one to two feet long. The dye is said to have been tried in Europe, but not with very advantageous effect. Dr. Bancroft suspects 1t may be injured by the long voyage, but he adds that it cannot produce ‘any effect which may not be more cheaply obtained from madder. This red dye, similar to Munjeet, is used to a great extent in the southern parts of Hindostan by the native dyers. Tt is not held in very good estimation in Europe but seems to deserve a better reputation than it at present possesses. Attention was drawn to it as a dye-stuff in 1798, by a special-minute of the Board of Trade recommending its importation ; but Dr. Bancroft, who made some experiments with a sample of damaged chay-root, considered it inferior to madder and hence discouraged its further importation. The ‘bark and root of various species of Morinda (/. citrifolia and tinetoria) are used in different parts of the Hast Indies, and considered a very valuable red dye. The colors dyed with it are for the most part exceedingly brilliant, and the colormg matter is 26 450 DYES AND COLORING STUFFS. far more permanent than many other red colors are, with improved management it would probably rival that of madder, and is, there- fore, worthy more attention from dyers. Manerove Bark (Rhizophora mangle), is used to dye a choco- late color in the East and West Indies. ‘This was one of the colors introduced by Dr. Bancroft, and for the exclusive use of which he obtained an Act of Parliament. It is procured in plenty at Arracan, Malabar, and Singapore in the Hast. SHuMAc or SUMACH, sometimes called young fustic, 1s the powder of the leaves, peduncles, and young branches of a small deciduous plant (Rhus coriaria), native of the South of Europe, but which is also grown in Syria and Palestine, for its powerful ou ingent properties, which renders it valuable for tanning light- olored leather, and it imparts a beautiful bright yellow dye to cot- tons, which is rendered permanent by proper mordants. It is princi- pally imported from the Lonian Islands and the Morea. The species grown for the purpose in Spain, Portugal, and Italy is &. Cotinus, a shrub with pale purple flowers, whereas #. corvaria has greenish yellow blossoms. They may be propagated by cuttings of the roots and layers. #. typhina and R. glabia, with their varieties, are North American species, which are also used for tanning purposes. In Montpellier and the South of France the twigs and leaves are known under the name of redoul or roudo. They are gathered every year, and the shoots are chipped or reduced to powder by a mill. The imports into the United Kingdom were in 1846, 10,256 tons; in 1847, 11,975 tons; in 1848, 9,617 tons; im 1849, 12,590 tons; in 1850, 12,929 tons, and in 1852, 9,758; which were all retained for consumption. tn 1841, we received about 9,000 tons from the port of Leghorn. There were exported from Sicily in 1842, 123,305 tons, valued at £68,894. It is imported in packages of about a cwt., wrapped in cloth. America takes a large quantity of sumach. The imports ito the port of. Boston alone, were 19,070 bags in 1847; 34,524 1m 1848; and 30,050 in 1849. The prices in Liverpool, duty paid, in the close of this ean, are per cwt. :— as aoaed: s. d. ICL ya Messina crt.ctre er biel iio 100° to ORG Spiga rALELINO., (2 tees ain i eons eet 12.0 2 yeep ee ac PTO SEO ttre ck. eure ge meeaaets 1. Oss daa Sem IVCTOMA Lact coke bm ctetaae Rem beaeee Op Oren GG pains MUL ROLESC oe. chi. ect eden Wee ey: 80 eee. SaFFLOWER.—The dried flowers of Carthamus tinctorius yield a pink dye, which is used for silks and cottons, and the manufacture of rouge; the color, however, is very fugitive. It is an annual plant, cultivated in China, India, Egypt, America, Spain, and some of the warmer parts of Europe; and 1s indigenous to the whole of the Indian Archipelago. A large quantity 1s grown in and-ex- ported from Bali. The Chinese safflower is considered the best, 3AFFLOWER.—GAMBOGE. A5L and that from Bombay is least esteemed. The annual quantity exported from the district of Dacca averages about 150 tons. The shipments from Calcutta exceed 300 tons to various quarters. Our imports are on the decline, and are now only about 1,200 ewt. er annum. Safilower was shown in the Great Exhibition from Celebes, Assam, the vicinity of Calcutta, Dacca, the states of Rajpootana, and other places. There are two species: C. tinctorius, which has small leaves and an orange flower; and C. oxyacantha, with larger leaves and a yellow flower, a native of Caucasus. The former is cultivated in Eoypt, the Levant, &c., where it forms a considerable article of commerce. 6,633 cwts. of safilower were imported into the United Kingdom in 1835, of which about one-half was retained for home consumption. Of 5,352 ewts. imported in 1840, nearly the whole came from our possessions in the Hast. In 1847, about 405 tons were imported; in 1848, 506 tons; in 1849, 407 tons; in 1850, 522 tons. The price of safflower varies from £1 to £8 per ewt., according to quality. That from Bombay is least esteemed, fetching only 20s. to 30s. The annual quantity of safflower, according to Dr. Taylor, ex- ported from the district of Dacca for eight years ending with 1839, amounted to 4,000 maunds, or about 149 tons. The exports through the Calcutta Custom House are occasionally large: in 1824-25 there were about 316 tons; 8,500 Indian maunds were shipped from Calcutta in each of the years 1841 and 1842. The prices in the Liverpool market, in January 1853, were for Bengal, good and fine, £6 to £7 10s. per ewt.; middling, £4 to £4 10s.; inferior and ordinary, £2 10s. to £3. GAMBOGE is extensively used as a pigment, from its bright yellow color. There are two kinds known in commerce, the Cey- lon and the Siam. The former is procured from the Hebradendron Cambogoides, Graham; a tree which grows wild on the Malabar and Ceylon coasts, and affords the coarsest kind. The pipe gam- boge of Siam is said to be obtained from the bruised leaves and young branches of Stalagmites cambogoides. 'The resinous sap is received into calabashes, and allowed to thicken, after which it is formed into rolls. Several other plants, as the Mangostana Gam- bogia, Gaertner, and the Hypericum bacciferum and Cayanense, yield sunilar yellow viscid exudation, hardly distinguishable from gam- boge and used for the same purpose by painters. The Garcinia elliptica, Wallich, of Tavoy and Moulmein, affords gainboge, and approaches very closely in its characters to Graham’s Hebraden- _ dron. In like manner the Mysore tree bears an exceedingly close resemblance to that species. It is common im the forests of Wynaad in the western part of Mysore, and has been named by Dr. Christison Hebradendron pictorium. Another gamboze tree has recently been found inhabiting the western Burmese territories. Both these seem to furnish an equally fine pigment. As it can be obtained in unlimited quantity, it might be introduced into European trade, if the natives learn how to collect it in a state 2G 2 4.52 DYES AND COLORING STUFFS. of purity, and make it up in homogenous masses-in imitation of pipe gamboge, the finest Siam variety. It seems to possess more coloring matter, more resin and less gum than the ordinary gam- boge of commerce. Gamboge owes its color to the fatty acid. The resin must be regarded as the chief constituent, and is most abundant in that imported from Ceylon, which contains about 76 per cent., and is therefore best adapted for paimting. Gamboge also has its medicinal uses. Various species of Zecanora, particularly ZL. tartarea, known as cudbear, are used in dyeing woollen yarn, The Rocella tinctoria and fusifornis furnish the orchil, or orchilla weed of commerce, which is sometimes sold as a moist pulp, but usually in the form of dry cakes, known under the name of /i/mus ; it produces a fine purple color. Our imports, which have amounted to 6,000 or 7,000 ewts. annually, are derived chiefly from the Canary, Azores, and Cape Verd Islands. Rock orchilla was shown at the Exhibition, from the Berlingen Isles, from Angola, Madeira and the Cape de Verds. Orchilla weed is very plentiful about the shores of the islands of New Zealand, some being sent from thence to the Exhibition ; but from a want of knowledge as to the time at which it should be gathered, and the mode of preparing it for the market, it has not yet become a saleable commodity there. The rich varieties of lichens on the rocks and plains of Australia have not been tested, as they ought to be, with Helot’s lichen test. Various lichens, and Hocella tinctoria, from Tenasserim and other parts of India, have been introduced by the East India Company. In the Admiralty instructions given to Capt. Sir James C. Ross, on his Antarctic voyage, a few years ago, his attention was specially ealled to the search and enquiry for substitutes for the Locella, which is now becoming scarce. A prize medal was awarded, in 1851, to an exhibitor from the Elbe for specimens of the weed, and an extract of red and violet orchil. Specimens of varieties of the lichens used in the manufacture of cudbear, orchil and litmus, and of the substance obtained, were also shown in the British department, which were awarded prize medals. The beauty of the dyes given by common materials, in the Highlands of Scotland, to some of the cloths which were exhibited, should lead our botanists and chemists to examine, more closely than they have hitherto done, the dye-stuffs that might be ex- tracted from British plants. Woad (Isatis tinctoria) and the dyers’ yellow woad (Reseda lutea), are both well known. A piece of tweed, Spun and woven in Ross-shire, was dyed brown and black, by such cheap and common dyes as moss and alder bark, and the colors were unexceptionable. Sutherlandshire tweed and stockings, possessing a rich brown color, were produced with no more valuable dye than soot; in another piece, beautifully dyed, the yellow was obtained from stoney rag, brown from the crops of young heather, and purple from the same, but subjecting the yarn to a greater action of the dye than was necessary to produce brown. ‘There is very little INDIGO. ; 4:53 doubt put that beautiful and permanent dyes, from brown toa very rich purple, might be cheaply procured by scientific pre- parations of the common heather (Genista tinctoria). The in- habitants of Skye exhibited cloth with a peculiarly rich dye, ob- tained from the “crobal’”’ moss. In the Spanish department, specimens of vegetable dyes from many cultivated and wild plants were furnished by the Agricultural Board of Saragossa, and of several of these it would be important to obtain descriptions and particulars. Gums are of essential importance to the dyer, and the imports of these, therefore, are large, averaging about 8,000 tons. INDIGO. ‘Tue plants which afford this dye grow chiefly in the Hast and West Indies, in the middle regions of America, in Africa and Europe. They are all species of the genera Indigofera, Isatis and Nerium. Indigofera tinctoria or cerulea, furnishes the chief indigo of com- merce, and affords in Bengal, Malabar, Madagascar, the Isle of France, and St. Domingo, an article of middling quality, but not m large quantity. The Indigofera disperma, a plant cultivated in the Kast Indies and America, grows higher than the preceding, is woody, and furnishes a superior dye-stuff. The Guatamela indigo comes from this species. Indigofera Anil grows in the same countries, and also in the West Indies. The Indigofera Argentea, which flourishes in Africa, yields little indigo, but it is of an excellent quality. JZ. pseudo- Zinctoria, cultivated in the East Indies, furnishes the best of all. L. glauca is the Egyptian and Arabian species. There are also the cinerea, erecta (a native of Guinea), hirsuta, glabra, with red flowers, species common to the Hast, and several others. The Wrightia tinctoria, of the Hast Indies, an evergreen, with white blossoms, affords some indigo, as does the Jsatis tinctorza, or Woad, in Europe, and the Polygonum tinctoriwm, with red flowers, a native of China. Baptista tinctoria furnishes a blue dye, and is the wild indigo of the United States. Sources oF suppiy.—Indigo is at present grown for com- mercial purposes in Bengal, and the other provinces of that Presidency, trom the 20th to the 80th deg. of north latitude; in the Province of Tinnevelly; in the Madras Presidency; in Java, in the largest of the Philippine islands, in Guatemala, Caraccas, Central America and Brazil. Bengalis, however, the chief mart for indigo, and the quantity produced in other places is comparatively inconsiderable. it is also still cultivated in some of the West India islands, especially St. Domingo, but not in large quantities. Indigo grows wild in several parts of Palestine, but attention seems not te have been given to its cultivation or collection. On most parts of the eastern and western coasts of Africa, it is indigenous ; at Sierra ~ Leone, Natal, and other places it is found abundant. 454 ' DYES AND COLORING STUFFS. In our settlements of Honduras, Demerara, and various portions of the American continent, it would amply reward the labor of the cultivator; several inferior sorts of Indigofera being found there indigenous, and only requiring care and culture to improve them. The quality of indigo depends upon the species of the plant, its ripeness, the soil and climate of its growth, and the mode of manufacture. The East India, and Brazilian indigo arrives here packed in chests, the Guatemala in ox-hides, called serons. The indigo imported from the western hemisphere was for some time considered superior in quality to that of the Hast. Its cul- vation, however, has been neglected, and the Bengal indigo is preferred at present to any imported from South America, where 16 is now only cultivated by the Brazilians and Colombians. If proper attention were paid to the cultivation of the plant, and to the preparation of the dye, it is very likely part of that important trade would be brought back. It thrives best in a moist climate, and the interior of Guiana, chiefly newly-cleared land, would be well adapted for it. The late Mr. Dunlop (“Travels in Central America’’) gives an interesting description, which, at the risk of repetition in some points, I shall give entire. “Several vessels generally arrive at the Union from South America at the time of the periodical fairs, where nearly all the indigo (the only produce of any importance), is disposed of ; formerly it reached 10,000 bales, but at present it does not at most exceed 3,000 bales of 150 Ibs. each. The indigo well known in Europe by the name of Guatemala indigo, was never cultivated in that province (in the same manner as not a grain of the Honduras cochineal is grown there), being entirely grown in the state of San Salvador, in the vicinity of San Miguel, San Vicenti, and the City of Salvador, with the exception of a small quantity of very superior quality grown in the state of Nicaragua, and a few bales in Costa Rica, which is all consumed in the State. Under the government of Spain, the produce of the state of San Salvador alone had reached 10,000 bales, and that of Nicaragua 2,000; the produce of San Salvador m 1820, two years before its independence, being 8,323 bales. But since 1822 the — annual produce had gradually declined, and in 1846 it did not exceed 1,000 to 1,200 bales, nearly all the indigo estates being abandoned, partly, no doubt, from the great fall in the price of the article, but more on account of the impossibility of getting laborers to work steadily. The plant cultivated in Central America for the manufacture of indigo, is the triennial plant, supposed to be a native of America ; but there is also an indigenous perennial plant, abounding in many parts of Central America, which produces indigo of.a very superior quality, but gives less than half the weight which is pro- daced by the cultivated species. The ground for sowing the indigo seed is prepared in April,—a piece of good forest land near one of INDIGO. 4.55 the towns being selected, a part is cut to make a rude fence, and the remainder burnt, which is easily accomplished, as everything is very dry at that season ; and the ground is afterwards scratched with two sticks, fastened crosswise, to resemble somewhat the shape of a plough, and the seed scattered over it by hand. The rainy season always commences early in May, and the indigo is ready for cutting about the middle of July, taking about two and a half months to come to perfection. Fhe growing crop some- what resembles lucerne, and is in the best state for making indigo, when it becomes covered with a sort of greenish farina. The crop of the first year is small, and sometimes net worth manufacturing; that of the second year is the best, and the third is also very good, if it has been carefully weeded ; but many indigo fields have lasted more than ten years without being re-sown, as the seed which falls naturally springs up again, and where the land is good yields nearly as large a crop as a new sown field. When the plant is ready for manufacturing, a number of men are col- lected, each of whom is either provided with, or brings his own mule or horse, if he has one. Two men always go together, cut the plant, then about the height of full-grown red clover, and take it to the vats, which are large tanks made of brick and lime, holding at least 1,000 gallons, and some as much as 10,000. Into these the plant is thrown till they are nearly full, when weights are put above it to prevent its floating, and the vats filled with water till it covers the mass ofthe indigo plant. After remaining from twelve to twenty-four hours, according to the state of the plant, weather, and other circumstances (the time required being determined by the color which the water assumes), the herb is taken out, and the water beaten with paddles in the very smaii vats, and by a wheel suspended above and turned by men or horses in the larger ones, till it changes from a green color, which it has acquired ere the removal of the herb, to a fine blue, when it is allowed to stand for some hours, till the coloring matter has settled to the bottom of the tank, a process which is generally hastened by throwing in an infusion of certain herbs to facilitate its settlement, or as the natives term it curdle (cuwajar) the colored water. As soon as all the color has settled, the water is drawn off, and the blue, which is of the consistency of thick mud, is taken out of the vat and spread upon cotton, or coarse woollen cloth, and dried in the sun. The colorin a creat measure depends upon removing the herb exactly at the proper I , and upon properly beating the water, neither too long, or too short. Unless these processes are properly performed, the indigo will not be of first-rate quality; but some estates will never produce the best indigo, whatever car2 may be bestowed on the manufacture. A mansana, of 100 yards square, which is nearly two British statute acres, ‘produces generally about 100 to 120 Ibs. of indigo, the carriage and cutting of the herb costing about twenty doliars, - and the cleaning of the field and all other expenses connected with it, including the manufacture of the indigo, about as much more. 456 DYES AND COLORING STUFFS. The mdigo of Central America is not put into moulds whet drying, as that of Bengal, but is allowed to remain in the rough shape in which it dries, and without further preparation is ready for baling and exportation. The bales are generally made up in 150 lbs. each, and the quality is classed by numbers, from 1 to 9; Nos. 1 to 3 beimg of the quality called cobres in Europe; Nos. 4 to 6 of that called cortes, and Nos. 7 to 9 of that called flores; Nos. 1 to 6 do not at present pay the expenses of manufacture, and are never intention- ally made. No doubt, with a little more skillin the manufacture, the whole might, as in Bengal, be made of the quality called flores ; but such improvements cannot be expected till a new race of people inhabit Central America. At present about one-half of the indigo produced is under No. 7, and as the cultivation is said not to pay at the present prices—and, indeed, hardly can be supposed to compete with Bengal, a country where labor is so much cheaper, and capital abundant—it is probable, that the cultivation will shortly be entirely abandoned, unless the price should again rise in Europe.” In 1846, 21,938 Ibs. of indigo were exported from Angostura. , The following particulars were contributed to my “ Colonial Magazine,” by the late Dr. Edward Binns, of Jamaica :— The species generally cultivated is the I. tinctoria, which requires a rich moist soil and warm weather. The seed, which is at first sight not unlike coarse gunpowder, is sown three or four inches deep, in straight lines, twelve or fifteen inches‘ apart. The shoots appear above ground in about a week; at the end of two months the plant flowers, when it is fit for cutting, which is done with a pruning knife. It must be mentioned that great care is requisite in weeding the indigo fieid when plants first shoot through the earth. In the State of St. Salvador, large vats made of mahogany, or other hard wood, are constructed for the reception of the plant, where it is allowed to undergo maceration and fer- mentation. In a short time the water becomes greenish, and emits a strong pungent smell, while carbonic acid gas is freely evolved. In about twenty-four hours it is run off into large fiat vessels, and stirred about until a blue scum ap- pears, when additional water is added, and the blue flakes sink to the bottom. The supernatant water has now acquired a yellowish tinge, when it is run off carefully, and the blue deposit or sediment put into bags to drain. It is subse- quently dried in the shade, or sometimes in the sun, then placed in ectton bags and carried to the indigo fair, or forwarded to the city of Guatemala. The East Indian mode of manufacturing the indigo differs materially, and many suppose it preferable to the Salvador. It consists in steaming the fer- mented mass in large pipes enclosed in huge boilers. I am inclined to believe this to be the most economical, if not the best way of manufacturing indigo. From Guatemala alone, it is computed that from 6,000 to 8,600 serons of indigo are exported annually ; while San Miguel, Chalatenaugo, Tejulta, Secatecolnea, St. Vincent, Sensuntepepe, not only, it is said, produce a larger quantity, but the four last-mentioned places have the advantage as to quality. The Belize Advertiser stated, some time since, that the value of this dye from one State in 1830 produced 2,000,000 dollars, the minimum of an immense sum which has been most unjustly and unwisely wrested from the people of Jamaica, and the West India islands. Bridges (‘‘ Annals of Jamaica,” p. 4584, Append.), speaking of the vast returns of an indigo plantation, says, ‘‘ The labour of a single negro would often bring to his owner £30 sterling per annum clear profit,—a sum which was at the time the laborer’s highest price. [i continued the staple of Jamaica till an intolerable tax oppressed it, while its price was lowered by the competition of other colonies. INDIGO. 457 ts cultivation immediately declined throughout them all, but nowhere so ra- pidly as here. ‘The financial error was quickly discovered,—a remedy was at- tempted by a bounty; but it came too late, the plantations were thrown up, and the planters, attracted by the temporary gain, abused the tardy boon, by intro- ducing, as of their own growth, large quantities of foreignindigo.”” As Bridges may be said in this passage to be merely a commentator on Edwards, who has entered more largely upon the subject, [ shall condense from the latter, state- ments connected with the manufacture and decay of this branch of industry, once the staple ot Jamaica. : Edwards (‘‘ West Indies,” vol. i1., p. 275, 2nd edition) reckons three kinds of indigo—the wild, Guatemala, and French. The first is the hardest, and the dye extracted from it of the best quality as regards color and grain ; but one or other of the two species is commonly preferred by the planter, as yielding a greater return. Of these the French surpasses the Guatemala in quantity, but yields to it in fineness of grain and beauty of color. The indigo thrives almost on any land, though the richest soils produce the most luxuriant plants, and the longest dry weather willnot killit. ‘he cultivation and manufacture our author thus describes :—‘‘The land being prepared, trenches, two or three inches in depth, are made by the hoe. These are ten or twelve inches asunder. The seeds are then strewed in the trenches by the hand, and slightly covered with mould. When the plants shoot, they are carefully weeded, and kept constantly clean, until they rise high enough to cover the ground, A bushel of seed is sufficient for four or five acres. ‘I'he best season for planting is March; but if the land be good, it may be sown at any time, and in three months the plants attain maturity. In seasonable situations, they have four cuttings in the year. The subsequent growths from the plants ripen in six or eight weeks; but the produce diminishes after the second cutting, so that the seeds should be sown every second year. A species of grub, or worm, which infests the plant on the secoud year is avoided by changing the soil; or, in other words, by a rotation of crops. ‘The produce per acre of the first cutting is about 60 lbs. Itisnearly as much in Noith America; but when the thermometer falls to sixty, the returns ale very uncertain, that degree of heat being too low fcr the necessary veg :tation, maceration, and fermentation. ‘The yieldings for the subsequent cuttings some- what diminish; but in Jamaica and St. Domingo, if the land is new, about 300 lbs. per acre of the second quality may be expected annually from ail the cuttings together; and four negroes are sufficient to carry on the cultivation of five acres, besides doing other occasional work, sufficient to reimburse the ex- penses of their maintenance and clothing.” The process for obtaining the dye, according to the same author, was conducted through the means of two cisterns, the one elevated above the other, in the manner of steps. The higher, which was also the longer, was named the sleeper —its dimensions sixteen feet square and two and a halfin depth. The second, into which the fluid was discharged, was called the battery ; 1t was about twelve feet square, and four anda half in depth. These cisterns were of stone; but strong timber answered remarkably well. There was also a lime-vat, six feet square and tour feet deep, the plug of which was at least eight inches from the bottom. ‘This was for the purpose of permitting the lime to subside, before the lime-water was withdrawn. ‘The plants then being ripe, or fit for cutting, were cut with reaping-hooks, or sickles, a few inches from the ground—six was the minimum—and placed by strata in the sleeper, until it was about three parts full. They were then pressed with boards, either loaded with weights or wedged down, so as to prevent the plants from Hoating loosely ; and as much water was admitted as they would imbibe, until it covered the mass four or five inches deep. In this state it was allowed to ferment until the water had extracted the pulp. To know when this had been thoroughly effected, required extreme at- tention and great practical knowledge; for if the fluid were drawn off too soon, much of the pulp was left behind; and if the fermentation continued too long, the tender tops of the plants were decomposed, and the whole crop iost. When the tincture or extract was received in the battery, it was agitated or churned until the dye began to granulate, or float in littie flakes upon the surface. This was accomplished at one period in Jamaica by paddles, worked by manual labor, and, in the #rench islands, by buckets or cylinders, worked by long poles; but 4.58 DYES AND COLORING STUFFS. subsequently—that is, at the time Edwards wrote—convenient apparatus was constructed, the levers of which were worked by a cog-wheel, kept in motion by a horse or mule. When the fluid had been churned for fifteen or twenty minutes, a small quantity was examined in a cup or plate, and if it appeared curdled or coagulated, strongly impregnated lime- water was gradually added, not only with a view to promote separation, but to prevent decomposition. Browne remarks (‘ Civil and Nat. Hist. of Jamaica,” art. ‘‘ Indigo’’), the plan- ters ‘‘must carefully distinguish the different stages of this part of the operation also, and attentively examine the appearance and color as the work advances, —tor the grain passes gradually from a greenish to a fine purple, which is the proper color when the liquor is sufficiently worked,—too small a degree of agita- tion leaving the indigo green and coarse, while too vigorous an action brings it to be almost black.” ‘The liquor being then, as we shall suppose, properly worked, and granulation established, it was left undisturbed until tne flakes settled at the bottom, when the liquor was drawn off, and the sediment (which is the indigo) placed in little bags to drain, after which it was carefully packed in small square boxes, and suffered to dry gradually in the shade. Such is the account, nearly word for word, which Edwards gives of the mode of manufacturing indigo. I shall now quote his remarks upon the outlay and gain upon the article verbatim.—‘*To what has been said above of the nature of the plant suiting itself to every soil, and producing four cuttings in the year, if we add the cheapness of the buildings, apparatus, and labor, and the great ~ value of the commodity, there will seem but little cause for wonder at the splendid accounts which are transmitted down to us concerning the great opu-~ lence of the first indigo-planters. Allowing the produce of an acre to be 300 Lbs., and the produce no more than 4s. per pound, the gross profit of only twenty acres will be £1,200, produced by the labor of only sixteen negroes, and on capital in land and buildings scarce deserving consideration.” Yet, notwithstanding this Statement, the author informs us afterwards that he knew, in the course of eighteen years’ residence in the West Indies, upwards of twenty persons who tried to re-establish indigo manufactories, but failed. This appears strange, since itis plain that what has once been done can be done again, but especially in the manufacture of an article requiring a capital so very smali in proportion to the profits as almost to tempt the most cautious and the most timid man to embark in it. I quote the following passage from the same author, for the purpose of show- ing the very loose manner in which statements are made on the authority of others, who are as incompetent to decide the merits of a question as the party himself chronicling their opinion. Speaking of the twenty unfortunate indigo- planters, our author thus writes:—‘‘ Many of them were men of foresight, knowledge, and property. That they failed is certain; but of the causes of their FAILURE I confess I can give no satisfactory account. I was told that disappoimt- ment trod close upon their heels at every step. At one time the fermentation was too long continued, at another the liquor was drawn off too soon; now the pulp was not duly granulated, and now it was worked too much. ‘To these in- conveniences, for which practice would doubtless have found a remedy, were added others of a much greater magnitude—the mortality of the negroes, from ' the vapour of fermented liquor (an alarming circumstance, that, | am informed, both by the French and English planters, constantly attends the process), the failure of the seasons, and the ravages of the worm. These, or some of these evils, drove them at length to other pursuits, where industry might find a surer recompense.”’—(p. 283.) The fallacy of much of this requires no comment, as it must strike even the most careless reader,—for if the so-called indigo-growers did not know the pro- cess of manufacturing the commodity, then it could not be surprising that they failed. Thus the cause of their failure required no comment, and no explanation. Were a ploughman taken from the field and placed at the helm of a ship, and the vessel in consequence wrecked, would any one be astonished but at the folly of those who placed him there? ‘this was the case with the indigo-growers,— they attempted what they did not understand, and, consequently, lost their labor and their money. ‘The mortality of the negroes employed, stated as another reason for abandoning the attempt, requires a somewhat more lengthy notice, INDIGO. 459 I can briefly say, that I have learned that in the Central States of America, deaths among indigo-laborers are not more frequent than in other branches of tropical industry; and [ never heard or have read that the original growers complained of the mortality attending the progress. The truth is, that this statement is not founded on fact. ‘There is nothing whatever in the manufac- ture of indigo, either in the cultivation or the granulation, or even the macer- ation and fermentation of the plant, which is directly or indirectly, per se, injurious to human life. J have certainly never seen the indigo plant macerated on a large scale; but I have myself steeped much of it in water, and allowed it even to rot, and found nothing in the mass differing in any marked degree from decomposed vegetable matter. It seems to me that this idea of the manu- facture of indigo being especially inimical to human life, is as unfounded as the belief, even by Humboldt, up toa very recent period, that none of the Cerealia would grow in tropical climates. In conversing with an old gentleman in Jamaica, some twelve years since, who had tried the manufacture of indigo, and with every prospect of success, but abandoned it, as he confessed, for the culti- vation of the sugar cane, since it was then more profitable, he suggested the solution, that as the manufacture was light work, probably aged and debilitated, in place of youthful and vigorous slaves, were too frequently employed in the process—hence the mortality. This may be cotrect to a certain extent; but I am also inclined to think that another cause ot mortality might be found in the mode and manner in which the negro was fed and clothed, and not because aged persons were exclusively engaged in the manufacture. I believe 1 may state, without fear of contradiction, that the real cause of the decline and consequent abandonment of the indigo plant was the monstrous duty levied upon it by the English government. Indeed, this has been already stated in the extract from Bridges; while the cause of the failure of the attempt to renew it, over and above the reasons we have given, was the greater temptation to embark capital in sugar plantations,—the West Indies enjoying a monopoly in this article, while they had competitors in the Southern States of America in the other. I have, therefore, no hesitation in saying, that, with a trifling capital, under prudent management, indigo might be cultivated to a very great extent, and with considerable profit, even now, inJamaica. But the adventurer is not to expect to count his gains, as the original growers did, by thousands ; he must be content with hundreds, if not fifties; for at the present day every branch of industry is laden with difficulties, encumbered by taxation, and obstructed by competition. ‘There are two objections, however, which I have not removed,— T allude to “the failure of the seasons and the ravages of the worm.” Very little need be said to combat these. Seasons are mutable, and the same heaven that frowns this year on the labors of the husbandman, may smile the next ; while a remedy for the “‘ravages of the worm” may be found in the mutation of the soil, the destruction of the grub, or the rotation of crops,—accessories to success which seem not to have entered into the vocabularies of the twenty pseudo indigo-growers, ‘‘many of them men of knowledge, foresight and property.” The following passage from Bryan Edwards will corroborate much that I have endeavored toentorce. It furnishes not only a solution which has been hinted at betore, of the enigma why indigo ceased tc be cultivated in Jamaica, but also an mmeentive to re-introduce the culture. He says (p. 444), ‘‘It is a remarkable and well-known circumstance, after the cultivation of indigo was suppressed by an exorbitant duty of near £20 the hundred-weight, Great Britain was compelled to pay her rivals and enemies £200,000 annually for this commodity, so essential to a great variety of her most important manufactures. At length, the duty being repealed, and a bounty some time after substituted in its place, the States of Georgia and South Carolina entered upon, and succeeding in the culture of this valuable plant, supplied at a far cheaper rate than the French and Spaniards (receiving too our manufactures in payment) not only the British consumption, but also enabled Great Britain to export a surplus at an advanced price to foreign markets.”—It is therefore plain that the manufacture of indigo was lost to Jamaica, not from any difficulty in growing the plant, or from any loss of life attending the process of manufacturing it, but from the ruinously heavy duty of £20 the hundred-weight— and that now,. when no duty exists, it might be again cultivated with great advantage. 4.60 DYES AND COLORING STUFES. The cultivation of indigo has been repeatedly attempted in Cuba, but never with much success; although the shrub called the Xiquilite, from which it is extracted, grows wild m several districts of the island, but more especially towards the eastern extremity. The first anileria, or manufactory of indigo, was esta- blished m 1795, under the patronage of the Ayuntamento of the Havana, who made an advance of 3,500 dollars, without interest, to the party engaging in the speculation, in order to encourage the enterprise; but the undertaking proved unsuccessful, and the same fate has befallen every subsequent attempt to introduce this branch of industry.. In 1827, the whole produce amounted only to 56 arrobas. In 1837 the imports of mdigo greatly ex- ceeded the exports; the former having amounted to 121,350 lbs., and the latter to 82,890lbs. In 1838, 5,184 lbs. reached the United Kingdom from the Havana, and in 1843, 62,675 lbs. In 1826 British Honduras exported 358,552 lbs. ; mm 1880, 2,650 serons; in 1844, 1,247 serons ; and in 1845, 1,052 serons. The indigo shrub is one of the most common bushes in Trinidad, where it grows wild on almost all the indifferent soils. In 1783, there were several plantations and manufactcries of indigo established in Trinidad ; these were subsequently abandoned, on account of a supposition that they were unhealthy. Prior to 1783, the colonists had a kind of simple process by which they extracted sufficient coloring matter to serve domestic consumption. This process is at present unknown, hence all the indigo used there is imported from Europe, although the plant from which it can be made vegetates in every direction. In 1791 Hayti imported 930,016 lbs. of indigo, while in 1804 the export had dwindled to 35,400 lbs. Indigo, as I have already stated, was once a most important crop in South Carolina, some attention has recently again been given to it by an individual or two in Louisiana, and the enterprise is said to promise success; enough might undoubtedly be raised in the United States to supply the home market. Some indigo produced at Baton Rouge was pronounced to have been - equal to the best Caraccas, which sells at two dollars per pound; and the gentleman who cultivated it remarks, that one acre of ground there, well cultivated, will yield from 40 to GO lbs. ; that it requires only from July to October for cultivating it; that there is not connected with it one-third of the expense or time that is generally required for the cultivation of cotton. I take the following from Smyth’s “Tour in the United States.” “ This plant is somewhat like the fern when grown, and when ~ young is hardly distinguishable from lucern grass, its leaves in general are pinnated, and terminated by a single lese; the flowers consist of five leaves, and are of the papzionaceous kind, the uppermost petal being longer and rounder than the rest, and lightly furrowed on the side, the lower ones are short and end in a point; in the middie of the flower is formed the style, which afterwards becomes a pod containing the seeds. INDIGO. 461 “ They cultivate three sorts of indigo in Carolina, which demand the same variety of soils. Furst, the French or Hispaniola in- digo, which striking a long tap root will only flourish in a deep rich soil, and therefore, though an excellent sort, is not so much cultivated in the maritime parts of the State, which are generally sandy, but it is~ produced in great periection one hundred miles backwards; it is neglected too on another account, for it hardly bears a winter so sharp as that of Carolina. The second sort, which isthe false Guatemala, or true Bahamas, bears the winter better, is a more tall and vigorous plant, is raised in greater quan- tities from the same compass of ground, is content with the worst soil in the country, and is therefore more cultivated than the first soil, though inferior in the quality of its dye. “The third sort is the wild indigo, which is indigenous here ; this, as it is a native of the country, answers the purposes of the planter best of all, with regard to the hardiness of the plant, the easiness of the culture, and the quantity of the produce. Of the quality there is some dispute not yet settled amongst the planters themselves ; nor can they distinctly tell when they are to attri- bute the faults of their mdigo to the nature of the plant, to the seasons, which have much influence upon it, or to some defect in the manufacture. “The time of planting the indigo is generally after the first rains succeeding the vernal equinox; the seed is sown in small straight trenches, about eighteen or twenty inches asunder; when itis at its height, it is generally eighteen inches tall. It is fit for cutting, if all things answer well, in the beginning of July. “Towards the end of August a second cutting is obtained, and if they have a mild autumn, there is a third cutting at Michaelmas. The indigo land must be weeded every day, the plants cleansed from worms, and the plantation attended with the greatest care and diligence. About twenty-five hands may manage a plantation of fifty acres, and complete the manufacture of the drug, besides - providing their own necessary subsistence and that of the planter’s family. “ Each acre yields, ifthe land be very good, 60 or 70 lbs. weight of indigo, at a medium the produce 1s 50lbs. This however, is reckoned by many skilful planters but a very indifferent crop. “When the plant is beginning to blossom it is fit for cutting, and when cut great care ought to be taken to bring it to the steeper without pressing or shaking it,as great part of the beauty of the indigo depends upon the fine farina, which adheres to the leaves of this plant. The apparatus for making indigo is incon- siderable and not expensive, for besides a pump, the whole con- sists only of vats and tubs of cypress wood, common and cheap in this country. “The indigo, when cut, is first laid in a vat, about twelve or fourteen feet long and four feet deep, to the height of about fourteen inches, to macerate and digest ; then this vessel, which is called the steeper, is filled with water; the whole having laid from 462 DYES AND COLORING STUFES. about twelve to sixteen hours, according to the weather, begins to ferment, swell, rise, and grow sensibly warm. At this time spars of wood are run across, to mark the highest point of its ascent ; when it falls below this mark, they judge that the fermentation has attained its due pitch, and begins to abate; this directs the manager to open a cock, and let off the water into another vat, which is called the beater; the gross matter that remains in the first vat is carried off to manure the ground, for which purpose it is excellent, and new cuttings are put in, as long as the harvest of the weed continues. When the water, strongly impreg- nated with the particles of indigo, has run into the second vat or beater, they attend with a sort of bottomless buckets, with long handles, to work and agitate it, when it froths, fer ments, and rises above the rim of the vessel that contains it. °Fo ‘allay this violent fermentation, oil is thrown in as the froth rises, which instantly sinks it. When this beating has continued for twenty, thirty, or thirty-five minutes, according to the state of the weather (for in cool weather it requires the longest continued beating), a small muddy grain begins to be formed ; the salts and other particles of the plant united, dissolved, and before mixed with the water, are now re-united together, and begin to granulate. To discover these particles the better, and to find when the liquor is sufficiently beaten, they take up some of it from time to time on a plate, or in a glass; when it appears in a hopeful condition, they let loose some lime water from an adjacent vessel, gently stirrmg the whole, which wonderfully facilitates the operation ; the indigo eranulates more fully, the liquor assumes a purplish color, and the whole is troubled ‘and muddy ; it is now suffered to settle; then the clearer part is permitted to run off into another succession of vessels, from whence the water is con- veyed away as fast as it clears on the top, until nothing remains but a thick mud, which is put into bags of coarse linen. These are hung up and left for some time until the moisture is entirely drained off. “'To finish the drying, this mud is turned out of the bags, and worked upon boards of some porous timber, with a wooden spatula; it is frequently exposed to the morning and evening sun, but for a short time only; and then it is put into boxes or frames, which is called the curing, exposed again to the sun in the same cautious manner, until, with great labor and attention the operation is finished, and the valuable drug fitted for the market. The greatest skill and care is required in every part of the process, or there may be great danger of ruining the whole; the water must not be suffered to remain too short or too long a time, either in the steeper or beater; the beating itself must be hicely managed, so as not to exceed or fall short ; andin the curing the exact medium between too much or too little dryimg is not easily attained. Nothing but experience can make the overseers skilful in these matters. There are two methods of trying the goodness of indigo; by fire and by water. If it swims it is good, if it sinks INDIGO. 463 it is inferior, the heavier the worse; so if it wholly dissolves in water itis good. Another way of proving it, is by the fire ordeal ; if it entirely burns away it is good, the adulterations remain untouched.” Indigo to the extent of 220,000 lbs. per annum is grown in Egypt. The leaves are there thrown into earthen vessels, which are buried in pits and filled with water; heat is applied, and the liquid is boiled away until the indigo becomes of a fit consistence, when it is pressed into shape and dried. Many Armenians have been invited from the East Indies to teach the fellahs the best mode of preparation, and, in consequence, nine indigo works have been established belonging to the government. The indigo plant is found scattered like a weed abundantly over the face of the country in the district of Natal, Eastern Africa. It is said that there are no less than ten varieties of the plant commonly to be met with there. Mr. Blaine submitted, in 1848, to the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, a small specimen of this dye-stuff, which had been extracted by a rude process from a native plant, which was pronounced by good authority to be of superior quality, and worth 3s. 4d. per pound. Mr. W. Wilson, a settler at Natal, in a letter to the editor of the Natal Witness, thus speaks of the culture :— “ My attention was first forcibly drawn to the cultivation of indigo by some seed imported by Mr. Kinlock, from India. This seed, on trial, I found to grow luxuriantly ; and after a few experiments I succeeded in manufacturing the dye. ‘The success which thus attended my first attempts has encouraged me to try indigo planting on a more extensive scale. For this purpose I am allowing all the plants of this season to run to seed, and intend to plant equal quantities of Bengal and native indigo. While my attention was engaged in these preliminary experiments, I ob- served that the country abounded in a variety of species of indigo, and by a series of experiments found it rich and abundant, and have since learnt that it is known and in use among the natives, and called by them Umpekumbeto. This of course induced further inquiry, and on consulting different works I find that the Cape of Good Hope possesses more species of indigo than the whole world besides. Now I take it for granted that if Providence has placed these materials within our reach, it was evidently intended that we should, by the application of industry, appropriate them to our use. It becomes, then, a matter of necessity that indigo must thrive, this being its native soil and climate and the experiments I have successfully made, go to support me in the opinion that the cultivation of indigo will bring an ample reward. Indeed it seems contrary to the laws of nature that it should be otherwise. I have obtained from the 140th part of an acre the proportion of 300 lbs. of indigo per acre. That the plant will cross successfully, I have also ascertained.” Cultwwation in India.—During the nine years which preceded the opening of the trade with India in 1814, the annual average pro- duce of indigo in Bengal, for exportation, was nearly 5,600,000 lbs. But since the ports were opened, the indigo produced for expor- tation has increased fuily a third; the exports during the sixteen years ending with 1829-30, being above 7,400,000 lbs. a year. The consumption in the United Kingdom has averaged, during the last ten years, about 2,500,000 lbs. a year. AGA DYES AND COLORING STUFFS. In 1839-40 the export of indigo from Madras amounted to 1,333,808 lbs. A small quantity is also exported from the French settlement of Pondicherry. In 1837 the export from Manila amounted to about 250,000lbs. The export from Batavia in» 1841 amounted to 913,693 Ibs., and the production in 1843 was double that amount. ‘The annual exports of indigo, from all parts of Asia and the Indian Archipelago, were taken by M‘Oulloch, in 1840, to be 12,440,000 lbs. The imports are about 20,000 chests of Bengal, and 8,000 from Madras annually, of which 9,000 or 10,000 are used for home consumption, and the rest re-exported. The total crop of indigo in the Bengal Presidency has ranged, for the last twenty years, at from 100,000 to 172,000 factory maunds; the highest crop was in 1845. The factory maund of indigo in India is about 78 lbs. In the delta of the Ganges, where the best and largest quantity of indigo is produced, the plant lasts only for a single season, being destroyed by the periodical inundation; but in the dry central and western provinces, one or two ratoon crops are obtained. The culture of indigo is very precarious, not only in so far as respects the growth of the plant from year to year, but also as regards the quantity and quality of the drug which the same amount of plant will afford in the same season. The fixed capital required, as I have already shown, im the manufacture of indigo, consists simply of a few vats of common masonry for steeping the plant, and precipitating the coloring matter; a boiling and drying house, and a dwelling for the planter. Thus a factory of ten pair of vats, capable of producing, at an average, 12,500 Ibs. of indigo, worth on the spot £2,500, will not cost above £1,500 sterling. The buildings and machinery necessary to produce an equal value in sugar and rum, would probably cost about £4,000. The indigo of Bengal is divided into two classes, called, in com- mercial language, Bengal and Oude; the first bemg the produce of the southern provinces of Bengal and Bahar, and the last that of the northern provinces, and of Benares. The first class is in point of quality much superior to the other. The inferiority of the Oude indigo is thought to be more the result of soil and climate, than of any difference in the skill with which the manu- facture is conducted. The indigo of Madras, which is superior to that of Manila, is about equal to ordinary Bengal indigo. The produce of Java is superior to these. Large quantities of indigo, of a very fine quality, are grown in Scinde. I have to acknowledge the receipt, from the Indian Government, of an interesting “collection of documents on the culture and manufacture of indigo in Upper Scinde. The papers are chiefly from the pen of Mr. Wood, Deputy Collector of Sukkur, though there are several others, perhaps of much value, from various other of the revenue officers of Scinde. Mr. Wood is of opinion that Scinde is much better suited than INDIGO. 465 Bengal for the production of this dye-stuff—the alluvial soil on the banks of the Indus is equal in richness to that on those of the Ganges, and the climate seems equally well suited for the growth of the plant. But in two years out of three, the crops of the Bengal planter are injured by excessive inundations, while the work of gathering and manipulation is necessarily performed, during the rainy season, under the greatest imaginable disad- vantages. In Scinde, on the other hand, the inundation of the river is produced almost solely from the melting of the snows in the Himalayas, and it is not liable to those excessive fluctuations in amount, or that suddenness in appearance peculiar to inunda- tions chiefly arising from falls of ram. The Ganges sometimes rises ten feet in four-and-twenty hours, and at some part of its course its depth is at times forty feet greater during a flood than in fair weather, while the Indus rarely rises above a foot a day, its extreme flood never exceeding fifteen feet, the limits and amount of the inundation being singwiarly uniform over a succession of years. Moreover, as rain hardly ever falls in Scinde, and when it does so only continues over a few days, and extends to the amount of three or four inches, no danger or inconvenience from this need be apprehended. Mr. Wood mentions that hemp may be grown in profusion on the indigo grounds, and that were the pro- duction of the dye once introduced, it would bring hundreds of thousands of acres now barren into cultivation, and secure the growth or manufacture of a vast variety of other commodities for which the country is eminently fitted. An experimental factory might, it is believed, be set up for from two to three thousand pounds, but this appears to be an amount of adventure from which the Government shrinks. The districts of Kishnagar, Jessore, and Moorshedabad, in Bengal, ranging from 88 to 90 degs. EH. latitude, and 223 to 24 degs. N. longitude, produce the finest indigo. That from the districts about Burdwan and Benares is of a coarser or harsher grain. ‘Tirhoot, in latitude 26 degs., yields a tolerably good article. The portion of Bengal most propitious to the cultivation of indigo, les between the river Hooghly and,the main stream of the Ganges. In the East Indies, after having ploughed the ground in October, November, and the beginning of December, they sow the seed in the last half of March and the beginning of April, while the soil, being neither too hot nor too dry, is most pro- pitious to its germination. A light mould answers best; and sunshine, with occasional light showers, are most favorable to its growth. Twelve pounds of seed are sufficient for sowmg an acre of land. The plants grow rapidly, and will bear to be cut for the first time at the beginning of July ; nay, in some districts so early as the middle of June. The indications of maturity are the bursting forth of the flower buds, and the expansion of the blossoms; at which period the plant abounds most in the dyemg principle. Another indication is taken from the leaves, which, if 2H 466 DYES AND COLORING STUFFS. they break across when doubled flat, denote a state of maturity. But this character is somewhat fallacious, aud depends upon the poverty or richness of the soil. When much rain falls, the plants grow too rapidly, and do not sufficiently elaborate the blue pigment. Bright sunshine is most advantageous to its production. The first cropping of the plants is the best; after two months a second is made; after another interval a third, and even a fourth; but each of these is of diminished value. Culture in India.—Yor the following excellent account of the modes of culture, and practice, &c., in Bengal, and other parts of ' India, I am indebted to Mr. G. W. Johnson, one of the corre- spondents of my “ Colonial Magazine.” Mr. Johnson, besides his own Indian experience, has consulted all the best authorities, and the opinions of contributors to the leading periodicals of Calcutta on this important subject :— When America became known to Europeans, its indigo became to them a principal object of cultivation, and against their skill the native Hindostanee had nothing to oppose, but the cheapness of his simple process of manufacture. The profit and extent of the trade soon induced Europeans to brave the perils of distance and climate to cultivate the plant in Hindostan; but these obstacles, added to the superior article manufactured by the French and Spaniards in the West Indies, would long have held its produce in India in subordination, if the anarchy and wars incident to the French Revolution, especially when they reached St. Domingo, had not almost annihilated the trade from the West, and consequently proportionally fostered that in the Hast. The indigo produce of St. Domingo was nearly as large as that of all the other West India islands together. From the time that the negroes revolted in that island, the cultivation of indigo has increased in Hindostan, until it has become one of its principal exports, and the quality of the article manufactured is not inferior to that of any other part of the world. The most general mode of obtaining the necessary supply of weed, as it is called by the planter, is as follows :—The land atached to the factory is parcelled out among the ryots or farmers, who contract to devote a certain portion of their farm to the cultivation of indigo, and to deliver it, for a fixed price per bundle, at the factory; a sum of money, usually equal to half the probable produce, has to be advanced to the ryot by the planter, to enable him to accomplish the cultivation, and to subsist upon until the crop is ready for cutting. Tf, as is generally the case, sufficient land is not attached to the factory to supply it with plant, the owner obtains what he requires by inducing the ryots in his vicinity to cultivate it upon a part of their land. Yet it is with them far from a favorite object of cultivation; and, indeed, if it were not for the money advanced to each ryot by the planter, to provide seed, &c., and which gives him a little ready money, bearing no interest, it is doubtful whether he would engage in the cultivation at all. Even this advance of money does not induce him to ap- propriate it to any but the worst part of his farm, nor to bestow upon it more than the smallest possible amount of labor. The reasons for this neglect are valid, for the grain ercps are more profitable to the ryot, and indigo is one of the most precarious of India’s vegetable products. In Bengal the usual terms of contract between the manufacturer and the ryot are, that the latter, receiving at the time a certain advance of money, perhaps one rupee (2s.) per biggah, with promise of a similar sum at a more advanced period of the season, undertakes to have a certain quantity of land suitably and seasonably prepared for sowing, to attend and receive seed whenever occasion requires, and to deliver the crop, when called upon, at the factory, at a specified price per bundle or 100 bundles. The particular conditions of these contracts vary generally in Bengal; they amount to advancing the ryot two rupees for every biggah of land, furnishing him with seed at about one-third its cost, on an engagement INDIGO. 467 om him to return whatever his lands may produce (which, as has been said, is generally none at all), at the price charged, and receiving the plant from him at six, seven, eight, or sometimes nine bundles for a rupee—much oftener the former than the latter rates. A ryot cultivating alluvial lands, and having no seed, can hardly ever repay his advances; but it does not follow that he has been a loser, for he, perhaps, could not value his time, labor, and rent altogether at half the amount; and as long as this system is kept within moderate bounds, it answers much better than private cultivation to the manufacturer, and has many contingent advantages to the cultivator. In Tirhoot similar engagements are entered into with the ryots, who are there called Assamees, These engagements with Assamees are generally made in the month of September, on a written instrument called a noviskaun, by which they agree for a certain quantity of land, for five years, to be cultivated with indigo plant, and for which they are to be paid at the rate of six rupees per biggah, for every full field of plant measured by a luggie or measuring-rod. The luggie, it must be observed, varies in size throughout the district. In the southern and eastern divisions of Tirhoot and Sarun it is eight-and-a-half to ten feet long; and in the northern and western from twelve to fourteen feet. The Assamee receives, on the day of making his bundobust, or settlement, three rupees advance on each biggah he contracts for, another rupee per biggah when the crop is fit to weed, and the remaining two rupees at the ensuing settlement of accounts. Exclusive of the price of his maul or plant, the Assamee is entitled to receive two or three rupees per biggah (as may be agreed on) for gurkee, or Jands that have failed, as a remuneration for his trouble, and to enable him to pay hisrent. The foregoing are the principal stipulations of the noviskaun, but the Assamee further engages to give you such land as you may select, pre- pare it according to instructions from the factory, sow and weed as“often as he is required, cut the plant and load the hackeries at his own cost, and in every other respect conform to the orders of the planter or his aumlah (managing man). The Assamee is not charged for seed, the cartage of his plants, or for the cost of drilling. I should mention that a penalty is attached to the non-fulfil- ment of the Assamees engagements, commonly called hurjah, viz., twelve rupees for every biggah short of his agreement, and this for every year that the noviskaun has torun. This is, however, seldom recoverable, for if you sue the Assamee in court and obtain a decree (a most expensive and dilatory process), he can in most instances easily evade it by a fictitious transfer of his property to other hands. The planter generally finds it his interest to get the Zemindar of the village in which he proposes cultivating, to join in the noviskaun, as a further security ; or heengages with a jytedar, or head Assamee, having several others subordinate to him, and for'whose conduct he is responsible. Buta still better system is lately gaining ground in this district, I mean that of taking villages in ticka, or farm, by far the best and cheapest plan that has ever been resorted to for the cultivation of indigo. . When the planter cultivates the ground himself, it is called in Tirhoot Zerané cultivation. Zerants, or Neiz, are taken on a pottah or lease for five years, at the average rent of three rupees per biggah. The heavy cost attending this cultivation has occasioned its decrease in most factories in Tirhoot and particu- larly since the fall in prices. About a third, I believe, was the proportion it formerly bore to the whole cultivation of the district, but of late such factories only have retained it as cannot procure sufficient good land under the Assamewar system; but now that the plan of taking villages in farm is becoming more and more prevalent here, it is very likely that Zerants will be entirely aban- doned. From all the information I have been able to collect, the cost of a biggah of Zerant (ten feet luggie) may be estimated at sixteen rupees; that of Assamewar is generally twenty-five per cent. less, both exclusive of interest, agents’ charges, and private expenses. It can only be the reluctance of the ryot to cultivate indigo.that induces a manufacturer to grow it himself, for it has been found an expensive plan, profit - able only when tho dye is at its highest rate, and even then scarcely furnishing an adequate return. They not only could not cultivate so cheaply as the native laboring husbandman, but ordinarily had to engage extensive tracts of land, 2 ae 2 468 DYES AND COLORING STUFES. much of which was not suitable for their purpose, or, perhaps, for any other, and consequently, although the average rate of rent was even low on the whole, it comand a very heavy charge on the portion from which they obtained their return, In Oude there are three systems of obtaining a supply of the plant, viz., Kush Kurreea, Bighowty, and Ni; but the latter is a mere trifle in proportion to the others, and is, therefore, not worth mentioning. On the Bighowty system, which prevails chiefly in the Meerut and Mooradabad districts, the planter ad- vances for a biggah of Jwmowah (irrigated sowings) nine rupees, and for a biggah of Assaroo (rain sowings) five rupees four annas. The next year’s plant, or khoonti, becomes his on an additional payment of eight annas per biggah. He also supplies the seed at the rate of six seers per biggah, being almost double the quantity made use of in Bengal, but which is necessary to make up for the destruction of the plant the year following by the frost, white ants, hot winds, grass cutters, and, I may add, the village cattle, which are let loose to graze on the khoonte during the latter period, when not a biade of grass or vegetation is to be seen anywhere left. The Bighowty system is a sadly ruinous one, as, independently of the attempts to assimilate Assaroo, at five rupees four annas, with Jwmowah, at nine rupees per biggah, which is very easily effected if the planter is not very vigilant, he is obliged to maintain an extensive and imposing establishment of servants, not only to enforce the sowings, weeding, and cutting, but also to look after his khoonte, and protect it from being destroyed by bullocks and grass cutters, or from being ploughed up clandestinely by the Zemindars themselves, The Kush Kurreea system again has its evils, as the planter never gets plant for the full amount of his advances, and hence often leads to his ruin. Sotis.—Indigo delights in a fresh soil; new lands, of similar staple to others before cultivated, always surpass them in the amount and quality of their pro- duce. Hence arises the superior productiveness of the lands annually over- flowed by the Ganges, the earthy and saline deposits from which in effect renovate the soil. ‘The further we recede from the influence of the inunda- tion, the less adapted is the soil for the cultivation of indigo. The staple of the soil ought to be silicious, fertile, and deep. Mr. Ballard, writing on the indigo soils of Tirhoot, says that high ‘‘soomba,” or light soils, are generally preferred, being from their nature and level less exposed to the risk of rain or river inun- dation ; but they are difficult to procure, and, moreover, require particular care in the preparation. Next in estimation is “ doruss,’’ a nearly equal mixture of light earth and clay; a soil more retentive of moisture in a dry season than any other. ‘‘ Muttyaur,’ or heavy clay soils, are generally avoided, although in certain seasons, with mild showers of rain, they have been known to answer. The safest selection I should conceive to be an equal portion of soomba and doruss. In a country, however, interspersed with jheels and nullahs, it is difficult to form a cultivation’ without a considerable mixture of low lands, more or less, according to the situation of the Assamee’s fields. Great care should be taken, at all events, to guard against oosur lands, or such as abound with salt- petre; these can be most easily detected in the dry mouths. Puchkatak, that is, lands slightly touched with ooswr, have been known to answer, as partaking more of the nature of doruss soil; but the crop is generally thin, although strong and branchy. There is another description of land that should be cautiously avoided. It goes by the name of jawng, and is a light soil, with a substratum of sand from six to twelve inches below the surface. The plant generally looks very fine in such fields till it gets a foot high, when the root touching the sand, and having no moisture to sustain it, either dies away altogether, or becomes so stunted and impoverished as to yield little or nothing in the cutting. Of the daub or dearab (alluvial) land, says Mr. Ballard, there is scarcely any in the district except what falls to the lot of my own factories, being situated on the banks of the Ganges and Great Gunduck. Of dungur, a stiff reddish clay soil, there is little in Tirhoot; it pervades the western provinces, and is best adapted for Assaroo sowings, which do not succeed in Tirhoot. : Preparation of the soil.—The root of the indigo plant being fusiform, and extending to about a foot in length, requires the soil to be loosened thoroughly - INDIGO. 469 to that depth at least. Experience teaches that the fineness of the tilth to which the soil is reduced previously to the seed being committed to it, is one very influential operation for the obtaining a productive crop. Yet in some districts of Bengal, particularly about Furudpore, the sowing is performed without any previous ploughing. This is where the river, when receded, has left the soil and deposit so deep, that about October, or a little later, the seed being forcibly discharged from the sower’s hand, buries itself, and requires no after covering by means of the rake or harrow. In Tirhoot they are indefatigable in this first step of the cultivation. Mr. Ballard says, that the preparation of indigo lands should commence in Sep- tember, as soon as the cessation of the rains will permit; and as we do not rely on rain for our sowings (as is the custom in Bengal and elsewhere, and irrigation is never resorted to, from the heavy expense attending it), our principal aim is to preserve as much moisture in the fields as possible. They should receive, for this purpose, not less than eight ploughings, besides a thorough turning up with the spade, after the fourth ploughing, to clear the field from stubble, grass and weeds. It is absolutely indispensable to get all this done on our light soils, especially before the end of October, and haye the land carefully harrowed down, so as to prevent the moisture éscaping. Should there be heavy rains between the interval of preparing and sowing, it will be necessary to turn the fields up with either one or two ploughings, and harrow them down as before. Ifonly a slight shower, running the harrow over them will be sufficient to break the crust formed on the surface, and which, if allowed to remain, would quickly exhaust the moisture. This, with the occasional use of the weeding-hook, is all that the lands will require till the time of sowing.—(‘‘ Transactions of the Agri.-Hort. Society of Calcutta,’ vol. ii., p. 22. eo the time when the seed is committed to the soil varies in different parts of India, and, even in the same place, admits of being performed at two different seasons. The periods of sowing in Bengal are first immediately after the rains, from about the latter end of October. The rivers are then rapidly retiring within their beds, and as soon as the soft deposit of the year has drained itself into a consistency, though not solid enough to keep a man from sinking up to his knees in it, they begin to scatter the seed broadcast. This is continued until the ground has become too hard for the seed to bury itself; the plough is then used to loosen the crust, and the sowing continued to about the middle, or even the end of November, from which period the weather is considered too cold, until February. These autumnal sowings are called October sowings, from the month in which they generally commence. Much of the plant perishes during the months of December and January, and more again in the spring, unless there are early and moderate showers. The crop that remains is not so productive ordinarily in the vat, as that obtained from spring sowings, and some think the quality of the produce inferior. But there is no expense of cultivation, and the liabilities of the crop to failure are such a discouragement to cost and labor in rearing it, that the October sowing is followed by most planters who can obtain suitable land, The second period of sowing is the spring, with the first rains of March, or even the end of February. The land having been measured and placed under its slight course of tillage during the two or three preceding months, is sown broadcast as soon as the ground has been well moistened, or even in prospect of approaching rain. The quantity of seed used for this autumn sowing is generally more than what is considered requisite for spring sowing; six seers at the former and four at the latter season per biggah, in Bengal, is the quantity usually allowed. Some cultivators commence the autumn sowing as early as at the close of September, or as soon as the low lands are in a state to permit the operation after the inundation has subsided. This seed time may be said to continue until the end of December, and the crops from these sowings often yield an average produce, if the lands are not very low and wet. If they are, the sowing had better be delayed until January, or even February, for the crops from these latter sowings are usually the most productive, and the dve obtained from them the finest. The object for thus delaying the sowing is, that the young plants may have a more genial season for vegetation. Those 470 DYES AND COLORING STUFFS. who prefer sowing earlier, and vet are aware of the importance of saving the young plants as much as possible from the comparative low temperature of the season, sow some other crop with their indigo. Til, the country linseed, is good tor this purpose in high lying soils. But I never knew an intermixture of crops that was not attended by inconveniences and injuries more than was eompensated by the advantages gained. he success of sowings during March and April is very doubtful. Ft depends entirely upon the occurrence of rain, which in those months is proverbially uncertain. If the season should be sufficiently wet, the sowing may be per- formed in May; but a June sowing is very rarely remunerating. ‘The rains setting in during the latter part of this month so promote the growth of weeds, that the young piants are choked and generally destroyed. The exceptions only occur in high lands, in unusually propitious seasons, and ought never to be relied upon except when the earler sowings have failed. ‘To protract the manufacturing season, some planters begin sowing upon low lying lands in the hot season, for the chance of a crop at the commencement of the rains; and they sow at the close of the rains with the hope of, as it were, stealmg another in the next year. In the western provinces sowing necessarily occurs in the dry weather, usually in March and April, though occasionally either a little earlier or later. In Tirhoot the sowings commence about the latter end of February or the beginning of March, if by that time there is sufficient warmth in the atmo- sphere to ensure a healthy vegetation. Light soils are sown on one close plough- ing; heavy soils on two, with from four to eight seers of seed, in proportion to the size of the biggah. After strewing the seed, the field should be harrowed down by two turns of the harrow, and then again by two turns more after the third day. In case of rain before the plant appears (which it ought to do on the sixth or seventh day), if a slight shower, the harrow should be used again; if very heavy, it were best to turn up the ground and re-sow. H rain fall after the appearance of the plant, and before it has got past four leaves, and attained sufficient strength to resist the hard crust before alluded to, im- mediate recourse must be had to drilling. Im fact, the closest attention is required to watch the state of the young crop for a month at least after the sowings ; if it yield the least, or assume a sickly appearance,drills are the only resource. These, if applied in time, in all March, for imstance, or before the middle of April at latest, are generally successful, not only in restoring plants, but recovering such as may have become sickly from want orexcess of moisture, or any other cause. In dry seasons they have been known to give a erop when broadcast sowings have failec. Each drill, with a good pair of bullocks, should do five biggahs a day. They are regulated to throw from three to four seers_ per biggah, but the quantity can be increased or diminished at pleasure. The natives do not employ them in their grain sowings, but commonly adopt a con- trivance with their own plough for sowing in furrows, whenever their fields are deficient in moisture. The drill employed in Tirhoot resembles con- siderably the implement known by that name in England.- It is found not only to effect a great saving of seed, ten seers being there sown broad- cost on a biggah of 57,600 feet square, and only seven seers by this drill; but also materially to improve the quality and regularity of the growth of the plant. Experience has demonstrated, that the more lateral room the plants have, the more abundant is their produce of leaves, in which the coloring matter chiefly resides. ‘The seed employed should always be as new'as possible, for though, if carefully preserved, it vegetates when one year old, and even when nearly two years old has produced a moderate crop, yet this has been under circumstances of an unusually favorable season and soil. ‘The plants from old seed rarely attain a height of more than a foot before they wither and die. As frauds are very likely to be practised by giving old seed the glossiness and general appearance of new, great circumspection should be shown by the planter, who does not grow his own, in obtaining seed from known parties. Planters in the lower provinces are induced to use up-country seed, because, coming from a colder climate, it vegetates, and the plants ripen rapidly, so as to be harvested more certainly before the annual inundation, but they employ one-fourth more. Three seers per Bengal biggah are sufficient, if it 1s INDIGO. 471 “Dassee” seed; but four is not too much if it is up-country seed. > Exance total for ditto >... 7... @:+ oisse yo le late Ore ae ees 10,400 », American ports from London and Liverpool............ 2,500 : ‘3 Calcutta: 2.0. choc eee 700 Holland, &c: > |: cae epee eee 400 Other Eur opean countries export from London and Liverpool. 21,530 - Bs Holland) vas ceases 4,270 a =e Calleuttay: 5. seer 120 ss a France eee ae 300 50,040 MADDER. Tuts substance, which is so extensively used in dyeing red, is the product of the long slender roots of the Rubia tinctorwm, a plant of which there are several varieties. Our principal supplies of this important article of commerce are obtained from Holland, Belgium, France, Turkey, Spain, and the Balearic Isles, the Italian States, India, and Ceylon. The plant is generally raised from seed, and requires three years to come to maturity. It is, however, often pulled in eighteen months without injury to ‘the quality ; the quantity only is smaller. A rich soil is necessary for its successful cultivation, and when the soil is impregnated with alkaline matter, the root acquires ared color; in other cases itis yellow. The latter is preferred in England, from the long habit of usmg Dutch madder, which is of this color, but in France the red sells at two francs per ewt. higher, being used for the Turkey-red dye. Madder doe8 not deteriorate by keeping, provided it be kept dry. It con- tains three volatile coloring matters, madder purple, orange, and red. The latter is in the form of crystals, having a fine orange red color, and called Alizaine. This is the substance which yields _ the Turkey-red dye. The chay root is employed in the Hast Indies as a substitute for madder, and so is the root of Morinda citrifolia, under the name of Sooranjee. Turkey madder roots realise about 30s. per cwt. About 1,100 tons are annually shipped from Naples, worth about £30 per ton. Madder has become an article of great request, on account of the fine scarlet color produced from its roots, and is so essential to dyers and calico printers that without it they cannot carry on their manufactures. It is cultivated extensively in Holland, from whence it is imported in large quantities into both England and France, though it is cultivated to some extent in both countries. It has also been raised as a soiling crop, but the coloring matter is of so penetrating and subiile a character, that the flesh, milk, and even the bones of animals fed upon it are said to be tinged to a considerable degree with it. The soils best adapted, and which should be selected for its cultivation, are dry, fertile, and deep sandy loams; the roots are long and fibrous, and descend to a depth of from two to three feet. It may be propagated by seed, MADDER. 4:79 which, by some, is thought the best method, but the more usual mode is by the division of, and transplanting, the roots. The ground should be thoroughly and deeply pulverised, clean, and well-manured for the preceding crop, that the manure may be thoroughly rotted and incorporated with the soil: in April or May the suckers will be fit for taking from the older plantations—those of two or three years producing the best. The sets should have roots four or five inches long. Mark out rows two feet apart, with a line, and set the plant with a dibble, one foot apart in the rows. The roots should be dipped in a puddle of fine rich earth and water, beaten to the consistence of cream, previous to planting ; let the crown of the plant be clearly over ground, and secure the earth well around the root, to keep out drought. The plantation requires nothing more but to be kept perfectly clean and well-hoed during the summer months; and after the top decays in the autumn, to be earthed up by the plough for the winter, each year, till the plants are three years old, when they are of the proper size and age for lifting, which must be done by trenching the land two feet deep—several hands accompanying the digger to pick out the roots, which must be thoroughly cleaned and dried on a kiln till they are so brittle as to break across, when they are fit to be packed in bags, and sold to the dye-stuff manu- facturers who grind and reduce them to powder for use. The produce is variable; usually from eight to twenty cwt. per acre, but as much as 3,000 to 6,000 lbs. is frequently obtained. The forage amounts to about 15,000lbs. the first year, and 7,500 lbs. the second year. In a new and good soil manure may be dispensed with for the first crop. Some cultivators interline and grow other crops between the rows, but the best cultivators state that such a practice is objectionable. The breadth of land under this crop in England is much reduced, in consequence of the reduction in price from the competition of the Dutch growers. Madder is extensively grown on the central table land of Affghanistan, forming one of the leading products of Beloochistan ; and, according to Mr. Pottinger, it sells in the Kelat Bazaar at about 10 lbs. for 2s. The cultivation there pursued is as follows :— The ground is repeatedly ploughed, and laid out finally in small trenches, in which the seed is sown, covered slightly with earth, and then the whole is flooded. Whilst thus irrigated, the trenches are filled with a mixture of rich manure and earth. The plants appear in about ten days, and attain a height of three or four feet during the first summer. They are cut down in September and used as fodder for cattle. Subsequently, and until spring arrives, the ground is manured and repeatedly flooded. During the second year’s growth, the plants which are intended to produce seed are set apart, but the stems of the remainder are cut every four or six weeks, in order to increase the size and goodness of the roots. Madder is said to repay a nett profit of 200 dollars to the acre, 480 DYES AND COLORING STUFES. when properly managed. It produced on the farm of a gentleman, who has devoted some attention to this product in Ohio, at the rate of 2,000 lbs. per acre, and it may be made to produce 8,000 lbs., which is a greater yield than the average crops of Germany and Holland. Nine acres were planted by another person in the United States, in 1839, which he harvested in 1842. The labor required is said to be from 80 to 100 days work per acre. In the third year the stems are pruned asin the two preceding, and in September the roots are dug up. The roots are fusiform and thin, without any ramifications, and usually from three to five feet long. As soon as raised, they are immediately cut into small pieces and dried, and are then merchantable. Mr. Joseph Swift, an enterprising American farmer, of Erie county, Ohio, whe occupies about 400 acres of choice land, mostly alluvial, in the valley of the Vermilion river, seven miles from Lake Erie, has detailed his practice in the “ New Genesee Far- ’ (an agricultural periodical), for March, 1843. His directions must be understood as intended for those who wish to cultivate only a few acres, and cannot afford much outlay of capital. Those who desire to engage in the business on an extensive scale, would need to adopt a somewhat different practice :— Soil and preparation.— The soil should be a deep, rich, sandy loam, free from weeds, roots, stones, &c., containing a good portion of vegetable earth. Alluvial ‘ bottom” land is the most suitable, but it must not be wet. If old upland is used, it should receive a heavy coating of vegetable earth, from decayed wood and leaves. The land should be ploughed very deep in the ‘fall, and early in the spring apply about one hundred loads of well-rotted manure per acre, spread evenly, and ploughed in deeply; then harrow till quite fine and free from lumps. Next plough the land into beds four feet wide, leaving alleys between three feet wide, then harrow the beds witha fine light harrow, or rake them by hand, so as to leave them smooth and even with the alleys; they are then ready for planting. Preparing sets and planting.—Madder sets or seed roots are best selected when the crop is dug in the fall. The horizontal uppermost roots (with eyes) are the kind to be used; these should be separated from the bottom roots, and buried in sand in a cellar or pit. If not done in the fall, the sets may be dug early in the spring, before they begin to sprout. They should be cut or broken into pieces, containing from two to five eyes each; 7.¢., three to four inches long. The time for planting is as early in the spring as the ground can be got in good order, and severe frosts are over, which in this climate (America) is usually about the middle of April. With the beds prepared as directed, stretch a line lengthwise the bed, and with the corner of a hoe make a drill two inches deep along each edge and down the middle, so ag to give three rows to each bed, about two feet apart. Into these drills drop the sets, ten inches apart, covering them two inches deep. Hight or ten bushels of sets are requisite for an acre. After culture.—As soon as the madder plants can be seen, the ground should be carefully hoed, so as to destroy the weeds and not injure the plants; and the hoeing and weeding must be repeated as often as weeds make their appear- ance. If any of the sets have failed to grow, the vacancies should be filled by taking up parts of the strongest roots and transplanting them; this is best dona in June. As soon as the madder plants are ten or twelve inches high, the tops are to be bent down on the surface of the ground, and all except the tip end covered with earth, shovelled from the middle of the alleys. Bend the shoots outward and inward in every direction, so as in time to fill all the vacant space on the beds, and about one foot on each side. After the first time covering, re- MADDER. 48t peat the weeding when necessary, and run a single horse plough through the alleys several times to keep the earth clean and mellow. As soon as the plants again become ten or twelve inches high, bend down and cover them as before, repeating the operation as often as necessary, which is commonly three times the first season. The last time may be as late as September, or later if no frosts occur. By covering the tops in this manner, they change to roots, and the design is to fill the ground as full of roots as possible. When the vacant spaces are all full, there is but little chance for weeds to grow; but all that appear must be puliea out. The second year.—Keep the beds free from weeds; plough the alleys and cover the tops, as before directed, two or three times during the season. The alleys will now form deep and narrow ditches, and if it becomes difficult to ob- tain good earth for covering the tops, that operation may be omitted after the second time this season. Care should be taken, when covering the tops, to keep the edges of the beds as high as the middle; otherwise the water from heavy showers will run off, and the crop suffer from drought. The third year.—Very little labor or attention is required. They will now eover the whole ground. if any weeds are seen, they must be pulled out ; otherwise their roots will cause trouble when harvesting the madder. The €rop is sometimes dug the third year; and if the soil and cultivation have been ~ good, and the seasons warm and favorable, the madder will be of a good quality; but generally it is much better in quality, and more in quantity, when left until the fourth year. Digging and harvesting.—This should be done between the 20th of August and the 20th of September. Take a sharp shovel or shovels, and cut off and remove the tops with half an inch of the surface of the earth; then take a plough of the largest size, with a sharp coulter and a double team, and plough a furrow outward, beam-deep, around the edge of the bed; stir the earth with forks, and carefully pick out all the roots, removing the earth from the bottom of the furrow; then plough another furrow beam-deep, as before, and pick over and remove the earth in the same manner; thus proceeding until the whole is completed. Washing and drying.—As soon as possible after digging, take the roots to some running stream to be washed. If there is no running stream convenient, itcan bedone atapump. Take large round sieves, two-and-a-half or three feet in diameter, with the wire about as fine as wheat sieves; or if these cannot be had, get from a hardware store sufficient screen wire of the right fineness, and make frames or boxes, two-and-a-half feet long and the width of the wire, on the bottom of which nail the wire. In these sieves or boxes, put half a bushel of roots at a time, and stir them about in the water, pulling the branches apart so as to wash them clean; then, having a platform at hand, lay them on to dry. (To make the platform, take two or three common boards, so as to be about four feet in width, and nail deals across the under side). On these spread the roots about two inches thick for drying in the sun. Carry the platforms to a convenient place, not far from the house, and place them side by side, in rows east and west, and with their ends north and south, leaving room to walk between the rows. Elevate the south ends of the platforms about eighteen inches, and the north ends abcut six inches from the ground, putting poles or sticks to support them—this will greatly facilitatedrying. After the second or third day’s drying, the madder must be protected from the dews at night, and from rain, by placing the platforms one upon another to a convenient height, and covering the uppermost one with board. Spread them ont again in the morning, or as soon as danger is over. Five or six days of ordinarily fine weather will dry the madder sufficiently, when it may be put away till it is convenient to kiln-dry and grind it. Kiln-drying.—The size and mode of constructing the kiln may be varied te suit circumstances. The following is a very cheap plan, and sufficient to dry one ton of roots at a time. Place four strong posts in the ground, twelve feet apart one way, and eighteen the other; the front two fourteen feet high, and the other eighteen; put girts across the bottom, middle, and top, and nail boards perpendicularly on the outside as fora common barn. The boards 22k 482 DYES AND COLORING STUFFS. must be well seasoned, and all cracks or holes should be plastered or otherwise stopped up. Make a shed-roof of common boards. In the inside put upright standards about five feet apart, with cross-pieces to support the scaffolding. The first cross-pieces to be four feet from the floor; the next two feet higher, and so on to the top. On these eross-pieces lay small poles, about six feet long and two inches thick, four or five inches apart. On these scaffolds the madder is to be spread nine inches thick. A floor is laid at the bottom to keep all dry and elean. When the kiln is filled, take six or eight small kettles or hand- furnaces, and place them four or five feet apart on the floor (first securing it from fire with bricks or stones), and make fires in them with charcoal, being eareful not to make any of the fires so large as to seorch the madder over them. A person must be in constant attendance to watch and replenish the fires. The heat will ascend through the whole, and in ten or twelve hours it will all be sufficiently dried, which is known by its becoming brittle like pipe stems. Breaking and grinding.—Immediately after being dried, the madder must be taken to the barn and threshed with flails, or broken by machinery (a mill might easily be constructed for this purpose), so that it will feed in a common grist-mill. Ifit isnot broken and ground immediately, it will gather dampness so as to prevent its grinding freely. Any common grist-mill can grind madder properly. When ground finely it is fit for use, and may be packed in barrels like flour for market. Amount and value of product, &c—Mr. Swift measured off a part of his ground, and carefully weighed the product when dried, which he found to be over two thousand pounds per acre, notwithstanding the seasons were mostly dry andunfayorable, With his present knowledge of the business, he is confident that he can obtain at least three thousand pounds per acre, which is said to be more than is often obtained in Germany. The whole amount of labor he esti- mates at from eighty to one hundred days’ work per acre. The value of the erop, at the usual wholesale price (about fifteen cents per pound), from three to four hundred dollars. In foreign countries it is customary to make several qualities of the madder, which is done by sorting the roots; but as only one quality is required for the western market, Mr. Swift makes but one, and that is found superior to most of the imported, and finds a ready sale. Madder is produced im Middle Egypt to some extent, for the consumption of the country, principally for dyemg the tarbouche or skull caps which are universally worn. Its culture was intro- duced in 1825. In 1853, 300 acres in Upper Egypt, and 500 in the Delta and the Kelyout, were devoted to madder roots. New South Wales is eminently suited to the culture of this valuable root, and as the profits upon its cultivation are yery large, I would strongly recommend it to the attention of agriculturists there. The article produces to France an annual sum of one million sterling; the price of the finest quality in the English market being £60 per ton. Its yield varies from £40 to £50 per acre, and the expenses upon its proper culture should not exceed one-half that amount. The colonists would find it to their interest to turn their attention to such articles as this, for which there is an extensive demand at home, instead of con- fining themselves exclusively to the commener and bulkier pro- ducts, which they export at a much less profit, and which when once the market is fully supplied, may fall to a price at which they cannot afiord to sell. The following is a calculation of the expenses generally suppesed to attend a crop according to the mode of cultivation practised m Vaucluse :— MADDER. 4.83 Rent per hectare (25 English acres), 3 years, at Lede ds 165 francs - : - 19 17 6 Manure, 440 francs : : . SY 12 -6 Carriage of ditto, 132 francs d - como 1G — 2218 4 £42 15 10 These expenses may almost be dispensed with in our colonies, as the soil at Vaucluse has long been exhausted. Two and a-half acres require 170 lbs. seed, at 25d. per pound, which, with the labor afterwards bestowed, including the cost of spade trenching, will be : : ‘ 30 0 6 £72 14 10 The average produce per hectare is 77 ewt., which, at £1 4s. 2d. per ewt. (the price on the spot), is £93. The price is now much lower, but still it is clear a most profitable return would be derived from the first crop, and a proportionably larger one afterwards. A considerable portian of the madder roots, instead of being ground and exported in that form, as heretofore, is now exposed, after bemg invested with dilute sulphuric acid, to a boiling heat by means of steam, by which the coloring matter is considerably altered and improved in quality for some dyeing processes, while the quantity rendered soluble m water is greatly increased. The madder so prepared is known as “ garancine,”’ and forms an impor- tant branch of manufacture in the south of France, which was well illustrated at the Great Exhibition in 1851, by a collection of specimens supplied by the Chamber of Commerce of Avignon. The spent madder, after bemg used in dyeing, is now also con- verted by Mr. H. Steiner, of Accrington, into a garancine (termed garanceuse by the French) by steaming it with sulphuric acid in the same manner as the fresh madder, and thus a considerable quantity of coloring matter is recovered and made available which was formerly thrown away in the spent imadder. Both varieties of garancine give a more scarlety red than the unprepared madder, and also good chocolate and black, without soiling the white ground, but are not so well fitted, particularly the garancine of spent madder, for dyeing purples, lilacs, and pinks. The value of the garancine imported from France in 1848 was £59,554, and of that imported in 1851 £93,818. This preparation of ground madder is imported into Liverpool to the extent of from 500 to 600 tons annually from Marseilles, for the use of calico printers in the manufacturing districts. The price is £7 to £8 the ton. This important root is already cultivated to a considerable ex- tent in Russia, but not nearly in sufficient quantity to meet the local demand ; so that large quantities are imported from Holland and elsewhere, every year. ‘ The quantity of madder, madder-root, and garancine annually imported into the United Kingdom is exceedingly large, over 15,000 tons, as is shown by a reference to the following figures :— 212 484, DYES AND COLORING STUFES. Madder. Madder roots. Garancine. Total. ewts. cewts. cwts. cwts. 1848 mie 81,261 a 139,463 one 5,955 ahs 276,67 1849 :.. 92,786... 161,986. .. 9608 monoroon #850 .. 100,248 ... 161,618 ... (E845. Seer uG 1851 Ae 92,925 Hi 202,091 Nth 9,382 is 304,398 18520000 84385 4S 170813 =. a = We imported from France, duty free, the following :— Madder. Official value. Madder-root. ewts. £ ewts. 38 1848 .. 64,084 .. 122,851 ..° 25,069°) J=eeOua9 1849 °.. 57,108-: .. . 131,059 . ») 23-450n i ae ge 1850... 64,559... 198,628 3.605 eee ons 1861 Pa 65,577 nee 151,502 aie 34,017 ie 167,721 The price in the Liverpool market, in June 1853, for Bombay madder-roots was £1 18s. to £2 14s. the ewt. INDIAN MADDER.—Rubia cordifolia, or Munjestha, a variety with white flowers, a native of Siberia, is cultivated largely in the Kast, particularly about Assam, N epaul, Bombay, Scinde, Quitta, China, &e., for its dye-stuff, and is known as Munjeet. "A small quantity is exported from China and-India; about 338 Indian maunds were shipped from Calcutta in 1840, and 2,828 in 1841. Jé fetches in the London and Liverpool markets from 20s. to 25s. and 30s. per cwt., duty free ; 405 torts were imported into Liverpool from Bombay and Calcutta, in 1849, and 525 tons in 1850, but none was imported in 1851 and 1852. it was remarked by the Jury in 1851, at the Great Exhibition, that this is a valuable dye-stuff, and hitherto not so well appre- elated as it deserves, for some of the colors dyed with it are quite as permanent as those dyed with madder, and even more brilliant. its use however is gradually increasmg, and it is unquestionably well worthy the attention of dyers. Loegwoop.—The logwood of commerce is the red heart wood, or duramen, of a fine lofty growing tree (Haematroxylon Campechia- num), growing in Campeachy and the bay of Honduras, and which is also now common in the woods of Jamaica and St. Domingo. It is principally imported as a dye wood, cut into short lengths. We chip, grind, and pack it into casks and bags, ready for the dyers, hatters, and printers’ use, who esteem it as affording the most durable deep red and black dyes. Itis sometimes used in medicine as an astrin- gent. That grown in Jamaica is least valued ; that of Honduras, Tobasco, and St. Domingo, fetches a somewhat higher price ; but that imported from Campeachy direct, is the most esteemed. The annual imports into Liverpool are about 1,300 tons from Hon- duras, 100 from Tobasco, and 1,800 from Campeachy. It thrives best in a damp tenacious soil, with a small proportion of sand. It is imported in logs, which are afterwards chipped, and is of great commercial importance from its valuable dyeing pro- perties. Old wood is preferred; it is so hard as almost to be _ BRAZIL Woop. 485 indestructible by the atmosphere. The albumen is of a yellow- ish color, and is not imported. The bark and wood are slightly astringent. The imports of logwood into the United Kingdom were 23,192 tons in 1848, 23,996 tons in 1849, and 34,090 tons in 1850, of which 3,484 tons were re-exported in 1848, and 2,307 tons in 1849. The imports in the past two years of 1852 and 1853, have averaged 20,000 tons, of which about 3,000 tons were re-exported. It is increasing in use, for in 1837, the quan- tity retained for home use was only 14,677} tons. The price varies according to quality from £4 to £7 per ton. We received from Honduras 5,401 tons in 1844; and 55,824 tons im 1845. From Montego Bay, Jamaica, 398 tons were shipped between January and July 1851. Fustic.—This is the common name of a species of dye wood in extensive use, which is obtained from Jaclura tinctoria, or Broussonitia tinctoria, Kunth, a large and handsome evergreen tree, growing in South America and the West Indies. The wood is extensively used as an ingredient in the dyeing of yellow, and is largely imported for that purpose. The quantity entered for home consumption in the United Kingdom was 1,731 tons in 1847, 1,653 in 1848, and 1,842 tons in 1849. Ninety-one tons were shipped from Montege Bay, Jamaica, in the first six months of 1851. QueErcirron.—This bark furnishes a yellow dye, of which about 3,500 tons are annually imported in hogsheads of from half a ton toaton. 296 tons were imported into Liverpool from Philadel- phia in 1849, and 514 tons in 1850. Brazit woop.—This very ponderous wood is obtained in Brazil from the Cesalpina Braziliensis, which yields a red or crimson dye, when united with alum or tartar, and is used by silk dyers. It is imported principally from Pernambuco, 1,200 quintals haviag been shipped to London in 1835, but about 500 tons, worth about £4 a ton, were imported from Costa Rica in 1845. The tree is large, crooked, and knotty, and the bark is thick, and equals the third or fourth of its diameter. The imports may be stated at about 600 tons annually, the average price being £50 per ton. Brazil wood is found in the greatest abundance and of the best quality, in the Province of Pernambuco, but being a government monopoly it has been cut down in so improvident a manner, that it is now seldom seen within several leagues of the coast. Among the Cuba dye woods is Copey (Clusia rosea, Linn). Braziletto, obtained from C. Crista, 1s one of the cheapest and least esteemed of the red dye woods, imported from Jamaica and other West India islands to the extent of 150 tons per annum, fetching £6 to £8 per ton. 2,361 tons of Nicaragua wood were im- ported in 1848, 2,701 tons in 1849, and 6,130 tons in 1850. : Spain exhibited various vegetable dyes obtained from cultivated and wild plants furnished by the Agricultural Board of Saragossa. ASG DYES AND COLORING STUFES. LICHENS. Tue chief lichens employed in the manufacture of orehil and cud- bear are the following :-— Angola weed ( Ramaline furfuracea). Mauritius weed (Rocella fusiformisy, which comes also from Madagascar, Lima, and Valparaiso, and then bears the distinctive commercial name of the port of shipment. Cape weed ( focella tinctoria}, from the Cape de Verd Islands. Canary Moss (Parmelia perlata). Tartareous Moss (Parmelia tartareay). Pustulatus Moss (Umbilicaria pustulata). - Velvet Moss (Gyrophora murina). The last three are imported from Sweden. Of these lichens, the first, which is the richest in eolorme matter, QTOWS as & parasite upon trees ; all the remainder upon rocks. Focelia coralline, Variolaris lactecs and dealbata, have been also resorted to. About 180 tons of cudbear are imported annually from Sweden. These lichens are found on rocks, on the sea coast. The modes of treating them for the manufacture of the different dyes is the same in principle, though varying slightly in detail. They are carciully cleaned and ground into a pulp with water, an ammoniacal Hiquor is from time to time added, and the mass constantly stirred mm order to expose it as much as possible to the air. Peculiar substances existing in these plants are, during this process, so changed by the eombined action of the atmosphere, water, and ammonia, as to generate the coloring matter, which, when per- fect, is pressed out, and gypsum, chalk, or other substances, are then added, so as to give it the desired consistency ; these are then prepared for the market under the forms of cudbear or litmus. Henna (Lawsonia inermis}, is an important dye-stuff, and the distilled water of the flowers is used as a perfume. The Ma- homedan women in India use the shoots for dyemg their nails red, and the same practice prevails in Arabia. In these countries the manes and tails of the horses are stained red in the same manner. The Genista tomentosa yields red petals used in dyeing, and con- taining much tannic acid. Oncuriia Wenp.—The fine purple color which the orchilla weed yields, is in use as an agent for coloring, staining, and dyeing. About 30,000 Ibs. is obtained annually m the island of Teneriffe. 460 arrobas (or 115 ewt.) of orchilla were exported from the Canary Isles in 1833. In 1839, 6,494 ewts. paid duty, and 4,175 ewts. in 1840. The mierie imports of the three years ending with 1842, was 6,050 ewt. vince ose Dai a ts are — UUCMONE CEA Sic tales. le eseetes 2 AB" Pe ES eee = EERE CIEL CA mee Meret s) iy, tee raat) 1 AMM gs — Omi AVACATECM I. \s\saescse 20! yes e dias — Bemealiditton oh. eves sem es DOM aici celts — IN Gcut eM SEP Te ioe oie cle she ia erase i Soh aero 46 Bark of pomegranate ...... pe Ml aterevane: euetare 32 i Wareimian) sumachs i. 1) os 10 9 Carolina ditto o/0is hie Be Oe seal es. 5 Catechu and Gambier are very valuable for tanning, and are alluded to under the heads Gamprer and ArEca PALM. CaTEcuu is obtained from the Acacia Oatechu, an arboreous tree growing from fifteen to twenty feet high, with a brown and scabrous bark. The interior wood is brown, dark red or blackish, and the exterior white, one or two inches thick. It inhabits various 4.96 TANNING SUBSTANCES. parts of the East Indies, of which it is a native, and is also now common in Jamaica. It bears whitish or pale yellow flowers. The catechu obtained from this tree in Pegu, is celebrated throughout India, and fetches £4 to £5 more per ton than gam- bier and other astringent extracts. When of good quality, catechu is more powerful as an astringent than kino. Of all the astrin- gent substances we know, catechu appears to contain the largest proportion of tannin, and Mr. Purkis found that one pound was equivalent to seven or eight of oak bark for tanning leather. The term catechu, observes Dr. Pereira, is applied to various astringent extracts imported from India and the neighbouring countries. A few years ago the terms catechu, terra japonica, and cutch were employed synonymously ; they are now, however, for the most part used in trade somewhat distinctively, though not uniformly in the same sense. The manufacture of catechu from the Acacia catechu as practised in Canara and Behar, has been described by Mr. Kerr (“ Med. Obs. and Inquiries,” vol. v.), and Dr. Hamilton (“ Journey through Mysore,” &c., vol. 11.), while Pro- fessor Royle has explained the process followed in Northern India. According to the last-mentioned gentleman, “the kutt manu- facturers move to different parts of the country in different seasons, erect temporary huts in the jungles, and selecting trees fit for their purpose, cut the inner wood into small chips. These they put into small earthen pots, which are arranged in a double row, along a fireplace built of mud; water is then poured in until the whole are covered ; after a considerable portion has boiled away, the clear liquor is strained into one of the neighbouring pots, and a fresh supply of the material is put into the first, and the operation repeated until the extract in the general receiver is of sufficient consistence to be poured into clay moulds, which, in the Kheree Pass and Doon, where I have seen the process, are generally of a quadrangular form. This catechu is usually of a pale red color, and is considered there to be of the best quality. By the manufacturers it is conveyed to Saharunpore and Morada- bad, whence it follows the course of commerce down the Ganges, and meets that from Nepaul, so that both may be exported from Calcutta.” GAMBIER. Tue Gambier plant (Uncaria Gambier, Roxburgh, Nauclea Gam- bir, Hunter), has been described by Rumphius under the name of Funis uncatus. It isa stout, scandent, evergreen shrub, which strongly resembles the myrtle. It is generally cultivated in the same plantation with pepper, as the leaves and shoots, after under- going the process by which their juice is extracted, to furnish a kind of catechu, are found to be an excellent manure for the pep- per vines. The leaves and young shoots of the gambier plant GAMBIER. : 497 are collected as soon as they have attained a sufficient size, and boiled in iron pans until the juice acquires the consistence of treacle. The decoction is poured out into narrow troughs, dried, and afterwards cut up into small cakes, and packed in baskets for exportation. The gambier extract, which is of a yellowish brown color, and has the consistence of hard cheese, is much esteemed by the Malays for mixing with the preparation of betel, which they are in the habit of chewing; and considerable quantities have lately been imported to this country, where it is used for dyeing colors, and for tanning leather. The demand for gambier here is on the increase ; and when better known to our chemists, it will probably be found applicable to many other purposes than those to which it is at present applied. There were, in 1850, 400 gambier and pepper plantations on the island of Singapore ; each measures or occupies on an average an area of 500 fathoms square, and employs eight to ten hands to cultivate and manufacture the gambier and pepper. There are some pepper plantations in addition, and they have been found to answer very well without any gambier being cultivated with them. Gambier cultivation is generally a losing undertaking, but it is adopted to obtain the refuse of the leaves for manuring the pepper vines, and also to employ the people in the plantations ; it besides affords the proprietors the means of getting monthly sums to carry on the cultivation cf pepper, which affords two crops yearly. There were fermerly 600 plantations in Singapore, but the reason already assigned, and the formation of spice plantations contiguous have caused the abandonment of all those near the town. Each plantation must have an equal extent of forest land to that cul- tivated with gambier and pepper, to enable the manufacture of the gambier being carried on, and each gambier plantation, of 500 fathoms square, contains about 3,500 pepper vines, which yield on an average two catties per vine, or 70 piculs of pepper, and about 170 piculs of gambier annually ;—a good plantation will, however, yield sometimes ay much as 120 piculs of pepper, and 200 piculs of gambier, and a bad one as little as 40 to 50 piculs of pepper, and 60 to 80 piculs of gambier. Were it not for the enormous commission charged by the agents of these plantations, from whom the cultivators get all the advances, it would prove a profitable cultivation. The rates of commission charged generally are as follows :—Per picul of gambier, fifteen to twenty-five cents ; per picul of pepper, thirty to forty cents; and if the price of the former is below one-and-a-half dollars, and the latter below three- and-a-half dollars per picul, a small reduction is made in the rates of commission. On every picul of rice supplied to the planters twenty to twenty-five cents commission is charged; this mcludes the interest of money advanced, which is never charged. A gam- bier and pepper plantation is valued or estimated at about 400 dollars qn an average. The foilowing is supposed to be a correct estimate, on an average, of the yearly expenditure and returns of a gambier and pepper plantation of 500 fathoms square, viz :— 2K 498 TANNING SUBSTANCES. EXPENDITURE. drs. c. men. dig: ¢; Bight men at 34 dollars and 7 Java rupees per month, wages for headman and abou} 29) 00 eee AO TPespectively:o5 ela. cs aiacseie lean eee etone Five piculs of rice, including commission, say G80 al ere sol 60, MTS OCC n> Sot overs ein eters Selene epcin oe Re ee eee D.. \ispae nee wao0.. 40 Boat or cart hire to carry rice and. produce.... 12 ..12.. 21 0 435 0 PRODUCE. 170 piculs of gambier, valued at1 dollar 45 cents per picul, less 15 cents commission charge- > 221 30 ae —= Able; MCLE as not cine mie cee ee eee 70 piculs of pepper, at 435 dollars, less 40 cents 287 0 CPEs 0 per picul commission, nett Yearly profit, 73 dollars, or about £15. Several gambier and pepper plantations have been abandoned in Singapore, partly from the ground being impoverished, but more particularly from the exhaustion of the forest adjacent to their estates. The exhaustion of the trees by yearly consumption de- prives the planters of the necessary fire wood which is used for the boiling down of the gambier. A gambier plantation gets ex- hausted in fifteen years, either from the want of firewood or the land getting impoverished. There are about 200 plantations at Johore, and the produce of gambier for the season of 1851 was calculated at 30,000 piculs. This shrub was, at one period, cultivated with success at Pinang and other places to the eastward, but as Java was the principal market for the produce, and the Dutch had levied a duty of twelve Java rupees per picul on it, the cultivation at the former island did not repay its cost, and it was accordingly abandoned. Prices have been lately advancing, and the Chinese are talking of trying it again. The plant is partial to hilly land or slopes at the skirts of hills. Two hundred plants are usually placed on one orlong of land, being six feet asunder. They are raised from seed, and are topped to eight or ten feet, when the gambier is to be prepared. The Chinese dry the seed slightly, and sow in rainy weather. The seeds vegetate in forty days, and are planted out in the second or third month afterwards. At the expiration of fourteen months, the first cutting of the branches, with the leaves on, is made. These are put into a boiler, and when the juice has been extracted, the branches and refuse are thrown away, and the boiling is continued until the liquor has obtained the proper consistence. when it is put into shallow troughs, dried, and cut into slices for sale. The second cutting takes place eight months subsequently to the first. The plant now grows strong and admits of frequent cropping, and it will endure for twenty years. No manure is used, but the plantation is kept clean. , Estimated cost of cultivating ten orlongs, about 13 acres, accord- ing to Colonel Low :— GAMBIER. 499 Spanish dollars. Value of cleared land, ten orlongs ................ 200 SePIHOECES PEE AHMUIR” 5). 5.05. . e ee ee sae es 360 | DEAL SLRS Res aa Me eo % Boilers, firewood, and implements .......... ..... 20 “EDL ES 2 On Si ee Oe re feos 50 “ESTAS ee ge ee 30 Moi RrSbyCae . coe cis cha sees ee oes 667 POCUMUGYE RTS Schiele slates, cst ee «ores So os 397 1,064 The six laborers on the plantation will, after the above period, be constantly employed in cutting and preparing the gambier : the average product will be 15 piculs monthly, which, at two dollars per picul, will be 30 dollars monthly, or 360 dollars per annum. Thisis the account obtained by collating different Chinese statements. The Nauclea Gambir is placed by Jussieu under the natural order Rubiacee ; it is a shrub attaining the height of six to eight feet, branchy; the leaves are ovate, pomted, smooth, waving, dis- tinctly veined transversely underneath, of dark green color, and, when chewed, they have a bitter astringent taste, leaving how- ever, afterwards, a sweetish taste in the mouth, not unlike liquorice; the flowers are aggregate, globular, composed of nu- merous florets, crowded on a globular naked receptacle ; tubes of the corolla of a pinkish color; the upper part of the corolla fine, cleft, and of a greenish yellow color; the stamine are five in number, and short; the pistil is longer than the corolla; the flowers are destitute of fragrance; the capsules (as correctly stated by Mr. Hunter) are stalked oblong, incrusted, and crowned witha calyx ; tapering to a point below ; two celled, two valved, the valves ad- hering at the apex, splitting at the sides; seeds very numerous, oblong, very small, compressed, furnished at both ends with a membraneous pappus. The gambier plant is propagated either by seeds or cuttings, but the latter are preferred. It is cultivated to some extent at Singapore, but it is said that the gambier can be imported cheaper from the islands in the vicinity, more especially at the Dutch set- tlement at Rhio. The extract is used extensively by the natives of India, Eastern Archipelago, Cochin-China, and Cambodia, as a masticatory, wrapped up with the betel. There are three different qualities of extract; the first and best is white, brittle, and has an earthy appearance when rubbed be- tween the fingers (which earthy appearance gave it the name of Terra Japonica, being supposed, at first also, to come from Japan), and is formed into very small round cakes. This is the dearest sort, and most refined, but it is not unfrequently adulterated with sago ; this kind is brought in the greatest quantity from the island of Sumatra. The second quality is of a brownish yellow color, is formed into oblong cakes, and, when broken, has a light brown earthy appearance; it is also made into a solid cube form ; it is 2K 2 500 TANNING SUBSTANCES. sold in the bazars in small packets, each containing five or six. The third quality contains more impurities than the preceding, is formed into small circular cakes, and is sold in packages of five or six in the bazar. The method employed in preparing the extract is thus correctly related by Finlayson :—“ The leaves are collected three or four times a year; they are thrown into a large cauldron, the bottom of which is formed of iron, the upper part of bark, and boiled for five or six hours, until a strong decoction is obtaimed; the leaves are then withdrawn, and allowed to strain over the vessel, which is kept boiling for as many hours more, until the decoction is inspis- sated; it 1s then allowed to cool, when the catechu subsides, The water is drawn off; a soft soapy substance remains, which is cut into large masses ; these are further divided by a knife mto small cubes, about an inch square, or into still smaller pieces, which are laid in frames to dry. This catechu has more ofa granular, uniform appearance than that of Bengal; it is, perhaps, also less pure.”’ The younger leaves of the shrub are said to produce the whitest and best gambier ; the older, a brown and inferior sort. There are other species of Nauwclea indigenous to Singapore, but they do not produce any extract. Dr. Bennett has particularised four qualities of gambier :— 1. Small round cakes, about the size of a small lozenge. Color pale, purplish, yellowish, white. 2. Cubes, in which shape it is principally imported into England, and square prisms, or oblong pieces. 3. Circular discs, or short cylindrical pieces. 4, Cubical amylaceous pieces, of a darker brown than the other kinds. Gambier is one of the most powerful of the pure astringents. The chief places of manufacture are Saik, Malacca, Singapore, and Rhio or Bintang. Bennett, in his “ Wanderings,” says there are 60,000 plantations of gambier on this island. After that of Rhio, the next best gambier 1s that of Lingin. That used by the Malays, with the leaves of betel, in the same manner as cutch in other parts of India, is the finest and whitest; the red being stronger tasted and rank, is exported to Batavia, China, and Eng- land, for the purposes of tanning and dyeing. It is frequently adulterated with sago powder, but it may be detected by solution in water. Large quantities of gambier are imported, under the corrupted name of cutch, into Calcutta, from Pegu. The quantity of gambier produced in Rhio, by the Chinese settlers, amounts to about 4,600 tons a year, about 2,000 of which are exported for the consump- tion of Java, the rest being sent to Cochin-China and other neigh- bouring countries. Two methods of obtaining gambier are described. One consists in boiling the leaves in water, and in inspissating the decoction ; the other, which yields the best gambier, consists in infusing the leaves in warm water, by which a fecula is obtained, which is in- spissated by the heat of the sun, and formed into cakes. GAMBIER. 501 The injudicious practice adopted by the Land Office in Singa- pore, of granting indiscriminate licenses, or “ cutting papers” as they are termed, seems open to objection, and is driving many of the Chinese cultivators to the neighbouring island of Johore, where they readily obtain permission to cultivate, without obstruction, this important article of commerce. Parties of 300 or 400 at a time left in 1846. It appears that, under his permissive license, the squatter obtains permission to clear as much land as he possibly can, but the order does not define any extent beyond which no cutting should take place. The squatter clears as much land as the means at his disposal will allow, in the hope and expectation that the jungle contiguous to the cleared ground will be at his command for fuel—a supply of fuel, easy of access, and adequate to the number of plants grown, being indispensable to the culture and manufacture of gambier. When the time for gathering the leaves arrives, another squatter (perhaps from motives of envy or malice) obtains a “cutting paper,’ and commences clearing in close proximity to the already-formed gambier plantation; obviously depriving the owner of the fuel he has reasonably calculated upon. The established planter cannot of course eject the intruder from the land, since the latter possesses an equal right to it, in virtue of his “ cutting paper,’’ which, as it specifies no limits, leaves him the disposer or destroyer of the crop of the industrious planter. Instead of the present system, a better practice ought to be intro- duced, defining the boundaries to be included in a “ cutting paper,”’ and effectually preventing a trespass on the fuel-land of the indus- trious planter. This might easily be effected by specifying the number of acres, as well as the direction, in every clearing paper granted. The average produce of gambier in Singapore is between 7,000 and 8,000 piculs monthly. The ordinary price is about 1} dollars per picul. A deficiency of rain, labor, or other causes, will occasionally reduce the annual produce from 90,000 or 100,000 piculs, to 60,000 or 70,000, and this diminished supply will raise the market price of the article probably 35 cents per picul. But, in addition to the effect occasioned by a deficient supply, there are other causes in operation exercising a powerful influence in reducing prices. Gambier was first exported in 18380, from Singa- pore, to the extent of 2,587 piculs, at 43 dollars per picul. Asa rival to bark it failed at so costly a price to meet with encourage- ment; the culture and manufacture consequently declined until 1834, when 1,858 piculs were shipped to England at a somewhat lower rate. The demand then became active, the exportations were at first multiplied, then doubled every succeeding year, until they reached, in 1846-47 no less than 173,117 piculs. The price has gradually declined to 13 dollars per picul, at which rate it displaces its rival, bark. This price, however, is unremunerative to the grower, so that, unless more encouragement offers, the supply will decline. The number of Chinese employed in the cultivation, &c., of 502 TANNING SUBSTANCES. gambier and pepper in Singapore is about 11,000. Their rate of wages fluctuates with the price of gambier. Ifa picul of gambier realizes 15 dollars, the monthly pay will be about three dollars ; if gambier fetches two dollars, their pay will amount to four dollars in the month. The workmen who clean the plantation always receive a dollar less than those who cut and boil the gambier. A good deal of gambier seems now to be grown in Java, for 58,305 piculs were exported from that island in 1848. A small quantity is taken by the Chinese ports, but whether as a mas- ticatory or for tanning and dyeing I am not aware. - VALUE OF THE TERRA JAPONICA IMPORTED INTO CEYLON. £ £ iy S611 SSe Gane gpa 1844 715053: | esc ; . 1,549 1842, 768 5) 848, . 1,095 igs) 2 ATs |) 1640 ame : 896 ia | ; i158) isoOmeme . 265 845. 85. ; i cenmehien —.. © 386 in the Customs’ returns of imports to this country, two articles are enumerated, under the separate names of cutch and terra japonica; the former is catechu and the latter the produce of the gambier plant. The imports of gambier were, in 1836, 970 tons ; 1887, 2,788 tons; 1838, 1,600 tons; 1889, 5,213 tons. Cutch. Terra Japonica. tons. tons. 1848 Importedtothe UnitedKingdom 1,186 .,. ae 5,623 Retained for home consumption (GD) on: oe Wy ato 2 1849 Imported : : > 1363 Onguee ie 6,851 Retained for home consumption 869 .. are 5,400 1850 Imported ; : Sie BOY 526 4.585 Home consumption . : ViSie seme rae 3,655 1851 Imported ; ‘ 2h 2A Ol Cues oe 4,783 Home consumption . <* 2h020) ere Bt 4,431 1852 Imported : ‘ 2.286) Hie, 0 3,244 Home consumption . «MOS oe 3,008 Catechu, imported under its Indian name of cutch, is brought over in bales or baskets of from one to four ewt., the price being £18 to £25 per ton. About 450 ewt. of terra japonica or gambier is annually imported into Hull from the Hast Indies. The im- ports of the two substances into Liverpool is about 900 tons. Gambier is only worth £13 to £14 the ton; a few years ago it fetched 26s. the cwt. The imports into the port of London average 1,500 tons annually. 4,679 bales, and 14,436 baskets of terra japonica were imported into Liverpool in 1851, and 14,000 bales and baskets im 1852. Tho imports of cutch were 10,290 bags, and 2,592 baskets, in 1851, and 11,873 bags and baskets in 1852; the prices, which were from 16s. 6d. to 18s. per cwt. for each article, in 1851, were rapidly run up in Liverpool, in 1853, owing to short supphes, to 25s. for gambier, and 22s. to 24s. per ewt. for cutch, or catechu, DIVI-DIVI. 503 EXPORTS OF GAMBIER FROM SINGAPORE, WITH THE OFFICIAL VALUE IN RUPEES. Piculs. Value in rupees. 1840-41 .. Exported . : : 2 i OVO08I ons 407,000 3 Growth of Singapore . . 09,325 1841-42 .. Exported . : : LOOKS 4 OMe we AO oO pie Growth of Singapore . . 47,696 1842-43 .. Exported : : . 148,746 .. 648,281 Growth of Singapore . e 110.051 ig4st44.. Exported .. . . . 139,050 .. 684,449 * Growth of Singapore . gaan 1844-45 .. Exported . : : vy Lod, Got). 2 O39. 978 Growth of Singapore . . 134,528 1845-46 .. Exported . : : . 110,766 .. 425,643 53 Growth of Singapore . Sy UD SY 1846-47 .. Exported . : ‘ HLSW Pris O91. 943 55 Growth of Singapore . . 148,795 The exports of gambier from Singapore were as follows :— To England. To the Continent. Total. | piculs. piculs. piculs. 1849 is 134,546 in 6,121 is 140,667 1850 ae 87,611 ae 16,166 ae 103,777 1851 aa 68,3665 a 11,639 a 86,004 1852 ass 68,045 me 9,006 uit 77,051 The exports of cutch from Pinang, in the last four years, have been :—1849, 3,693 { piculs; 1850, 900; 1851, 4,143; 1852, 3,880; or, on an average, 197 tons. Divi-pivi is the commercial name for the curved pod of a leguminous shrub, Cesalpima coriaria, which is sometimes im- ported from Carthage. Its tannin differs materially from that of nutgalls.:;The quantity of mucilage which it contains pre- cludes it from the use of dyers; but, as it furnishes nearly 50 per cent. of tannin, it is largely used by curriers. It is imported into Liverpool from Rio de la Hacha, Maracaibo, and Savanila. 400 tons of the seed pods and bark of the Algaroba, or Locust-tree (Prosopis pallida), were imported in 1849 into Liverpool from Valparaiso, as a substitute for divi-divi in tanning. 3,200 Ibs. of divi-divi were exported from the port of Augostara, in 1846. Specimens of divi-divi which had been raised at Calcutta were’ shown in the Indian department of the Great Exhibition. Dr. Hamilton states that, according to some admirably con- ducted experiments of Mr. Rootsey, of Bristol, undertaken at his request, the pods of divi-divi contain above 50 per cent. of tannin. It appears also, from trials made, that one part of divi- divi is sufficient for tanning as much leather as four parts of bark, and the process occupies but one-third of the time. The average produce of pods from a full-grown tree has been estimated at 100 lbs. weight, one-fourth of which consists of seeds or refuse, leaving about 75 lbs. of marketable matter. At an interval of six feet apart, an acre of ground will contain 1,210 trees, yielding an average of 810 cwts., and 30 pounds, or above 403 tons of marketable matter, worth, at only £5 per ton, £200. Should the interval between the trees be 504 TANNING SUBSTANCES. extended two feet more, we shall still have 680 to the acre, the produce of which would not improbably be increased by the in- — creased space given for the extension of the branches. The ground in which this tree admits of being cultivated is that which is least adapted to the staple products of tropical agriculture; guinea grass may be profitably raised beneath its shade and as with the exception of the three years which precede the commencement of its bearmg, there is hardly any deduction to be made from its returns, it promises to be among the most valuable objects of a planter’s attention. Jacquin describes the Cesalpinia coriaria as a handsome branching tree, of about fifteen feet in stature, covered with a dark sipelnaul bark. Its leaves are doubly pinnate, and the leaflets of twelve pair without a terminal one; they are oblong, obtuse, smooth, very entire. The flowers are disposed i in spikes issuing from the extremities of the branches; they are small, yellowish, and slightly fragrant. To these succeed oblong, compressed, somewhat obtuse pods, curved laterally, the inner side being con- cave and the other convex. The seeds rarely exceed three or four in each pod, and are of a brownish color. Divi-divi resembles a dried pea-shuck curled up, filled with yellow powder, and afew dark brown seeds. The price ranges from £8 to £13 per ton. The imports into the United Kingdom in 1844, were 3,900 tons ; in 4845 and 1846, about 1,400 tons each year; during the subse- quent three years the imports were merely nominal, but in 1850 a renewed demand seems to have sprung up, for 2,770 tons were imported into Liverpool, and a few tons into London. CoRrkK-TREE BARK (Quercus suber) has been imported into Ireland to a considerable extent, frequently to the amount of 1,500 tons annually. The quantity of cork imported annually ‘into the United Kingdom is about 3,000 tons. It is brought from Spain, Italy, and Barbary. Oak bark and valonia being very cheap and plentiful, the price of cork bark is only nominal, being, for Spanish cork-tree bark, £7 10s. to £8 per ton; Leghorn ditto, £6 to £7 per ton. It is ‘less astringent than oak bark, and is more generally useful for stoppers of bottles and bungs for casks. 160 tons of cork-tree bark were imported into Liverpool from Rabat in 1849, and 150 tons in 1850. 1,867 cwts. of bark for tanning were imported from Chili in 1844, of which 292 were Quillai bark. Mimosa Bark.—The bark of the Mimosa decurrens, which abounds in Australia and Van Diemen’s Land, is found to bea very powerful tanning agent. The first shipment of tannin was made from Sydney to England as far back as 1828, in the shape of an extract of the bark of two species of mimosa, “which was readily purchased by the tanners at the rate of £50 perton. One ton of bark had produced four ewts. of extract of the consistency of tar. In 1843, 3,078 tons of mimosa bark was shipped from Port MIMOSA BARK. 505 Phillip to Great Britain. The price then realised in the London market was £12 to £14 per ton, but it has since declined to £8 a ton. The quantity of this bark to be procured in the colony is quite inexhaustible. The price of chopped mimosa bark in Australia, for export, in the close of 1846, was £2 5s. per ton. Bark valued at £912 was exported from Van Diemen’s Land in 1848. The imports of mimosa bark have only been to a limited extent within the last few years, reaching 350 tons in 1850, against 110 tons in 1849, 230 tons in 1848, and 600 tons in 1847. ‘The prices realised were £10 to £11 for chopped, £12 to £12 10s. for ground, and £8 to £9 per ton for unchopped bark. Whilst the imports were 3,900 tons in 1844, they dwindled to less than 400 tons in 1850. From an experiment, conducted by Professor Brandt, the strength of the mimosa bark, as compared with that of young English oak bark, is found to be in the proportion of 57 to 39, so that the mimosa bark is half as strong again as the best English bark. Mr. Samuel Mossman, in a communication to the Botanic Society of Edinburgh, in 1851, stated that the bark of A. dealbata pays to ship to England, notwithstanding the distance, from the fact of its containing a greater per centage of tannin than any other bark. Itisa handsome tree, from fifteen to thirty feet high, forming luxuriant groves on the banks of streams, most abundant in Port Phillip and Twofold Bay, between the parallels of latitude 34 and 30 degrees. New Zealand is rich in barks and dyes. The bark of the Tana- haka (Phyllodadus trichomanoides, of Don) is used by the natives as a red dye for the ornamental parts of their kaitahas, their best border garments. There is also another red dye, called Tawaivwai, the bark of which is very profuse. A black dye is procured from the hinau. They are of a rich hue, and exceedingly fast colors. The barks are to be found all over the colony. The hinau and tanahaka are employed in tanning, all the leather used in the colony being tanned either at the Bay of Islands or Port Nicholson. The bark of the Rimu or red pine (Dacrydium Cupressinum, of Solander), a very common tree, possesses tanning qualities far superior to any of the Australian barks. One pound of the bark yields 85 grains of extract. The native tanning barks of New Zealand are various and-easily obtained. Specimens of the bark and dye, &c., of most of these trees were sent home to the Great Exhibition. One pound of the Tanahaka bark is said to yield 63 grains of tannin. ‘The sails of _ boats are dyed with it to preserve them. The Towai (Licospermum racemosum, of Don, Weinmaunia racemosa, Decandole), is supposed to be valuable for the purposes of the tanner, and is said to yield 104 grains of tannin for every pound of bark. The bark of the Pohutu kawa of the natives, the Metrosideros tomentosa of Richard, and Callistemon ellipticwm of Allan Cunningham, would also be useful for tanning, one pound of it furnishing about 60 grains of tannin. 506 TANNING SUBSTANCES. The bark of the Hino tree, the Eleocarpus hinau of Cun- ningham, the Dicera dentata of Forster, is used by the natives for dyeing black. : The black mangrove (2hizophora mangle) is a tree attaining an altitude of from 80 to 50 feet, and occupying marshy situations in the vicinity of the sea. Almost every part of the mangrove— the bark, roots, and the fruit more particularly—abounds in an astringent principle, which is successfully applied to the purposes of tanning. As the tree is so abundant within the tropics, it might be worth the while of some practical speculator to make an extract on the spot, and introduce it into the English market, for the use of tanners and dyers. For tanning, the mangrove is said to be infinitely superior to oak bark, completing in six weeks an operation which with the latter occupies at least six months, and the sole-leather so tanned is said to be more durable than any other. The bark and leaves, which contain nearly as much tannin as the oak, are made use of in the West Indies, as well as in Scinde and other parts of Asia. 3,713 piculs of mangrove bark, valued at £819, were shipped from Shanghae, one of the Chinese ports, in 1849. Myrozatans.—This is a name applied to the almond-like kernels of a nut or dried fruit of the plum kind, of which there are several sorts known in the Hast. They are the produce of various species of Zerminalia, as T. Bellerica, chebula, citrina, and. angustifolia. ‘They vary from the size of olives to that of gall nuts, and have a rough, bitter, and unpleasant taste. Many of the trees of this tribe, which are all natives of the tropical regions of Asia, Africa, and America, are used for tanning, and some for dyeing. ‘They are highly valued by dyers, creating, when mixed with alum, a durable dark brown yellow. Myrobalans fetch in the Bombay market 8s. to 26s. the Surat candy of 821 lbs. The bark and leaves of 7. Catappa yield a black pigment, with which Indian ink is made; the seeds are eaten like almonds. A milky juice is said to flow from @. angustifolia, which, when dried, is fragrant, and, resembling Benzoin, is used as a kind of incense in the Catholic churches in the Mauritius. The fruit of 7. Bellerica, and of 7. Chebula, both useful timber trees, indigenous to the East Indies, are used medicinally as a tonic and astringent. 117 ewts. of myrobalans were shipped from Ceylon in 1845. The annual imports of myrobalans into Hull, amount to about 1,600 ewts. The quantity which arrived at Liverpool was 185 tons in 1849, 851 tons in 1850; 27,212 bags in 1851, and 19,946 bags in 1852; they come from Calcutta and Bombay, and are also used for dyeing yellow and black. The price in January, 1853, was 6s. to 12s. per ewt. The average annual imports into the United Kingdom may be taken at 1,200 tons. K1no.—The Kino, of Botany Bay and Van Diemen’s Land, is the produce of the iron bark tree, Hucalyptus resinifera. White (“ Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales’), says this tree sometimes yields, on incision, 60 gallonsofjuice. Kino is imported in VALONIA. 507 boxes. The tinctureof kino is used medicinally, but an inconvenience is frequently found to arise, from its changing to the gelatinous form. Dr. Pereira seems to think this species of kino consists prin- cipally of pectin and tannic acid. That chiefly used as Hast Indian kino, is an extract formed by inspissating a decoction of the branches and twigs of the gambier plant. Vauquelin analysed it, and found it to consist of, tannin and peculiar extractive matter, 75; ved gum, 24; insoluble matter, 1. The East Indian kino, imported from Bombay and Tellicherry, is the produce of Pterocarpus marsupium, a lofty, broad-spread- ing forest tree, which blossoms in October and November. The bark is of a greyish color, and is upwards of half an inch in thick- ness on the trunk. When cut, a blood-red juice speedily exudes and trickles down; it soon thickens, and becomes hard in the course of fifteen or sixteen hours. The gum is extracted in the season when the tree is in blossom, by making longitudinal in- cisions in the bark round the trunk, so as to let the gum ooze down a broad leaf, placed as a spout, intoa receiver. When the receiver is filled it is removed. ‘The gum is dried in the sun until it crumbles, and then filled in wooden boxes for exportation. P. erinaceus, a tree 40 to 50 feet in height, a native of the woods of the Gambia and Senegal, furnishes kino, but none is collected in or exported from Africa. Butea frondosa, or the dhak tree of the East Indies, furnishes a similar product, in the shape of a milky, colored, brittle, and very astringent gum. Kino is used as a powerful astringent, and is administered in the form of powder and tincture. Some specimens of Butea kino, analysed by Prof. Solly, after the impurities had been separated, yielded 73% per cent. of tannin. Vanontra is the commercial name of the cupula or cup of the acorn, produced by the Quercus egilops and its varieties, the Balonia or Valonia oak, natives of the Levant, from whence, and the Morea, they form a very considerable article of export ; containing abundance of tannin they are largely used by tanners. The tannin differs materially from that of nutgalls. The bark of Q. tinctorea, a native of North America, yields a yellow dye. The quantity of valonia imported for home consumption, in 18386, was 80,511 cwts., of which Turkey furnished 58,724 ewts., and Italy and the Jonian islands 7,209 ewts. Of 163,983 ewts. imported in 1840, 143,095 cwts. were brought from Turkey, 15,195 cwts. from Italy, and the residue from Greece and the Ionian Islands. The entries for home consumption in the three years ending with 1842, amounted to about 8,200 tonsayear. The increase since has been considerable, the imports having been, in 1848, 10,237 tons ; in 1849, 16,671 tons; in 1850, 12,526 tons; in 1851, 10,639 tons ; in 1852, 13,870 tons. We receive about 14,000 to 20,000 ewts. annually from Leghorn. The imports into the port of Hull are 3,900 cwts. per year. The prices of Smyrna valonias are from £13 to £14 per ton; 508 TANNING SUBSTANCES. those of picked Morea, £10 per ton. ‘The duty received on valonias imported in 1842 was about £4,000. The annual produce is sufficient to meet the wants of all Europe. Tt can be had in Turkey to any extent and at all periods. Many cargoes are sent to Dublin, and the German markets. A little valonia is exported from Manila, the shipments having been about 150 tons per annum. Camata and Camatina are two varieties of very young valonias, which are found more valuable for some processes of tanning than the common kinds. Extensive as has been the enumeration of the vegetable sub- stances used in the various branches of art and manufacture which have formed the principal subjects of this section, it is probable that with the progress of knowledge, of scientific experiment, and of investigation into the properties of given commodities, the list will be indefinitely increased. What I have stated will suffice to give the reader an idea of the surprising variety of sources from which we receive the raw materials which enable us to perfect some of the most elegant processes of manufacturing skill and ingenuity, and will further afford some criterion—though, of course, not a perfect one—for estimating the relative importance of the tanning and dyeing substances. SECTION V. OLEAGINOUS PLANTS, AND THOSE YIELDING FIXED OR ESSENTIAL OILS. Few cultivators are probably aware of the great importance of oil to this country, and the number of purposes for which it is employed in the arts and manufactures. It is extensively used for candle and soap making, for burning in lamps, for diminishing friction in machinery of all kinds, and especially for locomotives— in wool-dressing, in the manufacture of paints and varnishes, as an article of food, for medicinal purposes, &c. So important are vegetable oils deemed, that the Society of Arts, in its prize list for 1851, offered gold medals for the im- portation or introduction into this country of any new plants or trees from China, India, or elsewhere, producing oils or fatty substances, such as can be used as food, or are applicable to manu- facturing purposes; and also to the person who shall manufacture and import the finest specimen of oil, not less than ten gallons, the produce of olives grown in any British colony in Africa or Australasia. The time of burning of equal quantities of the following oils has been found to be— Hours. Hours. Pio POPPy..... 2. ess 14 Oil of gold of pleasure (Ca- PRUSUUIMOWEL . 2... 6... 13 melina sativa) .. 93 MEAT! ove. oc sis! who's Sia = 11 spa O LEVIES Hea uae mien yere oS SIT TUGT ES 6 113 Feds He. Seed: Was aan ie 8 eR SECM os. a,c) afc ws 0 = 10 al h:sUULLONG: {orchestrator avere 105 FOREIGN VEGETABLE OILS IMPORTED. 1821. 1845. 1850. tuns. tuns. tuns. Coco-nut oil .... — Soar 2,148 eter 98,040 live roths = 900) t5 2 ee 2 OLS mee 20,783 Palm orlk.2. cs... 352007222) 320,280 Et ites 448,589 ewts. Rape seed oil ., SOO, is 2 5. 3,973 Sate == Linseed oil .... 10,500 .... 38,634 sacs = | 16,400 82,355 Fish oils .... 32,356 22,626 siahoce 21,328 The total quantity ofall kinds of wool annually consumed in Eng- land and Wales, in 1843, was estimated at 801,566 packs. Now, five 510 _OLEAGINOUS PLANTS. gallons of olive, rape-seed or other oils, being used in the preparation of every pack of wool, for cloth Gndependent of the quantity used in soap, applicable to the woollen manufactures), it follows that five gallons on 801,566 packs are equal to 4,007,830 gallons, or 15,904 tuns ; and adding for olive or sperm oil used m machinery 1-11th of the whole, 1,446 tuns, the total quantity consumed is 17,350 tuns.—(“ Enderby on the South Whale Fishery.” Fixed oils are found in the cells and intercellular spaces of the fruit, leaves, and other parts of plants. Some of these are drying oils, as linseed oil, from Linum usitatis- stmum; some are fat oils, as that from olives (fruit of Olea sativa or Europea) ; whilst others are solid, as palm oil. The sold oils or fats procured from plants are, butter of cacao, from Theobroma caeao; of cinnamon from Cinnamomum verum ; of nutmeg, from Myristica moschata; of coeo-nut, from Cocos nucifera; of laurel, from Laurus nobilis; of palm oil, from Elais guianiensis ; Shea butter, from Bassia Parkii; Galam butter, or Ghee, from Bassia butyracea; and vegetable tallow, from Stillingia sebifera in China, from Vateria indica in Canara and China, and from Pentadesma butyracea in Sierra Leone, and from the almond. These oils contain a large amount of stearine, and are used as substitutes for fat. Some of them are imported in large quantities, and enter into the composition of soap, candles, &e. Castor oul, from the seeds of Ricinus communis, differs from other fixed oils in its composition. Decandolle states the following as the quantity of oil obtamed from various seeds :— Per cent. Per cent. in weight,| in weight. Hazel-nut ... ..- .- 60 | White mustard (Sinapis alba) 36 Garden cress ... 4 -.- 5% | Tobacco ee ie nea ¥-: Olive ... S82 ne << 00) | Plumiee: see sas cea iene Walnut en a5 set bO! lo WViond ieee “s ae Seeger ce Poppy (Papaver somniferum) 48 | Hemp ... — ae eae yi Almond =e Be ay GAG) | See ree sy w. 22 Caper-spurge (Euphorbia La- | Sunfiower i ae wy le thyris) oe ... 44 | Buekwheatl oe os soe A Colza (Brassica oleracea) ... 39 | Grapes... tes dé =e The following table, quoted from Boussingault, shows the re- sults of some experiments made by M. Gauzac, of Dagny :— Seed produced Oil obtaimed per } per acre. acre, in ibs. Oil per Cake per cwts. grs. lbs. Ibs. ozs. cent. cent. Wolewort? 6.5 ks 19 (O15 ©... “Biers ee 54 Becket ee ort Se 156 SE eas fe 320 8 18 73 Winter‘ rape’... 3: ... 1G 2 As) ee) eat G 3 62 Swedish turnips .... 15 1 25 .. 6595 8 33 62 Curled colewort .... 16 2 18 ... 641 6 33 62 Turnip cabbage .... - 13 3 19 .. 68565 4 33 61 Gold of pleasure .... 17 1 16 545 8 27 sty ieee Sunflower ....... 15 3 14 275 0 16 80 Plax a2 eee cn es 156 § Z% 380 «(0 22 69 White poppy ...... tO 1 1s 560 8 46 52 emp Laie SPT vo 2H 229 0 25) Smee Summer rape ...... ft oe, 1 412 6 e 30) Ye OLEAGINOUS PLANTS. 511 The subjoined list will serve to exhibit the richness of the pro- duce of different Indian seeds, from which varieties of oil are ex- ‘tracted; it gives the proportion of oil per cent. in weight :— Sesame oil (Sesamum indicum ) fe 46°7 - Black til, coloured variety of ditto ( Verbesena sativa) Hee 46°4 Gingelie ‘eal (S. orientale) .. or 46 7 Ground nuts, produced by ‘Ar achts hy ypogcea 45°5 Wounded seeds obtained from the Poonnay- tree i Caloph yun TInophyllum ), a bitter lamp oil.. 63°7 Karunj seeds, from the Pongamia glabr a ee 26°7 Ram til, the seeds of the huts Ellu, or Guzzotia oleifera tes 39 Poppy seeds (Papaver somniferum) ... ... 43 to 58 Silaam, an oil seed from Nepaul = pe rep 41 Rape seed (Brassica napus) ae soe ce 33 The foregoing are not all the seeds from which oil is extracted by the natives of the East. In addition to this there are cotton- seed oil, used for their lamps. Castor oil and Argemone seed, similarly used. Oil obtained from the fruit of Melia Azadriachta, for medicine and lamps. Apricot oil in the Himalayas, sunflower oil, oil of cucumber-seed for cooking and lamps, oil of colocynth seed, a lamp oil. The seeds of bastard saffron (Carthamus tinctorius) yield oil. Mustard oil, the produce of various species of Sinapis, &e. Shanghae oil, from Brassica Ohinensis. Mhepie oil, from Bassia longifolia, which is used for frying cakes, &., in Madras ; and Muohwa oil, from another species ‘of the same. genus in Bengal, B. latifolia. Oil is expressed from the seeds of ” Cesalpina oleos- perma, a native of the East. The neem tree seeds afiord a very clear or bitter oil, used for burning. Wood oil is aremarkable substance, obtained from several species of Dipterocarpus, by simply tapping the tree. The horse-eyes and cacoons of Jamaica (Fevillea scandens) yield a considerable quantity of oil or fat, as white and hard as tallow. lt has been employed for sinular purposes on the Mosquito shores. The seeds of the Argemone mexicana, and of tne Sanguinaria canadensis, also contain a bland, nutritious, colorless, fixed oil. The mass from which the seed is expressed is found to be ex- tremely nutritious to cattle. ; The Camelina sativa is cultivated in Europe, for the extraction of an oil used only by the scap makers, and for lamps. A solid oil, of a pale greenish color, a good deal resembling the oils of the Bassia in character, though rather harder, and ap- proaching more in properties to myrtle wax, was shown at the Great Exhibition, from Singapore. It is supposed to be the pro- duce of the tallow tree of J ava, called locally ‘“‘ kawan,”’ probably a species of Bassia. Itis very easily bleached ; indeed, by exposure to air and light, it becomes perfectly white ; if not too costly, it promises to become a valuable oil. According to Mr. Low, there are several varieties of solid oil commonly used in the Islands of the Archipelago, and obtained from the seeds of different species of Dipterocarpus. 512 OLEAGINOUS PLANTS. Piney tallow is obtained from the fruit of the Vateria Indica, a large and quick-growing tree, abundant in Malabar and Canara. Tt is a white solid oil, fusible at a temperature of 97 degrees, and makes excellent candles, especially when saponified and distilled in the manner now adopted with palm oil, &c. It has one great advantage over coco-nut oil, that the candles made of it do not give out any suffocating acrid vapors when extinguished, as those made with the latter oil do. An oil is produced from the inner shell of the cashew-nut (Anacardium occidentale var. indicum), in the East. In Japan a kind of butter, called mijo, is obtained from a species of the Dolichos bean (Dolichos soja). : The kernel of the seeds of the tallow tree of China, Séllingia sebifera, an evergreen shrub, contains an oil, which, when expressed, consolidates through the cold to the consistence of tallow, and by boiling becomes as hard as bees’ wax. The plant also yields a bland oil. ere now 20 Ipmev:> m2 wbor of coco-nut topes, or walks, On tse cOssv: Of tue wleau, ~aud evout 20,000 acres of land are © unde’ cali-vacioa with this tree. The value or this product to Ceylon, may be estimated by the following return of its exports in 1847, besides the local con- sumption :— F £ Declared value of nuts’ 9 1-0. . seco. oe 5,485 Dittovof Coir sce So. She. See 10,318 Kernels, or Copperahe.: =), haere 7a Rae Shere 6,503 Shells 2). ir. His indie Ss ee anes das See eee 210 Oi one Robes CS eee ee ee ee 19,142 Arrack 4 gestern. btalc es So eee 11,657 Total ociso: sitet Foie te et £53,315 The annually increasing consumption of the nuts holds out a great inducement to the native proprietors to reclaim all their hitherto unproductive land. The fruit commands a high price in the island, (ranging from #d. to 3d. per nut), owing to the constant demand for it as an article of food, by both Singhalese and Mala- bars ; there is not so much, therefore, now converted into copperah for oil making. In the maritime provinces of the island, it has been estimated that the quantity of nuts used in each family, say of five persons, amounts to 100 nuts per month, or 1,000 per annum. It needs only a reduction in the cost of transit, to extend the consumption in the interior of the island to an almost un- limited extent. In 1842, Ceylon exported but 550 nuts, while in 1847 she shipped off to other quarters three millions and a half of nuts, valued at £5,500. The average value of the nuts exported may be set down at £7,000. In Cochin China the cultivation of the coco-nut tree is much attended to, and they export a large quantity of oil. At Malacca and Pinang it shares attention with the more profitable spices. Since the palm has been acclimatised in Bourbon, about 20,000 kilogrammes of oil have been produced annually. About 8,000 piculs of oil are exported annually from Java. A correspondent, under date December, 1849, has furnished me with the following particulars of coco-nut planting in Jaffna, the northern district of Ceylon, in which the culture has only recently been carried on ;_ the facts and figures are interesting :— The Karandhai estate, the property of the late Mr. J. Byles, was sold last month for £2,400, part ofit bearing. It consisted of 303 acres, of which 228 are planted with coco nuts—about half the trees six years old. The Victoria estate, in extent 170 acres, planted and part in bearing, and about seventy acres of jungle, was also sold for £1,500. Mr. G. Dalrymple was the purchaser of the latter, and Mr. Davidson of the former. Both lots were cheap. The properties are among the best in the district, the latter, especially, is a beautiful estate. About two-thirds of the estates planted are looking well, and the remainder but indifferently, in fact, ought never to have been planted, and I believe will never give any return. About 7,000 acres are now under cultivation here, and clearing is still going on. Estates can now be put in for about one half what Pen, COGO-NED. OAL AL. oa they cost formerly, viz., about £4 or £5 per acre, and can be kept in order, inclusive ofall charges, for about 15s. to 20s. per acre for the first two years, and about half that afterwards. states, in some instances, have been put in for about £3 per acre. Elephants have almost disappeared; now and then a stray one comes. Pigs are still a great nuisance, but the greatest anxiety among planters is regarding beetles. You will be sorry to hear that the first year the trees showed fruit or flower, one-tenth of them were destroyed by the beetle; the insects still go on destroying, and hardly a tree attacked ever recovers. This is a very serious evil, and upon which the fortunes of all those involved in coco-nut planting depend. The trees come into bearing but very slowly, and I consider no estate will give any return over its current expenses under twelve years. It takes twelve months from the formation of the flower, till the fruit ripens. On an estate, perhaps one of the oldest and best in this district, out of 120 acres, part seven and eight years old, about 12 per cent. are in flower or in bearing, and give a return of about twenty-four nuts per tree, on an average, yearly. On the next oldest, the return is not near so great. But few of the estates here will, I think, pay interest on the money laid out, and many will never pay anything over the expense of keeping them up, even after coming into bearing. I doubt if any estate in this district, however economically man- aged, will ever give a net return of more than £2, or perhaps of £2 10s. per acre, at least without there is a great increase in the consumption of oilin Europe. The consumption of this oil, in Europe, is under 5,000 tons. If the beetles do not destroy half the trees, the estates here when in bearing, if they yield anything, will give half that quantity ; and it must be borne in mind that coco-nut oil is not a strong oil, like paim oil, and that soap boilers will never use it to any extent, for it will allow but little admixture of rosin, &c.; its use in Europe will be principally for candles and fancy soaps; but as by refining and com- pression they can now purify tallow, and make of it candles fully equal to those made from coco -nut oil, the consumption of the latter is not likely to increase. The consumption of candles is always limited on the continent of Europe, liquid oil being preferred, and in many instances¢gas is now being used where candles. formerly were. The return of land planted with coco-nut trees in Ceylon, in 1851, was 22,500 acres; but this refers only to regular estates recently opened and cultivated chiefly by Europeans. Let us suppose that the natives possess besides, twenty millions of trees; Butollac in his time estimated the number at thirteen millions. At 100 trees to the acre, twenty millions of trees give 100,000 acres, so that the total amount of land planted with coco nut trees would be 122,500 acres. An hydraulic press, for the manufacture of coco-nut oil, 1,200 horse power and weighing twenty-three tons, was cast at the Ceylon Iron Works, in 1850, by Messrs. Nelson and Son. In the island of Singapore there are now many extensive plantations in a very flourishing condition, holding out favorable prospects to the proprietors. Hitherto the island has been supplied almost wholly from abroad with nuts and oil for its consumption, which will, before long, be obtained exclusively from its own soil. In 1846 there were 10,000 coco-nut trees in bearing in Singa- pore. I have omitted to notice, in the foregoing observations, a very mistaken notion which prevails in many quarters, that it is best to let the trees drop their fruit, and not to pick the nuts when ripe. Nature directs differently. As soon as the husk of the nut is more brown than green it should be picked. It then makes better oil 558 OLEAGINOUS PLANTS, and better coir, than when left to shrivel up and fall from the tree. Colonel Low, in his “ Dissertation on Pinang,”’ gives some in- teresting details and statistics on coco-nut planting :— On a rough estimate—for an actual enumeration has not been lately taken— the total number of bearing trees in Pinang may be stated at 50,000, and those in Province Wellesley at 20,000; but very large accessions to these numbers have of late years been made. The tree is partial to a sandy soil in the vicinity of the sea, and Province Wellesley offers, therefore, greater facilities, perhaps, for its cultivation than Pinang does, as its line of clear beach is longer, and has many narrow slips of light or sandy land lying betwixt the alluvial flats inland. There are several kinds of this tree known here; one has a yellowish color, ob- servable both on the branches and unripe fruit ; its branches do not droop much. A second has green spreading branches, more drooping than the former, the fruit being green colored until ripe; this is, perhaps, the most prolific; it also bears the soonest, if we except the dwarf coco-nut, which fruits at the second or third year, before the stem has got above one foot high. This last kind was brought from Malacca; it attains in time to the height of the common sort. Its fruit is small and round, and of course less valuable than the other sorts. There is also a coco-nut so saturated with green, that the oil expressed from its kernel partakes of that color. It is a mistaken supposition that the coco-nut tree will flourish without care being taken of it. The idea has been induced by the luxuriant state of trees in close proximity to houses and villages, and in small coves where its roots are washed by the sea. In such circumstances, a tree, from being kept clear about the roots, from being shaded, and from occasional stimuli, advances rapidly to perfection; but in an extended plantation, a regular and not inexpensive system of culture must be followed to ensure success. The nuts being selected, when perfectly ripe, from middle-aged trees of the best sorts, are to be laid on the ground under shades, and after the roots and middle shoots, with two branches, have appeared, the sooner they are planted the better. Out of 100 nuts, only two-thirds, on an average, will be found to vegetate. The plants are then to be set out at intervals of thirty or forty feet— the latter if ground can be spared—and the depth will be regulated by the nature of the soil, and the nut must not be covered with earth. The plants require, in exposed situations, to be shaded for one and even two years, and no lalang grass must be permitted to encroach on their roots. A nursery must be always held in readiness to supply the numerous vacancies which will occur from deaths and accidents. The following may be considered the average cost of a plantation, until it comes into bearing :— FIRST cost—100 ORLONGS OF LAND. Spanish dollars. Purchase money of land, ready for planting . : : . 1,000 7,000 nuts at 15 dollars, per 100 . : : : : : 105 Houses of coolies, carts, buffaloes, &c., &c. . : : ; Va hOO ——= Spanish dollars : : : : . ; 51,205 YEARLY COST OF SEVEN YEARS. First year, 10 laborers at 3 dollars per month, including carts, &c. : ‘ ; epee : : ; ‘ 360 Wear and tear of buildings, carts, and implements : : 50 Overseer, at 7 dollars per month . A ; : : : 84 Quit-rent, average ¢ - : 5 - : : : 50 Nursery and contingencies. ° . : . ° : 50 Total perannum ° : : : : S) M694 Seven years at the rate willbe 5 : : . . 4,158 Total, Spanish dollars 4,752 To this sum interest will have to be added, making, perhaps, a sum total of 6,000 Spanish dollars, and this estimate will make each tree, up to its coming THE COCO-NUT PALM. 559 into bearing, cost one Spanish dollar at the lowest. The young tree requires manure, such as putrid fish and stimulating compounds, containing a portion of salt. On the Coromandel coast, the natives put a handful of salt below each nut on planting it. The cultivators of Kiddah adopt a very slovenly expedient for collecting the fruit. Instead of climbing the tree in the manner practised by the natives on the Coromandel coast, by help of a hoop passing round the tree and the body of the climber—and a ligature so connecting the feet as will enable him to clasp the tree with them—the Malays cut deep notches or steps in the trunk, in a zig-zag manner, sufficient to support the toes or the side of the foot, and thus ascend with the extra aid only of their arms. This mode is also a dangerous one, as a false step, when near the top of a high tree, generally precipitates the climber to the ground. This notching cannot prove otherwise than injurious to the tree. But the besetting sin of the planter of coco-nuts, and other productive trees, is that of crowding. Coco-nut trees, whose roots occupy, when full grown, circles of forty to fifty feet in diameter, may often be found planted within eight or ten feet of each other; and in the native campongs all sorts of indigenous fruit trees are jumbled together, with so little space to spread in, that they mostly assume the aspect of forest trees, and yield but sparing crops. The common kinds of the coco-nut, under very favorable circumstances, begin to bear at six years of age; but little produce can be expected until the middle or end of the seventh year. The yearly produce, one tree with another, may be averaged at 80 nuts the tree; where the plantation is a flourishing one— assuming the number of trees, in one hundred orlcngs, to be 5,000—the annual produce will be 400,000 nuts, the minimum local market value of which will be 4,000 Spanish dollars, and the maximum 8,000 dollars. From either of these sums 6 per cent. must be deducted for the cost of collecting, and carriage, &c. The quantity of oil which can be manufactured from the above number of nuts will be, as nearly as possible, 834 piculs of 1333 lbs. The average price of this quantity, at 7 dollars per picul . 56,838 Deduct cost of manufacturing, averaged at one-fourth, and col- lecting, watching, &. . : : ° : : . 2,059 Profit, Spanish dollars. ; ; ‘ : oh 5 Fo The Chinese, who are the principal manufacturers of the oil, readily give a picul of it in exchange for 710 ripe nuts, being about 563 piculs of oil out of the total produce of the plantation of 100 orlongs. The price of coco nut oil has been so high in the London market as £35 per tun, or about an average of ten dollars per picul. It is said that English casks have not been found tight enough for the conveyance of this oil to Europe, but if the article is really in great de- mand, a method will no doubt be discovered to obviate this inconvenience. So long, however, as the cultivator can obtain a dollar and a half, or even one dollar for 100 nuts, he will not find it profitable to make oil, unless its price greatly rises. Soap is manufactured at Pondicherry from this oil, but it is not seemingly in repute; the attempt has not been made in Pinang with a view to a market. There is scarcely any coir rope manufactured at this island, so that the profit which might (were labor cheaper) arise from this application of the coco-nut fibre, is lost. The shell makes good charcoal; the leaves are scarcely put to any purpose, the nipah or attap being a superior material for thatching. The coco-nut tree is extremely apt to be struck by lightning, and in such cases it is generally destroyed. It is a dangerous tree, therefore, to have close toa house. Ifthe trees are widely planted, coffee may be cultivated under their shade. It is generally believed that the extracting of toddy from this tree hastens its decline. The Nicobar and Lancavi Islands used partly to supply the Pinang market with this indispensable article; but their depopulation has greatly reduced the quantity. On the whole it may be said that there is no cultivation which insures the return of produce with so much certainty as that of the coco nut tree ; and as Rangoon, the Tenasserim coast, and Singapore will, probably, always remain good markets for the raw nut, there appears to be every chance of the value of the produce affording ample remuneration to the planter. 560 OLEAGINOUS “PLANTS? Coco-nut beetie—-T=2 chief no ural enemy of this tree is a de- structive species of elephant- beetle (Onyetes Rhinoceros), which begins by nibbling the leaves into the shape of a fan ; it then per- forates the eentral pithy fibre, so that the leaf snaps off; and lastly, it descends into the folds of the upper shoot, where it ‘bores itsclf a nest, and if not speedily extracted or killed, will soon destroy the tree. At Singapore, on account of the depredations of this beetle, the difficulties have been considerable. In Pinang and Province Wellesley it has only been observed within the last two years, and it is believed to have come from Keddah. A similar kind of beetle is, however, found on the Coro- mandel coast. The natives of Keddah say that this insect appears at intervals of two, three, or more years. lts larvee, which are also very formidable insects or grubs, about three inches long, with large reddish heads, are found in decaying vegetable matter. It is when the tree has made considerable progress, however, that the parent tmsect does most mischief. When they are from one to two years old, throwing out their graceful branches in quick succession with the greatest vigor, and promising in three or four years more to yield their ruddy fruit, this destructive enemy begins to exercise his boring pro- pensities ; and, making his horn act as an auger, he soon pene- trates the soft and yielding fibre of the young tree, and if not discovered in time, destroys the leading shoot or branch. The only remedy which has been adopted in Ceylon, is the following : —Several intelligent boys are provided each with an iron needle or probe, of about a foot long, with a sharp double barbed point, hike a fish-hook, and a ring handle ; ; they go through the plantation looking narrowly about the trees, and when they perceive the hole in the trunk, which indicates that the enemy is at work, they thrust in the barbed instrument and pull him out. Sometimes he may only have just commenced, when his capture is more easily effected, but even should he have penetrated to the very heart of the tree, the deadly needle does not fail in its errand, but brings the culprit out, impaled and writhing on its point. This is the only known way of checking the ravages of this beetle, except de- stroying its larve. Some cultiva tors, however, think pouring salt water or brine on the top of the tree, so as to ‘deseend among the folds of the upper shoots, a good plan to-get rid of the larve. Nearly two million coco-nuts are shipped annually from Bahia. rom Ceylon, 114,600 coco-nuts were shipped in 1851, and 70,185 in 1852. Coco-nut oil; 98,159 gallons were shipped from Ceylon in 1852 ; 359,233 gallons i in 1 1851. The prices of Ceylon oil have ranged from £31 to £33 10s. per tun; of Cochin’ oil, £34 to £35, within the last two years. The price per leaguer in Colombo, without ¢ asks, has been £8 10s. to £9. Copperah is the name given by the natives to the kernel of the ripe nut after it has been exposed to the sun on mats, until it Hae _—— oe THE COCO-NUT PALM. dOL become rancid and dissolved. It has recently been shipped to England in this state for the purpose of converting into oil, The exports of copperah from Ceylon were, in 1842, 115 ewts.; in 1843, 2,194; in 1844, 2,397; and in 1852, 39,174 ewts. The returned value of the copperah or kernels exported from Ceylon, as entered in the Custom House books, is— 1840 .. * Bo eoraRo) (ASAT eae ) tee ce £6,503 1841. ia Mee AGO A SER tee ny f+ 12.659 1842 .. - Ete ee ee eee 1843 .. Ki eee SlesUey LCG i844 .. i Pee teat oe 82S Ms Cas ists... = eesesa i \assr Ber Le) el sasiags 1846 5,517 about £10 the ton. The oil from the nut is obtained for culinary purposes by boiling the fresh pulp, and skimming it as it rises. That for exportation is usually obtained by pressing the copperah in a simple press turned by bullocks. Recently, however, steam power has been applied in Colombo, with great advantage. About 24 gallons of oil per 100 nuts, are usually obtained. It is requisite that care should be taken not to apply too great and sudden a pressure at once, but by degrees an increasing force, so as not to choke the conducting channels of the oil in the press. In many of the colonies the oil is expressed by the slow and jaborious hand process of grating the pulp. The quantity shipped from Ceylon was 2,250 tuns, in 1842; 3,985 in 1843; 2,331 in 1844; 1,797 in 1845. The quantity in gallons shipped since, was 101,553 in 1846; 197,850 in 1847; 300,146 in 1848 ; 867,326 in 1849; 407,960 in 1850; 442,700 in 1851; and 749,028 in 1852. The duty on importation is of and from British possessions, 7d. and 7-8ths. per cwt.; if the produce of foreign possessions, 1s. 33d, per cwt. In the close of 1852, the price of coco-nut oil in the London market was, for Ceylon, £32, £33, to £33 10s. per ton ; Cochin, middling to fine, £34 to £35. The following return shows the Custom House valuation of the oil shipped from Ceylon for a series of years, and which is of course much below its real value :— mere 2 3. L9G 590F WSAG 2 we bE 7,989 eee 2 uy 82,483 SCY ey ees vg eke pe CLIC Se ee ek 24,002 * | 1848 te, ee 24,899 eee. 84,242 TSOP ere Ree Wee OBERT ee 48,874 | Pes oh eth Se se) ae PP ees oO as Meroe i fees. 24,067 Pole eye koe "a eas erm es 15945" {| 1862 xe acy oeun 98, 040 Among the coco-nut oil exported from Ceylon, in 1849, there were 47,4274 gallons, valued at £3,595, the whole of which, I believe, was Cochin oil; the raw material of this kind not being, like the copperah generally in Ceylon, subjected to the action of fire, Zo 562 OLEAGINOUS PLANTS. the product is finer, and fetches a better price in the London ~ market. | Amongst the imports from British possessions in Asia, were 2,600 ewts., of copperah (dried coco-nut kernels, from which oil is expressed), valued at £1,100; amongst the imports re-exported © to Great Britain, we find 870 ecwts. of the same article, valued at £300. Of the oil exported a quantity of 11,000 gallons was shipped for the United States. About 600,000 piculs of coco-nut oil are annually exported from Siam. A large quantity of oil is made in Trinidad, chiefly on the east coast, where, in one locality, there is an uninterrupted belt of enco- nut palms fourteen miles in extent. They usually bear when - years old. The cultivation of the coco-nut in a proper soil presents a ve profitable speculation for small capitalists. Whether sold a the rate of a dollar per hundred in their natural state, to captains of ships, who freely purchase them, or manufactured into oil, they are a very remunerative product. Hach tree in the West Indies is calculated to produce nuts to the value of one dollar yearly. There is one thing to which we would draw the attention of chemists and other scientific men. For twenty-four or even forty-eight hours after its manufacture this oil is as free from any uupleasant taste as olive oil, and can be used in lieu of it for all culinary purposes, but after that time it acquires such a rancid taste as to be wholly unpalateable. If any means could be discovered of preventing this deterioration in quality, and preserving it fresh and sweet, it could compete with olive oil, and the price and consumption would be largely raised. COCO-NUT OIL IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED KINGDOM. Imports. Retained for home consumption. cwts. cwts. USS Oy eens sete 195838) a eee 14,015 UGS Gia. . sehr 26,053%) tej 26,962 12a age a1 218. 2 oe 28,641 NS OG Es veto eh: SEN IE Ss 5 - 38,669 1839 Sao Gao ==) eee 15,153 DSO er eee eee cree ai UE Golem eae 37,269 TSA yuh ees eee te ee 26,528 ile Ae ae po a oe ee 26,225 ier os aS pes eae Se eS d+: 29,928 BSAA mt acer ace me 42,480 SAS Aree eee 85/493 = eaeloueee 54,783 DS 9 eta eiohoo ey. 64,451 o> =. eee 14,622 DSO Pos Naveccte ites 938040. “a ec ceeee 46,494 TS len Be oe 55096) 2 ae 2,333 S55) delat RS A ona 101863 06 cree 27,112 A London coco-nut oil soap was found, on analysis by Dr. Ure, to consist of :— Soda . : : ; . é Z 4°5 Coco-nut lard : : ; ; . 22-0 Water : 73°53 THE COCO-NUT PALM.—OIL CAKE. 563 This remarkable soap was sufficiently solid; but it dissolved in hot water with extreme facility. It is called marine soap, because it washes linen with sea water. Of the six principal vegetable oils, namely—palm, coco-nut eastor, olive, linseed, and rape, the first four are imported in the state of oil only ; the two last chiefly as seed. The proportion in which they were imported is shown in the following tables; and if to these quantities are added about a million and a half ewt. of tallow, and nearly twenty thousand tuns of whale oil and sper- maceti, they will nearly represent the total quantity of oil im- ported into Great Britain. IMPORTS IN 1846. Palm oil. Olive oil. Castor oil. ewts tuns. cwts Western Africa .... 475,364 ac dees — United States ...... 13,349 ae — 290 Naples and Sicily .. 14 ae yo OGL — ash eadies .. 2. _— 26 — 6,315 Canary Islands .... 3,719 530 — — CEG — sere ORY -— Turkish Empire .. — sie i dg Ae, — LUST — a. 832 — SMAI isis aices ss — a 753 — BRAN ese os 0's 525 _ — Ionian Islands — 506) =. — IMGTOCEO | 56a 5's 2a: = 2G S684 5. _ ACA: oi nig «05 5:0 1s 353 sic -- ou — PAAEMUDED: op 'e ps pc ce oe 333 11 Miscellaneous...... 7 ie 471 65 oe oe 98,8800 555+ 16,804 9,681 IMPORTS 1N 1880 Linseed. Rape seed. quarters. quarters. _ VES: ag Ee Air er 482,813 ae 3,235 PWICHCM fs re Sas 870 as — TOON AN. oooh ais ee 268 ae — Wenwiark.. 2. vies ee 37 ie 3,092 BeMISSIOM el) heap atehd fais 87,273 Ye 645 Kanse’ Vowns 2... ; 1,153 As 2,872 18 (oj Uleya¥s (Asean ge eye 7,734 Ag 201 J 2) 0) 2h ere 1,476 it — Austrian Territories .. 40 oe 2,580 CCC ig Sivek bs ee 8 — A 1,637 Wallachia and Moldavia 910 eo 1,280 AVIS Sse a's) ool fies 17,517 ne — East Indian Empire . . 26,142 he 13,126 Miscellaneous... +... 262 a 922 Mota. ei de be. 626,495 i 29,495 O1L-cakE.—Ilt has been observed by Evelyn that one bushel of walnuts will yield fifteen pounds of peeled kernels, and these will produce half that weight of oil, which the sooner it is drawn is the more in quantity, though the drier the nut the better its quality. The cake or mare of the pressing is excellent for fattening hogs and for manure. 2750, 2 an 504 OLEAGINOUS PLANTS. Oats contain, as a maximum, about seven per cent. of oil, and Tndian corn nine per cent. The cake of the gold of pleasure con- tains twelve per cent. Indeed the most valuable oil-cakes are those of the Camelina sativa, poppies and walnuts, which are nearly equal; next to these are the cakes of hemp, cotton, and beech-mast. In France the extraction and purification of oi from the cotton seed is a recent branch of labor, the refuse of which is likely to prove useful in agriculture; its value as a manure being nearly ten times greater than that of common dung. Oil is ob- tained from maize or Indian corn in the process of making whiskey. It rises in the mash tubs and is found in the scum at the surface, being separated either by the fermentation or the action of heat. It is then skimmed off, and put away in a cask to deposit its im- purities ; after which it 1s drawn off in a pure state, fit for imme- diate use. The oil is limpid, has a slight tinge of the yellow color of the corn, and is inoffensive to the taste and smell. It is not a drying oil, and therefore cannot be used for paint, but burns freely in lamps and is useful for oiling machinery. Among the various seeds used in the manufacture of oil-cake, flour of linseed is the most important. Rape seed is also em- ployed, but is considered heating. In Lubeck, a mare, called dodder cake, is made from the Camelina sativa. Inferior oil-cake is made from the poppy in India. Cotton-seed cake has lately been recommended on account of its cheapness, being usually thrown away as refuse by the cotton manufacturers. It is exten- sively used as a cattle food, in an unprepared state, in various parts of the tropical world, and to a limited extent in this country. The cost of seed, freight included, was 2d. per lb. from Charles - town to Port Glasgow. Cotton oil-cake is now ordered at the same price as linseed cake. The produce of oil-cake and oil from cotton seed, is two gallons of oil to one ewt. of seed, leaving about 96 lbs of cake; 8 lbs. is the daily allowance for cattle in England. Cotton seed oil, very pure, is manufactured to a considerable extent at Marseilles, by De Gimezney, from Egyptian seed; and he received a prize medal at the Great Exhibition. Account of the export of linseed and rapeseed cakes from Stettin, principally to England, in— ewts. ewts. 1834 . : : i 38,018 | 1839 . : : . 115,416 USS Ome ; 21, 088184072 : . 162,457 USSGnue: i : p 56,581 | 1841 . q : . 148,816 US oviogee £ ; : 70,643 | 1842 . ; : . 119,814 1838 . 119,540 The quantity of oil-seed cakes imported into the United King- dom was in— tons. tons. L849 ; : i 09,462; 1851 ., : , 3 00,076 1850 ; : ; 65,055 | 1852. : ; : 03,616 Cargoes of oil-cake, to the value of £22,267, were exported from the port of Shanghae, in China, in 1849. VOLATILE OR ESSENTIAL OILS. 569 2,467 tons of oil-cake were brought down to New Orleans from the interior in 1848, and 1,032 tons in 1849. Seven samples of American oil-cake gave the following results:— aS 5 - . : : gen Water : : : : : of OW) Nitrogen re. § ree : : : tin ARTA Ash .. : 3 : . ‘ - 6.35 From the above figures, the scientific farmer will see that the manure formed by 100 lbs. of oil-cake is more than that derived from 300 lbs. of Indian corn. 300 lbs. of corn contain about 1+ lbs. phosphoric acid; 100 lbs. oil-cake contain about 25 lbs. VoLATILE oR EssENTIAL Orns occur in the stems, leaves, flowers and fruit of many odoriferous plants, and are procured by distillation along with water. They are called “essences,” and contain the concentrated odor of the plant. They usually exist ready-formed, but occasionally they are obtained by a kind of fer- mentation, as oil of bitter almonds and oil of mustard. Some of them consist of carbon and hydrogen only, as oil of turpentine, from Juniperus communis; oil of savin, from Juniperus Sabina ; oil of lemons and oranges, from the rind of the fruit; and oil of nerole, from orange flowers. A second set contain oxygen in ad- dition, as oil of cinnamon, from Cinnamonum verum ; otto or attar of roses, from various species of rose, especially Rosa centifolia ; oil of cloves, from Caryophylius aromaticus. Those principally obtained from tropical shrubs and plants are citronella, oil of oranges and lemons, from the rind of the fruit oil of cinnamon and cloves, croton oil, &e. The oil of Sandal or Sanders wood (Santalwm album), grown on the Malabar coast, is much esteemed as a perfume. Keora oil, from Pandanus odoratissimus, in Bengal. Oil of spikenard, so highly prized, on account of its perfume, by the ancients, may be procured in Sagur, Nepaul, and the mountains of the Himalaya. 956 lbs. of essential oils were imported into Hull in 1850. There were exported from Ceylon in 1842, 902 cases; in 1843, 138; in 18414, 20; im 1845, 25 cases of essential oils, and in the last two years as follows :— 1852. 1851 cases, cases. Canmamon Ol ssc. ene edo 17h te Te ere be cow ee test arr 23 Witromella: OF) 6 oes sere ee orn fre BA 0 eae SRE A St sep Pt 87 IISSEMGIAL TOU! | 5). ove ss 6. ch ere OO MERE RE ices ete urate 30 Of chemical, essential, and perfumed oils imported from France, the quantity is about 35,000 Ibs. annually, worth £10,000. The duty is 1ls.perlb. We also imported from France, in 1851, 9,596 ewt. of oil or spirit of turpentine, worth £14,197, on which a duty of 5s. 3d. per cwt. is levied. From Western Australia some distilled oil of the Liptospermum was shown at the Exhibition, which it is stated may be obtained 566 OLEAGINOUS PLANTS. in any quantity, and a similar oil produced, by distillation, from the Eucalyptus piperita, a powerful solvent of caoutchouc, evi- dently very similar, if not altogether identical, with the oil of cajeput. The characters of these two oils are much alike and without some care it is difficult to distinguish them from ore another by the odor; the liptospermum oil has a slight tinge of yellow, its specific gravity is 0-9035 ; the eucalyptus oil is colorless, and has a density of 09145. Itis probable that these oils might be used with great advantage in the manufacture of varnish, they readily dissolve copal, and “when its solution is spread over any surface the oil soon evaporates, and leaves a hard, brilliant and uniform coating of the resin. These oils, according ‘to Prof, Solly, are specially worthy of attention. Dr. Bennett, in his “ Wanderings in New South Wales,” states that a large quantity of camphorated oil, which closely resembles the cajeputi, is produced from the foliage of several species of Eucalyptus. Some of the leaves, which are of a bluish green, con- tain it in such abundance as to cover the hand with oil when one of the leaves is gently rubbed against it. From the odorous leaves of the Arbor alba is extracted a por- tion of the aromatic cajeput oil. This celebrated medicinal oil is principally made in the island of Borneo, one of the Moluccas. The leaf of the Melaleuca minor yields, by distillation, the vola- tile oil of cajeputi, well known as a powerful sudorific, and a useful external application in chronic rheumatism. It is an evergreen shrub, with white flowers like a myrtle, native of the East Indies, principally flourishing on the sea coasts of the Moluccas and other Indian islands. Two sacks full of the leaves yield scarcely three drachms of the oil, which is limpid, pellucid, and of a green color. Oil of cinnamon and oil of cassia, according to Mulder, have the same composition. When fr esh they are pale yellow, but become brown on exposure to the air. On exposure they rapidly absorb cinnamic acid, two resins and water. More than 22,000 Ibs. of essence of ber gamot was imported in 1848. It is obtained by distillation or pressure from the rind of the fragrant citron. Asin opogon calamus aromaticus, of Royle, A. nardoides, of Nees v. Esenb., according to some yields the grass oil of Namur. The fruits of Carum car ut, a har dy bieunial British plant, popularly Known as caraway seeds, , supply a volatile oil, which is earminitive and aromatic. Oils of asimilar kind are obtained from Coriandrum sativum, trom anise (Pimpinella Anisum), and cumin (Cuminum Cyminum), a native of Egypt. The production of cinnamon, clove, and cassia oils, have already been noticed in speaking of those spices. In Malabar, a greenish sweet-smelling oil is obtained, by dis- tillation, from ‘the roots of Unona Narum, an evergreen climber, which is used medicinally as a stimulant. Or oF Peppermint.—Mr. De Witt C. Van Slyck, of Alloway, Wayne county, New York, furnished me with the following par- OIL OF PEPPERMINT. 567 ticulars on the cultivation of peppermint, in December, 1849, which may appropriately be introduced in this place :— * As an agricultural production, the culture of peppermint in the United States is limited to few localities; this county and the adjoining ones, Seneca and Ontario, comprise the largest bed. In the year 1846 about 40,000 Ibs. of oil were produced. In Lewis county, in this state, it is grown, though toa less extent ; the amount of oil produced there in 1846 was estimated at 4,500 lbs. In Michigan about 10,000 lbs. are_annually produced; Ohio furnishes about 3,000 lbs. and Indiana 700 lbs. per annum. The entire crop in the United States, in the year 1846, is estimated in round numbers at 58,090 lbs. The above comprises all the localities of any importance in the United States, and the above estimates of the annual product of oil were made from correct data for the year 1846, since which time the cultivation of mint has rapidly de- creased in consequence of a speculative movement by a New York company, who in the spring of 1847 purchased nearly all the mint then growing in this State, and stipulated with the growers not to raise jt for two years thereafter, which condition was generally observed on the part of the growers. The pre- sent year (1849), on account of the drought, has not realised the expectations of those engaged in its culture, although the amount of oil produced is much larger than the product of the two preceding years. In this mint district, 8,009 lbs. have been raised; Lewis county furnishes 1,000 lbs.; Michigan, 8.000 lbs.; Ohio, 1,000 lbs., and Indiana 506 lbs. So that the entire crop of 1849 will not materially vary from 18,500 lbs. I have consulted scyeral of the principal dealers in mint oil, whose oppor- tunities have been ample to form a tolerably correct estimate of the amount of oil annually consumed, and their opinion fixes the total consumption, for the various purposes for which it is used in the United States and in Europe, at from 20,000 to 30,000 lbs. annually. The rice of mint oil is extremely fluctuating. Like other unstaple com- modities,’the value of which depends upon their scarcity or abundance, it never has assumed a constant and standing value, but its price has generally been deranged by speculation and monopoly. It has happened that the amount of oil produced was for several years greater than the annual consumption, pro- ducing an accumulation in the market, and reducing the price to the very low rate of 75 cents per pound; on the other hand, when the article was scarce, it readily sold for 5 dollars 25 cents per pound. The average price for fifteen years has been about 2 dollars 50 cents. per pound. This year (1849) it readily sells for 1 dollar 50 cents., (6s. 6d.). Peppermint began to be cultivated in this vicinity as an agricultural product about the year 1816, but for several years the want of a proper knowledge of its culture, and the expense and difficulty of extracting the oil, prevented its extension beyond a few growers, who, however, realised fortunes out of the enterprise. Almost any kind of soil that will successfully rear wheat and maize is adapted to the growth of mint. Rich alluvions, however, seem to be most natural, as would be inferred from the fact that the wild herb is almost uni- formly found growing upon the tertiary formations on the margins of streams. The rich bottom lands along our rivers and the boundless prairies of the West are eminently adapted for its successful culture. It is believed by those best acquainted with the subject, that its cultivation must be ultimately confined to the western prairies, where it will grow spontaneously, and where the absence of noxious weeds and grasses, incident to all older settled lands, renders the ex- pense of cultivation comparatively light, and where the low price of land will be an important item in the amount of capital employed, the expense of mar- keting being shght in comparison to that of the more bulky products of agri- cultural industry. The method of cultivation is nearly uniform. The mode of propagation is by transplanting the roots, which may be done in autumn or spring, though generally the latter, and as the herb is perennial, it does not require replanting till the fourth year. To ensure a good crop and obviate the necessity of extra attendance the first season, the ground intendeé for planting should be fallowed the preceding summer, though this is not necessary if the land is ordinarily 568 OLEAGINOUS PLANTS. elean. The ground should be prepared as for maize, as soon as possible in the spring furrowed, and roots planted m drills twenty inches apart, and covered with loose earth, two inches deep, the planter walking upon the drill and tread- ing it firmly. The proper time to procure roots is when the herb is a year old, when from six to eight square rods of ordinary mint will yield a sufficient quantity of roots to plant an acre, and the crop from which the roots are taken will not be deteriorated, but rather benefited by their extraction. As soon as the herb makes its appearance it requires a light dressing with a hoe, care being taken not to disturb the young shoots, many of which have scarcely made their appearance above the ground. In the course of a week or two the crop requires amore thorough dressing, and at this stage of growth the cultivator may be used with advantage, followed by the hoe, carefully eradicating weeds and grass from the drills, and giving the herb a light dressing of earth. Another dress- ing a week or two later is ali the crop requires. The two following years no labor is bestowed upon the erop, though it is sometimes benefited by ploughing over the whole surface, very shallow, in the autumn of the second year, and harrowing lightly the following spring, which frequently renews the vigor of the plant and increases the product. The mint should be cut as soon as it is in full bloom, and the lower leaves become sere; the first crop will not be fit to cut as early as the two succeed- ing ones. It is then to be hayed and put in cock, and is then ready for distillation. I have consulted many mint growers, who have cultivated it for a series of years, in regard to the average yield per acre, and have arrived at the foliowing estimate, which I think is low, provided the land is suitable, and is properly cultivated. I estimate the average yield per acre for the first year at 18lbs.; the second year at 14lbs.; and the third year at 8lbs.— making the product for three years 401bs., which I think will not materially vary from the actual result, though growers aver they have raised from 30 to 40 lbs. per acre the first season. Several years since, the only method of extracting the oil then known was by distilling the herb in a copper kettle, or boiler, and eondensing in the usual manner; a slow and tedicus process, by which about 12 or 15 pounds of oil could be separated in aday. But recently steam, that powerful agent, which has wrought such immense changes in our social and national economy, has been applied to this subject with its usual attendant success. The present method consists in the use of a common steam-boiler, of the capacity of from 100 to 150 gallons, from which the steam is conveyed by conductors into large wooden air-tight tubs, of 200 gallons capacity, containing the dried herb; from which it is conveyed, charged with the volatile principle of the plant, into a water-vat, containing the condenser. The water collected at the extremity of the condenser, although it does not readily commingle with the oil, is highly tinctured with it, and is used to feei the boiler. Two tubs are necessary, in order that when the ‘ charge” is being worked off in one, the other can be refilled. The oil is then to be filtered, and is ready for market. The expense of a distillery is estimated at 150 dollars, which, with the labor of two men, and a cord of dry wood, will run 40 lbs. of oil per day. The usual price for distilling is 25 cents per pound. The cost of production is of course greatly modified by circumstances. If grown on rich bottom lands, or prairie, unusually free from weeds and grass, the labor required will be comparatively trifling. From information derived from the principal mint growers in this vicinity, I have prepared the following estimate of the cost of production of an acre of mint for three years :— FIRST YEAR. Dollars Rent of an acre of land one year .............20- 8.00 One day plough and drag, one hand and team .......... 2.00 Half day furrowing, digging roots, one hand and horse .. 1.00 Three days planting, at 75 cents ava 8 Ot See 2.25 OIL OF PEPPERMINT. 569 Two days dressing with hoe, at 75 cents... . ss ss ae 1.50 Two days with cultivator and hoe, 1.00 .............. 2.00 Two days with cultivator and hoe (third dressing) oS A 1.50 One and a-half days cutting new mint, at 75 cents ...... 1.13 Curing and drawing to distillery BP oe a RIC: ie ie 1.50 Distilling 18 lbs. oil, Bie AO COMES Ais e . citel aise aleitrs oo Fic "4.50 Pan toro). s.. Sietiets pate Sass "erat ala, oc tialte cele adiarsrese 25 25.63 SECOND YEAR. Heniof an acre of land. one year .. 1.6... 22s cee eee ee 8.00 Pummespie ners Of Old MINE — 2. 5 .c.2. os 2 ecw ee vvele one 75 Gos and haulme to distillery .........00- s-eses esse 1.50 Meine '4 Ibs. oil, at 25 cents 1... ..6 2... sce ceases es 3.50 MEME IR e552 ioe Givi sey ais ne me's d wes vin odie ape Bars 25 14.00 THIRD YEAR, Rent of an acre of land one year ...... Soy oRaoit weer 8.00 Popererte pe tMIP CCN, fore NS at. es ws Wisk Fe Gohl See eee 2.25 Distilling 8 lbs. of oil, at 25 cents, ‘anidicaniy’< esha cee. 2.25 12.50 Moarmtexpenses for three-years . 2... 5.0... eee tee tee 52.13 Forty pounds of oil, at dollars L375 Per POUNE. Ye. oii. 55.00 OSL TE SHIGE Say gee ee er 52.13 PUCIBBRON LS Fcc eta.. ce 2. Gelioty oat hie ois 2.87 In the above estimate I have omitted the expense of roots, for the reason that the crop will yield as many as are required for planting. The price of roots is about 50 cents per square rod, and if they are in demand, the profit of the crop will be greatly enhanced by selling them at that, or even a lower rice. ; It will be readily perceived that the culture of peppermint promises no great return of profit in sections of country where land is valuable, and where the expense of production is nearly double what it is in newly-settled districts. It is afact that in Michigan, and other Western States, the actual expense of production is about one-half less than the above estimate, and the ue is a fourth greater; the greater distance from market, which is usually New York city, not being taken into account, the freight on oil being comparatively trifling. Another consideration in favor of prairie cultivation is, that the mint will endure for years by simply ploughing over the surface every second year, which seems to invigorate the herb, and obviates the necessity of replanting every second or third 7 year, as must be done in older settled localities,” In India the perfumed oils are obtained in the following manner : —The layers of the jasmine, or other flowers, four inches thick and two inches square, are laid on the ground and covered with layers of sesamum or any other oil yielding seed. These are laid about the same thickness as the flowers, over which a second layer of flowers like the fruit is placed. The seed is wetted with water, and the whole mass covered with a sheet, held down at the end and sides by weights, and allowed to remain for eighteen hours in this form. It is now fit for the mil], unless the perfume is desired to be very strong, when the faded flowers are removed and fresh ones put in their place. The seed thus impregnated is ground in the usual way in the mill and the oil expressed, having the scent 570 OLEAGINOUS PLANTS. . of the flower. At Ghazipoor the jasmine and bela are chiefly employed; the oil is kept in the dubbers, and sold for about 4s. a seer. The newest oils afford the finest perfume. In Europe a fixed oil, usually that of the bean or morerja nut, is employed. Cotton is soaked in this, and laid over layers of flowers, the oil being squeezed out so soon as impregnated with perfume. Dr. Johnson thus describes the culture and manufacture :— Cultivation of Roses.—Around the station of Ghazipoor, there are about 300 biggahs (or about 150 acres) of ground laid out in small detached fields as rose gardens, most carefully protected on all sides by high mud walls and prickly pear fences, to keep out the cattle. These lands, which belong to Zemindars, are planted with rose trees, and are annually let out at so much per biggah for the ground, and so much additional for the rose plants—generally five rupees per biggah, and twenty-five rupees for the rose trees, of which there are 1,000 in each biggah. The additional expense for cultivation would be about eight rupees eight annas; so that for thirty-eight rupees eight annas you have for the season one biggah of 1,000 rose trees. If the season is good, this biggah of 1,000 rose trees should yield one lac of roses. Purchases for roses are always made at so much per lac. The price of course varies according to the year, and will average from 40 to 70 rupees. Manufacture of Rose-water.—The rose trees come into flower at the begin- ning of March, and continue so through April. Early in the morning the flowers are plucked by numbers of men, women, and children, and are conveyed in large bags to the several contracting parties for distillation. The cultivators themselves very rarely manufacture. The native apparatus for distilling the rose-water is of the simplest con- struction; it consists of a large copper or iron boiler well tinned, capable of holding from eight to twelve gallons, having a large body with a rather narrow neck, and a mouth about eight inches in diameter ; on the top of this is fixed an old dekchee, or cooking vessel, with a hole in the centre to receive the tube or worm. This tube is composed of two pieces of bamboo, fastened at an acute angle, and it is covered the whole length with a strong binding of corded string, over which is a luting of earth to prevent the vapour from escaping. The small end, about two feet long, is fixed into the hole in the centre of the head, where it is well luted with flower and water. The lower arm or end of the tube is carried down into a long-necked vessel or receiver, called a bhulka. This is placed in a handee of water, which, as it gets hot, is changed. The head of the still is luted on tothe body, and the long arm of the tube in the bhulka is also well pro- vided with a cushion of cloth, so as to keep in all vapour. The boiler is let into an earthen furnace, and the whole is ready for operation. There is such a va- riety of rose-water manufactured in the bazar, and so much that bears the name, which is nothing more than a mixture of sandal oil, that it is impossible to lay down the plan which is adopted. The best rose-water, however, in the bazar, may be ‘computed as bearing the proportion of one thousand roses to a seer of water; this, perhaps, may be considered as the best procurable. From one thousand roses most generally a seer and a half of rose-water is dis- tilled, and perhaps from this even the attar has been removed. The boiler of the still will hold from eight to twelve or sixteen thousand reses. On eight thousand roses from ten to eleven seers of water will be plzced, and eight seers of rose- water will be distilled. This after distillation is placed in a carboy of glass, and is exposed to the sun for several days to become pucka (ripe) ; it is then stopped with cotton, and has a covering of moist clay put over it; this bacoming hard, effectually prevents the scent from escaping. The price of this will be from twelve to sixteen rupees. This is the best that can be procured. Attar of Roses.—To procure the attar, the roses are put into the still, and the water passes over gradually, as in the case of the rose-water process; after the whole has come over, the rose-water is placed in a large metal basin, which is ‘ ATTAR OF ROSES. 571 covered with wetted muslin, tied over to prevent insects or dust getting into it; this vessel is let into the ground about two feet, which has been previously wetted with water, and it is allowed to remain quiet during the whole night. The attar is always made at the beginning of the season, when the nights are cool ; in the morning the little film of attar which is formed upon the surface of the rose-water during the night is removed by means of a feather, and it is then earefully placed in a small phial; and, day after day, as the collection is made, it is placed for a short period in the sun, and after a sufficient quantity has been procured, it is poured off clear, and of the color of amber, into small phials. Pure attar, when it has been removed only three or four days, has a pale greenish hue; by keeping it loses this, and in a few weeks’ time it becomes of a pale yellow. The first few days distillation does not produce such fine attar as comes off afterwards, in consequence of the dust or little particles of dirt in the still and the tube being mixed with it. This is readily separated, from its sink- ing to the bottom of the attar, which melts at a temperature of 84 degrees. From one lac of roses it is generally calculated that 180 grains, or one tolah, of attar cam be procured ; more than this can be obtained if the roses are full-sized, and the nights cold to allow of the congelation. The attar purchased in the bazar is generally adulterated, mixed with sandal oil, or sweet oil; not even the richest native will give the price at which the purest attar alone can be obtained, and the purest attar that is made is sold only to Europeans. During the past year it has been selling from 80 to 90 rupees the tolah; the year before it might have been purchased for 50 rupees. General Remarks.—Native stills are let out at so much per day or week, and it frequently occurs that the residents prepare some rose-water for their own use as a present to their friends, to secure their being provided with that which is the best. The natives never remove the calices of the rose-flowers, but place the whole into the still as it comes from the garden. The best plan appears to be to have these removed, as by this means the rose- water may be preserved a longer time, and is not spoiled by the acid smell occa- sionally met with im the native rose-water. It is usual to calculate 100 bottles to one lac of roses. The rose-water should always be twice distilled ; over ten thousand roses water may be put to allow of sixteen or twenty bottles coming out ; the following day these twenty bottles are placed over eight thousand more roses, and about eighteen bottles of rose-water are distilled. This may be con- sidered the best to be met with. The attar is so much lighter than the rose- water, that, previous to use, it is better to expose the rose-water to the sun for a few days, to allow of its being well mixed ; and rose-water that has been kept six months is always better than that which has recently been made. At the commencement of the rose season, people from all parts come to make their purchases, and very large quantities are prepared and sold. There are about thirty-six places in the city of Ghazeepore where rose-water is distilled. These people generally put a large quantity of sandal oil into the receiver, the oil is afterwards carefully removed and sold as sandal attar, and the water put into carboys and disposed of as rose-water. At the time of sale a few drops of sandal oil are placed on the neck of the carboy to give it fresh scent, and to many of the natives it appears perfectly immaterial whether the scent arises solely from the sandal oil or from the roses. Large quantities of sandal oil are every year brought up from the south and expended in this way. 6. The chief use the natives appear to make of the rose water, or the sandal attar as they term it, is at the period of their festivals and weddings. It ig then distributed largely to the guests as they arrive, and sprinkled with pro- fusion in the apartments. A large quantity of rose water is sold at Benares, and many of the native Rajahs send over to Ghazipoor for its purchase. Most of the rose water, as soon as distilled, is taken away, and after six months from the termination of the manufacture there are not more than four or five places where it is to be met with. I should consider that the value of the roses sold for the manufacture of rose water may be estimated at 15,000 to 20,000 rupees a year; and from the usual price asked for the rose water, and for which it is sold, I should consider there is a profit of 40,000 rupees. The natives are very fond of using the rose water as medicine, or as a vehicle for other mixtures, and 572 OLEAGINOUS PLANTS. they consume a good deal of the petals for the conserve of roses, or goolecond as they call it. The roses of Ghazipoor, on the river Ganges, are cultivated in enormous fields of hundreds of acres. The delightful odor from these fields can be scented at seven miles distance on the river. The valuable article of commerce known as attar of roses 1s made here in the following manner :—On 40 pounds of roses are poured 60 pounds of water, and they are then distilled over a slow fire, and 30 pounds of rose water obtained. This rose water is then poured over 40 pounds of fresh roses, and from that is distilled at most 20 pounds of rose water; this is then exposed tv the cold night air, and in the morning a small quantity of oil is found on the surface. From 80 pounds of roses, about 200,000, at the utmost an ounce and a-half of oil is obtained; and even at Ghazipoor it costs 40 rupees (4/.) an ounce. Five guineas have been often paid for one ounce of attar of roses. The most approved mode of ascertaining its quality is to drop it on a piece of paper; its strength is ascertained by the quickness with which it evaporates, and its worth by its leaving no stains on the paper. The best otto is manufactured at Con- stantinople. A volatile oil, erroneously called oil of spikenard, is met with in the shops, which is obtained from a plant which has been named by Dr. Royle, the Andropogon Calamus aromaticus. The true spikenard of the ancients is supposed to have been obtained from the Nardostachys Jatamansi, a plant of the Valerian family. Dr. Stenhouse describes rather minutely (“ Journal Pharm. Soe.” vol. iv. p. 276) a species of East India grass oil, said to be the produce of Andropogon Ivaracusa, which he believes to be what is usually called the oil of Namur. It has a very fragrant aromatic odor, slightly resembling that of otto of roses, but not nearly so rich. Its taste is sharp and agreeable, approach- ing that of oilof lemons. Ithasa deep yellow color, and contains a good deal of resinous matter. Lemon Grass (Andropogon scheenanthus). —This fragrant erass, which is now cultivated very generally throughout the West Indies, in the gardens of the planters, as an elegant and powerful diaphoratic, was doubtless mtroduced from the East. The active principle of the leaves seems to reside in the essential oil which they contain. Lemon grass oil forms an important article of export from Ceylon, amounting in value to nearly £7,000 annually. The Andropogon schenanthus, which may be seen covering ail the Kandian hills, is the best possible pasture for cattle—at least as long as it is young. This species of grass is very hard, and grows to the height of seven feet, and sometimes higher, and has a strong but extremely pleasant acid taste. It derives its name from having, when crushed, an odor like that of the lemon, so strong, that after a time it becomes quite heavy and sickening, although grateful and refreshing at first. It covers the hills in patches—those, at least, that are not overgrown with jungle and underwood—and it is to be found nowhere but in the Kandian district. Spontaneous ignition frequently takes place, and the appearance of the burning grass is described as most magnificent. A few days after, from the midst of this parched, blackened, and apparently dead ground, lovely young green shoots begin to PATCHOULY. 573 arise—for the roots of this extraordinary grass have not even been injured, far less destroyed, by the fire; and in a very short time the whole brow of the mountain is again overspread with tufts of beautiful green waving grass.-—(“ Journal of Agriculture.’’) Otto of khuskhus or scented grass, from another species, A. digitalis, obtained at Ulwar in the States of Rajpootanah, was shown at the Great Exhibition in 1851, and Newar oil (fromd. maritima) from Agra. CrrronELL: Orn.—In the Southern province of Ceylon some half dozen estates about Galle are cultivated with citronella grass. The exports of this oil from Ceylon in the last three years have been as follows :—1850, 86,048 oz., valued at £3,344; 1851, 114,959 oz., valued at £3,742; in 1852, 131,780 oz., valued at £2,806. ParcHouLy.— Under this name are imported into this country the dried foliaceous tops of a strongly odoriferous labiate plant, growing three feet high in India and China, called in Bengalee and Hindu, pucha pat. About 46 cases, of from 50 to 110 Ibs. each, were imported from China, by the way of New York, in 1844. The price asked was 6s. per pound. Very little is known of the plant yieldmg it. Mr. George Porter, late of the island of Pinang, stated that it grows wild there and on the opposite shores of the Malay penimsula. Dr. Wallich says, that it ob- viously belongs to the family Labiate. Viney, in the “ French Journal of Pharmacy,” suggests that it is the Plectranthus grave- olens of R. Brown. It forms a shrub of two or three feet in height. lt is the Pogostemon patchouly. The odor of the dried plant is strong and peculiar, and to some persons not agreeable. The dried tops imported into England are a foot or more in length. In India it is used as an ingredient in tobacco for smoking, and for scenting the hair of women. In Europe it is principally used for perfumery purposes, it beig a favorite with the French, who im- port it largely from Bourbon. The Arabs use and export it more than any other nation. Their annual pilgrimship takes up an immense quantity of the leaf. They use it principally for stuffing mattrasses and pillows, and assert that it is very efficacious in pre- venting contagion and prolonging life. It requires no sort of preparation, being simply gathered and dried in the sun; too much drying, however, is hurtful, inasmuch as it renders the leaf hable to crumble to dust in packing and stowing on board. The characteristic smell of Chinese or Indian ink is owing to an ad- mixture of this plant in its manufacture. M. de Hugel found the plant growing wild near Canton. By distillation it yields a vola- tile oil, on which the odor and remarkable properties depend. This oil is in common use in India for imparting the peculiar fragrance of the leaf to clothes among the superior classes of natives. The origin of its use is this:—A few years ago, real Indian shawls bore an extravagant price, and purchasers could always distinguish them by their odor; in fact, they were per- ‘fumed with Patchouly; the French manufacturers at length 574 SAPONACEOUS PLANTS. discovered this secret, and used to import the plant to perfume articles of their make, and thus palm off homespun shawls as real India! Some people put the dry leaves in a muslin bag, and thus use it as we do lavender, scenting drawers in which linen is kept ; this is the best way to use it, as this odor, like musk, is most agreeable when very dilute——(‘“ Gardeners’ Chronicle. se | “The root of some parasitical plant, under the name of kritz, is used in Cashmere to wash the celebrated shawls, soap is used only for white shawls. From the flowers of the Bengal quince (gle marmemolos) a fragant liquid is distilled in Ceylon known as marmala water, which is much used as a perfume for sprinkling by the natives. Jasmine oil is distilled from Jasminum sambae and grandiflora. SaponacEovus Prants.—Many plants furnish abroad useful sub- stitutes for common soap. The ‘aril which surrounds the seed and the roots of Sapindus Saponaria, an evergreen tree, | have seen used as soap in South America and the West Indies under the name of soap berries. The seed vessels are very acrid, they lather freely in water and will cleanse more linen than thirty times their weight of soap, but in time they corrode or burn the linen. Humboldt says that proceeding along the river Carenicuar, in the Gulf of Cariaco, he saw the Indian women washing their linen with the fruit of this tree, there called the parapara. Some other species of Sapin- dus and of Gypsophila have similar properties. The bruised leaves and roots se Saponart ia officinalis, a British species, form a lather which much resembles that of soap, and is similarly efficacious in removing grease spots. The barkof many species of Quillaia, as Q. saponaria, when beaten between stones, makes a lather which can be used as a substitute for soap, in washing woollens and silk clothes, and to clean colors in dyeing, m Chili and Brazil, but it turns linen yellow. The fruit of Bromelia Pinguin is equally useful. A vegetable soap was prepared some years ago in Jamaica from the leaves of the American aloe (Agave Americana) which was found as detergent as Castile soap for washing linen, and had the superior quality of mixing and forming a lather with salt water as well asfresh. Dr. Robinson, the naturalist, thus describes the process he adopted in 1767, and for which he was awarded a grant by the House of Assembly : :—“The lower leaves of the Curaca or Coratoe (Agave kar atu) were passed between heavy rollers to express the juice, which, after bemg stramed through a hair cloth, was merely inspissated by the action of the sun, ora slow fire, and cast into balls or casks. The only precaution necessary was to allow no mixture of any unctuous materials, which destroyed the efficacy of the soap. A vegetable soap, which has been found excellent for washing silk, &e, may be thus obtaied. To one part of the skin of the Ackee add one and a half part of the Agave karatu, macerated in one part of boilmg water for twenty-four hours, and with the extract from this decoction mix four per cent. of rosin. In Brazil, soap is made from the ashes of the bassura or broom plant (Sidu lanceolata) which abounds with alkali. SAPONACEOUS PLANTS. aia There are also some soap barks and pods of native plants used in China. Several other plants have been employed in different coun- tries as a substitute for soap. The bark of Quillaia saponaria renders water frothy and is used as a detergent by wool dyers. Saponaria vaccana is common in India. The pericarp of Sapindus emarginatus mixed with water froths like soap. Saponaceous berries are found in Java. The soap-worts to which the genus Sapindus belongs are tropical plants. The fruit of many species of Sopindus is used as a sub- stitute for soap. as Sapindus acuminata, Laurifolius emarginatus and detergens, aii Kast Indian plants. SHCT LION, ae PLANTS YIELDING DRUGS, INCLUDING NARCOTICS AND OTHER COMMON MEDICINAL SUBSTANCES. THe chief plants furnishing the drugs of commerce, and which enter largely into tropical agriculture, are the narcotic plants, especially tobacco, the poppy for opium, and the betel nut and leaf, as masticatories—but there are very many others to which the attention of the cultivator may profitably be directed. J have already trenched so largely upon my space, that I cannot do that justice to the plants coming under this section I could have wished. There are very many, however, of which I must make incidental mention. Some few medicinal plants have been already alluded to in former sections, particularly in that on dye-stufts, &c. THe Coca Prant grows about four or five feet high, with pale bright green leaves, somewhat resembling in shape those of the orange tree. The leaves are picked from the trees three or four times a year, and carefully dried in the shade; they are then packed in small baskets. The greatest quantity is grown about 30 leagues froin Cicacica, among the Yunnos on the frontiers of the Yunghos. Some is also cultivated near to Huacaibamba. : The natives in several parts of Peru chew these leaves as Europeans do tobacco, particularly in the mining districts, when at work in the mines or travelling; and such is the sustenance that they derive from them, that they frequently take no food for four or five days. I have often (observes Mr. Stevenson) been assured by them, that whilst they have a good supply of coca they feel neither hunger, thirst, nor fatigue, and that without im- pairing their health they can remain eight to ten days and nights without sleep. The leaves are almost insipid, but when a small quantity of lime is mixed with them, they have a very agreeable sweet taste. The natives generally carry with them a leather pouch containing coca, and a small calabash holding lime or the ashes of the molle to mix with them. Cocculus indicus, or Indian berries.—This is the commercial name for the berries or fruit of the Menispermum Cocculus of Linneus, MM. heteroclitum of Roxburgh, Animerta paniculata of Colebrooke, BETEL LEAF.—ARECA PALM. 577 A. Coceulus of Wright and Arnot, and Coceulus suberosus of De- candolle. It is a streng climbing shrub or tree, native of Mala- bar, Ceylon, and the Eastern Islands. The seeds or drupes con- tain a bitter poisonous acid, and are used for the purpose of stupetying fish, and, in the form of a black extract, for fraudulently increasing the intoxicating power of malt liquors; one pound of the berries, it is said, will go as far in brewing as a sack of malt. The berry is kidney-shaped, with a white kernel. Whilst the imports in 1846 were but 246 bags, in 1850 they had increased to 2,359 bags of about 1 cwt. each. The price is 19s. to 24s. the ewt. A crystalline, poisonous, narcotic principle called picrotoxin, has been detected in these seeds, and occasionally employed externally in some cutaneous diseases. Cocculus erispus is used in inter- mittent fevers and liver complaints. The annual imports new average 250 tons, and nearly the whole is censumed fer illegal purpeses by brewers. Though the practice is nominally discountenanced by the Legislature under the penalty of £200 upon the brewer and £500 upon the seller, yet under the recent tariff great encouragement is given to the introduction of these berries, the duty having been reduced from 7s. 6d. to 4s. the cwt. Phe capsules and seeds of XYanthorylum hostile are also em- ployed for the same purpose as cocculus indicus. The bark of = piseidia, a native of the Circar mountains, also intoxicates sh. About 250 tons of ux vomica, another species of dried flat seed possessing intoxicating properties, are also imported annually for the same purposes, and they fetch about 6s. to 8s. the cwt. Beret Lear.—Piper Betel, a scandent species of the shrubby evergreen tribe of plants belonging to the pepper tamily, fur- nishes the celebrated betel leaf of the Southern Asiatics, in which they enclose a few slices of the areca nut and a little shell lime; this they chew to sweeten the breath, and to keep off the pangs of hunger, and it acts also as a narcotic. Such is the immense consumption of this masticatory, termed Pan, in the East, that it forms nearly as extensive an article of commerce as that of tobacco in the West. The tax on the leaf forms a considerable portion of the local revenue of Pinang; in 1805, the tax yielded as much as 5,400 dollars. Rumphius describes six species of this vine, besides several wild and cultivated varieties. It is very easily reared in the Indian islands, but in the countries of the Deccan requires manuring, frequent watering and great care, and in the northern parts of Hindostan it becomes an exotic very difficult to rear. The vine affords leaves fit for use in the second year, and con- tinues to yield for more than thirty, the quantity diminishing as the plants grow older. ABECA PALM (Acacia Catechu).—This is a fine, slender, grace- ful tree, rising from 20 to 30 feet high, which, being a native of 2 P 78 DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. the East, is found abundant in many of the forests of India, from 16 to 30 degs. of latitude. The principal places of its growth are the Burinese territories, a large province on the Malabar coast called the Concan, and the forests skirting the northern parts of Bengal, under the hills which divide it from Nepaul, the south and west coasts of Ceylon, the south of China, &c., the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and the Eastern islands. it produces fruit at five years old, and continues bearing till about its twenty- fifth year, when it withers and dies. It thrives at a greater dis- tance from the sea, and in more elevated regions than the coco- nut palm. In Prince of Wales Island some hundreds of thousands of these palms are cultivated. The seeds or nuts form a chief ingredient in the celebrated eastern masticatory called Pan and which seems to owe its stimulating properties to the leaves of the Piper Betel. When prepared for use, the nut is cut into slices and wrapped in the fresh leaves of the betel pepper vine, together with a quantity of quicklime (Chuwnam) to give it a flavor. The fiavor is peculiar, between an herbaceous and an aromatic taste. All classes, male and female, chew it; they say it sweetens the breath, strengthens the stomach, and preserves the teeth, to which it gives a reddish hue; there is probably less objection to its use than tobaoco or opium, and its taste is more pleasant ; but, if taken to excess, it will produce stupor like other narcotics, and even intoxication. The nuts grow in large bunches at the top, and when ripe are red and have a beautiful appearance; they resemble the nutmeg in shape and color, but are larger and harder. When gathered they are laid in heaps until the shell be somewhat rotted, and then dried in the sun, after which the process of shelling commences. The trees vary in their yield from 300 to 1,000 nuts, averaging about 141bs.; which the cultivators sell at about half a dollar (2s.) a picul of 133lbs. As these palms are planted usually at the distance of 74 feet, it follows that the pro- duce of an acre is about 10,841 lbs. The tree bears but once in a year generally, but there are green nuts enough to eat all the year long. Betel nut is a staple article of import into China; 25,000 piculs annually is the amount returned, but there is an immense quantity imported in Chinese junks from Hainan, of which there is no account kept. In the single port of Canton alone, 15,565 piculs were imported in 1844, and about 400 to Ningpo. 3,005 piculs of betel nuts, valued at 8,700 dollars, were imported into Canton in 1850, and as much as 4,000 tons of areca nuts are shipped annually from Ceylon. The astringent extract obtained from the seeds of the Areca- palm constitutes two (or perhaps more) kinds of the catechu of the shops. According to Dr. Heyne (“Tracts Hist. and Statist. on India’), it is largely procured in Mysore, about Sirah, in the following manner :— | The nuts are taken as they come from the tree and boiled for some hours in an iron vessel. ‘They are then taken out, and the remaining water is in- nf j hi Wee Late laine D ehdweiedoy ARECA PAIM. 579 sp:ssated by continual boiling. This process furnishes Kassu, or most astringent terra japonica, which is black and mixed with paddy criu, husks, and other impurities. After the nuts are- dried, they are put into a fresh quantity of water, boiled again; and this water being inspissated, like the former, yields the best or dearest kind of catechu, called Coony. [t is yellowish brown, has an earthy fracture, and is free from the admixture of foreign bodies. Most of the betel nuts imported into China come from Java, Singapore, and Pinang. Betel nut is not so generally used in the South of China as among the Southern Islands, and in the north of China it is a luxury, as the pepper does not grow freely there. Formerly there was a considerable trade in betel nuts with the Coromandel coast, from whence the natives brought back manu- factured goods and other necessaries in return, but this has ceased for some time. The common price was 20,000 fora dollar. These nuts are seldom imported into England, though they might be of use as a dye in some manufactures. The natives of the Hast chew the fruit of late sylvestris, (which is something like a wild plum), in the same manner as the areca nut, with the leaf of the betel pepper and quick lime. The inner wood furnishes a kind of Catechu or Cutch, which contains much tannin and is a powerful astringent. It is obtained by the simple process of boiling the neart of the wood for a few hours, when it assumes the appearance and consistency of tar. It hardens by cooling, and when formed into small squares and dried in the sun is fit for the market. The produce of Bombay is of uniform texture and of a dark red color. That of Concan and other parts of India is of chocolate color, and marked inside with red streaks. The analysis of Sir H. Davy gave the following result :— Bombay. Concan. “DUTIES ge Beane 04°5 oy 48°5 MAC INCI: Pee oo, oid fade Slsieiosaiiaias i: 6 nat dhe 34°9 ie 36'5 A WG YETEs ig Se ae alone a ee a a 6°9 af 8°0 Insoluble matters, sand, lime, &c..... 5:0 a” 7:0 100: 100° Catechu is in extensive use in India for tanning purposes, and of late years it has entirely superseded madder in the calico works of Europe for dyeing a golden coffee-brown, one pound of catechu being found equivalent to six pounds of madder. Value of the areca nuts exported from Ceylon to the British Colonies and foreign States in the years named :— £, £. i)! nn 22,956 WAG eee ee sc 34,209 20, . 23,096 SY Yalan ae Satire Oh: Ll a 22,428 1648 ae 42,482 Cl ee De Mati 29,222 TAG he alk wee 31,746 Vii = se ie 27,028 TEU hy ae oes ae 42,907 i CEL ea 20,978 sy ales a ea a ee 54,846 By ee he 31,836 SURO is Sie tre Se 52,230 580 DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. THE POPPY. Orium is the concrete inspissated Juice of the white poppy, Pap- aver somniferum and its varieties, obtained by scratching the cap- sules and collecting the exuding juice. The plant has been long known, and is perhaps one of the earliest described. It is a native of Western Asia and probably also of the South of Europe, but it has been distributed over various countries. In 1826 the imports of opium into the United Kingdom were 79,829 lbs., of which 28,329 lbs. were consumed in this country. The imports and consumption in subsequent years are shown by the following figures :— Imports, Consumption. ibs. lbs. Dy Gaerne PP gin 113,140, «heel eee TS 307 go. cio deuscutisioavpeseiasienen: Geale 209,076 Ee 22,668 TOG Wyuna iers: aie sccstete oes Rise eRe ee 106,846 ae 35,407 TOS OMG Te ts eners cashcitcls crane eeer- core 130,794 ce 38,943 BOSON eae ee eee Sere eee 196,247 ae 41,632 USA Do ech oe tees saa cE T2378.) © ae nanee ASANO n ye die nae 959.644. 4, ., 28029 1 Ro: Hae ea a dora ion Seale acer ra 200,019 Sie 61,055 USA ieee ier ace aye i cclere eee ee 105,724 ms 44,177 TSHOMNRS SOE Ee eh ae 196/318. a atonga MSO ike ehh sn eat eee aol 118,024 ae 50,682 P52 cate ess tee eee cee 205,780 62,521 Few who have not looked into the statistics of this trade, are aware of the enormous consumption of opium all over the world, but chiefly in China and India. In 1845, 18,792 chests of opium were sent from Calcutta to China, and nearly the same number of the Malwa opium from Bombay and Damaun. The total production of India experted to China, in 1844, was 21,526 chests from Bengal, and 18,321 from Bombay, in all 39,847 chests. The number of persons in China given to the consumption of opium was estimated, in 1837, at three millions, and the average quantity smoked by each individual is about 174 grains a day. The consumption of Indian opium (ndependent of Turkey opium) in China has gradually increased from 3,210 chests in 1817, to 9,969 chests in 1827, and about 40,000 chests in 1837, valued at 25,000,000 dollars. Now it has reached 50,000 to 60,000 chests. Notwithstanding severe penal- ties, imprisonment, temporary banishment, and even death, the number of those who smoke opium has multiplied exceedingly, and the contraband trade in the drug is carried on to so large an extent, that it 1s to be feared the practice will become general throughout the empire. According to Mr. HE. Thornton’s statistics, the production of opium in Bengal has increased cent. per cent. in the last ten years :-— Ieee KD eal ah waa AR Galood 435 ation os hy Seolanohos bos 17,858 PBA AAD ete i Ae oh eaten homealone atevent socks lel cue tcl stevie 18,827 « THE POPPY. 581 “nleid ) po ghd See at eae eee 18,362 ee OMS ook ce 0's 15,104 of Lani? (Eee eee ee eee 18,350 nF’ | a ee eeiene eer eee 21,437 i Peis secs ARE RAR IR ee 21,648 ee i os oa ee ekente fake 30,515 pears MER PS De ee ws 36,000 The chest is about 140 lbs., so that the production in 1849 was 5,040,000 Ibs. According to the statements annexed to the statistical papers relating to India, the income from the opium monopoly is obtained by two principal means, namely, by a system of allowing the cul- tivation of the poppy by the natives of British India on account of Government, and by the impost of a heavy duty on opium grown and manufactured in foreign states, but brought in transit to a British port for exportation. The former system obtains in Bengal, the latter in Bombay. According to the statements pub- lished, Bengal opium yields a profit of 7s. 6d. per lb., whilst the duty derived in the Bombay presidency is only equal to a surplus of 5s. 8d. perlb. By these means the total revenue realised by the opium monopoly, in Bengal and Bombay, in the year 1849-50 yielded £3,309,637. Lest objection should be taken to this large annual revenue derived from the cultivation of a drug, the unnatural consumption of which would be suppressed under any other European govern- ment, the Court of Directors is very anxious to show the benefit which the country derives from this monopoly; they say “that as the price of opium is almost wholly paid by foreign consumers, and the largest return is obtained with the smallest outlay, the best interests of India would appear to be consulted.’ Nobody at all acquainted with the financial resources and the capabilities of any country, would hazard such an assertion. By paying cultivators for the restricted growth of the poppy a price hardly yielding more than the average rate of wages to the common laborer, I do not see in what way the best interests of India are consulted, nor is it clear that the population derives any benefit by being prohibited altogether from manufacturing a drug, which may be brought from another country in transitu on the payment of a heavy duty ; unless indeed the Court of Directors are of opinion that in the event of the abolition of the monopoly, the people of the country would have to make up for the loss of the revenue by submitting to some other mode of direct or indirect taxation. There is an inconsis- tency in the statements of the Court of Directors, which is abso- lutely amusing. “The free cultivation of the poppy,’ say the Directors, “would doubtless lead to the larger outlay of capital, and to greater economy in production ; but the poppy requires the richest description of land, and its extended cultivation must therefore displace other products.’”? How very considerate on the part of the Directors, but how strongly at variance with facts, since all the fear of displacing other products, and all this appropriation of the richest description of land for other purposes has not pre- ea 582 DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. vented the Indian Government, within less than ten years, from more than doubling the cultivation of the poppy and the manufacture of opium. The Directors tell us that the heavy transit duty charged at Bombay is to discourage production, but they do not say whether that discouragement applies, as one would imagine, to those foreign districts which have to pay the transit duty for their pro- duction. If so, the assertion is again at variance with facts, because in a subsequent statement they say, “It is stated that neither the price of opium, nor the extent of cultivation in Malwa, has been affected by the great enhancement of the pass duty, which has taken place since 1845.” The following will show that the Company loses no opportunity of applying the screw :— The subjugation of Scinde afforded opportunity for the levy of a higher rate. Down to the period of that event, a large portion of the opium of Malwa had been conveyed through Scinde to Kurrachee, and thence onward to the Portu- guese ports of Diu and Demaun. That route is now closed, and it was reasonably expected that an advance might be made in the charge of passes without the risk of loss to the revenue from a diminished demand for them. The rate was accordingly increased in October, 1843, from 125 to 200 rupees per chest. Upon the principle that it was desirable to fix the price at the highest amount that coull be levied, without forcing the trade into other channcls, a further increase was made in 1845, when it was determined that the charge should be 300 rupees per chest. Under the like views it was, in 1847, raised to 400 rupees per chest. The company was perfectly correct, for though the quantity of opium did not increase, the revenue did; and whilst in 1840-41 16,773 chests yielded an inconie of only 22,046,452 rupees— 16,500 chests brought in 1849-50 actually 72,094,835 rupees into the coffers of the Government of Bombay. But the people of India earned not a pice by it, and those richest descriptions of land, which it was so desirable to reserve for other produce than the poppy, remained barren. The white variety of the poppy is that which is exclusively brought under cultivation for the production of the drug in India and ivypt. For the successful culture of opium a mild climate, plentiful irrigation, a rich soil, and diligent husbandry are indis- pensable. One acre of well cultivated ground will yield from 70 lbs. to 100 lbs. of “chick,” or inspissated juice, the price of which varies from 6s. to 12s. a pound, so that an acre will yield from £20 to £60 worth of opium at one crop. Three pounds of chick will produce one pound of opium, from a third to a fifth of the weight being lost in evaporation. A chief chemical feature, which ~ distinguishes Bengal opium from that of Turkey and Egypt, is the large proportion which the narcotine in the former bears to the morphia, and this proportion is constant in all seasons. It isa matter of importance to ascertain whether the treatment which the juice receives after its collection can influence in any way the amount of alkaloids, or of the other priuciples in opium. In Turkey it is the custom to beat up the juice with saliva, in Malwa it is immersed as collected in linseed oil, whilst in Bengal it is re THE POPPY. 583 brought to the required consistence by mere exposure to the air in the shade, though, at the same time, all the watery particles of the juice that will separate are drained off, and used in making Lewah, or inferior opium. The lands selected for poppy cultivation are generally situated in the vicinity of villages, where the facilities for manuring and irrigation are greatest. In such situations and when the soil is rich, it is frequently the practice with the cultivators to take a erop of Indian corn, maize, or vegetables off the ground during the rainy season, and after the removal of this in September, to dress and manure the ground for the subsequent poppy sowings. In other situations, however, and when the soil is not rich, the poppy crop is the only one taken off the ground during the year, and from the commencement of the rains in June or July, until October, the ground is dressed and cleaned by successive plough- ings and weedings, and manured to the extent which the means of the cultivator will permit. In the final preparation of the land in October and November, the soil, after being well loosened and turned up by the plough, is crushed and broken down by the pas- sage of a heavy log of wood over its surface, and it is in this state ready for sowing. | The amount of produce from various lands differs considerably. Under very favorable circumstances of soil and season, as much as twelve or even thirteen seers (26 lbs.) of standard opium may be obtained from each biggah of 27,225 square feet. Under less favorable conditions the turn-out may not exceed three or four seers, but the usual amount of produce varies from six to eight seers per biggah. The chemical examination of different soils in connectivn with their opium-producing powers, presents a field for profitable and interesting inquiry ; nor is the least important part of the investi- gation that which has reference to variations in the proportions of the alkaloids (especially the morphia and narcotine), which occur in opium produced in various localities. That atmospheric causes exert a certain influence in determining these variations is probable; that they influence the amount of produce, and cause alterations in the physical appearance of the drug, are facts well known to every cultivator: thus the effect of dew is to facilitate the flow of the juice from the wounded capsule, rendering it abundant in quantity, but causing it at the same time to be dark and liquid. An easterly wind (which in India is usually concomitant with a damp state of atmosphere), retards the flow of juice, and renders it dark and liquid. A moderate westerly wind, with dew at night, form the atmospheric conditions most favorable for collection, both as regards the quantity and quality of the exudation. If, however, . the westerly wind (which is an extremely dry wind) blow violently, the exudation from the capsules is sparing. Whilst the effect of meteorological phenomena in producing the above results are well marked, their action in altering the relative proportions of the chemical constituents of the juice of the poppy plant is more ob- 584 DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. scure, and it is highly probable that the chemical composition of the soil plays a most important part in this respect. Dr. O’Shaugh- nessy is certainly the most accomplished chemist who had ever, in India, turned his attention to the subject, and he has published the results of his analyses of specimens of opium from the different divisions of the Behar Agency, which are worthy of much attention. in the opium from eight divisions of the agency, he found the quantity of morphia to range from 14 grains to 34 grains per cent., and the amount of the narcotine to vary from ¢ grain to 3} grains per cent., the consistence of the various specimens being between 75 and 79 per cent. In the opium from the Hazareebaugh dis- trict (the consistence of the drug being 77), he found 43 per cent. of morphia, and 4 per cent. narcotine ; whilst from a specimen of Patna-garden opium he extracted no less than 102 per cent. of morphia, and 6 per cent. of narcotine, the consistence of the dru being 87. With respect to the last specimen, Dr. O’Shaughnessy mentions that the poppies which produced it were irrigated three times during the season, and that no manure was employed upon the soil. It is much to be regretted that these interesting results were not coupled with an analysis of the soils from which the speci- mens were produced, for to chemical variations in it must be attributed the widely different results recorded above. Opium as a medicine has been used from the earhest ages ; but when it was first resorted to as a luxury, it is impossible to state, though it is not at all improbable that this was coeval with its employment in medicine, for how often do we find that, from having been first administered as a sedative for pain, it has been continued until it has taken the place of the evil. Such must have happened from the earliest aves, as it happens daily in the present; but as a national vice it was not known until the spread of Islam- ism, when, by the tenets of the Prophet, wine and fermented liquors being prohibited, it came in their stead along with the bang or hasch-schash (made from hemp), coffee, and tobacco. From the Arabs the inhabitants of the Eastern Archipelago most probably imbibed their predilection for opium, although their particular manner of using it has evidently been derived from the Chinese. China, where at present it is so extensively used, cannot be said to have indulged Jong in the vice. Previous to 1767 the number of chests imported did not exceed 200 yearly; now the average is 50,000 to 60,000. In 1773 the East India Company made their first venture in opium, and in 1796 it was declared a crime to sinoke opium. In different countries we find opium consumed in different. ways. In England it is either used in a solid state, made into pills, or a tincture in the shape of laudanum. Insidiously it is given to children under a variety of quack forms, such as “ Godfrey’s cordial,’ &c. In India the pure opium is either dissolved in water aud so used, or rolled into pills. It is there a common practice to give it to children when very young, by mothers, who require to work and cannot at the same time nurse their offspring. In China OPIUM. 585 it is either smoked or swallowed in the shape of Tye. In Bally it is first adulterated with China paper, and then rolled up with the fibres of a particular kind of plantain. It is then inserted into a hole made at the end of a small bamboo, and smoked. In Java and Sumatra it is often mixed with sugar and the ripe fruit of the plantain. In Turkey it is usually taken in pills, and those who do so, avoid drinking any water after swallowing them, as this is said to produce violent colics; but to make it more palatable, it is sometimes mixed with syrups or thickened juices; in this form, however, it is less intoxicating, and resembles mead. It is then taken with a spoon, or is dried in small cakes, with the words “‘ Mash Allah,” or “ Word of God,’ imprinted on them. When the dose of two or three drachms a day no longer produces the beatific intoxication, so eagerly sought by the opiophagi, they mix the opium with corrosive sublimate, increasing the quantity of the latter till it reaches ten grains a day. It then acts as a stimulant. In addition to its being used in the shape of pills, it is frequently mixed with hellebore and hemp, and forms a mixture known by the name of majoon, whose properties are different from that of opium, and may account in a great measure for the want of similitude in the effect of the drug on the Turk and the Chinese. In Singapore and China the refuse of the chandu, the prepared extract of opium, is all used by the lower classes. This extract, when consumed, leaves a refuse, consisting of charcoal, empyreu- matic oil, some of the salts of opium, and a part of the chandu not consumed. Now one ounce of chandu gives nearly half an ounce of this refuse, called Tye, or Tinco. This is smoked and swallowed by the poorer classes, who only pay half the price of chandu for it. When smoked it yields a further refuse called samshing, and this is even used by ‘the still poorer, although it contains avery small quantity of the narcotic principle. Samshing, however, is never smoked, as it cannot furnish any smoke, but is swallowed, and that not unfrequently mixed with arrack. Preparation.—In Asia Minor, men, women, and children, a few days after the flower falls from the poppies, proceed to the fields, and with a shell scratch the capsules, wait twenty-four hours, and collect the tears, which amount to two or three grains in weight from each capsule. These being collected and mixed with the scrapings of the shells, worked up with saliva and surrounded by dried leaves, it is then sold, but, generally speaking, not without being still more adulterated with cow’s dung, sand, gravel, the petals of flowers, &c. Different kinds of opium are known in the markets of Europe and Asia. The first in point of quality is the Smyrna, known in commerce as the Turkey or Levant. It occurs in irregular, rounded, flattened masses, seldom exceeding two pounds in weight, and surrounded by leaves of a kind of sorrel; the quantity of morphia said to be derived from average specimens is eight per cent. Second, Constantinople Opium, two kinds of which are found in the market, one in very voluminous irregular cakes, which are flattened like the Smyrna ; this is a good quality. The other kind is in small, flattened, regular cakes, from two to two and a half inches in diameter, and covered with the leaves of the poppy; the quantity of morphia is very uncertain in this description of opium, sometimes mounting as high as 15 per cent., and sometimes descending so low as six, showing the great variety in the quality of the drug. ‘ Third, Egyptian Opium, occursin round flattened cakes, about 3 inches in 586 DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. diameter, and covered externally with the vestiges of some leaf. It is dis- tinguished from the others by its reddish color, resembling ‘“ Socotrine Aloes.’’ The quantity of morphia in this is inferior to the preceding. It has one quality which, when adulterated, ought to be known, that is amusty smell. By keeping it does not blacken like the other kinds. Fourth, English Opium, is in flat cakes or balls enveloped in leaves. It resembles fine Egyptian opium more than any other kind. Its color is that of hepatic aloes, and in the quantity of morphia it is inferior to the preceding, but in the strength of the mass it is said by one of its most extensive cultivators to be superior. Fifth, French, and sixth German Opium, require no particular remarks. By a recent notice I find the French are cultivating the poppy in Algeria, from which they get opium giving a small per centage of morphia. Seventh, Trebizond or Persian Opiwm, is sometimes met with of a very inferior quality in the form of cylindrical sticks, which by pressure have become angular. Eighth, Indian Opium, divided into four kinds, Cutch, Malwa, Patna and Benares. Of these Cutcb is but little known or cultivated. It occurs in small cakes covered with leaves, and its color is much inferior to Smyrna. Malwa opium is to be met with of two kinds. The inferior is in flattened cakes, without any external covering, dull, opaque, blackish brown externally, internally some- what darker, and soft. Its color is somewhat like the Smyrna, but less power- ful, and with a slight smoky smell. Superior Malwa is in square cakes, about three inches in length and one inch thick. It has the appearance of a well prepared, shining, dry, pharmaceutical extract; its color is blackish brown, its odor less powerful than Smyrna; it is not covered by petals as the following kinds are, but smeared with oil; it is then rubbed with pounded petals. The Behar, Patna, and Benares Opium, being strictly in the hands of Govern- ment, no adulteration can take place, without a most extensive system of fraud; but it will not be uninteresting to trace the progress of the opium from the hands of the natives, to the condition in which it is delivered to the public by the Government. From the commencement of the hot season to the middle of the rains the Government is ready to receive opium, which is brought by the natives every morning, in batches, varying in quantities from twenty seers toa maund. The examining officer into each jar thrusts his examining rod, which consists of a slit bambco, and, by experience, he can so judge of the qualities of the speci- mens before him, which are sorted into lots of No. 1 to No. 4 quality. Opium of the first quality is of a fire chesnut color, aromatic smell, and dense consis- tence. It is moderately ductile, and, when the mass is torn, breaks with a deeply notched fracture, with sharp needle-like fibres, translucent and ruby red at the edges. It is readily broken down under water, and the solution at first filters of a sherry color, which darkens as the process proceeds. One hundred grains of this yield an extract to cold distilled water of from 35 to 45, and at the temperature of 212 degs., leaves from 20 to 28 per cent., having a con- sistency of 70 to 72, the consistence of the factory. The second quality is inferior to the first, and the third quality is possessed of the following properties, black paste, of a very heavy smell, drops from the examining rod, gives off from 40 to 50 per cent. of moisture, and contains a large quantity of ‘“‘ Pasewa;’’ while the fourth or last number embraces all the kinds which are too bad to be used in the composition of the balls, com- prising specimens cf all varieties of color and consistence. This number is mixed with watcr, and only used as a paste to cement the covering of the balls. The three first qualities are emptied from their jars into large tanks, in which they are kept until the supply of the season has been obtained. The opium is then removed and exposed to the air on shallow wooden frames, until it becomes of the consistency of from 69 to 70, when it is given to the cake maker, who guesses to a drachm the exact weight, and envelops the opium in its covering of petals, cemented by a covering of quality number 4. The balls are then weighed and stored, to undergo a thorough ventilation and drying. Formerly the covering of the balls was composed of the leaves of tobacco; but oe ee OPIUM. 587 the late Mr. Flemming intreduced the practice of using the petals of the poppy, which was such an imprevement that the Court of Directors presented him with 50,000 rupees. The balls, forty in number, are packed in a mango wood case, which consists of two stories with twenty pigeon holes in each, lined with lath and surrounded by the dried leaves of the poppy. Sometimes these balls are so soft as to burst their skins, and much of the liquid opium running out, is lost. In 1823, many of the chests of Patna lost five catties from this cause, and to this day we have the same thing continuing to occur. Patna chests are covered with bullock hides, Benares with gunnies. Dr. Impey, staff surgeon at Poona, who resided in Malwa from 1843 to 1846, published at Bombay, in 1848, a valuable treatise on the cultivation, preparation, and adulteration of Malwa opium. It was some time before he obtained the permission of the East India Company to publish the result of the experience he had acquired in Malwa, and as Government inspector of opium at Bombay. It is the most practical treatise I have yet met with, although a very elaborate, useful paper, by Mr. Little, surgeon, of Singapore, appears in the 2nd vol. of the “Journal of the Indian Archipelago,’ from which I have quoted the preceding remarks. Mr. Little furnishes a complete history of the drug, and the physical and mental effects resulting from its habitual use. There are also some able remarks in Dr. O’Shaughnessy’s Bengal Dis- pensatory :— For the successful cultivation of opium, a mild climate, plentiful irrigation, a rich soil, and diligent husbandry, are indispensable. In reference to the first of these, Malwa is placed most favorably. The country is in general from 1,390 to 2,000 feet above the level of the sea: the mean temperature is mode- rate, and range of the thermometer small. Opium is always cultivated in ground near a tank or running stream, so as to be insured at all times of an abundant supply of water. The rich black loam, supposed to be produced by the decomposition of trap, and known by the name of cotton soil, is that pre- pared for opium. Though fertile and rich enough to produce thirty successive crops of wheat without fallowing. it is not sufficiently rich for the growth of the poppy until largely supplied with manure. There is, in fact, no crop known to the agriculturist, unless sugar cane, that requires so much care and labor as the poppy. The ground is first four times ploughed on four successive days, then carefully harrowed; when manure, at the rate of from eight to ten cart Inads an acre, is applied to it; this is scarcely half what is allowed a turnip erop at home. The crop is after this watered once every eight or ten days, the total number of waterings never exceeding nine inall. One beegah takes two days to soak thoroughly in the cold weather, and four as the hot season ap- proaches. Water applied after the petals drop from the’ flower, causes the whole to wither and decay. When the plants are six inches high, they are weeded and thinned, leaving about a foot and a-half betwixt each plant; in three months they reach maturity, and are then about four feet in height if well cultivated. The fuil-grown seed-pod measures three and a-half inches vertically, and two and a-half in horizontal diameter. Early in February and March the bleeding process commences. Three small lancet-shaped pieces of iron are bound together with cotton, about one-twelfth of an inch of the blade alone protruding, so that no discretion as to the depth of the wound to be in- flicted shall be left to the operator; and this is drawn sharply up from the top of the stalk at the base, to the summit of the pod. The sets of people are so arranged that each plant is bled all over once every three or four days, the bleedings being three or four times repeated on each plant. This operation always begins to be performed about three or four o’clock in the afternoon, the hottest part of the day. The juice appears almost immediately on the 588 DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. wound being inflicted, in the shape of a thick gummy milk, which is thickly covered with a brownish pellicle. The exudation is greatest over night, when the incisions are washed and kept open by the dew. The opium thus derived is scraped off next morning, with a blunt iron tool resembling a cleaver in miniature. Here the work of adulteration begins—the scraper being passed heavily over the seed-pod, so as to carry with it a considerable portion of the beard, or pubescence, which contaminates the drug and increases its apparent quantity. The work of scraping begins at dawn, and must be continued till ten o’clock; during this time a workman will collect seven or eight ounces of what is called ‘chick.’ The drug is next thrown into an earthen vessel, and covered over or drowned in linseed oil, at the rate of two parts of oil to one of chick, so as to prevent evaporation. This is the second process of adul- teration—the ryot desiring to sell the drug as much drenched with oil as possi- ble, the retailers at the same time refusing to purchase that which is thinner than half dried glue. One acre of well cultivated ground will yield from 70 to 100 pounds of chick. The price of chick varies from three to six rupees a pound, so that an acre will yield from 200 to 600 rupees worth of opium at one crop. Three pounds of chick will produce about two pounds of opium, from a third to a fifth of the weight being lost in evaporation. It now passes into the hands of the Bunniah, who prepares it and brings it to market. From twenty-five to fifty pounds having been collected, is tied up in parcels in double bags of sheeting cloth, which are suspended from the ceilings so as to avoid air and light, while the spare linseed oil is allowed to drop through. This operation is completed in a week or ten days, but the bags are allowed to remain for a month or six weeks, during which period the last of the oil that can be separated comes away; the rest probably absorbs oxygen and becomes thicker, asin paint. This process occupies from April to June or July, when the rain begins. The bags are next taken down and their contents carefully emptied into large vats from ten to fifteen feet in diameter, and six or eight inches thick. Here it is mixed together and worked up with the hands five or six hours, until it has acquired an uniform color and consistence throughout, become tough and capable of being formed into masses. This process 1s peculiar to Malwa. It is now made up into balls of from eight to ten ounces each, these being thrown, as formed, into a basket full of the chaff of the seeds pod. It is next spread out on ground previously covered with leaves and stalks of the poppy; here it remains for a week or so, when it is turned over and left further to consolidate, until hard enough to bear packing. It is ready for weighing in October or November, and is then sent to market. It is next packed in chests of 150 cakes, the total cost of the drug at the place of pro- duction being about fourteen rupees per chest, including all expenses. About 20,000 chests are annually sent from Malwa, at a prime cost charge of two lacs and 80,000 rupees. It may easily be supposed that manipulations so numerous, complex, and tedious, as those described, give the most ample opportunities for the adulteration to which the nature of the drug tempts the fraudulent dealer. In order to enable the cultivator to carry on his agricultural operations, he receives from time to time certain advances, the amount of which reaches in the ageregate to about one-half of the value of the estimated out-turn of pro- duce. If the land has been under cultivation in previous seasons, its average produce is known; if it be new land, and considered by the Sub-Deputy Agent as eligible, then the cultivator, in addition to the usual advances, receives an advance of so much per biggah to enable him to bestow a certain amount of extra care in tilling and dressing the soil. The first advance is made on the completion of the agreement or bundobust, and this takes place in September and October. The second advance is made on the conpletion of the sowings in November, and the final or Chook payment is made imme- diately after the delivery and weighing of the produce. Nothing therefore can be fairer to the cultivator than this system of advances; he is subject to no sort of exaccion, in the shape of interest or commission on the money which he receives, and it puts within his power the certain means of making a fair profit by the exercise of common care and honesty. It is an established rule in the TOBACCO. 589 Agency that the cultivator’s accounts of one season shall be definitively settled before the commencement of the next, and that no outstanding balances siall remain over. When a cultivator has from fraud neglected to bring produce to cover his advances, the balances due by him are at once recovered, if necessary by legal means; whereas, if he can satisfactorily show that he has become a defaulter from calamity and uncontrollable circumstances, and that the liquida- tion of his debt is placed entirely beyond his power, his case is then made the subject of report to the Government by the Agent, with the request that the debt may be written off to profit and loss. ‘These provisions are most wise, for outstanding balanc:s may be made the means of oppression, and to their opera- tion may be traced a considerable amount of litigation and agrarian crime in the indigo districts of lower Bengal. it is clear that when such balances become so large that the cultivator cannot discharge them, he is no longer a free agent, but is perfectly subservient to the will of his creditor, for whom he must culti- vate whether he d-sire itor not. Such burdens may even be handed down from father to son. The ‘airness of the Agency system, and the justice with which the cultivators are treated, are best evidenced by the readiness with which they come forward to cultivate, and also by the comparative rarity of agrarian crime, arising out of matters connected with the poppy cultivation. Opium is grown to some extent in Egypt; 39,875 lbs. were produced in 1831, and sold at two dollars a pound. At the end of October, after the withdrawal of the Nile waters the seed, mixed with a portion of pulverised earth, is sown in a strong soil, in furrows; after fifteen days the plant springs up, and in two months has the thickness of a Turkish pipe, and a height of four feet; the stalk 1s covered with long, oval leaves, and the fruit, which is greenish, resembles a small orange. Hyery morning before sunrise, in its progress to maturity, small incisions are made in the sides of the fruit, from which a white liquor distils almost immediately, which is collected in a vessel ; it soon becomes black and thickish, and is rolled into balls, which are covered with the washed leaves of the plant; in this state it is sold. ‘The seeds are crushed for lamp oil, and the plant is used for fuel. A plant known in Jamaica under the name of bull hoof yields a narcotic which has been administered successfully in the shape of tincture and a syrup, instead of opium. ‘This is the Muracwja ocellata, or Passiflora muracuja, of Swartz, an elegant climber, bearing bright scarlet blossoms. There is another species, JZ. orbiculata, found in Hayti and other islands, which may be ex- pected to partake more or less of the properties of the former. The flowers are the parts most commonly employed. THE TOBACCO PLANT. SEVERAL species of Nicotiwm furnish tobacco; that chiefly used in Kurope is procured from VV. Tabacum and its numerous varieties, a plant naturally mhabiting the hotter parts of North and South America. The popular narcotic furnished by tobacco is probably in more extensive use than any other, and its only rivals are opium and the betel-nut and leaf of the Hast. The herb for smoking was brought to England from Tobago, in the West Indies, or from Tobasco, in Mexico (whence the name), by Sir Ralph 59) DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. Lane, in 1586. Seeds were shortly after introduced from the same quarter. “Tobacco, as used by man,” says Du Tour, “gives pleasure to the savage and the philosopher, to the inhabitant of the burning desert and the frozen zone; in short, its use, either in powder, to chew, or to smoke, is universal; and for no other reason than a sort of convulsive motion (sneezing) produced by the first, and a degree of intoxication by the two last modes of use.” Tobacco is an annual plant, attaining a height of six feet, having dingy red, funnel-shaped flowers, and viscid leaves. The leaves are the officinal part, and their active properties depend on a peculiar, oily-like alkaloid, called Nicotin. The flavor and strength of tcbacco depend on climate, cultivation, and the mode of manufacture. That most esteemed by the smoker is Havanna tobacco, but the Virginian is the strongest. The small Havanna cigars are prepared from the leaves of Nico- tiwum repanda, Syrian and Turkish tobacco from JV. rustica, and fine Shiraz tobacco from NV. persica. With the exception of the Macuba tobacco, which is cultivated in Martinique in a peculiar soil, the tobacco of Cuba is considered the finest in the world. That grown in the island of Trinidad is, how- ever, fully equal to it in quality, but all raised in the colony is generally consumed there, and is little known in the English market. This ought not to be the case, for no article would pay better. The Maryland is a very light tobacco, in thin yellow leaves ; that of Virginia is in large brown leaves, unctuous or somewhat gluey on the surface, having a smell very like the figs of Malaga; that of Havanna is in brownish lght leaves, of an agreeable and rather spicy smell,—it forms, as 1 have already stated, the best cigars. The Carolina tobacco is less unctuous than the Virginian, but in the United States it ranks next to the Mary- land. The shag tobacco is dried to the proper point upon sheets of copper, and is cut up by knife-edged chopping stamps. There are said to be four kinds of tobacco reared in Virginia, viz., the sweet-scented, which is considered the best; the bg and little, which follows next; then the Frederick ; and, lastly, the one and all, the largest kind, and producing most in point of quantity. According to Loudon (“ Encyclo. of Plants”), there are fourteen species of this genus, besides a few varieties. Lindley, however, enumerates 31, but many of these are mere showy species, adapted to flower gardens. I shall therefore follow chiefly Loudon’s classification— 1. NV. Tabacum, a native of several parts of America, but principally known as Virginian tobacco, having a stem rising from four to six feet or more in height, bearing pink flowers. Of this there are three chief varieties known in America by the popular names of Orinoco, Broad-leaved and Narrow-leaved. Lindley enumerates eight varieties of N. Tabacum. 2. N. macrophylla, or large-leaved tobacco, an ornamental annual, also with pink flowers, native of America, which rises to the height of six feet. TOBACCO. 591 3. N. fruticosa, or shrubby tobacco, an ornamental evergreen shrub, native of China, with pink blossoms, which grows to about taree fect. 4, N. undulata, or suaveolens, sweet-scented or } New Holland tobacco, a green house perennial, native of New South Wales, with white flowers, which is only two feet high. 5. \N. rustica.—The commor green or English tobacco, an annual plant, native of America, producing white flowers, which seldom grows higher than three feet. 6. WN. paniculair, or panicled tobacco, an annual plant bearing greenish yellow flowers, native of Peru, rises to the height of three feet. 7. WN. glutinosa, or ¢lammy-leaved tobacco, also an annual plant, native of Peru, growing to the height of four feet, with bright scarlet flowers. 8. WN. plunbay nifolia, or curled-leaved tobacco, an ornamental deciduous annual, native oi America, with white blossoms, rising to the height of two feet. 9. N. pusilla, or primrose-leaved tobacco, an ornamental deciduous biennial, with white flowers, native of Vera Cruz, rising to three feet. 10. WN. guadrivalvis, four-valved, or Missouri tobacco, an ornamental annual, native of North America, with white flowers, seldom growing higher than two feet. 11. N. nana, or rocky mount tobacco, a curious greenhouse annual, native of North America, with white blossoms, rising only three inches high. 12. N. Langsdorfii, or Langsdorft’s tobacco, an ornamental annual, with greenish yellow flowers, native of Chili, reaching five feet high. 13. NV. cerinthoides, or honey-wort tobacco, an ornamental annual, with greenish yellow flowers, native country unknown. 14. NV. repanda, or Hayanna tobacco, an annual with white flowers, native of Cuba, rising two feet high. There are a few species, natives of the Province of Buenos Ayres, which may be particularised. NV. bonariensis, having white flowers ; AV. glauca, yellow- ish green flowers; -V. longiflora, white flowers ; ; and JV. viscosa, pink flowers. The important mineral substances presented in Havanna tobacco, examined by Hertung, are in 100 parts of ashes, SEMAN GCASH, (Ur Te a sv. 0: ous. 05st! c aie vo es 34°15 Salts of lime ...... 2 CTT ee OE eT 51°38 Wlaenesia* ....-.2.. Sea R RUA 3 ate ee eA e Tork cs 4:09 Phosphates nee en Se erate oui elt one ie Pre a Mesa t These substances were for the dk part insoluble in earth, and must have been dissolved during the growth of the crop. ANALYSIS OF FIVE SAMPLES OF TOBACCO. No: 1. No. 2. Nos: INor4=) Non oF Grown on argillaceous soil. Grown on calcareous soil. Pepieeees, | Se 29°08 30°67 9°68 9°36 10°37 Soda 3 Ae peas a 2°26 a —— — 36 Lime aS ae 27°67 24°79 49°28 49°44 39°53 Magnesia . - 7°22 8°57 14°58 15°59 15°04 Chloride of sodium . ‘91 5°95 4°61 3°20 6°39 Smignide of potassitim, = §2..52.° - eeasee 4°44 3°27 2°99 Phosphate of iron. 8°78 6°03 5°19 6°72 7°56 Sulphate of lime. 6°43 5°60 6°68 6°14 9-42 SLE 9 Gea ae 17°65 18°39 5°54 6°28 8°34 100° 100° 100° 100° 100: From the above it will be seen that on the argillaceous soil the tobacco contained a large quantity of alkalies and silica, while on the other hand, the lime, magnesia and chlorides were high in proportion, in the tobacco grown on calcareous soil. 529 DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. There is no doubt that the manure which coatains the largest proportion of alkaline carbonate, magnesia, lime aud gypsum, is that best adapted for tobacco. I give an analysis taken from Prof. Johnston’s “ Lectures,” (2nd edition) of the ash of the tobacco leaf and the composition of a special manure for tobacco :— Patasisecs ecw Bees 12.14 | Ali the ingredients which are SOMA iso.) cer aiies. 0.07 | necessary to replace 100 lbs. HEIVAC Wee c eae ee 45.90 of the ash of tobacco leaves Viaomesiay Pls. rece 13.09 are present in the following Chloride of sodium 3.49 mixture :-— Chloride of potassium 3.98 Bone dust, sulphuric acid 23 lbs. Phosphate of iron 5.48 Carbonate of potash (dry) 31 ,, Phosphate of lime ... 1.43 | Carbonate of soda (dry) Se 5, Sulphate of lime ... 6.35 Carbonate of Magnesia 26 ,, DiliGapen.ss ees tees 8.01 Carbonate of lime (chalk) 6U ,, 100.00 144 ,, The following is the result of an analysis of the fresh leaves of tobacco, by Posselt and Reimann (“ Mag. Pharm.” xxiv. xxv.) :— Nicotine. So525% eacie Gucui Ce wees eee 006 Wicotianine “.2..4 .e6 sss «seks cee ee eee 0-01 Extractive matter, slightly bitter ~ 52's asa oa erent 2°37 Gum, with a little malate of lime .. 2.5 eseeee 1:74 Green resin: Gis bs Sees eee eee eee G26 Vegetable albumen .... MP ates, = sr = 0°26 Substance analogous to gluten Misaodoo 5 235555 1°04 Malic acid . OT PEC CEI SOO Soo ae oc OdL Walnte chacimena... - ey ee 0°12 Sulphate of potash .... cs se sees ee ee cece eee ee 0°04 Giicndcet potassium ...... RPE 0:06 Potash combdired with malic sil ThEAE Spider as 0°90 Phosphate 0: HmM€ oes cece eee eee cere eee ee 0-16 Lime 1m union with malic nial execs bas oe U-24 SiliGa hei hice oc so cenien os SEE eee oneenee 0-U8 Woody fibre See 52 Rane ee ary a So 8 4:56 Water (traces of starch) . vec aes eins seo ete eet 100°1 Covell, in “ Silliman’s American Journal,’’ vol. vii., shows its components to have been but imperfectly represented in the above German analysis. He found in tobacco by chemical examination—1l, gum; 2, a viscid slime, equally soluble in water and ecenel: and “precipitable from both by subacetate of lead ; 3, tannin; 4, gallic acid; 5, chlorophyle (leaf green) ; 6, a green pulver ulent matter, which dissolves in boiling water, but falls down again when the water cools; 7, a yellow “oil, possessing the smell, taste and poisonous qualities of tobacco ; 8, a large quan- tity of a pale yellow resin; 9, nicotine; 10, a ‘white substance, analogous to morphia, Snibie in hot, nae hardly 3 in cold alcohol ; 1l1,a “beautiful orange red dye stuff, soluble only im acids; it deflagrates in the fire, and seems to possess neutral properties ; 12. nicotianine. According to Buchner, the seeds of tobacco TOBACCO. - 593 yield a pale yellow extract to alcohol, which contains a compound of nicotine and sugar. M. M. Henry and Boutron Charlard found in 100 parts of PAPER NT COs spare arene ic o1nicl clos scale eA ee bas oe 8°64 of nicotine. 3 ene Metra ee eager sacle 5°28 Virginia ....... Bae ie ee O00 Ree AOR a ccc pa oe eklaes ncaaeiggese 11°20 MRM CMa TEOTENO (1 9.4.0) ose) die aitvione's «ce ale aafasie 64 8:20 quantities from 12 to 19 times more than were obtained by Posselt and Reimann.—“ Ure’s Dictionary of Arts and Manu- factures.”’ The following are the results of a series of experiments made by Messrs. Cooper and Brande, for the purpose of ascertaining the quantity of soluble matter in eight samples of tobacco, of detecting the presence and quantity of sugar contained in them, and the nature and relative proportions of their inorganic con- stituents. An important paper on the state in which Nicotine exists In tobacco, and on the relative proportion of it furnished by different varieties of the plant, has been furnished by Schleessing (“ Ann. Ch. et Ph.’’ 3ieme Ser. XIX. 230). . ~ Oo 1 a cD) 3) zB a2 one 6a ee Qa 4 2/23 as as eS aide Ad x I bats! i] b>} ah od i=] = Ao] a5 by He rm 4 e| + = 5 os O-m Os oOo aa 3 ry S| cl ee al 26, IS a ag Cees = oFl/aaz $ aS) He eo On. 3) py ° a) wy va og Sos = [ 8 o § 1S) — ago BO] Ee qi » 2 ey ao oS oe © | ae =) 9 ae o Oui STS) a] Crepes o's s Gy qa mn gy SH 535 & F | oc Bs | OF ou og O58 ° 5 -» late! a iS -0% =| — + ~ O *“o Dm 8 - 9 YU or ¥ Oo =e oa ~— a fe] os +H q ao} e2\|83}oe8 | a7 A | Oa a!] Boe | Sea Sra e-5 |e Bo) So Soe} Pha! oog | 98-5 Seales | ea le econ weston ina cein. |Y ocase HO 5 won His O 5 ® 6 Py | a Au pay 4 ay ee ee | ee ee | leaf and stalk f 49 | 54° rth Zilia eo o “ae 2. Light Missouri 56 | 47-71 19-7 1:77 |12°83 | ol 0:75 | 1:50 leaf only eee ae 4 3. Dark Missouri 50 |52-4116-47 | 4:2 |10-14 | 2°13 nes vk Tobacco diied at 212 degs. leaf and stalk whit e¢ Sees Pissourt } 51 | 50-6/13-8 | 217 | 8-73 | 29 | 0-86 | 0-71 leaf only j a ai 5. Light Virginia ; : ; : ; ME: eee 51°5| 53:1 ie ae aril Gem ee ee . ao eae hite 6. Light Virginia - ; bie : : ? : ee only \ 54° | 46-1 197 20 | 6.86] 3:11 | 1:045| 2-09 7. Dark Virginia } ; : ara) : ‘ ; en ae | 48°5| 51-8 a 4:8 | 840 | 1:5 ou sats 8. Dark Virginia : ; : j : ; mea 52 | 49-8 es 263 | 820! 1:7 | 1:46 | 2:93 594 DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. 1. The samples were dried and the woody fibre and extract were also dried at 212 degs. The watery infusions of all contained ammoniacal salts. The salts from the ash, which were soluble in water, consisted of sulphates, car- bonates, phosphates, and chlorides; the bases being potassa and lime. The solution by hydrochloric acid contained lime, alumina, phosphate of lime, and oxide of iron. 3. Contained oxide of manganese in small quantity; sulphates in watery solution of ash abundant. Hydrochloric solution contained an abundance of lime. 4, A trace of manganese; a trace only of phosphoric acid in watery solution. 5. Contained abundance of oxide of manganese. 6. Abundance of oxide of manganese. 7. A mere trace of oxide of manganese, and a trace of oxide of iron; only a trace of alumina. 8. A trace of oxide of manganese; quantity of oxide of iron very great ; | only a trace of alumina. In rich loams, where the solution of the minerals of the soil is rapid, and where 10 to 20 per cent. of vegetable matter is in- corporated in the earth, tobacco may be obtained for many years, but it is always an exhausting crop. It kas been stated that 170 lbs. of mineral matter are removed in less than three months from one acre of land, by a crop of tobacco. This is very much more than wheat or other grains abstract from the soil in eight or nine months. Tobacco is now very extensively cultivated in France and other European countries, in the Levant, the East and West Indies ; and a little is grown at the Cape and in the Australian Settle- ments. A good deal of tobacco is raised in Mexico, but only for home consumption, as its export is prohibited. It forms an article of culture in Brazil and some of the South American republics, and is grown to asmall extent along the Western shores of Africa. It is from North America, however, that we derive the bulk of our supplies of this great article of commerce, which, with cotton, forms the chief agricultural wealth of the United States. In 1821, the tobacco exported from the Brazils amounted to 29,192,000 lbs., but its cultivation was greatly injured by the siege of the capital in 1822-23. Fresh seed was subsequently obtained from Cuba, and in 1885 the exports were 6,051,040 Ibs. 131 cases of Princeza snuff were shipped from Bahia to Lisbon, in 1835; about 60,000 lbs. per annum of this snuff being now manufactured at Bahia, with the aid of two steam-engines. The exports of tobacco from Bahia increased from 2,048,000 lbs. in 1833, to 6,051,040 lbs. in 1835. The average shipments are about 21,000 bales and rolls. | The army of smokers in Great Britain and Ireland consume yearly about six millions of pounds worth of tobacco. The duty alone paid upon snuff and tobacco for the people of Great Britain, averages four-and-a-half millions sterling a year! The quantity consumed—smoked, snufied, or chewed—during the same period, is about 28 millions of pounds weight, or about four pounds weight per annum for eyery male adult. Ireland annually pays not less ——a— s- i TOBACCO. 595 than £300,000 of duty on tobacco and snuff, and only about £30,000 on coffee. For every pound of coffee that the Irish people use, they smoke away about four pounds of tobacco. North America produces annually upwards of 200 million pounds. The combustion of the mass of vegetable material used in this kingdom would yield about 340 million pounds of carbonic acid gas; so that the yearly produce of carbonic acid gas from tobacco smoking alone cannot be less than 1,000,000,000 lbs.— a large contribution to the annual demand for this gas made upon the atmosphere for the vegetation of the world. Hence- forth let no one twit the smoker with idleness and unimportance. Every pipe is an agricultural furnace,—every smoker a manu- facturer of vegetation,—the consumer of a weed that he may rear more largely his own provisions. In the year 1842, 605,000,000 of cigars were made in the German Commercial Union. In 1839, the revenue on tobacco in this country was about £3,600,000. Of this it has been estimated eleven-twelfths are drawn from the working classes, and one-twelfth from the richer classes. The following is a calculation of the consumption of tobacco per head of the population, estimated from the number of pounds on which duty was paid :— Consumption per head. Rate of duty. Ozs. 1s. 7 3-10d. England en od Tedsce f ecteeeeee te 2 Pees. ..c. 25. 2 13-20. Coes ars Lee OF. mame ot. ..2. 4s. Od. rs epee ssvauaeoeiek aleAD A oo os nies 3s. Od. De ae RI ee hp 2) tee... os. - 8-10d. apts piacere le Fo) 22 le Ae 33s. 1 4-5d. ae Za Thus it will be seen the consumption is materially affected by the rate of duty. A memorial presented to the First Lord of the Treasury a few years ago, by the American Chamber of Commerce, and signed by Mr. Thomas Todd, the chairman, furnishes some valuable in- formation, and I am therefore tempted to give it entire :— The American Chamber of Commerce of Liverpool desire respectfully to bring under the consideration of her Majesty’s Government the impolicy of the present high rate of duty on foreign tobacco, and the benefit to commerce, as well as to the revenue, which would arise from such a reduction as would remove the temptation now held out to the smuggler. The cost of tobacco, including freight and all charges, is from 3d. to 4d. per lb., and the duty is 3s. per lb., being 900 per cent. on the value. A duty so enormously disproportioned to the cost offers an irresistible premium to the illicit trader ; for the'expense of smuggling tobacco by the cargo, including the first cost, does not exceed 93d. per lb., and it has been ascertained that the smuggler receives 6d. per lb. less than the duty, or 2s. 6d. per lb., which yields him a clear piofit of 1s. 84d. per lb., to the injury not only of the revenue, but of the fair trader. The effect of this heavy duty in diminishing the consumption of duty-paid tobacco is further exemplified by the fact that, while all other articles of general consumption have progressively increased with the increase of the population, tobacco alone forms an exception, as will appear from the following :— 292 596 DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. CoMPARATIVE SCALE OF PoPULATION AND CoNSUMPTION OF TEA, COFFEE, AND TOBACCO, IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND, COMPILED FROM Par- LIAMENTARY PAPERS. Population. Tea. Coffee. Tobacco. 1801 16,338,102 : pice hy ood Od perdi: 19d. per 1b Duty, DDOLE TIER 125 perect. 1% i ee ct. Lbs., 23,163,999 871,846 16,895,752 1811: 18,547,720 Duty } 96 per cent. 8d. per Ib. 263d. per lh. Lbs., 24,461,308 6,895,619 21,376,370 1821 21,193,458 Duty, 96a100 perct. 12d. per lb. 4s. per lb. Lbs., 26,043,257 7,598,001 1,823,365 1831 24,971,763 Duty 96a100 per ct. 6d. per lb. 3s. per lb. Lbs., 30,648,348 22,740,627 19,418,941 1841 96 855,928 Duty, 263d. per lb. _—‘ 6d. per lb. 3s. per Ib. Lbs., 36,396,073 28,420980 22,094,772 The consumption of tobacco in the island of Great Britain, excluding Ireland; and the duty thereon, were in Consumption. Duty. LS OW pees ceosecteoees 10 014-998 hss ee pee: Sere (ls a U3) EBs emery eres 14,923,243) oo 2 cee eee 2s. 23d. USDA ge eens otecsemnaes 12,983,1983.,,., |syasesreecteeeee 4s. Od. US SH Wie sae wtiscssicres 15,330,018 35-4 Sheer 3s. Od. Sol aeeinear cceieee eee 16,083,593 ,, rere css Lele USB less Ate Man Secaeine 28,062,841 — > =) ceeeeeeeseees ds. Od. In the last two periods five per cent is added to all the duties. Thus, while the consumption of tea and coffee has increased even beyond the ratio of the population, the consumption of tobacco has decreased. This table also exemplifies the greater productiveness of a low duty com- pared with a high one; for instance, coffee in 1801, at 1s. 7d. per lb., yielded £77,654; in 1821, at 1s. per lb., £379,659; and, in 1841, at 6d. per lb., £710,524; tobacco in 1821, at 4s. per lb., yielded £3,164,673, and 1841, at 3s. per lb., £3,314,215. But the difference in duty in the latter case was not sufficient to curtail the profits of the smuggler to any material extent. Cigars afford a remarkable example of the amount of duty being increased by diminishing the rate. In 1828, when the duty was 18s. per lb., duty was paid on 8,600 lbs. only, yielding £7,740. In 1830, when the duty was reduced to 9s. per lb., duty was paid on 66,0001bs., yielding £29,700; and such has been the increase of consumption, that, in 1841, duty was paid on 213,613 lbs., yielding £100,899. We would further illustrate the position by the following facts : In 1798, Ireland, with a population of 4,000,000, consumed 8,000,000 Ibs. of tobacco, and now, with more than double the population, she consumes about 3,000,000 lbs. of tobacco less than at the former period. The reason is obvious: in 1789 the duty was 8d. per lb; now itis 3s. In 1798, England and Scotland, with a population of 10,000,000, consumed 10,000,000 lbs. of tobacco, being one half of the relative consumption of Ireland at the same period; the duty in England and Scotland being then 1s. 7d. per Jb., and im Ireland only 8d. But the quantity of tobacco on which duty is paid does not even approxi- mately show the quantity consumed. Ifthe duty now paid on tobacco in the United Kingdom retained the same relative proportion to the population that it held in Ireland in 1798, the duty in 1841 would have been actually levied upon 538,711,856 lbs., instead of 22,094,772 lbs.; and such we believe to be about the actual amount of consumption, the great bulk of the supply being furnished by the illicit trader. . In Prussia, it appears that the consumption of tobaceo is at the rate of three TOBACCO. 597 pounds per head; while, in England, if we were to judge from the amount on which duty is paid, it is considerably less than one pound per head. Assuming the actual consumption at only 45,000,000 Ibs., or two pounds per head, we believe that a reduction of duty to 1s. per pound would so effectually destroy the illicit trader, that the revenue would gain by the change, not only by bringing upwards of 30,000,000 lbs. under duty, which at present escape, but by the great increase of the consumption consequent upon the encourage- ment given to the fair trader. We would not, however, treat the question merely as a matter of revenue. We would strongly represent the injustice which this exorbitant duty inflicts upon those who pursue a legitimate trade, by enabling the smuggler to lessen the extent of their transactions by more than half what they would otherwise be; and we would further earnestly urge upon your consideration the demoral- ising tendency of such a systematic and extended violation of the law, not only upon those engaged in the illicit trade, also upon those parties who are found to connive at the practice from a sense of the gross injustice and impolicy of a duty so disproportioned to the value of an article of such extensive consumption. We would refer to the opinion of a committee of the House of Commons on the growth of tobacco in Ireland, in 1840, as follows :—‘ That it further ap- pears, from the evidence, that smuggling of foreign tobacco is at present carried on to a great extent, and that all the measures now adopted, at great expense to the country, are and will be ineffectual to repress it so long as the temptation of evading a duty equal to twelve times the value of the article on which it is imposed, remains.’ We beg, therefore, respectfully to express our opinion, that if the duty on tobacco were reduced to one shilling per pound, it would be alike beneficial to the interests of legitimate commerce; to the consumers, who consist almost entirely of the poorer classes; to the revenue, by increasing the productiveness of the duty, and by greatly diminishing the expenditure so ineffectually incurred to suppress the illicit trade; and to the general morals of society by removing a powerful inducement to infringe the laws. The imports of all kinds of tobacco for the last five years have been as follows :— 1848, 1849. 1850. 1851. 1852. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. UWnmanutactured ............ 34,090,360 41,546,848 35,166,358 31,061,953 33,205,635 Manufactured and snuff ... 1,512,714 1,905,306 1,557,518 2,331,886 2,930,299 , 35,603,074 43,452,154 36,723,876 33,393,839 36,135,934 Gross duty received :— 1848, 1849. 1850. 1851. 1852. £ £ £ & £& Oniraw: tobacco ..........s0«6 4,267,579 4,328,217 4,337,258 4,386,910 4,466,533 Cigars, snuff, &c. ............ 97,655 96,814 92,873 98,858 94,298 4,365,234 4,425,031 4,430,131 4,485,768 4,569,831 The amount of tobacco consumed is so limited that the trade will not admit of an excessive growth. In the two most thickly populated countries in Europe—France and England—not more than a certain quantity finds its way there. In France the trade is monopolised by Government, which gives out contracts to deliver a stipulated quantity at certain prices; in England the duty im- posed is so enormous that only a limited quantity of certain descriptions can be imported without risk of loss. In Germany and Holland, where the trade is more extensively carried on than else- where, the duty imposed is almost nominal, and all classes of their citizens are enabled to use the weed at prices very little higher than its first prime cost. The tobacco trade constitutes so large 598 DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. a staple of American produce that it is singular greater efforts are not made upon the part of that Government to cause a reciprocal duty to be imposed, that more favor may be shown by Buropean Governments to this particular article. England, from the duty imposed upon it alone, derives a revenue of £4,500,000, being about £160 to the hogshead, or from ten to sixteen times its original cost. France makes the trade a monopoly, from which he derives an income of £3,000,000 sterling. STATEMENT OF IMPORTS, SALES, AND STOCKS OF TOBACCO AND STEMS, IN BREMEN, FROM 1840 To 1850. —— MARYLAND. VIRGINIAN. KENTUCKY. STEMS. Sop 5 = m Sowa . be a Ss. A Se Pale Yeh wiae| 2 [2 |83 4b 2 2 e/2BI a \se\78| 2] 8 [28 S/32) 8/3 (38 2128/3 (SElss| 21S Ese] 2 ls iss Bife]g | 183 |$8l g)/a l2Sifs! a las Se eiaoac. ar} QA prs | DA|ZBR) A Role”) 4 DA 1840) 4,890 14,570/18,399 ,061) 245) 3492 3422) 285] 181 3,803} 3,699 285|2853/3362 4564 1651 1841} 1,061)19,629/18,321} 2,369) 285/3466 3025] 726) 285) 5,206} 4,941) 550|/1651/7085/7054)1682 3 1 2 1842} 2,369 20,821|19,067| 4,123) 726,6729 5898)1557| 550| 9,407) 8,939)1018|1682|4151/5386) 447 1843} 4,123|18,483/15,004| 7,602 1557/5541 4242) 2856/1018) 7,485) 6441/2062 447 3969 3447 962 1844) 7,602|16,978/18,338) 6,242 2856/5092 4282/3666|2062) 9,736) 9,569/2229| 969/4753/5513) 209 1845) 6,242/24,251|24,571| 5,922.3666,1588 3099 2155|2269|11,439) 10,328 3340) 209}5273 4152) 1336 1846} 5,922'26,785|23,788] 8,919 2155/2386 2456/2085|3340| 5,028] 6,099|2269/ 1330/6092 4716) 2706 1847} 8,919]21,743|20,681} 9,981 2085) 911 2079) 9172269) 3,816) 5,013/1072 2706|6788,8038 1456 1848} 9,981|12,084) 9,935)12,130) 917) 847 1054 710|1072) 4,448 4,980) 540 1456| 4912/4473] 1895 1849}12,130|19,2851!22,112' 9,303) 710/1173,1734| 149] 540! 4,620! 4,746] 414 1895|5188/5083 1000 Culture and Statistics in the United States—Tobacco has been the great staple of the States of Virginia and Maryland from their first settlement. About the year 1642 it becamea royal monopoly, and afterwards, in order to encourage its growth in the colonies, and thereby increase the revenue of the Crown, Parliament pro- hibited the planting of it im England. The average quantity shipped from the North American colonies to the parent country, for ten years preceding the year 1709, was about twenty-nine millions of pounds. For some years prior to the American revo- lution, about 85,000 hhds. were exported, then valued at little more than four millions of dollars, and constituting nearly one- third the value of all the exports of the British North American colonies. From 1820 to 1830 tobacco constituted about one-ninth in value of all the domestic exportz of the United States. It finds a market principally in Great Britain, France, Holland, and the north of Europe.* The crop of tobacco produced in the four principal States, was in— 1838. 1839. hhds. hhds. Virginia... = 4 me. 26,000 oo. 2) cane Kentucky . : : 27,000 : : 35,000 Maryland . : : 16,000... : ‘ 16,000 Ohio . : : 3,000. ; : 4,000 72,000 100,000 * Pitkins’ Statistics of the United States. TOBACCO. 599 The whole crop of 1840 was 219,163,319 lbs., which, at the estimate of 1,200 lbs. to the hhd., would be equal to 182,636 hhds., and at the average price of that year, 81 dollars 5 cents. per hhd., would make the value of the crop of the United States 14,802,647 dollars 80 cents. The av erage annual export for the ten years ending with 1840, was 96,775 hhds. The actual exportation of 1840 was 119,484 hhds. The priacipal exports are formed of the produce of Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Maryland, and North Carolina. The exports are chiefly to the followmg countries— about 30,000 hhds. annually to England, 15,000 hhds. to France, 20,000 hhds. to Holland, 25,000 hhds. Germany, and about 22,000 hhds. to other countries. The whole crop for 1845 was put down at 187,422,000 lbs. In 1839, it was ascertained that one and a half million persons were engaged in the cultivation and manufac- ture of tobacco in the United States, one million of whom were so occupied in the States of Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri. In the city of New York the consumption of cigars is computed at 10,000 dollars a day, a sum greater than that which the inhabitants pay for their daily bread; and in the whole country the anuual consumption of tobacco is estimated at 120 million pounds, being 7 lbs. for every man, woman, and child, at an annual cost to the consumers of 20 million dollars (more than four - million pounds sterling). It is estimated that the manufacture of tobacco in the United States is increasing at the rate of 2,000 hhds. per annum. hhds. The quantity manufactured in 1851, was stated at 55,000 Exportations for the year estimated at . . 120,000 175,000 The production for 1852 is supposed to be as follows :— bhds. Virginia. ; : : - 2s 324-000 Maryland . : . 88,000 Western States, including frosted . é . 65,000 Total production. : . 125,000 Deficiency in the year’s crop : . 60,000 The quantity produced in the United States, in 1847, was 220,164,000 lbs., worth, at 5 cents per lb., nearly 11 million dollars (more than two million sterling). The principal producing States were— Kentucky, 65 million lbs.; Virginia, 50 millions; Tennessee, 35 millions; North Carolina, 14 millions; Ohio, 9 millions ; Indiana, 4 millions; Illinois, Connecticut, and a few others in smaller proportions. The production in 1848 was 218,909,000 lbs., which, valued at four cents per lb., would be worth nine million dollars. From persons largely interested in the tobacco trade, and well informed in relation thereto, I have gathered the following general statements :— ; oe crops of tobacco to come to market in the year 1851, were estimated as ollows— 600 DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. hhds. Virginia... : 30,0006 Kentuc cky, Tennessee, and Missouri, about : 50,600 Maryland, about . : : . : 22,000 Ohio, about . 14,000 From the above estimate it will he seen that the anne produced in 1850 is less than two-thirds of the usual production in the States named. The en- tire crop of Virginia will be required for home consumption. About 15,000 hhds. Kentucky, and 5,000 hhds. Maryland will also be wanted for home use. Owing to the increase of population by immigration and otherwise, the domestic consumption, which was a few years ago so small as not to be considered worthy of notice, has now increased to a very important item, and affords a steady home market for a large portion of the production. The quantity of M aryland tobacco left for export to Bremen and Holland, in 1851, will only be about 17,000 hhds., which is not more than half the amount usually shipped to these countries every year. Of the Kentucky tobacco contracted for last year by France and Spain, through their age:ts in this country, less than one third has yet been purchased, and those gov ernments will this year require the deficiency to be made up, in addition to their annual average supply, which, with the quantity required for England, will take the entire crop, leaving nothing for the rest of Europe, Africa, South America, the West Indices, &c. The tobacco markets throughout the world are in a much more healthy condition than has ever been known, and it is thought prices will rule very high the coming season. In Maryland, while the production has been not more than half an average crop, the price is nearly three times as high as usual; so that the planter will reccive more for his diminished crops than in ordinary seasons of plenty. QUANTITY OF TOBACCO EXPORTED ANNUALLY FROM 1821 to 18580. Exports for Year ending hhds. Stocks in Europe, year ending bhds. September 30th, 1821 .. 66,850 December 3Ist, 1821 .. — 3 5 S22) es 83,169 “- x 1823 os _ OS reac 1823 =: 99,600 7 = 1325-7 ee =. “ xs 1824. 77: 889 a “5 + 1824 — ~. “3 ifort ale Awe 75, 985 * | a “= 1823 Pare a As + 1826s gees 64, 099 “c “ 1826 >~ = 5 3 G2 ee 160,020 = =. ES2Z7° Fart = “3 3 13828 96,279 “5 = U828* se 69,485 “9 = S29) oes 77,136 “ 5) - S829 63,670 5 “s 530m) ae 83,810 “3 A= 1830.25 50,672 99 9 133 = 86,718 “- “ 1831 .. 64,690 “4 -- 1832 .. 106,800 . = 1832 25). @15868 = » eSaou 83,153 = 45 1833 .. 50,543 43 “9 1834" 25 Si,94o I = oe 1834 .. 638,413 “ “5 1835 .. 94,353 3 =4 18352 2 57,458 is A 1886" ee 109.029 i » ASSGauee Gees IS s J AST ee meO0 en? i > 1837-2 Sean 0s ~ ~ 1838 .. 100,593 - = 1333 =e 31,067 + + 1339)" 26. 78,995 A x. JBSoeeeeee 38,710 “ a 1840 .. 119,484 “ “= 1840.23 37,623 ~ oy SAT pei S28 ~ “ 1841... . 70,880 “3 “5 £842 tet. 21085710 = ar W342) Sy 62,496 June 30 (9 ms.) 1848 .. 94,454 x » ~L84S ose aBtst9G » (12 ms.) 1844 .. 163,042 - 99 1844 .. 88,973 + 1845 .. 147,168 . = 1845) > 33 91,213 =" “3 1346. - 237 1475998 “5 =: 1846 .., 100,774 = “ jot be noes Biles ta 17 87g Fy as 5: 1847 3. BBS 08 + ~r 1848 .. 180,665 + +. 1643) 80,291 ” ae 1849 .. 101,521 “5 5 1849 = See Oaee “3 “ 1850 . 145,729 + a 18502222 66,777 It is a curious fact that, notwithstanding the variety of climate and soil in } — FEBACCO. 601 the northern States, every State and territory in the Union produces some tobacco. In many of the States its cultivation is, of course, a secondary object, and perhaps in several it is attended to as a mere matter of curiosity ; but in most of the States, probably a sufficient quantity has been grown, to show that with attention to this object, it might, in case of necessity, be resorted to as a profit- able crop. The States in which the great bulk of the crop is grown lie between the latitudes of about 34 and 40 degrees. There is a considerable increase of consumption of American tobacco in Europe, as well as in the United States, which should encourage the planters of Virginia and North Carolina to cultivate this article more abundantly than they have done for several years past; and, since the home manufacture has increased so much, and the Virginia tobacco is preferred in mary parts of the European markets, they may safely count on getting good prices for many years to come, It is not in the power of Virginia to make any three years together more than 56,000 hhds., even with good seasons, and 30,000 hhds, annually of this will be wanted by our manufacturers. The planters, then, should enrich their lands, and aim to make full crops. The increased consumption in Europe is three per cent., and in the United States four per cent. per annum. The crop of the United States from 1840 to 1850 inclusive—say 11 years—- averaged about 160,000 hhds.; this embraces the large crops of 1842-43-44, The consumption of Europe from 1829 to 1838 was 96,826 hhds.—it is now 130,000. An account of the quantities of unmanufactured tobacco, manu- factured called negro-head, and cigars, imported into the United Kingdom in 1850 :— Countries from whence imported. Unmanufactured. Manufactured. United States of America . ‘ : 30,173,444 1,191. 001 Venezuela, New Granada and Ecuador 895,623 oe 527 Brazil.t F : ; A d 12,138 ae 56,802 Peru ; : ; : : : 8,649 es 6 Cuba : : ; : ; : 589,627 a! 153,819 British West Indies, including Dem- erara and Honduras . : : 26,169 ni 3,242 British Territories in the East Indies 14,500 24 25,332 Philippine Islands ; ; 12,23 51,210 Hongkong and China : : 2,706 sed 2,340 Turkey, Syria, and Egypt ; 7 140,361 x 2,882 Malta. : ‘ : ; : 13,028 ae 7,818 Italy, Sardinian Territories : 431,939 Be 17 Gibraltar . : ; ‘ ; ; 7 Ne 3,063 Seek, Ce an ee S064 mee 1,100 France . é ; : : ; 29,950 Bs 1,521 Channel Islands ; : * : 149 a 1,342 Belgium . : 29,922 6,579 Holland . 2,418,732 9,078 Hanseatic Towns 50,610 36,680 Other parts 8,930 1,980 Total unmanufactured 5,166,358 1,556,321 Ditto manfactured 1,556,321 Snuff 1,197 Total 36,723,876 From the tobacco circulars of Messrs. Clagett, Son, and Co., leading brokers of London, dated Feb., 1st, 1850, I take the following extracts :— The exhaustion of the stock has resulted from the concurrence of a gradually 602 DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. decreasing supply and increasing consumption, which may be very clearly per- ceived by a reference, first to the official returns from New Orleans of the yearly receipts of the western crops in each of the last seven years; and secondly, to the consumption of American tobacco in Great Britain and Ireland in the years 1847, 1848, and 1849, as compared with that of 1840, 1841, and 1842. We haye no means of exhibiting with similar accuracy the relative consumption of Continental Europe in the latter as compared with the former part of these last ten years, but it is quite reasonadle tc assume that the increase, where there has been little or no duty, must have gone on more rapidly than it has done here, under the restraining force of a duty of 800 to 900 per cent. The deliveries from London and Liverpool, independently of those from Scotland, Bristol, and Newcastle, for the use of Great Britain and Ireland, have been as follows:—In 1840, 15,037 hhds.; 1841, 15,019 hhds.; 1842, 15,468 hhds.; 1847, 18,091 hhds.; 1848, 18,595 bhds.; 1849, 18,738 hhds. The highest estimates we have seen of the whole of the crops of the United Siates in 1849, do not exceed 140,000 hhds., of which it is not doubted that fully 45,000 hhds. will be required for consumption there, and we estimate the supply required for the consumption of Europe, South America, the West Indies, and Africa, at certainly not less than 125,000 hhds.; if these estimates be realised in fact, it will follow that the stocks at the close of this year must be 30,000 hhds. less than at the close of 1849. We estimate the present consumption of American tobacco in Great Britain and Ireland as follows :— The deliveries in London and Liverpool in 1849, were 18,738 hhds.; do. do. Bristol 1,400 hhds.; do. do. Scotland we assume at 2,800hhds. Total 22,939. Of Stripts, the deliveries in Liverpool last year were 8,544 hhds., of which about 300 were for exportation ; the deliveries, therefore, were—For the use of Great Britain and Ireland, 8,250 hhds. In London we have no account of the deliveries of stripts, as disti:guished from leaf, for the whole of last year; it is doubtless less than that in Liverpool, and we assume it at 7,000 hhds.; in Bristol it was about 900 hhds.; in Scotland we assume it at 2,400 hhds. Total 18,550 hhds. Now, assuming 1,500 hhds. of the deliveries in Scotland and Bristol to be included in the coastwise returns in London and Liverpool, then the consump- tion of Great Britain and Ireland would appear to be about 21,500 hhds. of American tobacco, and 17,000 for these to be stripts. The progressive increase which we have shown in the returns of 1849, as compared with those of 1840, must still go on. Without troubling you with any detail of the stocks in each of the several markets, it may be sufficient to show that the summary of the whole in all the markets of Europe, other than Great Britain, consisted on the 31st December, 1849, of about 22,000 hhds.; of which about 18,000 were Maryland and 2,000 stalks; and it is important to notice especially the fact, that the stocks of the manufacturers and dealers in Germany, Holland and Belgium are unusually small. We have taken very considerable care to inform ourselves on this point, and are fully satisfied that the usual stocks in second or dealers’ hands do not exist. The whole demand of the year must, therefore, be supplied from those stocks in importers’ hands, from England or from the United States. The following were the prices current in London in the spring of 1853 :— Virginia Leaf, common, per pound, 33d. to 32d.; middling, 5d. to 6d.; good and fine 63d. to 7$d. Stripts, 54d.to 10d. Kentucky Leaf: common 34., to 33d.; middling, 32d. to 4$d.; good and fine, 5d. to 6d. Stripts, dd. to 7d. Maryland, 33d. to 9d. Negrohead and Cavendish: common and heated, 4d. to 6d.; middling to good, 6d. to 8d. and 9d.; fine, 10d., 12d., 16d.; Barret’s none. Columbian, 7d. to 1s. 8d.; Brazil, 3d. to 6d.; flat, 5d. to Is. 1d.; Ma- nilla, 7d. to 2s. 6d.; Havana, 10d. to 5s.; Yara, 11d. to 3s.; Cuba, 9d. to 1s.id.; ingars, 3s. to 16s.; cheroots, Manilla, 7s. 6d., nominal ; German and Amersfoort 4d. to 1s. 3d.; stalks, duty paid, 2s. 6d. to 3s. 4d.; smalls, 2s. 9d to 2s. The shipments to Europe were 76,516 hhds. against 40,652 hhds. the previous year, and 43,576 hhds. in 1850. The rapidity of sales, the diminished stocks eyen now held in first hands, were taken as an infallible index of the pro- : TOBACCO. 603 gressive rate of consumption; and of a truth the quantity of hogsheads re- ceived in the principal markets of Belgium, Holland, Germany, and the North, and as speedily relieved from the control of the importers, was enough to control even those who were alive to the existing necessities of Europe, and to give a color to the rumour of almost inexhaustible consumption. This extraordinary demand for tobacco on the continent has been occasioned by three distinct causes; the first of which was the pressing wants which, for the last two years, were well known to have existed, and the constant willing- ness of consumers to act at the very moderate rates which prevailed some time last spring. The second was the compulsory purchases by the Austrian Go-« yernment, amounting, it is estimated, to 20,000 hhds., by reason that the dis- contented Hungarians, for political considerations, abandoned altogether the cultivation of tobacco, and which deficiency was obliged to be replaced by American growths. The third cause also had a political origin: the antici- pation of the extension of the Zollverein or German Customs League to the Kingdoms of Hanover and Oldenburg, whereby the duties on tobacco in those countries would be greatly increased, was a natural incentive to the dealers and manufacturers there to lay in heavy stock<, to reap the benefit thereon ; and these last two causes, therefore, may be viewed in the light of fortuitous circumstances, which have fostered a speculation originally founded on the cheapness of money alone. It has been shown, and the statistics of the past year fully confirm the state- ment, that a plethora of money and prosperity among the middle classes of society, while it induces to the consumption of tobacco in general, rather cur- tails than otherwise the demand for American growths. A poor man addicted to smoking takes his pipe not from choice, but necessity; as he grows inde- pendent, the humble pipe is abandoned and the more costly cigar assumed. We have frequently heard this matter noticed, more especially after the dis- asters which followed the railway speculations of 1846, when the demand for English cigars sensibly declined; and we have now a further verification of the assertion in the opposite sense, the sales of cigar materials in Bremen haying been extended more than 40 per cent. in three years, viz., from 94,750 bales and cases in 1850 to 135,650 during last season. From New Orleans we learn that the arrivals from the interior since the 1st September had amounted to 18,043 hhds. against 5,165 hhds. last season, and the stock on hand was 24,128 hhds. against 7,927 hhds. only. The shipments from Virginia during the past year exceeded 13,700 hhds. In 1851 they were under 4,000 casks. From Baltimore 54,272 hhds. have been exported. The official figures for the previous year gave 35,967 as the total. The aggregate stock of tobacco on the lst of January last, in the principal ports of America, was taken at 52,982 hhds. against 45,292 the year before and the growth of the Western States, Virginia, and Maryland during 1852, to come forward for our supply the present season, is estimated at 185,000 hhds., notwithstanding all the unfavorable influences and curtailing causes which were said to have prevailed. The method adopted of cultivating tobacco in Virginia is thus described : Several rich, moist, but not too wet spots of ground are chosen out in the fall, each containing about a quarter of an acre or more, according to the magnitude of the crop, and the number of plants it may require. These spots, which are generally in the woods, are cleared, and covered with brush or timber, for five or six feet thick and upwards; this is suffered to re- main upon it until the time when the tobacco seed must be sowed, which is within twelve days after Christmas. The evening iscommonly chosen to set these places on fire, and when everything thereon is consumed to ashes, the ground is dug up, mixed with the ashes, and broken very fine. The tobacco seed, which is exceedingly small, being mixed with ashes also, is then sown and just raked in lightly; the whole is immediately covered with brushwood for shelter 604: DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETé. to keep it warm, and a slight fence thrown around it. In this condition it re- mains until the frosts are all gone, when the brush is taken off, and the young plants are exposed to the nutritive and genial warmth of the sun, which quickly invigorates them in an astonishing degree, and soon renders them strong and large enough to be removed for planting, especially if they be not sown too thick. Every tobacco planter, assiduous to secure a sufficient. quantity of plants, generally has several of these plant beds in different situations, so that if one should fail, another may succeed; and an experienced planter commonly takes care to have ten times as many plants, as he can make use of. In these beds, along with the tobacco, they generally sow kale, colewort, and cabbage seed, &c., at the same time. There are seven different kinds of tobacco, particularly adapted to the different qualities of the soil on which they are cultivated, and each varying from the other. They are named Hudson, Frederick, Thick-joint, Shoe-string, Thickset, Swect-scented, and Oronoko. But although these are the principal, yet there are a great many different species besides, with names peculiar to the situations, settlements and neighbourhoods wherein they are produced ; which it would be too tedious here to specify and particularise. The soil for tobacco must be rich and strong; the ground is prepared in the following man- ner:—after being well broke up and by repeated working, either with the plough or hand hoes, rendered soft, light, and mellow, the whole field is made into hills, each to take up the space of three feet, and flattened at the top. In the first rains, which are here called seasons, after the vernal equinox, the tobacco plants are carefully drawn while the ground is soft; carried to the field where they are to be planted, and one dropped upon every hill, which is done by the negro children. The most skilful slaves then begin planting them, by making a hole with their finger in each hill, inserting the plant with the tap- root carefully placed straight down, and pressing the earth on each side of it. This is continued as long as the ground is wet enough to enable the plants. sufficiently grown to draw and set; and it requires several different seasons, or periods of rain, to enable them to complete planting their crop, which operation is frequently not finished until July. After the plants have taken root, and begin to grow, the ground is carefully weeded and worked, either with hand hoes or the plough, according as it will admit. After the plants have considerably increased in bulk, and begin to shoot up, the tops are pinched off, and only ten, twelve, or sixteen leaves left, ac- cording to the quality of the tobacco and the soil. The worms, also, are care- fully picked off and destroyed, of which there are two species that prey upon tobacco. One is the ground worm, which cuts it off just beneath the surface of the earth; this must be carefully looked for and trodden to death; itis of a dark brown color, and short. The other is a horn worm, some inches in length, as thick as your little finger, of a vivid green color, with a number of pointed excrescences or feelers from his head like horns. These devour the leaf, and are always upon the plant, As it would be endless labor to keep their hands constantly in search of them, it would be almost impossible to prevent their eating up more than half the crop had it not been discovered that turkeys are particularly dexterous at finding them, eat them up voraciously, and prefer them to every other food. For this purpose every planter keeps a flock of tur- keys, which he has driven into the tobacco grounds every day by a little negro that can do nothing else ; these keep his tobacco more clear from horn worms than all the hands he has got could do were they employed solely for that end. When the tops are nipped off, a few plants are left untouched for seed. On the plants that have been topped, young shoots are apt to spring out, which are termed suckers, and are carefully and constantly broken off lest they should draw too much of the nourishment and substance from the leaves of the plant. This operation is also performed from time to time, and is called ‘ suckering tobacco.” For some time before it is ripe, or ready for cutting, the ground is perfectly covered with leaves, which have increased to a prodigious size, and then the plants are generally about three feet high. When it is ripe, a clammy moisture er éxudation comes forth upon the leaves, which appear, as it were, ready to become spotted, and they are then of a great weight and substance. The tobacco is cut when the sun is powerful, but not in the morning and TOBACCO. 605 evening. The plant, if large, is split down the middle, and cut off two or three inches below the extremity of the split; it is then turned directly bottom upwards, for the sun to kill it more speedily, to enable the laborers to carry it out of the field, else the leaves would break off in transporting it to the scaffold. The plants are cut only as they become ripe, for a field never ripens altogether. There is generally a second cutting likewise, for the stalk vegetates and shoots forth again, and in good land, with favorable seasons, there is a third cutting also procured, notwithstanding acts of the Legislature to prevent cutting tobacco even a’second time. When the tobacco plants are cut and brought to the scaffolds, which are generally erected all around the tobacco houses, they are placed with the split across 2 small oak stick, an inch and better in diameter and four feet and a half long, so close as each plant just to touch the other without bruising or pressing. These sticks are then placed on the scaffolds, with the tobacco thus suspended in the middle, to dry or cure, and are called tobacco sticks. As the plants advance in curing, the sticks are removed from the scaffolds out of doors into the tobacco house, on to other scaffolds erected therein in successive regular gradations fiom the bottom to the top of the roof, being piaced higher as the tobacco approaches to a perfect cure, until the house is all filled and the tobacco quite cured, and this cure is frequently promoted by making fires on the floor below. When the tobacco house is quite full, and there is still more tobacco to bring in, all that is within the house is struck, and taken down, and care- fully placed in bulks, or regular rows, one upon another, and the whole covered with trash tobacco, or straw, to preserve it in a proper condition, that is moist, which prevents its wasting and crumbling to pieces. But, to enable them to strike the cured tobacco, they must wait for what is there called a season, that is rainy or moist weather, when the plants will better bear handling, for in dry weather the leaves would all crumble to pieces in the attempt. By this means a tobacco house may be filled two, three, or four times in the year. Ever night the negroes are sent to the tobacco house to strip, that is to pull off the leaves from the stalk, and tie them up in hands or bundles. This is also their daily occupation in rainy weather. In stripping, they are careful to throw away all the ground leaves and faulty tobacco, binding up none but what is merchantable. The hands or bundles thus tied up are also laid in what are called a bulk, and covered with the refuse tobacco or straw to preserve their moisture. After this, the tobacco is carefully packed in hogsheads, and pressed down with a large beam laid over it, on the ends of which prodigious weights are suspended, the other end being inserted with a mortice in a tree, close to which the hogshead is placed. ‘This vast pressure is continued for some days, and then the cask is filled up again with tobacco until it will contain no more, after which it is headed up and carried to the puble warehouses for inspection. At these warehouses two skilful planters constantly attend, and receive a salary from the public for that purpose. They are sworn to inspect with honesty, care, and impartiality, all the tobacco that comes to the warehouse, and none is allowed to be shipped that is not regularly inspected. The head of the cask is taken off, and the tobacco is opened by means of large, long iron wedges, and great labour, in such places as the inspectors direct. After this strict attentive examination, if they find it good and merchantable, it is replaced in the cask, weighed at the public scales, the weight of the tobacco and of the cask also cut in the wood on the cask, stowed away in the public warehouses, and a note given to the proprietor, which he disposes of to the merchant, and he neither sees nor has any trouble with his tobacco more. The weight of each hogshead must be 950 lbs. nett, exclusive of the cask—for less a note will not be given. Under the name of a crop hogshead, however, the general weight is from 1,000 to 1,200 or 1,300 lbs. nett, but if the tobacco is found to be totally bad, and refused as unmerchantable, the whole is pub- licly burnt in a place set apart for that purpose. However, if it be judged that there is some merchantable tobacco in the hogshead, the owner must un- pack the whole publicly on the spot, for he is not permitted to take any of it away again, and must select and separate the good from the bad; the last is immediately committed to the flames, and for the first he receives a transfer note, specifying the weight, quality, &c. This great and very laudable care 606 DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. was taken by the public to prevent frauds, which, however, was not always effectual, for, even with all these precautions, many acts of iniquity and im- position w ere committed. So little is this crop cultivated in the States north of Maryland, that scarcely any notice has been taken of it in the agricultural or other public journals. In Connecticut, in some few towns of Hartford county, con- siderable attention has been directed to it for a number of years past. A tonanda-half the acre is said to be no uncommon yield. The tobacco is planted very thick, two feet and a half each way. The seed came originally from Virginia. It is cured in houses, without having been yellowed in the sun, and without the use of fire. It is said that the best Havana cigars (as they are termed) are often manufactured from mixed Cuba and American tobacco, and sold under that name in Connecticut, In the Connecticut Valley is produced about 500 tons of tobacco annually, the average quantity, 1,500 lbs. per acre, value from seven to ten cents per pound. Culture.—Seed bed made rich and sown as cabbage early in April as possible. Land well ploughed and manured and harrowed as for corn, laid out in rows three feet apart, and slight hills in the row abcut two and a-half feet apart; begin to plant about LOth of June, the ground to be kept clean with hoe and cultivator, and examine the plants and keep clear of worms. When in blossom and before seed is formed, the plants must be topped about thirty-two inches from the ground, having from sixteen to twenty leaves on each stalk, after this the suckers are broken off, and the plants kept clean till cut. When ripe the leaves are spotted, thick, and will crack when pressed between the fingers and thumb. It is cut at any time of the day, after the dew is off, left in the row till wilted, then turned, and if there is a hot sun, itis often turned to prevent burning; after wilting it 1s put into small heaps of six or eight plants, then carried to the tobacco house for hanging, usually on poles twelve feet long; hung with twine about forty plants to a pole, twenty on each side, crossing the pole with a hitch knot to the stump end of the plants; when perfectly cured, which is known by the stems of the leaves being completely dry, it is then taken in a damp time, when the leaves will not crumble, from the poles and placed in large piles, by letting the tops of the plants lap each other, leaving the butts out; it remainsin these heaps from three to ten days before it is stripped, depending on the state of weather, but it must not be allowed to heat. When stripped it is made into small hands, the small and broken leaves to be kept by themselves ; it is then packed in boxes of about 4001bs. and marked “Seed Leaf Tobacco.” One acre of tobacco will require as much labor as two of corn that produce 60 bags to the acre, and requires about the same quantity of manure. If the tobacco can be cured without fire TOBACCO. 607 heat the quality will be improved, and if dried in the open air, should have shades of boards to keep off rain and excess of sun. The chief market for Connecticut tobacco is Bremen. In a number of the “ Charleston Southern Planter,” a remedy is described for preventing the destruction of plants by the fly. The writer says: “I had a bushel or two of dry ashes put into a large tub, and added train oil enough (say one gallon of oil to the bushel of ashes) to damp and flavor the ashes completely : this was well stirred and mixed with the hand, and sown broad- east over certain patches, and proved thoroughly effectual for several years, while parts left without the remedy were de- stroyed.” The best ground for raising the plant, according to Capt. Carver (“ Treatise on Culture of Tobacco,” &c.), is a warm rich soil, not subject to be overrun with weeds. The soil in which it grows in Virginia is inclining to sandy, consequently warm and light; the nearer, therefore, the nature of the land approaches to that, the greater probability there is of its flourishing. The situation most preferable for a plantation is the southern declivity of a hill, ora spot sheltered trom the blighting north winds. But at the same time the plants must enjoy a free current of air; for if that be obstructed they will not prosper. The different sorts of seed not being distinguishable from each other, nor the goodness to be ascertained by its appearance, great caution should be used in obtaining the seed through some re- sponsible mercantile house, or individual of character. Each capsule contains about a thousand seeds, and the whole produce of a single plant has been estimated at 350,000. The seeds are usually ripe in the month of September, and when per- fectly dry may be rubbed out and preserved in bags till the fol- lowing season. There is a large quantity of tobacco raised in the southern part of Indiana annually, equal in quality to the tobacco raised in Kentucky. In some counties the article is extensively cultivated, and generally pays the producer a handsome profit on the labor bestowed on it. The cultivation of it is becoming more extensive every year. Nearly all this crop is taken to Louisville for sale, very little being shipped south on account of the producer. Heretofore, owing to the heaviness of tobacco and bad roads, the producer has encountered great difficulties in getting his crop to market. The hauling of a few hogsheads fifty or sixty miles, or even forty, is no light job, even over good roads. Hence, tobacco has not been as extensively cultivated as it would have been under different circumstances. But, with the facilities afforded by the railroads in carrying their crops to market, I doubt not the farmers of the interior will more generally engage in the cultivation of tobacco, and those who have been in the habit of raising small crops will extend their operations. In Maryland the seed is sown in beds of fine mould, and the plants arising therefrom are transplanted in the beginning of 608 DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. fay. They are set at the distance of three or four feet apart, and are hilled, and kept continually free from weeds. When as many leaves have shot out as the soil will nourish to advantage, the top of the plant is broken off, which of course prevents its growing higher. It is carefully kept clear from worms, and the suckers which put out between the leaves are taken off at proper times, till the plant arrives at perfection, which is in. August. When the leaves turn of a brownish color, and begin to be spotted, the plants are cut down and hung up to dry, after having sweated in heaps one night. When the leaves can be handled without crumbling, which is always in moist weather, they are stripped from the stalks, tied up in bundles, and packed for ex- portation in hogsheads. No suckers nor ground leaves are allowed to be merchantable. An industrious person may manage 6,000 plants of tobacco, which will yield 1,000 lbs. of dried leaves, and also four acres of Indian corn. Miller, an American author, thus describes the mode of cul- ture :— When a regular plantation of tobacco is intended, the beds being prepared and well turned up with the hoe, the seed, on account of its smallness and to prevent the ravages of ants, is mixed with ashes and sown upon them, a little aefore the rainy season. The beds are raked, or trampled wlth the foot, to make the seed take the sooner. The plants appear in two or three weeks. As soon as they have acquired four leaves, the strongest are carefully drawn up and planted in the field by a line, at adistance of about three feet from each other. If no rain fall, they should be watered two or three times. Every morning and evening the plants must be looked over in order to destroy a worm which sometimes invades the bud. When they are about four or five inches high, they are to be cleaned from weeds and moulded up. As soon as they have eight or nine leaves, and are ready to put forth a stalk, the top is nipped cff in order to make the leaves longer and thicker. After this the buds which sprout at the joints of the leaves are also plucked off, and not a day is suffered to pass without examining the leaves to destroy the large caterpillar, which is often most destructive to them. When they are fit for cutting, which is known by the brittleness of the leaves, they are cut off with a knife close to the ground, and, after lying some time, are carried to the drying-shed or house, where the plants are hung up by pairs upon lines, leaving aspace between, that they may not touch one another. When perfectly dry, the leaves are stripped from the stalks and made into small bundles, tied with cone of the leaves. ‘These bundles are laid in heaps and covered with blankets; care is taken not to overheat them, for which reason the heaps are laid open to the air from time to time, and spread abroad. ‘This operation is repeated till no more heat is perceived in the heaps, and the tobacco is then ready for packing and shipping. IT have been favored by Mr. J. M. Hernandez, a Cuba planter, with some valuable instructions for the cultivation of Cuba tobacco, which I subjoin. These remarks apply principally to America, but most of the advice and information will be found generally applicable to other localities :— The first thing to be considered in this, as in every other culture, is the soil, which for this kind of tubacco (¥. repanda) ought to be a rich, sandy, loam, neither too high nor too low—that is, ground capable of retaining moisture, the more level the better, and, if possible, well protected by margins. The next should be the selection of a spot of ground to make the necessary beds. It would be preferable to make these on land newly cleared, or, at all events. when the land has not been seeded with grass; for grass seeds springing up to- TOBACCO. 609 gether with the tobacco would injure it materially, as the grass cannot be re- moved without disturbing the tobacco plants. In preparing the ground for the nurseries, break it up properly, grub up all the small stumps, dig out the roots, and carefully remove them with the hand. This being done, make the beds from three to four inches high, of a reasonable length, and from three to three and a-half feet broad, so as to enable the hand, at arm’s length, to weed out the tender young plants with the fingers from both sides of the bed, and keep them perfectly clean. The months of December and January are the most proper for sowing the seed in Florida. Some persons speak of planting it as early as the month of November, I am, however, of opinion, that abcut the latter part of December is the best time to sow tobacco seed; any sooner would expose the plants to suffer from the inclemency of the most severe part of the winter season. Before the seed is sown take some dry trash and burn it off upon the nursery beds, to destroy insects and grass seeds; then take one ounce of tobacco seed and mix it with about a quart of dry ashes, so as to separate the seed as much as possible, and sow it broadcast. After the seed has been thus sown, the sur- face of the bed ought to be raked over slightly, and trodden upon by the*foot, carrying the weight of the body with it, that the ground may at once adhere closely to the seed, and then water it. Should the nursery-beds apparently become dry from blighting winds or other causes, watering will be absolutely necessary, for the ground ought to be kept in a moist state from the time the seed is planted until the young plants are large enough to be set out. The nurseries being made, proceed to prepare the land where the tobacco is to be set out. If the land is newly cleared—and new land is probably more favorable to the production of this plant than it is to that of any other, both as respects quality and quantity—remove as many of the stumps and roots as possible, and dig up the ground in such a manner as to render the surface per- fectly loose; then level the ground, and in this state leave it until the nursery plants have acquired about one-half the growth necessary to admit of their being set out; then break up the ground a second time in the same manner as at first, as in this way all the small fibres of roots and their rooted parts will be more or less separated; and thus obviate much of that degree of sponginess s® common to new land, and which is in a great measure the cause of new land seldom producing weil the first year, as the soil does not lay close enough to the roots of the plants growing in it, so that a shower of rain produces no other effect than that of removing the earth still more from them. The ground having been prepared and properly levelled off, and the plants sufficiently grown to be taken up—say of the size of good cabbage plants— take advantage of the first wet or cloudy weather to commence setting them out. This should be done with great care, and the plants put single at equal distances, that is, about three feet north and south, and two and a-half, or two and three-fourths feet east and west. They are placed thus close to each other to prevent the leaves growing too large. ‘The direction of the rows, however, should alter according to the situation of the land; where it has any inclina- tion, the widest space should run across it, as the bed will have to be made so as to prevent the soil from being washed from the roots by rain when bedded ; but where the land is rather level, the three feet rows should be north and south, so as to give to the plants a more full effect on them by passing across the beds, than by crossing them in an oblique direction. ‘To sct the plants out regularly, take a task line of 105 feet in length, with a pointed stick three feet lcng attached to each end of it, then insert a small piece of rag or something else through the line at the distance of two fect and three-fourths from each other; place it north and south (or as the land may require), at full length, and then set a plant at every division, carefully keeping the bud of the plant above the surface of the ground. Then remove the line three feet from the first row, and so on, until the planting is completed. Care ought to be taken to prevent the stretching of the line from misplacing the plants. In this way the plants can be easily set out, and a proper direction given tothem both ways. In taking the plants up from the nursery, the ground should be first loosened witha flat piece of wood or iron, about an inch broad; then carefully holding the leaves 2°R 610 DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. close towards each other between the fingers, draw them up, and place them in a basket or some other convenient thing to receive them for planting. After taking up those that can be planted during the day, water the nursery that the earth may again adhere to the remaining ones. The evening is the best time for setting out the plants, but where a large field has to be cultivated it will be well to plant both morning and evening. The plants set out in the morning, unless in rainy or cloudy weather, should be covered immediately, and the same should be done with those planted the evening previous, should the day open with a clear sunshine,—the palmetto leaf answers the purpose very well, There should be water convenient to the plants, so as to have them watered morning and evening, but more particularly in the evening, until they have taken root. They should also be closely examined when watered, so as to replace such plants as happen to die, that the ground may be properly occupied, and that all the plants may open as nearly together as possible. From the time the plants are set out, the earth around them should be occasionally stirred, both with the hand and hoe. At first hoe flat, but as soon as the leaves assume a growing disposition, begin gradually to draw a slight heel towards the plant. The plants must be closely examined, even while in the nursery, to destroy the numerous worms that feed upon them—some, by cutting the stalk and gnawing the leaves when first set out; these resemble the grub-worm, and are to be found near the injured plant, under ground ; others, which come from the eggs deposited on the plant by the butterfly, and feed on the leaf, grow to a very large size, and look very ugly, and are com- monly called the tobacco-worm. There is also a small worm which attacks the bud of the plant, and which is sure destruction to its further growth; and some again, though less destructive, are to be seen within the two coats of the leaf, feeding as it were on its juices alone. The worming should be strictly attended to every morning and evening, until the plants are pretty well grown, when every other day will be sufficient. The most proper persons for worming are either boys or girls from ten to fourteen years of age. Theyshould be made to corae to the tobacco ground early in the morning, and be led by inducements, such as giving a trifling reward to those who will bring the most worms, to clear it thoroughly. Grown persons would find it rather too tedious to stoop to examine the under part of every leaf, and seek the worm under ground : nor would they be so much alive to the value of a spoonful of sugar, or other light reward. Beside, where the former would make the search a matter of profit and pleasure, it would to the latter prove only a tedious and irksome occupation. Here I will observe, that it is for similar reasons that the culture of the Cuba tobacco plant more properly belongs to a white population, for there are few plants requiring more attention and tender treatment than it does. Indeed it will present a sorry appearance, unless the eye of its legitimate pro- prietor is constantly watching over it. When the plants have acquired from twelve to fourteen good leaves, and are about knee high, it may be well to begin to top them, by nipping off the bud with the aid of the finger and thumb nail (washing the hands after this in water is necessary, as the acid juices of the plants, otherwise, soon produce a soreness on the fingers), taking care not to destroy the small leaves imme- diately near the bud: for if the land is good and the season favorable, those very small top leaves will in a short time be nearly as large, and ripen quite as soon as the lower ones, whereby two or more leaves may be saved; thus ob- taining from 16 to 18 leaves, in the place of 12 or 14, which is the general average. As the topping of the tobacco plant is all essential in order to pro- mote the growth, and to equalise the ripening of the leaves, I would observe that this operation should at all events commence the instant that the bud of the plant shows a disposition t> go to seed, and be immediately followed by removing the suckers, which it will now put out at every leaf. Indeed, the suckers should be removed from the plant as cften as they appear. The to- bacco plant ought never to be cut before it comes to full maturity, which is known by the leaves becoming mottled, coarse, and of a thick texture, and gummy to the touch, at which time the end of the leaf, by being doubled, will break short, which it will not do to the same extent when green. It ought TOBACCO. 611 not to be cut in wet weather, when the leaves lose their natural gummy sub- stance, so necessary to be preserved. About this period, the cultivator is apt to be rendered anxious by the fear of allowing the plants to remain in the field longer than necessary ; until experience removes those apprehensions, he should be on his guard, however, not to destroy the quality of his tobacco, by cutting it too soon. When the cutting is to commence, there should be procured a quantity of forked stakes, set upright, with a pole or rider setting on each fork ready to support the tobacco, and to keep it from the ground. The plant is then cut obliquely, even with the surface of the ground, and the person thus employed should strike the lower end of the stalk, two or three times with the blunt side of his knife, so as to cause as much of the sand or soil to fall from it as possible, then tying two stalks together, they are gently placed across the riders or poles prepared to receive them. In this state they are allowed to re- main in the sun or open air until the leaves have somewhat withered, whereby they will not be liable to the injury which they would otherwise receive, if they came suddenly in contact with other bodies when fresh cut. Then place as many plants on each pole or rider as may be conveniently carried, and take them in the drying house, where the tobacco is strung off upon the frames prepared for it, leaving a small space between the two plants, that air may circulate freely among them, and promote their drying. As the drying ad- vances, the stalks are brought closer to each other, so as to make room for those which yet remain to be housed. In drying the tobacco, all damp air should be excluded, nor ought the drying of it to be precipitated by the admission of high drying winds. The process is to be promoted in the most moderate manner, except in the rainy season, when the sooner the drying is effected the better; for it is a plant easily aifected by the changes of the weather, after the drying commences. It is then liable to mildew in damp weather, which is when the leaf changes from its original color to a pale yellow cast, and from this, by parts, to an even brown. When the middle stem is perfectly dry, it can be taken down, and the leaves stripped from the stalk and put in bulk to sweat, that is, to make tobacco of them ; for before this process, when a concentration of its better qualities takes place, the leaves are always liable to be affected by the weather, and cannot well be considered as being anything else than common dry leaves, partaking of the nature of tobacco, but not actually tobacco. ‘The leaves are to be stripped from the stalks in damp or cloudy weather, when they are more vasily handled, and the separation of the different qualities rendered also more easy. The good leaves are at this time kept by themselves as wrappers, or caps, and the most defective ones for fillings, or tripa. When the tobacco is put in duh, the stem of the leaves should all be kept in one direction, to facilitate the tying of them in hanks: afterwards make the bulk two or three feet high, and of a proportionate circumference. ‘To guard against the leaves becoming over-heated, and to equalise the fermentation or sweating, after the first twenty-four hours, place the outside leaves in the centre, and those of the centre to the outside of the bulk. By doing this once or twice, and taking care to cover the bulk either with sheets or blankets, so as to exclude all air from it, and leaving it in this state for about forty days, it acquires an odor strong enough to produce sneezing, and the other qualities of cured tobacco. The process of curing may then be considered as completed. Then take some of the most injured leaves, but of the best quality, and in proportion to the quantity of tcbacco made, and place them in clean water, there let them remain until they rot, which they will do in about eight days; then break open your dudks, spread the tobacco with their stems in one direction, and damp them with this water in a gentle manner, that -it may not soak through the leaf, for in this case the leaf would rot. Sponge is used in Cuba for this operation. ‘Then tie them in hanks of from twenty-five to thirty leaves; this being done, spread the hanks in the tobacco house for about twelve hours, to air them, that the dampness may be removed, and after- wards pack them in casks or barrels, and head them tight, until you wish to manufacture them. The object of damping the tobacco with this water, is to give it elasticity, to promote its burning free, to increase its fragrance, tu give it an aromatic 2R 2 612 DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. smell, and to keep it always soft. This is the great secret of curing tobacco for cigars properly, and for which we are indebted to the people of Cuba, who certainly understar:d the mode of curing this kind of tobacco better than other people. It is to them a source of great wealth, and may be made equally so to others. We have here three cuttings from the original plants; the last cutting will be of rather a weak quality, but which, nevertheless, will be agreeable to those who confine their smoking to weak tobacco. In ratooning the plant, only one sprout ought to be allowed to grow, and this. from those most deeply rooted; ail other sprouts ought to be destroyed. The houses necessary for the curing of tobacco ought to be reomy, with a passage way running through the centre, from one extremity of the building to the other, and pierced on both sides with a sufficient number of doors and win- dows to make them perfectly airy. In addition to what I have said respecting the mode of cultivating and treating the tobacco plant, I have further to state, that when once the plant ls allowed to be checked in its growth, it never again recovers it. That in pro- moting the drying of the leaf, fire should not be resorted to, because the smoke would impart to it a flavor that would injure that of the tobacco itself. In order to obtain vigorous plants, the seed ought to be procured from the original stalk, and not from the ratoons, by allowing some of them to go to seed for that express purpose. In Cuba, the seed is most generally saved from the ratoon plants, but we should consider that that climate and soil are probably more favorable to the production of the plant than America, and consequently we ought to confide in the best seed, which is had from the original stalk. All plants have their peculiar empire: nevertheless, we should not be deterred from planting Cuba tobacco here; for even if we should be compelled to import the seed every third year, which would be as often as necessary, it would still prove a profitable culture. Taking 600 lbs., which is the average product per acre, it would yield, if well cured, at 50 cents. per 1b., 300 dollars in the leaf. The following exhibits the profit to be derived from it when manufactured into cigars :— Dis. Cts. Dls. Cts. Six hundred pounds, allowing eight pounds to the 1,000, would produce 75,000 cigars, which at ten dollars per thousand .. 750.00 Sashotithepleat <3 5 5. eg. Ain Sites ote Cee eee .... 3800.00 Worth of manufacture, at two dollars fifty cents per thousand 18.78@—487.50 Ditterence.in favor of manufacturer. 2.2 .... os... oaee eee 262.50 This amount being the profits of the manufacturer alone, the profit to him who could combine both pursuits would be more than doubled. As to the quantity of land which can be cultivated to the hand, there is some difference in the practice of planters; however, I think that I am within the usual calculation in saying, that an acre and a half would not excced the quantity that an able hand can easily cultivate and manage properly. With reference to the cultivation of Spanish tobacco from the seed, the following remarks are also made by a gentleman residing in Maryland :— My experience for some years in the cultivation and manufacture of Spanish tobacco into cigars, convinces me that the first-rate variety of Spanish tobacco —that is, the most odorous and fine—will bear reproduction in our climate twice, without much deterioration; by that time it becomes acidulated and worthless as Spanish tobacco. For seven years I have imported annually first seed from Cuba, but have occasionally made experiments with reproduced seed, and I have arrived at the conclusion above stated. I have obtained, annually, a cigar maker from Baltimore, who has made for me on my farm, and from Spanish tobacco. These produced about the average of 70,000 cigars, per year; they have been sold in Baltimore and Philadelphia for five dollars the half box, that is ten dollars the thousand. The tobacco bas been uniformly admired, TOBACCO. 613 but in former years they have been very badly made; for the last two years, (writing in 1843,) my crops were destroyed by the unfavorable weather. This growth and manufacture do not interfere with my cultivation of other crops; in fact they are wholly unconnected with the other operations of the farmer.” He mentions having obtained a premium from an agricultural society, for having produced on one and a half acres, growth and manufacture included, of Spanish tobacco 504 dollars net profit. The following letter from Mr. Clarke, to the Hon. H. L. Ellsworth, Washington, speaks favorably of a new variety of tobacco :— Willow Grove, Orange County, Virginia, Feb. 13, 1844. Dear Sir,—Agrecably to my promise I enclose you the Californian tobacco seed. It grew from the small parcel given to me by Mr. Wm. Smith, in your office in March last. On getting home, although late, I prepared a bed, and sowed the small parcel, the first week in April, and not having seed enough to finish the bed, sowed the balance of the bed in Oronoko tobacco seed, and to my astonishment the Californian plants were soon ready to set out, as soon as the other kinds of tobacco sown in the month of January; and the Oronoko seed, that was sown with the Californian, did not arrive to sufficient size until it was too late to set out. The Californian tobacco, if it continues to ripen and grow for the time to come, as it did for me on the first trial, must come into general use—first, because the plants are much earlier in the spring (say ten days at least), than any kind we have; secondly, when transplanted, the growth is remarkably quick, matures and ripens at least from ten to fifteen days earlier than any kind of tobacco we have in use amongst us. It is a large broad, silky leaf, of fine texture, and of a beautiful color, and some plants grow as large as seven feet across, from point to point; upon the whole, I consider it a valuable acquisition to the planting community. Tobacco is one of the chief staples of Cuba. There are many qualities, but it is usually classed into two kinds, That which is raised on the western end of the island and is unequalled for smoking, is called “ Vuelta abajo.” That which is raised east of Havana, is called ‘‘ Vuelta arriba,” and is far inferior to the former. The best Havana tobacco farms are confined to a very narrow area on the south west part of Cuba. This district, twenty-seven leagues long and only seven broad, is bounded on_the‘north by mountains, on the south and west by the ocean, whilst eastward, though there is no natural limit, the tobacco sensibly degenerates + quality. A light sandy soil and rather low situation suit the est. The “ Vuelta abajo”’ is usually divided into five classes. Calidad or Libra. Ynjuriado Principal or Firsts. Segundas or Seconds. Terceiras or Thirds. Cuartas or Fourths. Calidad is the best tobacco, selected for its good color, flavor, elasticity and entireness of the leaves. The bales contain sixty hands of four gabillas, or fingers of twenty-five leaves each, and are marked 1.60. Ynjuriado Principal has less flavor, and is usually of a lighter color. The leaves should be whole and some- what elastic. The bales contain eighty hands of four gabillas, or thirty leaves each, and are marked B. 80. Segundas is the most 614. DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. inferior class of wrapper. There are many good leaves in it, but the hands are usually made up of those which are stained, have a bad color, or have been slightly touched by the worm. The bales contain eighty hands of four gabillas of thirty-six to forty leaves each, and are marked Y. 2a. 80. Terceiras is the best filling, and much wrapper can usually be selected from it when new. The bales contain eighty hands of four gabillas of more than forty leaves each, and are marked 3a. 80. Cuartas is the most inferior class, fit only for filling. The bales contain eighty hands of four gabillas of no determined number of leaves, and are marked 4a. 80. The Vuelta arriba tobacco is prepared in a similar manner, but neither its color or flavor is good, and it does not burn well. The crop is gathered in the spring, and usually begins to appear at market in July. Good tobacco should be aromatic, of a rich brown color, without stains, and the leaf thin and elastic. It should burn well and the taste should be neither bitter nor biting. The best is grown on the margins of rivers which are periodically overflowed, and is called “ De rio.”’ It is distinguished from other tobacco by a fine sand, which is found in the creases of the leaves. The tobacco plantations in Cuba increased in number from 5,534 in 1827, to 9,102 in 1846. The production of tobacco has nearly doubled in the province, of which St. Jago is the port, in the last ten years. The following figures show the exports from the Havana :— Leaf tobacco. Cigars. 1840 ; : . 1,031,186 lbs. ‘ 147,818 thousand. 1841 22 3) 1 1460,309% SO eaeeoe ee 1842 eo. on 1,053,161, - . = SBS 1843 oj ws s 2,195,806 4...) =iSe@eamnmne 1844 «1,197,186 | = Sa eer 1845 .-. , 1,621,889 |, 2) =eeseoeeee 1846 5), -4g066,262.., = pees 1847 ab.) 44986,829°-,, 41 SsaGuaenes 1848 3) 2 1,850,815 ,. 2 50 1849 1.158.265 -., °., eee The class of bolacen shipped at the port of Havana, is not the same as that gathered in the districts from which the manufac- turers of cigars there receive their supplies—it would cost too dear. However, it is not a rare occurrence to find among a num- ber of bales a few of a quality about equal to that employed there, and this happens in years when the crop has been very abundant, as in 1846 and 1848. The various classes are paid in proportion to the capa, or outside leaves, which are found in an assortment ; the three first classes are employed as covers, and often, if the tobacco is new, they may be found in the fourth and even in the fifth. In parcels well assorted, one-fourth is composed of capa— say, first, second, and third, and the rest is composed of tripa, or interior of the cigar. In the first-named, there generally comes more of the capa than is necessary to use; the remaining bales, which contain the inferior class, are fit only for fillings. TOBACCO. 615 The following is an analysis of the ashes of Havana tobacco :— Salts of potash : : = - . 24°30 Salts of lime and magnesia . : : . 67:40 Silica . : - : : : = 6730 100. Hayti exported in 1836 : . . 1,222,716 lbs. Porto Rico, in 1839 43,203 cwt. The French have been so successful in cultivating tobacco, in their possessions in Northern Africa, that they hope soon to be independent of the foreign grown article. The mode of pre- paring it, however, is not very well understood by the colonists. In 1851, the number of planters in Algeria was only 137, whereas in 1852, it was1,073. The number of hectares under culture with the tobacco plant was 446 in 1851, and 1,095 in 1852. The total of the present year’s crop is estimated at 1,780,000 kilogrammes, of which 700,000 kilogrammes have been grown by the natives, and the rest by Europeans. In the province of Algiers alone, the quantity of tobacco sold will amount to 550,000 kilogrammes, which is nearly three times as much asin 1851, and an equal progression has taken place in the provinces of Oran, and Constantina. The cultivation of tobacco in Algeria has proved most success- ful; in 1851, only 264,912 kilogrammes were produced ; in 1852, the quantity had risen to 735,199 kilogrammes. There are two crops in the year, the first being the best, but even this is capable of almost indefinite augmentation. CULTURE OF TOBACCO IN THE EAST. Having touched upon the practice of culture in the western world, we will now bend our steps towards the east, and it may be curious to notice the method pursued in cultivating and curing the celebrated Shiraz tobacco of Persia (Wicotiana Persica), which is so much esteemed for the delicacy of its flavor, and its aromatic quality. It is thus described by an intelligent traveller. The culture of the plant, it will be seen, is nearly the same ; it is only the preparation of the tobacco that forms the difference :— In December the seed is sown in a dark soil, which has been slightly manured (red clayey soils will not do). To protect the seed, and to keep it warm, the ground is covered with light, thorny bushes, which are removed when the plants are three or four inches high; and during this period, the plants are watered every four or five days, only however in the event of sufficient rain to keep the soil well moistened not falling. The ground must be kept wet until the plants are six to eight inches high, when they are transplanted into a well moistened soil, which has been made into trenches for them; the plants being put on the top of the ridges ten or twelve inches apart, while the trenched plots are made, so as to retain the water given. The day they are transplanted, water must be given to them, and also every five or six days subsequently, un- less rain enough falls to render this unnecessary. When the plants have become from thirty to forty inches high, the leaves will be from three to fifteen inches long. At this period, or when the flowers are forming, all the flower capsules are pinched or twisted off. After this operation and watering being continued, the leaves increase in size and thickness until the month of August 616 DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. or September, when each plant is cut off close to the root, and again stuck firmly into the ground. At this season of the year, heavy dews fall during the night; when exposed to these the color of the leaves change from green to the desired yellow. During this stage, of course no water is given to the soil. When the leaves are sufficiently yellow, the plants are taken from the earth early in the morning, and while they are yet wet from the dew, are heaped on each other in a high shed, the walls of which are made with light thorny bushes, where they are freely exposed tothe wind. While there, and generally in four or five days, those leaves which are still green become of the desired pale yellow color. The stalks and centre stem of each leaf are now removed, and thrown away, the leaves are heaped together in the drying house for three or four days more, when they are in a fit state for packing. For this operation the leaves are carefully spread on each other and formed into sorts of cakes, the circum- fere1 ce from four to five feet, and three to four inches thick, great care being taken not to break or injure the leaves. Bags made of strong cloth, but thin and very open at the sides, are filled with these cakes, and pressed very strongly down on each other; the leaves would be broken if this were not attended to. When the bags are filled, they are placed separat.ly in a drying house, and turned daily. If the leaves were so dry that there would be a risk of their breaking during the operation of packing, a very slight sprinkling of water is given them to enable them to withstand it without injury. The leaf is valued for being thick, tough, and of a uniform light yellow color, and of an agreeable aromatic smell. In India, the Surat, Bilsah, aud Sandoway (Arracan) varieties of tobacco are the most celebrated. The two first are found te be good for cultivation in the district about Calcutta, but the Cabool is still more to be preferred. Tobacco requires in the East, for its growth, a soil as fertile and as well manured as for the pro- duction of the poppy or opium. It is, therefore, often planted in the spaces enriched by animal and vegetable exuvie, among the huts of the natives. I have tried seed in different soils, says Capt. C. Cowles,—namely a light garden mould with a large portion of old house rubbish, dug to a good depth, which had a top dressing of the sweepings of the farm-yard and cow-houses ; a rather heavy loam, highly manured with burnt and decayed vegetables, and old cow dung; the third was a patch of ground, which was originally an unwholesome swamp, from being eighteen inches to two feet, lower than the surrounding land; the soil appeared to be a hard sterile clay, and covered with long coarse grass and rushes. As there was a tank near it, I cut away one side of it, and threw the soil over the ground, bringing it rather above the level. Such was its appearance, (a hard compost marly clay,) that I expected no other good from it than that of raising the land so as to throw the water off; con- trary, however, tomy expectations, it produced a much finer crop of tobacco than either of the other soils, and with somewhat less manure. The agricultural process is limited to some practical laws founded on experience, and these are subject to two principal agents; viz., the soil and climate. With respect to the former, it is the practice amongst the growers in tobacco countries, such as Cuba, the States of Virginia, North and South Carolina, and the Philippine Islands, to select a high and dry piece of land, of a siliceous nature, and combined with iron, if possible; and with respect to the latter, there are seasons of the year too well TOBACCO. 617 known to the planters to need any explanation. The only differ- ence (if there is any) depends on the geographical situation of the place, with respect to its temperature, or in the backwardness or advancement of seasons, and even on the duration of the same —in which circumstances the planter takes advantage of the one for the other. The infiuence of a burning climate may be modified by choos- ing the coolest month of the year, whereas the soil cannot be altered without incurring great expense. I have seen tobacco lose its natural quality and degenerate by transplanting from one soil to another, although of the same temperature, and vice versa. Mr. Piddington has analysed several Indian soils, distinguished for the production of superior tobacco. These are the table soils from Arracan, (Sandoway,) a soil from Singour, in Burdwan, near Chandernagore, the tobacco of which, though of the same species as that of the surrounding country, sells at the price of the Arracan sort; and the soil of the best Bengal tobacco, which is grown at, and about Hingalee, in the Kishnagur district. The best tobacco soils of Cuba and Manila, are for the most part red soils. Now, the red and reddish soils contain most of their iron in the state of peroxide, or the reddish brown oxide of iron; while the lighter grey soils contain it only in the state of protoxide, or the black oxide of iron. Mr. Piddington believes the quality of the tobacco to depend mainly on the state and quantity of the iron of the soil, while it is indifferent about the lime, which is so essential to cotton. None of the tobacco soils contain any lime. Their analysis show them to contain :— Arracan soil. Singour soil. Hingalee soil: Oxide or iron, (peroxide) ........ WONG meets TOSCO Pere 6,00 Water and saline matter ........,. DOP Fe ea Ox wes cotots ts 1,50 Vegetable matter and fibre ........ SAORI Socks TO ink & 75 CGE Bie oe a ONO eee OND Galea 87,25 Sn 0 en 2,00 4,50. 12... 1,60 99,40 C760) aaa 97,00 Writer AMO VOSS 9 ee ace oe ee GOR eke: DAO! capt aeene Os00 100 100 100 From which it will be seen that the best tobacco soil hitherto found in India contains about sixteen per cent., or nearly one- sixth, of iron, which is mostly in a state of peroxide; and that the inferior sort of tobacco grows in a soil containing only six per cent., or one-sixteenth of iron, which 1s, moreover, mostly in the state of protoxide, or black oxide. Mr. Piddington thought it worth examining what the quantity of iron in the different sorts of tobacco would be, and found that while the ashes of one ounce, or 480 grains of Havana and Sandoway cheroots gave exactly 1.94 grains, or 0.40 per cent., of peroxide of iron the ashes of the same quantity of the Hingalee, or best Bengal tobacco, only gave 1.50 grains, or 0.32 per cent.; and it appears to exist in the first two in a state of peroxide, and in the last as a protoxide of 618 DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. iron ; rendering it highly probable that the flavor of the tobacco to the smoker depends on the state and quantity of the iron it contains! Green copperas water, which is a solution of sulphate of iron, is often used by the American and English tobacconists and planters, to colour and flavor their tobacco; and this would be decomposed by the potass of the tobacco, and sulphate of potass and carbonate of iron is formed. Carbonate of iron is of an ochre-yellow color. Mr. Piddington says he took care to ascertain that this process had not been performed with the tobacco used for this experiment; and adds that Bengal cheroot makers do not know of this method. Mr. Laidley, of Gonitea, dissents from the idea suggested by Mr. Piddineton that ferru- ginous matter in the soil is essential to the successful growth of tobacco. He observes that if we attend only to the iron con- tained, why every plant will be found to require a ferruginous soil ; but tobacco contains a notable quantity of nitrate of potass and muriate of ammonia (the latter a most rare ingredient in plants), and these two salts are infinitely more likely to affect the flavor of the leaf than a small portion of oxide of iron, an inert body. Now as neither of these can be supplied by the atmosphere, we must search for them in the soil, and accordingly he imagined that a compost similar to the saltpetre beds which Napoleon em- ployed so extensively in France, would be a good manure for tobacco lands; namely, calcareous matter, such as old mortar, dung, and the ashes of weeds or wood. He was aware that good tobacco might be grown in Beerbhoom, having raised some him- self several years ago from American seed. The plants grew most vigorously, and he further observed, in confirmation of his opinion about the proper manure, that in other districts in which he had resided the natives always grew the tobacco (each for his own use) upon the heap of rubbish at his door, consisting of ashes, cow-dung, and offal of ali kinds. While the soil of the Gangetic diluvium almost always contains carbonate of lime, the Beerb- hoom soil does not, as far at least as Mr. Laidley had ex- amined it. The following is the mode of culture pursued about the city of Coimbetore. Between the middle of August and the same time in September, a plot of ground is hoed and embanked into smali squares ; in these the seed is sown, and covered by hand three times at intervals of ten days. To secure a succession of seed- lings water is then given, and the sun’s rays moderated by a covering of bushes. Watering is repeated every day for a month, and then only every fifth day. The field in which the seedlings are transplanted, is manured and ploughed at the end of August. Cattle are also folded upon the ground. Your or five ploughings are given between mid September and the middle of October, when the field is divided as above into small squares. These are watered until the soil is rendered a mud. Plants of the first sowing are then inserted at the end of September, about a cubit apart, the transplanting being done in the afternoon. At intervals TOBACCO. Gi9 of ten days the seedlings of the other two sowings are removed. A month after being transplanted the field is hoed, and after another month the leading shoot of each plant is pinched off, so as to leave them not more thana cubit high. Three times during the next month all side shoots thrown out are removed. When four months old, the crop is ready for cutting. To render the leaves sweet the field is watered, and the plants cut down close to the surface, being allowed to remain when cut until next morn- ing. Their roots are tied to a rope and suspended round the hedges. In fine weather the leaves are dry in ten days, but if cloudy they require five more days. They are then heaped up under a roof, which is covered with bushes and pressed with stones for five days. After this the leaves are removed from the stems, tied in bunches, heaped again, and pressed for four days longer. They are now tied in bundles, partly of the small leaf and partly of the large leaf bundles, and again put in heaps for ten days— once during the time the heaps. being opened and piled afresh. This completes the drying. A thousand bundles, weighing about 570 lbs., is a good produce for an acre. In 1760, Ceylon produced a considerable quantity of tobacco, principally about Jaffna, a demand having sprung up for it in Travancore, and on the Malay coast. The cultivation spread to other districts of the island, Negombo, Chilaw, and Matura. Not long after the possession of the island by the British, a monopoly was created by an import duty of 25 per cent., ad valorem, and in 1811 the growers were compelled to deliver their tobacco into the Government stores at certain fixed rates. The culture and demand thereupon decreased. In 1853, the duty on the exports of tobacco from this island amounted to £8,386, and in 1836 to £9,514. Ceylon now exports a considerable quantity of tobacco. The value of that exported in 1844 was nearly £18,000: it went ex- clusively to British colonies. The shipments since have been as follows :— 1848 ee ey. 952 1849 ee eg 90 800, io 1850 mee 6 OO ft DORA owte 1851 Bones Odo ey PER Gor eoaat 1852 20,531 Pte Son ose. About 96, 000 ars ef cigars, of five different qualities, are exported annually from Siam. A good deal of very fine tobacco is grown in the Philippines, and the Manila cheroots are celebrated all over the globe. The quantity of raw to- bacco shipped from Manila in 1847 was 92,106 arrobas (each about a quarter of a cwt.); manufactured tobacco, 12,054 arrobas; and 1,933 cases of cigars. 5,220 boxes of cigars were shipped from Manila in 1844. 73, 439 millions of cigars were shipped in 1850, and 42,629 quintals of leaf tobacco. The manufacture of cigars in Manila is a monopoly of the government, and not only is this the case, but it is a monopoly of 620 ; DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. the closest description, and any infringement of the assumed rights of the Spanish Indian government is visited by the most severe penalties. Public enterprise, however little of that commodity there now exists in the Spanish character, is,thus kept down; and this is not only detrimental to the nation itself, but is also unjust towards those persons who are the purchasers of the article, enhanced in price, as is always the case, by monopoly. The cheroot, which now costs, free of duty, about one halfpenny, could be rendered for haif that sum, according to well-authenti- eated opinions. To protect itself from illicit manufacturers, or smugeling of any kind in connection with cigars, the government is compelled to maintain an army of gendarmes, in order to adopt the most stringent means which despotic states alone tolerate. No person is, therefore, permitted to have even the tobacco leaf in its raw state on his premises, and gendarmes pay, at stated in- tervals, domiciliary visits to the habitations of the people, in search of any contraband materials. There are several extensive manu- factories of cigars and cheroots belonging to the government in and near Manila. Mr. Mac Micking, in his recent work on the Philippines, thus describes the mode of manufacture by those em- ployed by the government :— In making cheroots women only are employed, the number of those so _ engaged in the factory at Manila being generally about 4,000. Beside these, a large body of men are employed at another place in the composition of cigar- illos, or small cigars, kept together by an envelope of white paper in place of tobacco; these being the description most smoked by the Indians. The flavor of Manila cheroots is peculiar to themselves, being quite different from that made of any other sort of tobacco; the greatest characteristic probably being its slightly soporific tendency, which has caused many persons in the habit of using it to imagine that opium is employed in the preparatory treatment of the tobacco, which, however, is not the case. The cigars are made up by the hands of women in large rooms of the factory, each of them containing from 800 to 1,000 souls. These are all seated, or squatted, Indian like, on their haunches, upon the floor, round tables, at each of which there is an old woman presiding to keep the young ones in order, about a dozen of them being the complement of a table. All of them are sup- plied with a certain weight of tobacco, of the first, second, or third qualities used in composing a cigar, and are obliged to account for a proportionate number of cheroots, the weight and size of which are by these means kept equal. As they use stones for beating out the leaf on the wooden tables before which they are seated, the noise produced by them while making them up is deafening, and generally sufficient to make no one desirous of protracting a visit to the place. The workers are well recompensed by the government, as very many of them earn from six to ten dollars a month for their labor; and as that amount is amply sufficient to provide them with all their comforts, and to leave a large balance for their expenses in dress, &c., they are seldom very constant laborers, and never enter the factory on Sundays, or, at least, on as great an annual num- ber of feast days as there are Sundays in a year. The Japanese grow a good deal of tobacco for their own ecn- sumption, which is very considerable. They consider that from Sasma as the best, then that from Nangasakay, Sinday, &c. The worst comes from the province of Tzyngaru; it is strong, of a black color, and has a disgusting taste and smell. The tobacco from Sasma is, indeed, also strong, but it has an agreeable taste TOBACCO. 621 and smeil, and is of a bright yellow color. The tobacco from Nangasakay is very weak, in taste and smell perhaps the best, and of a bright brown color. The tobacco from Sinday is very good. The Japanese manufacture the tobacco so well, says Capt. Golownin, (Recollections of Japan,) that though I was before no friend to smoking, and even when I was at Jamaica could but seldom persuade myself to smoke an Havana cigar, yet 1 smoked the Japanese tobacco very frequently, and with great pleasure. The culture of tobacco is a very profitable article for the laborers, seeing that the produce is obtained from grounds which have already given the first crop. The qualities of Java tobacco are more and more prized in the European markets, the prepara- tion and assortment are noi yet all that could be desired, but the have progressed in this branch, and the contracts made with the new adventurers assure them of a considerable benefit. But before the Java tobaccos can find an assured opening in the European markets, it is necessary that the cultivators should make use of seed from the Havana or Manila. The residencies of Rem- bang, Sourabaya, Samarang, Chinbou, and Tagal, present districts suited for its culture; it has been carried on with success for a good many years in the residencies of Treanger, Pakalongan, and Kedu, but only for the consumption of the interior, and of the Archipelago. - Tobacco is cultivated in Celebes, but merely in sufficient quantity for local consumption. It is exclusively grown by the Bantik population—the mode of preparation is the same asin Java; it is chopped very fine and mostly flavored with arrack. When bought in large quantities, it may be had for thirty cents the pound; but in smaller quantities it costs double that price. Tobacco is cultivated in New South Wales with much success. Australia produces a leaf equal to Virginia, or the most fertile parts of Kentucky, but the great difficulty is to extract the super- abundant “nitre.”” The first crop in New South Wales exceeds one ton per acre, and the second crop off the same plants, yields about half the weight of the first. In 1844 there were about 871 acres in cultivation in New South Wales with tobacco, and the produce was returned at 6,382 cwts. In New England, New South Wales, as fine a “fig’’ as could be wished for is manu- factured under the superintendence of a thorough-bred Virginia to- bacco manufacturer—but the impossibility of extracting the nitre by the heating, or any other process, renders the flavor rank and disagreeable. Perhaps cheroots, or the lower numbers of cigars, manufactured from the Australian leaf, might prove more successful. In Sydney the time for sowing tobacco seed is September, but in Yan Diemen’s Land it should be a month later, as tobacco plants cannot stand the frost. The ground should be made fine, and in narrow beds three feet wide from path to path, to allow for weeding without stepping on the beds. The seed, being small, should not be raked in; but after the ground is raked fine, and 622 DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. perfectly clean, and well pulverised, mix the seed with wood ashes, and sow over the beds, and pat in with the spade, or tread in with the naked feet, which is preferable. The ground should be moist, but not much watered, or it moulds the plants. When about as large as moderate sized cabbage plants, they should be put out— three feet or three feet six in the rows, and five feet apart between the rows. When the plant rises to about two feet high, it will throw out suckers at each leaf, which must be carefully taken off with the finger and thumb, and all bottom and decayed leaves that touch the ground taken off. When the tobacco plant throws out flower, it must be topped off, leaving about twelve leaves in the stalk to ripen and come to maturity. When the leaves feel thick between the finger and thumb, and assume a mottled appearance, they are fit to cut. In “ Tegg’s New South Wales Almanac”? it is stated that the end of July is the usual time for sowing the seed. In order, how- ever, to prevent the plants from being subsequently destroyed by frost, care must be taken not to sow the seed until the frost has ceased in any respective locality (unless raised in a frame). Tobacco requires a rich light soil, and well manured. By the instructions for cultivating it, the plant must be three feet apart each way, which would give 4,840 plants to an acre; assuming that each plant would yield half a pound for the first crop, this would give 2,420 lbs. to an acre, which is only 180 lbs. in excess of a ton. In New South Wales several parties use the tobacco stems for sheep wash. One pound of tobacco is suflicient to wash five sheep on an average (one washing), which would give 12,100 sheep to one acre. Assuming that only one crop was grown in New Zealand in one year, of 2,420 lbs. to an acre, at 3d. per pound, (which is about half the market price ofa fair sample of tobacco in bond,) it would amount to £30 5s. per acre. Three rows of Indian corn are planted outside the tobacco plants to shelter them from the wind. In order to save seed, a few plants are allowed to flower. The Virginian tobacco is the largest ; itis known by a pink flower; the Nicotiana rustica (common green) has a yellow flower. A planter in Northern Australia furnishes the followi ing directions :— The land selected for the growth of tobacco ought to be of the most fertile description, of a friable description, and upon which no water can rest within eighteen inches of the surface. Newly cleared brush lands of this nature are the most prolific; upon such, after good tillage, put the plants about four feet or more apart, in rows, and five feet six inches asunder. In interior or old ground, plant proportionately closer. Before topping or nipping off the head, all the lower leaves (that is such as may touch the grcund) ought to be broken off, leaving only from five to seven for the crop, which will yield a greater weight and be of a superior quality than if double that number were left. When ripe, a dry and cloudy day should be selected to eut it, as the sun destroys its quality after cutting. It ought then to lie sufficicntly long upon the ground so as to welt before carting to the sheds, hanging up each stalk next morning so as not to touch its fellow. TOBACCO. 623 The drying sheds ought to be built upon an elevated or dry spot, with a boarded flour of rough split stuff, fifteen or eighteen inches from the ground, with apertures as windows to admit or to exclude the external atmosphere. In damp weather close all the doors and windows, also every night; in contrary weather open all. In these drying houses the stalks should remain suspended until the vegetable moisture is entirely evaporated, so that on a dry day the stems of the leaves will break like a glass pipe, and the finer parts crumble into snuff upon com- pression; after which, in humid weather, they will become quite pliable; then strip the leaves off the stems, make them up into hands, and pack them tightly into a close bin: when full, cover it with boards and old bagged stuff, upon which place heavy weights. In this state it undergoes the sweating process, which, in this colony, is little understood or not properly attended to, and yet, upon the skill displayed thereon, the quality of the tobacco greatly depends. I will therefore give some general directions upon this portion of the planter’s office. If the tobacco happen to be too damp when put into the bin, it will attain either an injurious or a destructive degree of heat; it must therefore be watched for some days after it is packed. ‘To an experienced operator I would say, if the heat exceed 80 degrees of temperature, immediately unpack and re-hang the whole, waiting its condition as before explained, before it is again put into the sweating bin. Should the degree of heat be below that stated, it may remain for weeks or until the heat has subsided. I have generally removed it from the sweating process in about fourteen or twenty days, sometimes con- siderably longer, regulating that act by the odor and color of the leaf. If, how- ever, it appears to be attaining a very dark brown color and its heat not sub- sided, it should be taken out and closely pressed into large cases or casks, when it will again attain a gentle heat called the ‘‘ second sweating,” as is invariably the case with the hogsheads of the American leaf tobacco: this again improves its quality. Here the grower’s operations terminate. It may be necessary to remark, that how skilful and experienced soever the grower may be, it is hardly possible for him to produce a good article upon a small scale; for with a less quantity than one ton to place in the sweating bin at a time, the requisite heat to insure success will not be generated. I would further observe, that the practice of the colonists in growing what they term a “second crop” is most injurious to their interests, their lands, and the quality and character of the colonial tobacco. The American planter never attempts it. I would therefore strongly recommend its discontinuance, and also never to crop one piece of land with tobacco more than two or three years im suc- cession. The Americans rarely take more than two crops unless the land be new; after which they sow it down with grasses, in which state it remains for two or three years until it is again planted with tobacco. I would recom- mend this plan to the growers. The character of the American tobacco has been greatly advanced in the mercantile world by an ordinance regulating that source of national wealth. The planters are thereby obligated to deposit their crops in warehouses, over which sworn inspectors preside, who rigidly examine every hogshead, and if found to be of mercantile quality, grant the owner a certificate, by which in- strument only he sells his produce. The purchaser is hereby sate in buying these certificates. The tobacco to which they refer is delivered to the holder on presentation to the inspector. I mention this not as applicable here at pre- sent, but it most probably may hereafter. When the colony is suffering severely for the want of labor, it may by some be deemed inopportune in offering remarks ujon this article of commerce. To such dissentients I will remark, that a great portion of the work can be per- formed by women and children. A moiety of our anticipated increase of popu- lation will be available for this hitherto mismanaged source of wealth. At present the quantity grown in the colony is equal to three-fourths of its con- sumption, and which production is of a very inferior quality to the imported. These facts tend to show that my notice of the subject is not inopportune, and particularly so when the object is to point out those errors so generally adopted by the tobacco growers here. Years of practical experience, of personal obser- 624 DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. vation upon the plantations of North America, and my having been, I believe, the grower of the greatest quantity of tobacco in the colony, qualify me to afford instructions thereon; whereby, if attended to, our tobacco will become fully equal to the American, as was proved to be the case by the crops I grew here (upwards of 40 tons),* which were sold in Sydney by the Commissariat Depart- ment at public auction, at an advance of twenty per cent. more than the im- ported leaf. As the duty on tobacco is about to be reduced, the present produc- tion may fall off, unless an immediate improvement in its quality take place. Instead of being importers of tobacco, we should, if it was groxyn here to perfection, be exporters of it to all our sister colonies; and in its raw state, also to the European markets. At present, for home consumption, there is a greater profit to be made by its cultivation, if skilfully managed, than in any part of the world; for the duty upon imported is a positive bonus to the grower. In 1849-50 there were fifteen manufactories of tobacco on a small scale in New South Wales, but these were reduced in 1851 to six. Many samples of tobacco grown in the colony have been pro- nounced by competent judges equal to Virginian, but a very con- siderable prejudice exists against it. There is, however, no doubt that the dealers dispose of a great deal as American tobacco, and get a best price for it. The reduction of the import duties on foreign tobacco, recently made by the Legislative Council, will probably retard the progress of the colonial production and manu- facture of this article; but with an abundance of labor there is no question that this branch of industry will be again profitably resorted to. The quantity of tobacco manufactured in New South Wales, in 1847, was 1,321 ewt.; in 1848, 714 ewt.; in 1849, 2,758 ewt.; in 1850,3,833 ewt.; in 1851, 4,841 cwt. A correspondent of the Adelaide Observer recommends its culture in South Australia, and supplies the following useful information :— Without entering into botanical details, I will simply state that the plant is of a shrubby nature, about five feet high, and ought not to be planted nearer than four feet from each other, in rows five feet apart—thus allowing for each plant a space of ground four feet by five, or 20 square feet. An acre will consequently furnish sufficient room for 2,178 plants. The tobacco plant will thrive in almost any climate, from the torrid zone to the temperature of Great Britain. It luxuriates im rich alluvial valleys, where the soil is either of a doamy or a peaty nature. Maiden soil is not recommended. The ground should be trenched, worked as fine as possible, and well manured. ‘Tobacco will not answer unless the subsoil is thoroughly broken. The best manure is that obtained from the bullock-yard, and bark from the tan yard; and by two or three ploughings the earth can be brought to a proper consistency, and fit for the reception of the plants. The usual method adopted in New South Wales, is to raise the plants in a warm, sheltered bed, neither exposed to wind nor to the sun’s rays; but if the weather is dry, they should be well watered night and morning. The time of sowing is the end of August or the beginning of September in the latitude of Sydney, according to the state of the weather; and they may be transplanted when they have attained their sixth leaf, which is generally about a month or five weeks after they are up. The period is rather later in this colony, and care should be taken that the * A great portion of the crop I grew had leaves measuring two feet nine inches in length and eighteen inches wide, being larger than I ever knew to have been grown in America. The average weight I obtained per acre, was 25 cwt.; whereas I see by the public returns, the average of what is grown here is only 17 1-7th ewt. TOBACCO. 625 plants have gained sufficient strength in the ground after transplanting to with- stand the effect of the hot winds, and, if practicable, the aspeci should be either N.E. or N.W., and the rows should incline towards either of these points. The most suitable spots in this colony for the cultivation of tobacco, are panel Valley and the districts round the town of Willunga and Morphett ale. The greatest care is required from the cultivator to prevent the destruction of the plant from its greatest enemy, the black grub. Daily search should be made for it, and not a plant should be left unexamined; they make their ap- pearance about the beginning of November, when the plants have scarcely had time to take root. The soil between the rows should be kept constantly stirred with a three-pronged fork, that air and the sun’s rays may be admitted, which latter are as indispensable to the growing plant as injurious to the seedling. The labor is great, and from first to last requires the constant attention of one man throughout the year, with an additional hand for about six weeks during the process of curing. The profits even in bad seasons are considerable; but when the season and soil are favorable, they average upwards of 100 per ecnt. The consumption of tobacco is great in this colony, not only for personal use, but for sheep-wash ; and the profits may be considerably greater for the lower leaves, which, owing to their gritty nature, cannot be manufactured, but may be advantageously cured for wash. It is not my office to argue the point as to the advantages which may ac crue from a free trade in tobacco; but this 1 know, and confidently assert it, from actual experiments made in this province, that a more lucrative article cannot be grown. The consumption in South America, in 1850, was 147,178 lbs.; and the annual increase since 1840 has been a higher per centage than the increase of population, chiefly owing to extension in sheep-farming. The probable expense of cultivation per acre may be ag under :— Sede LOGI ght A ee es eee ea ree 010 -0 AOI POATMONGAS. oiete se shes @ 210 0 Se (SEA eS ae ees ce ae ee Ce caer 0-10 <0 £67 2 0 The Sydney average quantity is said to be 113 cwt. per acre, say 10 cwt.; and the cost price per lb. will be 143d., or £6 15s. 4d. per cwt. The profit will at once be seen on this article of consumption. MisceLtantous Drues.—The blood tree (Croton gossypifolia), an evergreen shrub, native of the Trinidad mountains, is remark- able for yielding, when wounded, a thick juice resembling biood in color, which is one of the most powerful astringents 1 know of, and as such would be valuable to medical science. The bark of Croton Cascarilla is,as we have seen in a former section, aromatic, and the seeds of C. Tiglium, the physic nut, are purgative; so are those of the purging nut (Jatropha multifida), and another specics (J. gossypifolia). The pods of cow-itch (A/ueuna pruriens) act as a vermifuge; the roots of the Ruellia tuberosa, or manyroot, and the bulbs of the white lily (Pancratium Carribeum and maritimum), are emetic. The Indian root or bastard ipecacuan (Aseclepias curassavica) has 258 626 DRUGS, NANCOTICS, ETC. medicinal properties. 4. twberosa is used as a mild cathartic, and a remedy for a variety of disorders. Hydrastis canadensis, or Canadian yellow root, is a valuable bitter, and furnishes a useful yellow dye. KAnowltonia vesicatoria is used commonly as a blister in the Cape Colony. Ranunculus saleratus (the &. indicus of Roxburgh, and #. camosus of Wallich), common in India, is also used by the natives for blistering purposes. A kind of sedge rush, common in swampy places in the West India islands, the Adme cyperus, enjoys a reputation for the cure of yellow fever. It is also stated to be cordial, diuretic and cephalic, serviceable in the first stages of the dropsy, good in vomitings, fluxes, &e. Dr. Impey, the residentiary surgeon of Malwa, has just confi- dence in the indigenous drugs in use by the natives of the East, many of which are quite unknown in European practice. He be- lieves that, in the Indian bazaars and the jungle, drugs having precisely the same effect as those of Europe may be discovered, and has recently drawn up a list of ninety substances, which are perfect substitutes for an equal number of European medicines. The class of tonics, in particular, is most amply supplied, and the Englishman is not the only animal who suflers from disorders of the digestive organs. My friend Dr. Hamilton, of Plymouth, recently brought under the notice of the profession the medical properties of the prickly poppy or Mexican thistle (Argemone Mexicana). It is indigenous to and grows wild in the greatest profusion throughout the whole of the Caribbean islands, and may be found at every season of the year covered with its bright golden blossoms, and bearing its prickly capsules in all their several stages of maturity. It is an annual plant, attaining a height of about two feet, growing abundantly in low and hot uncultivated spots. Its stem is round and prickly, furnished with alternate branches and thorny leaves. The seeds possess an emetic quality. The whole plant abounds in a yellow milky juice, resembling gamboge in color, and not im- probably possessing properties similar to the seeds. In Nevis the oil is obtained from the bruised seeds by boiling, and sold by the negroes in small phials, containing about an ounce each, under the name of “thistle oil,’’ at the price of a quarter of a dollar each. The usual dose for dry bellyache is thirty drops upon a lump of sugar, and its effect 1s perfectly magical, relieving the pain in- stantaneously, throwing the patient into a profound and refreshing sleep, and in a few hours relieving the bowels gently of the con- tents. This oil seems fitted to compete in utility with the far more costly and less agreeable oil of the croton. § The seeds of the sandbox (Mura crepitans) when bruised, operate powerfully as emetico-cathartic. It is probable that an oil might be obtained from them similar in its operation to the thistle oil. . A cucurbitaceous fruit, one of the Luffas (called by Von POISONS. 627 Martius Luffa purgans), a tribe closely allied to the colocynth and mornordicas, growing in South America, is a powerful purgative, and is used in the province of Pernambuco, where it is called Cabacinha. The fruit is about the size of a small pear and resembles the wild cucumber. An infusion of a fourth part of one of these fruits is administered chiefly in the form of an injection. Another species (Luffa drastica of Martius) is also employed for the same purpose. The Luffa purgans grows spontaneously in the suburbs of Recieffe, the capital of the province of Pernambuco, and flowers in November and December. The fruit is a drastic purgative, and an infusion of it is used either internally or in the form of clyster. The tincture is prepared by macerating, for twenty- eight hours or more, four of the fruit deprived of the seeds in a bottle of spirit 21 degrees. The dose is three or four ounces daily, which occasions much sickness. Poisons.—The vegetable kingdom (observes Mr. Simple), to which man is largely indebted for the materials of food, clothing,and shelter, produces also some of the most deadly poisons with which science, experience, or accident, has made him acquainted. In examining the poisonous productions of the vegetable kingdom, we find that their properties are generally due to the presence of some acid or alkali contained in the plant from which they are derived. Oil of bitter almonds and cherry laurel water are poisonous in consequence of containing prussic acid. Opium owes its activity to the alkaloid morphia. The Upas-tiente derives its energetic powers from the alkaloid strychnia; conia is the active principle of hemlock ; veratria of hellebore ; aconita of monk’s hood; and although there are several poisonous plants in which the active principle has not yet been detected, there can be little doubt that such a principle exists, although it has hitherto eluded the researches of the chemist.—(“ Pharmaceutical J ournal,”’ vol 2, p. 17.) The bark taken from the roots of the Jamaica dogwood (Piscidia erythrina), which is extensively distributed throughout the Archi- pelago of the Antilles, is used for stupefying fish. The pounded root is mixed with slaked lime and the low wines or lees of the distillery, and the mixture is put into small baskets or sacks, and so suffered to wash out gradually, coloring the water to a reddish hue. The fish rise to the surface in a few minutes, when they float as if dead. The expressed juice of the root of Maranta Arundinacea is stated to be a valuable antidote to some vegetable poisons, and also serviceable in cases of bites or stings of venomous insects or reptiles. One of the most popular remedies for the bites of snakes is a decoction of the leaves of the Guaco, or snake plant, of South America, a species of willow which flourishes along the banks of ; 282 628 DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC.. the streams in the sultry regions shaded by other trees. It is said to be both a preventive and cure. Mr. Edward Otto, writing from Cuba to the “ Gardener’s Maga- zine’ for May, 1842, p. 286, describes the guaco as a tree grow- ing from four to eight feet in height, with beautiful dark green leaves, having a brown tinge round the margin. The blossoms are small, of a bluish brown, and hang like loose bunches of grapes at the points of the shoots, or even on the stem itself, as it has seldom branches. The m lky sap is said to have poisonous effects. “T was told (he adds) that this plant is used efficiently in cholera and yellow fever.’ This tree is said to be the Cameladia ilicifolia of Swartz, common in Antigua and Hayti, being known in Antigua by the popular name of the holly-leaved maiden plum. Axors.—The drug called aloes is the bitter, resinous, inspissated juice of the leaves of various species of an arborescent plant of the lly family, with a developed stem and large succulent leaves, growing principally in tropical and sub-tropical regions, and having a wide extent of range, being produced in Borneo and the East, Africa, Arabia, and the West Indies; many are also natives of the Cape of Good Hope. The plant will thrive in almost any soil, and, when once established, it is extremely difficult to eradicate. The cultivation and manufacture are of the most simple kind. The usual mode of propagating the plants is by suckers; and all the care required is to keep them free from weeds. From the high price which the best Barbados aloes fetches in the market, £7 per ewt., its culture might be profitably extended to many of the other islands. The aloes plant is indigenous to the soil of Jamaica, and although handled by thousands of the peasantry and others, there 1s not perhaps one in five thou- sand who understands its properties or the value of the plant. With the Jamaicans it is commonly used in fever cases, by slicing the leaves, permitting the juice to escape partially, and then applying them to the head with bandages ;—this is the only generally known property which it possesses there. A series of trials made recently in Paris proved that enndawe manufactured from the fibre of this plant grown in Algiers, was far preferable in comparative strength to that manufactured from hemp. Cables, of equal size, showed that that made of the aloe raised a weight of one-fifth more than that of hemp. The drug is imported into this country under the names of Sce trine, East Indian or Hepatic, Barbados, Cape and Caballine aloes. It contains a substance called Aloetine, which some regard as its active principle. The various species now defined are— Aloe spicata, vulgaris, Socotrina, Indica, rubescens, Arabica, lingue- formis and Commelina. The average imports in 1841 and 1842 were only about 170,780 cwts.; it is now much larger, and a great portion of the supply is drawn from the Cape colony. The mode of preparing the drug, which I have myself seen in ALOES. 629 the West Indies, is exceedingly simple. When the plant has arrived at proper maturity, the laborers go into the field with tubs and knives, and cut the largest and most succulent leaves close to the stalk; these are placed upright in the tubs, side by side, so that the sap mcy flow out of the wound. Some- times a longitudinal incision is made from top to bottom of the leaf, to facilitate the discharge. The crude juice thus obtained is placed in shallow flat-bottomed receivers, and exposed to the sun until it has acquired sufficient consistency to be packed in gourds for exportation. In preparing the coarser and, or horse aloes, the leaves are cut into junks and thrown into the tubs, there to lie till the juice is pretty well drained out; they are then squeezed by the hand, and water, in the proportion of one quart to ten of juice, is added, after which it is boiled to a due consistence and emptied into large shallow coolers. . The following analysis by M. Edmond Robiquet of a specimen of Socotrine aloes, obtained from M. Chevallier, is given in the sixth volume of the “ Pharmaceutical Journal,” p. 277. The constituents in 100 parts were : — Pure aloes (Aloetine) . = . - 85.60 Ulmate of potash : 2 : . 2.60 Sulphate of lime ; ; - oe 2,00 Carbonate of potash . : : 3 ) ————— lime ; : : .» traces. Phosphate of lime : , : Gallic acid . : : . . 0.25 Albumen ., oo oe The true Socotrine aloes is the produce of A. Socotrina, which grows abundantly in the island of Socotra in the Indian Ocean. Lieutenant Wellstead says, the hills on the west side of the island are covered for an extent of miles with aloe plants. The aloe grows spontaneously on the limestone mountains of Socotra, from 500 to 3,000 feet above the level of the sea. The produce is brought to Tamarida and Colliseah, the prin- cipal town and harbor for exports. In 1833, the best quality sold for 2s. a pound, while for the more indifferent the prive was 13d. The value is much impaired by the careless manner in which the aloes is gathered and packed. Aloes once formed the staple of its traflic, for which it was chiefly resorted to; but only small quantities are now exported. It was formerly shipped by the way of Smyrna and Alexandria, but is usually now brought by the way of Bombay; Melinda, on the Zanzibar coast, and Maccula on the Arabian shore, furnish the greater part of that sold in Europe as Socotrine aloes. It comes home in chests or packages of 150 to 200lbs. wrapt in skins of the gazelle, sometimes in casks holding half aton or more. It is somewhat transparent, of a garnet or yellowish red color. The smeil is not very unpleasant, approaching to myrrh. Socotrine aloes, although long considered the best kind, is now below Bar- bados aloes in commercial value. 6:30 DRUGS, N.BCOTICS, ETC. About two tons were impo:ted fr»m Socotra in 1833, but a much larger quantity could be obtained if required. The price of Socotrine aloes in the Liverpool market, in the early part of 1853, was 30s. to £6 the ewt.; of Cape, 30s. to 32s. Kast Indian, or Hepatic aloes.—The real hepatic aloes, so called from its liver color, is believed to be the produce of A. Arabica, or perfoliata, which grows in Yemen in Arabia, from whence it is exported by the way of Bombay to Europe. Ac- cording to Dr. Thomson and the “ Materia Medica,” it is duller in its color than the other kinds, is bitterer, and has a less plea- sant aroma than-the Socotrine aloes. It should not be liquid, which deteriorates the quality. A, Indica—a species with reddish flowers, common in dry situations, in the north-west provinces of India, is that from which an inferior sort of the drug is produced. It is obtained in Guzerat, Salem, and Trichinopoly, and fetches a local price of 21. to 3d. a pound. In the Bombay market, Socotrine aloes fetches wholesale 16s. to 20s. the Surat maund of 41 lbs., and Maccula aloes only 9s. Barbados aloes, is the produce of A. vulgaris, or A. barbadensis, a native of the Cape colony, and is. often passed off for the Hepatic. It is brought home in calabashes, or large gourd shells, containing from 6) to 70 lbs. each, or more. It is duskier in hue than the Hast Indian species, being a darkish brown or black, and the taste is more nauseous and intensely bitter. In 17865 one hogshead and 409 gourds of aloes were exported from Barbados. In 1827, there were about 96,000 packages shipped from the island. In 1844, there were 4,600 packages exported. The exports have fallen off considerably, only about 850 gourds having been shipped in the season of 1849-50; but in 1851 it increased to 2,505 gourds. Caballine, or Horse-aloes, is the coarsest species or refuse of the Barbados aloes, and from its rank fetid smell is only useful for veterinary medicine. It is also obtained from Spain and Senegal. A very good description of the mode of cultivating and pre- paring the aloes in Barbados is given in the 8th vol. of the “London Medical Journal” :— The lands in the vicinity of the sea, that is from two to three miles, which are rather subject to drought than otherwise, and are so strong and shallow as not to admit of the planting of sugar-canes with any prospect of success, are generally found to answer best for the aloe-plant. The stones, at least the larger ones, are first picked up, and either packed in heaps upon the most shallow barren spots, or laid round the field as a dry wall. The land is then lightly ploughed and very carefully cleared of all noxious weeds, lined at one foot distance from row to row, and the young plants set like cabbages, at about five or six inches from each other. This regular mode of lining and setting the plants is practised only by the most exact planters, in order to facilitate the frequent weeding by hand; because if the ground be not kept perfectly clean and free from weeds, the produce will be very small, Aloes will bear being planted in any season of the year, even in the dryest, as they will live on the ALOES. 631 4 surface of the earth for many weeks without a drop of rain. ‘The most general time of planting them, however, is from April to June. In the March following, the laborers carry a parcel of tubs and jars into the field, and each takes a slip or breadth of it, and begins by laying hold of a bunch of the blades, as much as he can conveniently grasp with one hand, whilst with the other he cuts it just above the surface of the earth as quickly as possible (that the juice may not be wasted), and then places the branches in the tub bunch by bunch or handful by handful. When the first tub is thus packed quite full, a second is begun (each laborer having two); and by the time the second is filled, all the juice is generally drained out of the blades in the first tub. The blades are then lightly taken out and thrown over the land by way of manure, and the juice is poured out into ajar. The tub is then filled again with blades, and so alternately, till the laborer has produced his jar full, or about four gallons and a half of juice, which is often done in six or seven hours, and he has then the remainder of the day to himself, it being his employer’s interest to get each day’s operation as quickly done as possible. It may be observed that although aloes are often cut in nine, ten, or twelve months after being planted, they are not in perfection till the second or third year, and that they will be productive for a length of time, say ten or twelve years, or even for a longer time, if good dung or manure of any kind is stirred over the field once in three or four years, or oftener if convenient. The aloe juice will keep for several weeks without injury. It is therefore not boiled till a sufficient quantity is procured to make it an object for the boiling house. In the large way, three boilers or coppers are placed to one fire, though some have but two, and the small planters only one boiler, The boilers are filled with the juice, anil as it ripens or becomes more inspissated by a con.tant but regular fire, it is ladled from boiler to boiler, and fresh juice is adde:l to that farthest from the fire, till the juice in that nearest the fire (by much the smallest of the three) becomes of a proper consistency, to be skipped or ladled out into gourds or other small vessels used for its final reception. ‘he proper time to skip or ladle it out of the last boiler is when it has arrived at what is termed a resin height, or when it cuts freely or in thin flakes from the edges of a small wooden slice that is dipped from time to time into the boiler for that purpose. A little lime water is used by some aloe boilers during the process, when the ebullition is too great. Care Anozs is the produce chiefly of A. spicata, and A. Com- melini, which are found growing wild in great abundance in the interior of the Cape Colony. It has not the dark opaque appear- ance of the other species. About fifty miles from Cape Town is a mountainous tract, almost entirely covered with numerous species and varieties of the plant, and some of the extensive arid plains in the interior of the colony are crowded with it. The set- tlers go forth and pitch their waggons and camps on these spots to obtain the produce. The shipments from Table Bay and the eastern port of Algoa Bay are very considerable. The odor of the Cape aloes is stronger and more disagreeable than that of the Socotrine or Barbados, and the color is more like gamboge. It is brought over in chests and skins, the latter being perferred. Mr. George Dunsterville, surgeon of Algoa Bay, gives the following description of the manufacture of Cape aloes :— A shallow pit is dug, in which is spread a bullock’s hide or sheep’s skin. The leaves of the aloe plants in the immediate vicinity of this pit are stripped off and piled up on the skin to variable heights. These are left for a few days. The juice exudes from the leaves, and is received by the skin beneath. The Hottentot then collects in a basket or other convenient article the produce of many heaps, which is then put into an iron pot capable of holding eighteen or 632 DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. twenty gallons. Fire is applied to effect evaporation, during which the contents of the pot are constantly stirred to prevent burning. The cooled liquor is then poured into wooden cases of about three fect square by one foot deep, or into goat or sheep skins, and thus is filled for the market. In the colony aloes realises about 24d. to 33d. per pound. ‘The Hottentots and Dutch boors employ indiscriminately different species of aloe in the preparation of the drug. The Cape aloes, which is usually prized the highest in the English market, is that made at the Missionary institution of Bethelsdorp (a small village about nine miles from Algoa Bay, and chiefly inhabited by Hottentots and their missionary teachers), Its superiority arises not from the enaiee ment of a par- ticular species of aloe, for all species are used, but from the greater care and attention paid to w hat is technically called the cooking of the aloes; that is, the evaporation, and to the absence of all adulterating substances (fragments of lime-stone, sand, earth, &c.), often introduced by manufacturers. Mr. Moodie, in his “ Ten Years’ Residence m Southern Africa,” gives a somewhat similar account. Mr. Bunbury states that, about the neighbourhood of Gra- ham’s Town, three lar ge kinds of aloe are very abundant, which form striking and charact eristic features of the scenery ; they grow irregularly scattered over the parched and naked faces of the hilis, but most abundantly among the low broken ledges and knolls of sandstone rock, and are often seen spiring up above the evergreen bushes in the ravines, and crowning the cliffs. One kind grows to the height of aman. They are plants of a strange, rigid, and ungraceful appearance, but with very handsome flowers, which form tall and dense spikes, of a fine coral-red color in two of the species (A. arborescens and lineata’), and of an orange scarlet in the third (A. glaucescens?). When in blossom they are conspicuous at a great distance, and might easily be mistaken, when seen from far off, for soldiers in red uniforms. The importance of this indigenous plant to the Cape Colony, may be estimated from the following figures :-— AMOUNT OF ALOES, THE PRODUCE OF THE COLONY, AND VALUE THEREOF, EX- PORTED IN THE YEARS ENDING 5TH JaNUARY 1841, 1842, AnD 1846. Es lbs. | oye 2 a, Sees Sn, eae AB OrOT 4: Onn Se... See §,821 1842 EAE Sea Vc eae 306 USSG oh yet ea igen mee ey 10;000.2 ©. : eh. eee 918 1820) eee a 82478 -) tk eed oy Sas PSA PR eRe eae S Sees D202 V4 ed Aree eee 4,271 NS AD Ste Mesrie ye awa 288,000" Fo ene s meio 9,003 SAS ee Sees. res B1'8,080%- 9 "Sess ee eee 3,225 EXPORTS AND VALUE FROM THE WESTERN PROVINCE. lbs. a8 1841 slaisa's foe doams eee es OOOee ts eke eae 4,175 1842 a Win « shepiseee Say Ae) Es en aren ea aes 6,874 ASAF@TIDA—CAMPHOR. 633 AsaF@TipA.—This drug of commerce is procured from the milky juice of Ferula asafetida, a plant recently described by Dr. Falconer, under the name of Narthex asafetida. It is found in Persia, the mountains of Chorasan, the central table land of Affzhanistan, and some seeds of it, sent to this country by Dr. Falconer, germinated in the Betanical Garden at Edinburgh, and are now vigorous thriving plants of six years growth. Its leaves have a resemblance to those of a peony ; the fruit is distinguished by divided and interrupted vittae, which form a net-work on the surface. The perennial roots grow toa very large size, and are seldom of any use until after four or five years’ growth. The asafcetida is procured by taking successive slices off the top of the root and collecting the milky juice, which is allowed to concrete into masses of a fetid resinous gummy matter, with a suiphur oil, similar to that of garlic, which 1s probably its active ingredient. An inferior sort is obtained from & persica, another species with very much divided leaves, growing chiefly in the southern provinces of Persia. It comes over usually in casks and cases. ‘The British consumption of the drug is about 10,000 lbs. ayear. A little is procured from Scinde. In 1825 the quantity imported was 106,770 lbs., in 1839 only 24 ewts. The wholesale price in the Liverpool market, in January 1853, was £1 to £3 10s. the ewt. Campuor.—The Camphor tree (Camphora officinarum, Laurus Camphora) is a native of China, Japan, and Cochin China, of the laurel tribe, with black and purple ves. -Camphor is procured from all parts of the tree, but it 1s obtained principally from the wood by distillation, and subsequent sublimation. Many plants, such as the cinnamon tree, supply a kind of cam- phor, but the common camphor of the shops is the produce chiefly of C. officinarwm. Two kinds of unrefined camphor are known in commerce.—1. The Dutch, which is brought from Batavia, and is said to be the produce of Japan. This is imported in tubs covered by matting and each surrounded by a second tub, secured on the outside by hoops of twisted cane. Hach tub contains about one cwt. Most of this goes to the continent. 2. Ordinary crude camphor is im- ported from Singapore and Bombay, in square chests lined with lead-foil, and containing 17 to ij ewts. It is chiefly produced in the island of Formosa, and is brought by the Chin Chew junks in very large quantities to Canton, whence foreign markets get supplied.—-(“‘ Pereira’s Materia Medica.’’) In the southern part of Japan the tree grows in such abundance that, notwithstanding the great consumption of it in the country, large quantities are exported. Kcempfer says, that the Japanese camphor is made by a simple decoction of the wood and roots, but bears no proportion in value to that of Borneo. There is also an imitation of camphor in Japan, but every body can distinguish it from the genuine. 634 DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. The camphor of Sumatra is procured from the stem of a large tree, Dryobalanops Camphora, Colebrook; D. aromatica, Gaertner. It is secreted in crystalline masses naturally into cavities of the wood. It supplies this camphor only after attaining a consider- able age. In its young state it yields, however, by incision, a pale yellow liquid, called the lquid camphor of Borneo and Su- matra, which consists of resin and a volatile oil having a camphor- ated odor. An account of this tree, and of the mode of procuring the pecu- liar and high-priced camphor which it yields, is given by Dr. Junghuhn, who has travelled lately in Sumatra, and Prof. De Vriese, of Leyden, in the “ Nederlandsch Kruidkundig Archief”’ for 1851. An abstract-of the memoir, translated into English by Miss De Vriese, is published in “ Hooker’s Journal of Botany ”’ for February and March 1852 :— The Dryobalanops is a gigantic tree, rising for fifty or even a hundred feet above those which compose the chief mass of the forests where they grow, just as the steeples of the churches appear above the roofs of the houses in a town. The trunks of the full-grown trees are from 7 to 10 feet in diameter at the very base, and from 6 to 8 feet higher up; they rise to the height of 100 or 130 feet, and their ample crown is from 50 to 70 feet in diameter. The tree hasa limited range, being confined to the seaward slope of the mountains of south- western Sumatra, most abundant on the iower slopes and the outlving hills of the alluvial plain, and extending in latitude from ldeg. 10m. to 2deg. 20m. N., and perhaps further to the north. Camphor oil occurs in all the trees, and is most abundant in the younger branches and leaves. The solid camphor is found only on the trunks of older trees, especially in fissures of the wood, and in smaller quantity than is generally supposed. Colebrooke, and authors who have copied from him, assert that camphor is found in the heart of the tree in such a quantity as to fill a cavity of the thickness of a man’s arm, and that a single tree yields about eleven pounds. The price of this camphor, which at Padang sells for about 340 dollars per hundred weight, suffices to show that the account is much exaggerated. The camphor occurs only in small fissures, from which the natives, having felled the trees and split up the wood, scrape it off with small splinters or with their nails. From the oldest and richest trees they rarely collect more than two ounces. After a long stay in the woods, frequently of three months, during which they may fell a hundred trees, a party of thirty persons rarely bring away more than 10 or 20 pounds of solid camphor, worth from 200 to 250 dollars. The variety and price of this costly substance are enhanced by a custom which has immemorially prevailed among the Battas, of delaying the burial of every person who during his life had a claim to the title of Rajah (of which each village has one) until some rice, sown on the day of his death, has sprung up, grown and borne fruit. The corpse, till then kept above ground among the living, is now, with these ears of rice, committed t the earth, like the grain six months before; and thus the hope is emblematically expressed that, as a new life arises from the seed, so another life shall begin for man after his death. During this time the corpse is kept in the house, enclosed in a coffin made of the hollowed trunk of a Durion, and the whole space between the coffin and the body is filled with pounded camphor, for the purchase of which the family of the deceased Rajah frequently impoverish themselves. The camphor oil is collected by incisions at the base of the trunk, from which the clear balsamic juice is very slowly discharged. In Sumatra the best camphor is obtained in a district called Barus, and all good camphor bears that local name. It appears that the tree is cut down to obtain the gum and that not in one CINCHONA—QUININE. 685 tenth of the trees-is it found. Barus camphor is getting scarce, as the tree must be destroyed before it is ascertained whether it is productive or not. About 800 picuis are annually sent to China. The proportion between Malay and Chinese camphor is as eighteen to one; the former is more fragrant and not so pun- gent as the latter. Nine hundred and eighty-three tubs of camphor were exported from Java in 1843; 625 bales were imported in 1848, the produce of the Japanese empire; and 559 piculs exported from Canton in 1844. The price of unrefined camphor in the Liverpool market in - July, 1853, was £4 to £4 10s. the cewt. There have been no im- ports there direct in the last two years. Camphor (says Dr. Ure) is found in a great many plants and is secreted in purity by several laurels; it occurs combined with the essential oils of many of the /adiace ; but it is extracted for manufacturing purposes only from the Lauus Camphora, which abounds in China and Japan, as well as from a tree which grows in Sumatra and Borneo, called in the country Aapur barus, from the name of t'.e place where it is most common. The camphor exists, ready formed, in these vegetables between the wood and the bark; but it does not exude spontaneously. On cleaving the tree Laurus Sumatrensis (Qy. Dryoba- lanops Camphora), masses of camphor are found in the pith. The wood of the Laurus is cut into small pieces and put, with plenty of water, into large iron boilers, which are covered with an earthen capital or dome, lined within with rice straw. As the water boils, the camphor rises with the steam, and attaches itself as a sublimate to the stalks, under the form of granulations of a grey color. In this stateit is picked off the straw and packed up for exportation to Europe.”— (“ Dictionary of Arts and Manufactures.”) The price of camphor at Canton in July, 1850, was from fourteen to fifteen dollars per picul. Cixcuona.—Peruvian or Jesuit’s Bark—One of the most valu- able and powerful astringents and touics used in medicine, is the produce of several species of cinchona, natives cf the Andes, from J1 north latitude to 20 south latitude, at elevations varying from 1,200 to 10,000 feet abuve the level of the sea, and in a dry rocky soil. There are at least twelve trees which are supposed to furnish the barks of commerce, and great obscurity prevails as to the species whence the various kinds of cinchona bark are derived. The names of yellow, red, and pale bark have been very vaguely applied, and are by no means well defined. Dr. Lindley mentions twenty-six varieties; of which twenty-one are well known. The barks are met with either in thick, large, flat pieces, or in thinner pieces, which curl wards during drying, and are ealled quilled. Quinine is one of the most important of the vegetable alkaline bitters. It was first discovered by Vauquelin, in 1811, and its preparation ona large scale pointed out by Pelletier and Caventon in 1820. It is obtained by boiling the yellow bark (Cinchona) in water and sulphuric acid, and then treating it with lime and alcohol, when the quinine is precipitated in the form of a white powder. Upwards of 120,000 ounces are made annually in Paris. 636 DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. Cinchona, or the Peruvian bark, was gathered to the amount of two million dollars in one year recently, and the demand is con- stantly increasing. Peruvian bark is cut in the eastern Provinces of Bolivia, skirt- ing the river Paraguay, and now conveyed an immense distance by mules over a mountainous region to El Puerto, the only port of Bolivia on the Pacific. Itis thence brought by Cape Horn to the cities of the United States and Europe. Now that Government has been successful in opening the South American rivers, this important article of commerce will be furnished in market by the Paraguay and La Plata rivers, at a much reduced price. A species of bark from Colombia, known as Malambo or Matias bark, has been frequently administered by Dr. Alexander Ure as a substitute for cinchona with good effect. It offers the useful combination of a tonic and aromatic. It is supposed to be the produce of a speciesof Drimys. Itisstated that in New Granada, and other districts of Central America, where the tree is indige- nous, incisions are made in the bark, and there exudes an aromatic oil which sinks in water. Cinchona bark contains two alkaloids, cinchonia and quina, to which its active properties are due; the former is best obtained from gray bark, the latter from yellow bark. In combination with these there exists an acid calléd kinie acid. The imports of cinchona bark to this country are from 225,000 to 556,000 lbs. annually, and about 120,000 lbs. are retained for . home consumption. It comes over in chests and serons, or ox- hides, varying from 90 to 200 lbs. We imported from France, in 1850, 489 cwt. of Peruvian bark, of the value of £6,840; and in 1851, 1,128 cwt., of the value of £15,787; also the following quantities of sulphate of quinine, on which there is a duty of 6d. and 3-10ths per ounce. OZ. £ 1 S28 cic OG. eee 0,806) 2-4) ee 5,298 S29 eect ck es, 1 AGA’, 2” Foe jp eee 1,560 1850 Cree eh eee 8: 946s. ah) oe. cee ee 12,566 Tp 1 re en pee ec. 7.005 2) 5s ee 10,647 The following is the arrangement of these barks adopted by Pereira, who has gone very fully into the subject :— A. True cinchonas, with a brown epidermis. I, Pale barks 1. Crown or Loxa bark. C. Condaminea. 2. Gray or silver or Huanuco bark. C. micrantha. 3. Ash or Jaen bark. C. ovata. 4. Rusty or Huamalies bark. C. pudescens. II. Yellow barks. 5. Royal, yellow or Calisaya bark. C. sp? ItI, Red barks. 6. Red bark. (@. sp? B. True cinchonas, with a white epidermis. I. Pale barks. 7. White Loxa bark. CINCHONA BARK. 637 IT, Yellow barks. 8. Hard Carthagena bark. C. cordifolia. 9, Fibrous ditto. Perhaps C. cordifolia. 19. Cuzco bark. C. sp.? 11. Orange bark of Santa Fe. C. lancéfolia. III. Red barks. 12. Red bark of Santa Fe. C. odlongifolia. The genus Exostemma yields various kinds of false cinchona _bark, which do not contain the cinchona alkalies. The following are some of the kinds noticed by Pereira :— . St. Lucia or Piton bark. Exostemma floribundum. . Jamaica bark. F. carvibaeum. . Pitaya bark. £. sp? . False Peruvian bark. F. peruvianwm. . Brazilian bark. #, souzianum. The mode adopted by the bark-peelers of obtaining cinchona varies somewhat in different districts. The Indians (says Mr. Stevenson, ‘Twenty Years’ Residence in South America’’) dis- cover from the eminences where a cluster of trees grow in the woods, for they are easily discernable by the rose-colored tinge of their leaves, which appear at a distance like bunches of flowers amid the deep-green foliage of other trees. They then hunt for the spot, and having found it out, cut down all the trees, and take the bark from the branches, and after they have stripped off the bark, they carry it im bundles out of the wood, for-the purpose of drying it. The peelers commence their operation about May, when the dry season sets in. Some writers state that the trees are barked without felling. In a letter published in one of the Calcutta papers not long ago, from the pen, I believe, of Mr. Piddington, he strongly urged the introduction of the cinchona tree into British India: There is (he observes) one tree, the introduction and the copious distribution of which within certain appropriate points of the sub-Himalayan range, would confer a greater blessing on the great body of natives, than any effort the Government has made or can make, and that is the cinchona bark tree. Without any reference to the greater or less force of medical theories as to the efficacy of cinchona bark, I now only take an experienced and practical view, well knowing that the sufferings of many millions of poor and rich natives, especially in the jungle districts, are yearly very great, and the mortality quite enormous from remittent and intermittent fevers, by far the greater part of which would be immensely relieved, or wholiy cured, by the free use of cinchona bark. If by abundance the price be once brought within the poor native’s reach, he will readily take to it, having no objection whatever on account of caste to anything of the nature of the bark of a tree. If the cinchona tree were once growing in abundance, quinine could. be easily prepared in India, trom the facility of procuring, and cheapness of spirits of wine used in the process of its elimination. I take it that every hundred Sepahees sick of fevers remaining in hospital off duty for thirty days, drawing an average pay of eight rupees each, form a full monthly loss to Government of eight hundred rupees; while a free use of quinine and bark would cure them in ten days on the average, costing at present about forty rupees; thus by the twenty days’ services gained, Governn.ent would save nearly five hundred rupees. Cn He CY bo 628 DRUGS, NARCOTICS ETC. But the cinchona tree once growing abundantly, quinine would of course become infinitely cheaper. Under a proper system of cult.re, quill bark only need be taken without destroying the trees, and an earlier return be obtained. There never yet has been a subst.tute found for cinchona bark and its salts, as an antiperiodic and tonic. It yet remains for some one to find an equally efficacious substitute, and thus make a fortune. In the mean time the importance of the cinchona is paramount. The cinchona tree, like the pimento, deteriorates under cultivation, and in moist, warm, rich valleys the bark becomes inert. The best bark is from trees growing on mountain tops or steep declivities. From the full accounts of Condamine, Mutis, and Humboldt, a soil and climate like that of the north west sub-Himalayan range is admirably adapted to the planting and prospering of cinchona trees. In Lord W. Bentinck’s time, before there were steamers in or to India, seeing the immense benefit to be derived, I sent in a proposition to procure young cinchona plants from Vera Cruz, begging to be then perm:tted to proceed there on that account, and my proposition was civilly and even favorably received ; but these were not the days to act on it. ; Of about the twenty species of cinchona trees the following would of course be the best to bring—the Cinchona binedfolia, the cinchona cordifolia, the cinchona oblongifolia, the cinchona micrantha, and the einchona condamimea. The CaLuMBA PLANT (Cocculus palmatus, Decandolle, or Me- nispermum palmatum) furnishes the medicinal Colombo root, which is one of the most useful stomachics and tonics in cases of dys- pepsia. lt is scarcely ever cultivated, the spontaneous produce of thick forests on the shores of Oibo and Mozambique and many miles inland on the eastern shores of Africa, Mada- gascar and Bombay, proving sufficient. The supplies principally ‘goto Ceylon. The roots are perennial, and consist of several fasciculated, fusiform, branched, fleshy, curved and descending tubers, from one to two inc hes thick, with a brown warty epidermis ; internally deep yellow, odorless, very bitter. The main roots are dug up by the natives in Mareh (the hot season). Tne offsets are ‘cut in’slices and hung up on cords to dry inthe shade. It is deemed fit to ship when, on exposure to the sun, it breaks short, and of a bad quality “when it is soft and black.—(“ Pereira’s Materia Medica.’’) It contains a bitter erystallizable principle called Calumbin. The commercial parcels are often adulterated with the roots of Costus indicus, C. speciosus, and OC. Arabicus (Kusmus, Putckuk, &c.). It is imported into this country in bags and chests of from one to three cwt., and ranges in price from £1 to £2 the ewt. The imports in 1846 to London were 82 packages, and in 1850, 214 packages, but the stock held in London is always large, being nearly 2,500 packages. CoLocyNtTH, Dees by Cucumis ‘colocynthis and C. pseudo colocynthis, is the dried medullary part of a wild species of gourd which is cultivated in Spain. It also grows wild in Japan, the sandy lands of Coromandel, Cape of Good Hope, Syria, Nubia, Egypt, Turkey, and the islands of the Grecian Archi- pelago. It may be obtained in the jungles of India in cart CUBEBS AND GAMBOGE. 639 loads. The fruit, which is about the size of an orange, with a thin but solid rind, is gathered in autumn, when ripe and yellow, and in most countries is peeled and dried either in the sun or by stoves. It comes over from Cadiz, Trieste, Mogadore, &c., in cases, casks, &c., and duty was paid on ebout 11,000 Ibs. in 1839. Craeps—The dried unripe fruit of P. Cubebi, or Cubeba officinalis, a climbing plant of the pepper tribe, native of Prince of Wales’ Island, Java, and the Indian islands furnishes the medicinal cubebs, which is used extensively in arresting dis- charges from mucous membranes. In appearance cubebs re- semble black pepper, except that they are higher colored and are each furnished with a stalk two or three lines long. Dr. Blume says, that the cubebs of the shops are the fruit of P. caninum. This species of pepper, when fresh and good, contains nearly 10 per cent. of essential oil. In 1842 the quantity entered for home consumption was 67,093 lbs. The average imports are about 40 to 50 tons annually. 3 cases were imported into Liverpool in 1851. ‘The price in the Liverpool market, in January 1853, was £3 10s. to £4 10s. the cwt. GamBoGge.—This resinous juice, which is a most important article of commerce, is furnished by some of the plants of Gambogia, natives principally of South America. It is a power- ul irritant, and is employed medicinally as a drastic and hydra- gogue cathartic. From its bright yellow color it is also used as a pigment. Gamboge fetches in the London market from £5 to £11 per ewt. Some of the species of Stalagmites (Murray), natives of Ceylon and the East, yield a similar yellow viscid juice, hardly distinguishable from gamboge, and used for the same purpose by painters, They are a genus of fine ornamental trees, thriving well in soils partaking of a mixture of loam and peat. According to Keenig, the juice is collected by breaking off the leaves or young branches. From the fracture the gamboge exudes in drops, and is therefore called gum gutta. lt is re- ceived on leaves, coco-nut shells, earthen pots, or in bamboos; it gradually hardens by age, and is then wrapped up in leaves prior to sale. The common gamboge of Ceylon is produced by a plant which Dr. Graham was led to view as a species of a new genus under the name of Hebradendron Gambogoides. A very different species, the Garcinia Gambogia, of Roxburgh, once supposed to roduce gamboge, and indeed actually confounded by Linnzus with the true gamboge tree of Ceylon, he has proved not to produce gamboge at all. This substance is also obtained from several other plants, as the Mangostana Gambogia (Gaertner), Hypericum bacciferum and Cayanense, natives of the Hast Indies, Siam and Ceylon, whence it is imported in small cakes and rolls or cylindrical twisted 640 DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. masses. Its composition is as follows: number 1 being an analysis by Professor Christison of a commercial specimen from Ceylon; number 2 of a fine sample of common ditto :— 1. 2 Resin, orvatty acids. se sar. cele 78°84 ot 74°8 Coloring matter, 72.520 ee See 4:03 Bee 3°5 GaN fs Feds SS ek ee oar WA cae 12:59 oie 16°5 ECE SUCUIC 7 ges canis Aiea ey Shee ice ising 4°64 = 52 100: 100- The average imports of gamboge into the port of London, during the past five or six years, have been from 400 to 500 chests of one to two ewt. each. Gentian.—The yellow gentian root (Gentiana, lutea) is the officinal species, and a native of the Alpsof Austria and Switzerland. The stems and roots of G. amarella and campestris, British spe- cies, and G'. cruciata, purpurea, punctata, &c., are similar in their effects, having tonic, stomachic, ani febrifugal properties. So has G. kurroo of the Himalayas. The root is generally taken up in autumn, when the plant isa year old. It is cut longitudinally into pieces of a foot or a foot and a half long. They are im- ported into this country in bales from Havre, Marseilles, &c., and a good deal comes from Germany. In 1839, 470 cwts. were entered for home consumption. Chiretta is the herb and root of Agathotes Chirayta, Don; Gentiana Chirayta, Fleming; or Ophelia chirayta, a herbaceous plant, growing in the Himalaya mountains about Nepaul and the Morungs. Ipecacuan.—Cephelis Ipecacuanhe, Richard, yields the ipe- eacuan of the shops. The plant is met with in the woods of several Brazilian provinces, as Pernambuco, Bahia and Rio Janeiro. Jt is found growing in moist shady situations, from 8 to 20 degs. south latitude. The roots, which are the oflicinal part, are con- torted, knotty and annulated, and about the thickness of a goose uill. ; Besides this brown or gray annulated ipecacuan, there are spurious kinds, such as the striated or black Peruvian, the pro- duce of Pyschotria elliptica, and other species; and white or amylaceous ipecacuan, furnished by Jeickardsonia scabra, an her- baceous perennial, native of the provinces of Rio Janeiro and Minas Geraes. Jfanettia glabra or cordifolia, also furnishes ipeca- cuan in Buenos Ayres. It is imported into this country from Rio in bales, barrels, bags, and serons, and the average annual imports in the eight years ending in 1841 were 10,000 lbs. In 1840, the shipments from Rio were as much as 20,000 lbs. Castelnau states, that one expert hand can gather 15 Ibs. of the ipecacuan root in a day, which will fetch in Rio one dollar per pound. He estimates that, from 1880 to 1837, not less than 800,000 lbs. of this drug were exported from the province of Matto Grosso to Rio. JALAP—SCAMMONY. 641 JALAP.—This drug is obtained from the dried tubers or root- stock of Ipomea Jalapa or Convolvulus Jalapa, a perennial plant, native of America. Some suppose it takes its specific name from Xalapa, in Mexico, whence we chiefly import it. It grows in the woods near Chicanquiaco, at an altitude of 6,000 feet above the level of the sea. Large quantities might be gathered and exported in Jamaica. The root is of a roundish tuberous form, black ex- ternally, and of a deep, yellowish grey within, and varies in size from that of a walnut to that of a moderate sized turnip. It con- tains a resin in which its active properties reside. It is brought to this country in thin transverse slices, and the amount entered for home consumption is about 45,000 lbs. a year. It is imported in bales, from Vera Cruz direct, or indirectly by way of New York, and other places. Two sorts of jalap root occur in commerce. The one which was first introduced into the market, and which is even at the present day most frequently met with, is obtained from the Iyomaa Schie- deana of Zuccarini, a plant growing on the eastern declivity of the Mexican Andes, and discovered by Von Schiedes. The root, as met with in commerce, consists of pieces varying from the size of a nut to that of the fist, sometimes whole, sometimes cut into disks, and at other times divided into two or three portions. The external surface is of a more or less dark gray brown color, _corrugated and rough. It is very hard, presents a shining resinous even surface when broken, and is difficult to reduce to powder. The powder is of a brownish color, has a faint peculiar odor and irritant taste. The second quality, which was introduced into commerce in great quantities a few years ago, by the name of stalk jalap, is now more scarce, and obtained from the Ipomea orazabensis of Pelletan, a plant growing without cultivation in the neighbour- hood of the Mexican town of Orizaba. The root, as met with in the trade, consists of pieces varying from one to three inches in length, and 14 to two inches in diameter. They are of a higher color than the first-named root, and of decidedly fibrous structure. The chief constituents of both varieties is a peculiar resin, of which they contain about 10 per cent. Scammony.—The root of Convolvulus Scammonia, another plant of the same family, affords, when cut, a gummy resinous ex- udation or milky juice, which soon concretes and forms scammony. The plant grows abundantly in Greece, the Grecian Islands, and various parts of the Levant. Jtis imported from Aleppo m drums, weighing from 75 to 125 lbs. each, and from Smyrna in compact cakes like wax packed in chests. In 1839, the quantity on which duty (2s. 6d. per lb.) was paid amounted to 8,581 lbs. The duty received for scammony, in 1842, was £607. A spurious kind is prepared from Calystegia (Convolvulus) sepiwm, a native of Aus- tralia, and several plants of the Asclepiadace order. Zz) 642 DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. Dr. Russell (“ Med. Obs. and Ingui.’”’) thus describes the mode of procuring scammony :— Having cleared away the earth from the upper part of the root, the peasants cut off the top in an oblique direction, about two inches below where the stalks spring from it. Under the most depending part of the slope they affix a shell, or some other convenient receptacle, into which the milky juice flows. It is then left about twelve hours, which time is sufficient for the drawing off of the whole juice; this, however, is in small quantities, each root affording but a few drachms. ‘This milky juice from the several roots is put together, often into the leg of an old boot, for want of some more proper vessel, when in a little time it grows hard, and isthe genuine scammony. Various substances are often added to seammony while yet soft. Those with which it is most usually adul- terated are wheat fiour, ashes, or fine sand and chalk. Liquortce.—The plant which yields the liquorice root of com- merce 1s Glycirrhiza glabra or Liquiritia officinalis. It is a native of Italy and the southern parts of Europe, but has been occasion- ally cultivated with successin Britain, especially at Pontefract, in Yorkshire, and at Mitcham, in Surrey. The plant is a perennial, with pale blue flowers. It grows well in a deep, light, sandy loam, and is readily increased by slips from the roots with eyes. The root, which is the only valuable part, is long, slender, fibrous, of a yellow color, and when grown in England is fit for use at the end of three years. The sweet, sub- acid, mucilaginous juice is much esteemed as a pectoral. It owes its sweetness to a peculiar principle called glycerin or glycirrhiza, which appears also to be present in the root and leaves of other papilionaceous plants, as G. echinata and glandulifera, Trifolium alpinum, and the wild liquorice of the West Indies, ee us precatorius, a pretty climber. The greatest portion of our supplies of the extract, which amount to 7 000 or 8,000 cwts. a year, are obtained from Spain and Sicily. The juice, obtained by crushing the roots in a mill, and subjecting them to the press, is slowly boiled, till it becomes of a proper consistency, when it is formed into rolls of a consider- able thickness, which are usually covered with bay leaves. It is afterwards usually re-dissolved, purified, and, when formed into small quills, is known as refined liquorice. In 1839, 1,166 tons of liquorice paste were exported from Naples, valued at £45 per ton. Mr. Poole, in his Statistics of Commerce, states that the consumption of liquorice root and paste in this country averages 500 tons perannum. 110 ewt. of the juice and 100 ewt. of the root are annually brought into Hull from the continent. Marico—the Peruvian styptic, a powerful vegetable astringent, was first made known to the medical profession of England by Dr. Jeffreys, ae Liverpool, in the Lancet, as far back as A anuary 5th, 1839. A paper on its history and power was published in May, 1843, in the “Transactions of the Provincial Medical and Sur- gical “Association,” vol. 10. It is stated to be the Piper angusti- folium of Ruiz and Parsons. Dr. Martin believes it to be a species of Phlomis. The leaves are covered with a fine hair. QUASSIA—RHUBARB. 643 The powdered leaves of the Hupatorium glutinoswm, under the name of Matico, are used about Quito for stanching blood and healing wounds. A good article on the pharmaceutical and chemi- eal character of matico, by Dr. J. F. Hodges, appeared in the “ Proceedings of the Chemical Society of London,” in 1845. It is stated, by Dr. Martin, that, like the eunjah, which the Kast Indians prepare, from the Cannabis Indica, the leaves and flowers of the matico have been long employed by the sensual Indians of the interior of Peru to prepare a drink which they administer to produce a state of aphrodisia. The leaves and flowering tops of the plant are the parts imported and introduced to notice as a styptic, which property seems to depend on their structure and not on their chemical composition. Quass14.—The quassia wood of the pharmacopeeia was originally the product of Quassia amara, a tall shrub, never above fifteen feet high, native of Guiana, but also inhabiting Surinam and Colombia. It is a very ornamental plant, and has remarkable pinnate leaves with winged petioles. This wood is well known as one of the most intense bitters, and is considered an effectual remedy in any disorder where pure bitters are required. Surinam quassia is not, however, to be met with now. ‘That sold in the shops is the tough, fibrous, bitter bark of the root of Svmaruba (Quassia) excelsa and officinalis, very large forest trees, growing in Cayenne, Jamaica, and other parts of the West India Islands, where they bear the local name of bitter-wood. Its infusion is used as a tonic. 23 tons of bitter-wood were shipped from Mon- teyo Bay, Jamaica, in 1851. Quassia acts as a narcotic poison on flies and other insects. Although prohibited by law, it is fre- quently employed by brewers as a substitute for hops. The duty of £8 17s. 6d. per ewt., levied on quassia, is intended to restrict its use for such a purpose. Ruvears.—This most important plant belongs to the genus Rheum. The officinal rhubarb is the root of an undetermined species. There are about thirteen different kinds which are said to yield rhubarb. Lindley enumerates fifteen. I however take Professor Balfour’s classification :— 1. Rheum palmatum, native of Bucharia, which has perhaps the best title to be considered the true rhubarb-plant, grows spontaneously in the Mongolian empire on the confines of China. 2. R. undulatum, native of China, which yields much of the French rhubarb. 3. R. compactum, native of Tartary, another species yielding French rhubarb, and often cultivated in Britain for its acid petioles. 4, R. Emodi (Wallich). This species yields a kind of Himalayan rhubarb. Its petioles are much used for their acid properties. 5. R. Rhaponticum, native of Asia. Used in France and Britain in the same way as the third species. It is much cultivated in the department of Morbihan. _ 6. R. hybridum (Murr). Much cultivated in Germany for its root and in Britain for its stalks. 7. R. Webbianum (Royle). 8. R. Spiceformi (Royle). 9. R. Moorcrofti- anum (Royle). Himalayan species or varieties. 10. R. crassinervium (Fisch), a Russian species. G ik DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. 11, R. leucorhizum (Pall), a Siberian and Altai species, said to yield imperial or white rhubarb, It has striped flowers, while all others are whitish green. 12- R. Caspicum (Fisch), a Russian and Altai species. 13. R. Rides, native of the Levant, but some say an Affghanistan or Persian species. All these grow in the cold parts of the world, as on the Altai mountains, in Siberia, Thibet, North of China, and on the Hima- layan range. ‘The rhubarb procured from one or more of these species is known in commerce under the names of Russian or Turkey, Chinese or East Indian, and English rhubarb. The plants all thrive well in a rich loamy soul, or light sandy soil, and are increased by divisions of the roots or ‘by seed. The extent of country from which rhubarb of one kind or an- other is actually collected, according to Christison, stretches from Ludall, in 774% east longitude, to the Chinese province of Shen-si, 29 degrees further east, and from the Sue-chan mountains, in north latitude 26 degrees, nearly to the frontiers of Siberia, 24 degrees northward. The best rhubarb is said to come from the very heart of Thibet, within 95 degrees east longitude and 85 degrees north: latitude, 500 or 600 miles north of Assam. The Chinese rhubarb is inferior to that of Russia and Turkey. The price varies in China from 38 dollars per picul upwards, and about 1,500 piculs are annually exported, on an average at 50 dollars per picul. In 1844, 2,077 piculs were shipped from Can- ton for Great Britain; and of 95,701 lbs. imported in 1841, 43,640 Ibs. were brought from China, 8,349 lbs. from the Philippines, 7,290 lbs. from the East Indies, and 33,710 lbs. from the United States; only 1,462 lbs. were brought from Russia. The imports from the East Indies have decreased more than 70 per cent. in the last twelve years, as compared with the preceding. The wholesale prices are, for round rhubarb, 8d. to 3s. per Ib.; flat, 6d. to 33s. 38d. per lb.; Dutch trimmed, 6s. to 7s. per lb.; Russian, 18s. to 18s. 6d. per lb. In 1831, we imported 133,462 lbs. from the East India Com- pany’s possessions, and 6,901 lbs. from Russia. In 1843, only 71,298 lbs. came from the East. From China we received, in 1848, 172 ,882 lbs. The quantities of rhubarb on which duty of 1s. per lb. was paid in the six years ending 1840, were as follows :— East Indian. Foreign. lbs, Ibs. NS BOW Rents e -baetemc ese Hace BZO.LD - sinside'veenen eee 10,647 SSG iy eetemecc sts no ake 36,836 > sss.cscetomeeeewer 7,752 USB Td tnsbene Babee weiss 4A GOS wins cesedsieneanceaeeee 5,946 TSS Sie kececcet ces. SE OZG eneces sce see menereee 7,402 1839 29 STB\ eewck aco oeea eee 12,525 TSAO) Mente neneaeeseunone: AGS 7 AGO Westen cesarean 22,203 The imports and consumption of rhubarb are thus stated in the Pharmaceutical Journal :— SARSAPARILLA. 615 Imports Consumption Ibs. lbs. 1826 OPC IA coe icky, 22h, 32,936 eM cc Saaassis gs souses WS) Dire Yee te cee es. ences cee 40,124 “ht Se 122,142 44,468 1841 95,701 - 67,877 PO ee ik 8 occs Sas ep eee sa WE) eek ds comin sine sins BUA SWEe eoosieccmae nesses cee — See sen lea ce «>t ev PUG GU Geeaseacevtecs cscs - — 1849 ANG haute ed ies The Sharh. eons into Siberia grows wild in Chinese Tar- tary, especially in the province Gansun, on hills, heaths, and meadows, and is generally gathered in summer from plants of six years of age. When the root is dug up, it is washed to free it from earthy particles; peeled, bored through the centre, strung on a thread, and dried in the sun. In autumn all the dried rhu- barb collected in the province is brought in horsehair sacks, con- taining about 200 lbs., to Simin (the residence of the dealers), loaded on camels, and sent over Mongolia to Kiachta, and the poe and capital of China. SARSAPARILLA.— The root of various species of Smilax consti- tutes the sarsaparilla of the shops. It is an evergreen climbing undershrub, having whitish green flowers, and grows readily from suckers. It isa native of the temperate and tropical regions of Asia and America. The officinal part is the bark, which comes off from the rhizomes. They are mucilaginous, bitter, and slightly acid. Sarsaparilla is used in decoction and infusion as a tonic and alterative. The following are enumerated as sources whence sar- saparilla of various kinds is derived. Smilax China and sagittefolia, yielding the Chinese root, are said to come from the province of Onansi in China. S. pseudo Ohina, 8. Sarsaparilla, 8. rubens, and §. Watsoni, furnish the drug of North America. The sarsaparilla distinguished in commerce as the Lisbon or Brazilian is the root of S. papyracea of Poiret. It is an under- shrub, the stem of which is compressed and angular below, and armed with prickles at the angles. The leaves are elliptic, acu- minate, and marked with three longitudinal nerves. This species grows ‘principally in the regions bordering the river Amazon, and on the banks of most of its tributary streams. Itis generally brought from the provinces of Para and Maranham. It is in large. cylindrical bundles, long and straight, and the flexible stem of the plant is bound round the bundles, so as to entirely cover them. Its fibres are very long, cylindrical, enelen longitudinally, and furnished with some lateral fibrils. Its color is of a fawn brown, or sometimes of a dark grey, approaching to black. The color internally is nearly white. Besides this species there are others indigenous, such as S. officinalis, which grows in the province of Mina; S. syphilitica, which grows in the northern regions, and three new species, S. jzpicanga, S. Brasiliensis, and S. 646 DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. syringioides. There is also met with in Brazil another plant, Herreria sarsaparilla, belonging to the same natural order, which abounds in the provinces of Rio, Bahia, and Mina, and the roots of which receive the name of wild sarsaparilla. From Mexico, Honduras, and Angostura very good qualities are imported. WS. zeylanica, glabra, and perfoliata furnish sarsaparilla from Asia, and S. excelsa and aspera are used as substitutes for the officinal drug in Europe. Smilax officinalis, found in woods near the Rio Magdalena in New Granada, furnishes the best in the market, which is commonly known as Jamaica Sarza. It differs from the other kinds im haying a deep red cuticle of a close texture, and the color is more generally diffused through the ligneous part. It is shipped in bales, formed either of the spirally formed roots, as in the Jamaica and Lima varieties, or of unfolded parallel roots, as in the Brazilian varieties. The roots are usually several feet long, about the thickness of a quill, more or less wrinkled, and the whole quantity retained for home consumption, in 1840, was 143,000 lbs. In 1844, 184,748 Ibs., andin 1845 111,775 lbs. were shipped from Honduras. The prices in the London market, at the close of 1853, were —Brazil, 1s. 3d. per lb.; Honduras, 1s. 3d. to 1s. 8d. per lb.; Vera Cruz, 6d. to 11d. per lb.; Jamaica, 1s. 8d. to 3s. 4d. per Ib. The duty received on sarsaparilla in 1842 was £1,536. The average annual quantity of sarsaparilla obtained from Mexico and South America, exclusive of Brazil, and taken for home consumption, in the twelve years ending with 1843 was 37,826 lbs. IMPORTS OF BRAZILIAN SARSAPARILLA. lbs lbs LSAT E Balas, ea eR a Res 28,155 1835)! Sees 22,387 ES 28k" ue ei irees eee 49,280 1836) es eee 1,/18 Ups PAS ibs io eee 52,772 1837) cease ce 12,842 SS Olea. heretics ate 19,842 1£O358: 5 te eee — USB Wa atewee cna ei 31,972 1839 eee 9,484 LSP Ag Dor eres oe Aa 91,238 1840-5) 2 ee 4,141 VS Sau. eee eieberets. 13,077 1841 >. ee eee 1,399 LSS 430 Rees 28,8038 1849. eee 5,072 The total imports in 1849 were 118,934 lbs. Sarsaparilla has been found growing in the Port Phillip district of Australia, and has been shipped thence in small quantities. It seems to be indigenous to the Bahamas, and is to be found on many of the out islands. Mr. Wm. Dalzell, of Abaco, collected some considerable quantity at a place called Marsh Harbor, which was found to be of a superior quality. Some thousands of pounds of sarsaparilla were brought to Falmouth, Jamaica, last year, and bought by merchants for export. It came from the parish of St. Elizabeth, and there are whole forests covered with this weed, for such in reality itis. It is too the real black Jamaica sarsaparilla, that is so much valued in the SENNA. 647 European and American markets. It is also found in other parts of the island. In 1798 3,674 lbs. of sarsaparilla were shipped from La Guayra ; 2,394 lbs. in 1801 from Puerto Cabella, and 400 quintals from Costa Rica, in 1845, valued at eight dollars a quintal. SENNA.—Seyveral varieties of Cassia, natives of the East, are grown for the production of this drug. The dried leaves of C. lanceolata or orientalis, grown in Kgypt, Syria, and Arabia, the true Mecca senna, are considered the best. In Egypt the leaves of Cynanchum Arghel are used for adulterating senna, Cassia obovata or C. senna, also a native of Egypt, cultivated in the East Indies, as well as in Spain, Italy, and Jamaica. It is a perennial herb, one or two feet high. In the Hast Indies there is a variety (C. elongata) common about Tinnivelly, Coimbatore, Bombay, and Agra, &e. Several of this species are common in the West India islands. The plants, which are for the most part evergreens, grow from two to fifteen feet high; they delight in a loamy soil, or _ mixture of loam or peat. The seed is drilled in the ground, and the only attention re- quired by the plant is loosening the ground and weeding two or three times when it is young. The senna leaves imported from India are not generally so clean and free from rubbish as those from Alexandria. They are worth from 20s. to 27s. per ewt. in the Bombay market. The prices are—Alexandria, 13d. to 6d. per lb.; East Indian, 2d. to 3d. per lb.; Tinnevelly, 7d. to 94d. per Ib. Senna is collected in various parts of Africa by the Arabs, who make two crops annually; one, the most productive, after the rains in August and September, the other about the middle of March. It is brought to Boulack, the port of Cairo, by the cara- vans, &c., from Abyssinia, Nubia, and Sennaar, also by the way of Cossier, the Red Sea, and Suez. The different leaves are mixed, and adulterated with arghel leaves. The whole shipments from Boulack to Alexandria, whence it finds it way to Europe, is 14,000 to 15,500 quintals. The quantities imported for home consumption were-— From the East Indies. Other places. Total. bs. Ibs. Ibs. M63 eee SD OT6R fe. GO) SGN ne AO A 1839 Sec UW eetOe) note 6 ,566 Susi 174,175 In 1840, 211,400 lbs. paid duty, which is now only 1d. per Ib. In 1848, we imported 800,000 lbs. from India; in 1849, the total imports were 541,143 lbs. The imports into the United Kingdom were, in 1847, 246 tons; 1848, 402 tons ; 1849, 240 tons. Alexandrian senna (Cassia acutifolia). This species is said by some to constitute the bulk of the senna consumed for medical purposes in Europe. It is much adulterated with the leaves of Cynanchum Arghel, Tiphrosia apollinea, and Coriaria myrtifolia. C. lanceolata and C. ethiopica furnish other species of the same 648 SENNA—SUMBUL. article, the greater part of the produce of which find its way to India, through the Red Sea, Surat, Bombay and Calcutta, the im- ports into Calcutta, in 1849, having been 79,212 lbs. C. obovata furnishes the Aleppo and Liahan drug. At least eight varieties of senna leaf are known in commerce in Europe—1. the Senna palthe ; 2. Senna of Sennaar or Alexandria ; 3. of Tripoli; 4. of Aleppo; 5. of Moka; 6. of Senegambia; 7. the false or Arghel; 8. the Tinneyvelly. In Egypt the senna harvest takes place twice annually, in April and September; the stalks are cut off with the leaves, dried before the sun, and then packed with date leaves. At Boulka, the drug is sorted, mixed, and adulterated, and passed into commerce through Alexandria. Alexandrian senna, according to Mr. Jacob Bell (“Pharmaceuti- cal Journal,’ vol. 2, p. 63), contains a mixture of two or more species of true senna. It consists principally of Cassia obovata and C. obtusata, and according to some authorities it occasionally contains C. acutifolia. This mixture is unimportant, but the Cynanchum Arghel, which generally constitutes a fifth of the weight on an average, possesses properties differing in some re- spects from true senna, and which render it particularly objection- able. The Tinnevelly senna, that most esteemed by the profession, is known by the size of the leaflets, which are much larger than those of any other variety; they are also less brittle, thmner and _ larger, and are generally found in a very perfect state, while the other varieties, especially the Alexandrian, are more or less broken. The leaves of the Cynanchum are similar in form to those of the lanceolate senna, but they are thicker and stiffer, the veins are scarcely visible, they are not oblique at the base, their surface is rugose, and ne color erey or greenish drab ; ther taste is bitter and disagreeable, and “they are often spotted with a yellow, in- tensely bitter gummo-resinous incrustation. Being less fragile than the leaflets of the true senna, they are more often found en- tire, and are very easily distinguishable from the varieties which constitute true Alexandrian senna. In their botanical character they are essentially different, being distinct leaves, not leaflets, which is the case with true senna. The SumMBUL root, which has recently been introduced into the French market, is the root of an umbelliferous plant, which is characterised by a strong odor of musk. ‘The pilgrims, on their return from Mecca, oenerally import to Salonika, Constantinople, &c., among other articles of trade, various plants with a musk-like odor, The preparation of these vegetable substances is said to be effected by smearing them oyer with musk-balsam. INDEX. Abrus precatorius, 648 Acacia bark, 493 Catechu, 495, 577 dealbata, 505 Acer saccharinum, 205 Acre, coffee trees to the, 69 Achira plant, 355 Achote, a name for arnotto, 447 Acrocomia fusiformis, 519 Adeps Myristica, 402 Adme cyperus, 626 Adenanthera Pavonina, 378 Adansonia digitata, 378 African arrowroot, 353 lard, 526 purple millet, 307 Africa, pepper grown in, 422 tobacco culture in, 615 Agar-Agar moss, 378, 379 Agi or Guinea pepper, 429 Agave Americana—a substitute for soap, 574 Agaiti oil, 520 Agricultural wealth of tropical re- gions, 2 Aipi, 376 Akyab, exports of rice from, 297 Aleurites triloba, 521, 538 Alexandrian senna, 648 Algaroba beans, 313 bark, 503 Algiers, tobacco culture in, 615 Alizaine, 478 Alkanet root, 442 Allspice, the common name for pi- mento, 430 Almond oil, 510, 533 Aloes, statistics of exports from the Cape, 632 varieties of, 628 Alpinia Galanga, 419 Cardamomum, 419 racemosa, 414 Alstremeria pallida, 330 Althea rosea, 442 Amaranthus gangttieus, 434 American arrowroot, 352 flour, countries to which- shipped, 223 Americans consume most coffee, 40 Amboyna wood, 439 Amomum, species of, 419 Zingwoer, 414 Anacardium occidentale, 495, 521 Analyses, various, of tobacco, 592-93 Analysis of the coffee plant, 49 > ———___———. ashes of the coffee tree, 43 of catechu, 579 of Havana tobacco, 591, 615 of other varieties, 615 of oil cake, 516 of soils, 617 of soils, not 80 requisite abroad, 7 of the sugar cane, by Dr. Evans, 154 of sugar soils in the Kast, 172 Anethum graveolens, 375 ——— Sowa, seeds of, 434 Angola weed, 486 Aniseed, 437 Antigua arrowroot, statistics of, 353 cost of cultivating sugar, 189 Ants, remedy for, 181 Anchusa tinctoria, 442 Andropogon, species of, 572 Anitleria, a manufactory for indigo, 460 Apricot oil, 511, 636 Apios, 355, 371 Aquilaria, species of, 439 Arghel leaves, 647 Arachis hypogea, 518 Arenga saccharifera, the gomutus sage. charifera of Rumphius, 126, 314 2 uU 650 Areometer, an instrument for testing oil, 532 Arbor alba, 566 Areca nuts, value of the exports from Ceylon, 579 palm, 577 Argemone Mexicana, 511, 521, 626 Arnotto, 447 Arpent, a French land measure, about one-seventh less than an acre, 251 Arracan, exports of rice from, 297 Arracacha esculenta, 355, 375 Arrack, 556 — used to flavor tobacco, 621 Arroba, a Spanish weight of 25 |bs., the fourth part of a quintal. Arrowroot, Benzon’s analysis of, 348 culture and commerce of, 346 — made from the Palmyra shoots, 376 starch of, 331, 334-35, 337 Arsenic for steeping grain, poisonous effects from, 233 Artocarpus incisa, 318, 330 Arum colocasia, 364 — esculentum, 364 Rumphii, 365 Asafeetida, 633 Asclepias curassavica, 625 gigantea, 494 tingens, 442 Assamee, an Indian name for the ryot or cultivator, 467 Assam, introduction of tea culture, 94 tea Sales, 98 Company, origin of, 98 manufacture of tea in, 126 Assaroo, rain sowing, 468 Astoria theiformis, used as tea at Santa Fe, 80 Attap leaf for thatching, 405, 559 Attar of roses, 570 Aucklandia, 438 Auracaria Bidwillit, 377 Australia, consumption of tea in, 87, 88 ded, 139 Austria production of beet-root sugar in, 197, 200 Avicenna tomentosa, 444 Avocado seed yields a dye stuff, 444 Awl tree, 443 Babool wood, 493 . Bahu, a land measure in Java, equal to 71 acres. Bajree, the Indian name for Holcus spicatus, 306 Bales of Cuba tobacco, size of, 613 sugar cultivation recommen- INDEX. Balfour (Prof.) on the starch in po- tatoes, 330 on species of rhubarb, 647 Ball’s account of the cultivation, &c., of tea, 103 Banana, starch in, 331 used as a shade for the cacao, 15 Baptista tinctoria, 453 Barbacue, a platform for coffee drying, 69 Baphia nitida, 447 Barbados arrowroot, 337, 353 culture of aloes in, 630 cost of cultivating sugar, 189 ———— ginger, 415 ————— sugar crops of, 149 yam, 334, 335, 337, 338, 362 Barcelona, exports of cacao from, 13 Bark of the larch, its utility, 376 Barks for tanning, 492 Barley, history and consumption of, 255 imported, 218 —— meal imported, 218 —— produce of in England and Wales, 248, 256 average prices of, 256 Barrel of rice weighs 600 lbs, net, 291 Barus camphor, 634 Barwood, 445, 447 Basket of rice, a measure equal to 554 lbs., English, Bassia butyracea, 136, 512 longifolia, 511 oil seeds of, 5387 Batatas edulis, 330, 331, 357 Bauhinia variegata, 492 Bayley (Mr.), on consumption of tea in the manufacturing districts Bay rush or tapioca, 376 Beans, analysis of, 264 and peas, quantities imported, 313 imported, 218 Bearing time of different plants, 9 Beck (Prof.) on various wheats, 222 on the American bread- ——— stuffs, 226 Beet root sugar produced on the Con- tinent, 144 204 Beet, varieties of the root, 191 Belgians, large consumers of coffee, 40 Belgium, production of beet root su- gar in, 200 Benares, production of indigo in, 475 Ben, oil of, 523 Bencoolen, pepper grown in, 423 spice culture in, 412 cost of producing, 189, INDEX. Bengal, cost of cultivating sugar in, 189 ——— indigo, 464 introduction of the coffee tree into, 40 production of indigo in, 475 production of opium in, 580 ——— rice, 296 Bennet on Ceylon, 316 Bennett (Dr.), description of gambier, 500 Berar, edible root of, 377 Berberry, a dye stuff, 442 Berbice, exports of coffee from, 73 Bergamot, essence of, 566 Berger’s process of making rice starch, 344 Bermuda arrowroot, statistics of, 353 mode of cultivating arrow- root, 346 Berry wax, 540 Betel leaf, 577 Bhoe Moong, the Indian name for the ground nut, 515 Bhull rice lands, 293 Biggah, distinction between this land measure, 471 Bignonia Chica, 444 Bihai, 320 Bitter cassava, 331 Bizxa orellana, 447 Black ginger, 415 pepper, statistics of, 428 tea, imports of the last fifteen years, 82 — mode of manufacturing, 112 Blood tree, 625 Bollman (Prof.), on the potato rot, 359 Bolitus used as food, 377 Bonynge (Mr. F.) promotes tea culture in America, 97 Borassus gomutus, 316 Borneo, pepper produced in, 422 Bourbon, cacao grown in, 36 — produce of rice in, 293 Bousa, an African beer, 308 Boussingault’s analysis of wheat, 244 Boyams, food plant, 377 Bran, analysis of, 231 Brassica oleracea, oil from the seed, 5389 Brazilian arrowroot, 330, 367, 369 Brazil, exports of coffee to America, 63 cost of producing sugar in, 189 culture of ginger, 418 production of coffee in, 40, 41, 63 ——— introduction of the tea plant, 128 statistics of sugar production, tobacco export from, 594 wood, 485 651 Bread fruit, 318, 330 made from millet, 306 —— nut of Jamaica, 319 stuffs of commerce, 217 Brick tea of Thibet, 92 British Guiana, coffee produced in, 73 — West Indies, decline of coffee culture in, 40, 63, 67 exports of coffee from, 73. Brood-boon, 319 Bromelia Pinguin, fruit of, used for soap, 574 Broom corn, 307, 308 sedge, 308 Brosimum Alicastrum, edible nuts of, 319 Broussonitia tinctoria, 485 Brown bread, its wholesomeness, 230 Bruce, (Mr. C. A.) on the manufacture of tea in Assam, 126 Buchanania latifolia, 494, 521 Buckwheat, average weight of crop in New Brunswick, 253 oil from, 510 culture of, 259 analysis of, 260 Buck yam, 333, 335, 362 Bullhoof, yields a narcotic, 589 Bunbury (Mr.) on Cape aloes, 632 Butch wood, used to keep off ants, 181 Butea frondosa, 507 varieties of, 442 —— tannin from, 494 Butter of cacao, 11, 12 ——— obtained from the dolichos bean, 313 Cabacinha, the Portuguese name for a purgative plant, 626 Caballine aloes, 630 Cacao beans or seeds, analysis of, 12 age at which may be trans- planted, 6 expenses of a plantation, 33 ———-— information respecting, 9 — plantation, enormous returns formerly obtained from, 34 — quantity consumed United Kingdom, 11 total imports into the United Kingdom, 35 total imports from America and the West Indies, 35 trees, where indigenous, 33 — oppressive duties levied on, 34 Cacomite, a species of Tigridia, 374 Cacoon, oil from, 511 Cadet’s analysis of barks, 495 Cesalpinia, species of, 446 ——_— Brasiliensis, 485 202 in the 652 Cesalpinia Coriars, 493 oleospermum, 511 Caffeine, analysis of, 80 Cajeput oil, 566 Caladium costatiwn, 377 esculentum, 331 sagittifolium, 384 Calambak wood, 439 Calandra oryza, 279 Calcutta, exports of castor oil, 545 Calidad, the best kind of Cuba tobacco, 613 California, tea proposed to be cultivated in, 97 Callistemon ellipticum, 505 Calophyllum Inophyllum, 513 Calumba plant, 638 Calumbin, 638 Calystegia sepium, 642 Camassia esculenta, 376 Camata, a variety of valonia, 508 Camelina sativa, 509, 511, 564 Camotes, a Spanish name for the sweet potato, 375 Cameladia ilicifolia, 628 Campbell (Dr. A.), on the tea culture at Darjeeling, 116 Camphor, on the collection of, 633 obtained from the roots of the cinnamon, 389 Cannabis indica, 643 Camwood, 447 Canada, production of maple sugar in 206 — West, grain exports of, 251 Canadian yellow root, 626 Canary Isles, millet exported from, 306 moss, 486 seed, 311 Candleberry myrtle, 540 Candlewood, 539 Candles made of cinnamon suet, 390 Candle tree, 521, 538 Cane sugar, composition of, 136, 155, 157 Canella alba, 396 Canna, species of, 356 Canothus Americanus, used as tea, 80 Caoutchouc, 539 Capa, a term in Cuba for good tobacco, 614 Cape aloes, manufacture of, 631 weed, 486 Capsicum, 428 Carapa, species yielding oil, 518 oil, 444, 519 guianensis, 512 Caracas, large produce of cacao in,.13 Caraveru, a red pigment, 444 Carraway seed oil, 4387, 566° INDEX. Cardomoms, bastard, 419 —_————— plants furnishing, 419 Carduus Virginianus, 376 Carob bean, 312, 313 Carolina rice, shipments of, 285 Carrageen, 379 Carrots, average weight per bushel in New Brunswick, 253 Carthamus tinctoria, 450 —_—_———_ oil from, 512 Caruto, a name for the Lana dye, 444 Carver’s treatise on tobaccoculture, 607 Carum carui, 566 Caryophylius aromaticus, 397 Caryota urens, 314 Cascarilla bark, 396 Cashew bark, 495 nut oil, 512 Cassareep, an antiseptic, 339, 343, 369 Cassava cakes, 342 culture of, 367 — fecula of, 330 -—— flourexports from St.Lucia, 369 - — meal, 341 roots, information respecting, 9 starch, yield per acre, 370 a rival to cinnamon, 391 auriculata, 494 bark of China, superiority of, © 393, 394 ——— buds, 396 —— lignea, 394, 395 statistics of imports and con sumption of, 394 Castor oil, 510, 511, 527, 536, 542, 563 Catechu or Cutch, 579 ——— tannin in, 495 Cattle, consumption of Indian corn by, Catty, a Chinese weight, 400 Cayenne, nutmeg introduced, 412 pepper grown in, 427 pepper, 429 pottage, 429 Celastrus paniculatus, 521 Celebes, coffee grown in, 62 production of coffee in, 41 ——— rice culture in, 302 tobacco, 621 Centrifugal machine for sugar, 140 Cephelis Ipecacuanhe, 641 Ceratonia siliqua, 312, 313 Cereal grasses, 216 Ceroxy on andicola, 541 Cersium virginianum, 376 Cetraria islandica, 343, 379 Ceylon arrowroot, 353 cardamoms, 419, 421 coco-nut culture in, 556 — culture of rice in, 295 INDEX. Ceylon, exports of castor oil from, 545 adapted for indigo paeerss 475 gamboge, 639 —— the great seat of cinnamon cul- _ ture, 383 pepper exported from, 426 imports of Terra Japonica, 502 moss, 379 produce of tobacco in, 619 production of coffee in, 41 - tea plant introduced, 96 value of the betel nuts exportcd, HTT Te Chayroot, 449, 478 Chamerops Palmetto, 495 Chandu, the prepared extract of the opium, 585 Chenopodium quinoa, 310 Cheroots, Manila, 619 Chesnuts, consumed in France, 361 Che:t of opium, about 140 lbs., 58 Chick pea, 312 the inspissated juice of the poppy, 582 Chicory, extensive consumption of, 37 Chillies, growth of, 428 Chimo, powdered potatoes, 361 China, population of, 86 shipments of tea from, 84 Chinese arrowroot, 352 Chironia sapinda, 521 Chloranthus, flowers used to flavor tea, 85 Chocolate nuts, 11 imported, 36 paste, as prepared by the Mexicans, 13 Christison (Prof.), analysisof gamboge, 640 Chiretta, 641 Chrysophanie acid, 488 Cibotium Billardiert, 380 Cigars, consumption of, 596 duty received on, 597 large consumption of in New York, 599 profit on manufacture of, 612 —- number exported from Cuba, 614 exported from Siam, 619 Cinchona bark, 635 Cinnamon, 382 export duty on, 391 oil, 565 ——-—— properties of good, 387 statistics of export from Ceylon, 390, 391 suet, 522 varieties of the tree, 386 Citronella oil, 665, 573 —_——. ‘653 Clagett and Co.’s (Messrs.) tobacco circulars, 601 Clarifying cane juice, 155 Clark, (Mr.) on a new variety of to- bacco, 613 Classification and arrangement adopt- ed in the work, 5 Claytonia acutrflora, 371 Clerihew’s coffee apparatus, 52 Climate suited for various plants, 9 Clove bark, 383 Cloves, 397 oil, 390, 398 statistics of, 411 varieties of the tree, 398 where grown, 402 Cobres.a first quality of indigo, 456 Coca plant, 576 Cocculus indicus, 576 palmatus, 638 Cochin China, coco nut oil exported: from, 556 culture of rice, 298 exports of cinnamon, 393 — tea considered inferior, 94 Cochineal, value of the we stuff, 440 Cocoa, see Cacao, 9 fat, 519 — nut butter, 560 information respecting, 9 oil; 527 . palm, 547 Cocos nucifera, 547 Susiformis, 519 or eddoes, 364 Cocum oil, 521 Coffee, adulteration of, and substitutes for, 3 consumption of, 39, 596 cultivation in Ceylon, 46 in Africa, 77 = in India, 44 information respecting, 9 manures suited for, 50 tree, description of, 43 production in various coun- tries, 41 produce per tree and per acre, 69, 481 leaf, suited for making a beverage by ‘infusion, 78 —Dr. Hooker’s opinion thereon, 79 plantation, beauty of, 67 prices of, in London, ‘47 signs of its being properly cured, 71 trade, progress of, 36 Coimbatore, culture of tobacco i in, 618 Coir, Coco nut, 501, 552, 555, 506. 654: Colman (Mr.), on grain production, 219 on sugar, 204 Colocasia, varieties of cultivated, 364 Colocynth, 638 5 iol Colombo root, 638 shipments of coffee from, 48 Coloring principles of the lichens, 487 teas in China, 104 Colza oil, 510, 513, 539 Conium Arracacha, 378 Connecticut, culture of tobacco in, 606 Consumption of rhubarb, 645 Convolvulus Jalapa, 641 Scammonia, 642 Conquin tay, plantain meal, 324 Constantinople opium, 586 Consumption of arrowroot, 354 ————_—. of arnoito, 449 cacoa in the United King- dom, 86 ————— cassia bark, 394 castor oil, 544 coco nut oil, 562 — coffee, 36, 64, 596 coffee in various countries cinnamon, 391 ——— cloves, 401 — ginger, 418 indigo, 477 — mace, 414 nutmegs, 414 ————— opium, 580 ————— palm oil, 527 pepper, 428 pimento, 431 sago in the United King- dom, 318 —————._ sugar in India, 140 Great Britain, 139 ————— tea, statistics of, 82, 596 —— tobacco, 596, 595 Convolvulus batatas, 333, 384, 356 Coolies employed in Mauritius, 150 Copey, a Cuba dye wood, 485 Copperah, 536, 549, 556, 560, 561. Corakan flour, 304 . Coriander seed, 437 Coriaria myrtifolia, 493 Cork tree bark, 504 Corn, the common name for maize in America, 270 Cortes, a description of indigo, 456 Corypha umbraculifera, 316 Costus Arabicus, 438 indicus, &e., 638 Costa Rica, production of coffee in, 41, 64 INDEX. Cotton, information respecting, 9 seed oil, 564 cake, 564 Courida bark, 495 Cow-itch, 625 Crane potato, 372 Crawfurd (Mr. J.), estimate of pepper produce, 422 Croix lachryma, 304 Crop hogshead of tobacco, weight of, 605 Croton Cascarilla, 396 Eleuteria, 397 gossypifolia, 625 oil, 522 Tiglium, 522 Cuba, coffee plantations in, 77 —— culture of tobacco in, 613 —-— exports of coffee to America, 63 —— cost of producing sugar in, 147, 189 —— exports of coffee from, 73 progress of sugar cultivation in, 8 —-— production of coffee in, 41 rice grown in, 292 —— statistics of coffee exported, 76 tobacco plantations in, 614 Cubebs, medicinal, 639 Cucumber seed oil, 512 Cucumis Colocynthus, 638 Cudbear, imports of, 486 ———— 452 Culilaban bark, 383 Curcuma longa, 419 species of, 434 varieties of, yielding E. I. arrowroot, 351 Curry stuff, imports into Ceylon, 434 Cush, an Indian name for millet, 306 Cutch, the Indian name for catechu, or gambier, 500 ——-— exported from Pinang, 503 — imports of, 502 Cuyupa, an Indian tuber, 374 Cyeas cireinalis, 314 Cynamchum leaves, 649 Cynosurus corocanus, 396 Cytisus Cajan, 304 Dacrydium cupressinum, 505 Dadap, a prop for the pepper, 425, 42 ——— aname given in Jaya to the Erythrina, 58, 58 Datisca cannabina, 442 Davis’ (Dr.), analysis of maize, 265 Day’s analysis of barks, 495 Demerara, exports of coffee from, 73 ———-— rice grown in, 292 Dhoil, the Indian name for yarieties of Cajanus, 312 INDEX. Dhak tree, bark of, 507 Dhurra, the Egyptian name for millet, 306 Dicypellium earyophyllatum, 384 Didynamia gymosperma, 520 Dietetic articles used for the prepara- tion of popular beverages, 11 ee a preparation with cayenne, 429 Dioscorea aculeata, 334, 362 Diospyros glutinosa, 494 Dipteriz odorata, 434 Dipterocarpus, oil from, 511 Divi-divi, 503 Division of seasons in the tropics, 6 Dodder cake, 564 Dogwood, bark of, 627 Dolichos bijtorus, varieties of, 312 ——— bulbosus, roots used as food, 377 ——— oil, 521 Domba oil, 513 Dominica, exports of coffee from, 73 — introduction of the clove tree, 399 Dracena terminalis, 355 Drimys bark, 636 Dryobalanops, species furnishing cam- phor, 634 Dubranfaut’s process of sugar making, 197, 201 | Dunsterville (Mr.), on Cape aloes, 631 Duquesne (M.), process of making sugar from beet, 202 Duration of various plants, 9 Dutch pound, lighter than the English ayoirdupoise pound; 100 Dutch pounds equal to 101 and 1-4th lbs. Dutch West Indies, production of coffee in, 41 Duty, large, levied on tobacco, 598 Dye stuffs, various, 440 from British plants, 452 furnished by the cacao bean, 12 Dye woods, 445, 447 Eagle wood, 439 Earth mouse, 374 Earth-nut oil, 513 East India ginger, 416, 418 ————— sugar, 139 ———— cultivation in, 152 Hast Indies, imports of indigo from, 477 rhubarb, 645 Eddoes or cocos, 364 Kdward’s preserved potatoes, 361 Egyptian corn, 307 opium, 583 Elais, species furnishing palm oil, 524 Llate sylvestris fruit,a masticatory, 579 Elettaria Cardomomum, 421 655 Eleusine corocana, 304 Encephalartos caffer, 319 English opium, 586 Eno bark, a black dye, 444 Epidendrum, species of, 431 Hrvum lens, 312 Erythric acid, 489 Erythrina, a shade tree for the cacao, 15 Erysimun perfoliatum, oil from, 512 Essences, 565 Essential oils, 565 Ethiopian pepper, 421 Eucalyptus, bark of, for tanning, 494 resinifera, 506 Eugenia caryophyllata, 397 ——— Pimento, 430 Eulophia virens, 354 Eupatorium glutinosum, 6438 Euphorbia Lathyris, 510 Euterpe montana, 549 Evans’ (Dr.) Sugar Planter’s Manual, 140 Everna vulpina, 488 Evodia triphylla, usedas a perfume, 550 Factory maund, about 70 pounds, 471 Fagara piperita, 421 Fanega, a Spanish measure, the fifth part of an English quarter, equal to 12 quarrees, or 62 and 2-dths acres, 13, 327 Fanegada, a Spanish land measure, 9 Farinaceous plants, 216 Fennel flower, 421 Ferula asafetida, 633 Fern roots as food, 377, 380 Fevillea scandens, 511 Finlayson’s description of gambier manufacture, 500 Fish oils consumed, 509 poison, 627 Fitzmaurice on the sugar cane, 180 Fixed oils, 510 Flax seed oil, 509, 501 Flores, a commercial classification of indigo, 456 Florida, tobacco culture in, 609 Flour, damaged, shipped from America, 227 —-— and meal, our imports of, 218 —— obtained from spurry seed, 377 Flowering of the sugar cane, 182 Food plants of commerce, 217 —— nutritious properties of various kinds, 232 Foo-foo, the dough of the plantain, 324 Fortune (Mr. R.) on the tea districts, 89 engaged by the Hast India Company, 100 ————--_—— report on the Indian tea plantations, 106, 117 656 Fortune’s (Mr. China,103 Fownes (Mr.) on clarifying cane juice, R.) wanderings in France, production of beet sugar in, 194, 200 rice cultivated in, 292 Frazla, the Arabian name for a bale of variable weight, in Mocha about 16 lbs. avoirdupoise, Free trade policy, effects of, 2 French berries for dyeing, 443 Slave Colonies, cost of pro- ducing sugar in, 189 West Indies, production of coffee in, 41 Fucus amylaceus, 380 tenax, furnishes glue, 378 — as food for cattle, 379 Fundi or Fundungi, an African grain, 310 Fustic, 445, 447, 485 Gallipoli oil, 531 Gallo tannic acid, 492 Galidupa arborea, 521 Garancine, quantity and value of, 483, 484 Gambier plant, 496 Gamboge, 451 ——_—— plants furnishing, 639 Garcinea elliptica, 451 Garbelled, a term for sorted or picked Gabilla, a finger or hank of tobacco, 613 Galangale root, 351, 418 Garcinea Gambogia, 640 Garnett (Mr. A.) on the culture of the plantain, 320 Galam butter, 538 Gastrodia sesamotdes, 875 Gesner (Dr.), plants recommended by, for cultivation, 371 Genipa Americana, 444 Genista tinctorea, 453 tomentosa, 486 Gentian, plants furnishing it, 640 Ghee, 538 Ginger, culture of, 414 Gin, made from rye in Holiand, 258 Gigartina lichenoides, 379 Gingelie seed oil, 611, 533 oil, used to adulterate almond oil, 534 Ginseng, 436 Glen (Mr. J.), his experiments on Cassava starch, 370 Gloves made from bark, 376 Gluten containcd in various grain crops, 264 definition of, 234 INDEX. Gluten, composition of, 221 Glycirrhiza, 643 Glycine Apios, 371 subterranea, 371 Glycerine, 643 Glycirrhiza glabra, 642 Gnizotia oleifera, 535 Gohyan, an Indian name for upland rice, 282 Gold of pleasure oil, 509 ————— cake of, 564 Gomuti palm sugar, 136 5 Gomutus saccharifer, 314 Goor, the Indian name for half-made sugar, 308 Gorham’s (Prof.) analysis of maize, 264 Gourds used for packing aloes, 630 Gracelaria lichenoides, 379 Graham (Dr.), on gamboge, 639 Gram, the Indian name for the Ervum lens, and Cicer arietinum, $12 Grain’ crops, 217 produce per acre in Rueind, of Paradise, 419, 420 —— average prices of in New Bruns- wick, 254 Grape sugar, properties of, 136 sugar, analysis of, 155 Grater for rasping arrowroot, 338 Grenada, cost of cultivating sugar in, 189 Great Exhibition, results of, 2 Green tea, mode of manufacturing, 113 tea, imports of the last 16 years, 2 28 : Griffith (Dr.) on tea plants in Assam, 111 Ground nut oil, 511 Guano, not much required in tropical countries, 7 Guayaquil, large exportsof cocoa from, 13 Guazuma ulmifolia, 164 Guillemen’s (M.) report on the tea plantations of Brazil, 128 Guiana, cost of cultivating sugar in, 189 Guinea pepper, 429 grains, 420 yam, 331, 334, 335, 337, 362 corn, 306 Gums used by the dyers, 453 Gum tree of Australia, 494 Gun stock tree, 164 Gunnera scabra, 495 Gunny bags, rough canvas bags, 392 Guntang, an Indian dry measure of rather more than 15 pounds, 297 \ INDEX. ; Guaco, or snake plant, 627 as a fertilizer, 278 Gynerium saccharoides, 136 Gyrophora murina, 486 Hematoxylon campechianun, 484 Hamilton (Dr.), on oil of ben, 523 notices by, 617 Havana tobacco, classification of, 613 - exports of tobacco from, 614 shipments of sugar from, 147 Hayti, exports of tobacco, 615 exports of ginger, 418 coffee from, 67 indigo from, 460 Hazel nut, oil from, 510 Hebradendron Cambogoides, 451, 639 Heather, dye from, 453 Hectare, a French land measure, equal to about 24 acres, 204 Hectolitre, a French measure 192} bushel’s Helot’s lichen test, 452 Herreria sarsaparilla, 646 Heliconia humilis, 320 Hemlock tree, bark of, 494 Hemp seed oil, 509 Henna, a dye stuff, 486 Hepatic aloes, 630 Herring’s palm kernel oil, 525 Hernandez (Mr.) on Cuba tobacco, 608 Heuchera Americana, 494 Hibiscus rosa sinensis, 494 Hingalee, the best Bengal tobacco, 617 Hino bark, 506 Hogs, large consumption of maize by, 271 Holcomb (Mr.) on the wheat crop of America, 245 Holcus avenaceus, 307 spicatus, 366 saccharatum, 306 Holland, tea sent to, 86 Honduras, export of indigo from, 460 Hooker (Dr.) on brick tea, 92 Hops, cascarilla bark used to adulter- ate, 397 Horse gram, 312 Hungary, production of beet sugar in, 197 Hura crepitans, 512, 626 Husking rice, 290 Hydraulic press for coco nut oil, 557 ——— press, 329 Hydrastica canadensis 625 Hymenea Courbaril, 313 Hyperanthera Moringa, 523 Hypericum, species of, furnishes gam- boge, 454, 640 657 Iceland moss, 348, 379 Tllepe oil, 537, 511 llex Paraguayensis, Brazil, 130 indigenous to a description of, 133 Iilicum anisatum, 438 Impey (Dr.) on Malwa opium, 587 on Indian drugs, 626 Implements of colonial agriculture few and simple, 6 requisite for manufactur- ing tea, 115 Imports of arrowroot, 351, 354 — arnotto, 449 ———— cacao, from America and the West Indies, 35 cloves, 401 cinchona bark, 636 tea into Gr eat, Britain, 82 -——— tobacco, 597 coco-nut oil, 562 palm oil, 525, 527 pimento, 431 opium, 580 nutmegs, 414 — pepper, 428 eastor oil, 544 sago, 318 indigo, 477 coffee, 37 Import commerce, our principal, ar- ticles furnished by the Vegetable Kingdom, 4 Incense wood, 439 Indigo, details of, 453 plants yielding, 442 information respecting, 10 mode of manufacturing, 457 production of in India, 474 a in Natal, 463 Indigofera, species of, 453 India, tea culture in, 98 culture of indigo in, 463 Indiana, tobacco culture i in, 607 Indian aloes, 630 berries, 576 ——— corn, imports of, 263 information respecting, 9 analysis of, 264 sources of supply, 262 es starch, 343 meal imported, 218 yield per acre, 356 —— compared with Guinea corn, 307 ——_——— meal, composition of, 307- opium, 586 root, 626 shot, 345 658 Indian corn, weight of, 280 madder, 484 Intoxicating liquors made from Cas- sava, 369 Iodine, 378 Ipecacuan, bastard, 655 —————- 641 Ipomea batatas, 365 brachypodo, 522 Jalapa, 641 Ireland, tobacco consumed in, 596 cost of producing beet root sugar in, 193 Trish rock moss, 379 Iron, quantity of, in tobacco, 617 bark tree, 506 Irrigation for the tea plant never prac- tised in China, 122 Isatis Indigotica, 104 tinctoria, 452 Jaggery sugar, 55d Japanese camphor, 633 tobacco, 620 Japan, tea culture, 94 Jatropha curcas, oil from, 512 Jacobson’s (Mr.) work on tea culture in Java, 102 Jalap, 641 Jamaica, cost of cultivating sugar in 189 — culture of coffee in, 67 culture of Guinea corn, 306 decline of sugar production, 148, 149 exports of coffee from, 73 ginger, 415, 417 sarsa, 646, 47 Jameson (Dr.) on the culture of tea in India, 106 Java, cinnamon cultivated in, 383, 392 clove does not succeed there, 399 coffee exported to the United States, 63 coco-nut oil exported from, 556 —— cost of producing sugar in, 189 -~—— culture of coffee in, 53 culture of rice in, 299 cultivation of indigo in, 476 —— gambier grown in, 502 ——— nutmegs exported from, 413 pepper grown in, 422-23 production of coffee in, 41 —w— statistics of, 300 statistics of indigo exported, 476 statistics of tea culture in, 102 sugar culture in, 152 ——- tea plantations, 94 tobacco, 621 Jack fruit tree, 319 INDEX. Janipha, starch in, 331 Manihot, 315 Jasmine oil, 570, 574 Jatropha gossypyfolia, 625 curcas, oil from, 523 Jellies, clearness of, 337 Jesuit’s bark, 635 Joar, the Indian name of the Sorghum vulgare or millet, 304, 306 Job’s tears, 304 Johnson (Dr.) on manufacture of rose water, 570 (Mr.) on indigo culture, 466 (Prof.) analyses of grain crops, 264 —_—_—— (Prof.) on grain crops of New Brunswick, 253 Jones’s process for making rice starch, 344 Jumowah, irrigated sowings, 468 Juniperus, oil of, 566 Kafir bread, 319 Kamas root, an edible, 376 Kanari kernels made into cakes, 547 oil one Katjang oil, produce of the ground nut, 515, 299 Kawan, the Java tallow tree, 511 Kashmir, culture of rice in, 295 Kemmayes, an Arabian truffle, 381 Kew Gardens, tea plant grows 1n, 101 Kekune oil, 539 Kentucky tobacco, statistics of, 598, 600 Keora oil, 565 Khoonte, the Indian name for a second cutting, 471 Kiln-drying madder, 481 of bread stuffs, 221, 229 Kilogramme, a French weight, equal to 2lbs. 80z. avoird., 194 Kino, Australian, 506 East India, 507 Knowltonia vessicatoria, 626 Koster’s Travels in Brazil, 186 Kous-kous, 311 Kooyah plant, 376 Kukui oil, 539 Kumaon, tea plantations in, 117 Laudanum, 584 Lawsonia inermis, 486 Laminaria saccharina, 379 Lathyrus tuberosus, 374 Larch bark edible, 376 Laurus camphora, 633, 35 La Guayra, cacao from, 13 production of coffee in, 41 exports of coffee from, 62 Lana dye, 444 Lecythis Tabucajo, 512 INDEX. Lemon grass oil, 572 Legumes, varieties of, 312 Lecanora, species of, 452 Lentils, 312 Leaf tobacco shipped from the Ha- vana, 614 Liberia, suitability for coffee culture, 77 i Lichen tribe as food, 378 Lichens, 486 Lichenin, 343 Licospermun racemosum, 505 . Lindley (Dr.) on the cinchonas, 635 Litmus, 452 Lignum aloes, 439 Litre, a French measure, equal to 12 . English pint nearly, 202 Lime, its influence on cane juice, 161 Lindley (Prof.) on the wheat of South | Australia, 221 Lindley’s classification of the plantain tribe, 322 Liptospermum, oil of, 565 Lilium Pomponium, 356 Lindley (Dr.) on the lichens, 486 Linseed, 535 . oil, 509, 537 imported, 563 cake imported, 564 Little (Mr.) on opium, 587 Libra, a Spanish kind of tobacco, 613 Liquorice, 642 paste, 643 Logwood, 445, 447, 484 Lotus seeds, used as food, 356 Locust tree, 313 pods, 503 Louisiana, cost of producing sugar in, 189 production of sugar in, 146 Loxa bark, 636 Luffas, properties of, 626 Luggie, a measuring rod, 471 Lucca oil, 531 Macfarlane (Mr. A.) on the tea plant, E7 Madder, culture of, 478 -— Indian, 484 statistics of imports, 484 Madia sativa oil, 520 sativa, 444 Mahowa oil, 537 Haclura tinctoria, 485 Mauritius weed, 486 Mangrove bark, for tanning, 493 Mac Micking (Mr.) on making cigars, - 620 Margose oil, 537 Macaw tree, 519 Maxwell (Dr.) on Neem oil, 537 659 Marc of olives, 531 Mango, kernel of, for bread, 378 Marmala water, 574 Malabar cardamoms, 419 Manila, exports of indigo from, 476 exports of sugar from, 153 ——— cigar making, 620 hemp, whence obtained, 321 Mattrasses, stuffed with blades of In- dian corn, 281 Macculloch’s (Mr.) estimate of indigo, 478 we, =~] io’) analysis of, 264 imported, 218 meal, imported, 218 on the culture of, 260 sugar, 218 information respecting, 9 Dr. Phillip’s analysis of, 307 starch of, 334, 335, 337, 343 system of culture in America, 273 culture in the East Indies, 282 immense produce per acre, 281 varieties grown in, Peru, 281 statistics of production America, 269 statistics of exports from the United States, 272 Malphigia bark, for tanning, 495 Maslin, quantity grown in France, 250 Mace, imports of, 414 false color of, 409 proportion of, to nutmegs, 408 Malt, quantity made, 255 Mahoe, furnishes a dye stuff, 444 Mauritius, exports of pepper, 426 nutmeg introduced in, 412 pepper grown in, 422 cost of sugar cultivation in, 187, 189 tea culture in, 94 progress of sugar culture in, OUP AE in —— ——o 150 clove culture of, 398, 491 —— black beans, 304 Mangrove bark, 450, 506 Madagascar cardamoms, 419 Mangostana Gambogia, 451, 640 Maple sugar, 205 Manettia glabra, 641 Madeira, introduction of the tea plant, 94 Madras, tea culture suitable for, 101 exports of indigo from, 464 cost of producing sugar in, 189 Marah (Mr.) prize essay on coffee cul- ture, 69 Malambo bark, 636 660 Machinery for sugar, 140 for coffee, 51 — for arrowrot, 350, 348 required for sago, 318 Magdalena river, cacao indigenous on its’shores, 14 Magnolia fuscata, used to flavor tea, 85 Majoon, an opium confection, 585 Malabar, production of coffee in, 41 — cassia, 394 ginger, 415 pepper produced in, 422 Malwa opium, 580 Manure, a special for tobacco, 592 Manures, suited to the coffee tree, 50 for the nutmeg, 406 - suited for arrowroot, 347 scarcely required in tropical countries, 6 suited forthe sugar cane, 172 suited to maize 278 Manioc, see Cassava Manihot, species of, 367 utilissima, 315 Mansana, a land measure of 100 square yards, or nearly two British statute acres, 406 Manyroot, 625 Maranta arundinacea, juice of an anti- dote to poisons, 627 Warattia alata, 380 Maryland tobacco, statistics of, 598, 600 Mate, aname for the Paraguay tea, 1338 Matico, 643 Matias bark, 636 Maund of Surat, 39 lbs. an Indian weight of varable quantity Melaleuca minor, 566 Metrosideros tomentosa, 505 Mesembryanthemum nodifiorum, 494 Menispermum cocculus, 576 palmatum, 638 Megass, aname given to the dried cane stems, or trash used for fuel, 168 Meleguetta pepper, 420 Melsen’s process of sugar boiling, 203 Mespilus Bengalensis, 443 Mendo, a wild sweet potato of North America, 572 Menomine, an Indian edible root, 372 Mexican thistle, 626 Mexico, imports of indigo from, 477 Metroxylon sagus, 314 Millet, varieties of, cultivated, 304 — the great Indian, 306 Miller on tobacco culture, 608 —s required for the plantain, INDEX. Mill, rude one, used in Siam for hulling paddy, 302 —— for crushing plantain stems, 327 Mills for cleaning rice, 286, 288 Minot, a Canadian grain measure about one- ‘eighth less than a bushel, 251 Milloco, a tuberous plant, 374 Mint, culture of, 567 Mimosa bark, 504 Mico or mijo, a vegetable butter made in Java, dle. of? Monkey. bread, 378 pot seed oil, 512 Morinda, species of, 448, 449 Morewood (Mr, E. his exertions in Natal, 140 experiments in sugar culture, 187 Mocha, production of coffee in, 41 cultivation of coffee in, 438 Mother cloves, definition of, 397 Moussache, the fecula of the manioc, 315 Mountain rice, 285, 290, 296 Morphia, proportion in opium, 584, 585 Mora excelsa, 495, Morinda citrifolia, 478 Moringa oil, 523 ——— species of, 523 Musa, species of, 319 Musquash root of the Micmacs, 371 Mustard seed, 437 Muscovado sugar, cost of producing, 189 Mucuna pruriens, 625 utilis, 304 Muchowa oil, 511 Musa textilis, 321 Mustard oil, 510, 511 Munjeet, 449 Munjestha, 484 Muraciyja ocellata, a narcotic, 489 Iyrica cerifera, 494, 540 — macrocarpa, 542 Myrtus carophyllata, 284 Pimenta, 430 Myristica, varieties of the BOE 401 ————- sebifera, 512 Myrobolans, 596 Myrtle wax, 540 Mysore, production of coffee in, 41 Napoota oil, 520° Nauclea Gambir, 496 Namur oil, 572 Natal Agricultural Society, its en- dvavyours to promote sugar cultiva- tion, 139 indigo culture in, 463 —- sugar culture in, 186 INDEX. Narthex asafetida, 633 Nelumbium, seed of, as food, 378 speciosum, the scuree of Chinese arrowroot, 352 New South Wales, suited for madder, 482 621 Negrohead tobacco, 601 New Orleans, capabilities for rice cul- ture, 287 —— exports of castor oil from, tobacco culture in, 545 Nerium, 453 ——— oleander, 495 Neem tree oil, 511, 537 Nicaragua wood, 445, 447 Nipa fruticans, 136 Nipah, leaf for thatching, 559 Nicotine, 590 Nicotium, species of the plant, 590 Nitrogen, in grain, 307 in the starch plants, 342 234, 310 iu the plantain, 323 Nigella, species of, 421 North West Provinces, tea culture in, Ly Vostoe edulis, 378 Northern Australia, directions for growing tobacco, 623 Nut oil, price of, 517 Nutgall, tannin in, 492, 495 Nut pine, 377 Nutmeg tree, 401 curing of, 409 wild, 412 Nuz vomica, 577 Nyctanthes arbortristes, 494 Nymphea lotus, starch obtained from, 352 Oats, proportion of oil in, 564 production of in the United King- dom, 257 imported, 218 Oatmeal, imported 218 Oats and beans, produze of in England, 248 Oak bark, tannin in, 492 QOcas, a tuberous plant, 374 Ocoes or taniers, 331 Ocymum tuberosum, 256, 367 Ohio tobacco, statistics of, 598, 609 Oil of aniseed, 438 Oil, proportions of in various crops, 264 obtained from the Cacao seeds, LES k2 Oil of cubebs, 639 —— of camphor, 634 — of cassia, 396° - 661 Oil of cloves, 398 —— of mace, 402 ——- of cinnamon, 389, 390 —— spikenard, 565 —— of Ben, 523 cake, 513, 531 mills of India, 535 cakes of the castor seed, 545 cake from coco-nut, 552, 563 —— coco-nut, 551, 556, 561, 562 from maize, 564 of sandal wood, 565 cake imported, 564 cake, American, 565 Oilcake as a manure, 50 used in China, 313 Oil palm, 525 Oils, burning prcperties of various, 508 Oldenlandia umbellata, 449 Oleaginous plants, 509 Olea fragrans, 528 — Europea, 527 Olives, mode of preserving the fruit, 530 Olive oil, prices of, 531 —— 509, 527 sources of supply, 563 Omen-e-chah, the Indian name for a wild bean, 372 Onions, planted with arrow root, 347 Ophelia chirata, 641 Opium, history and trade of, 580 Orceine, 488 Orchilla weed, 452 weed, imports of, 486 Orchids furnishing salep, 354 an edible species of, 375 roots of some used as food, 377 Orituco cacao, superior quality of, 14 Oryza, varieties of, 284 Orlong, a land measure in the East, equal to 14 acre, 297 O’Shaughnessy’s analysis of Ceylon moss, 380 ————————_ 01 opium, 584 Oswego starch factory, 3438 Otto of khuskhus, 573 Otaheite cane, 153 Oude, production of indigo in, 464, 475 Oxalic acid, used for vinegar, 312 Oxley (Dr.) on nutmeg culture, 402 eae a name for rice in the husk, 29 Patchouly, 537 Pannam kilingoes, 376 Parchment coffee, 60 Lao. Crava, one of the spice barks, 384 “Pachyrrhizus angulatus, 377 662 Palm oil, imports of, 527 —— sources of supply, 563 Palm oil, 509, 524 wine, 314 sugar, 136 Palma Christi, 542 Palmetto palm, 495 Palmyra nut, first shoot of, edible, 376 Pan, a masticatory, 577 Pancratium, species of, 625 Pandanus, fruit of eaten as food, 377 odoratissimus, 565 Panicum, various species of, 304 spicatum, of Roxburgh, 308 Panax quinquefolium, 436 Palos de Velas, 521 Paper made from plantain fibre, 3 5 Papsalum exile, 310 Papaver somniferum, 580 Paraguay tea plant common in Brazil. 130 description of, 133 extent of the trade, 133 Parietinic acid, 488 Parmenteira cerifera, 521 Parmelia, species of lichens, 486 a dye-stuff, 488 Peas, analysis of, 264 Peeling coffee, 1, 60 cinnamon, 316 Peligot (Mr.) on the composition of wheat, 230 Pepper, black, 421 pot, a West Indian dish, 369 prices of, 413 duty on, 424 Peppermint cil. 666 Peon, the Spanish term for a laborer, 135 Persea gratissima, 444 Perfumed oils, 569 Persian berries, 443 Peas imported, 218 Pessaloo, an Indian name for the Pha- seolus mungo Pereira’s classification of the cincho- nas, 636 Peruvian bark, 635 Pearl sago, 318 ——_——— of Persia, 316 Piper angustifolium, 648 Petty rice, 310 Pekea, species of, yielding oil, 512 Pea-nut, 516 Persian ‘tobacco, 615 Phaseolus. varieties of, 312 Phaseolus Mungo max, 171 Phalaris caniensis, 314 Phlomis, 643 Philippines, cassia brought from, 394 INDEX. Philippine Islands, sugar cultivation in, 153 production of coffee in, 41 varieties of rice grown in, 302 Philippines, export of indigo from, 476 —————_ cigars made in, 620 Phillip’s (Dr.) analyses of Guinea corn, 307 Phyllodadus trichomanoides, 505 Physic nut, 512,625 - Picul, a Dutch weight of 1333 Eng- lish pounds, 36 Piddington’s (Mr.) analyses of tobacco, 617 Pigeon-pea, 304 Pignons, use of as food, 377 Pimpinella Anisum, 437 Pimento, 430 Pinang, nutmegs in, 412 ___— tea culture attempted, 95 clove culture in, 399, 400 pepper culture in, 425 Piper Betel, 577 Cubebi, 639 species of, 421 Pinus Pinea, seeds of the cones used for food, 377 Piney tallow, 512 Plantation sugar, imports, 139 Plantado passado, 323 Plantain, dye stuffs obtained from, 444 juice, recommended for cla- rifying sugar, 162 ——_—— information respecting, 9 starch in, 331 blight, 321 319 leaves, bags made of, 316 ————_ meal, 324, 341 Planche, his memoir on the sagos, 315_ Flumeria, essences of, 524 Plectranthus graveolens, 573 Plough used in Brazil, 184 Polygonum fagopyrum, 260 Poa Abyssinica, 308 Pomegranates, for dyeing, 440 Potash an important element in maize, 267 large quantity in maize, 264 Potatoes, mode of keeping in Peru, 361 average weight per bushel in New Brunswick, 263 composition of, 227 imported, 218 composition of, 264 analysis of varieties, 362 yield per acre, 356 INDEX. Potato, information respecting, 10 meal, syrup made from, 197 the wild, of North America, starch in, 330 starch, used to adulterate ar- row-root, 349 test for detecting, 349 starch, 334, 335, 337, 362 crop of the United States. 361 disease, 308 proposed cure for, 359, 60 crop in Ireland, 358 varieties of, 358 ——— imports of, 359 — crop in France, 361 Poisons, 627 Pomme des Prairies, of the Canadians, 373 Pounding coffee, 61 Population of Great Britain, &c., 87 —— of China, 86, 91, 298 Porto Rico, exports of coffee, 77 cost of producing sugar in, — 189 EE production of coffee in, 41 —_—_——— exports of tobacco, 615 Poonac, as manure, 50 549, 552, 561 Pomegranate bark, 493, 495 Poonay oil, 511-13 Polygonum tinctorium, 453 Pongamia glabra, 521 Pogostemon patchouly, 573 Poppy, culture of, 581 oil, used to adulterate olive, 532 509-10-11-18 Polypodium crassifolium, used as a per- fume, 550 Preserved Plantains, 323 Prices, average of sugar, 145 Prickly poppy, 626 Princeza snuff, 594 Prince of Wales Island, clove culture in, 399 Prosopis pallida, 313 Protein compounds, 307, 310, 342 Produce of various plants, 9 Production, average of various plants, e Provence oil, 531 Province Wellesley, clove culture in, 400 Prussia, tobacco consumed by, 596 production of beet sugar in 197-98 A Pruning coffee tree, 69 Psoralia, varieties of, 372 Pteris esculenta, 380 663 Pterocarpus marsuprum, 493 santalinus, 445 species of, 507 Pulping mill for coffee, 51 Purging nut, 625 Pulse, culture of, 312 Putchuk or Costus, 438 638 Punjaub, proposed culture of tea in, 101 Pustulatus moss, 486 Qually, an iron vessel for drying sago, _Quarree, a Spanish land measure, about 53 English acres, 326 Quassia wood, 643 Quas, a fermented Russian beverage, 308 Quercitron, 443 ———— £65 Quercus tinctoria, 443, 485 — suber, 504 , Quintal, the Spanish cwt., equal to 101$ lbs. English, Quinine, imports of, 636 ———— manufacture of, 635 Quillai, bark of, used for soap, 574 Quinoa, 310 species of, 507 Railways, large consumption of oil for, 513 Ramos (Mr.) his dessicating agent for sugar, 140, 162 Ramalina fufuracea, 486 Ram-til, 535 Ramsay (Mr. C. J.) on beet sugar ma- nufacture, 200 Ranunculus, properties of, 626 Rape oil, 609 Rape seed, quantity imported, 563 oil, 513 cake, 564 Raphis flabeiliformis, 314 Red pepper, 429 — Sanders wood, 448 — Sandal wood, 378 Reseda lutea, 452 Revenue from sugar, 143 Rhamnus, varieties of, 442 leaves of, used for tea in China, 105 - Rhizaphora mangle, 493, 506 Rhubarb, 644 Rhus, species of, 450 Ricinus communis, 542 Rial, a Spanish coin worth 6d., 135 Rice starch, 344 —— imports of, 303 produce per acre, 356 —— meal for feeding pigs, 803 664 Rice imported, 218 starch, Jones’s process, 303 consumption per head in the East, 297 price of in China, 298 —— time it may be kept, 292 threshing mill for, 288 grown in Demerara, 292 history of, 283 —— American crop of, 285 returns of produce in Carolina, 291 weight per_bushel, 290 Richardsonia scabra, 641 Rimu, or red pine, 506 Robertson (Mr.) on the collection of Paraguay tea, 133 Robiquet (E.) analysis of aloes, 629 Rocella dye, 452 species of lichens, 486 Room, an Indian dye stuff, 443 Roucou, a name for arnotto, 447 Rotation of crops, 248 Root crops, 355 ——_———— prices of in New Bruns- wick, 254 Rollers, proportionate advantages of those with 3 & 4, 168 Roxburgh on the sugar cane, 179 Roses, cultivation of, 570 Rottlera tinctoria, 442 Royle’s (Prof.) productive resources of India, 103 Rubia cordifolia, 484 tinctorium,, 478 Ruellia tuberosa, 625 Ruellia, a dye stuif, 443 Rupee, an Indian coin worth about, 2s Russia, production of beet sugar in, 199 consumption of tea in, 92 tea sent to, 87 Rye, analysis of, 258 imvorted, 218 | meal, imported, 218 Sappan wood, 445, 446, 447 Salisbury (Dr.), analysis of maize, 265 Saxony, beet sugar manufacture in, 199 Salt, recommended as a fertiliser, 172 Santalum album, 565 Saa-ga-ban root of the Indians, 371 Saga, the Java name for bread, 314 imported, 218 flour, exports of, 318 palms, 314 millet used for, 306 Saccharum sinensis of Roxburgh, 136 169 violacum, 136 Safflower, 400 INDEX. Salangore sugar cane, an excellent variety, 154 Sandwich Islands, arrowroot made in, 352 Sandbox, seeds of, emetic, 626 tree, 512 Saul tree, wood useful for tea boxes, 114, Sarsaparilla, 645 Saguerus Rumphii, 314, 316 inermis, 314 — levis, 314 Sarinifera, 316 Salep, 354 Samshing, a refuse produce of opium, 585 Sandoway in Arracan produces su- perior tobacco, 616 Saponaceous plants, 574 Sapindus, varieties of, 574 Salvadora persica, 521 Sapindus marginatus, 521 Saouari oil, 512 Sanguinaria canadensis, 511 Scammony, 642 Scharling’s (Dr.) test for adulterated arrowroot, 349 Schomburgk (Sir R.), arrowroct for- warded by, 352 discovers a new tuberous plant, 374 —_——__———— wild discovers plantains, 320 Scotland, produce of grain in, 249 Seed leaf tobacco, 606 wheat in France, 219 Senna, varieties of, 647 Sesame oil, 511, 533 Setaria italica, 305 germanica, 304 Shanghae oil, 511 Sheet lead, manufacture of for tea cases, 114 Shorea robusta, 114, 521 Shier (Dr.), his opinion on cassava starch, 370 ——_————. analysis of the plantain, 323 ———— on the starch producing plants, 331 Shea butter, 538 Shiraz tobacco, 613 Sicily oil, 531 Siam gamboge, 639 pepper produced in, 422 indigo found wild in, 476 exports of cardamoms, 419 Sidu lanceolata, 574 Sugar, obtained from the palm tree, 314 — made from millet, 306 i INDEX. Simaruba amara, 643 Singapore, produce of gambier in, 501 exports of sago, 318 nutmeg trade of, 413 pepper grown in, 4238, 424, 427 nutmeg trees in, 400 produce of mace, 414 extent of clove culture in, 399 Sinapis, species of, yielding oil, 512 Silica, essential for wheat soils, 240 Singhara nuts, 378 Sinde, cultyre of rice in, 293 Smith (Dr.), his experiments in tea culture in America, 95 Snuff, duty received on, 597 Sorghum officinarum 136 saccharatum 136 avenaceum, 307 vulgare, 304, 306 Soap, made from coco-nut oil, 559, 562 worts, 575 Soil suited to coffee, 68 — for the nutmeg, 403 -— for cinnamon, analysis of, 384 — best suited for wheat, 247 — a due consideration and knowledge of, requisite to the planter, 7 — suited for tobacco, 586, 587, 607 — suited for indigo, 468 Solly (Prof.) on the want of a hand- book for the cultivator, 1 on barks for tanning, 493 Society of Arts, premiums offered by, 2 Soconusco, the finest cacao, 13 Socotrine aloes, analysis of, 629 Soja hispida, 313 Soy, mode of making, 313 Sohrinjee oil, 478, 523 South Australia, tobacco culture in, 624 South Carolina, exports of rice from, 285 Sooranjee, 478, 523 Spergula sativa, flour from the seed, 377 Spheroccus crispus, 379 Spanish moss, 380 tobacco, on the mannagement of, 612 oil, 531 Spices, plants which furnish, 382 _ Spikenard oil, 572 Spondius lutea, 495 Spergula sativa, 512 Stalagmites cambogoides, 451 gambogoides, 63 Star anise, 438 Starch producing plants, 329 recommended, 387 665 Starch contained in various crops, 264 made from maize, 265 plants, comparative yield per acre, 339 process of manufacture, 342 large proportion of in rice, 303 proportion of in potatoes, 362 Statice coriaria, 444 Caroliniana, 494 Stenhouse (Dr.) on the lichens, 490 Stillingia sebifera, 512 ; St. John’s bread, 312-13 St. Lucia, cost of cultivating sugar, in 189 grain exports of coffee from, 73 — shipment of cassava flour, 369 St. Kitt’s, cost of cultivating sugar in, 189 St. Domingo, exports of coffee to the United States, 63 St. Vincent, introduction of the clove to, 399 production of arrowroot in, 347 production of coffee in, 41 — cost of cultivating sugar in, 189 —————. arrowroot shipped from, 351 Straits settlements, nutmeg culture in, 407 cinnamon culture Sumbul root, 649 Surat maund, 39 lbs., 401 Sumach, 450 tannin in, 495 Sunflower oil, 4509-10-36 Sullivan (Mr.) on cost of beet root sugar, 191 Sugar, cost of producing in different countries, 189 Sugar cane, varieties of, 137, 153, 168 —— mills, relative advantages of dif- ferent ones, 168 supply, demand and production, i plants from which it is obtained, 136, 216 Sugar, information respecting, 10 Sugar maple, 205 Sumatra, production of coffee in, 41 Sumatra, production of pepper in, 422 Sweet cassava, 331 Sweet potato, 330-31-37-65 Swift (Mz.) on the culture of maddez, 480 Swamp potato, 373 Ze 666 Szygium carophylleum, 384 Sylvanus surinamensis, 279 Symplocos, varieties of, 442 Tacca plant, species of, 354 Tahiti arrowroot, 354 Talipot palm, furnishes sago, 316 Tallicoonah oil, 518 Tallow tree of Ghana 512 tree of Java, 511 burning properties of, 509 Tanping, a Chinese oil cake, 312 Tannin of nutgalls, 492 Tannia, 334-35-36.-37 Tanahaka bark, 505 Tapioca sago, 315 369 Tasmannia aromatica, 421 Taro, 364 Tartareous moss, 486 Taniers, or ocoes, 331 Taurine, Leibig on, 80 Tea, total outlay for by the British public, 86 extent to which the consumption might be pushed, 89 —— local consumption of in China, 86, 91 tannin in, 495 consumption of, 596 oil, 518 range of prices, 83 consumption of in the British empire, 84 in all other countries, 84 Mr. Montgomery Martin’s statis- tics of, 84 quantity that might be used free of duty, 84 value of the exports from China, high priced, used in the China market, 8d. various Chinese names for, 105 ——— immense trade in, 80 names of the green, 81 black, 81 original cost in China, 85 duty received on, 83 Teel or Til oil, 511, 533 Teff, an African bread, 308 Teinsing, a Chinese vegetable dye, 4 ' Temperature requisite plants, 8, 9 Tempering’ cane juice, 158 Tenacity of starches, 336 Terminalia angustifolia, 494 species of, 506 Terra Japonica, a misnomer, 490 statistics of imports, for various 502 TN DEX. Teuss, a Chinese legume, 312 oil, 215 Texas, production of sugar in, 147 Phespesia populnea, 444 Thea viridis, 103, 110 Bohea, 103, 110 Theine, analysis of, 80 Thistle oil, 511, 103, 110,626 roots as food, 376 Theobromine, 11 . Theobroma, description of the tree, 11 Tikoor, a local name for Indian arrow- root, 351 Til oil, 511 Tip-sin-ah, a wild prairie turnip of North America, 372 Tinnevelly senna, 648 Ti plant, 355 Tirhoot, production of indigo in, 475 Tobacco, memorial of American Cham- ber of Commerce, 595 culture of in the East, 615 duty paid on, 594 leaf, Prof. Johnston’s ana- lysis, 592 plant, 589 sources of supply, 601 fly, cure for, 607 statistics of American ex- ports, 600 prohibited to be grown in England, 598 method of curing, 605 manufacture increasing in the United States, 599 number of persons engaged in the culture in America, 599 ———— worm, 610 stems, trade in, 598 information respecting, seed oil, 510-18 prices in London, 602 root, a wild edible plant, 376 cost of cultivating sugar in, 9 189 Tonquin beans, 434 Tous-les-mois, starch of, 330-33-35- 37-40 Topinam bar, 365-76 Topping the coffee tree, 68 Towai bark, 505 Toddy, 555 Travers (Mr. J. I.) on consumption of tea, 87 Trinidad, exports of coffee from, 73 ———— indigo in, 460 culture of coffee in, 72 cost of cultivating sugar 189 Tropeolum tuberosum, 536 TNDEX. Tripa, a name for damaged tobacco leaves, 611 Tripolium alpinum, 643 Truffle, 381 Tuberous plants, new, recommended, 370 Tuber cibarium, 381 Turkey berries, 442 opium, 585 Turmeric, 419, 484, 442 used for coloring tea, 436 Turnips, average weight of crop in New Brunswick, 253 Turpentine, spirits of, 565 Typha bread, 380 Tye, a preparation of opium, 585 Unearia Gambier, 496 ve States, production of sugar in, 14 supplies of coffee to, 63 —— importsof tea and value, 92 ——————- yalue of its agricultural produce, 222 former culture of indigo, 461 production of maple sugar in, 215 ——————— tea plant introduced, 95 Upland rice, 302 —————- grown in Texas, 285 Ure (Dr.), on arrowroot manufacture, 347 on manioc starch, 368 on tannin in barks, 495 on indigo manufacture, 472 Urania guianensis, 444 Valenaria edulis, 376 Valonia, 507 Van Diemen’s Land, culture of oats in, 258 Vanilla, 431 plant, grows in Brazil, 130 Vara, a Spanish land measure, 9 Variolaris, species of lichens, 486 Varzeas, a Portuguese name for low and marshy ground, 183 Vateria indica, 512 Vegetable butter, 538 wax, 540 ——— soap, 574 Velvet moss, 486 Venezuela, coffee culture in, 62 Verbesena sativa, 535 Vernonia anthelmentica, 521 Vinegar, made from millet, 306 Virginian tobacco, statistics of, 598,690 method of culture, 604: Virola sebifera, 401, 512 667 Voandzou, 371 . Voelcker (Dr.), analysis of quinoa, 310 Volatile or essential oils, 565 Vuelta abajo, the best class of Cuba tobacco, 613 arribo, the inferior kind of ditto, 613 Vulpinic acid, 488 Wabessepin, a wild American potato, 372 Wages paid in the Mauritius, 150 Walnut, oil from, 510 Wanglo, oil seed, 533 Watappinee, an Indian edible root, 372 Water, proportion of in different kinds of wheat, 221 quantity in potatoes, 227 for making starch, 341 Wax berries, 546 — palm, 541 Weinmaunia, bark of, 499 —-—————._ racemosa, 505 Weight per bushel of crops in New Brunswick, 253 of coffee per bushel, 47 Wellstead (Lt.) on Socotro aloes, 629 Westring (Dr.) on the Swedish lich- ens, 489-90 West India ginger, 418 Wheat, weight of, as an index of value 236 imported, 218 flour do., 218 culture, statistics of, 220 —— annual produce of, 219 analysis of, by Boussingault, 244 —— average price of, 249 best soil for, 247 consumption of in England, 248 produce of in England and Wales, 248 —- information respecting, 10 starch of, 331-35. 36-37, 343 composition of the ash of, 241 yield per acre, 240 flour, various analyses of, 237 White pepper, statistics of, 428 Whisky, quantity of maize used for, 271 Wilcockes on Paraguay tea trade, 135 Williams’s Middle Kingdom, extract from, 105 Willoughbeia edulis, 378 Wilson (Mr. T.) on the cost of produ- cing sugar, 189 Wilson’s rice-cleaning machine, 290 Winnowing coffee, 51 ——— machine for tea, 116 Woad, 452 668 Wood dyes, 449 oil, 511 (Mr. ) on indigo culture, Wool manufacture, oil consumed in, 510 Wray’s practical sugar planter, 140 Wrightia tinctoria, 453 Xanthoxylum piperitum, 421 ————— ochroxylon, 460 Xiquilite, the indigo shrub, 460 Xylocarpus granatum, 519 Xylopia aromatica, 421 Yam, buck, 333, 335, 3387-38-39, 362 Yams, varieties of cultivated, 362 Yampah root, 376 INDEX. Yellow berries, 443 Yerba, Spanish and native name for the Paraguay tea tree, 133 Yueca amarga, 331 Yucca, the Peruvian name for cassava, 367, 375 Zamia, arrowroot obtained from, 319, 352 pumila, 330 Zanzibar, clove plantations in, 400 “Zea Mays, description of, 260 Zingiber officinale, 414 Zizamia aquatica, 284 Zones, Meyen’s division of, Zollverein, production of beet root sugar in, 198 LEMr 07 UL il QO009330501 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS