packed in sand, in a dark cellar, with their
crowns exposed, they will push out shoots,
and provide through the winter a very delicate
blanched salad, known in France as
Barbe de Capucin. When chicory is to be
used for coffee, the roots taken up by the
grower are partly dried, and then sold to the
manufacturer, by whom they are cut into
slices, roasted, and ground. The ground
chicory thus made is used by many poor upon
the continent as a substitute for coffee by
itself. It has not of course the true coffee
flavour, but it makes a rich and wholesome
vegetable infusion of a dark colour, with a
bitterish sweet taste, which would probably
be preferred by, a rude palate to the comparatively
thin and weak, and at the same time
not very palatable infusion of pure coffee of
the second or third quality.

By the combination of a little chicory with
coffee the flavour of the coffee is not destroyed,
but there is added to the infusion a richness of
flavour, and a depth of colour—a body, which
renders it to very many people much more
welcome as a beverage. The cheapness of
chicory enables a grocer, by the combination
of chicory powder with good coffee, to sell a
compound which will yield a cup of infinitely
better stuff than any pure coffee that can be
had at the same price. Any one with a sensitive
taste, and a sufficient purse, would of
course buy coffee of the finest quality, and
never think of bettering with chicory the
enjoyment of its delicate aroma. The majority
of the people, however, are by no means in
this position, and the state of the case as it
concerns them we quote from the evidence of
one of the leading retail grocery firms in the
City. " We have carried on business," they
say, " in our present premises for more than
fifteen years: for the first ten years we
adhered scrupulously to the principle of selling
coffee in its pure state. We can truly say that
we met with little encouragement from the
public; complaints that our coffee was weak
compared with that of other dealers were
frequent; but, acting on a conscientious principle,
we persevered till 1846. At this period our
premises were enlarged, and we made an
effort to extend our business. The state of
the market enabling us to reduce the price
of coffee, we commenced selling that article
in its pure state at the very low price of
a shilling a pound. This had the effect of
attracting a great number of purchasers; but,
in the course of a few weeks, remarks began
to be made, such as—'That shilling coffee of
yours is very well-flavoured, but we are
obliged to use much more of it than of that
to which we have been accustomed.' But
more frequently the comparison would be
drawn between our coffee and that of some
other dealer, such as—' Your coffee is not so
ill-flavoured, but it is not near so strong as
Mr. So-and-so's.' After hearing many repetitions
of those observations, we thought there
must be some ground for them, and as we felt
that no one could supply a better article at
the price, we investigated the matter a little.
We sent to Mr. So-and-so's for a pound of his
ground coffee; we liquored it against our
own, and found that it gave a much richer-
looking infusion than ours, having also greater
fulness in the mouth. We examined the
sample carefully, and found it to contain
chicory. We then procured samples from
other dealers (all doing large trades), which,
on examination, gave the same result. We
found thus, that the advantage of selling pure
coffee was very questionable as to ourselves,
and was certainly not appreciated by the
public. Why, then, should we continue to
decline the use of chicory? The public taste
demanded it; the legislature sanctioned or
permitted it; we had no reason to think that
chicory was deleterious, but, on the contrary,
it possessed tonic properties, and was decidedly
wholesome and nutritive. These reflections
gradually brought us to the determination to
gratify the public taste, and we found that
an immense increase in our coffee trade was
the result; thus demonstrating, beyond the
slightest doubt, that coffee, with an admixture
of genuine chicory (which we take care to
procure by purchasing the article in its raw
state, and having it roasted the same as coffee),
was preferred to coffee in its pure state. The
reason of this we can clearly understand, and
will explicitly state. We can afford to sell, and
do sell a finer coffee when mixed with chicory
than we can sell in its pure state at the same
price; and the superiority of the coffee in
conjunction with the fulness of the chicory, in
our opinion, decidedly gives greater
satisfaction to the public."

The history of the legislation upon chicory,
so far as it is necessary to an understanding
of the order of last August, may be very
briefly told. It was provided by an act, the
43d George III., c. 129, s. 5, that if any
vegetable substance shall be called by the vendor
thereof British, or any other name of coffee
or cocoa, the article shall be forfeited, and
the owner shall be fined one hundred pounds.

On the 10th of April, 1832, a report having
been read before the Lords of the Treasury
from the Commissioners of Excise touching
the necessity of prosecuting certain grocers
on an information which had been exhibited
against them for mixing chicory powder with
coffee, the following minute was set down—
"Write to the Commissioners of Excise, and
inform them, that as my lords contemplate
an alteration in the law with respect to the
sale of chicory powder, my lords do not
consider it expedient that this information should
be proceeded with." Four months afterwards,
the Commissioners of Excise being urgent to
know what my lords meant to do, the note
was to " inform the Commissioners of Excise
that my lords are of opinion that the sale of
chicory powder unmixed should not be interfered
with, but that the sellers of coffee should
be informed that they must abide the