March i, 1884.J 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



6i< 



the juice, aud blackens what would have been other- 

 wise red leaf, a higher price is the result, and erpeme 

 of red leaf picking save//, the finer leaf which falls thi-ough 

 on floor, should be cut by machine or not, as thought 

 necessary, but it be bhould rolled again to finish it 

 thoroughly ; in this tea red leaf is entirely absent. 



Third Method.— At the first of the season, the Pekoe 

 nibs do not show in the tea, owing to there being so 

 much juice in the leaf. The hard rolling required blackens 

 the nibs when rolled together, and takes on the coarse 

 juice of the older leaf. 



Put the whole of the pluckings through machine ; this 

 will cut off the nibs, some through the middle (broken 

 Pekoe), some the full length— this before being rolled is 

 eifted by a one- eighth of an inch mesh, which will let 

 down the nibs and stalks, aud keep back the flat cut leaf. 

 These nibs are gathered and put into bag of rolling 

 Machiue, and rolled very, very lightly, just sufficient te 

 sweat tlirough the juice to cause it to ferment ; when filled 

 these nibs will turn out to be very fine pure uncontamin- 

 ated flowery Pekoe (white), with the finest Pekoe flavour, 

 and would command by itself a fancy price ; but it is 

 mixed, stalks and all, %vith the sorted black Pekoe. The 

 tea broker, seeing tliese white nibs, would give a much 

 higher price than he would if no nibs were to be seen, 

 as would otherwise be the case. 



Fourth Method. — The rougher method (for small gardens) 

 to cut up all the tea. Roll, dry, sift none, fan out the 

 red leaf, and send it all to the market, thus saving broken 

 tea aud dust. 



By using the Machine for one or other of these purposes 

 above described, and hy judgment and discrimination in 

 using meshes of a size suitable for the kind of teabeing 

 manufactured, whether Assam (indigenous). Hybrid, or 

 China, it will be found most valuable by considerably ui- 

 creasing the revenue from the whole season's tea. 



In connection with the above system, a Bag Rolling 

 Machine, such as the Greig Link and Lever, or a Lyle's, 

 or improved Haworth Machine, is best adapted to roll 

 up the various large or small quantities of separate leaf. 



In reference to the above system of manufacturing tea, 

 Colonel Money, in his Piize Essay, at page 121, says: — 

 *' There is plenty of room yet for inventors. Tlie machine, 

 as before observed, most to be desired is one to separate 

 the small Pekoe leaves from the others, ere the rolling 

 of the leaf is commenced. If sucli a machine existed, it 

 would much increase the value of all Indian teas ; and 

 if the Agricultiual aud Horticultural Society are inclined 

 to offer a jirize for au3' machine, is should be this." Also 

 at page 115 he says : " That such a machine is poss- 

 ible I am certain, and the iuventor would confer a boon 

 on the tea interest far beyond the inventor of any other 

 machine, for all the other processes cau be done by hand 

 without much expense : this cannot." 



W. Haworth, Esq., an eminent and well-known author- 

 ity on tea, writes to us, " That for the last dozen years 

 he has been advocating tins system of cutting the leaf be- 

 fore the subsequent manipulation, and is glad to know 

 such a machiue has been invented." 



PROPAGATIXG PLANTS FROM LEAVES. 

 It is quite a common thing for nurserymen to propagate 

 plants from single leaves of some species of plants, and the 

 operation is not a very difiicult one, 'When a nurseryman 

 has got hold of a specially good strain of Gloxinia, for 

 instance, he may take a leaf or two off the plant and cut 

 several nicks through the midrib, then planting the petiole 

 or stem of the leaf to its full length and firmly in the mellow 

 soil, the leaf lying Hat upon the sui-face, and" the pot or pan 

 in which the leaves are planted is covered with a bell-glass 

 in the stovehouse. After a short time a number of bulbilles 

 form at the places where the midrib is cut through, these 

 send forth roots, and then a number of plants are produced 

 to reward the industry of the propagator. There is one 

 plant in particular which derives its name from the peculi- 

 arity that it can be propagated in numbers from a single leaf 

 — the Bryophyllus, from bryo to sprout or grow, aud phyllon 

 a leaf. This, however, is not so interesting a plant as 

 Lilies and Gloxinias are. There are many other plants 

 that will be reproduced from the little bud that is developed 

 in the axil, or at the bottom of the stem, where the leaf and 

 branch are joined, but this is really bud propagation, The 



plants that can best be multiplied from leaves are such as 

 produce bulblets upon the leaves and at the junction of the 

 petiole and main stem or branches. The best kind of soil fur 

 this kind of work is a mixture of equal parts of leaf- 

 mould, peat, and silver sand. The bottom leaves of such 

 plants are sometimes too far advanced, and those at the 

 top are not sufficiently mature, therefore the middle leaves 

 are most likely to give the most satisfactory results. When 

 it is seen that the broken parts of the midrib have callused 

 and rooted, the glass may be hfted for a few minutes each 

 day in order to inure the tender plants to fresh air. Of 

 course the glass is put over to keep a moist, warm, still, 

 atmosphere about the leaf, which would otherwise wither 

 and die. As the plant advances, the expo.sure is increased, 

 until the bell-glass can be permanently tilted and finally 

 removed. The so-called "leaves" of Epipbyllums and vari- 

 eties of Cacti (really branches) can be cut up and will .strike, 

 or the stems of tree ferns, Dracrenas, and very many other 

 plants can be cut into slices and planted, when each slice 

 will become a plant, but this is very ditfereut from propag- 

 ation from leaves. We have often taken a single leaf, with 

 a bud attached to the stem, from a Fuchsia, aud planting it 

 with the point of the bud "peeping" through the soil, liave 

 been rewarded with a nice little plant in a .short time. 

 ■With leaf propagation quiet a different series of events 

 take place. There is no bud to begin with, but bulbs are 

 developed upon the wounded midrib, then roots proceed 

 from the bulbs, and then the leaves follow. Leaf propag- 

 ation is a very interesting operation, and those who possess 

 the requisite accommodation may with profit to their 

 minds perform experiments upon such plants as they think 

 can be propagated by this means. — Adelaide Observer. 



COFFEE AND TEA. 

 The lecture dehvered by Dr. G. V. Poore, at the 

 Parkes Museum of Hygiene, three weeks ago, on Coffee 

 and Tea, has been published by H. ;K. Lewis, in- pam- 

 phlet form, aud we have been favoured with a copy. The 

 lecture commenced by discussing at some length the die- 

 tetic value of both, and ivith this view entered fully into 

 analyses of the chemical constituents of each, and theii' 

 effect upon the human system, coming to the conclusion 

 that they possessed comparatively little value as food, 

 but were most useful as stimulants. As to the relative 

 dietetic value of a cup of coffee and a cup of tea. Dr. 

 Poore quoted some German analyses, which he thought 

 might be regarded as fairly accui-ate, and then went on 

 to say : — " It follows from these analyses that, supposing 

 all the dissolved matter to be available for the needs of 

 the body, the dietetic value of a cup of coffee is more 

 than twice that of a cup of tea aud if we 

 assume that the stimulating power is due to the con- 

 tained alkaloid, then qua stimulant the cup of coffee has 

 more than three times the value of the cup of tea. 

 Further, Binz observes in the third edition of his ' Elcr 

 ments of Therapeutics ' that ' the alkaloid which tea 

 contains appears to be less easdy absorbed than 

 that of coffee owing to the very large quantity 

 of tannic acid present. ' The tannic acid in tea 

 is doubtless one of the causes why it is as a drink so 

 attractive. It is slightly astringent aud clean in the mouth 

 and does not ' cloy the palate,' an expression for which 

 I can find no scientific equivalent. Tannic acid is also one 

 of the dangers and drawbacks of tea. It is largely present 

 in the common teas used by the poor. Mow the rich man 

 who wishes to avoid an excess of tannic acid in the * cup 

 that cheers ' does not allow the water to .stand on the tea 

 for more than five, or at most eight minutes, and the re- 

 sulting beverage is aromatic, not too astringent and whole- 

 osme. The poor man or poor woman a i lows the tea to 

 simmer on the hob for indefinite period.s with the result 

 that a highly astringent and unwholesome beverage is ob- 

 tained. There can be no doubt that the habit of drinking 

 excessive quantities of strong astringent tea is a not un- 

 common cause of that atonic dyspepsia, which seems to 

 be the rule, rather than the exception, among poor women 

 of the class of sempstresses. Coffee then hiis a slight value 

 as a nutriment, and a very high value us a stimulant ; 

 when mixed with boiling milk in the form of cafe au lait 

 it forms the ideal of breakfast foods for body-workers 

 autl brain-workers, and a very small (juantity of black coffee 

 taken after a full meal servos to stimulate the etomach 



