2s6 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[October i, 1883, 



all the more when the sim shines again, as we have lots 

 of time ; if we have a spell of dry weather, ou the other 

 hand, this again is sure to be followed by rain, when we 

 at ouce make up any loss. 



Cost pir Ih. F. O.ll.—I have to thank many friends for 

 furnishing me with cost F. O. B. at Colombo and choose 

 the folio .fmg which are representative of all and may 

 he relied ou. In all cases, the tea was mamvfactured with- 

 out the aid of machineiy of any kind. 



4.)0 lb. per acre cost 36 cts. F" 0. B. 



_„„ on I. T> i^ -D / Including cost of 



'2 " " " «cs-F O-B "P'^''^P°fy°'^"g 



If we take the average of the above i estates, we have 

 say 495 lb. per acre, hand-made, costing 34 cents F. O. B. 

 at Colombo ; London charges including freight are under 

 2^d ; but for all practical purposes let us say 2^d, the 

 above teas at an average price of Is 2^d, and this is not 

 a high average, leaves us Is nett, or at Is Sd per inipee, 

 GO cents ; a ijrofit of 26 cents per lb. at 495 lb. per acre, 

 say K12S'70 profit per acre. 



■RTiilst I am on the subject of yield I trust we in Ceylon 

 will ttlk of M. per acre and not 7na>'nds; our tea is sold 

 by the lb. what then can we have to do with mauuds ? 



"With regard to plucking and manufacture I find its 

 actual cost is as follows without machinery: — 

 Plucking (including baskets aud cootie sacks) cents 7000 

 Withering, rolling, fining cents 6.500 



Sorting, refiring, packing (in half-chests) in- 1 ^^^^^ ^.qqq 

 eluding lead solder and chests ! 



Total ...cents 17500 



The rest of the works depend upon circumstances, and in 

 many instances can be done cheaper with regard to some 

 of tlie items than I now show. Take for example a garden 

 of 150 acres, bearing at 400 lb per acre. 



Hupt. including Factory overseer at K20 per acre, cents. 



cost per lb of tea S'OOO 

 ■\Vce<ling at 87 cents per acre E10"44 per acre per 



annum 2'610 



An ordinary pruning at E6 per acre 1'500 



>*urseries R225 '375 



Supplying at K4-5Q per acre 1'125 



Koads and drains at Iv3 uer acre '750 



Tools say E150 " -250 



Transport Tea from estate f.o.b. 2-200 



General Transport '400 

 House and tappal coolies, medicines, stationery, 



contingencies, and export duty and medical 



aid 1-540 



Upkeep of buildings at E450 per annum "750 



Manuring 30 acres per annum atE100= E3,000 S'OOO 



Total est.ite expenditure per lb. 21'5H0 



Add cost of plucking aud manufacture as above 17'500 



Total cost 400 lb per acre f.o.b. at per lb tea 



/<«//(;-niade 

 A'alue of 400 lb tea at 60 cents per lb nett B240 

 Less cost as above at 39 cents per lb 156 



39 cents. 



Nett profit per acre E84 



Or it no manm-ing is done E104 per acre profit. Manure 

 of coiir.'ie eventually pays for itself by iiieren^al yield. 



I believe the above to be a liberal estimate, it is at all 

 events, one higher than I should allow for the working of 

 my own garden, which is in perfect order. K 150 per acre for 

 400 lb tea is liberal enough, withoiit machinery, I will now 

 show my experience of the benefit machinery gives \is. — On 

 a coffee estate with voter wheel rdreaily erected a .Jackson's 

 universal roller should be purchaseil, for even only 25 acres 

 of tea, as I tliink the following figures will prove. I take 

 400 lb. of tea per diem as my standard as the toUowing 

 machinery works up to it, and this machinery is suflicient 

 for a garden of 150 acres giving up to 500 lb per aire. 

 One Jackson's Universal Eoller fixed ready 



for working E 1-200 



One Davidson's Sirocco 1,300 



To drive the roller a 16 to 18 feet water- 

 wheel will do, or if no water power a 1 4 

 H.P. engine costing .say on estate 1,500 



A second Sirocco is most useful and if means 

 allow of it should be purchased, so 1 will 

 add it, although not absohttely necessary 



Add a sorting machice at a cost of say 



1,300 



5,300 

 950 



E6,250 



If the garden is to be increased in area it is better and 

 cheaper to purchase at the first Jackson's larger roller called 

 the "Excelsior" exactly the same as his "Universal" only 

 working up to 8,000 lb. of leaf per diem, instead of 2,000 

 lb. and costing at tau garden about E2,2.')0. This with 4 

 Sii-occos will work up to a 300 acre garden, aud requires 6 

 H. P. to di-ive it. 



Working, however, with om- " Universal" at 400 lb. of 

 leaf jjer diem, costs us as follows : — 



cent. 

 Plucking per lb tea. 7-00 



Withering, Rolling 1,600 lb. leaf = 400 lb. tea at 



5 eootics, say. -41 



Firing ditto at o coolies inelnding firewood, say. -25 



Sorting by lieoicl, refii'ing, packing in half chests, 



including chests, &:c. &c. 3'o0 



Total cost of plucking, and manufacture by 

 machinery n-iG 



or a saving per lb. of tea of cents 6-34 as against hand-roUing 

 and charcoal firing. I have not as yet worked a sorting 

 machine, but I believe with two coolies to attend to it 

 (diiven by water or steam,) a Jackson's or Ansell's will sort 

 into four classes at the rate of 400 lb. per hom:. Let us for 

 example, take 5 coohes per 1,000 lb. including the pickiug 

 out of red leaf, its cost is exactly half that of hand- 

 sorting or cents 0'16.3 as against cents 0'33 per lb. or say 

 we have a savine/ ofG!/ cents per lb. of tea, with all machi- 

 nery complete. This at 400 lb per acre yield, represents a 

 saving of E2G per acre or brings up jirofits as per 

 former estimate to El 00 per acre, or, if no manuring is 

 done, on a young garden, to R130 per acre. From these 

 figures you can workout the profits at any yield per acre; 

 cost of manufacture is always the same, except when 

 machinery is used, when the nearer we work up to its f idl 

 power, the cheaper are we able to manufacture our teas, as 

 there is then no loss in coolie labor at machinery ; cost of 

 the other works is increased or lessened in proportion as 

 the yield is lower or higher, tn further reference to ma- 

 chinery, in making any quantity of tea j>er diem the 

 machine roller will turn out a better make than can be ob- 

 tained by hand-rolling. One or two picked coolies might roll 

 better ; but when we have from 20 to 80 coolies to attend 

 to, machine rolled tea will carry off the palm. Sirocco- 

 fired teas, as 1 have myself tested, are brisker and fuller 

 than charcoal fired teas. 1 find my Sirocco @ 275 ° will 

 fire off 100 lb. of roll per hour, equal to about 45 lb. of 

 tea ; my " Universal " rolls the equivalent of 200 tb. ofgreeu 

 (unwithered) leaf per hoiu- or 150 16. of withered leaf in 

 75 minutes, taking in 37 lb. at a fill, which it rolls in 20 

 minutes, and we have to allow 5 minutes for emptying and 

 refilling. If on a coffee estate you have not sufficient 

 power already erected to drive the " Excelsior" roller 

 (6 H.P.) I can, for fine leaf recommend Eimnond's 

 Centrifugal, one of which rollers I also have. This re- 

 quires only the same power as the " Universal," but will 

 roll oft' 5,000 lb. of green leaf per diem, instead of only 

 2.000; its cost is .ibout Rl,700 on the garden. It will not 

 roll coarse leaf well, so with one of these rollers you 

 must keep up with your flush, its great advantage is 

 its cheapness as compared with the cross action for 

 amount of work it does, with the small power it takes 

 to work it, (2i H. P.) and with good leaf, the I irge amount 

 of tip it turns out, although, where it can be worked, I 

 prefer the large cross action (Jackson's) "Excelsior''. To 

 compare labour requii'ed to make 4001b. of tea by hand and 

 ch ■ rcoal, with the number of cooUes required to make the 

 same with the Universal and Sirocco, I find the following ; — 

 By hand-withering 1,600 lb. leaf 2 coolies 

 EolUng do 40 



Fii'ing and charcoal 16 



Total for 400 lb. tea 



58 



