388 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [December i, 1883. 



TEA MANUFACTUKE BY HAND AND 

 BY MACHINERY, 



The outcome of the controversy which has arisen 

 on the comparative cost of making tea by hand and 

 by machinery seems to be, that, circumstances be ug 

 fairly equal, 5 cents represents as nearly as possible 

 the money saving per lb, of tea by the adoption of 

 snch machinery as is yet in use. Our correspondent 

 "Adam's Peak," it vn.ll be observed, while giving a 

 lower figure for the saving per lb. on 4001b. of tea, 

 acknowledges that the ratio of saving is likely tn in- 

 crease with the quantity made where machinery is 

 employed, while a cooly cannot roll more than 40 lb, 

 of leaf. Against the saving of 5 cents on every 

 pound of tea made must, of course, be placed the 

 capital cost of machinery (in excess of the appliances 

 used in hand manufacture) and interest on the money 

 until the outlay is paid off. But, excellent as hand- 

 made tea often is, there can be no question that 

 the strong arguments in favour of machinery are 

 founded on the umform^y good quality of the tta 

 it turns out. Charcoal is not a necessity, unless for 

 furnaces kept as a reserve in case of accident to 

 the machinery, or for refiring ; and, above and 

 beyond all, night work, with its dangerous and 

 demoralizing eS'ects, can be dispensed with. Coolies 

 employed at night may underfire or burn tlie tea, 

 and possibly set fire to the tea-house. The watching 

 and the charcoal fumes cannot but be deleterious to 

 the health of the Europe.in superintendent and the 

 tea-makers, and we suijpose the latter are generally 

 paid extra for night work. With extended tea cultiv- 

 ation in Ceylon, labour might become scarce and go 

 np seriously in price, were a cooly always required, 

 for instance, to roll every 40 lb. of green leaf gathered. 

 Machinery will enable an estate to be worked with 

 a considerably less labour force generally, and especially 

 with a less proportion of what may be called skilled 

 labour, in the persons of experienced and careful tea 

 rollers. The machinery will get neitlier sulky nor 

 sleepy, neither lazy nor disobedient, and such ail- 

 ments as it is liable to are genuine and soon 

 cured. To be able to dispense with charcoal 

 in favour of wood fuel, and in the 

 many cases of tea taking the place of coffee where 

 timber is scarce or non-existent, to substitute coal 

 and coke, arc great advantages. When the railway 

 is open to Dikoya and Nanuo3'a, and ultimately 

 to Uva (not to sjcak of branches into the loMer 

 districts), coal and coke can reach woodless estates 

 at fairly moderate rates, — the railways, no doubt, 

 carrying sucli substances at charges not mucli higher tlian 

 those for manure, it really conies to this, — that, if 

 tea cultivation progi'ess as we hope in Ceylon, no 

 money and no efforts would be snfficiint to secure 

 tlie labour force which would be needed at one 

 man for every 40 lb. of green leaf rolled, with 

 coolies eiiiployed in proportion in firing, sifting and 

 sorting. Even, therefore, if there were no ilirec- 

 saving eflecttd by the use of machinery, if its only 

 merits were that «ith ordinary fuel it will turnout 

 tea uniformly good, retort to rolleis, driers, sifters, 

 and such other labour-saving appliances as have 

 been or may bo invented, wouki be a nectssity. 

 But besides the more uniformly better tea — from more 

 even rollicg, brisker tiring and, probably, from less 

 handling in the sifting proceis — there is certainly a 

 saving of 5 cents per lb. on the items which admit 

 of comparison : rolling, firing, sifting and refiring. 

 Our coircspondent "Proprietor" hae gone very care- 

 fully into lU^ queetiou of prepuiAtiou by baud^ and 



we believe bis figures of GJ cents per lb. for rolling 

 and fii-ing Tire as near the truth as can be. Planters 

 who show similar figures say "it could be done for 

 LESS," so tliat a savin;/ of 7 or even 6i cents seems 

 impossible. But 5 cents saving per lb.," added to the 

 other many advantages we have glanced at, seems 

 decisive in favour of machinery. It remains that the 

 most perfect machinery should be obtained at moder- 

 ate prices. Tiie present stUiug prices of some 

 machines are almost prohibitory. Comparison at the 

 Calcutta Exhibition and rtsulting completition will, 

 no doubt, bring about tbe best possible results for 

 planters in Ceylon as well as India. 



Since writing the above the further notes from 

 " S," have reached us (page 3S3) and in thim the novel 

 ground is taken up that machinery should be as 

 good as " written off " (out of the saviug over hand 

 work?) in three years; but suraly this is far too 

 short a peiiod, the tear and wear and interest on 

 cost of machinery cannot require a writing-off of 

 capital outlay in so short a period ? 



One of the Best Pavixg Sugae -Estates ly DEMEn,uiA 

 the " De Ivinderen and Booils's Eust," has just been dis- 

 posed of by tender. There were three offers : that of Mr. 

 Quiutm Hogg ranging from 30,000^., with 501. abve any, 

 other bidder, up to 50,000;.. terms 20,OUO/. cash, balance 

 in four months at 6 percent; JNIr. Evans, one §170,000 

 cash ; Saubach, Tinne & Co. offered 25/. over other bidders 

 up to S'ifiOOL, terms cash. The property thus fell to Mr. 

 Quintm Hogg for §170,240 (35,466?. sterhng). The yeaily 

 crop of the estate has been about 1,050 hhds., but it is 

 estimated that the crop on the ground is 1,200 hhds. Thus 

 we have the value of a first-class vacuum pun sugar estate 

 at 30/. per hhd., or the actual crop on the ground. The 

 gross value of that crop, including all expenses for 

 tillage and reaping, may be put at 25^ per hhd. Thus 

 the estate has fetched ol. per hhd. over gross value of 

 the crop on the ground. "We understand that two inde- 

 pendent planters have valued the estate at 32,000/., so that 

 it is evident that the realised price is a fair one between 

 buyer and seller. — Colouks and India, Sept. 21. 



J.iK TliEES BeABISG at FlFTFES' JVIONTHS. 

 Such is the statement in a notice in the Quecnslmulcr 

 of the Rocklianipton Botanic Gardens : — It has been tl e 

 practise of Mr. Edgar to biingina regular supply of 

 rich manure to ensure the development of the plants 

 under his care, and many a valuable nanny goat has 

 contributed its quota to the growth of vegetable life 

 within this enclosure — so much so that it has sometimek 

 jocularly called the Rockhanipton go.it ccmetry; 'Ihe 

 very thing which under less practical man&gemeut 

 would have hastened a failure has been made, by the 

 judicious application of fertillisers, to forward the end 

 intended. Sand wtll and scientifically cultivated can be 

 made to acceleinte vegetable growth of niostkinds,and tho 

 history of many of the trees and shrubs in this 

 garden is neither moie nor less an ilhistration 

 of remarkable precocity. As one instance of 

 this, it may be nnntioned that soon after it 

 was started seeds of Artocarjnis int"'jrifoh(i (jaekfruit) 

 were procured from India and sown in the open borders, 

 where they were to remain. The ground was deeply 

 trenched and \re\\ manured for their reception, and the 

 result was that within eiglieen months of the seeds 

 being sown the young trees were from 15 feet to 18 feet 

 high, and carrying fruit. Sand naturally encourages 

 the multiplication of roots, and if it is kept well en. 

 riehed the superabundance of tiarous roots it occasions 

 helps on a certain precocity, as in this instance. For 

 propagating purposes, and for bringing things on rapidly, 

 sand is very good, and plants staitcd in it are ad- 

 mir.ibly adapted for transplanting into other soils ; 

 hence il is highlj' prized by nursi rymen, florists, and 

 market gardeners. But for a botanic gai den, in which 

 trees and shrubs are required to be permanent, it is not 

 80 desirable » soil, 



