December i, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



43' 



One of the great advantages uf this Tea Dryer is the 

 facility it gives for final firi,ii/ before packing. The en- 

 hanced price of Tea which has Ijeeu dried and finally fired 

 in this Dryer is well shewn in the high average of Is 6d. 

 per lb., which the Scottish Assam Company's Teas have 

 fetched this season. See letters annexed from their super- 

 intendent in Assam, Mr. Cruickshanks, and their secretary 

 in Edinburgh, Mr. Moffat. 



When final firing Tea with the Dryer, it is found con- 

 venient to place a fine gauze cover over the top trays in 

 each compartment, to prevent any of the Tea dust being 

 carried away with the hot air which passes through the Tea, 



In order to get the maximum quantity of work from 

 the Dryer, the trays must be spread with rolled leaf twice 

 as thick as that used when Tea is dried over charcoal, 

 where there is no forced current of air, and after the Tea 

 has been half-dried, then the Tea on two trays shoulil bo 

 spread on one tray, and the drying finished. In the 

 Dryers now in conrse of construction, the trays have been 

 made one-half deeper, so that the half-dried Tea on three 

 trays should be finished in oae tray. The out-turn of the 

 machine is greatly diminished when the foregoing method 

 is not observed ; and owing to its non-observance, many of 

 the Dryers in use have never been worked to their greatest 

 capacity. 



The Dryer should he lined outside with one thickness 

 of bricks — they are the cheapest and best non-conductors of 

 heat — inferior or badly-burned bricks may be used. Both 

 ends of the Dryer should be lined, and both sides and 

 elbows as high as the trays. The top may either have a 

 lining of bricks, or four inches thick of sand or clay. AVhen 

 the Dryer is hued round with bricks, it not only greatly 

 reduces the eoosumptioa of fuel, but by preventing the 

 radiation of heat, it enables the men to increase the out- 

 turn of pucka Tea. 



The Dryer is extremely simple and compact — the No. 2 

 size occupies a space of about 7 feet long and 3 feet wide. 

 The fan of this Dryer requu-es about half a horse-j)Ower 

 to drive it. 



The fan should be driven at a speed of 500 revolutions 

 per minute. The pulley on the fan spindle is 7y inches 

 diameter and 4 inches wide. 



Col. Moiiey gives the preference to No. 3. the 

 machine which dries 3 maunds (240 lb.) par hour, 

 and which erected on an estate in Oeylon would 

 certainly cost not much under R4,500. This is a 

 serious expenditure to face, but on large plantations it 

 will probably pay. Col. Money quotes a letter which he 

 WTote to the Tea Gazelle apropos of Ivinmond's ma- 

 chine and the necessity of making good teas at a 

 small cost. 



This latter, I hold, both as regards quality and economy, 

 can only be attained by the use of machinery ; and thus, 

 what is the best kind of rolling machine, the best description 

 of dr5'er, equaliser, and sifting apparatus, is an all-import- 

 ant point. 



What is the " equalizer " to which Col. Money refers ? 

 A machine to cut or break tea to one size ? He goes 

 on to state that it is now generally admitted that 

 tea prepared in driers is superior to that prepared 

 over charcoal, while the saving of time is enormous : — 



If there is one thing certain in Tea maiuifacture, it is that 

 speed is necessary. Cliarcoai drying took on an average 45 

 minutes; Teais fired in the best Dryers in eight minutes. 

 In respect of speed, Kinmond's Dryer (which is the one I 

 advocate) is certamly unequalled. 



The saving of time, by the use of Kinmond's drier 

 instead of the old mode of charcoal drying, is thus 37 

 minutes out of 4.5. 



When, as in large factories, 30 or 40 maunds of Tea have 

 to be made daily, it is evident that, ccete>'is ^wr/iKs, the 

 machine whicti will do most in a given time and given space 

 must be the best. In these respects also Kimnoud's Dryer 

 stands well, for the small size (No. 1) will do one maund, 

 and the larger size (No. 2) will turn out two maunds per 

 hour. In other words, in .a working day of 12 hours (and I 

 allow no more, for I do not believe in night work) 12 and 

 24 maun'i.s ilaily are the capacities of the two sizes, Con- 

 adering that the said two sizes, with necessary stokehole, 

 tsibles, &c., occupy respectively not mjre than 200 and 260 



square feet of space in a factory, the satisfactory results, 

 in both the above respects are unquestionable. 



Tea made at night, both because the colour of it in 

 its different stages cannot be well seen (let the light be 

 what it will), and also because superintendence cannot 

 then be so close, is never so good as day-made Tea. This 

 is why I do not believe in night work ; and it is also a 

 very important extra reason why machinery (which by its 

 speed enables all the necessary Tea to be made by day- 

 light) will prove such a gi'eat and lasting advantage. 



When Kinmond's Dryer was first constiuictcd, it was 

 proposed to work it at 300 degrees. Later experience hag 

 proved 260 degrees is better and sufficient ; but of course 

 more time is thus taken, and with the old sizes one and 

 two maunds per hour could not be turned out at the 

 lower temperature. The machines are now made one- 

 fifth larger to obviate this. 



The fan is worked at 600 revolutions per minute, and 

 this is foimd to be the best speed. 



Several alterations, and important ones, have been 

 made since the first machines were constructed, but I 

 will mention them shortly, for tliey will only bo under- 

 stood by those who know the Dryer — 1. The trays now 

 take out alternalely both sides. 2. The fine Tea or dhole 

 trays take out independently. 3. Outside bearings are 

 supphcd to the fan shaft or spindle : thus the lubricat- 

 ing oil cannot now run down into the fan casing. 4. The 

 chimney is moved forward, and thus heats a large amount 

 of air and reduces fuel. After the neces.sary temperature 

 has once been obtained, one maund of wood will fire one 

 maund of Tea. This is an outside estimate. 



We may notice that 12 maunds and 24 respectively 

 are the equivalents of 960 lb. and 1.920 lb. We agree 

 with Col. Money as to the great desirability of avoid- 

 ing night work. Withering in damp weather is the 

 difficulty. If night work becomes absolutely necessary, 

 it may be jjossible to generate brillimt electric light 

 by the motive power applied to the machinery. In 

 Col. JVIouey's own case the teas averaged an increase 

 of 2 annas per lb. after the supercession of charcoal 

 drying iu favour of Kinmond's drier. Talking of 

 using these machines to aid withering, which he de- 

 precates. Col. Money says : — 



A machine fitted for that work has yet to be invented, 

 unless Baker's Wet Leaf Dryer, of which X have heard 

 good accounts, but have not feen, would answer. 



Mr. Baker is the gentleman connected with the 

 Assam Company who visited Ceylon in 1874, and we 

 understood that his invention was intended merely 

 to aid the withering process by expelling moisture from 

 the leaves gathered in wet weather. We have seen no 

 references to its successful working. We are told that 

 Mr, Kinmond has quite lately invented a coke-burning 

 drier, \ maund of coke to 1 of tea ; 2J to 2i maunds 

 tea per hour ; one half lighter than wood burning 

 drier ; requires no foundation of any kind ; price 

 £180 f. o b. in England, s ly about £220 iu Ceylon. 

 Considering the work it does, IdO li). to 200 lb. per 

 hour, Mr. Kinmoud's claims for this drier the merit 

 of being the cheapest in the market. Can any reader 

 speik of it from experience? In 1S8I, Col. Money 

 wrote an article for the Calcutta Stafesnum In which 

 he remarked that there was no market for tea seed 

 now. Times are altered since 1881, the demand for 

 Ceylnn being large. The Assam Conipanj', therefore, 

 may again declare big dividends, as Col. Money says 

 they previously did, largely from sales of seed. From 

 this article we make some quotations : — 



It says not a Uttle for the enterprise and the inventive 

 genius of the Anglo-S.axon race that, while in <3hina the 

 manufacture of Tea dates back many centuries, and yet 

 all the Tea is still made by hand, we in India, who havo 

 only planted Tea some forty year.s, have invented machines 

 and use them today for each and every operation in niaim- 

 facture. It is but as yesterday that we imported China- 

 men to teach us the modus operandi. A'P^e now know far 

 more than they do on the subject, and verily the pupil has 

 beaten his master. 

 Col. Money talks of " Lyle, the inventor of the 



