432 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[December i, 1883. 



Siroooo" {?). In the article a detail connected with 

 Kjiimond's naachiue is mentioned whioli we had not 

 noticed previously : — 



Another peculiarity in the machine is, that the same 

 air is used again anil again, being re-rlried and re-heated 

 each time. By this two advantages are obtained : (1) fuel 

 is saved, it is easier to heat an- which still retains caloric 

 than fresh air; (2) the aroma of tea is very volatile, and 

 when hot air, which dries it, passes away, some of the 

 essence and strength of the tea goes with it. But here 

 the same air being used again and again, the volatile es- 

 sence (how much who can say ?) is returned to the tea. 

 It is reasonable to suppose that this will increase the 

 value of the tea; indeed, we know it did so materially in 

 one garden last season. 



A letter is then quoted, in which coat of cliarcoal 

 drying over " choolahs" and that by machine are con- 

 trasted, thus ; — 



1st. — Cltarcoal fn'iiuj and its ?«er;Vs.— Except for those who 

 persist that the fumes of charcoal are necessary to make 

 good tea, I can see no merit whatever in charcoal drying' 

 either in cost, quality, rapidity, .saving of labour, or any- 

 thing else, over machine-dried tea. 



COST PER M.^DND TEA OP TKX DEIED OVElt CHOOL.MIS BY 

 CIIARCOAr.. 



E. A. P. 



Charcoal at 8 annas per maund, \h uiaunds ^ 12 



1 Battiwallah at annas 4-6, kutcha firing =: 4 6 



Do. pucka firing, say.. ... ^^006 



Cost of firing by charcoal ... ...El 1 



N.E. — Notice the laljour staflf required for three months 

 in the year to make charcoal ; the immeuse space (and 

 heat) taken up by choolahs ; cost of timber used for 

 charcoal ; the nund)er of trays, gauze, iron, iVc, &c., re- 

 quired ; the masonry and carpenter's work always more 

 or 1..-5S out of repair ; loss of small tea falling through 

 trays, &c., &c. 

 Now let us take 



COST OF MACniNE-DEIED TEA PEE MAUND. 



B. A. P. 



1st. Those machines which dry by coke, say cost 



of coke ... ... '... ... ■ —080 



3 men at annas 4-6 per 5 niaunds tea^about 2 8 



Cc^st of drying per maund tta for a machine, 



drying by coke 5 maunds in 10 hours... 10 8 



I now give an estimate of cost of 1 maund tea dried by 

 a machine of similar capabilities, but drying with any sort 

 of fuel — coal, wood, grass, bamboo, &o., say 2 maunds of 

 firewood atopic per maund=l anna per 1 maund tea. 



N.]!. — Price of firewood at 3 pie per maund should be 

 ueaix-r the mark. 



3 men's pay, annas 4-6' for .5 maunds in 10 houra=anuas 

 2-8 per niaiuui. The analysis of the above comes to this — 



11. A. p. 

 Charcoal drying ... ... ... ^110 



Coke „ .. ... ... = 1 10 8* 



Wood firc^ „ ... ... ... ^038 



We read of machines drying with any fuel, and doing 

 double the tea of wluit I havi^ estimati.'d above, and how 

 ])coplo can still stick to charcoal beats me. 

 Col. iVIouey then comes to sifting machines, and ho 

 write s : — 



In the body of this Essay (page 122) I say, " 1 do not 

 believe in any present orfuture machine for silting tea." I 

 did not then ; that was in the early days of tea ; but I 

 was wrong. A sifting machine, on the large .scale on which 

 tea is now made, is essential for every garden. 



Jackson's Siftir. — I have seen this, and heard it well 

 spoken of, but I have no experience of it. 



(Ji-fii/s Sifter.— ThU I have not seen, but from the draw- 

 ing I have 1 should doubt if it would sift enough per day 

 for a largo garden. 



friiiluan's Sifter. — This is quite a new thing. I know 

 nothing of it. 



The fact is, the manager at Phoolbarry and I have 

 been so thoroughly satisfied with the Sifter we use there 



»I should he glad to be .set right if I have not rightly 

 caloulated the price of coke.— ( //';■//</• oftlie letter.) 



(Ansell's) could conceive nothing better, and I have not 

 therefore looked into the matter of Sifters. 



In January, 1881, I sent an article to the Tea (iazette 

 describing Ansell's Sifter, and as I thought then I think 

 now. I believe it is by far the best tea sifter yet invented. 

 Many are the testimonials, too, in its favour. The price, 

 £60, is too high ; but the manufacturers (llansomes. Head 

 and Jeffries, ot Ipswich) advice me they propose reduc- 

 ing it to £70. Even that, I think, is too much ; bm 

 there can he no question the use ot it ctfects a great 

 saving in a factory. 



Col. Money forgot that a " green leaf drying ap- 

 paratus" has iioti yet been invented, or, at least, 

 adopted, when lie wrote : — 



An Indian Tea factory, well set up with machinery — 

 that is to say with a green-leaf drying apparatus, rolling 

 machines. Tea dryers, equalisers, and sifting and sorting 

 machines, all driven by an engine of 1.5-horse power — 

 offers a wonderful contrast to a Chinese Tea factory 

 where all is handwork. 



But is there an equalizer driven by machinery ? 

 Col. Money describes Ansell's machine as " the best 

 tea sifting and fannlmj machine extant," although 

 we understood him previou.'fly to object to a com- 

 bination of fanning and sifting. The description is 

 as follows : — 



Its length is 19 feet, its breadth 5 feet. The tea, in 

 bulk, is delivered through a hopper from an upper floor, 

 on what I will call the A end of the machine, to dis- 

 tinguish it from the other end, which I will name B. 

 The principle of all other sifters (except Jackson's), as 

 far as I know, is, that the succeeding trays of differing 

 wire-mesh are arranged one below the other, the slope all 

 being the same way, that is — from A to B. TJiia plan is ob- 

 jectionable in the following way: if the Tea has been well 

 rolled and clings together, a good deal of the fine teas that 

 are in the mass or bulk often passes some distance down per- 

 haps over half the tray or wire-mesh length before falling 

 through. If they do so, and the object is to sift out any 

 particular class on the next succeeding tray, there is only 

 half the length of mesh left to traverse to effect the object, 

 instead of the whole length of the tray. This is obviated 

 in practice by pushing the teas continually back up the in- 

 chued tray ; but this is done at the expense of extra labour 

 and making the teas dusty and grey. 



The n hove objection is obviated in Ansell's machine. It 

 consists of 4 slopes, but each of these incline downwards, 

 alternately, different ways— m'.-., No. 1 (the upper), from A 

 to B; No. 2, from B to A; No. 3, from A to B ; No. 4, 

 from E to A, and below the mesh of each slope is a carry- 

 ing tin tray, slo])ing the same way, which carries all the 

 tea which falls through each mesh down to tltehendof the 

 succeeding slope, while in each case the tea which will wot 

 pass through the mesh is delivered separately. The above 

 arrangement, hOAvever, does not hold with the upper or 

 No. 1 slope. This consists of two wire trays or meshes, 

 with the carrying tray below the lower ouc. Such of the 

 bulk as will not pass through the upper tray is delivered 

 on the head of No. 2 slope, at the B end of the machine. 

 What paases through the upper tray, but will not pass 

 through the lower, is ilelivered by a side shoot at tlio B 

 end of the machine, and is " No. 1 Pekoe." What passes 

 through both sieves cm to the carrying tray is also delivered 

 by an opposite side shoot from the B end of the machine, 

 and is " Broken Pekoe." Between Nos. 1 and 2 slopes is an 

 air chamber, which, as the bulk left on the upper sieve of 

 No. 1 slope falls on the head of No. 2 (a blast being sent 

 through it by a fan at the A end of the machine), drives out 

 of the said f.alling bulk all red leaf, stalks, tannings, &c. 



No. 2 slope receives the bulk at the B end of the machine, 

 after the red leaf and tannings are taken out as stated 

 above, and what will not pass through the mesh is delivered 

 at the back of the A end of the machine, .and is"Oongou;" 

 while what does fall through tlie mesh into the carrying tray 

 below it (■ which is still bulk, consisting of " Pekoe," " Pekoo 

 Souchong," and ''.Souchong'' mixed) is delivered at the A 

 end of the machine on to the head of No. 3 slope. 



What will not pass through the mesh ot No. 3 slope is 

 delivered at the K end of the machine in front, and is 

 "Souchong;" while what does pass tlu-ougb the mesh of 

 No. 3 slope ou to the carrying tray below (still bulk, consist- 



