476 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[January i, 1884. 



(lid not know the name of the plant, nor whether the fibre 

 had any commercial vahie, and he asked information on the 

 latter point, as in that event it would he easy to plant up 

 the abandoned coffee fields with it, aad also portions of 

 the forest reserves of which the company owns over 5,000 

 acres. The sample of fibre was submitted to experts here 

 and in Paris, and they have pronounced it to be, without 

 doubt, a species of Rhea (Coiwcephalvs, Moens) and we 

 may add that a hank of the fibre, which had undergone 

 boiling under Ekmaun's process, has been valued at £70 

 per ton, but of this we shall speak later on. Now, it is 

 well known that Bhea grew wild in some districts of Upper 

 Iiiilia, and that it could readily be grown under cultiv- 

 ation almost anywhere in the tropics, provided always there 

 was sufficient moistm-e in the soil, but it was not hitherto 

 believed to be indigenous to Southern India, and the im- 

 portance of the discovery lies in the fact that the wild 

 plants will furnish a ready supply of plants for cultivation, 

 as the manager of the Tambracherry estate suggests, that 

 is to say, of course, if such means of e.itracting the fibre 

 were provided as would render the operation profitable, 

 and this brings us to the second point. 



Dr. Forbes "Watson, formerly of the India Ofifice, and 

 now of Lime Street Chambers, is well known to have devoted 

 an immense amount of time and attention to the inquiry 

 how Rhea can best be turned to accouut, and he was the 

 author of a report prepared in 1875 for the India Gov- 

 ernment, which is still the standard work on the subject. 

 Mr. 0. E. CoUyer, of 141, Fenchurch Street, is also well 

 known as the leading broker in China grass and other 

 fibres, and these two gentlemen, it will be remembered, 

 were list month in\'ited to attend the trials of the Favier- 

 Fremy process iu Paris, because their verdict in its favour 

 would have been generally accepted as conclusive. It is 

 no secret that they have also recently lieen investigating 

 three other chemical processes, with none of which, how- 

 ever, were they entirely satisfied. But a few days ago 

 it occurred to them to try what the machine patented 

 by Mr. J. Smith, of Mauritius, and manufactured by 

 Messrs. Death and Ellwood, could do with fresh stems 

 ofe Khea. The result was a genuine surprise, for by a 

 single operation the machine took the fibrous matter 

 away from the stick-like stems, and also .separated it 

 from the outer cuticle, leaving it sufficiently 'clean and 

 free from gum to be fit for the manufacturer. We do 

 not mean to say that it then presented the appearance 

 of fine wool or silk, such as is attained cither by Ekman's 

 or Fremy's process, but, at all events, it was in a thoroughly 

 marketable condition, and better value perhaps than the 

 China grass, which has for many years been imported 

 from China and sold here at from £15 to £50 per ton. 

 So satisfied indeed were these competent authorities with 

 the efficiency of the machine to solve the problem of 

 Rhea treatment, and therefore of its extensive employ- 

 ment iu the near future, that we understand arrange- 

 ments have been made to purchase the patent, and' to 

 at once introduce the machine to the notice of the Indian 

 Government and planters. 



In the meanwhile a good deal of attention has been 

 attracted to the Favier-Fremy processes, as specimens of 

 the results obtained by them are being exhibited at the 

 offices of Messrs. Brogden & Co., CJresham House, Old 

 Broad Street. It is the intention of the Company which 

 is boiug formed to establish what one may call central 

 factories conveniently near to the places of production, 

 and there to treat by Fremy's proce.ss the " ribbons " of 

 fibrous matter removed from the Rhea stems by Favier's 

 steaming process, whilst this latter will be conducted on 

 the fields themselves. The Company will send its agents, 

 with furnished the Favier apparatus, on to the estate at 

 harvest time, prepared to pay down a faii' price for any 

 quantiry of "ribbons" that can 'be supplied, probably 

 about £1(> per ton. and it takes 16 tons of stems to make 

 1 ton of " ribbons." 



South Wynaad. — Crops are being got in fast, and 

 BOme of the estates have even arrived at the strip- 

 ping stage. The coffee (what little there is) this season 

 has ripened with a rush, and the first round ol picking 

 has made m:my a poor planter's heart quake, for the 

 pickers seem to have left nothing behiad them, and, 



as a rule, mnst men find tirat they will not get iu even 

 half of their estimates. Till lately we have been hav- 

 ing most abominable weather for drying, and it was 

 as much as one could do to prevent the coffee from 

 sprouting ou the barbacues. — Maihas Mail. 



Coconut Puddino.— Get a good sound coconut, 

 and try to get the shell off without breaking the 

 kernel. Kcmove the brown skin, and grate the nut; 

 add three lai-ge lablespoonsful of powdered loaf sugar, 

 and about lialf-an-ouiicj of lemon peel. Mix .ill with 

 milk to the consistency of a thick paste. Line a tin 

 with rich or puff ])aste ; put in your ^indding, aud 

 bake iu not too hot an oven to the colour of a pret'.y 

 pale brown. — Natal Mermrif, 



Gibes & Barry's Tea Dkyer.— Mr. T. C. Owen 

 attracts our at'entiou to a late number of the Field 

 in which is "a diagram of GIbbs's ensilage drying 

 machine It is a facsimile of Gibbs & Barey's tea 

 dryer, and is very highly spoken of for fodder as yon 

 will see. Many who take the the Field in may 

 be interested in the diagiam for this reason, and you 

 might extract the description for 'he benefit of readers." 

 The description is as follows: — In the annexed eugrav- 

 iug. Fig. 1 is a side view of the improved corndrying 

 cylinder. The cylinder, E E, is supported on brick 

 piers, but they may be of iron, or even wood The 

 furnace A, supporting the fan B, may also be of metal. 

 The compouud fan, with the air-ducts to the furnace 

 and cylinder, is made of strong wrought-iron. The cylinder 

 and interior fittings are galvanised. D is the hopper into 

 which the grain is fed. Between D and the tan is a chinmey, 

 C, for carrying off the smoke when the furnace is fiist 

 lighted. It has a valve for closing it afterwards. C is the 

 thermometer for showing the temperature of the air. 

 When ISft. and upwards in length, the cylinder may be 

 made in two lengths, and joined in the centre by a flanged 

 ring. It rotates ou four runner wheels, gearing with two 

 turned rings on the cylinder. A large spur wheel sur- 

 rounds the cylinder, and is driven by a pinion below, which 

 iu turn is driven by bevel gear; the fan, being driven by a 

 strap from an engine, gives motion to this bevel-gear 

 shaft. The cylinder is adjusted at any angle by worm-wheel 

 aud chain gear, and can be raised or depressed, so as to 

 dry the corn to the exact point required. Nothing can 

 be more simple, more easily adjusted, or less liable to get 

 out of order. The whole of the inner periphery of the 

 cylinder is furnished with cells, as showu at H. The grain, 

 fed in at D, falls into these at the bottom of the cylinder, 

 and as this rotates the grain is lifted up in the cells, dis- 

 charged each time a little further down, according to the 

 angle at which the cylinder is ailjusted. The gr.ain does not 

 fall perpendicularly from the cells above into those below, 

 but is distriliuted iu its fall by the louvres of the hot-air 

 duct, shown at O. These are fixed obliquely in the cylinder, 

 forming au expansion chamber closed at the lower end, so 

 that the hot air from the fan is forced through the louvres, 

 drying the grain as it slides down over the openings, aud 

 blowing away all mould, dust, and straw. Those who have 

 examined the different drying cylinders now iu use will at 

 once see the superiority of this machine. In all the others 

 the wet grain is not sufficieutly scattered, but falls iu 

 lumps, or is pressed forward by screws. The cells of Jlr. 

 Gibbs's machine, on the other hand, thoroughly scafter the 

 grain so that every berry is separately and equally dried, 

 whilst the louvres have a scouriug as well as a drying action. 

 A far higher temperature and stronger blast can be used 

 than in any other known machine ; and this accounts for the 

 unusually large yield of 850 tons per week from one cylinder. 

 Ooke is generally used as fuel, the hot air being taken 

 directly from the furnace, as iu kiln-drying; but the waste 

 heat from any existing furnace can be drawn by the fan 

 through brick flues for even such distauces as 50ft. or 100ft., 

 so as to dispense with all fuel cost. This plan has been 

 adopted with these cylinders by Messrs. McDougall Brothers 

 (of Millwall) for some years with complete success. Ou 

 the other baud, when preferred, the air can be lu'ated by 

 a steam coil, the latter method having been in use with one 

 of Mr. Gibbs's other forms of drying machines at H. M. 

 Royal Gunpowder Works at Waltham Abbey for five or six 

 years. 



