February i, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



539 



three men put in an appearance ; and the day after all 

 submissively returned to tLeir duty. So human nature is 

 the same ail the world over. I examined the pruning, and 

 found that only an incli of new wootl \va.siett for starting 

 the next ilush upon, but Mr. Balmer took me toanothej 

 portion of the estate to show me an experiment he had 

 tried and was to continue year by year tiil the whole estate 

 Bhouid be gone through, of leaving the bushes a wliole year 

 without pruning, so as to get a good fitrong six-incii shoot 

 to work upoa. I do not think we have cause to be ashamed 

 of any of our tea work in Cej'lon. 



In the afternoon. I walked out to Tukvar estate,.') miles 

 beyond Darjiling, through the grandest tree ferns imagin- 

 able. I found the able and courteous manager, Mr. Curtis, 

 at home, and thoug i an utter stranger he placed his time 

 at my disposal antl gave me much interesting ioformation. 

 Of course, his turbine was his pet hobby, and it is a woniler. 

 It is at the bottom of a ra\ine, hali-a-mile away from 

 the store, but as it stores water to the extent of 80 hoise- 

 jjower, it not only turns all his machinery but is 

 capable if necessarj* of generating enough electric- 

 ity to light Darjiling (two miles in a direct liue). 

 'J'lie wires travel at such a rale (.52 miles per hour) 

 that birds often ali{;bt upon them with the idea that they 

 arc stationary', and are at once thrown violently into the 

 air again. One day an unfortunate dhobi tried to s-ave 

 liimself the trouble of stooping by lifting up the wire. 

 He was next seen M) yards up the hill among the tea- 

 bushes, having let go just in time to save himself from 

 being mangled by a set of wheels that help to carry on 

 the wire. A man with a cold would have called this a 

 ** terrible turhi»(ition to one's existence." Mr. Curtis's bins 

 were a sigl.t tj behold, one being capable of holding 

 •20,U0U lb. of tea at least, I should think. It extended 

 from the floor to the top loft. Almost the whole of the 

 ground floor was taken up by charcoal furnaces. On my a.sk- 

 ing the reason for so many, Mr. Curtis s:iid it would be im- 

 possible to wither the leaf in wet weather without them- 

 .\s Tukvar tea fetches some of the best prices in the 

 market, the idea tliat heat is injurious to the leaf must be 

 an utter fallacy. 



Moral to Ceylon planters : — If you take to machine- 

 drying, do not pull down your furnaces, but have both. 



TE.^. MACHIXKRV. 



Since writing my notes on the Calcutta Kxhibition I 

 have received ihe following further information respecting 

 some of the tea machines there exhibited. 



Mr. J. C. Kininond sf Leamington, who can be per- 

 sonally consulted, as he is staying at the Great Eastern 

 Hotel, Cai.n ta, has two specimens of tea driers at his 

 stand, one special ly for coke or charcoal and the other for 

 any kind of fuel. The result of certain improvements 

 lately made by Mr. Kinmoud is that more tta is turned 

 out at a less consumption of fuel. It has been, and is 

 still, claimed for these dryers that they are the only ones 

 which can keep up with the largest rollers. As these 

 machines are very largely used, the sole complaint we have 

 heanl being that somi: of the small tea is liable to be 

 blown away by the fanners, this cl lim must have very 

 good foundations. During the final tirhig before packing, 

 a piece of Hue gauze spread over the tray will eflectually 

 prevent the ilust from blowing out. 



One important point to be noticed about the coke burn- 

 ing tea dr^er, is that it is nearly one-half less in weight 

 than the wood-burning dryer, which means one-half saving 

 in freight. It requires no fouiidatioTi or brickwork of any 

 kind. The prices (f. o. b. in England) are : — 



Coke burner, two maimds of pncka tea per hour £170 



Ko. I. Dryer one „ „ „ 150 



„ II. ,, two „ „ „ 220 



,, III. „ three „ „ „ 300 



With Xos. I. II, III, grass, reed-!, or any fuel can be used. 



Mr. Riuniond &\-a exhibits one of his centrifugal roll- 

 ing machi ■■<. The iharj^e laid against this roller was that 

 it cuts the leaf. We are toll that now the machine is being 

 made after an improved patent, the rolled leaf coines out 

 in a comparatively short time unusually fresh and green, 

 and conaetjueutly takes an oven and better fermentation 

 and (".•; not broken, and the tip comes (uit brighter than by 



the best hand-rolling, Mr. Kinmond's agents in Calcutt* 

 (Messrs. A\''illiamson, Magor & Co., 4, Mango Lane) keep a 

 supply of dui>licate wearing parts for these machines, so 

 that Ceylon planters investing in them could easily get re- 

 pairs done when necessary. 



We come next to the world-widely known dryer of 

 Messrs. Davidson & Co., the " Sirocco." This also is made 

 in two forms. No. 1 to burn any fuel and No. II to burn 

 coke ', but only where fuel is scarce should No. II be used, 

 for Messrs. Davidson k, Co. confess that No. I produces 

 finer tea, besides having the advantage of burning any kind 

 of coal, wood, bamboo or grass that may be handy. The 

 " Sirocco," like every other machine, human or otherwise, 

 was not considered absolutely perfect, and so it is stated : — 



" In addition to the improvements made in oui' No. I 

 ' Sirocco,' durine last year, we have, this season, added 

 to its general efficiency by further detail modifications, 

 the principl of wluch are: — 



" 1st. The lower section of the Air-Chimney widened, 

 by which its power on the DrjTng-hos is considerably 

 increased. 



'■ 2nd. The Ail-Chimney is now made in 3 lensrths, so 

 that it is much more easily erected than formerly, and 

 it packs into a shorter case (12 feet long), renilering 

 the package more convenient for ti'ansit up eountiy. 



" .Srd. The Smoke-Chimney shortened, with the advanta- 

 geous results detailed in our Circular, No. .5.5. 



•'4th. An improvement in the Back Plate of the Stove, 

 which etfects a considerable economy in fuel, and main- 

 tains the outer back casing much cooler, preventing its 

 bucklin.' and scaling. 



" .5th. A new and more durable make of Fireclay Tile 

 than those first introduced for the lining of the Fire- 

 place. 



" tlth. An improved make of Tray, the woodwork being 

 bolted together so as to render the frames capable of 

 being tightened up, if required, after being in use for a 

 time, and all four corners are brass-botmd. We have 

 also special Trays of finer mesh for final fii'iug, and 

 these may be had to order. 



Very extra attention is beiucr given to packing, and 

 we now feel coutident that the risk of breakage in transit, 

 if not altogether removed, is at any rate reduced to a 

 minimum." 



Some idea of the popularity of this dryer may be gained 

 from the knowledge of the l;ict that 6f)0 siroccos aie at 

 present in use, and that about one-thinl of the total crop 

 of lu<lian teas was sirocco-»lried, and we believe that had 

 the process of final roasting, as recommended, been properly 

 carried out in titese teas alone, tln-y would have been in- 

 creased in value (taking say. the minimum of Id per lb. 

 while an enhancement of 2d to 3d per lb. often 

 takes place) to the large extent of £S0,O0J szefliiii/. 

 To effect such an annual gain, the first cost of the 

 necessary apparatus and more careful and increased super- 

 vision on the part of managers arc as nothing when 

 compared to the result. When one looks at id. per lb. 

 on 20 millions of lb. bringing a total of £Su,CUJ as the 

 inorciised value of the crop .n o •p season, and compares 

 this increase alone with the wh.j.e original cost of the 

 600 siroccos now in the field (only a little ovei' £50,000), 

 it is important that attention should be driiwn to a point 

 which, if observed, would in one sint/le senrion pay, probably, 

 twice over, tor the whole cost of the drying machinery 

 on the tea estates. 



Mr. Davidson asserted that not only tlid the sirocco turn 

 out more malty teas than other machines, but that it 

 was capable of giving this m'alty flavour to, and so eu- 

 haucin;^ the price of inferior te..*s which had already reached 

 the London market. This assertion was put to the test 

 by two firms, who sent him several chests out of bulks 

 which had just been sold at the London auctionsi n the 

 beginning of October last, and which were then nported 

 on as * flat, characterless, and wanting in flavour.' The>.e were 

 siroccoed, and samples of them were submitted to Messrs. 

 Wm. J. & H. Thompson and .Messrs. Gow i Wilson, from 

 whom reports were received showing that a rich malty 

 flavour had been developed upon these teas by the pro- 

 ci-ss, and that they had gained an addition to their value 

 of from Id to 2d per lb. 



We cannot close this notice of the sirocco better thaii 

 by giving in exten^io Mr. Davidson's 



