JtfLY I, iH86.y 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



45 



TEA WITHERING BY MEANS OF HOT AIE 



is advocated by Mr. Tercy Swinburne, late of 

 Sylhet, Cachar and Assam, who writes : — 



Natural withering, as generally luuU-rstood, means 

 that the leaf is placed in open or closed houses in 

 •;?hich the draught of air may be regulated ; while 

 artificial withering includes the use of heated air, or 

 of machinery. 



A large proportion of the best tea which is sent 

 to the market is now niadv? from artificially withered 

 leaf, that is to say, from leaf which has been withered 

 by heated air. The lofts of the pucka tea houses are 

 heated by the sun, to a temperature of over 100 degrees, 

 and are often intolerably and suffocatingly warm. In 

 dull and wet weather also, the temperature in these 

 pkces is still considerably higher than that of the 

 surrounding atmosphere, as they are heated by siroccos 

 or other firing machines, the chimneys of which pass 

 through them. 



There has for a long time been a strong prejudice 

 against artificial withering. Closed hot houses were 

 used because the weather so often proved unfavour- 

 able, but natural withering, under favourable circum- 

 stances, is always suppose^l to give the best results. 



In natural withering, the faster the process the 

 better the result, .so we may conclude that perfect 

 withering would consist in removiug all superttuous 

 water from the leaf instantaneously, without disturbing 

 the oils, juices &c., while sufficient heat was applied 

 to reduce the fibre to the soft condition recjuired for 

 rolling. 



A series of careful experiments have been made in 

 a small house heated by smoke flues, with one maund 

 of leaf soread on about 15 square feet to a pound. 

 It was found still, that the faster the operation the 

 better the result. That the greater the heat the 

 thinner the leaf must be spread, aud the more care 

 and nicety required. 



The finest tea was made from leaf withered in 3 

 hours, at a temperature of 140 degrees. The tea was 

 on several occasions carefully assorted, and true samples 

 of the bulk were sent down to Calcutta to be valued, 

 and the quality of the liquor as well as the appearance 

 were pronounced excellent. The average valuations 

 were about 14 annas, and the leaf was good, but not 

 finer than that plucked on most estates in Darjeeling, 

 or Sylhet, or Cachar, being two leaves and a bud. 

 The market at the time was depressed, and the 

 average price of the teas of the districts mamed was, 

 at that time, between 9 aud 10 annas. 



In 1883 the entire crop of the Kainagar Estate, 

 Sylhet, ju>t under 900 maunds, was withered in hothouses. 

 heated by smoke flues, and realized U annas per lb. 

 average. The houses were " kutcher " ones built of 

 bamboo and plastered ekur. They were 14 feet high 

 m the roof, 7 feet high walls— breadth 20 feet. Two 

 four ,feet wide, passage, and 4 rows of chalnies 3 feet 

 wide. The pipes were 9 inches in diameter, and ^ inch 

 thick and ran along both sides of the house under- 

 neath the outer row of chalnies. The heat was much 

 greater near the furnaces than at a distance from 

 them, and the house gets thoroughly heated for a 

 distance of about 1.5 to 20 feet only from the fur- 

 nace. 



The heat is also uneven, and the greater it is the 

 more difficult it becomes to equalize the withering. The 

 leaf must be thinly spread and carefully watched. 

 One part of tht- house withers mucli more quickly 

 than another, and if the leaf is left for an hour only, 

 after it has reached the right stage, much quality 

 is lost. 



These houses, defective as they are, are preferred 

 to those of the old style. 



When the men have learnt how to arrange the leaf, 

 and work the fires, the rolling can be commenced at 

 5 a.m< every day in all weathers- 



The leaf does not turn red unless it is bruised in 

 some way during the withering process, aud its ju'ces 

 become exposed to the air. This may happen from 

 the le if being gathered up a second time, and removed 

 from one place to auothor. 



If it is once established beyond dispute that the 

 best tea can be male from artificially witliered leaf, 

 there shoidd be no difficulty in making a hot cham- 

 ber in which the L af could be verj' thinly spread 

 out, and the heat equalized and regulated, and the 

 moisture removed. 



Oue of the great disadvantages of open houses is, 

 that the damp cohl air which checks the withering 

 is admitted, as well as the warm air which favours it. 

 Withered leaf absorbs moisture, and is refreshed by 

 it — as a Tsouquet of faded flowers is revived by sprink- 

 led water. But when the leaf has withered a second 

 time, it loses its freshness, and when the flowers 

 have again faded, they begin to give out an offensive 

 smell ; the first stages of decomposition having set in 

 in both cases. Leaf whicli has once lost its volatile 

 freshness and delicacy, never recovers it, and can 

 never be converted into fine tea. 



The fine qualities in the leaf may be chemically 

 altered in the hot withering process, but they are 

 not lost altogether as is proved by the quality of the 

 tea produced by it. 



In the same way, however, as the flavour of the 

 tea is affected bj' different firiug proce'ises, so it is 

 probably also affected by the degree of heat applied 

 in the withering, as well as by the manner in which 

 it is applied. 



Good tea can be made i>f leaf which is carefully 

 withered, rolled, fermented, and finally baked, but, 

 although strong, it is peculiar, and has not the 

 delicate flavour and smell of tea, which is roasted 

 over charcoal in the usual way, and this again is not 

 so aromatic in flavour as that which is drietl by the 

 rapid hot-air draught of the "Sirocco." 



It would appear that the best withering would be 

 accomplished by a strong draught of moderately warm 

 and quite dry air passing over the whole surface 

 of the leaf. 



If the juices can be kept uninjured, the more the 

 leaf is withered, the better the quality of the tea. 

 The presence of water in the rolled leaf appears to 

 affect the fermentation injuriously. It is not accur- 

 ately known at present what chemical changes take 

 place in the various systems of manafacture, but 

 we know that we are more or less dependent on the 

 weather, and that the changes which take place 

 satisfactorily oue day, will not do so on another, under 

 apparently exactly the same condition. Lightly with- 

 ered leaf makes tea without strength or body, and 

 this is probably due to the presence of too much 

 water in the rolled leaf, which causes an injurious 

 fermentation. On the other hand, over withering 

 or bad withering, by which the juices have been iu- 

 jureil or destroyed have the same effect, and produce 

 weak pale liquored tea. As far as we know, the feel- 

 ing amongst Ceylon Tea Planters is adverse to hot 

 air ? — Planters' Gazette. 



FRUIT-GROWING IN CEYLON. 



I noticed in a recent issue of your paper, an 

 article upon fruit-growing for the Colombo market, 

 and, as one who has more than once tried to meet 

 this want, I will relate the chief reasons why hither- 

 to all attempts have been failures. Everyone has 

 noticed how universally unsatisfactory the fruit of 

 Ceylon is, aud how the whole might be characterized 

 throughout as inferior. Indeed, it may truly be said 

 that few in Ceylon have ever tasted really good 

 Ceylon ripe fruit, atid those who have lived all 

 their lives in the island have never developed the 

 taste. 



I once grew some very fine limes, each of them 

 equal in size to three of the usual bazaar specimens, 

 aud the?e I offered for sale in the market, but no one 

 would buj' them for more than the usual rate per 

 l.OOO for limes. I now sell them to natives who 

 pay roe by the thousand, irrespective of size or 

 quality, and I might almost add the greener the 

 better. Indeed, the more inferior the fruit the better 

 it will pay the producer, for ill weeds grow apace, 

 This is very different to a fruit shop in Europe, 

 wbere excelience overrules everything; there, if yov^ 



