Oct, t, 1886.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



^7^ 



principle illustrated iu the description of the Lentz 

 apparatus, aud differ only from that burner in details 

 of coustruotiou and iu the shape of the flame' pro- 

 duced. Tl y are all, in fact, similar to the apparatus 

 patented I. "Messrs. Wise, Field, aud Aydon, in 1867, 

 and used ai 'u; works of Messrs. J. C. aud J. Field, 

 of Lambeth. In a valuable paper, which will be found 

 in the "proceedings of the Institute of Mechanical 

 Engineers "' for 1884, Mr. Urquhart gives the results 

 obtained in the pi-actical use of petroleum residuum 

 on the railway already referred to. Comparative trials, 

 made in winter, showed that the economy of petroleum, 

 as compared with anthracite, was 41 percent, in weight 

 and 55 per cent, in cost ;. and, as compared with bitu- 

 minous coal, 49 per cent, in weight and 61 per cent 

 in cost. As compared with wood, petroleum was 50 per 

 cent, cheaper. At a speed of 14 miles an hour up an 

 incline of 1 in 125 the steam pressure was easily kept 

 up at a pressure of 8 to 8| atmospheres, with a No. 9 

 injector feeding the boiler continuously. In summer the 

 mean evaporation per lb. of fuel was 11'35 lb. of water 

 from an initial temperature of about 55° Fahr., the 

 tlieoretical evaporative power being 162. The useful 

 elt'ect wiis, therefore, 70 per cent. The compara- 

 tive trials in summer gave a difference of 50 per 

 cent, in weight and 66 per cent, iu cost in favour 

 ot petroleum as compared with bituminous coal, and 52 

 per cent, in weight and 63 per cent, in cost as com- 

 pared with anthracite. The results for the entire year 

 gave for petroleum, as compared with the mixture of 

 half bituminous and half anthracite coal used, an ad- 

 vantage of 38 per cent, in weight, and 46 per cent, in 

 cost in the case of the goods trains, and 25 percent, in 

 weight, aud 33 per cent in cost in the case of the passen- 

 ger trains. Mr. Urquhart remarks that he has success- 

 fully used petroleum as an auti-incrustator, and al,so 

 finds that the presence of oil in the boiler tends to 

 reduce the tendency to priming, unless too much is em- 

 ployed. Petroleum is more oifiicult to use in a locomo- 

 tive boiler thau in a marine or stationary boiler, aud at 

 Krst it was found impossible to prevent leakage of 

 tubes, accumulation of soot, aud inequalities of heating 

 of the fire-bos; but by the use of properly arranged 

 brickwork iusidc the fire-bos these difficulties have been 

 overcon^c. 



Petroleum residuum is the only fuel employed for 

 steam generating purposes in the steam-ships on the 

 Caspian Sea, and I observed that, both in the case of 

 these vessels and of the locomotives on the trans-Cau- 

 casian llailway, the combustion was smokeless, though 

 occasionally a slight odour of imperfectly consumed oil 

 was perceptible. 



It is reported that the Central Pacific Railway Com- 

 pany have recently commenced the use of liquid fuel 

 on their steam-ships, aud have obtained results which 

 show the cost of the oil to be 56 per cent, of that of 

 the coal previously employed. 



In this country experiments are now being made at 

 Portsmouth with the object of determining the rel- 

 ative economy of liquid fuel and coal for use in the belli- 

 gerent navy. At the end of last year the cargo steamer 

 lliiiHilaiia, of SUO tons burden and 100 horse-power 

 nominal, which had been fitted with Mr. Percy P. 

 Tarbutt's oil-burning apparatus, made a successful trial 

 trip to Leith aud back, making 8| knots per hour under 

 disadvantageous circumstances, her mean speed when 

 fired with coal having been 6|- to 7 knots. The boilers 

 in this vessel have three furnaces, each of which is 

 lined with fire-brick and provided with a fire-brick 

 baffle, and a combustion chamber beyond. Within the 

 clumber is a coil of pipe to superheat the steam used 

 in spraying the oil. Messrs. Tarbutt and Quentin, the 

 m:magers of Tarbutt's Liquid Fuel Company, inform 

 ni'i that experiments made by two engineers of the 

 CompagnieFrancaisedes Diamantsdu Cap, at the works 

 f'f Messrs OHver aud Company, Chesterfield, with a 

 Itobey boiler fitted with the Tarbutt burner, showed 

 a mean cvajioracion of 16-3 lb. of water per lb. of oil, 

 1 he higliest re.sult obtained being 17-2 lb. Another test 

 made by Oliver and Company gave the relative effi- 

 ciency f feral aiul oil as 1: 2-G. In a marine boiler 

 fitted witii the same apparatus, the engineer of Messrs. 

 Wighani, Richardson, and Company is stated to have 



obtained an evaporation of 1557 lb. of water per lb. of 

 oil. The liquid fuel which has been employed by Mr. 

 Tarbutt in this country is the residual product known 

 as " dead oil." In the use of the various steam-spray- 

 ing apparatus it is necessary first to raise steam iu 

 the boiler by the use of some other fual, or to employ 

 an independent steam-generating appliance until the 

 boiler has been sufficiently heated. 



It is well known that Admiral Selwyn claims to have 

 obtained in the use of liquid fuel far more satisfactory 

 results thau those which I have given. Liquid fuel 

 occupies only slightly less space than coal, but its greater 

 steam-generating power obviously enables a steamer to 

 make a much longer voyage without taking in a further 

 supply. Liquid fuel can also be placed on board far more 

 quickly and with far less annoyance to passengers, ad- 

 vantages which will be appreciated by those who have 

 made a long sea voyage in a steam-ship. Besides 

 which, nearly the whole of the labour espended in trim- 

 ming the coal and stoking is saved ; and in the case of 

 ships of war the smokeless character of the combus- 

 tion is a feature of no small importance. 



Cooking Gok.\kas. — The following extract is 

 from the proceedings of the Horticultural Society of 

 India: — From Mr. J.Buckingham, Amgoorie, Assam, 

 presenting some plants of the " Rupi tikora," a 

 shrub which he describes as "growing into a very 

 pretty plant ; the fruit also adds much to its appear- 

 ance, and is, when cooked, extremely palatable. I 

 think the plant is a species of Garciiiia." Mr. 

 Buckingham, in a later letter says : " We have three 

 or four species of Garcinia up here. First, Garcinia 

 pedunculata (Tikur, or Tikul, as you say) ; it is 

 called by the Assamese, Bar Tikora. Second Garcinia 

 coiva, called by the Assamese Koojec Tikora. Third, 

 a Garcinia sp, called by the Assamese Moli Tikora. 

 Fourth, the plant I sent you called by the Assamese 

 Rupi Tikora, not identified by any one yet that I 

 know of. The first three are trees, the last is a very 

 handsome shrub about 10 or 12 feet high if allowed 

 to grow." — Query, whether the last mentioned may 

 not be what is known in Ceylon as the Rata Goroka, 

 of foreign origin and with foliage akin to that of the 

 mangosteen, which the fruit so closely resembles ? 

 The N.\tural Be.wty of Burma is thus 

 described in a letter to the Times of India : — Coming 

 down the river from Bhamo, one is struck with the 

 natural beauties of the country and the promising 

 future still before it. More especially beautiful is the 

 second defile, a score of rniles south of Bhamo, but to 

 me the first defile already mentioned in this letter is 

 the grander of the two. Going down the river through 

 the defile, the ship swishes along gaily at the rate 

 of thirteen or fourteen knots an hour, aud when the 

 river is rising there are regular maelstroms iu which 

 the ship dips her bows in homage to the river nymphs 

 and gods ; and then it requires steady steering aud 

 hard going to keep her head from swerving, for nymphs 

 of all sorts are famous for making heads to swerve. 

 And coming along you get a good view of the rest 

 of the surrounding country and see how beautiful 

 Burmah is, perhaps all in all the most beautiful 

 country in the world, more especially the portion of 

 it lately annexed to the British Empire, Nothing, 

 however, appears to be perfect and without bleiuisli, 

 and you think, with reluctance, that the very char- 

 acteristics that largely impart to Burmah its beauty, 

 also imparts to her bane, such as the rich alluvial soil, 

 the swamp from the stately river, and the profuse vege- 

 tation, all more or less associated with sickn(;ss. No 

 doubt cultivation, sanitation, &c., &c., will do much 

 to diminish these spots on beauty or beauty spots. The 

 majestic river, dotted over with island gems, the wooded 

 plains and the tall blue hills in the distance are well 

 worth a long, long lingering look. Not a river in India, 

 if any in the world, can touch the Irrawaddy iu its 

 grand magnificence at this time of year. Neither the 

 holy Ganges of the east nor the " Indus " of the west 

 can at all apjiroach this nolde cinrent. 



