BBpf, i, inne.] 



fHB TROPlCAt AaKXCULTUKi^^i; 



not 



grown with advantage. I would strongly recommeud 

 it to planters for trial. 



15. Cassia Auricidata. — This i.s an East Indian bark 

 which grows very freely in the Straits. The bark 

 contains a valuable tanning principle, which would 

 no doubt pay in cultivation. 



16. Cocoa. — The new varieties of Oholocolate grow 

 well, and the plant is now established in the Straits, 

 but white ants, leaf insects, mildew, kc, play such 

 havoc as almost to prohibit its cultivation in some 

 districts. 



li. 2Vi(tme(/s and Cloves. — The protracted drought in 

 Penang tried the Nutmegs and Cloves plantation 

 very much, many young plants died, but the drought 

 was of e.xceptional severity and has not discouraged 

 planting. 



18. Hemp. — Some plants of Mauritius Hemp, plan- 

 ted for "experiment among rough lalang, have coped 

 suce sfully with that troublesome grass, and although 

 they have grown less rapidly, they have by means of 

 their wid ^-spreading leaves, prevented the grass from 

 co^•ering them over and cutting off their supply of 

 light. 



19. Evbher and Gtitta Percha. — The Foreign Rubber 

 trees mentioned in previous reports continue to grow 

 well, but in a country where the best rubbers grow 

 wild, it is somewhat superfluous to refer to foreign 

 species, the ultimate success of which may be doubtful. 

 "NVliat is more required is the careful conservation and 

 cultivation of native kinds, the growth and produce of 

 which in our soil is not a matter of cjuestion. I believe 

 a purley Gutta Taban forest, worked as they do timber 

 forests in Germany, on say, a 30 years rotation would 

 yield a good return in profit, that is to say, a certain 

 area, however large, to be reaped (cut down if necessary) 

 annually, and a corresponding area planted with young 

 trees. 



20. VainUc. — The cultivation of Vanilla is being tried 

 in the colony. There are some native varieties which 

 fruit freely, especially in Penang, but I doubt the 

 suitability of our climate for the cultivation of V. 

 planifolia, the kind most prized. 



21. Jfaiif/Oit'f 7t and other Fndts- — Tho Maugosteen, 

 which ban hitherto been considered to fruit nowhere 

 out of Malaya, is now reported ahuost simultaneously 

 as bearing fruit in .Tamaica. Ceylon, and India, and 

 must be near bearing in the Mauritius and .Seychelles 

 Islands. 



The cultivati'in of fruit pays well in the Straits, and 

 orchards might be gieatly extended with advantage. 

 . 22 NeiQ Economics. — Introductions during the year 

 include Mimusnps globosa, a famous West Indian 

 Kubber tree ; Chinese ginger ; Chinese rice-paper plant; 

 Yoroba Indigo, Canonball tree of "West Indies, and 

 West Indian fruits and medicinal plants the growth 

 and properties of which will be detailed in next 

 year's report. — N. Cantlet, Superintendent. 



TEA WITHERING. 



Our representative paid a visit to Gillwell Park 

 a few days since, and saw the new machine invented 

 by Mr. Gibb's for withering tea. Until the blocks 

 illustratiug the machine are ready, we purpose 

 holding our notice of the invention over. Suffice it 

 to say that JCr. Gibbs, with bis usual enterprise and 

 skill, has made a clever attempt to solve the problem 

 of withering tea in all weathers. The Tinted gives 

 the following account of the invention : — 



" One of the most important of the various oper- 

 ations connected with the prepnration of tea for the 

 market is that of witliering. For this purpose the 

 freshly plucked leaves are placed on trays on tiers 

 in a building known as the withering house, where, 

 by the aid of the dry, warm temperature, they are 

 withered. This withering process has" for its object 

 the bringing dut of part of the moisture contained 

 in the leaf, si that every leyf is rmdered soft and 

 pliable, becoming to the touch like a thin piece of 

 glove kid. In this condition the leaf is readily 

 curled or twisted in the rolling mill, which is the 

 ne-xt operation it bag to nudergo, withering being 



the necessary preparation for this treatment. It, 

 however, sometimes happens that a damp atmosphere 

 or a low temperature prevails, in which case the 

 withering cannot be properly effected, and a con- 

 siderable portion of the crop may be spoiled, thus 

 entailing .i heavy loss on the tea grower. Such 

 cases are uy no means of rare occurrence, as some 

 of our Indian tea growers to their sorrow can testify. 

 In these circumsta;.cv-> it is of course of the first 

 importance to have some means of remedying this 

 evil and of preventing this serious loss. Heat has 

 been employed to dry the air, but we believe with 

 indifferent success, for if the temperature cannot be 

 perfectly controlled and regulated the leaves will 

 become dried at tho edges and in other ways ren- 

 ' dered unfit for the subsequent process of rolling. 

 i To overcome this difficulty Mr. William A. Gibbs, 

 of Gillwell Park, Chiugford, has devised a machine 

 j which, in the opinion of those who are qualified to 

 ! express one, is capable of effecting all that is desired 

 whether the temperature be low or the atmosphere 

 I moist, or whether both conditions obtain simultaneously 

 I Mr. Gibbs' experience in desiccating machinery has 

 j enabled him to thovougldy grasp the difficulty and 

 I to provide the precise remedy, but this only after 

 I several months of careful study and practical investig- 

 I atioQ into the subject. 



1 " The machine in question, which we were recently 

 j afforded an opportunity of examining in operation, 

 I is as simple in construction and operation as can 

 I well be conceived, thereby adapting itself to tho 

 I degree of intelligence possessd hy the class of oper- 

 i atives who will be intrusted with its working. It 

 I consists of one of Mr. Gibbs's fans fitted in an iron 

 casing mounted on a pair of wheels, and having a 

 small coke fire in a box in front of it. If wc add 

 I a hand wheel for driving the fan and a couple of 

 I handles for moving the machine about, barrow 

 i fashion, we shall practically have completed its 

 description. There is, of course au air inlet to 

 the rear of the fan, and there are two outlets in 

 front of the firebox. Into each of these latter is fixed 

 a light flexible hose, about 4 in. in diameter, for the 

 distribution of the air from the fan. The work of 

 turning the fan is very slight, and here Mr. Gibbs 

 has met the requirements of Eastern labour, for after 

 the fan has been once started, the slightest touch of 

 the handle at each revolution will keep it going, as 

 the frictiou is reduced to a miuimuni. The turning 

 of the handle draws the air into the fan, and it is 

 expelled on the other side; but on its way to Ihe 

 delivery outlet, it is made to pass through a chamber 

 which is placed over the fire, and by which means 

 the air is raised to the desired temperature. It will 

 thus be seen that two streams of warm dry air, one 

 on either side, can be delivered through the hose in 

 to the tea which is laid out for withering. AVith re- 

 gard to the range of temperature, we may observe 

 that on the occa.sion of our inspection the thermometer 

 stood at 63 degrees Fahr, at the inlet of the fan, 

 and at 87 degrees at the outlet, thus giving a range 

 of 24 degrees. 



"So far, the question of temperature only has been 

 dealt with. We have now to show how the machiiie 

 acts in the caso of a h3'grometric atmosphere. To 

 meet this case there is a small cage fixed in the 

 front of the air inlet to the fan. In this cage are 

 placed roughly broken fragments of chloride of calcium, 

 and through this mass the air has to pa.ss on its 

 way to the fan. The chloride of calcium abstracts 

 the moisture from the air, which enters the fan 

 perfectly dry and is expelled from it in the 

 same condition, the fire not being used if the 

 temperature of the atmosphere be sufficiently high. 

 The machine is perfectly portable, weighing only 

 li cwt., and measuring only about 7ft. in length by 

 4Ft. in height and about 2ft. in width over all. 



"The principle of this m.nchine has been applied, 

 or rather added, by Mr. Cibbs to the tea-drying 

 cylinder which he devised for drying the tea as it 

 comes from the rolling mill, and which was described 

 by u? toward.? the close of Ij^st year, This mnchinu 



