Feb. I, 18S7.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



529 



TEA WITHERING AND MANUFACTURE: 



THE PBESENT PRACTICE TO BE REVOLUTIONISED BY 

 OOW'a PATENT TEA LEAF WITHERI.N'O AND FERMENTINa 



MACHINE. 



We call special attention to the very full and 

 interesting report supplied by the Manager of 

 Mariawatte estate on page 527, on the trial of 

 Mr. Gow's new Machine on Saturday last. We 

 have been waiting for an authentic statement of 

 this kind before referring again to an invention 

 which, from all we have been hearing of it lately, 

 Seems to possess " the promise and potency " of 

 an entire revolution in the work of tea preparation. 

 It cannot be denied that a good deal of scepticism 

 lias attended Mr. Gow's patient and prolonged 

 experimental work in Ceylon, albeit he came amongst 

 U3 with the highest recommendations of practical 

 experience as a planter in India, as a tea-broker 

 and merchant in London, and as one who has 

 given special attention, in conjunction with home 

 scientists to the chemistry of tea preparation, the 

 changes wrought in the process of fermentation 

 more particularly. The expectation that Mr. Gow 

 would work out a machine capable of placing the 

 tea-maker in a better position even than if the 

 weather for withering was all that he could desire 



a machine that would save a great deal of the 



time, labour and space now required for . the 

 withering process — and, moreover, that would 

 ensure as good, nay better results in manufacture, 

 — was generally received with a smile of incredulity 

 both in Colombo and upcountry. And we must 

 confess that the first specimen of the machine 

 erected at the Colombo Ironworks and the trial 

 that took place with tea-leaf from Kalutara — even 

 though the resulting samples of tea were well 

 reported on — did not appear to have much "promise 

 and potency" about it. It was regarded by some 

 as clumsy, inconvenient, expensive and doubtful 

 in results. With Mr. Jamiessn's letter before the 

 public and in the face of the many practical 

 tea-planters present at Saturday's trial, Mr. Gow 

 and his Agents, Messrs. -John Walker & Co., may, 

 however, now well sa,y Nous avons change tout cehi. 

 But before any experiment was made in Ceylon, 

 the new Patent had been tested in the planting 

 districts of India with results which may best be 

 judged from the following testimonials: — 



Extract from a letter from J. H. Warren Esq. Manager 

 Teeadarii tea estate, Darjeeliug district, who was 

 present at a trial of the " Monarch " Withering 

 Machine. 



1. The machine can keep two rolling machines go- 

 ing with withered leaf, whereas to do this on the old 

 system of witheriug lofts would entail great expense in 

 the erection of withering godowns. Gow's machine only 

 cccupi^s a very nominal space, 



2. With wet leaf Gow's machine caa give good with- 

 erisg in a very Utile longer time than with dry leaf, 

 whereas under old system, wet leaf sometimes lies for 

 days before it can bd properly withered, and then all 

 flavour has vanished. 



3. By the evaporation of the excessive moisture in 

 the leaf iu Gow's machine, the constituent parts which 

 give good flavour are not carried off in the rolling pro- 

 cess as under the o'd system they were, again the roll 

 in Gow's machine comes from the roiling machine in 

 a sticky and half dry condition and can be more rapidly 

 dried, this gives briskness to the out-turn not to men- 

 tion the saving in fuel to dry the roll with. Under the 

 old system the roll comes out very wet and the expense 

 in drying intopucca tea is very considerably augmented. 



4. Lastly in old tea concerns where there is any 

 amount of withering accommodation, Gow's macliine 



might not be so much required, but in continual rainy 

 weather, even in such places, they would be invaluable 

 in so far that they place you in a position of independ- 

 ence of climate, and manufacture can always be carried 

 on without a hitch. In new concerns where large 

 factories have not been built nor withering godowns 

 erected, expense might be avoided in the matter of 

 building by purchasing Gow's withering machine, as 

 they fit into a small space. 

 KJpringside Tea Co., Ld. Kurseong, 4th June, 188G. 



Messrs. Mitchell & Co. Calcutta, Dear Sirs, — I am 

 in receipt of your Mr. Mitchell's Ittter of the 1st. The 

 agents of this Company were good enough to allow Mr. 

 Gow 10 erect a small I\Iodel of his withering'iind fer- 

 menting machine at this factory last year, ami I worked 

 it steadily for nearly two months. %.fter this a full 

 sized one 8' by 8' was put up at Mohurgoug in the 

 Terai, and was worked there for some little time with 

 great success. 



The results v/ere good, and I think the machine im- 

 proves the Teas very much. Mr. Gow in his pamphlet 

 has stated what the machine will do, and I can only say 

 that the statements he has made are perfectly correct. 



I expect you will have a large and increasing sale for 

 the " Monarch " when known. I regret very much 

 tliat the first one has been removed from Moliurgong, 

 as no doubt the Teas were much improved when passed 

 thrriugh the machine. I found the vvfithering done well 

 and fermentation perfect, and also the percentage of 

 fine Teas was larger. — Yours faithfully, 



Alfred H. Wathen, Manager. 



Apart from the satisfactory result obtained in 

 the appearance and quality of the Mariawatto 

 tea — and the tent of the home market is aloue 

 required to establish this result — the importance 

 of the Withering and Fermenting Machine is best 

 realized from the great saving of labour and of 

 withering space it will effect in average factories. 

 In these respects alone the cost of a machine 

 ought very soon to be repaid, to judge by Mr. 

 Jamieson's letter. But the true value of the 

 Machine can scarcely be judged in a factory like 

 that of Mariawatte where, we suppose already, 

 there is every convenience for tea preparation which 

 a first-class garden can possess. And in Gampola 

 and our lower districts generally the weather is 

 seldom of such a character as to interfere with 

 the process of withering. Very different is the 

 experience incur wet seasons in the higher districts, 

 and it is from Ambagamuwa up to Nuwcra Eliya 

 and again in Kellebokka, the Knuckles and Eangalla 

 districts, that Mr. Gow's invention ought to 

 be specially appreciated. It comes just in time 

 too, for a large number of plant??rs who are planning 

 or have yet to plan, their factory arrangements 

 and the direct economy offered in respect of ordiU' 

 ary withering arrangements should go far in 

 turning tlie scale in favour of the inclusion of 

 one of the new Machines in the Factory requisites 

 of such gentlemen. Nothing could be more 

 satisfactory in appearance and flavour to the ordinary 

 lay judgment, than the tea samples Mr. Gov/ laid 

 before us in the Ohfcrver Office two days ago, 

 and W8 suppose jsrofessional reports will substan" 

 tiate the general opinion. A trial of a .Monarch 

 Machine has been suggested on Abbotsford — as a 

 typical high estate on which due "withering" 

 during the monsoon months is attended with some 

 uncertainty, — and we feel sui-e the proprietors would 

 welcome such a trial ar.d that they vail not br 

 behind in availing themselves of the help now 

 offered by Mr. Gow in overcoming one of the fe^v 

 obstacles'in the way of tea planters in high districta 

 in Ceylon, so soon as they have batisfied them- 

 selves by examination of the working of the 

 machine. 



"The Withering and Fermenting Machine" ifi 

 not to be Mr. (tow's only patent; he has already 



