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FBATER'S PATENT DUPLEX TEA ROLLER. 

 Writing from Aberdeen under date 1st February, 

 Mr. Frater says : — "I am sending you by this mail 

 a set of three photos of my Tea Eoller, made at 

 home. The first consignment was shipped about a 

 month ago to Messrs. Brown, Rae & Co., Hatton, 

 and a second lot is being pushed rapidly on. No. 1 

 card shows the machine with gear to drive by belts ; 

 No. 2 showing the machine without driving gear ; 

 No. 3 showing the machine open. This last photo 

 shows the entire principle of the machine, which (as, 

 of course, you know) is 8 discs, the centre one 

 going the opposite way to that of the two outer. 

 The machine should really be called the ' Duplex' 

 Tea Roller. You will see from the photos that the 

 design is thoroughly substantial throughout. The 

 cylinder is of cast-iron, lined with brass, and the 

 discs the same. On the faces of l he latter arc fixed 

 teakwood battens. The pressure is applied to the 

 leaf by means of a worm screw and quadrant lever 

 fixed to outer discs. The machines now being 

 sent out are a great improvement on those of the 

 same made in Ceylon. I have bestowed a great 

 deal of thought on them, and, having the advantage 

 of fine machinery here for their manufacture, I hope 

 to have a share of Ceylon's demand. . . . Ceylon 

 tea is rapidly getting into favour in the north 

 here, and is well advertised in the newspapers 

 and shop-windows. China tea will soon have no 

 place at all !''— The photographs referred to are now 

 for inspection at our office. 



THE PLANTING " MOLES WOETPP." 



"The Planter's Note-book" which is intended 

 for the pocket of the trojiical planter is a start 

 in the right direction. The model on which the 

 lines are laid, of this new venture of the Observer 

 Pres?, and from which it takes part of its name — 

 'The Planting Molesworth" — is so good, and so 

 likely to lead to good, that I am reminded of the 

 Scotch proverb, " He'll shoot higher that shoots 

 at the moon, than he that shoots at the midden, 

 e'en though he may miss the mark " 



For a first, or even a second or third edition of 

 a "Planting Molesworth" to attain to the excel- 

 lence of the famous original, although not a hope- 

 less aim, is certainly a high end : and it is mani- 

 festly clear that the publishers, Messrs. A. M. & J. 

 Ferguson, intend to put " their best foot foremost," 

 and do all in their power to make '-The Planter's 

 Note-book" a grand success, when they have taken 

 the engineering "Molesworth" as their model, and 

 invited comparison by adopting its name. 



The planters will have to remember, however, 

 that ere this— the latest heir of a noble name — 

 can resemble even in part the high qualities of 

 its eminent predecessor, their help will be needed ; 

 for the practical information which must be sup- 

 plied to bring this desir9,,ble likeness out, is to be 

 found, not so much al /^"^^ ofltce of the compilers, 

 as in the field and faclgj' , and among the every- 

 day work of an estate. ^o-i^ren-ly it is pleasing to 

 see, that suggestions are appearing in the Observer 

 columnti, hy selecting and adopting the best of 

 which the value of the next edition of the "Planting 

 Molesworth" will be materially increased. 



As to the present edition, the t'tle-page gives 

 a fair idea of the comprehensivencsB of the public 

 catered for. It runs as follows; — "The Planters' 

 Notebook with everyday information for the tea 

 planter, and also for planters of colfee, cinchona, 

 cacao, rubber, cardamoms, coconuts, cinnamon &c., 

 with useful hints on machinery, buildings, &c., 

 also manuscript note-book for field and factory or 

 store." And in the 52 pages of letter-press with 



* Tropical Planters' Note«book, pubjicbed by A, M, 

 ^ jT Fergus VI), ColQBibO; }bB7. 



which the "notebook" opens, the grower of any 

 of the above products will find in a highly-con- 

 densed form, figures and facta to refresh the 

 memory of the old hand, or to guide the ways 

 of the beginner. As an example take: " Cardamoms 

 100 lb. green=:about'2-l lb. dry. 



Per Day: 

 A cooly can cut about 12 lb. Malabar 

 „ pick ,, 18 ,, Mysore 



n clip ,, 5 ,, Dry Malabar 



Average cost of production ;-Ju to -10 cents per lb. 

 Frieght and home charges 3d to -id per lb. 

 Chests could contain 100 lb. nett." 



Now this information useful as far as it goes 

 is not all which might be given under the heading 

 of cardamoms. The cost of planting and curing, 

 and the best methods of carrying out the latter, 

 not to mention aught else might well have been 

 added. 



Indeed the leading fault .of this first edition is 

 its want of plan. Why was the cost of work in 

 planting cacao given, and similar information in 

 regard to cardamoms withheld '? Why are we told 

 how to cure colfee, and not a word given about 

 the manner of curing tea ? In compiling a 

 book of this kind there ought to have been pre- 

 pared first of all a carefully drawn up series of 

 questions on the points where the culture of all 

 Eastern products touch, and then after that que- 

 ries on the special ones. By this means there 

 would have been less chance of such omissions 

 as I have referred to. This was mere especially 

 called for as " The Planting Molesworth" aims at 

 supplying a general want in the East, a tropical 

 planter's vade viecum, in fact. 



The information under tlie heading of " tea" is 

 very full and of an exceedingly varied chax'acter. 

 You can learn all about tea seed, the average 

 task of a cooly at the different works in a tea 

 garden, the cost of opening, detailed price of 

 curing : facts and figure regarding choolas, hoop 

 iron, bins, firewood, tea-boxes, tea lead, solder, 

 nails etc., etc. But comprehensive as the list is 

 there is much a-wanting, and which ought to 

 find a place in a future edition. There should for 

 example be a series of tea-house notes, regarding 

 the manipulation and curing, and also guides to 

 tea-tasting. 



It is a very easy matter, however, to go on sug- 

 gesting, and in works of this kind one is apt to 

 overlook and undervalue the really useful and 

 comprehensive nature of the information which 

 is already suijplied. But I have no desire to do 

 this, for I feel sure that to all planters ex- 

 perienced or inexperienced alike, " The Planter's 

 Notebook" will commend itself, by its own inherent 

 worth. It will afterwards become more and more 

 precious, as the blank page* get filled with " tips" 

 and •' wrinkles" supplied by neighbours or 

 wjrked out and discovered by the individual writer. 

 As it is, the practical knowledge which has been 

 compressed into tho r>2 pages of letter-press, would 

 if written out in long-hand have more than tilled 

 the ■ft'hole note-book had it all been available, and 

 anyone who had been in possession of such a note- 

 book would have been inclined to look upon it as 

 invaluable. Such a source of information could 

 only have been in the hands of the experienced, 

 whereas a beginner can now leap as it were into 

 the wisdom of the tried, and save himself a world 

 of worry by a reference to the notes in " The 

 Planting Molesworth," 



In the preface the publishers " apologize for the 

 rather rough aiipearance of the blank paper and bind- 

 ing as arranged by nalive workmen," but although we 

 live in a refined ajge, and even wish one's attention 

 drawn to these detects, I feel inclined to eay " nq 



