March i, 1S87.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



60$ 



but enviable position of Public Benefactors, while at 

 the same time having the monopoly of a very money- 

 making speculation. The method of manufacture and 

 the results of the experimental crops have been seen 

 by most of the principal Revenue and Forest officials, 

 and both the simplicity of the former operation and 

 the results of the latter have drawn forth the unquali- 

 fied approval of the many experienced gentlemen 

 who have visited the scene of operations. For the 

 manufacture is required a furnace for reducing the 

 sweepings to ashes, a kiln for obtaining lime, and a 

 mill for roughly grinding bones. 



The three materials thus obtained are then put 

 into pits in layers of ashes, lime and bones, wat"r is 

 then poured into the pit, and layers of fresh material 

 introduced as the contents sink, and in about two 

 weeks the result is a pasty mass, consisting almost 

 entirely of salts best adapted for replacing the pro- 

 ductive power of poor soils. By mixing charcoal with 

 the raw materials a fertilizer can be produced espe- 

 cially adapted for gardens. As a proof of the com- 

 mercial success of an undertaking of this kind it is 

 known that the sweepings of Manchester, Birmingham, 

 and other towns in England are readily disposed of 

 at prices varying from £4 to £6 a ton. Chemical 

 Manure is exported in enormous quantities from Liver- 

 pool at £12 10 a ton. Taking into consideration the 

 cheapness of the raw materials here, a company should 

 make a large profit at R20 per ton, and above all it 

 would be a great blessing to Bombay to have the mass 

 of refuse innocently converted into a harmless inodo- 

 rous compound instead of being a source of danger 

 and unpleasantness to every one. — Times of India. 



[Worthy the attention of the Colombo Municipality, 

 the great desideratum being the removal of sweepings 

 and sewage in a form useful and innoxious. — Ed.] 



NOTES ON TEA. 



[By Peecy Swinburne, late of Sylhet, Cacbar, 



and Assam.] 



ManufaHure — Withering. — The old method of wither- 

 ing was to spread the leaf 2 to 3 inches thick on a 

 machan, and to turn it over several times during the 

 night to prevent its heating too much. In wet and 

 cold weather it was placed in small quantities at one 

 time, on a machan, csver the firing dhools, where the 

 heat quickly softened and prepared it for rolling. But 

 now great improvements have been made in the 

 factory buildings and accommodation. It is generally 

 recognised that the leaf must be thinly spread out, 

 and the withering process most carefully conducted 

 to turn out good tea. Withering sheds admitting air 

 and light freely, and fitted with tier upon tier of 

 bamboo trays, are made. Large pucka iron roofed 

 tea houses are fitted with lofts for withering, and 

 arrangements are made for regulating the heat and 

 admitting or shutting out the air. 



Natural withering, as generally understood, means 

 that the leaf is placed in open or closed houses in 

 which 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 made 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 places 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 withering, under favourable circum- 

 stances, is always supposed to give the best results. 



In natural withering, the fiister the process the 

 better the results, so we may conclude that perfect 

 withering would consist in removing all superfluous 

 water i'riim the leaf instantaneously, without disturbing 

 the oils, juices, &:c,, while bufiicient beat was applied 



to reduce the fibre to the soft conditioa required for 

 rolling. 



A series of careful experiments have been made in 

 a small house heated by smoke flues, with one maund 

 of leaf spread 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, and 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 e.xcellent. 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 named was, at that time, between 9 and 10 annas. 

 In 1883 the entire crop of the Kainagar Estate, 

 Sylhet, just under 900 mds. was withered in hot-houses, 

 heated by smoke flues, and realised 11 annas per lb. 

 average. The houses were "kutchee" ones built of 

 bamboo and plastered ekur. They were 14 feet high 

 in the roof, 7 feet high walls, breadth 20 feet. Two 

 four-feet wide, passages 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 15 to 20 feet only from the furnace. 

 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 the house withers much 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, and its juices 

 become exposed to the air. This may happen from 

 the leaf being gathered up a second time, and removed 

 from one place to another. 



If it is once established beyond dispute that the 

 best tea can be made from artificially withered leaf, 

 there should be no difficulty in making a hot chamber 

 in which the leaf could be very thinly spread out 

 and the heat equalized and regulated, and the moisture 

 removed. 



One of the great disadvantages of open houses is 

 that the damp cold 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 bouquet of faded flowers is revived by sprinkled 

 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 which 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 lo-tt altogether as is proved by the (juality of the 

 tea produced by it. 



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

 tea \i afft'cted by different firing processes, so it is 

 probably also aft'ected by the degree of the heat applied 

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

 it is applied. 



Good tea can be maiie of leaf which is carefully 

 withered, rolled, fermented, and finally baked out; 

 although strong, it is peculiar, and has not the dtlicate 

 flavour and smell of Lea, which is roasted over 

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



