Mauch I, 1887,3 '^HE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



607 



this calculatiou to sonio extent iuaccnrate, hut accord- 

 ing to several authorities the supply cannot last much 

 longer. 



The recent gum is not so serviceable as the fossil 

 kind, owing to its softness, though it has a more 

 pleasant odour when heated. But neither can along- 

 continued supply of the new resin be hoped for. I 

 hear from persons acquainted with the country, and 

 I also see by remarks in papers published in the 

 Transactions of the New Zealand Institute, that the 

 existing forests of the Kauri Pine itself will more 

 than likely be wholly cut down in another fifty years. 

 — Gardeners^ Chronicle. 



KINMOND AND EICHARDSON'S PATENT 

 MULTIPLE ACTION TEA ROLLING MACHINE. 



This tea rolling machine differs from all other tea 

 rolling machines in that at each stroke or revolution 

 of the rolling surfaces the tea leaf is presented to 

 the rolling surfaces at a, different angle, and no two 

 points in the upper rolling surface give the same roll- 

 ing action to the leaf. 



The under plate which turns on its centre, has a 

 hitching action between each stroke of the upper plate, 

 and so presents the leaf to the surface of the upper 

 plate at a different angle each revolution. The action 

 of the machine is simple, but the tea leaf when being 

 rolled is subjected to a multiple action, thoi conse- 

 quence of which variety of action is a harder twisted 

 leaf, and a total absence of all flat leaves. 



The machine has been made very strong, and the 

 moving parts are few and simple. Owing to the direct 

 application of the motive power, 3 h.-p. is sufficient to 

 work the machine, and comparing this with other tea 

 rolling machines, a saving in motive power of about 

 50 per cent has been effected. 



The machine should be driven at a speed of 60 re- 

 volutions per minute, at which speed it will roll 12 

 maunds of green leaf per hour. 



The belt pulley of the machine is 2 feet 6 inches 

 diameter. 



Price, £100. 



Packing in cases for shipment, 5 per cent extra. 



The lower plate can be supplied with its surface made 

 of end wood, at an extra price of £15. 



The above is the description given of the new roller 

 by the manufacturers. As a general rule machinery 

 in action comes short of promise, and we venture to 

 doubt a performance equal to 960 lb. green leaf per 

 hour. The testimony borne by Mr. Dickson of Leba- 

 non is that the roller took in 400 lb. and finished that 

 quantity in 40 minutes, the roll being as good, but no 

 better than that obtained by Jackson's excelsior. When 

 960 lb. of green leaf per hour are rolled with a speci- 

 ally hard twist at an expenditure of force equal to 

 only 3 horse-power, we shall be glad, in the interests 

 of tea planters to record the fact, 



A Ngw Use For WooD.—The application of wood 

 fei" stuffing beds seems, at first sight, an anomaly, never- 

 theless, a patent exists which moreover appears to bs 

 quite practicable, for disintegrating the wood of var^ 

 ious kinds of Piue, so that it becomes as light aud 

 elastic as hair, The resinous properties of the wood 

 cause it to be very healthy, and to act ha a preventive 

 against vernlin. It is producible at a price far below 

 that liossible for any other material, except straw and 

 seaweed, in quantities as low as 4s. per cwt. — Indian 

 Gardener. 



. The Collection of Minok Fokest Produce. — 

 The system inaugurated last year, in the South 

 Canara District, of establishing depots at diiferent 

 points for the receipt and purchase, at certain fixed 

 rates, of minor forest produce, such as myrabolams, 

 wax, honey, &c., collected in the forests and brought 

 to the depot, bids fair to becoine in time an extensive 

 industry, as it has already developed to a considerable 

 extent, so much so that it has been fouad necessary 

 to employ au additional establishment of clerks to 

 feeep account of the quality of produw brought iu 



by the gathrrers. Satisfactory as the Undertaking 

 promises to be from a revenue point of view, it is 

 also found to serve as a check on forest fires, the 

 gatherers of such produce being naturally anxious 

 to protect from fire, as much as possible, the trees 

 from the produce of which they earn a livelihood. 

 Wanton damage to trees, so common, is also to a 

 great degree prevented. The system will probably 

 be extended in time to other districts, the Conser- 

 vator being anxious to do so. — Madras Times. 



The German Colonial Verein and the Binue 

 River. — As is well known the Deutsche Colonial- 

 Verein is at present taking active measures in the 

 region of the rivers Niger and Beuue. It is proposed 

 to establish a series of observation stations in this 

 territory, as, for instance, at Timbuctoo and in the 

 land behind Sierra Leone. There is no intention to 

 establish stations on the Niger, but only on the Binue 

 so far as it is not under English protection, that is, 

 east from Ibi and in the land south of the Upper 

 Benue, which is generally called Adamana. The 

 Deutsche Colouial-Verein is said to take its stand 

 upon the assumption that the Upper Benuii and 

 Adamana must one day be a German colony, even 

 if not so in mere name. The society cannot colon- 

 ise itself, but it desires to take steps to further colon- 

 isation. In the Upper Benue and Adamana lands many 

 raw products very important for German idustries are 

 to be found, as jjalm oil, palm kernels, coconuts, 

 sesame, earthnuts, ivory, caoutchouk, potash, tobacco, 

 coffee, cocoa, vegetable ivory, black pepper, red pep- 

 per, cubebs, ginger, many valuable spices, dye-stuffs, 

 woods, resins, as well as minerals and other useful 

 products, and animals. The Colonial Verein has 

 decided to forward Flegel the sum of 15,000 Mk. 

 by the quickest means possible. The Africanischo 

 Gesellschaft has put its steamer " Heinrich Barth " 

 at the disposal of the Colonial Verein for use on 

 the Benue. Herren Handert and Staudinger are to 

 join Flegel's party in the place of two members whe 

 have returned to Europe invalided. — Kuhlow's German 

 Trade lie vie tv and Exporter. 



Royal Gardens, Kew. — "It is proposed to issue 

 from time to time, as an occa.sional publication, notes 

 too detailed for the annual report, on economic jjro- 

 ducts and plants to which the attention of the staff 

 of the Royal Gardens has been drawn in the course 

 of ordinary correspondence, or which have been made 

 the subject of particular study at Kew. It is hoped 

 that while these notes will serve the purpose of au 

 expeditious mode of communication to the numerous 

 correspondents of Kew in distant parts of the Empire, 

 they may also be of service to members of the general 

 public interested in planting or agricultural business 

 in India and the colonies, W. T. Thiselton Dyer, 

 Director," Such is the announcement which precedes 

 the first Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information. By 

 way of Illustration two subjects are mentioned in 

 this Bulletin— H&fi, and oil of Ben. Teft is a cereal 

 largely grown in the mountains of Abyssinia, and is 

 the produce of a grass, Eragrostis abysinuica. lu 

 answer to inquiries the Director publishes e-^tractn 

 from the works of Richard and Bruce giving parti- 

 culars of the nature and mode of cultivation of the plant, 

 and also extracts from correspondence with the 

 Foreign office, various Consuls, &c. As a result of 

 these inquiries seed have been sent to Kew and ana- 

 'lyses made by Professor Church, who notes that the 

 grain contains 8'2 per cent of albuminoids (flesh- 

 forming food), and 681 per cent of starch (or force- 

 producing food. Oil of Ben appears from documents 

 before us to be a sort of Botanical " Mrs.'Ai-ris." 

 " El Ben," we are told, is the Arabic or Persian iiatBe 

 for Moringa pterygosperma, but the oil prepared from 

 the seed of this plant in the West Indies is of no 

 value, perhaps on account of some defect in its pre- 

 paration. The Bulletin before us affords an indication 

 of one phase of work done at Kew, of which the 

 general public knows little or nothing, but which, 

 nevertheless, is of first-rate importance. In a subse- 

 quent issue it may be found desirable to curtail the 

 space given to mere formal official correspondence,— 

 Giirdmers' Chronicle. 



