702 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[March r, 1883. 



which all belonging to the British Empire have reason 

 to feel proud. In addition to what it does for the 

 stay-at-home people of Britain, it has been most suc- 

 cessful in the great work of enabling far separate 

 portions oftheeartli, with mutual benefit, to interchange 

 beautiful and useful plants, so contributing largely to 

 the well-being and happiness of humanity. 



MR. C. SHAND'S PATENT STEAMHEATED 

 TEA BRIER. 

 We have had the opportunity of seeing Mr. 

 Shand's " barbacue-shaped, steam-heated tea drier" 

 in operation, and we were much interested in the 

 simplicity and effectiveness of the apparatus. It is 

 very true that it requires twice the time to dry a 

 f'iven quantity of tea leaf to that in which fire-heated 

 machines like tlie "Sirocco" can pel form the Work. 

 But the grand advantage, apart from great comparat- 

 ive cheapness, is the impossibility of burning the leaf 

 l)y this process even if efforts were made to that end. 

 There is no danger, therefore, involved in leaving an 

 ordinary native in charge. Steam being the heating 

 agent emiiloyed, loO° is about the maximum heat to 

 which the metal plate on which the leaf rests can 

 be raised against twice that degree of heat in the 

 " Sirocco " and similar machines. We were going to 

 say that where time is not an object Mr. Shand's 

 machines would answer admirably, but the reflection 

 occurs to us that for the price of one of the fuel- 

 heated machines several dozens or scores of Mr. Shand's 

 could be purchased and so any required drying space 

 obtained. We have given an order for a R30 dryer, 

 and we shall report tlie results obtained in actual 

 working. As supplementary to ordinary driers, some 

 of Mr. Shand's would be valuable in toa factories, 

 to do preliminary drying as well as re-drying. The 

 small sized one costs only R20 ; and the invention, 

 we saw at once, can be applied to a large number 

 of purposes. In hotels and clubs, or in liouses where 

 large dinners are given, the drier should be used to 

 keep plates and dishes and viands hot. We suggested 

 its use as an incubator, and Mr. Shand not only said 

 that this idea had occurred to him but he shewed 

 us a bit of beef which, after being dessicated by his 

 machine, had been kept in his pocket for ten days 

 and it was still good. For the drying of aoffee (where 

 present), cocoa,, cincliona bark, and a variety of other 

 products, the drier can be turned to account. As 

 to royalty, Mr. Shand will allow a 6 months' trial 

 free, and then, if the use of the machines, or a number 

 of them, is continued, his charge will be the moderate 

 sum of R.5 per annum for the small machine and 

 RIO for the large one, bigger machines paying in 

 proportion. The only danger would be from explosion, 

 but a steam escape renders this impossible. Here is 

 Mr. Shand's description of his tea dryer :— 



" The barbacue-shaped, steam-heated tea dryer is the 

 cheapest, most economical and safest drying macliine. 



" As this mncluue can be made any Isogthand width, tlie 

 quantity of leaf wfiich can be manufactured is only limited 

 liy the extent of drying surface. One, five feet wide, and 

 litteen feet loug, will admit of about forty pounds of tea 

 litiing spre:id as thinly as on Sirocco frays, and, if heated 

 to ono hundred and fifty degrees Fahrenbeit, would dry 

 a maund per hour. The steam for heatinp; the thin galvan- 

 ized iron 'frying surface is generated in the space (-3 inches) 

 beiween it and the th n buder plate bottom. 



" The machine, which is made stean.-t glit, is partially 

 filled with water, and placed on a fire stove ; it is evident 

 that a comparatively small quantity of fuel will generate 

 sntficient steam to heat a large eurfiice, especially if 



the smoke flue is placed under the whole length of the 

 machine. 



"As it is impossible to fire-bam the tea, dried by the steam- 

 heated dryer, the enormous advantage of being indepen- 

 dent of the care and judgment of coolies, and of the ne- 

 cessity of uninterrupted European supervision, is too evident 

 to require comment. 



" The advantages of this machine in refiriug tea are 

 self-evident." 



GUANO IN NORTH BORNEO. 



We have been favoured with the following report 

 and analysis of guauo from North Borneo : the analyses 

 of Nos. 1, 2 and 3 appear good. Possibly cultivators 

 of "new products" in Ceylon may become customers 

 for this article : — 



Analysis of Second Samples op Guano. 

 No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 No. 4 No. 5 No. 6 No. 7 No. 8 

 Phos.aeid 9-19 9'76 664 &41 19-17 4-09 1065 3-22 p.c. 

 Equal to ) 



Tricalcic V2006 21-30 14-63 1399 41-85 8-92 23-25 703 „ 

 Phos. J 

 Ammonia 506 680 11-78 611 0-43 1-13 70 1-55,, 



Nos. 1, 2 and 3 come from the Simud Itani Cave, of 

 which Mr. Bampfykle writes: — 



" Should this guauo eventually be worked, operations 

 should be commenced iu Simud Itam, where the greatest 

 amount of guano lies and nearly all together in two large 

 deposits. This cave has the advantage of having a fine 

 flat entrance and being on a level with the river, a mere 

 brook here. * * * , 



" It is almost impossible to calculate the amount contained 

 iu the large deposit in Simud Itam. If the floor of the 

 cave where this deposit lies is level, then the amount 

 must be simply enormous; but I am inclined to think 

 the floor inclines up as the guano lies, though I failed to 

 gain any bottom with an 8 foot pole anywhere." 



London, 18th November 1882. 

 We observe that the Indigo Planters^ Qazelte is 

 calling attention to the quantity of solid excreta of 

 bats from the Borneo caves which will soon be offered 

 to the public for sale. 



THE PROSPECTS OF CINCHONA. 

 We have received from a reliable source, some 

 information which we deem of considerable impor- 

 tance to our cinchona planters. Tlie European capit- 

 alists who started cinchona plantations in South 

 America (having secured the services of Mr. Thomson, 

 formerly of Jamaica, as their manager) have 

 already lost faith in the success of (heir enter- 

 prize, so great is the cost of land carriage and 

 30 many are the obstacles — war not the least — 

 in Ihe pursuit of their undertaking. Coming back 

 to our own hemisphere, to Java, we have good authority 

 for saying that manufacturers of quinine' in Europeare 

 raising great objections to bark from Java as containing 

 so much resin that it is next to impossible to r/et the quinine 

 white. Some of it lias been crystallized seven times^ and even 

 then could not be got white. Of course each crys- 

 tallization means a loss of alkaloids, besides extra expense 

 and labour. 'With ordinary bark, the second crystal- 

 lization is nearly always sufficient. It is also stated that 

 Java bark never gives so much to the manufacturer 

 as the analyses sent home with it shew ! All these 

 are facts which go to some extent, to mitigate the ri- 

 valry of Java with our Oeylon and South Indian barks 

 It is quite possible that our poorer soils may be better 

 adapted to produce a good manufacturing bark than the 

 much richer^ volcanic soil of Java. 



