jflNE I, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



loor 



CEYLON (WINDSOR FOREST) TEA. 

 ■Just as Mr. C. A. Hay is leaving the Windsor 

 Forest tea estate to take charge of Blaokwatcr plant- 

 ation, Ambagamuwa, there comes the report of the 

 sale of a break of tea made under his care, in the 

 London market, which, we suppose, can be faii'ly said 

 to bo the most satisfactory in prices jet reached for 

 Ceylon tea. Even the ilepitiyakaude 4 chests at 

 23 8id can scarcely be placed against a sale of 

 no less than 37 chests of Windsor Forest which 

 realized 23 4id per lb. The average of the whole sale 

 is also exceedingly satisfactory and must be gratifying 

 to the proprietor " Logic," while we are pleased to see 

 Mr. Hay (an old Darjeeling planter) coming to the 

 front. Altogether Ceylon tea has made its mark on 

 the I ondon market with unexampled rapidity and 

 there is much encouragement to extend tlie culti\'ation 

 of the plant in this island. 



TEA PREPARATION. 



We extract the following practical notes on "Roll- 

 ing" from the Ind'tijo Planters' Gazette : — 



We object to heavy rolling by hand or ma- 

 chine, unless the leaves have been gathered durinij 

 very rainy wentlipv. and they are themselves also over- 

 charged with moisture, in which case it must be 

 resorted to but merely to expel the superfluous water. In 

 all other conditious we maintain that the less pressure is 

 exerted upon them the better and stronger will be the teas. 

 The operation of rolling is simply for the purpose of break- 

 ing or bruising the numerous diminutive cells of which the 

 leaves are constructed, in order to induce chemical action to 

 take place, the resultant of which is the product called tea ; 

 but how this arises we are unable to state, neither is it of 

 the slightest practical importance to the manufacturer. Old 

 tea planters believed that the rolling was solely for the 

 purpose of extracting the acrid juices from the leaves, but a 

 moment's reflection should convince any one that it is these 

 very juices which are contained in the cells and their inters- 

 tices that make the tea. To look at the matter in an ex- 

 treme point of view, supposing the entire fluids were re- 

 moved from tlie leaves dm'ing manufacture, their would 

 remain nothing but the Ijare skeletons to be put into the 

 pot, and consequently the boiling water could extract no 

 tea from these suitable for the table. Eolliug for a longer 

 time than experience dictates, although lightly, is as detri- 

 mental as the converse, 



The rolling process during which the leaf cells are 

 broken np, is, of course, absolutely necessary as a pre- 

 limin.iry to ihe inipnrtant action of " fermentation." 

 The belief is prevalent that the finer if weaker flavour 

 of China teas is due to the fact that the Chinese throw 

 away much of the expressed juice which Ihe manu- 

 facturers of Indian and Ceylon teas are careful to 

 have re-absorbed into the rolled lea before it is covered 

 over for the "fermenting" process. Whether ecientific- 

 ally the pi-, cess, from which germs whe: her of animal 

 or ve'4et ible origin seem excluded can be regarded as 

 true fermentation or not, is nnt of practical import- 

 ance. On the process itself and whether it is too pro- 

 tracted or too limited in time the quality of the tea 

 mainly depends. It is a pity, therefore, that after 

 the learned disquisition on germ fermentation, inform- 

 ation was not givrn as to the varying periods during 

 which tea 8h,juld be allowed to be heaped under 

 cover, before beiug tired in wet weather a-id dry, and 

 the signs indicated of colour, sensation from touch of 

 the 1 and, itc, indicating ripeness or the reverse. What 

 the writer does is to assume full knowledge on the 

 part of thnse he wrote toinetruct, thus : — 



We thus have three phtcses of fermentation. In nllthnu- 

 the casu.al force is to be found in the life existing in cells 

 126 



or seeds or eggs, and the question is — does any such pro- 

 cess take place in the manufacture of tea ? 



The process of rolling expresses the juices of a leaf and 

 among them appears Tannic *cid. Fire your leaf innnr- 

 (liately after it is rolled, and after infusion note favour of 

 liquor and color of out-turn. The liquor, tastes hareli, 

 pungent, and raspy, and is quite unpalatable. It further 

 wants 'body.' Compare this with leaf that has been fired 

 after being just sufliciently /ennsii/'iZ and then whhli-iif 

 that has been allowed to 'over- ferment' before being laiil 

 on the trays. It is quite unirecessary to enter into parti- 

 culars, as they are familiar to everyone." 



As to " firing"' we read : — 



The leaf, after having arrived at the proper state of 

 fermentation, should I5e quickly fireil and well drieil, which 

 process ought not to exceed one hour. There is no doubt 

 that quick packing after manufacture tends to keep a rich 

 aroma in the teas, which it very soon loses on exposuri^ 

 even in a good factory. In many concerns it may Ix; ibl- 

 ficult to completely fire off the teas on the day of manu- 

 facture, but in all such cases they should be so far dried 

 that there will be no danger of their getting so damp and 

 Sottas to risk the chance of sourness, which is apt to set 

 in, if proper care is not taken. 



The day's manufacture should be finished during dav- 

 hght. With proper arrangements there should be diffi- 

 culty in doing this. Mannlacture carried on at night is 

 always inferior. Of com-se there are times when this 

 cannot be avoided, but this should be exceptional. 



The roll shoidd be spread less than 1 inch thick on the 

 trays, and half an hour should be taken for firing. The 

 malty quality in tea is imparted by brisk sharp firing. 

 Teas should always have a final firing or hot sunning 

 before packing. 



Jackson's drier (we have not seen Kinmoud's) 

 completes the drying process in 15 minutes, and we 

 suppose the perfection of preparation would be to 

 pack hot. But as the various qualities have to be 

 sifted and separated, a short linal dryiu.:.; beiomes 

 necessary. 



THE LABOUR QUESTION IN NORTH 

 QLT5ENSLAND. 



From the Muckai/ Sta/n/nrif we abridge the following 

 account of a largely-attended meeting of the Planters and 

 Farmers' Association recently held there :— 



The President (Mr. Davidson) said that the object of tlie 

 meeting was to consider the state 01' the labour supply in 

 this (bstriet for plantation progi-ess. Unle.ss some great 

 change took place it would be imi«)ssible to carry on the 

 production of sugar at the profit di'.e to large investments, 

 There api^eared to be three courses open to planters- Fii'st. 

 he was sti'ongly in favoui" of getting coolies from India ; of 

 course, provided they came down under the most string- 

 ent regulations. For the present he thought there was 

 Uttle chance of getting the coohes, though he lioped that 

 within a few years they would be inti-odnced with the ap- 

 proval of the country. As for the plantations in which he 

 was directly interested, no less than 3.50 kanakas would 

 be retuiiiing frr-m them duiing th*- aurrent year, and he 

 coidd not get more than 200 to supply theirplaces. The 

 result would be that he would have to reduce the extent 

 of his cultivation unless he could obtain hands to do tin- 

 work. Others, he knew, were suniiarly situated, and tin 

 result would be that tlie output of sugar for the district 

 would be greatly diminished unless some provision was at 

 once made to secure the labour required. The secoml 

 proposition was to get Cliinese. The planters would pre- 

 fer any other class of labour, but the unpossibilitv of pro- 

 curing adequate suppUes of kanakas, or of getting coolies, 

 appeared to him to compel planters to avail themselves ef 

 any source of supply which might be open to them. H' 

 believed it would be found impossible to grow sugar- pro- 

 fitably without at least one coloured laboiu-er to ever\ 

 six acres of cane cultivation, and, at that rate, more men 

 ■were required than appear-ed to be available. The tliird 

 proposition was tlie purchase of a steamer to run to the 

 islands. It was thought that many islands which could 

 only bo reached with difficulty by siuliug vessels, could be 

 tap])ed by the emploj-meut of a ste.imer, imd that plent\ 

 of men would be procurable. 



