4o6 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[November i, 1882. 



more than compensateil for by the higher standard 

 of qaatdij aurl value attained, and by the healthier 

 tone that would be imiiarted to the London market 

 by the general adoption of this principle. In like 

 maunur any partial or occasional reduction in the 

 daily taslc tor leaf gathering, rendered necessary Ijy 

 this syati-in, would be fully covered by the greater 

 money value of the day's work, whilst there would be 

 a substantial relative economy in all the subsequent 

 operations, inasmuch as a maund of green leaf giving 

 tea worth an everage of Is (id per lb., costs quite as 

 much iu charcoal, mauipulalion, leavl, boxes and 

 freight, as one giving tea worth 28 per lb. Taking even 

 the extreme case, Ihen, of a reduction of one-fourth in 

 thn bulk ol the crop, if accompanied by a corresponding 

 improvement iu the quality, there would l)e a positive 

 saving of 25 per cent, in tht items indicated, whilst the 

 market would be less glutted, and the absorption of the 

 inevitable iucrtase <if importation incident to extension 

 of cultivation would take place under more regular 

 and natural conditions. 



There are no doubt times — such as when a siiddeu 

 Hush of leaf comes out simultaneously all over the 

 gardens — when it would be difficult to carry out this 

 system and at the same time gather all the leaves. If 

 such cases cannot be adequately met by a partial gather- 

 ing of the suital)le leaves over the whole area, then 

 there can be little doubt that, rather thnu goon gather- 

 ing coarse large loaf to produce comparatively worthless 

 and unsaleable tfas, it would answer better to softer a 

 portion of the garden to run completely hanjie for a timi', 

 and to turn back aud gather the leaf, wliile in a suitable 

 coudition, on the earlier plucked portions. The ease 

 with which a basket may be filled vvitli overgrown 

 leaf no doubt atlords a strong inducement to the 

 coolies to persevere in that direction, but this is a 

 minor difficulty which no competent manager would 

 admit himself unable to control. The manager has 

 also to guard against a tendency on his own part 

 to strive after hvlk in his crop as being the most 

 important consideration, and the test by which he is 

 likely to be judged. The sooner this illusory prin- 

 ciple is discarded, and quanlity, without being lost 

 sight of, made strictly subservient to qiialily and 

 profit, the better it nill be for all concerned. 



2nd. — The subsequent treatment of the leaf in the 

 teahouse — the UHtherinr;, rolling, fermentation, firing, 

 sorting, and packing— a.\\ demand careful attention and 

 supervision, if tho fruits of all the preceding labour 

 and expenditure — just within our grasp so to speak 

 — are not to be more or less sacrificed .and lost. In 

 withering it is necessary that there pliould be ample 

 space, and in rolling that care should be taken to 

 avoid putting too much leaf into the machine at one 

 time, and not to carry the process into excess, thus 

 injuriously affecting the strength of tire liquor to 

 obtain, what is of infinitely less value, a well-twisted 

 and a good-looking leaf. 



Important, however, as these operations are, there 

 is less room for serious error in them than in the 

 following one of fermentation, to hit the right degree 

 of which requires more study and di?crimination 

 than are generally given to it ; and failure at this 

 point is, beyond doubt, one of the most prolific causes 

 ct poor teas of weak liqunr It is no unusual thing to 

 meet with twosamples which, havingas nearly as possible 

 the same appearance in the dry state, ebow such a mirked 

 difference in the infusion as to m.ake one worth from 

 3d to Gd per lb. more than the other— a difference 

 geuorally traceable to an error in fermentation, though 

 it may also occur in the firing — more frequently 

 from insufficient than over firing — or from the tea 

 being allowed to lie about and become more or less 

 musty before packing. 



While Ihe two extremes of over aud under fermenta- 

 tion have to be avoided, the general tendency is to 



err on the side of excess. This sometimes occurs from 

 inability to recognize the true indications of sufficient 

 fermentation ; sometimes from a want of appreciation 

 of the importance of the point, aud allowing it to be 

 treated iu a haphazard routine fashion by the tea 

 makers. One cause of over-fermentation may be found 

 in the habit, prevailing in many tea-houses, of allow- 

 ing the leaf to lie about iu heaps too long before 

 firing, waiting for space to be available on the dhol»a 

 or trays, there being a tendency, more especially in 

 factories where steam is employed for the purpose, to 

 push on the rolling of the leaf without giving any con- 

 sideration to the adequacy of the accommodation for 

 firing it off while at the right stage of fermentation. 

 Another fertile cause of over-fermentation, producing 

 dull, weak, and sour teas, is want of care in seeing 

 that the fires are kept brisk and bright, and that no 

 more leaf is put on each chatnce or tray than can be 

 quickly fired ofif. When a thick mass of leaf is put 

 over a slow fire, fermentation of course goes on even 

 more rapidly than before, stimulated by the gentle 

 heat, and a dull sourish tea is the certain result. 

 Rolled leaf is iu a fit state for firing ofl just as the 

 original green colour is turning to pink. The outturn 

 of the infused leaf should be a bright salnwn brown. 



The first firing has thus been incidentally dealt 

 with ; the sorting, being a mechanical process 

 which may be modified from time to time to 

 meet the requirements of the market, does not 

 call for special remark in this paper, beyond point- 

 ing out the great importance of its being done as 

 promptly as possible, to be followed by an equally 

 prompt final firing, carried to the point when the 

 tea giTes off the well-known malty aroma, aud pack- 

 ing in a warm state — a most essential condition — so 

 as to preserve the full freshnesa and aroma of the 

 teas. Delay in this, and allowing the teas to lie 

 about exposed to the atmosphere, is next, if next, 

 to error in fermentation, — a most common and potent- 

 ial cause of deterioration, and one which cannot be 

 too watchfully guarded agaiust. Whilst, then, the 

 most strenous efforts should be made to have all 

 the operations (from the time the leaf is gathered 

 till it is packed as tea) following each other iu their 

 due order without needless delay, it may sometimes 

 happen, from pressure of work and an inadequate 

 labour force, that this cannot be accomplished unless 

 at a greater sacrifice than would result from a temporary 

 delay in sorting and packing. To meet such cases, 

 each factory should be provided with a few zinc-lined 

 bins for storing the made teas, or where these do 

 not exist, bins may be eaiily and cheaply made of 

 ekara and naga, mats or machana raised foom the 

 floor a sufficient distance to allow of charcoal fires 

 being kept constantly burning below them. 



This being the test by which brokers and buyers 

 iu England are guided in the sale and purchase of 

 teas, it is certainly no less essential that it should 

 be systematically and carefully applied by the pro- 

 ducers, in order to obtain an approach to certainty, 

 or anything beyond empirical, haphazard results, in 

 the standard of quality. 



THE COTTONSEED OIL INDUSTRY. 



Speaking of the new era of prosperity for the .South, 

 Commissioner Kenner, of Louisiana, of the United 

 States TariC Commission, said to a reporter lately ; — 



" I made the prediction five years ago, aud tho 

 present state of the business justifies the prediction, 

 that the manufacture of oil and other products from 

 cottouseed would within twenty-five years bring from 

 one fourth to one-third to the South of what our section 

 then got from the staple itself. This would yield 

 an increase in revenue of probably not less than 

 .?10O,OOU,OOO, The business has entirely grown up 



