September i, 1884,] fr*HE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.' 



*e>S 



a box ia less than half a minute, and requires but little 

 sokler. Most men I have met predict great things fur this 

 casing, and many of them are subjecting it to very crucial 

 trials, such as standing the box of tea with the patents 

 casing in a tub of water for a few weeks, exposing it to 

 the sun and rain on the roofs of their houses, ... 

 I have not heard the results yet, but will let your readers 

 know them before long — at all events, if Mr. Liuberry's 

 invention stands the tests, be will certainly have solved one 

 of the great bothers that have been perplexing Indian tea 

 planters almost since the starting of the industry in 

 India ; as, if the package proves to be absolutely air and 

 water tight, it will be of no consequence whatever what 

 wood the boxes are made of. 



At tho Calcutta Exhibition our special correspondent 

 saw a trough of Willesden paper that had held water 

 for seven years, and it was apparently as good as 

 ever. If this new experiment proves a success, why 

 should boxes be used at all, for the Willesdon paper, 

 being strong enough to build houses and roof goods- 

 sheds with, it would surely stand the moderate amount 

 of rough handling it would have to undergo in the shape 

 of a tea-chest ! 



Returning to Dr. Watt, he saya with regard to the 

 supposed corrosive influence of the woods that " if 

 the questiou were merely one of flavour imparted to 

 the tea, one would expect the pine wood used in 

 China to stand first in this respect." The pine used 

 in China, however, has, we believe, very little resinous 

 matter in it and we have seen it stated that it is seasoned 

 for two years before use. It will cause planters to 

 pay very particular attention to the firing of their 

 tea, and more especially to their pucka batlying, or 

 final firing, when they learn that Dr. Watt's con- 

 clusions are that in every case corrosion of the lead 

 commenced upon the inside, and was due consequently 

 to the imperfect expulsion of all moisture from the 

 tea, or interior of the leaded box, before packing. 

 We would suggest the suspension for a few minutes of 

 a charcoal brazier within the chest about to be packed : 

 the hot tea then poured in and the box immediately 

 soldered down. Given the tea perfectly dry this 

 process ought to reduce to a minimum the chances of 

 damp air arising in the shape of acids and forming 

 corroding salts on the interior of the lead lining. 

 As Dr. Watt says, it is some time now since the 

 injurious action upon tea of all iron in the shape of 

 nails, screws, &c, was discovered, and Jackson's 

 Roller's are now made upon the principle that the 

 rolled tea conies in contact with nothing but wood. 



The following ia Dr. Watt's article, as contained in 

 the Madras Mail: — 



The following memorandum by Dr. Watt (on special 

 duty with the Agricultural Department) on woods used 

 for tea boxes, has been published by the Government of 

 India, for information iu continuation of previous corre- 

 spondence on the subject : — 



My views on the subject of woods suitable for tea 

 boxes (which I hope to fully express in the dictionary of 

 the economic products of India, now under prep 

 are at variance with the popular outcry against our Indian 

 timbers as injuring the Indian teas, I may therefore be 

 pardoned the liberty of briefly indicating the results of a 

 few personal experiments. It seems to me that the fault 

 may not improbably rest in some part with the planter 

 himself, or rather with some imperfection in the system 

 adopted by him to cure his tea. The climate of India, 

 and more particularly of Assam, in point of humidity is 

 utterly unliko that of the tea districts of China. The in- 

 troduction of advanced machinery to lessen the expense of 

 labour would serin to augment the climatic influences upon 

 the manufactured article. The results of a few chemi- 

 cal 1 have led me to the conclusion that the 

 Ohine6e tea differs from tho Indian tea materially, and 

 that this difference is the result in all probability 

 of the system of preparing the lea, combined with 

 the climatic conditions under uhich the tea is pre- 

 pared. I have been, through the kindness of one 

 i>r two tea merchants, permitted to inspect sampled of tea I 



and also chests in an injured condition, and I feel confiden' 

 that more extensive experiments and an extended inspec- 

 tion and chemical examination of injured tea and tea 

 chests would lead to a solution of the ditliculty. I have 

 observed the following curious facts: — 



(a) The tea may be completely destroyed, and yet 

 upon the most careful scrutiny not a single opening can 

 be detected in the lead. It is obvious that until the lead is 

 corroded through or perforated, any injurious influence which 

 the timber might exert upon the tea could not take place. If 

 the lead lining through carelessness be imperfectly soldered, 

 then the tea might be injured by the wood ; but this would 

 be but a just punishment, and the planter would have him- 

 self to blame. I am confident, however, that this is rarely, 

 if ever, the case, and 1 quite agree with Mr. Mann in his 

 opinion that the Indian tea chests are as carefully and 

 neatly made in India as in China, the more so since their 

 imperfections are not covered by fancy-coloured papers. 



(b) I have on several occasions had the pleasure of 

 inspecting lead said to have been corroded through the 

 action of the wood. I have not seen a lead-lining com- 

 pletely perforated, but it is curious that the fact that 

 the action seems to commence on the inside of the lead 

 instead of on the outside, or on the surface in con- 

 tact with the wood (the supposed acid influence which 

 decomposes the metal), has not been apparently observed. 

 This fact alone should have suggested a very different 

 conclusion from that which generally prevails. My op- 

 portunities of examining tea chests, and of chemically work- 

 ing out the questions connected this subject, have been 

 too imperfect and too limited, however, to authorize me 

 doing more than to suggest that it may be the tea itself which 

 corrodes the metal and not the wood. 



(c) In favour of this suggestion, I may mention that 

 there are one or two double organic (chemical) compounds 

 which are well known to chemists to have the power to 

 act as acids to metals, and thereby produce salts, thus 

 corroding metals. This fact as an established principle of 

 his art, is well known to the planter. It is some time now 

 since the action of the iron nails, screws, &c, was per- 

 ceived by the planter to be injurious and in his tables and 

 machinery these are by the experienced planter carefully 

 covered over or protected. 



"While I am unable to establish the conclusions I have 

 arrived at upon a definite and chemical basis I think I have 

 said enough to give a new turn to this enquiry. The 

 fact is tea planting, including the out-door work, 

 as well as the curing at the present date seems to be 

 in the same position as brewing was in Europe half-a- 

 ceutury ago. The process of fermentation and curing of 

 tea is a purely chemical one, and it may be suggested 

 that, instead of ieeling, smelling aud judging by colour 

 the planter might also employ scientific apparatus to 

 determine for himself when the process (iu each stage) has 

 been carried to the correct extent. It would seem at first 

 sight quite impossible for the tea to get damp, presuming 

 it to be carefully dried and carefully soldered down. Still 

 however, experience has shown that tea will get damp as 

 at present exported, even when both these conditions have 

 been carefully observed. This must be due to the humidity 

 of the air enclosed within the lead lining, establishing 

 within the chest a renewal of the process of fermentation ; 

 and, when once this is established, it is not difficult to account 

 for the corroding of the lead. 



I had the opportunity during the Calcutta International 

 Exhibition of inspecting some 200 tea-box woods from 

 all parts of India. Mr. Manson the .Forest Officer 

 in charge of these collections, performed, along with me, 

 a large series of experiments. With foil] I wood, 



between each pair of which a sheet of new lead 



ed, we tested thesupposed action of the wood 

 pairwas unseasoned wood, the o wood, only sea- 



soned. After damping the pairs, they went set aside 

 foi 8 time under circumstances intended to simulat i 

 thi of the hold of a ship. In many cases, such 



as the silk cotton tree tl was com* 



n ; in others, firmly attached to the lead 

 wth of a fungus from the decomposi- 

 tion of the wood. Others, such as toon wood, seem* ; 



bly unaffected. In no instance was tin 

 to be in ever SO slight a degree chemically acted upon. 



These experiments I repealed once or twice after tho 



