September i, 1884J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



227 



TEA FIRING. 

 There is a very good article on this part of tea 

 manufacture in the Indigo Gazette, and as we extract 

 it in full we must content ourselves with a very 

 few remarks of our own. It is as follows : — 



We now propose saying a few words upon the above 

 subject, which has to some extent altered within the 

 last ten years. If we are not much mistaken, about that 

 time few, if any, firing machines or Dryers had come into 

 general use. We do not say there were absolutely none, 

 but we think the " Sirocco" was about the only one, and 

 it was very primitive compared to what it is now. The 

 amount of fermentation having been decided upon, the 

 fermented mass is carried away and put upon the charcoal 

 fires, or into the Dryer, as the case may be. In the 

 Sirocco there are four superimposed trays, and in the 

 Kinmond there are two, or rather sets of two, and in 

 the Gibbs and Barry Dryer there are no trays at all. 

 The latter is claimed as a greater saving in wear and 

 tear and repairs. The first and great object to be at- 

 tained is the stopping of the fermentation as rapidly and 

 as evenly as possible, and to attain this end, if charcoal 

 is being used, the necessity of good sharp clear fires 

 will strike any one as a necessary instrument to attain 

 this end. In the case of the Sirocco the temperature 

 recommended is about 280, and in Gibbs and Barry we 

 believe the pyrometer stands at something like 500. We 

 are not quite, certain if we are right about the Gibbs 

 and Barry. The temperature above an ordinary charcoal fire 

 is about 160 to 180, so it is at once apparent what au ex- 

 traordinary advantage the planter has who possesses dry- 

 ing machinery. In addition to the temperature being 

 lower than in Dryers, the ordinary choolas are subject to 

 grcai variations in temperature, especially when the fuel 

 has to be renewed ; and if the charcoal, to prevent this, 

 is made red hot before use, the consumption is nearly 

 doubled and it becomes a serious item of expenditure. In 

 our columns, Mr. Allen, the patentee of a Dryer, when 

 writing, called attention to the fact that he had always 

 studied to make his Dryer capable of taking in a full charge 

 of one of Jackson's Boiling tables so as to insure the 

 equal fermentation all over, and a uniformity of color in 

 outturn such as would not otherwise be attainable if all 

 the charge could not have been put over the fire at the 

 same time. There is no doubt something in what Mr. Allen 

 says; but twenty minutes at the outside, even with a Sirocco, 

 would be the utmost difference, and with care in putting 

 the first on just a little underfermented, the result will be 

 found to be pretty satisfactory on the whole. With the 

 Bibbs and Barry the leaf is being fed in continuously |, 

 ami as the temperature is so high the fermentation is 

 stopped at once, and we must say we think the twist in 

 the leaf must be improved by the continual taming it 

 gets as it descends the cylinder. For the Sirocco the 

 patentee claims that "its pucca batty" improves the 

 tea put through Id to 2d, per lb. We are not prepared 

 to go so far in this by any means, rather on the other 

 hand ; for we believe that the deterioration in the 

 keeping qualities of Indian teas, so much complained of 

 a year or two ago, was to a great extent the result of 

 drying machinery being improperly used in " pucca batty" 

 or final firing. We do not for a moment say that it was 

 due to defects in the machinery, but to an imperfect 

 knowledge of its use by planters. The very high tem- 

 perature at which these machines are used gives the tea, 

 when passed through, a malty smell and taste which is 

 much liked, and the tea feels dry to the hand; but it is 

 not really cooked through and through, and we quite 

 believe that the re-siroccoing these teas in Loudon would 

 improve their values, because they were imperfectly cured. 

 To pucca battying or fiual firing teas, the patentee of 

 the Sirocco recommends twenty minutes to fire a tray, 

 but we think that it should not be less than half an hour, 

 and perhaps more. It is impossible for tea, to be 

 thoroughly dry in less time, and it is highly necessary 

 that it should be exposed to hot air, even after it is 

 thoroughly dry, so as to fairly, what we may term, set it. 

 Chur planters cannot be too careful in pucca battying, as 

 We consider it is of all the most important. Given that 

 a planter makes first class teas, yet his reputation may 

 be entirely lost by neglecting the final firing. Informer 



years it was customary to put the teas, for pucca batty 

 on the fires at sundown, and those teas were taken off at 

 roll-call next morning and packed as quickly as possible 

 afterwards, the final firing taking them about 12 hours, 

 and those were the days when Indian tea had such a ro- 

 putation for keeping qualities. The complaints have been 

 fewere the last year or two about the keeping qualities of 

 our tnas, and we canuot help putting this down to the 

 plant] g community getting better acquainted with the 

 Dryer now iu use, and we feel that they will persevi re 

 further still until Indian teas again are looked after on 

 account of their keeping qualities. 



We may add to the above information that in 

 Jackson's Drier there are ten trays. We agree that 

 the absence of trays is one point in favour of the 

 Gibbs and Barry machine, but as far as our experience 

 goes it is not a very material one for the trays in 

 the Jackson's machine on Abbotsford are only now 

 needing a little repair in the mesh after constant use 

 for 21 months in firing and pucca battying some 

 70,000 lb. of tea. Almost all who have used the Gibbs 

 & Barry drier testify to the improved twist it 

 gives to the leaf ; and as to temperature, one planter 

 wrote that he was doing his tea to pel fection with 

 the pyrometer at 700° ! a difference of 520° above that 

 of a charcoal tire. We ftar that the importance of 

 a thorough final firing is not yet real'zed, or is very 

 often conveniently forgotten, few men having the 

 patience to wait upon their teas for hours. What 

 "chur planters" are we do not know, but we trust 

 they weie not originally connected with a ly. Messrs. 

 Armstrong and Owen loth touch only upon "band- 

 firing." As we are glad to learn from the "Times" 

 that the essay by the former gentleman is " in the 

 hands of everybody" we shall not trouble our 

 readers with auy extracts from it, but the following 

 description of the Indian method by Mr. Owen is 

 worth transcribing. He says: — "The air-hole (of tho 

 furnace) should be about nine inches high and six 

 inches broad, and no grute whatever should be used. 

 The whole bottom of the stove should be filled with 

 charcoal and kindled until the mass is in a glow ; 

 then — and here comes the secret — the fire is masked 

 by a thick layer of ashes, a stock of which is al- 

 ways kept on hand. In using a grate, the charcoal 

 has to be lighted outBide and brought to the stove 

 glowing, to prevent the possibility of emoke from illy 

 burnt fuel, and a great loss of heat is entailed be 

 this. One lb. of charcoal does 1 lb. of tea by the 

 Indian method, as against a bushel of charcoal to 

 from 8 to 10 lb. by the latter syBtem. Again 24 

 and 26 .viesh firing sieve* have been given up in favour 

 of 12 to 16 meshes. The larger meshes allow the 

 tea to fire quicker, a"d very commonly the broken 

 pekoe iB sieved out through them permaoei tly, thus 

 saving subsequent labour and the use of sieves during 

 firing, at all times a troublesome method. I was 

 al told so, but cannot vouch for the fact, that burn- 

 ing was less common with a laige than with a small 

 mesh sieve, scorching being due to the wire getting 

 too hot in the case of the latter. " 



TEA PICKINGS. 

 The Indigo and Tea Planters' Oaz'tte of July 29th 

 contains Borne very interesting matter, affording food 

 for thought and light for guidance in affairs theanic. 

 The first leader is upon the proposed formation of a 

 " Darjeeling Plauters' Association." This proposal is 

 the outcome of the excitement and displeasure which 

 has been stirring the hearts of our Darjeeling brothers, 

 in consequence of some of their number having raised 



