November i, 1884.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



347 



vailiug than exists iu Assam. We in Ceylon have 

 rainfall over large districts, such as prevails iu 

 Assam and Cachar ; we have hail merely as an occa- 

 sional curiosity ; our climate is far more lavourable for 

 human life and more genial for plant life 

 than Assam ; our soil, if not <qual to that de- 

 posited by the Brahmaputra, is a very good tea soil ; 

 we are favourably situated as regards labour, means 

 of communication and proximity to shipping ports ; 

 so that altogether he advantages svein to be largely 

 in our favor. — Prices realized for Assam teus are not 

 generally recognized a-> satisfactory, the fall being 

 from lis per lo. a few years ago to Is now. The 

 Deputy Commissioner of (Jachar wrote : — 



Many concerns are already working at a loss, while many 

 more are dangerously near the line tliat divides profit from 

 loss, so that any further fall iu the market would be a serious 

 matter for most gardens. 



Tlie Deputy-Commissioner of Lakhiuipur says : — " The 

 prices in the Calcutta market ranged from 5 auuas to Rl 

 per pound, aud were somewhat better than iu the previous 

 year. The larger concerns are believed to have paid 

 fairly well during the year. With the general fall of 

 prices (in recent years) there has been manifested a 

 marked tendency in this district to reduce expenses of 

 working by amalgatiug gardens lying close together to 

 some extent : also native agency is being substituted for 

 the more expensive European management. 



Markets. — The Tea Association report that there was a 

 falling olf iu shipments to Australia aud America of nearly 

 2k million pounds of Indian tea iu 1883, as compared with 

 1882. The loss of these markets to the Indian crop is 

 very much to be regretted. Mr. A. C. Campbell, the Doputy- 

 Oommissiouer of Kamrnp, writes as follows on the subject 

 of the possibility of Assam planters finding a market for 

 brick iu Thibet: "The pruniugs aud the younger stalks, 

 which are thrown away by planters or used as manure, 

 might be sold at highly remunerative rates for export to 

 Thibet, if manufactured into brick tea. I purchased at 

 Dewaugiri this year for R4 a packet* of brick tea weigh- 

 ing about 4 lb., and I ascertained that the amount which 

 I paid was the usual selling price of the article among 

 the Buutiasand others. The packet consisted exclusively 

 of old pruned leaves compressed m a mould with about 

 20 per cent, of young stalk. It was wrapped in three folds 

 of thick paper evidently manufactured in China. I was 

 informed that a very large trade is carried on in the 

 article, aud, although the Bhutias and Tlubetian traders 

 would not be able to pay cash for it to Assam planters, 

 it might he bartered for blankets, hic-dyc, and other com- 

 modities which could be easily converted into money." 



Profits of tin Industry. — The list published by the -Regis- 

 trar of Joiut Stock Companies at Oalcutt', relating to 

 the year ending the 31st March 1884, contains the names 

 of 53 Tea Companies known to hold estates in this pro- 

 vince. Against two of these, no paid-up capital is shown 

 aud no accounts of profit or loss are given. The remain. 

 iug 51 represent a paid-up capital of Kl,67 ,32,407 ; 38 

 of these have struck their balance sheets of profits and 

 loss up to the 31st December 1883; and one Company 

 up to 30th November 1883. Of the 39 Companies whicn 

 show a balance sheet-sheet of profit and loss in 1883 26 

 Companies show profits amounting to R5,21,692, ; eleven 

 Companies show losses amounting :d .ogether to 338,13,72, ; 

 to show no profit or loss. The net returns upon' the 

 capital employed during the year 1883 by the 39 Com- 

 panies which struck balance-sheets for the year were, 

 therefore, R3(07,97l, or 2-2 per cent, on their capital of 

 Rl. 35,87,095 ; the 20 Compauies which made a profit ob- 

 tained a return of 49 per cent, on a capital of R 1,05,53,905; 

 while the eleven losim; concerns lost at the rate of 7 per 

 cent, on their capital of R30,34,600. 



As the Brahmaputra aud Su mo Valleys have bei-n 

 80 frequently mentioned, our readers may wish to 



* Tht: Chief Commissioner sent this packet of brick 

 tea to the Indian Tea Association, aud suggested that the 

 As>ociation might do something towards making Mr. 

 Campbell's suggestions known. 



each. We 



know which tea districts are included iu 

 therefore give the details: — 



Assam or Brahmaputra Valley :— 

 Goalpara ; Kamrnp ; Darrang ; Nowgong ; Sibsagar ; 

 Lakhimpur. 



Surma Valley :— 

 Cachar; Sylhet ; Khasia and Jaintia Hills. 



The day is coming when Ceylon, utterly in,. 

 thought_ of as a fource of growth and supply at the tune 

 cultivation in Assam was taken up really in earnest 

 some thirty years ago, will rank with the best awl 

 most productive tea-growing countries of the world 

 leaving China far behind as to quality and running 

 Assam a close race as to quantity. 



♦ — 



JACKSON'S PATENT TEA-DRYING MACHINE, 

 which we noticed recently, is thus described in the 

 Indiijo aiul Tea Planters' Gazette :—/ 



In the Indigo and Tea Planters' Gazette of 13th May last 

 I described this, the newest and best tea-drier. I also 

 predicted that " if successful, which it can hardly fail to 

 be, it will be by far the best tea-drier in the market.'' I 

 am happy to say that the machine has been tried, is work- 

 ing, and has amply fulfilled my expectatious. 



The first machine has been erected in the Cinnamara Tea 

 Uarden of the Jorhat Tea Company, and began to work on 

 the ltith July last. It has been working steadily ever 



SU J. Ce ' j^ aS been seen by mauv of the P laut ers of that and 

 other districts, and has beeu much thought of by everyone 

 who has seen it. Last, but not least, it is giving every 

 satisfaction to the hard working and energetic Super- 

 intendent of the Jorhat Tea Company, and as Mr. Huff- 

 man is an experienced and successful planter aud one oi 

 the advanced school of planters, his opinion is of no small 

 value. 



As I described the machine before, I will briefly recapit- 

 ulate the description. The tea is fed into the machine from 

 a hopper, which, by a peculiar shaking motion.' communic- 

 ated to it from the driving shaft of the machiue, distributes 

 the tea evenly and automatically over the travelling web 

 which it falls upon on its first entrance to the machine. This 

 hopper is sufficiently large to contain a fill of the Excelsior 

 or any other large rolling-machine. The Jill— two to two- 

 and-half mauuds— may be emptied into the hopper and 

 left there, the man or boys who bring the fermented leaf 

 beiug employed, while it is passing through the machine, iu 

 removing the dried tea. Let me here direct the reader's 

 attentiou to the great saving in labor which the invention 

 of the automatic feed effects as compared with any other 

 tea-drier. As for choolas, they should now be considered 

 things of the past. One man and two stout boys are able I" 

 nth it.l iu this ma- lime, which will turn out at least 2J maunds 

 of ptlkka tea per hour* It has actually turued out more 

 than this. 



When the tea leaves the hopper it falls upon a travelling 

 perforated web. This web consists of a number of long nar- 

 row strips of iron, the iron being coated with lead to prevent 

 injury to the leaf. These strips are carried along through 

 the machine by endless chains at each side of the drying 

 chamber. They overlap each other so that no kutcha. tea 

 can fall through. At the end of their travel in each direc- 

 tion, the chain-, carrying these strips, pass over wheels which 

 give them their motion. The perforated strips are hinged 

 into the links which form the endless chains, so that 

 at the end of the travel in one direction the strips tilt 

 over suddenly, thus not only discharging the tea on to the 

 next web, but by the jerk of the sadden tumble-over dis- 

 lodging any particles of tea which might have a tendency 

 to adhere to the web. They also thus hang down per- 

 pendicularly from the carrying chains while on the return 

 journey, thus allowing the hot air to pass through them. 

 The tea passes along the secoud web iu the reverse di- 

 rection to the first, aud so on back aud forward over three 

 more webs, until it is fiually discharged dry at the outlet. 

 As I described the heating apparatus before, it will be 

 unnecessary to go over it again. Suffice it to say that the 

 machiue is equal to any in economy of fuel, and will be 

 still further improved in this respect. As it s tands, how- 

 » Or 220 lb— Ep. 



