November i, 1884.] THE TROPTCAT, AGRICULTURIST. 



407 



himself singularly delicient in all these qualities, and 

 that he does better work at the desk than in the 

 garden. The difficulties of locomotion in Assam are 

 aptly described in the sentence that " to get to the 

 river in the rainy season often requires the combined 

 assistance of a buggy, a pony, an elephant and a 

 native boat." It should be remembered that the whole 

 province lies close to the Brahmapootra. The want 

 of society will at lirst be badly felt. Of sport Mr. 

 Barker wtites that a man engaged in tea-planting 

 having his time fidly oooupied from the lirst of January 

 to the thirty-first of December has little opportunity 

 for this diversion. But it is plain that he has as little 

 taste for sport as- for tea-planting, for he actually re- 

 commeuds his readers to go to the Geological Gardens 

 in London to see tigers, elephants, buffaloes and rhino- 

 ceros, and considers it a misnomer to call the shoot- 

 ing of these huge animals sport. 



Leaving his book aside for the moment we will 

 give a short practical account of the production of 

 Indian tea. The work of a planter after obtaining 

 his land commences with clearing the ground of timber, 

 which is usually done by contract with Assamese at 

 so much per acre. A small portion of the wood be- 

 ing reserved for building purposes, the rest ie all 

 turned into charcoal and stored for use in the fact- 

 ory that is to be. The soil is then dressed with the 

 hoe and the seed or seedlings put in where they are 

 to remain. For two years afterwards the planter lives 

 upon hope, carefully cultivating his young plants and 

 preparing the various buildings requisite for his own 

 and his coolies' residence, and for the manufacture 

 of the leaf when the bushes shall have^rown strong 

 enough to bear the strain of "plucking." It is not, 

 however, before the fourth year, and often later, that 

 the yield is sufficient lorepaythe cost of cultivation. 

 The picking of tea is almost entirely done by women, 

 the fingers of the male cooly being too clumsy for 

 this operation. Both skill and experience are required 

 in taking off the leaf, because in order to secure a 

 maximum out-turn the plant has to be kept in active 

 growth from March to November, which can only be 

 accomplished by delicate handling. When each labourer 

 has filled her basket the green leaves are taken to 

 the factory and weighed, after which they are thinly 

 spread out for a few hours to soften or wither, as 

 it is technically called, in order that they may un- 

 dergo the process of rolling without breaking. In 

 former days rolling was euphemistically said to be 

 done by hand, but it was really done by the elbows 

 or ribs, and knees aud feet, as the hands of a very 

 sudoriferous set of coolies, and this method of manu- 

 facture still prevails in China. In all modern Indian 

 factories, however, the leaf after being withered is 

 placed upon a rolling-machine and finished in the 

 cleanliest manner possible. After having a twist put 

 on it by the roller the leaf is left to ferment until 

 it changes colour, when it is promptly transferred to 

 trays and fired either over an open charcoal fire" or 

 in a newly patented "tea drier." This done, the leaf 

 which yesterday was growing on the trees has already 

 become the tea of commerce with which all are familiar, 

 and nothing remains but to sort it into Souchong, 

 Pekoe Souchong. Pekoe, &e., pack and send it to 

 market. And, as we have shown above, the Knglish 

 market now absorbs almost halt as much tea from 

 India as it does from China, and the consumption of 

 Indian tea is steadily increasing every year. It remains 

 to be seen whether the Chinese war will really give 

 it a sudden impetus. — Times of India. 



♦ 



Distillation of Essential Oils. — A correspondent 

 writes : — •' I shall be obliged if you will let me know 

 where I am most likely to get good and correct in- 

 formation regarding the mode of distilling oil from 

 lemon and other grasses and the most approved style 



of store for drying purposes." Our correspondent 

 will find some information on this subject iu Vol. II 

 of the Tropical Agriculturist, but we should be glad to 

 hear from anyone engaged in distillation. 



The Willesden Watebpeoob Paper, — Has this 

 material been practically tried in Ceylon ? The 

 British Trade Journal, in a notice of the Am- 

 sterdam Exhibition states :— The Willesden Water- 

 proof Paper Company are making the most 

 extensive display of their paper which has ever 

 been seen. The building for the British Commis- 

 sion is wholly constructed of it, and some dis- 

 tance from this is a complete set of Dutch farmhouse 

 buildings in full size, also made of Willesden paper. 

 Near this are various forms of Willesden paper stack- 

 roofs, arranged for raising and lowering, one being ofthe 

 pentagonal form usual in Holland. Pipes 30 feet 

 long, formed of sheets of Willesden paper simply 

 rolled together by hand, and adapted to draining and 

 water-carying purposes, are also shown, water being 

 pumped through them. It is stated that several years 

 may elapse without the slightest effect being pro- 

 duced upon this paper by moisture, and the down- 

 pours of rain upon the farm buildings here seem to 

 warrant this statement. The advantages of easy trans- 

 port, construction, and repair are so great that the 

 public should soon have confidence iu houses, tubes, 

 boats, etc., of the Willesden material. 



HELorEL-ris Antonii : No Evidence that it has 

 Yet Attacked Tea in Ceylon.— Under the circum- 

 stances, we feel sure Dr. T-rimen will not object to our 

 publication of a letter he has addressed to the superin- 

 tendent of Abbotfford : — " I am glad to have your note 

 and the specimens, but the latter are not at all con- 

 clusive. In my opinion, they give no sure evidence that 

 Helopcltis has beenat work — a hundred other bugs could 

 make Buch holes. Though Helopeltis is difficult to 

 detect, it can always be found ; since, being wingless till 

 the adult stage, it cannot leave the tree on which it is 

 hatched, and is slow comparatively iu its movements 

 in its immature stages. The cinchona you send, I can, 

 I think, say with certainty, does not owe its 

 damage to Helopcltis, but to some quite different aud 

 less formidable sucking insect. I am glad to hear 

 so good an account of tea and cinchona with you. 

 Tt is centainly a very different season from two years' 

 back when I paid you a visit." No trace of the insect, 

 mature or immature, has been seen on Abbotsford : only 

 leaves were seen with marks, resembling those on en- 

 graved leaves in the Tea Cyclopcsdia, said to be made 

 by the tea bug or blight ; but Dr. Trimen sees no 

 evidence of the action of Helopeltis in the specimens of 

 leaves sent to him. 



Auulteration op Tea in Japan.— The Japan 

 Weekly Mail states : — Mr. Miki Soyemori, Super- 

 intendent of the Kiyoto Tea Industry Association 

 has, according to the Fiji Shimpo, formulated a 

 very serious charge against the foreign tea manu- 

 facturers of Kobe. Mr. Miki sometime ago inspected 

 the processes by which these foreign firms prepared 

 their teas, and was utterly amazed by what he saw. 

 His account is that Uji tea is mixed with sundry 

 leaves and a green powder is then sifted over the 

 mixture to give it an attractive colour. This "doct- 

 ored " article is sold abroad as pure Uji tea, at an 

 extravagant price, and naturally the reputation and 

 sale of Japanese tea is much injured. The iniquity 

 of this proceeding struck Mr. Miki as rendering the 

 matter worthy of most serious consideration, and he 

 lost no time in calling a meeting of his Association. 

 The meeting was held on the 27th ult. and it was 

 resolved that a report on the subject should be 

 presented to the Central Tea Association in Tokiyo 

 with the object of petitioning the Government, 

 through the Tokiyo Association, to take proper steps 

 to remedy the abuse complained of. 



