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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [February 2, 1885. 



The staves of the cask are left loosely bound 

 to allow the bitter water from the olives to drain 

 off. In preserving green olives, the fruit after being washed 

 is packed in cases in its natural state. The casks have a 

 Bmall hole bored in the bottom to allow the water to run 

 off slowly. They are filled with olives to about three inches 

 of the top, and the cask is then filled to the brim with 

 fresh water once in twenty-four hours, until the bitter 

 taste of the fruit has almost passed off. The hole in the 

 bottom is then plugged, an aromatised pickle is poured 

 on the fruit, and after the pickle has taken effect, a little 

 oil is added, to soften the olives and reduce any bitterness 

 that may remain in excess of what is required to give 

 them piquancy or an agreeable flavour. In extracting the 

 oil, the method practised in the interior of Turkey is the 

 same as was employed in the earliest ages. The fruit is 

 collected in a large receptacle near the mill where the 

 crushing is done ; this mill is simply a large circular shallow 

 tank with an upright beam in the centre, which runs 

 through a large stone and serves as a pivot around which 

 the stone revolves. A horse harnessed to a horizontal 

 pole attached to the stone sets it slowly and laboriously 

 in motion. Au improved apparatus has lately been in- 

 troduced; this consists of two stones attached to the 

 horizontal pole, and which are dragged round with it. 

 When a sufficient quantity of the fruit has been thrown 

 into a tank the machine is set in motion, and a man 

 precedes the horse with an iron pole to push the olives 

 under the stones. After a short time, about two gallons 

 of water at boiling heat are poured in to assist the action 

 of the stones, and more is added as required, until the 

 mass acquires the consistency of a thick paste. The mass 

 is then put into a large jar and conveyed to the press, 

 where it is kneaded with more hot water into a square 

 cloth of coarse material, which will bear the greatest power 

 of the press without bursting. The paste is then formed 

 into a square flat mass, the cloth being folded neatly over 

 it, and tied with a string attached to each corner, and it 

 is then replaced in the press. The press is turned down 

 by means of a hand lever, and when more power is re- 

 quired, a rope is carried from the lever to an upright 

 rotary beam at some distance, which is rapidly turned. 

 The oil and water which are expressed run into a trough 

 roughly hewn from wood. This trough is divided into two 

 parts longitudinally by a partition, which comes up to 

 about two inches below the level of its sides, so that when 

 the oil and water run in together on one side of the 

 partition, the oil coming to the surface floats over to the 

 other side, while the water is conveyed away by a pipe, 

 placed at the level at which it is desired to maintain the 

 water within the trough. After the press has been screwed 

 down as far as it will go, it is loosened, and hot water 

 is poured upon the pile to wash off any oil that may 

 remain on the cloths, and they are kneaded without being 

 unfolded. More boiling water is poured upon each package, 

 and they are again placed in the press, to be again removed, 

 and undergo for a third time the same process until no 

 oil remains. The oil comes out a light green colour, and 

 is poured into a large jar near the press whence, after 

 depositing any water or dirt it may contain, it is poured 

 into skins. It is next emptied into large earthenware jars 

 four or five feet in height, where it remains for at least 

 two months until all impurities are deposited. — Journal of 

 the Society of Arts. 



The Coral Industry. — The best coral grounds yielding the 

 most and best coral are still those on the Algerian coast, fished 

 for that purpose from the middle of the 16th century, the 

 others being the coasts of Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, Spain, the 

 Balearic Isles, Provence. Over 500 Italian boats manned by 

 4,200 men, are employed in the coral fishery, 300 of these 

 boats being from Torre del Greco in the Bay of Naples. The 

 quantity gathered by these 500 boats amounts in all to about 

 5G,000 kilogrammes annually, valued at 4,200,000 lire ; that 

 by other boats, Spanish, French, &c, to 22.000 kilogrammes, 

 at 1,500,000 lire — total for the year 78,000 kilogrammes at 

 5,750,000 lire. The taxes paid to the Government for the liber- 

 ty of fishing on the African coast are very high, 1,106 lire per 

 boat for the summer season, and half as much for the winter, 

 so that in consideration of the toils and risks undergone, the 

 profits are but very moderate. The gross gains per boat may 

 be set down at 8,000 lire for the season, and the expenses at 



6,003 lire, leaving only 1,067 lire net profit. In Italy are 60 

 coral workshops, of which 40 are in Torre del Greco alone, 

 employing about 9,200 hands, mostly women and children. 

 The principal markets are Germany, England, Kussia, Austria, 

 Hungary, and Poland, a large part going to Madras and 

 Calcutta. — London Times. 



Twig Training. — It is often the case that a young tree, 

 or a branch of it, makes growth in some crooked or uu- 

 symmetrical direction, and so becomes something of an 

 eyesore if nothing worse. It is always desirable that the 

 stem of a lawn or orchard tree shall be quite straight 

 and erect. Now, just before growth closes for the season, 

 it is time to rectify this fault of shape most easily. To 

 straighten the stem stick a' well-sharpened rod into the 

 soil close to the collar and on the elbow side of the crooked 

 stem. This rod, which now stands vertically, and exactly 

 close to where the stem should be if erect, pushes the 

 bent stem still further over, but string tying it to the rod 

 in as many places as are necessary to secure straightness 

 will make all erect and shapely. This seems a simple 

 thing to do, and it is so, yet it is rare to find the staking 

 up a tree effectively or securely done. Ill-directed 

 branches can be held iu place by stakes placed to suit 

 and securely fixed for tying to. Tile advantage of doing 

 the work now is that the wood is now forming and harden- 

 ing, and in a week or two the shoots — held in place like a 

 broken limb iu splints — will be set and the stakes no longer 

 wanted. At this season, too, there are rarely high winds 

 to displace or loosen the stakes. They should be no larger 

 than is just necessary for the required strength, because 

 with small rods a more exact and neater direction can be 

 given. — W. in New York Tribune. 



Theories Regarding Tea Drying are thus referred to 

 by " Peripatetic Planter " in the Indian Planters' Gazette : — 

 Following the theory I ventured to suggest for consider- 

 ation last week, a circular issued by Messrs. W. and J. 

 Jackson has been lent to me, in which they advance 

 another theory, this one to account for deterioration of 

 quality after packing. It is true their Circular is compiled 

 to explain the merits of their new dryer, but as a theory 

 is common property once it is published, your readers 

 have a right to this one, and it is worth practical atten- 

 tion in the present search after the whole truth re Tea 

 Manufacture. I quote the following passage, therefore, 

 from the abovenamed circular : — " Experience has taught 

 us that rolled and fermented leaves may be presented to 

 a very high temperature of air, if such leaves are kept 

 continuously iu motion, but the danger of such treatment 

 is that the thin filmy part of the leaf gets rapidly dried 

 or wasted, whilst the centre stem or fibre retains a per- 

 centage of sap, and it is in this where the danger rests. 

 The centre stem and the stalks should be dried through, 

 and this can only be done by submitting the leaves in a 

 stationary manner to a current of air that will both dry 

 and bake them as well as the stalks. The tea leaves 

 when under treatment in the Victoria machine have to 

 traverse a space of over 50 feet, during which time they 

 remain perfectly still, with the exception that they are 

 automatically turned over four times in course of their 

 continual passage through. By a peculiar arrangement 

 of air ducts, the leaves during 3 parts of the process are 

 submitted to a temperature of about 300 degrees, but 

 the desiccation is completed in a temperature of about 

 200 which obviates the risk of burning. The machine 

 being constructed on the Exhaust principle,;doors are provid- 

 ed by which means the working temperature of the air 

 can be reduced 100 degrees or more almost immediately." 

 Though the latter part of the above quotation savours of 

 a puff, inasmuch as it rather enters into details about the 

 machine, it was necessary to quote it to show that the 

 theory advanced is being made the basis of a reform or 

 revolution — call it which we will — in Tea Dryingmachinery ; 

 as the principle is the very opposite of that in most of 

 the Dryers now in use. "\Ve are evidently on the eve of a 

 battle of temperatures, in which as a side issue will 

 also be found a conflict between Tea dried " on the quiet," 

 and Tea dried "on the loose." 



FLIES AND BUGS. 



Beetles, insects, roaches, ants, bed-bugs, rats, mice, goph- 

 ers, chipmunks, cleared out by " Euogh on Eats. " W. E. 

 Smith & Co., Madras, Sole Agents. 63" POISON, 



