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THE TROPICAL " AGRICULTURIST. 



[January i, 1885. 



TEA-BLENDING AND CEYLON TEAS. 



A copy of the " Tea Trade Circular " of December 1st 

 of Messrs. Lewis & Co. (Tea importers and wholesale 

 dealers, Clutched Friars, London) has been sent to 

 us, in which we find our article of two months ago 

 on " Tea Culture and Profits in Ceylon " reprinted 

 bodily, without any acknowledgment ; and on another 

 page "Chapter IX." of a paper on "Tea-blending" 

 which hi treating of " Ceylon Teas" may be quoted 

 as follows : — 



On another page we give an exhaustive account of the 

 present position of the Ceylon tea trade, from which, to- 

 gether with the striking figures which we publiihed last 

 month, our friends will be able to judge of the rapid growth 

 of the trade in these teas, and of the high position which 

 they have already attained in the estimation of the trade and 

 of the tea-drinking public. From an experimental consign- 

 ment of some 300 lb. in 1876, the imports hnve progressed 

 by " leaps and bounds,*' and the import this season 

 is expected to exceed 4,000,000 lb. and this rapid rate of in- 

 crease bids fair to be maintained, for everywhere in the 

 island, on the hills as well as in the lowcountry, fresh estates 

 are being cleared and planted with tea, and old coffee estates 

 which have ceased to beremimerative are having the coffee 

 plants rooted up to make room for its more profitable new 

 rival, and on the virgin soil of the island the plants not 

 only produce teas of the highest quality, but are prolific to 

 an unprecedented extent, the outturn per acre in some 

 special cases being* put down at no less than 1,500 lb. per 

 acre. The plants, or " Jit," from which the crop is raised, 

 differ in the various estates, and experiments are still go- 

 ing on to decide which kind is the most suitable. There are 

 three main varieties of plants, viz., the Chinese, the Indian 

 indigenous, and a hybrid obtained by crossing the two. 

 To the variety of the plants and to the difference in 

 soil and elevation the distinguishing characteristics of 

 the product of the various estates are mainly due, as the 

 method of manufacture by machinery is now almost univers- 

 ally adopted. 



The teas from most of the estates are divided in a similar 

 manner to Indian varieties, into the following grades : — 

 Orange Pekoe ... 1 the youngest and smallest leaves, 



Broken Orange Pekoe 



with golden orange tip. 



Pekoe ... ... I young leaf, closely rolled, usually 



Broken Pekoe .. . ...J well tipped. 



Pekoe Souchong ... ) the more mature leaves, care- 

 Broken Pekoe Souchong j fully made. 



Souchong ... ... (mature leaves, more roughly 



Broken Tea ... ... j made. 



and sometimes 



Congou ... ... oldest, roughest leaf. 



koe dus F t ann ' nSS aDd Pe * } names sufficiently descriptive. 



The prices obtained for these various qualities vary greatly 

 according to the characteristics of each particular parcel. 

 The teas from the more celebrated estates, such as Kook- 

 wood, Loolecondura, Blackstoue, Oonoongalla, &c, command 

 very extreme rates, but an expert taster may often find 

 teas of equal quality from less known estates at much lower 

 prices than the crack marks are fetching. 



As regards the value of Ceylons for blending purposes, 

 we may say that, as a rule, they are matchless for fulness 

 of body and richness of flavour, but they lack the strength 

 and grip of many Indian varieties. These qualities render 

 them more valuable for drinking unmixed than for blend- 

 ing, and those retailers who are doing the largest trade in 

 Ceylon teas are selling them unmixed as a speciality, and 

 find their superb quality thoroughly appreciated by the con- 

 sumer. Many estates, indeed, put their tea up in air-tight 

 leads, containing from 1 lb. upwards, thus preserving intact 

 the quality and aroma, and these form very convenient 

 packages for retailing-. 



Fashionable Names.— Sericulture is now the fashion- 

 able name for silk culture ; Dendrieulture for tree 

 growing ; Fragariculture for the strawberry ; Solanituber. 

 osiculture for the potato ; and Znidroykstchantsthantzuid- 

 kleiniculture for we do not know what. — Gardeners' 

 Monthly. 



TEA DRIERS. 

 On next page will be found a letter addressed 

 to us by Colonel Money, the well-known writer on 

 Indian Tea, on Davidson & Co.'s improved Siroccos ; 

 another letter from Mr. kinmond in reply to Messrs. 

 W.. H. Davies & Co.'s comparison of the Kinmond 

 Drier and the Sirocco ; and an extract from the Indian 

 Planters' Gazette on improvements in Gibbs & Barry's 

 machine, by which a ton weight of metal is saved. 

 Mr. Owen wrote in favour of the latter, and we quoted 

 full descriptions of it from a pamphlet we received 

 from Mr. Horsfall, but we are not aware that auy at- 

 tempt has been made to import one into ( eylon. 

 When the half-dozen improved driers which are being 

 constructed for the Assam Company have been fully 

 tried, we have no doubt reliable information will reach 

 us as to the real merits of this adaptation of a corn-drier, 

 as the American tea drier is of a frnit evaporator! 

 Messrs. Davidson & Co., in their improved No 3 

 Sirocco which is so highly spoken of, seems to have 

 adopted the principle of the evaporator in the inclined 

 addition to the machine which has added so much to 

 is efficiency. Colonel Mon.y, who, in the latest edition 

 tf his book, gave the palm to Kinmond's Drier and 

 spoke rather disparagingly of the Sirocco, ie now strong 

 in praise of the latter as finally improved. One of 

 its great merits is, that, while comparatively cheap 

 no motive power is required to work it. We do not 

 understand Colonel Money as offering any objection 

 to Kinmond's machine except on the ground which 

 struck us, the high cost. But this cost has been 

 materially reduced. Mr. Kinmond claims for his 

 machine superior economy in fuel and this is a ques- 

 tion which only practical planters can settle. Our 

 own impression is that all makers of drying machines.pro- 

 mife more work and less expenditure of fuel than can 

 practically be realized. Mr. Kinmond points out that 

 four Siroccos would take up much room in a tea 

 house. But, if they were spread over the floor area, 

 the warm air escaping from them would be, in wet 

 cold weather, a valuable aid to the withering process. 

 A practical planter's remark to us was, that, if Kin- 

 mond's machine got out of order, a planter who had 

 it only in his store would come to a stand-still, 

 while a factory with several Siroccos could go on 

 working if one, or even two, of the machines 'broke 

 down. He also said he found no difficulty in buruino 

 green wood in the stove of the Sirocco. We know 

 that No. 3 style, does very good work, Sirocco, old 

 and we trust ere long to be able to have equally 

 favourable experience of the machines with the in- 

 clined tunnel addtd. May we ask those who have Kin- 

 mond's machine in use to favour us with their matured 

 experience of its working, all Mr. Kirinond's direc- 

 tions being observed? Our feeling at present is that 

 Kinmond's Drier is only suitable for pretty large 

 "concerns" and that even in such cases a good 

 combination would be two Siroccos to each Kinmond, 

 or perhaps, in the case of 600 to 1,000 acre estates, 

 eight or twelve Siroccos to two or four Kinmonds, 

 But the experience of the great Assam Company 

 with the new Gibbs & Barry Driers will be of value to 

 the owners of large factories in Ceylon. Where that 

 machine is used to partially fire the tea, we should 

 think Siroccos would be useful for " pucka battying " 

 or finishing off. The three machines we have been 

 noticing may probably be described as " good, better, 

 best ;" but which is best, readers with the ample 

 information placed before them must judge for them- 

 selves. For combiued cheapness and efficiency, the 

 leaning at present will probably be in favour of the 

 improved Sirocco. 



