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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[ArRiL i, 1885. 



The poem specifically mentioned is "Harold Eric" 

 described as " a masterpiece of perfect feeling and 

 true poetic inspiration." We are told that 



For the best part of a life of patient effort, during which 

 he had many prejudices to combat and remove, Mr. Gibbs 

 has devoted himself, and spent quite a fortune in invent- 

 ing and popularizing appliances for saving harvests and 

 " conditioning " grain, with the object, to him far superior to 

 all pecuniary remuneration, of benefiting his country. 

 For an essay on "Harvesting Corn in Wet Weather, " he 

 obtained the large gold medal and fifty guineas from the 

 Society of Arts, and for an essay'on almost the same sub- 

 ject received the large gold medal of the Highland and 

 Agricultural Society of Scotland. His appliances are now 

 known all over the world, and are the means of 

 saving hundreds of thousands of pounds, and when they 

 are as well known as they deserve to be, will probably save 

 millions. Even in New Zealand, where the damp grain was 

 so frequently harvested, it is being dried in his machines at 

 the seaports, so that it remains sound and good wheat 

 during the long voyage to this country. His hay-maker, 

 for drying and saving wet hay, opened a prospect of 

 saving millions of acres of meadow and other hay, which 

 are damaged or almost destroyed every year by wet weather 

 and its adoption by agriculturists, was proceeding rapidly 

 when the rage for silos began. A vast proportion of the hay 

 crop which will never be converted into silage is still left 

 to the sad waste of the weather ; but the Gibbs principle 

 of desiccation by direct instead of intermediate application 

 of the products of combustion has been found so effective 

 that it is very largely used for a variety of purposes. 



But to come to the object of my visit, the " Gibbs and 

 Barry " tea dryer, this is an example of the adaptation 

 of an agricultural invention to uses not contemplated at 

 first. It is a case of talent directed into an unexpected 

 channel by the technical knowledge of another person. 

 The dryer which had been constructed to save wet har- 

 vests and " condition " grain, thanks to Mr. Barry'sready 

 perception of its suitability, has been found an excellent 

 appliance for drying tea. Mr. Barry deserves great credit 

 for the perseverance with which for three years he earned 

 out carefully conducted experiments, both in Calcutta. 

 Oachar, and Assam, to test Ihe Gibbs' principle as applied 

 to ten, and to discover the form of air-duct most suited 

 for the special purpose of tea-drying. He was the first 

 to succeed in finding a practical method for drying tea by 

 the direct application of the fumes of coke. 



Several radical improvements in the construction of these 

 dryers having lately been introduced, constituting a com- 

 pletely new type of dryer, it was my object to report 

 upon these improvements, as most people interested in 

 the matter are already familiar with the original " Gibbs 

 and Barry " Dryer. Presuming upon this general ac- 

 quaintance with the original type, it becomes easy to ex- 

 plain ihe improvements. These consist, first, iu dispens- 

 ing with the heavy undercarriage of iron girders, thereby 

 reducing the weight by about a ton, and materially re- 

 ducing the cost of the machine, as well as the freight and 

 llland transit charges. The cylinders are now supported 

 on specially formed brackets at each end, and instead 

 of depending for their movement upon friction runners, 

 as hitherto, they are driven direct from the fan or 

 countershaft, by bevels and spur-gearing, which is cert- 

 ainly much more powerful, and more regular and accur- 

 ate in its action than the friction-gear. At the same 

 time the elevating and depressing arrangement is also 

 much simplified and rendered sufficiently easy of action 

 for one man to work instead of two. By far the most 

 important result of this new mode of supporting and 

 actuating the cylinder is that it gives the greatest facility 

 for increasing the length of the machine to any extent 

 that may be desired. Theease and economy with which this 

 may be effected is obvious at a glance. For example, sup- 

 posing one or more of the machines of the present average 

 length are set up in a factory and it is found desirable 

 to increase the out-turn of dry tea as more and more 

 land is taken into cultivation or comes into bearing. A 

 6, 9, 12, or 18ft. length of cylinder and corresponding 

 length of air-duct can be sent out all ready to attach to 

 the existiug machine. To do this, only one of the end 

 supports or brackets need be moved ; the cylinder is then 



taken apart in the middle by merely unscrewing the bolls, 

 and the additional length is then inserted between the 

 two lengths and bolted to them. The whole readjust- 

 ment can be carried out in a few hours and the elong- 

 ated machine set to work again without any derangement 

 of the gear, driving-bands, furnace, or fan. In order to 

 get the fullest additional drying power out of these length- 

 ened cylinders, the fan is driven at a higher speed, pro- 

 portional to the increased length. It is satisfactory to 

 see that these important advantages are obtained without 

 the slightest variation in the essential principle of these 

 dryers. There is the same cylinder and air-duct, the same 

 arrangement of shelves and louvres, the same fan, and 

 therefore precisely the same mode of using and working 

 the machiue which has now been so long tried and so 

 widely approved. Thus, instead of having to master all 

 he details, difficulties, and defects of a new form of 

 machine, the foregone experience of the managers 

 and their subordinates remains as available as ever, with- 

 out the worry of having to learn a new system, and 

 without the waste of spoilt tea whilst so learning. Re- 

 garding the philosophy of drying, in the first simple forms 

 of chovlahs, floors or flat plates, it is of course well under- 

 stood that the thinner the layer, the higher the heat ; 

 and the greater the current of air, the quicker will be 

 the process ; but thin layers involve large surfaces and a 

 great extent of roofing over them, whereas if a floor be 

 rolled into the form of a cylinder the space occupied is 

 reduced by two-thirds at once by that very simple change 

 of form. Then, as to heat, if the layer, however thin, 

 be left unmoved it will not bear a high temperature with- 

 out scorching. Whereas, if lifted up and poured out 

 slowly and continuously in a stream of hot air, it has 

 been proved to bear three times the heat that would 

 otherwise utterly destroy it, and this is exactly what the 

 iuterior shelves of the cylinder effect. At the same time 

 this thorough separation of all the wet lumps of clotted 

 tea together with the controllable retarding action of the 

 cylinder, admits of the free use of very large volumes of 

 air without any practical inconvenience. The three chief 

 conditions for safe, rapid and thorough drying are ex- 

 cellently combined in this powerful, yet simple, machine: — 

 1st. — A gentle and gradual separation of the rolled tea, 

 so that every leaf gets its full share of the drying power. 

 2nd. — A perfect distribution, through the whole length 

 of the cylinder of immense volumes of air at a high 

 temperature. 



3rd. — A slow automatic movement of the tea from one 

 end of the machine to the other, which movement can 

 be graduated to the greatest nicety by merely the turn 

 of a screw so as to obtain the exact point of diyncss 

 with the least possible trouble, labour, or risk. 

 All this will be interesting, especially to those in 

 Ceylon who are growing tea on a large scale. As 

 we recently stated, the largest tea company in the 

 world, the Assam Company, have ordered six of the 

 improved Gibbs & Barry machines, so that authentic 

 information as to their performance will speedily be 

 available. We do not know if the improved Gibbs 

 & Barry machine finishes off the leaf, instead of 

 only partially firing it at a great heat, but we sup- 

 pose it will be capable of both processes. 



NETHERLANDS INDIA. 



Botanical Laboratory — Tobacco. 

 (Translated for the "Straits Times.'') 

 Mr. Treub, Government botanist, in consequence 

 of the installation of a simple botanical labor- 

 atory at Buitenzorg in the building within the 

 Government Gardens, has, by means of a circular 

 in French, invited European botanists to come 

 and spend half a year in the Gardens studying the 

 tropical flora. He describes the studying premises 

 as fitted with four tables fronting four windows 

 provided with the necessary chemical re.ageuls 

 and appliances, there being also facilities for 



