822 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[May i, 1885. 



GENERALLY ADMITTED FACTS WITH REGARD 

 TO THE MANUFACTURE OF TEA. 

 [The following paper has been kindly placed at our 

 disposal for publication. It was found amongst the late 

 Mr. Cameron's papers and appears to have been the 

 maxims which he had acquired during his lengthened 

 experience of tea-making in India. They are of peculiar 

 interest to all planters in Cevlon, as the framework on 

 which Mr. Cameron based the teaching that had so 

 powerful an effect for good throughout the island. It 

 will be seen that they refer only to hand manufacture]. 



1. Leaf is best withered when there is free supply ot 

 light and cool air. . 



2. Wet leaf is better withered in the sun or m the 

 wind than by artificial beat. 



3. Dried leaf is not necessarily withered leat. 



4. Under-withered leaf breaks in the roll. 



5. Over-withered leaf gives most Pekoe tips. 



6. Leaf withered in the sun gives red tea. 



7. Under-withered leaf gives a green and over- 

 withered leaf a dark outturn. 



8. A bright coppery-outturn can only be obtained troin 

 well- withered leaf. ,, 



9. Under-withered leaf will take longer to fire .than 

 well-withered leaf. . , 



10 Low rolling tables cause the leaf to get broken. 

 Anything under 3 feet high is objectionable. 



11. If sap comes too quickly in the roll, it shows that 

 the leaf required more withering. 



12. Too much sap makes a knobby tea from the loat 

 wetting iuto lumps. , . c ., 



13. Small leaf cannot be successfully separated from the 

 large before rolling. ... c 



11. Heavy rolling destroys the flavor of the small leat, 

 hut improves the strength of the large leaf. 

 15 Heavy rolling discolors the Pekoe tips. 

 If>! Coarse leaf requires all the rolling it can get. 

 17. Contact with iron blackens the roll. 



18 The roll will color in any temperature, be it higher 

 than, equal to, or lower than, that of the tea house. 



19 In a higher temperature than that ot the tea house 

 the color comes quickly; in a lower temperature much 



i°ll0 ' At some period of so-called " fermentation" the roll 

 .rets warm. In the present state of our knowledge there 

 is no certainty whether to cheek 01 encourage that warmth. 



21. The roll gets blackened by contact with the air and 

 colors more evenly covered up. 



22. Coloring in balls is uneven. Roll spread out over 

 three inches to color gets mawkish. 



23 The fermentation proper cannot be brought about 

 without heat. Teas coloured in a temperature below that 

 of the tea-house are not " fermented" in the real sense ot 

 the word. " Oxidation" or " coloring" expresses the pro- 

 cess more correctly. 



24. There is no fixed time for coloring ; the proper point 

 is determined by the eye. 



«5 There is no chemical or other test in use to detenu, 

 ine the point at which to stop the coloring. 



"6 The color of the roll immediately before brisk-firing is 

 about the color of the outturn which will be found in thecup- 



27. Pungency or rasp and a light liquor accompany a 

 green outturn. , 



25. Thickness and a dull liquor attend a dark outturn. 



29 Over-colouring produces a soft tea. 



30 Care given to the withering ensures good color, care 

 given to the roll ensures strength, but care will not en- 

 sure flavor. .. 



31. In the present state of our knowledge there is no 

 method by which flavor can be fixed. 



32. Leaf opens out during the coloring, and requires re- 



r °3S Dg Heavy re-rolling before firing softens the tea. A 

 light pressure to excite a little moisture gives the twist 

 and the polish required. 



31 Drying in the sun gives a black and tippy tea. 



35' Tea dried in the sun, cups out with a metallic taste. 



3S'. Coloring and softening go on rapidly over slow lires, 

 and arc checked by all aglow fires. 



57 Ouick firing gives a brisker tea than slow firing. 



38. The roll spread thick on tiring trays gets si wed 

 and dull 



39. The roll has been spread too thickly when the firs 

 cannot be seen through the contents of tray. 



40. When three-quarter fired, about half an hour, trays 

 can be safely filled up four deep, and the curing finished 

 over slow fires. 



41. Choolas can be constructed to consume one maund 

 of charcoal, or less to one maund of tea. 



42. Pucka battyiug developes nose or aroma. 



43. Drying in the sun before packing completely de- 

 siccates the tea, but gives it a peculiar flavor. 



44. Bulking is better before than after pucka battyiug to 

 ensure the teas being packed hot. 



45. Iron-wire, brass-wire, or bamboo trays are all good 

 for firing, but the two former are better conductors of 

 heat than the bamboo ones,' and not liable to get out 

 of mesh. — Local " Times." 



(From another planter.) 



I return proof of " Facts re manufacture." So far as 

 firing is concerned, the " facts " refer to choola fires, but 

 36 and 37 are equally true of machine-firing and so far as 

 38 is concerned you will remember that the roll was after 

 Kiumond's visit spread thinner on the trays with better re- 

 sults. So far as No. 40 is concerued, I think the tendency 

 is now to have final firing done slowly, either on choolas, or 

 in self-acting machines. For the first or three-quarter firiug 

 the Kindmoud dryer suits those who believe in brisk 

 firing and I think most of our tea-makers do ; but it can 

 be done too briskly and it probably is when the fan is run 

 at 700 revolutions per minute, apart from the belief that 

 many have in the superiority of Sirocco and coola fired 

 teas. The saving of steam power alone will very likely 

 cause self-acting dryers to be generally used, particularly 

 when the capacity, as in the No. 3 Sirocco, is doubled at 

 such a moderate increase of price. 



It has yet to be seen how the new power worked Jackson's 

 dryer is to answer as regards quality. That it will do 

 quantity there is no doubt, but, should it answer well in all 

 respects, it will be more suitable for the larger factories, 

 and the smaller will probably still find their best and most 

 suitable machine in the Sirocco. Of course, there is a strong 

 temptation where a lot of tea is being made to use the 

 machiue that does the most work in the shortest time. but. so 

 far as our experience in Ceylon is concerned the teas fired 

 by the latter class have not given the best results. There 

 seems to be a unanimity of opinion among brokers and 

 dealers at home that our teas are too rapidly fired or too 

 hastily finished, aud the sooner we acknowledge that the 

 Letter, so that we may, keep up our good name instead 

 of having to recover from a bad one. It seems to me 

 very likely indeed that the important process of firing will 

 in Ceylon be done generally by self-acting machines and 

 fiuished off on choolas, as mentioned in No. 40. 



So far as the most of the " facts " are concerned 

 there is not much that is new to those who have for years 

 now been manufacturing tea, but the facts are so clearly 

 and concisely put that they may be of service even to the 

 experienced. To the latter the "facts" point out how far 

 we are from more than a superficial knowledge of the art 

 or science of tea-making. No. 20 shews this very clearly 

 as also does No. 25. We know nothing more than what 

 the eye, the touch, and the nose has told and is telling 

 us. It would no doubt be a great step if "fermentation" 

 was scientifically studied and we had an explanation of 

 the change that taxes place aud its progress up and down 

 the scale ; and it would be as great a step if we had the 

 tests to know when the "coloring" should be stopped. — 

 Md. 



Facts be Tea Manufacture.— Mr. Scovell of Strathellie, 

 to whom we sent a proof of the late Mr. Cameron's memor- 

 andum published yesterday by us, writes :— 



I have only noticed two points on which my experience 

 does not tally with the "admitted facts," though, for the 

 most part, you will see that I can speak in support of them. 



Mr. Scovell's comments are drawn up as follows : — 



1. Leaf is best withered when there is a free supply of 

 light and a circulation of warm air. 



5. I have not found this. An over-wither results in the 

 breaking of leaf, increasing the Pekoe tips. 



14. Heavy rolling destroys the appearance of small leaf 



