j'UiVE 1, 1S85, 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



TEA 



the excess in ten 

 quality of the tea 

 Jacksou'a superior. 



PREPARING: JACKSON'S VICTORIA 

 . DRIER. 



Gampola, May 16. 

 Large parties are flocking daily to Carolina to see 

 the working of Jackson's new drier, the general opinion 

 being decidedly favourable. I was present yesterday, 

 and was much interested and pleased. The capacity 

 of the machine when fully worked is 170 lb. per 

 hour against the No. 3 Sirocco's 70 lb. maximum, 

 hours being 1,000 lb. The 

 is equal, and some think 

 The principle of Jackson 8 

 machine is greatly superior to that of Kinmond"s : 

 in the latter the heated air repeatedly traverses the 

 tea after it is saturated with moisture, but Jack- 

 son's carries it off, the moisture in the hot air 

 siuking, in its ascent through perforated webs to its 

 expulsion at the top, from 2S0 to 118 degrees. Tea 

 is delivered quite dry. Mr. Jackson claims that 

 two men are sufficient, one feeding and one receiving, 

 but say a stoker is added, this is a great saving of 

 labour, and there is no handling from the feeding 

 till the operation is finished. The heated air is obtained 

 from 23 cast-iron pipes four feet above the furnace. 

 The appliance prevents small tea being drawn up by the 

 fau draught. The total weigl^of metal in the machine 

 is thirteen tons, but three men can carry the 

 largest piece. The fuel has not yet been determined ■ 

 Mr. Jackson hopes that one-and-a-half to one, while 

 Mr. Megginsou considers that one of Jackson's and 

 one No. 1 Sirocco should dry the outturn of two 

 Excelsiors. One Excelsior rolls 400 lb. in three- 

 quarters of an hour. I was much surprised to hear 

 Mr. Jackson aDd others state that the leaf is so 

 tender in Assam that twice that quantity is rolled. 

 The leaf is sometime* rolled for only ten 

 minutes. The reason alleged is the superiority 

 of jat. The indigenous tea on Kadawella at 

 2,300 feet elevation is magnificent, yielding largely 

 in excess of the hybrid. The indigenous at 5,000 feet 

 and over is not a success. The turbine here, of 

 forty-horse power, applying only twelve worked 

 simultaneously two Kxeelsiors, one Challenge, Jackson's 

 and Kinmond's Driers, and a Puluer-sieve. Mr. 

 Megginsou takes out the leaf from the roller at tho 

 half-hour, sifts out the small leaf in the Pulper- 

 sievo No. 3 mesh, and dries the small tea when 

 fermented on the Sirocco again, rolls the large tea 

 fifteen minutes and dries in Jackson's Drier. The new 

 drying-huus3 is being erected on Carolina, Last week 

 8,0001b. of tea were made by Mr. Megginsou, and 

 there is the prospect of a rapid increase. 



LON AND .L' ' 

 I eyloh tea planters, when discussing the position and 

 prospects of their industry, usually take into accouut as 

 competitors in production only the Indian growers leav- 

 ing out of sight altogether those of Java. It must not 

 be forgotten however that Java has a considerable start 

 of Ceylon in this matter, so far at least as quantity 

 is concerned. Thus, in 1S81 the imports of Java r>a 

 into this country had already reached 1,216,000 lb., and 

 In 1S84 this is increased to 3,586,000 lb. It is true that, 

 in the matter of quality, Java is still very much behind 

 both Ceylon and India. But a Mincing Lane broker who 

 js well acquain ed with the trade says that Java teas 

 are steadily rising in favour with dealers and eon- 

 Burners here, and that the low raiv'o of prices current 

 ! bei liar to them, otl indsh 



in an even greater degree ; moreover that those gardens 



in Java, as well as in Ocylon aud India, Lave suffi 

 least from the depreciation which have sent hon 

 bust liquoring teas. It is no doubt a fact that " more 

 attention is now being paid by buyers to the 

 quality of the liquor than has ever before been the case, 

 while teas for mere appearance, that is with handsome 

 leaf and poor Cup, are every year being looked upon with 

 loss favour. Many of the best gardens in Java have re- 

 cognized this fact, we are told, and turned their attention 

 to producing teas with fine flavour and useful strength, 

 in which endeavour they have met with considerable suc- 

 cess. Such invoices always command the. attention of 

 the trade, and meet with the best reception, averaging 

 naturally the highest prices. There are still many 1 

 ulties to be overcome beforea perfect tea can be obtain 1 

 and a more intimate knowledge of its chemical properties 

 s much to be desired. Machinery has proved a great 

 burn to the planter, but care and intelligence are re- 

 quired in its application, aud many a tea has beeu spii 1 . 

 through insufficient knowledge of the actual object which 

 it is desired to obtain." There is a great deal of 

 in all this no doubt, but it is only necessary to glanoc 

 at the quotations to see, that, if many of the best ga 

 in Java have recognized the desirability of-producing 

 liquoring teas for this market, there is still son 

 element wanting to accomplish their aim, though v 

 it be a want of knowledge of the chemistry of tea or n 

 unsuitablity of the soil I cannont preteud to decide 

 Here, however, are two paragraphs appearing side by side 

 in AVednesday's Public Ledyer which sufficiently indicate 

 the relative values in this market of Ceylon and Java 

 teas : — 



"Java. — In auction 513 chests sold as follows : — Broken 

 tea 7}d to 8id, Oongou 7d to 7+d, Souchong 8Jd to8id, 

 Pekoe Souchong 9d, Broken Pekoe lOd to lid, l'ekoe lid 

 to Hid, fine Is 5d to is 7Ad. 



"Ceylon.— The good supply of 801 chests and half-chests 

 27 boxes, chiefly in small lots, was all sold, pricesbeiug 

 rather irregular, excepting for fine which sold at fully the re- 

 cent advance : Broken mixed 9d to Is |d, Souchong lOd to 

 lOJd, Pekoe Souchong lOAd to Is 0|d, fine Is 3Jd, Pekoe 

 fair to good Is Id to Is 4jd, fine to finest Is 5jd to 

 2s 3fd, Broken Pekoe fair to good Is 2Jd to Is 8^d, fine 

 Is HJd to 2s ojd, Orange Pekoe Is 7 r d to Is 9d." 



The above represents the bulk of the Ceylon tea sold 

 this week, the total only having been about 880 packages. 

 They met throughout with brisk competition and sold as 

 you will see at firm rates. Loolcondura brought top prices, 

 2s 5Jd and 2s 3jd, itsaverage being 2s4d. — Our Lotuhn Cor- 



THE PEARL FISHERIES OF TAHITI. 



A recent issue of the Journal Officie.l contains a 

 lengthy report bv M. Bouchon-Braudely, Secretary 

 of the College of France, who was sent by the Ministry 

 of Marine and the Colon es on a mission to Tahiti 

 to study questions relating to oyster-culture there. 

 The principal product of what M. Braudely, with 

 " the summer isles of Eden " fresh in Lis mind, calls 

 " noire belle el si pcttique colonie de Tatli," is mother 

 of-pearl. All its trade is due solely to this article, 

 which for a century has regularly attrai 

 to the islands which compose the , oea of 



Tuamotu, Gambier, - and Tubuai. The mother-of-pearl 

 which is employed in industry, aud especially in 

 Freuch industry, is furnished by various kinds of 

 shells, the most estimated, variegated, and beautiful 

 of which are those of the pearl oyster. There are 

 two kinds of pearl oysters— one, known under the 

 name of pintadine (Meleagrina margarctifera), ia fcund 

 in China, India, the Bed S<a, the Comoro islands, 

 North-Eastern Australia, the Gulf of Mexico, aud 

 especially in the Tuamotu and Gambier archipelagoes ; 

 the other, more commonly called the pearl oysfei 

 (Meleagrina radiata), comes from India, the ChiDa 

 seas, the Antilles, the b'ed Sea, and Northern 

 tralia. The shell of the former is harder moro tint d, 

 more transparent, anil reaches greatev dinren 

 the latter, Some have been fuuud which have 



