AvoviT 1, lS9^.] 



Tim I'KOPICy^L AGRICULTURIST, 



b^ 



mcye nourishing protein compounds than beans and 

 peas ; and were it possible to render the coarse 

 leaves palatable, they might be used as a nouriahiDg 

 article of food. 



The whcle percentage of the leaf need not necessarilj' 

 be returned to the soil, as we have already seen that 

 part of it is derived from the air. To determine approx- 

 imately the substances actually extracted and which 

 cannot be restored trom natural sources, we must pay 

 attention to the ash of manufactured tea, the analysis 

 of which is: — 



per cent. 

 Potash ... ... ... 3-00 



Soda ... ... ... -10 



Magnesia ... ... ... -30 



Lime ... ... ... -25 



0.tide of Iron ... ... -25 



Protoxide of Manganese... ... '05 



Phosphoric Acid ... ... "SO 



Sulphuric Acid ... ... a trace 



Chlorine ... ... ... ,, 



Silica ... ... ... -25 



Carbonic Acid ... ... l-QO 



"While the combustible or gaseous 

 portions of the manufactured 

 leaf are : per cent. 



AVater ... ... 510 



Nitrogen in tea extract ... 6 00 



Do iusoluble spent leaf (j Ou 



Do Theine ... '50 



Carbon ... ... 4000 



Oxygen ... ... 3000 



Hydrogen ... ... 5'UO 



Sulphur ... ... loO 9400 



Total ... 10000 

 The bulk of the carbon, o.tygen, and hydrogen of 

 the above being supplied by the air, and existing so 

 plentifully in good tea soils ; and the quantity of soda, 

 magnesia, lime, oxido of iron, and manganese ex- 

 tracted being comparatively insignificant, we need 

 only pay attention to a resupply of the other sub- 

 stances, nitrogen, potash, sulphur, and phosphoric 

 acid ; the two former, nitrogen and potash, being 

 thcsa of most importance. There being 12ilb. ofthe 

 former and 3 lb. of the latter in each 100 lb., it there- 

 fore follows that a yearly produce of 400 lb. removes 

 from the soil 50 lb. of nitrogen and 12 lb. of potash 

 per acre. Cow-dung and linseed, or castor cakes, 

 are the only manures which so far have been used 

 to any extent by tea planters, and with consider- 

 able success 80 far as a resupply of nitrogen and some 

 of the soluble ealts is concerned : but neither of 

 these manures contains potash. It ftillbe an assittance 

 to have a simple test for this last named valuable in- 

 gredient. Chemical text books may be souglit in vaia 

 for any but the most elaborate means of detecting 

 its presence j but I ficd that for a rough test it is 

 suthoitnt to stir into the tea infusion (in a wine 

 g1a-8) a< much tartaric acid as will cover the point 

 of a pen knife (part of the ccDtents of the white 

 packet of a seiUlitii powder will do.) whuu a slight 

 cloud wiU indicate a trace, and precipitate BU 

 ftliundauceof po'.aeh. 



With reference to the Saw Tree Mr. Dowllngsaysi 

 —From close observation it would seem that lea gener- 

 ally ii better (at any rate greener) under the fhade 

 of the Acacias. At Agonea there ia some very good 

 tea near Korais, while at AVaga Snrrah the best tea 

 in the garden is shaded by an uou,uaily large Cliukwa. 

 The peculiarity of the Saw, I uuder.'itaad it, is that 

 it has a beneficial effect on tiie soil, and I c. n well 

 inia.;ine this chemical action is possible, for in Cfutta- 

 gong wo know to our coat what a baneful influence 

 tome trees have on the soil. The Assur injures tea 

 near its base. The Banian, though innocuous to p'ants 

 round the stem, yellows the bushes mmy yards off, 

 Tb« GurjoD, lioojia, Cbamlash an^ Mango weaken 



the soil. The Badhi Peeala exudes an odour from 

 its roots which poisons tlie plant for some distance 

 round, while the Doomir (fortunately rare) kills the 

 plant outright at the time when it bears tigs on tho 

 bark of its stem in February and March. It is only 

 reasonable to suppose then th.it some of the Albizzias, 

 apart from any benefit desired from their light shade, 

 have the capability of impressing tho soil. If there 

 are trees which deteriorate the land, we may 

 naturally look for others which better it, and the 

 thanks of the planting community are certaiuly due 

 to Mr. Buckingham for making; generally known the 

 advant.iiies and beneficial infiuenoes of Albizzia 

 Stipulata. — Indian Planters' Gazette. 



THE FATHERS OP THE INDIAN TEA 



INDUSTRY INTERVIEWED.— III. ME. 



W. HAWORTH. 



Mr. Haworth, the subject of tbis interview, is prob- 

 ably the Z)oi/fn of the class representing Anglo-Saxon 

 enterprise m India. He first left England for India iu 

 the last week of 1S27, arriving in India in the middle 

 of the following year after one of those protracted 

 voyages long since relegated to the limbo of the past. 

 Thus every railway iu the world, with the exception 

 of that short initial line between Stockton and Dar- 

 lington, has been comtnenced since Mr. Haworth first 

 left home to become — as it turned out — tho father of 

 various enterprises in the laud of his exile. His object 

 in first going out to India was to superiutend the 

 building of the Strand Flour Mills iu Calcutta which, 

 for a long time, were the largest mills of the kind. His 

 energies were absorbed by this venture till 1S32 when 

 he returned home, but soon left again for India to take 

 out the machinery for and establish the Cossipore rice 

 and flour mills on his ow^n account. These were after- 

 wards converted into a sugar refinery, in which, by 

 introducing " centrifugals, " he soon produced uupre- 

 cedeutly large crystals, these becoming known as 

 " Haworth's paviug-stoues." It was as a member of 

 the Agricultural Society of India, of which ho afterwards 

 became vice-president, tliat tea was discovered ia Assam. 

 Its gradual extension and establishment as an 

 industry thus came promiently under his notice. 

 He was, it may be mentioned, in passing, a member of 

 the committee, who received from tho Viceroy, and 

 tasted the first small package of tea which was made 

 and sant down to Calcutta as a sample. How little 

 could he have anticipated on examining, as a curiosity, 

 those few ounces, that he would not only become one 

 of the benefactors of the new industry whicli was about 

 to take the lead of all others in India, but that he should 

 see the day when that industry should have absorbed 

 close upon 16 millions steiling, and have produced over 

 67 million pounds of tea in one season, yielding about 

 14 million stsrliug to the English Exchequer as revenue. 

 Since his position in the Agricultural Society thus first 

 brought tea before him, his connection with the industry 

 which immediately sprang up has been continuous, Hia 

 special training naturally enlisted hia energies ou the 

 side of mechanical innovations iu the process of rnanu. 

 faoture. Up to 1807-68 t^a was rolled by hand, and — 

 horrihile dictu — sometimes by the feet, after the fashion 

 taught by the Chinese tea makars who were imported 

 to snpervii-e the manufacture on approved I hinese prin- 

 ciples. These principles, though still adhered to in 

 China with that tenacity 10 '' old custoii " so peculiarly 

 dear to the Celestial mind, presented many objections to 

 tho more go-ahead Euiopearis who controlled tho tea 

 estates in India. In lS(i7-0'8, two or three gentlemen 

 commenced experimenting with machines, of more or 

 less crude design, in the hopes of replacing the 

 costly and dirty manipulation by means of a 

 Biachiao which should be both more economic and 

 ckauly in use, from one of these Mr. Haworth received 



