44 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[July i, 18^5, 



ature in a tea room, just enough to secure a wither, 

 " exlractiiKj " the "juices ?" — theine aud tannin, I sop- 

 nose, ai">5 meant. Fray what does the Sirocco do with 

 the juicy roll put into it, when it is fired at fronr 

 275 to 300 degrees, when its 40 feet chimney is spread- 

 ine far and wide the fragrance of the drying tea ? 

 Is' the hot dry air rising from the stove aud going 

 through the trays guaranteed to spare the "juices" 

 referred to? or is it only the moisture that is 

 dispelled '! Any way, it leaves enough behind to give 

 practical proprietors at least an average of Is .Sd a 

 lb. for the residuum. Why run the gauntlet then, 

 with a claim for "commonscnse aud scientific 

 grounds" in the case of withering ? Does "Practical 

 Proprietor" profess not to know that from "25 to .SO 

 per cent of moisture is expelled in ordinary withering 'I 

 and if this process which is indispensable in tea- 

 making dots not "extract" the "juice"' any more 

 than the Sirocco does at a fierce "dry" heat of 300 

 degrei"?, wherein lies the "scientific" or "common- 

 sense" diflference which has caused so much alarm 

 and anxiety in the proprietory bosom ? 



Tlie next objection is: " And the leaf would become 

 harsli and would noi roll." I don't think even 

 " comuiousenae" and "soicntifio grounds" can be ac- 

 cepted as an excuse for the charming heterodoxy of 

 this proposition. It is to well established that an 

 overwitbertd leaf makes invariably a better twisted 

 tea, that one does not know by what subtle reaEOuiug 

 the writer arrived at his cuuclusions. No matter how 

 harsh the withered leaf may be, if well i)lucked, I '11 

 venture to back a .Jackson's " Exctliior, " aye! even 

 a Thompson's " Challenger" for harsliness to sit against 

 harshness. You have seen a corkscrew. That's the 

 association iu the mind, at tiicind of the coullict, as 

 far as the leaf goes. 



It is cousoliug to our ruffled feelings however to 

 know that " A Practical Proprietor" has not left us and 

 his suparintendcuto witlnut a hope at this critical 

 juncUire of hie ri flections and speculations. He has 

 "thought the subject out" aud told us what he 

 Ihonght. Y»t he promiats to " cmsider the question 

 /urtliir and let j'oii know the remit.'' ludii has 

 tt'or/.TiZciut a great deal and Ceylon is loorkitiei it out now 

 in her numerum tea factories. Let us by all means add 

 10 our experience the speculations in Turkish baths 

 if ihey will stand criticism and practical experiments. 

 — Youri truly, AG RICO LA. 



~"^ "rose cultivation. 



Deak Sir,— Will any of your readers be so good 

 as to infoim me the b st meth'-d of gruwing roses 

 in Colombo ? What mmure to be applied and in 

 what pro))oriion ? Are wood-ashes as gathered in 

 th« kitchen mixed with m: nure any good? Also the 

 b(st way of removing Mack bug, which infest the 

 trees and kill them ult'm'tely. Infoimntion on these 

 pent*! will be gratefully rece'ved by, yours faithfully, 

 KK1^IDKNT IN COLOMBO. 



No, II. 



Datota, 21st June 1886. 

 Sir,— The test iriethod I fourel of striking slips was 

 to put them in almost pure sard kept moi-t all the 

 limn, for about two weiks, giving th m a little of the 

 mnrningtun. By tha" time the^ will have struck root, 

 when they could lie trunsferred to a bed or pots having 



Charcoal 

 the 

 but 



equ >1 portions of rotted cowdung and sand. ( 

 aiiol ed to the pan's brings out the coler of the 

 , betier. A small ainr ant of ashes is gf 

 must be known that ash is caustic, aid without 



apiil ed to the pan 



flowiis betier. A small amr ant of ashes is good 



it must be known that ash is caustic, ai 



he a d of manure is inert, or rather harmful. For 

 tlaik l.ug try a dusting of sulphur, a branch from the 

 rinaio placed in the plaut, or an inlusion of tobacco 



d twuiato J«uve» ; any of these i« said to be efficacious. 



If your correspondent has the Tropical Agriculturist 

 with him, he will read about the best way to cultivate 

 roses and keep off insects freni them. I gained most 

 of my experience irom reading it, aud was successful 

 in growing roses. 



I forgot to mention that roses thrive well on cabook 

 soil, but the ground must be well forked and a little 

 liiue or ashes applied to make the soil porous. — Yours 

 faithfully, B. E. 



P, S. — I have seen a lot of people unsuccessful in 

 growing roses : they manure them too often, and fork 

 them too often aud thereby damage the rootlets formed 

 by the previous application of manure. 



Tea Boxes. — Messrs. W. H. Davies & Co. send us 

 a sample of a Lox made by the Patent American 

 dovetailing machinery. The box is of American pine 

 well seasoned and very strongly dovetailed together. 

 Messj's. Davies, we understand, are imporliag these 

 boxes in the following siz^s :— 16x 16 x 16 (§ in. thick) 

 for 40 lb. and 24x19x19 (i in. thick) for SO lb. tea. 

 If they can be supplied cheaply, there should be a 

 good demanil for them. 



Tea Leaf Withering — Here are hints from 

 practical proprietor to his superintcnelent in refer- 

 ence to " withering " which ate worth rcailnig :— 



" is iu trouble about the accumulation of uuwithcrcd 



leaf he has, iu consetiueuce of the rainy weather. 1 wrote 

 to him yesterday, suggesting experiments iu withering, by 

 means of heat from the vapour of hoihng water, i. e, 

 steam. I toht bim the result ot an experiment I niaele, and 

 suggested further trials. .Since then I have thought the 

 subject out, and I now tell you, for your guidance, wliat 

 I thiuk. — It is quite clear that tea should not he arti- 

 ficially withered by means of dry hot-air ; because 

 in drying this way the juices of the leaves are extractetl 

 aud the leaf would become harsh, and would not roll well ; 

 but if the leaf is withered by moist hot-air, the result 

 would be dillereut. I remember well, that, iu offices aud 

 buildings heated [by stoves and hot-air ; there was in- 

 variably plaeeil, or should have been placed, large tins 

 contaiuing water on the top of the stove, so that the air 

 to be inhaled shoidd have a sufficient quantity of moisture. 

 If you heat your tea-house up to 120 degrees with hot- 

 air, you would soon knock your coolies aud yourself up; 

 but if you put tins of boiling-water aud make your air 

 moist, you and they could stand 120or 1-10 degrees without in- 

 convenience. Anyone who h,as been iu a Turkish bath kuows 

 all about this. I say then, on commouseuse as well as scienti- 

 fic grounds, that, if tea leaves are be to withered properly 

 by artificial means, it muft be air heated by the vapour 

 from boiling-water. Fortunately nothing tan be easier 

 than _doing this : a dozen ways at once present themselves 

 to me. You can try the experiment m the easiest aud 

 most inexpensive way, and wiih very little trouble. Place 

 on your tea-diier tins (as large as possible) containing 

 wilier; over this put your calico trays, on which spread 

 your leaf. The w.iter will soon boil, and, what with the heat 

 from your drier, mul the boiling-waler, ycuwi'lsoon nUa 

 the general tuniper.'Uur.s to IkH degrees (not enough for 

 wiiherini?), aud the heat under your calico trays to 140 

 i or l.'iU degrees, which will nithir your leaf ilia few minute 

 I If thiuly spread. The best vapour fof heating a withering 

 ! room woulil be that from |,ourinff water on a surface os 

 I red-hot iron ; the steam would be superhcateil. The 

 j chief object of my writing this letter to you is to say, 

 ! after thinking the- rontter over, that there is one Way 

 of artificially ffitherirj;- leaf without extracting the juices, 

 which can be carried out at a very sniai' expense iu a variety 

 of ways , viz., by heating the air in your wilheiing-room 

 to the necessary degice of beat by means of the vapour 

 from boiling-watcr. that is by moist lieat iu contra- 

 distinction to (Irv heat. After reading this letter send it 



over to , and, I ask you both not cnlyto experiment 



but think the subject out I will consider the question 

 futthtv aud let you know the result." 



