142 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[August t, 1885. 



hauil roller used in ludia i* so low that it takes in 

 ouly 20 lb. of leaf at a fill, and yet it is said to turn 

 out I'-O lb. an liour. The rolling must, therefore, be 

 completed iu ten minutes, instead of over fifteen 

 minutes to haU'an-hour, as is, we believe, generally 

 the case in Ceylon ?» Full instructions for working 

 ateam-engiues are given. 



TheNoteson "Manufacture" we quote : — 



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

 and cool air. AVithering space of 600 square feet to the 

 mauud is required to <lry leaf in perforated Bamboo trays 

 in damp weather, or s.-vy 67 trays of 3 x 3 with a spread of 

 IJ lb. per tray. In dry weather a seer of leaf per tray, or 40 

 trays per maund, will be found sufficient. 



2. Withering iu the sun is objectionable, but in bad 

 weather wet leaf is bettor withered in the sun or in the wind 

 than by artifici.il lieat. The operation should not be hurried 

 as diied leaf is not necessarily withered leaf. 



3. Under-withered leaf breaks in the roll and gives a 

 green outturn. Over- withered leaf gives tips, but a liark out- 

 turn. Leaf withered in the sun gives a reddish tea. A 

 bright coppery outturn can only be obtained from properly 

 withered leaf. 



4. The leaf gets broken when low rolling tables are em- 

 ployed, anything under 3 feet high would seem to be ob- 

 jectionable. If sap conies (juickly in the roll, it shows that 

 the leaf has not been properly withered, and too much sap 

 will cause a knobby or lumpy roll. Heavy rolling destroys 

 the tip and flavour of the small leaf, but improves the strength 

 of the large leaf. Were it possible to treat the small 

 apart from the coarse leaf the quality of both would be 

 bettered. 



5. Contact with iron blackens the roll, and all iron sur- 

 faces in the Rolling Machines should be changed for wood or 

 bass. Tannic Acid gives a bl.ick precipitate with iron. 



U. Coloriug in balls is uneven. The roll spread out over 

 3 inches thick has a tendency tu get hot and mawkish. A 

 spread of \h iucb covered with a white cloth, in acoul place, 

 takes a good and equal color. There is no fixed time for 

 this coloring or oxidation. The point at which to stop can 

 only be determined by the eye. The color of the roll just 

 before brisk firing is more or less the color which will be 

 found iu the outturn. 



7. Pungency or rasp and a light liquor accompany a green 

 outturn ; thickness and a dull liquor a dark outturn. Over- 

 colored roll produces a soft tea. Care given to the wither- 

 ing ensures good color ; care given to the roll ensures 

 strength, but it will not ensure flavour. There is as yet no 

 known method by which flavour can be fixed. 



8. Leaf opened out to color requires a light re-rolling. If 

 too heavy, this second roll %vill discolor the tips. A seetul 

 pattee mat gives gloss and bloom. 



9. Drying in the suu gives a black and tippy tea but the 

 liquor has a metallic objectionable taste. 



10. Quick firing over all aglow fires gives a brisker Tea 

 than slow firing. The teas get softened over slow fires. 

 The roll spread thick on firing trays gets stewed and dull: 

 —it has been spread too thickly when the fires cannot be 

 seen through contents of tray. When three quarters dried 

 the trays can be safely, and with advantage to quality, 

 piled up five deep in iron oven frames and the curing 

 finished over slow tires. The risk of burning is thus avoided. 



11. One and a quarter maunds of charcoal to one niaund 

 of Tea is ample for Teas cured as above. 



12. Pucka battying developes nose or aroma. Drying in 

 the sun before packing completely desiccates the Tea, but 

 gives it a peculiar and dangerous flavour, 



13. IJulking is better before than after pucka battying to 

 ensure the Teas being packed hot. 



14. Tea rubbed over and through iron or brass sieves 

 becomes nearly white. Grey leaf is caused by smashing 

 through the sieves instead of breaking with the fingers. 

 Jjamboo sieves preserve the bloom but the process is slow 

 anil costly. 



Of course our readers are aware that " pucka batty- 

 ing " means final firing, and as regards what is said 

 about treating large and small leaves separately, we 

 may remind planters, that, while Mr. Meggiuson of 

 Carolina separates the partially-rolled leaf in a coffee 



* Leaf grown at high altitudes seems to require longer 

 rolling. 



pulper sieve, Mr. T. Gray of Maskeliya sifts the 

 leaf when green and professes to be successful in 

 the operation. Which is the preferable process ? 

 or are there any objections to both ? or either ? Mr, 

 Bowling, it will be seen, did not believe either possible. 

 We need not copy what is said about "Mensuration" 

 and " Nails," but we may say that for Nurseries Mr, 

 Cowling states, that, if the seeds are 3 inches 

 apart, 12 maunds per acre of nursery ground will 

 be required ; while, if li inch is the distance, 18 

 maunds will go in an acre of nursery. No preference 

 is expressed, at which we aie naturally surprized. 

 In " Paints and Oils " we notice that for an engine 

 1 pint coconut oil is equal to 1 quart of castor. 

 Portland Cement, Polish, and Postage Rates we[may pass 

 over, but we quote what is said of pots for transplants: — 

 To prepare earth for making pots for transplants, add 

 half a maund of fresh manure {\ maund if dry) to a maund 

 of sticky mud, a quarter maund of charcoal dust, and five 

 seers hay straw or doop grass chopped tine. 

 "Doop" is, no doubt, the doub grass, so plentiful 

 in Ceylou. Prescriptions for fever and other diseases 

 are given, some of which, for instance " Liq. Arsen.," 

 ought certainly not to be administered except on the 

 advice of a medical man. The story in Ceylou was 

 that a former superintendent in Dumbara put an end 

 to 30 coolies before discovering the proper dose of 

 arsenic ! Amongst the miscellaneous information in 

 this extraordinary book are illustrations of " Proof 

 corrections." The rainfall for Kangonea estate for ths 

 months and years from 1875 to 1884 is given, from 

 which we find, that, as in most other parts of Northern 

 India, practically the whole of the rain is concentrated 

 into the five months, May to September, much the 

 greater portion indeed falling in June, July and August. 

 Where rainfall is so unequally distributed the climate 

 is generally insalubrious. The annual falls varied from 

 a minimum of 73 inches in 1878 to 125 maximum iu 

 1883. The average for nine years we make to be 

 somewhat over 103 inches. There are useful recipes 

 for a planter's everyday life quoted, such as to unscrew 

 tight-fitting nuts and so forth. From the paragraph 

 on Roads we see that the estates in Chittagong are 

 assessed for roads at over half-a-rupee per acre. There 

 is information about Shingles, Solder and Soldering 

 Fluid,— aud also about tea seed which we quote : — 



16,000 seedlings raised from the 30,000 seeds which a 

 niaund is supposed to contain, is a fair average to expect. 

 Planting 4 feet by 4 feet, 2,722 seedlings fill one acre, and a 

 mauud of seed is thus about enough for 5J acres of new land. 

 There is an elaborate chapter on Soils aud Manures 

 from which we extract as follows : — 



To know what our bushes extract from the soil, it is ne- 

 cessary to be acquainted with the constituents of green tea 

 leaves, manufactured tea, tea extract, the spent leaves and 

 tea ashes. 



The leaves of the tea bush are all that are actually removed 

 fiom the land, provided that weeds are buried, which in 

 every case should be returned to the soil to keep up its 

 fertility. The leaves contain a large proportion of water,* 

 which is taken back by the soil from natural sources. All 

 but about 5 per cent of this water is driven off in the pro- 

 cess of firing the leaf, the residue, or manufactured tea, con- 

 sisting of the following substances : — 

 In the extract or soluble part, or Liquor : — 



Per ceut. 

 Dextrine, glucose, gum, principally carbon ...17"55 

 Tannin ... ... ... ...1100 



Theine (the alkaloid of Tea, 28 per cent of 



which is nitrogen) ... ... ... 2'00 



Nitrogen ... ... ... ... 600 



Potash ... ... ... ... 2-75 



Ammonia ... ... ... ... '70 



Chlorine and Sulphuric Acid ... ... a trace. 



Essential Oil ... ... ... do. 



* 75 per cent, or3-lths total weight, in case of tea flush 

 indeed 80 per cent, if we count moisture which finally remain: 

 iu finished tea.— Ed, 



