October i, 1S85.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



279 



tea is wanted, when the roll is lialf fiuisheJ, sift it 

 through a No. 4, auil ferment otl" what comes through, 

 rc-i-olHug what renjaius iu. Directly the ilay's work 

 is douf , thoroughly wash the roller, easily ilonestheu, 

 but very ilitUcult if left till the juice begins to harden. 

 Have the top table always turned over out of work ; 

 it is theu e:isy to be seeu whether it is cleau or no, 

 and gives no chance to the cooly to leave hit work 

 half done. 



FeiineiUatioK, or, as it is now expre.ssed, oxidization. 

 I think though wo sliould hold to the former, 

 thoroughly sift the roll through the hands and break up 

 all iunips and put litihUi/ into a basket lS"x!)"xG" 

 at bottom, or into a tray 2 ft. x 2 ft. or 3 ft. x 3 ft. 

 and 3 inches deep, occasionally shaking it down, not 

 pressing it. This, covered with Hessian or blankets, 

 not damped unless the weather is very dry, shoulil 

 be put in the coolest part of the factory, and left 

 alone for an hour. KoU thus treated should not be 

 turned during fermentation, nor should fermentation 

 on any account be hastened. No time can be fixed 

 for fermentation to reach perfection, if kept as cool 

 as possible, it will take any time from \\ to 6^ hours, 

 the longer the time the more constantly must it be 

 examined. Examine it after the first hour, and di- 

 rectly, without too close an examination, it shows 

 a bright copper colour ; turn it out on tlie tables, 

 break it up well, a light hand rolling will do it no 

 barm, and put it in your driers. "With properly 

 withered leaf well rolled, except in very dry weather 

 a bright copper outturn is a certainty. In very dry 

 weather we cannot get a bright outturn, and there is 

 no use in waiting ou the roll to get it. Young leaf 

 i.e., leaf for the first three to four rounds after 

 pruning, will not give a good outturn, being a dark 

 olive green in color, with a .«moky burnt flavored 

 liquor. In deciding ou our color we must use 

 the nose as much as the eyes. .So long as the roll 

 has a bright appearance aud smells sweet, we may 

 wait to get colore hut without gaining color {copper 

 color) should it begin to look dull, wait uo longer or 

 the nose will next tell us we have waited just too 

 long — and decomposition has begun. 



iJiiers ami Fiiinij. — I need only, I think, refer to two 

 makers with regard to driers, viz , Davidson and 

 Jackson. Both driers are excellent in their way, it 

 being a mere matter of opinion which is the best, — 

 ray fancy leaus towards the Sirocco; (1) because the 

 outlay at any one time is less; {2) because they are 

 most simple to work and require no motive power; 

 (3) because I would rather have three driers for my 

 money, than one, as even the best machinery will 

 get out of order; ' 4) because I can spread the heat 

 for withering purposes more evenly over my factory; 

 (5) because in slack time I can roll up to one or two 

 or more Siroccos as required. For an ordinary sized 

 garden of 300 to 350 acres say, I would prefer Jackson's 

 Venetian to his Victoria— the former is said to fire off 

 801b tea per hour-, about the same ag the sirocco, 

 costing £100 sterling in London or £127-15 ster- 

 ling at Colombo as against £00 sterling for the 

 T Sirocco. As then I could aiTord three or more 

 Venetians, instead of one Victoria, but although there 

 is not so much difference in cost here as compared with 

 the Sirocco yet again comes the objection as to 

 motive power being required. This where steam is 

 used is felt all the more, as after all our rolling is 

 fini.shed we have to keep up steam to work our 

 driers. For ordinary sized gardens then I would 

 select before all others the T .Sirocco ; this will 

 work off 80 lb. made Tea per hour easily, and as 

 now built are much mere lasting than formerly, 

 and should the diaphragm plates burn through they 

 are easily replaced. A pit 18 ft. by 8 ft. by 5 ft. G iu. wiil 

 hold two of these, and if our g.irden is only a small 

 one we might have only one in each pit, a loss in 

 .stoking only, so as to spread the heat throughout 

 the withei ing lofts, a pit 8 ft. by 10 ft. by 5 ft. (i in. will 

 then be large enough. If the factory is built ac- 

 cording to the plan I have suggested, the 

 smoke chimney should bj led beyond the 

 upper floor through the roof of the wing, by an elbow 



bend, thus not interfering with our witheriug slulves 

 — a chimney running through the withering floor is an 

 olijectiou also iu the way ot drying leaf in its immedi- 

 ate vicinity, and causing extra laKor (if space is not 

 wasted), in moving leaf perpetually as it withers and be- 

 fore it gets dry. 



The T sirocco is too well-known to need description 

 Nor need 1 waste your time iu explaining how it is 

 worked, as very clear instructions are given bv Mr. 

 Davidson with each Sirocco. Suffice it to say 1 find 

 14 lb. of roll to each tr.ay give the best results. It 

 should be worked at S7o°. SO lb. an hour of dry tea is 

 well within its capacity. 1 cooly will stoke 2 siroccos 

 it in the same pit. With 2 coolies to each sirocco to 

 attend to the firing, aud 2 coolies carrying and prepar- 

 ing roll, thus 7 coolies are required to work 2 sirocco in 

 one pit; if 4 siroccos are iu use 1 cooly can be saved 

 in preparing roll, or 4 siroccos will require 13 coolies, 

 aud will turn out .S2ii lb. made tea per hour, at a oou- 

 .sumption of IJ lb. of dry wood i)er lb. of tea. Some 

 small gardens of lflO;to 12t) acres may stdl with advant- 

 age work the old form of No. 1, and I hope Mr. 

 David.son will keep a few on hand aud give them to us 

 cheap. If the old form of No. 1 could be obtained at 

 ^loHjigurc, it would pay young giirdeus, or gardens of 

 small area, to purchase one or more of these, even 

 in preference as I said above to the T sirocco, as 

 No. 1 will work well up t.j the limited rolling power 

 then_ used. Firing by charcoal should be avoide<l if 

 possible, as the waste in firewood and cost is so 

 great. That different gardens owing to some local 

 differences in leaf give differKT\t results is quite 

 patent. In rollers taking twice the time at the s«me 

 speed and with the same pressure to give the same 

 results, and in driers worked at the same 

 temperature turning out far less tea, as witness the 

 difference in Mr. Hay's experience at Blackwater ami 

 mine at Rookwood, as previously shown: my No. 1, 

 turued out 46 and 48 lb. made tea in oiie hour 

 whereas Mr. Hay's trial only gave 30| and 331b. in 

 the hour. I quite lately tried my No. 1 with there- 

 suit that iu bi hours' working I got an average of 

 43 701b, per hour, aid from a converted No. 1 at O.V 

 hours' work an average cf 73 lb per hour : both were 

 worked at 275° as near as we could keep it, and the 

 converted No. 1 was working under the greatest dis- 

 advantage being in a temporary e:irth-pit with no 

 dr.aught. In making pits for the T siiocco we must 

 provide for a good draught by opening a funnel to the 

 outer air, or having windows close-by and low down. 

 From experiments tried I am jierfectly satisfied that 

 the T form of sirocco will turn out an even brighter 

 outturn than the No. 1, and complaints brought against 

 it of stewing the roll or oau.^ing a dull outturn is tho 

 fault of the manager and not of the dri.T. AVe are 

 constantly hearing of our teas being overfired. Tea 

 should never be turneil out of the drier completely 

 fii-ed, it should be cri.sp yet moist (steamy slightly) 

 to the hand. Evaporation goes on for some time by 

 itself from the heat of the tea, and tea slightly under 

 fired will tho next morning when taken out of the receiv- 

 ing bin be found quite crisp and dry. At the side 

 of each sirocco we should have a rec(;iving bin: on no 

 account should freshly fired tea be turned out on 

 the Hoor. I find a very convenient arrange- 

 ment is this. A bin 3 ft. G in high ai:d 

 say 7 ft. long by 3 ft. wiile. The lid opens 

 in two halves: on one half the spare tray ready 

 loaded rests; the other half is opened, and the 

 tray just tiiken from the sirocco is put iu bodily ; the 

 newly-filled tray takes its proper place on the sirocoo, 

 when the tray previously emptied and left in the bin 

 cm be cleaned ami jilaced ready for refilling and tho 

 bin-lid shut down. The back of the bin should have an 

 edging say 4 in. high mi which the back rim of the tray 

 rests, causing the tray to slope and .'^o allowing any fine 

 tips to drop fiirougli. .As the lid is lifted these tips fall 

 into a trough fitted at the back of the bin to receive them, 

 and are fired separ.'itely. Each half (»f fhe lid should 

 have au edging 1.', in. high round sidi's iind front. This 

 form of table bin fs most useful also in final firing, receiv- 

 ing any dust or fine tea remaining in the iiekoe sou- 



