3'45' 



THE, fnOPiCAL AGkiCUVVVmST. [p££. i, nSm 



There appears to be au erroneous impression j 

 akroad tliat a water-wheel and engine cannot be 1 

 made to give off their power in unison with each | 

 other on to the same shaft. I 



Suppose, that I had a Tea estate on which I \ 

 would be quite certain of sufficient water for three 

 parts of the year to do all ray work. I would at 

 once put down a turbine and an engine as well 

 (such engines being able for the work alone), and 

 I would so arrange these by means of belting and 

 pnlloys, that they would be both connected to the 

 main" Une shaft. Then, when water began to get 

 short, I would light the fire in the boiler, then 

 turn on all the available water on the turbine, and 

 make up the balance of the power required with the 



steam engine. . , .„ ^ ^ 



T find a number of gardens will have to 

 take [this in considertion, and I advise, where 

 fuel is scarce and expensive, even if there 

 is sufficient water for half the year, that a com- 

 bination of the turbine and engmes to work together is 

 desirable. . ^ •,, ^ u 



There are only one or two points I will touch on 

 with regard to the management of Tea machinery, and 

 the first is cleanliness. 



I would suggest to those who have not done it, to 

 try the effect of a little soft soap and water on the Tea 

 Hollers and other machinery at the end of the day's 

 work. 



Every drop of waste oil, grease, dirt, and tea juice 

 should be daily washed off the machines, and if this 

 bo insisted on, it will be found no task after a time. 

 It will have a wonderful effect on the durability of 

 the machine, and will stimulate a desire on the part of 

 the Tea-house staff to keep everything else clean and 

 tidy to be in keeping with the machinery. 



It will also bo found of considerable advantage to 

 have the machines painted annually. . 



With regard to the lubricants that are now being 

 used for the machines, th^ie is perhaps nothing has 

 a more important effect on their successful ruimiiig 

 and durability. Still it is one of those things very apt 

 to be neglected, for, as a rule, if the coohe has any 

 kind of oil to pour on the machines he is quite 

 satisfied, and, if heated bearings result, of course con- 

 struction of the machine is blamed. Castor oil, it it 

 is properly filtered, and the oil-holes of the machine 

 daily cleaned out, answers fairly well, but it is a dirty 

 sticky lubricant for Tea machinery, is often mixed 

 with sand and grit, and has frequently led to accidents 

 and stoppages. i • -n i 



The liest lubricant I know of at present is lingel- 

 bert's, which is used most extensively in Great Britain, 

 is not expensive, does not clog or get sticky, the 

 waste oil is easily cleaned away, and it has given the 

 greatest satisfaction in India, where it is now ex- 

 tensively used on our machinery. 



Messrs. John Walker and Co. keep a stock of it in 

 Ceylon, and any planter could readily satisfy himself 

 of what I sav by giving it a fair trial. 



\Vilheriiiii'.—\ hope, all being well, to caiTy out 

 some experiments next summer, with a view of try- 

 ing to bring this under control artifically, and T trust 

 that sooner or later this difficult question will bo 

 solved, as it is the only thing wanted to enable the 

 Tea grower to carry through the whole process of Tea 

 nianniulation independent of the elements. 



/lulliiiq.—l am very gratified to know that our 

 Hollers have done, and are doing, such good work in 

 C'tvlwi. and nothing will be wanting on my jmrt to 

 add littlu improvements to them from time to time as 

 may seem desirable, the latest being the apphoation of a 

 i/i-aiiitc Ciip, with a l.rass-faced lower rolhng table, both 

 uf wl.ich ({ivu every Butisfnction in working, and it 

 emu only bo- a question of time when they will be 

 Kcuerally adopted. ^ i ^ j i * • 



Most planters know what a close-twisted leaf is, 

 but I am not sure that all know what constitutes a 

 properly rolled one, and I would ask those who have 

 not done it, to take a large leaf from the cup after 

 iufusicu, unfold it, and hold it up, so that it wiU be 

 transparent in the light. If it has a cloudy appear- 

 ance of ^jreen and ilirty copper color, then the cells 



ef tlie grtcij portiufls b»vB qot busm sufficiently 



broken, and it is only the copper. colored portions of 

 the leaf that have properly infused, conseqnently 

 harder or more severe r^'Uing is necessary, notwith- 

 standing the leaf may have appeared closely twisted up 

 when it left the roller , but on the other hand if 

 the leaf has the dirty copper color transparency all 

 over, then the rolling has been quite sufficient, 



Fermentinf/ is done in so many ways, and under con- 

 ditions so widely different, that it is difficult to say 

 which is the best. 



I believe, however, that a very good plan would 



be to make a number of light wooden boxes about 



two feet six inches square, say two-and a-balf inches 



j deep, each box being provided with two handles and 



I a movable light wooden cover or lid. 



Fill these boxes with the leaf to ferment, and place 

 them in a rack 3 or 4 above each other, carrying 

 them awivy to the Drier as the leaf is ready. Such a 

 plan would save much space and handling on tables. 



Drying, — In some recent comments under this head, 

 I believe several important points liave been over- 

 looked. 



In my opinion, when the fermented leaf is putiu 

 the machine to dry, it ought not to be taken from 

 such machine again till it is dry, and the ofteuer it 

 is removed from such machine, and exposed to the 

 action of the cold atmosphere during the process of 

 drying, so much less brisk will the tea bo. I have 

 proved that this is so bf^yond doubt, and I think .the 

 generality of planters will bear me out, that the No. 1 

 Sirocco gives a better liquoring tea than the Sirocco 

 of later design, where the leaf is much more exposed 

 to the cold air, showing clearly that my theory of 

 having the leaf completely enclosed in the hot-air 

 chamber for desiccation is the correct one. 



It has been said there is some objection to our 

 Victoria and "N^eretian Driers requiring motive power 

 to work them, but if such motive power saves labor, 

 produces automatic action in the machine, and a better 

 liquoring tea, it will hold its own against all argu- 

 ment. The tea is not only turned over inside the 

 machine, thus obviating exposun? to tlie atmosphere, but 

 a large number of coolies' work is saved, and there 

 is absolute uniformity in drying, which cannot be 

 obtained when the hands of a number of coolies have 

 to deal with it. 



Then it has been said that motive-power Driers are 

 further objectionable, particularly where a steam en- 

 gine is used, but here again I say the objection will be 

 overruled when it is borne in mind that there will be 

 almost sufbcient steam left in the boiler when the 

 rolling is done to complete the drying, as the power 

 required for these machines is only fractional. 



It lias further been said that a number of small 

 Driers are preferable to one large one for fear of 

 breakdown. 



This is, in my opinion, a myth, as the same argu- 

 ment would apply with more force to KoUing machines, 

 and yet one largo Uolltr is preferred to a lot of small 

 ones. Our motive-power Driers are made in three 

 sines. 



aiftitKj.— 11 Tea were only a grniuilar substance like 

 sand or grain this would not long remain a ve.scd 

 question. 



It has been stated that our continuous action Kureka 

 .sifter mskes the tea grey during Its passage through it. 

 This is entirely under control by simply reducing the 

 height of till' lower end of the machine, .•sO that Iho 

 tea will travel over quicker, as it simply comes to the 

 ■same thing whether the tea travels slowly over a 

 limited distance or quickly over a longer. Tea will 

 bpccme quite grey in a hand sieve if shaken about 

 long enough in it. I hope, however the, da.\ is not far 

 distant when the bulk will be equalized before sorting, 

 when a much less Mfting surface will answer. 



Jk'ltii'ij.—l am of opinion that iiidiarubber bands are 

 best suited tdi Ceylon. 



I have lately seen several five-ply straps that were 

 sent out with our first rollers some years ago, and 

 they are practically as good as new, the reason in my 

 opinion being due iu a great measure to the use of 

 Harris's patent clip for the joint, 



