484 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [January i, i88fe. 



No. 3 AND T SIROCCOS. 



Puliiuwi qui meruit ferat. 



To tlie Editor " Indian P/anter's Gaxette." 



In your issue of <Jth October your correspoutlent 

 "Arid" made a vehement attack on Mr. Davidson's 

 No. 3 Sirocco, and with a wrong interpretation of t!ic 

 cause that led Mr. D. to give the alteration pieces 

 gratis to all, clenches his reasoning by adding " this 

 IB equivalent to an open avowal tliat the oilier is a 

 failure." X too was mucli disappointed by tlie tiuie 

 the No. 3 required to turn out one maund of dry tea, 

 and in face of the statements nnide by nvMiy Ceylon 

 planters and othersi could not get it to surpass tlie 

 useful and compact No. 1 in the matter of time ; I 

 tried many experiments and got satisfactory tea out 

 of it, but it utterly failed to •• Inru vnl one nnmnd of 

 dni tea in an lionr" as advertised. 



But to " Arid " and all others who have No. 3]b, 

 it is well to know that "balm in Gilead" still 

 remains and, if disappointed, they should lose no 

 time, in having their Siroccos altered to the T-shape. 



I have had mine altered, and for the first time tried 

 it yesterday with the following satisfactory result. 

 Having the thermometer up to '2KU" I had the first tray 

 charged and placed at '2 p.m., which was taken out 

 quite dry in twenty-one minutes. The last tray was 

 taken out at .')-21 and the tea dried in that time 

 (3 hours) weighed 3 maunds .5 seers. 



The tea was rather full-fired— not burnt ; and I am 

 of opinion that, with a lower temperature— say, '270° 

 to '260°— it will give fidly dried fine aroma'd tea with 

 as little|trouble as the No. 1 gives. Craig Ph.vprick. 



Eastern Dooars, 4th November 1885. 



B.^MBoo. — There is nothing like science for enlarg- 

 ing the mind. Take bamboo for instance, which most 

 people would dehne as a hollow, jointed stick of 

 varying size with lance-head-sliaped leaves. Bamboo, 

 we all know, is one of the most useful produc- 

 tions of nature. But we can scarcely recognize 

 our old lend, when described as a plant the leaves 

 uf which " are said to be tussio, tonic, anthelmintic, 

 stomachic and carminative, and the root " cooling, 

 tonic, and alexipharmic." Another species " is 

 prescribed in the form of a decoction of the leaves or 

 root in diseases of the head, chest, etc." A'wash of the 

 leaves in certain other diseases. " Bamboo juice is 

 prescribed in catarrh, fever, acute cerebral, spinal, 

 and bronchial aflections," and soon. But this really 

 quite carries our familiar acquaintance into another 

 world. I knew that the use of the bamboo Mielt fre- 

 queuily caused " acute cerebral affections " (vide 

 police reports i)a!<xim). It is news to learn that its 

 juice taken internally provides a cure ! — Singapore 

 Free Press. 



Inwan Mills. — We notice that while in the 

 twenty-one years the number of the local nijlls 

 has increased from ten to forty-nine, the upcouiitry 

 ones have increased from three to nineteen, the 

 total advancing from thirteen to sixty-eight. The 

 number of spindles have increased locally in round 

 numbers from '250,000 to 1,.S17,000 and iipeountry 

 from iiii.OOU to 30.'i,000. Total increase from '286,000 to 

 1,030,000. Tlio number of looms has increased 

 locally from 3,400 to 1'2,000, and upcountry from 

 '200 to '2,000. Total from 3,000 to 14,000. la 18fi.i, 

 but 7,400 persons — (j,G00 in Bomb.iy and 800 up- 

 country — were daily engaged in the mills of the 

 Presidency. This year over .'■)1,000 were similarly 

 occupied, of Avhich nearly 4'2,000 were employed in 

 the city and suburbs. A record of the cimsuiuption 

 of cotton previous to 187H is not obtainable, but in 

 that year we see the local consumption is given as 

 over 07,000 bales (of 39'2 pounds eacli), and the up- 

 country has 7,500 bales, a total of close on 7ri,000 

 bales. Twelve years Uiter---30th .June this year - 

 the local consumption is stated as over 31)'2,000 bales 

 and the upcountry as over 73,000 bales a total of 

 nearly 406,000 bales.' -Times of India. 



Water-wiieels.— In reply to " Scutifer," it is gen- 

 erally admitted amoug engineers that turbines give a 

 better result than the best vertical water-wheels. 

 They also run much more quietly, and less gearing, 

 shafting or belting is required to comieet them with 

 their work. The power may be conveyed twenty 

 yards or upwards by means of a wire rope with very 

 little loss of power. Mr. Mann's assertion that a turb- 

 ine re(pnres '' a greater au{l moro conoentraleil fall 

 than a water-wheel" does not agree with my expf-ri- 

 encB. If "Scutifer" will state Lis county, I shall 

 prob.-vbly be able tn ineiitiou an application of a turbine 

 hi bis neiglibourbood. For very small water supplies 

 a water-wheel ia sometimes preferred on the score of 

 economy in jirime cost. — OiiAS. Louis Hett. (Exchange 



Club, Biigg, Oct. '24th.) Seeing an incjuiry in your 



colurans as to water-wheels and tHrbines, I may state 

 that Messrs, A. H. Williams, Worthy, A\'ine"bester, 

 are at present erecting a turbine here, tn drive 

 my saw mill. There are about 220 yards of Sin. iron 

 piping l(-t up the side of a pretty steep hill into a 

 reservoir, giving a fall of 70i't., which is to give off 

 37 h. p. indicated, at the turbine. The diameter of the 

 wheel is, I think, 14in. I have formerly driven the saw 

 mill by steam, and I anticipate a great s.aving in fuel, 

 absence of engine driver, &c. The turbine will be at 

 work in .about a fortnight, and I shall be glad to 

 furni.sb further particulars if wanted. — O. H. Di'Rrant 

 Stedaut. (Dalguise, N. B.) — Field. 



Musk Kats and Tainted 'Wines.— In the Field of 

 Sept. r2th, I see two notices of the supposed power 

 of the Indian musk rat or shrew (Sorex cierulescens) 

 to taint wine by the simple process of running over 

 the bottles. The explanation is simple enough. The 

 shrew, which lives on cockroaches, scorpions, small 

 lizardi, snakes, and the like, runs round the edges 

 and eoruers of rooms to hunt ihein, chiefly at night 

 and by day, if possible, finds a soft nest not far 

 from bis hunting ground. I do not tliink that he 

 often burrows, or even uses the burrows of true rats ; 

 but on this point I stand open to coricction. I do 

 know that he will willingly take up his quarters iu 

 any basket, box, or other nook where he has a soft 

 bed. Now, his neighbour, the native "khitniudgar," 

 *' boy," "bearer," or otiier servant, is very much given 

 to wiping glasses with any rag handy; and, as the 

 "Sahib" anil " Mad.ani Sahib" very seldom intrude 

 on the "dispense klmna " or pantry, the same rag 

 does duty for many dajs tin end, and, afier use, is 

 not huug uj} or waslied, but thrown down into any 

 corner, and used again next day, or, perhaps, after 

 several days. In the miauwhile it has very likely 

 been the bed of the musk shrew, and aetjuired enough 

 of his flavour to cominimieate it to the glass and 

 to any wine poured into it. I have known the same 

 thing to happen with keresiiije oil, the same rag having 

 been used first to a lamp and then for a wineglass; 

 yet no one attributes mystical powers to keroaine. 

 I WHS once in the bai'it of keejiing wine, soda water, 

 ke-.y in a basket in a room olf my ofllce, with glasses 

 and other necessaries for luncheon. A musk rat estab- 

 lished himself on some folded napkins among the 

 bottles, and I, to try the matter, Jeft the contents of 

 the basket untouched for a fortnight, merely opening 

 it daily to make sure that he was still using tile 

 nest. They are gentle creatures, and not timid unless 

 bullied, and he soon found that I meant him no harm, 

 and treated bis tlaily inspection as a mere form. At 

 the end of the fortnight I asked several friends 

 to taste the liquor and tell me if they could detect 

 any llavour of musk i-at in it, but neither they nor 

 I could find it iu either the wine, which had foil 

 capsules over the cork, fu- the soda water which Iiail 

 the cuiMMion wired c rks. But Ihe napltins were 

 *' fit to kill at forty rods." and coMnnmiicateil their 

 flavour, when damped, to glasses: they were useless 

 till thoroughly washed. If Auglo-In,li.ins gcerally 

 knew the true habits of the pnoi- musk slirew 1 bojie 

 ! tli'-y would st^ip jiersec-uting that liuinliie guardian 

 of their shores, and lay the bliime lui the dingy 

 stiouldcr.s of their dirty servants, where it is due. — 

 KEWAL4. — Field. 



