1s^ 



THE TROPICAL AdRICULTUKIST. 



[May I, 1886. 



Works." He complied very reluctantly after consider- 

 able persuasion, his faith in the venture not being 

 great. He is known, however, as the maker of Tea 

 Drying Machinery over there in Belfast, and the public 

 seem to argue, that as he has so much to do with 

 the manufacture of tea he must know where to obtain 

 it good, for without any push on his part, this retail 

 bu.-incss has suddenly attained a huge success, much 

 to Mr. Davidson's surpri.se, and he has already the 

 second largest business in Belfast, within a few months 

 of starting ! He deserves to succeed in all he does, 

 his friends think. 



♦ 



A Maekkt Peoduce Samplk Depot. — Amongst the 

 most practical of the market arrangements in Berlin 

 is that recently inaugurated by the market author- 

 ities in that city. A permanent exhibition is now 

 established of samples of all articles of daily con- 

 sumption, and includes those sold by grocers, dealers 

 in colonial wares, luxuries, drugs, country and garden 

 produce of every kind. The purpose of the sample 

 deput is to facilitate the sale of such goods by means 

 of the permanent exhibition, and by the publication 

 of future sales and offers; and, further, the object 

 will be attained— 1. By means of a show of samples, 

 sample books; by exhibiting price current.s, tele- 

 graphic announcements, address cards, prospectuses, &c., 

 which will be open to public inspection without charge. 

 2. By undertaking the business of a commission agency 

 and acting as representatives of merchants, itiiporters 

 and exporters. 3. By advfrtisiiig in the public prints 

 free of charge to those showing samples. 4. And 

 by undertaking to carry out sales by auction on the 

 behalf of inland or foreign traders. The exhibitors 

 will subscribe for the services of the sample depot 

 authoiities the sum of 20 marks yearly, and the legal 

 taritt fixed for commis.sion agents. The space required 

 by the exhibitor for the due exhibition of his wares 

 will be alloted without charge. These arrangements 

 would seem to be well suited to both buyer and 

 seller alike, as the former can inspect, free of eost, 

 any article he is desirous of buying either wholesale 

 or retail, and the latter is certain of finding a mar- 

 ket for his goods without any further charges than 

 those mentioned. Measures willbe taken to prevent 

 any abuse by dishonest persons of the informatio" 

 at the disposal of the depot by its being affo.rded 

 only to buyers of known probity.— GaJ'rff'ifi-.?' Citron- 

 icU. 



Shand's New Tea Dbieb, Ceylon.— On the after- 

 noon of Wednesday last Mr. C. Shaud's New Flue 

 Tea Drier was open to public inspection at 

 the St. Sebastian's Store, Colombo, In the absence of 

 any green leaf on which to experiment, nothing in 

 the way of a conclusive trial was attempted, nor could 

 any information be afforded as to the comparative 

 advantage of the invention in regard to the degree of 

 heat attained from any given quantity of fuel. The 

 construction of the drier is very simple. The one on 

 view is a brickwork chamber, 34 feet long, 3 feet 

 wide, and about as much in height; two rows of iron 

 p:ati s are built horizontally into the brickwork, 8 

 inches apart. The lower are a foot or so from the 

 floor of the chamber, and the upper cnes .some 3 

 inches below the top of the outside walls. A furnace 

 jit one end furnishes the heat, the smoke passing 

 under the lower row of plates, which are made ab- 

 solutely smoke-tight, and escapes at the other end of 

 the chamber. The space between the plates consti- 

 tutes the air flue; air is admitted on one side above 

 the furnace, and heated in the flue, and like the 

 Bmoke escapes at the other end. The upper surface 

 of the top row of planting of the flue forms the dry- 

 ing platform, on which the tea trays are placed, as 

 in the ordinary sy.stim of chula firing, or moved along 

 after the manner' of a " Sirocco." A new idea was 

 Under experiment .it St. Sebastian's. A wooden stag- 

 iBg had been erected over the flue, iu which three 

 tows of trays could be placed, divided from each other 

 by thiu metal sheet.s, something in the way of the 

 first Siroccos that came to Ceylon. The thermometer 

 r«giBtBf«d SOO® at tbe time pftbe esperiment, and 



the air in the flue was apparently of an even tem- 

 perature throughout or nearly so. In our opinion, as 

 well as that of several present, there is room for 

 considerable economy in heat and fuel, to which no 

 doubt Mr. Shaud will give his early attention. The 

 great advantage offered to planters in the Flue Tea 

 Drier is that the furnace can be made to consume 

 anything that can be used as fuel, whereas the old 

 chula system necessitated the use and manufacture 

 of charcoal, which, on many estates, is expensive, and 

 on others impossible, to obtain. A modification and 

 adaptation of Mr. Shand's invention will doubtless 

 supply a desideratum on small estates, where the larger 

 and more expensive machines are beyond the means 

 of the proprietor; but we doubt |muc]i any great 

 adoption of the Flue Drier as it now stands. We 

 understand Mr. Shand asks for a royalty of RlOO 

 on each Flue Drier erected for use, and is prepared 

 to supply the iron plates at some 50 per cent below 

 the current prices in the Island. — Local "Times." 



Damaged Tea and Chests. — Our readers will no 

 doubt recollect the disscu.ssion which arose some short 

 time ago in reference to certain packages of Ceylon 

 tea arriving in the home market iu a damaged condition ; 

 and various propositions were put forward as to the 

 cause of this injury to the contents of the packages. 

 It W-1S by some .supposed to arise from the unseason- 

 ed or unsuitable wood of which the tea boxes were 

 constructed ; this had tended to corrode the lead, and 

 damage the contents of the case. Again, it was 

 supgested it was the action of the insufficiently or 

 improperly cured tea itself, which acted on the lead. 

 In any case the tea was damaged, and in one in- 

 stance gave occasion to legal action between the parties 

 through whose hands the damaged tea had passed. 

 A new light has now been thrown upon the subject 

 by Messrs. Geo. White & Co., of London, who, in 

 their ''Ceylon Tea Memoranda", just to hand, state 

 as follows: — "It is important that shippers should be 

 careful to prevent teas acquiring a druggy flavour, as 

 the sale of several parcels has been prejudiced on 

 account of this lately. Tea, as is well known, easily 

 becomes impregnated with any strong scented article, so 

 that it should not be placed near deleterious substances, 

 either in the tea houses, godowns, or on board ship. We 

 believe this is, more often than not, contracted while 

 on the voyage home ; so that it would be advisable 

 to ship iu steamers used to the trade, the bills of 

 lading for which have a special Tea clause." AVe 

 need hardly point out that similar contamination 

 with other articles of produce has been a common 

 complaint in all courses of shipment in every part 

 of the world, though we are not aware of any serious 

 instance of it in regard to tea. AA^e should have thought 

 that the lead-lining to tea boxes would have acted as 

 a sufficient guard to exclude the scent attaching it- 

 sell to the tea, but probably it impregnates the boxes first, 

 and when the lead is opened the scent gains .admit- 

 tance. A large number of cases impregnated with a 

 powerful scent might for a time contaminate a whole 

 store, am! so aflfect the tea in course of bulking. 

 There can bo no doubt that in course of time the 

 import or manufacture of tea b(ixe.s will constitute a very 

 large and important industry iu Ooylou, and it would 

 be well to collect all information and details bearing 

 on the suitability or otherwise of the wood employed 

 for the cases, not omitting that of its susceptibility 

 to contamination from extraneous odors. Protection 

 from contamination on shipboard on the voyage home 

 will, we suppose, be afforded when exports largely 

 increase, and exporters will have it ni(sre in their 

 power to dictate terms to the carrying steamers. A 

 ship load of tea is at present niiheared of, but the 

 time will come when such a thing will be (jnite as 

 likely from Ceylon as it has been from the tea ports 

 of China, and in such case a .'special tea clause in the 

 Bills of Lading will be no novelty in Colombo. Kough 

 country-made packages would, we imagine, be more 

 hkc'ly to be damaged by contact with powerfully scented 

 articles, than the neat close-fitting machine-made or 

 imported boxes such as those brought to our notice by 

 Mr. Deaae.— /*!'?. 



