538 



MANUAL OP THE NILAGIKl DISTKICT. 



Tea. 



-rolling. 



— second 

 rolling. 



— rolling by 

 machinery. 



"Rolling is a process in which no small amount of dexterity 

 is required to turn out first-rate work. Some planters roll the 

 leaf straight out ; others with a circular sweep of the hand, 

 taking care always to work in the same direction. The latter 

 motion may be best described as that of an eccentric set on a 

 false axis. The latter method is the better in my opinion. Some 

 roll their leaf very heavily, making a regular lather of the juice ; 

 this is bad, as in addition to weakening the tea by imdue 

 expression, the finer leaves get broken. The leaf should be 

 lightly rolled, the juices being little more than brought to the 

 surface^ and only sufficiently expressed to cause the leaves to 

 adhere when compressed by the hand into the form of a cone or 

 ball. The fine twist and curl are communicated to the leaf not 

 by hard pressure, but by frequently taking up and intermingling 

 the mass as the rolling progresses, and picking out, for subse- 

 quent separate treatment, any hard coarse leaves that have been 

 brought in. As to the amount that a man should take up at a 

 time, sufficient to make when rolled a ball as large as a full-sized 

 cricket-ball is enough ; with a smaller quantity the leaf is apt to 

 be broken, and with the larger the roll will not be even nor the 

 twist good. The time taken to roll a handful will be from 

 seven to fifteen minutes. It is better not to judge by time but 

 from the appearance of the leaf. When ready the leaf should be 

 taken up between the two hands and pressed into the form of a 

 ball or cone. Keady for the reception of these a blanket is laid 

 single -fold on a bin or at one end of the rolling table, the upper 

 fold being rolled up until the exposed half has been fully covered 

 with balls of leaf. Few men in Southern India will roll well 

 more than 25 to 30 lb. of leaf a day. 



Some planters are in the habit of giving the leaf a slight 

 panning and then a light second roll, in order to perfect the 

 appearance of the tea : when the twist looks insufficient, or the 

 get-up of the tea is of special importance, this is an excellent 

 plan. 



While on this subject I may as well venture a few remarks on 

 the advantages of rolling tea by machinery. The only machine 

 with which I am hitherto acquainted that can be said to do its 

 work satisfactorily, and to save a vast expenditure of labour 

 without in the least degree impairing the quality of the produce, 

 is that patented by Messrs. W. and J. Jackson, late of Assam. 

 The Calcutta Agents from whom these may be procured to 

 order are Messrs. Williamson, Magor and Co. 



The great drawback to the use of these machines, so far as the 

 Nilagiris are concerned, is the excessive prime cost, somewhere 

 about £110 sterling in Great Britain, and then only large estates 

 of 100 acres or upwards, in full bearing, would be justified in 



