MANUAL OF THE NtLA(iIRI DISTRICT. 539 



incurring so heavy an outlay. In Bengal these machines are cn. XXIX. 

 worked by steam-powerj but on these hills there is hardly an r^-j-A. 



estate to be found that has not a sufficient water-supply to work 



a 2 to 3-horsepower turbine or overshot water-wheel. 



Where a number of small gardens lie within reasonable 

 distances of one another, the owners might club together with 

 advantao-e and set up one of these machines for their joint use, or 

 some enterprising individual, who cultivated a somewhat larger 

 acreage than his neighbours, might do well by manufacturing 

 their tea for them at a moderate rate per pound. 



Even with Jackson's machine a light hand rolling is afterwards 

 necessary ; but this takes so little either of time or labour, that 

 the cost may be said to be merely nominal. I am convinced that 

 this machine does as perfect work as machinery can ever attain 

 to, and that its working is never likely to be materially improved 

 on. 



When the leaf is all rolled, the upper fold of the blanket should 

 be folded closely down and the leaf left to take colour. 



Many planters colour their tea loose and in heaps. It is not my — colounng. 

 practice to do so at first, but only towards the end of the process, 

 or if I see that the cones are not colouring evenly throughout. 

 Time is no test at all. I have coloured tea on these hills in 1^ 

 hours, whereas on aJiother occasion I have known it stand for 

 eight hours and even then not take any colour. At an elevation 

 of about 5,500 feet the thermometer will range as a rule between 

 70° to 86°, and the time requii^ed to colour the leaf properly will 

 vary from 2| down to 1^ hours. 



The colour of the leaf when ready for drying should be a 

 brownish olive. If the fine leaf is too brown there is risk of 

 sourness, and the strength of the sample will be aflfected ; if 

 the larger leaves are too green there will be a raw acrid flavour in 

 the liquor after infusion. So long as the leaves that still appear 

 green are only a few coarse ones that have got in here and there, 

 it does not much matter : these will come out in the sifting. Of 

 the two evils, let your tea be under rather than over coloured. 

 Constant attention and practice are the only things that can help 

 you. A fairly trained staff, with whom a little trouble has been 

 taken at the outset, may be trusted to work by themselves in a very 

 short time. I have seen various means of forcing out the colour 

 practised, but do not advise the adoption of any of them. 



When this process has been completed, the cones should be 

 broken up thoroughly, no small lumps being allowed to remain, 

 and the whole spread out thinly until the trays are ready to 

 receive it. 



Now before going on any further with the manufacture, appliances. 

 I will explain the various appliances in use for drying off 



