202 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agrieidturist 



bricks, is large in quantity, and not sat- 

 urated with moisture. In all cases when test- 

 ing results the thermometer should be placed 

 in contact with the roll and not on a wall in 

 the full strength of the inrush of cold air. 

 The simple presence or absence of light seems 

 to have no appreciable effect on the colouring 

 of the leaf and colouring rooms brilliantly 

 illuminated with suitably installed electric light 

 are as effective as those kept as dark as Erebus. 



Light generally means heat, a\id is apt, on 

 that account, to be tabooed ; but large double 

 panes of glass with a space between, set in 

 suitable fames in the walls, amply meets the 

 ease, and greatly facilitates efficiency of working. 

 The outer wall of the colouring room, which is 

 used in the process of lowering the temperature 

 of the air, should face as near to 22"5° east of 

 north; as the direction least exposed to the sun's 

 rays and that only when the atmospheric tempe- 

 rature is low, viz., early morning. As regards 



DISPOSAL OF THE LEAF, IN THE COLOURING ROOMS, 



it is placed on the floor, on glass, slate, tiles and 

 cement ; it is raised off the floor on trays and 

 racks. Both these systems are at the top of 

 the London market, so either seems efficacious. 

 That the oxygen contained in the atmo- 

 sphere is practically the only agent of value 

 in colouring the leaf, may be accepted as an 

 axiom, the result of modern research and ex- 

 periments. Further, it follows that the larger 

 the quantity of air passing through the colouring 

 room the better; in any case the current of air 

 induced by a power fan can in no way be con- 

 sidered in] urious. Inasmuch as increased pres- 

 sure might mean* a rise in temperature and vice 

 versa we would give the preference to the ex- 

 haust fan. A cool atmosphere being denser 

 than a warm one contains ceteris paribus more 

 oxygen per cubic foot, and on this ground 

 should be more effective. The object in all 

 systems seems to be to expose the roll in thin 



layers to the action of the air (oxygen ?) 



If by raising the roll off the ground we can 

 reduce its temperature, this system would seem 

 advisible ; on the floor the underside of the roll 

 is not exposed to atmospheric influences at all, 

 and here again it might be policy to raise the 

 rolls off the ground, and it economises space 

 to stack the rolled leaf. The main advantage of 

 using the floor as a depository for rolled leaf is 

 cleanliness, and undoubtedly of all surfaces in 

 use for this purpose glass takes the palm, but 

 the customary disinfection can be overdone. 

 Disappointing teas have been received on the 

 London market which seemed to point to the 



EXCESSIVE USE OF PERMANGANATE OF POTASH 



or other disinfectants. The trays in ordinary use 

 m colouring rooms are often dirty, and generally 

 inaccessible in detail to the best antiseptic inten- 

 tions. The most businesslike method noticed 

 was the use of thick sheet of plate glass set in 

 plain oblong teakwood frames painted with cop- 

 per-coloured marine paint and kept apart when 

 stacked, by transverse battens of suitable size 

 and shape ; the glass being removable. The 

 use of glass was being dispensed with as being 

 too fragile, though it had much to commend it 



on the score of cleanliness, and brass wire No. 4 

 meshing substituted. This had all the appear- 

 ance of solving the question satisfactorily, 

 being durable and admitting more contact with 

 the air. — Indian I'Lanters' Gazette, July 11. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF ©BEEN TEA. 



A New Sifting Machine. 

 Those planters who make a speciality of the 

 manufacture of green tea will have been interested 

 in the new sifting machine. The inventor claims 

 with much reason that it possesses several ad- 

 vantages over the older contrivances which have 

 been on the market for some years. The horror 

 of a tea house is a confused mass of belticg and 

 exasperating complexity of pulleys. This the 

 inventor set himself to avoid and heappearsto 

 have been remarkably successful. In his new 

 machine only one pulley is used and only one 

 belt, and the action is so simple that it seems 

 impossible for the gear to get out of order. In 

 another direction simplicity has been aimed at 

 and a minimisation of risk. The shafting goes 

 only a little way into the drum, the bulk of the 

 weight being taken up by the two friction pul- 

 leys. This is an obvious desideratum. A special 

 feature of the outfit which will be very acceptable 

 is that one section can be washed out while the 

 other is still being used, without changing the 

 belt or stopping the whole machine. Easily 

 cleaned and simply worked sums up the princi- 

 ple of an invention which we believe is only to 

 be known to be thoroughly appreciated. 

 — Calcutta, Paper. 



TEA AND fSUBBEH GROWSNG 

 m JAVA. 



RICE AND POOR DISTRICTS j HEAVY TEA CROP 

 EXPECTED THIS YEAR. 



In recently discussing in Batavia their local 

 tea industry, we learn that a number of Java- 

 planters arrived at the conclusion that there 

 was not more than 10 per cent of all the estates 

 capable of producing 1,000 lb. per acre ; but one 

 of the planters writes to us: — 



It must not be forgotten that this 10 

 per cent represents new estates run on new 

 systems, whereas the remaining 90 per cent are 

 nearly all old estates which have been in culti- 

 vation for years. From this I do not wish you 

 to gather that the old estates are worn out; 

 but simply that the planters hero have gathered 

 experience and there is hardly an estate being 

 started now which will not give its 1,000 lb. per 

 acre. There are a great many estates here which 

 can put their tea on board for 2gd per lb., so 

 that on quantity their tea pays splendidly, even 

 when the price of common teas is down. I was 

 staying at ' Malabar ' last month and I can 

 oidy tell you that I saw one plain of 6,000 acres 

 of tea which last year averaged over 1,000 lb. 

 per acre all through. I saw one garden, which 

 had never been pruned, which last year gave 

 l,9ou lb. per acre over 80 acres. And yet a Ceylon 

 man's hair would stand on end with horror 

 if he saw the methods in use there. 



