Miscellaneous. 



449 



November 1909. 



whilst many of those packed in dry 

 brown gritty earth had germinated 

 slightly, and 25 % of the seeds so treated 

 give promise of success. 



The protracted sea voyage also had an 

 harmful effect on the tender cacao seed- 

 lings, which germinated in cases on the 

 voyage, and a high percentage of the 

 plants has been lost. 



Provided the shipment could be made 

 direct from Colombo to Mombasa via 

 Bombay, usually about 16 to IS days, it 

 is practically certain that fresh cacao 

 beans, if packed in biscuit tins between 

 layers of dry gritty earth, would reach 

 their destination in good condition. 



New Peradeniya Tea Estate.— This 

 place was visited with Mr. Kelway 

 Bamber, P.l.c , F.CS., etc., who, with the 

 manager kindly supplied the following 

 notes on tea : — 



The output of tea per annum is about 

 650,000 pounds. 



Cultivation, etc.— Well-drained shelter- 

 ed land where the rainfall is not less 

 than 60 inches per annum will grow tea 

 in Ceylon, but the annual rainfall may 

 be as high as 200 inches and upwards. 



It is considered that better tea is 

 produced in the highlands than the low- 

 lands. Where the land is exposed shelter 

 is provided by such trees as Grevillea 

 robusta (silky oak), Erythrina iithos- 

 perma " (Dadap), etc, 



The tea bushes are usually planted 

 about 3 ft. by 4 ft., and when about three 

 years old from seed, they are cut back 

 to a height of 12 to 15 inches from the 

 ground, which causes the bushes to 

 spread laterally. When the new shoots 

 are from 9 to 12 inches high they are all 

 broken back to one level, leaving from 

 4 to 5 inches of stalk, this forms the 

 plucking base, and nothing should be 

 touched below it. 



After the first plucking the bushes are 

 cut back to about 2 inches above the 

 previous cut and all crossed branches 

 removed. 



For the purposes of utility and appear- 

 ance it is generally desired that the tops 

 of the bushes should have a level surface. 



The young flush shoots up from the 

 axils of the leaves, and when it consists 

 of three leaves and a bud it is ready for 

 plucking, which usually commences from 

 the fourth to the fifth year. 



Plucking consists of removing the 

 young shoot containing two leaves and 

 the terminal bud, the third leaf and a 

 bractlike leaf known as the "fish leaf" 

 being left. 



Pruning is severely carried out at low 

 altitudes about every eighteen months, 

 but in the higher lands the interval 

 between pruning ranges from eighteen 

 months to five years. 



In Ceylon, tea is largely grown on old 

 coffee plantations and manuring has to 

 be resorted to. Farm yard manure is 

 considered to be very good, but its 

 application is expensive. A very com- 

 mon manure is castor oil cake and bone? 

 applied at the rate of about half a ton to 

 the acre. Basic slag is also used at the 

 rate of about 2| tons per acre. 



A dusting of lime at the rate of 2 cwts. 

 to the acie is occasionally given and the 

 land forked to a depth of 4 to 6 inches. 



As regards enemies, that known as 

 "Shot-hole borer" is said to be the 

 worst, and is doing much damage now 

 in Ceylon. As yet no suitable remedy 

 has been found for this pest. 



Red rust is fairly common during dry 

 weather but disappears with the rains. 



Some bushes suffer from " Grey blight,' 

 but no serious harm is done. 



Curing.— The green leaves are brought 

 to the factory in large baskets by the 

 pickers, who again pick the leaves over, 

 discarding the large coarse ones and any 

 foreign matter, leaving as before stated, 

 two leaves and a bud for treatment. 

 The leaves are then spread on " tats " to 

 wither in the withering house, about 

 one pound of green leaves occupying 

 10 sq, feet of surface. 



The "tats" are made of various 

 materials and placed one above the 

 other. 



The operation of withering is con- 

 sidered an important matter, as on its 

 being carried out properly depends to a 

 large extent the quality of the tea. 



During the process of withering, the 

 leaves lose from 40 to 45 % of water in 

 18 to 24 hours, which is the time usually 

 needed in the process. 



From the "withering house " which is 

 generally an upper floor of the factory, 

 the leaves are fed through canvas shoots 

 to the rolling machines, each machine 

 receiving about 250 lbs. of withered 

 leaves at a time. The operation of rolling 

 takes about half an hour. 



The rolled leaves are then put into the 

 roll breaker which is a form of sieve, in 

 order to separate the coarser leaves from 

 the finer ones. The coarse leaves usually 

 undergo rolling three times, while the 

 fine leaf obtained from the roll breaker, 

 after each operation, is placed on cement 



