The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



TEA AND CEARA RUBBER IN 

 NYASSALAND. 



Mlanje, Nov. 11th. 

 Dear Sir,— 1 note various articles in the 

 T. A. new and again about JNyassaland and 

 its progress. It is only right that, as "H. B." 

 has written such glowing accounts of the 

 tea industry, he should give full parti- 

 culars as to his exact acreage in bearing 

 and as to the yield per acre. If you look up 

 some of the T.A.'s and Observers, you will very 



likely see that estate had some 200 acres of 



tea a good few years back, but it now seems 

 to have dwindled down to a smaller acreage ; 

 also the number of acres in bearing is too funny 

 for words. I ask huw any planters, if they put on 

 a gang of men, women and boys without any 

 past experience to prune and pluck, could ex- 



Eect really good results p — Also, if the place 

 as been planted under a forest 6 ft. apart both 

 ways, and coffee in between the lines ? Then, 

 supposing a planter had 180 acres of tea 

 planted !.ome years ago, say 5, and put a gang of 

 women and children in to take oft' all the bud 

 and low leaves over the 180 acres, and the planter 

 were to say he had only 30 acres in bearing and 

 that the remainder was growing, is that the way 

 to boom tea in an unknown country ? I have been 

 here for the past 5 years and have now planted 

 150 acres of tea according to Ceylon methods. 

 I am at present unable to give the exact 

 yield per acre. Some of the first planted 

 bushes are 8| ft. in diameter, and I have some 

 thousands very nearly the same. I prune as I was 

 taught by the late Mr T N Orchard of Hewaheta, 

 near Kandy. Now I do not wish to mislead 

 planters in any way, but my honest opinion is 

 that there is a great future for the tea here if 

 we get the right stamp of settlers, and who 

 understand the tea industry. Also, they 

 would need more than the few hunch-eds 

 "H. B." speaks of. I would say that £1,500 

 to £2,000 was more like it. Some time 

 ago I wrote about the prospect of tea in 

 this country, but do not mistake me. At 

 present the yield per acre is unknown. 

 However, it is pretty certain that the tea 

 manufactured is very good. Mr Cross, an old 

 Ceylon planter, was much taken with it, and 

 although the mode of manufacture is most 

 primitive, it is well sought after by the public. 



Then again as for Ceara Rubber being a dead 

 failure, the statement is a little incorrect. My 

 Company have some hundreds of acres of it newly 

 planted; also a certain well-known Company not 

 Far distant from here have had most promising 

 results from their tapping, so much so, that they 

 are extending their acreage this coming season. 

 I ask, does this spell failure ? 



For young men to come to this country, 

 without the capital I speak of and the ability 

 to work hard, spells ruin ; we have had many 

 undesirable characters whose stay has been 

 short and merry. I hope in a few years to be 

 able to give accurate figures of acreage and 

 yield per acre; also the result of rubber tapping, 

 but at present we live and hope. If we get 

 men with capital— also a knowledge of tea and 

 rubber, our future is a very bright one. I am 

 sanguine of tea— as my bushes are excellent and my 

 yield per acre for the past year is most satisfactory; 

 but until I can give absolute figures, no more. 



The climate is quite all right, if the planter 

 is careful with himself and keeps from drink; 

 but without hesitation I say " drink '' spells 

 death here in a few years. Personally, I keep 

 excellent health.— Yours faithfully, 



PLANTER. 



A NEW TEA-FANNER. 



MACHINE WHICH GRADES AND FINALLY SIFTS TEA. 



A number of tea planters spent an interest- 

 ing half-hour yesterday afternoon at the works 

 of Messrs. Marshall, Sons & Co., Engineers, 

 Clive Street, Calcutta, inspecting a new machine 

 designed to obviate all necessity for hand-sifting 

 or u sooping" tea. The deflector Tea-Fanner, 

 as it is called, removes from whole grade teas all 

 the dust, fluff, flat leaf, red leaf and "fannings," 

 and fi um dust teas it cleans the dust, removes 

 all the sand, stone and heavy rubbish, and also 

 the fluff and light fibre matter. 



Mr. McDonald, the patentee, and Mr. Guise, 

 of Cachar, both experienced tea planters, ex- 

 plained the machine to the gentlemen present, 

 and also gave a practical demonstration of what 

 it will do. The tea, partially sized from any 

 or. Unary tea sifter, is fed into a movable hopper, 

 fitted with a light and new automatic feed. As 

 it falls from the hopper the tea is caught in a 

 reciprocating, graduated-mesh screen, after 

 which it enters the winnowing chamber. The 

 air current from the fan carries it forward on to 

 deflecting screens, which arrest the fall of the 

 tea, guide it backwards, towards the fan, and re- 

 deliver it into another compartment. This win- 

 nowing process is repeated three or four times, 

 and then the tea drops down on to cloths spread 

 underneath the machine. The tea can be sepa- 

 rated into any required number of grades at the 

 wish of the operator, and all dust, fluff, fibre 

 and other matter which detracts from the value 

 of the tea in the market is removed. 



Yesterday the machine certainly did its work 

 well. It graded the tea to a nicety, leaving it 

 in separate heaps— one of pure tea, and others 

 in various stages of purity, right down to the 

 dust and fluff. It answered all the tests made 

 on it perfectly, and certainly seems destined to 

 revolutionise the work of finally sifting and 

 grading tea. 



At present this work is mostly done by coolies 

 or women, who sit in the factory, and sift the tea 

 by hand. It is calculated that the new machine 

 will do away with from 35 to 50 per cent of the 

 coolie labour now employed in sorting. A good 

 deal depends on the class of tea to be handled, 

 and it is, therefore, difficult to fix on an average 

 hourly capacity. As much as six to eight or 

 even ten maunds an hour have been successfully 

 cleaned, but as little as three to four maunds 

 per hour, where specially fine work is required, 

 has been approved. Generally speaking, how- 

 ever, in a factory where medium fine leaf is 

 manufactured, and a similar style of sifting 

 adopted, one machine would about suffice for a 

 crop of from three to four thousand maunds. 



It accomplishes its work in a rapid, cleanly 

 and efficient manner; it is easy to woik (its 

 inventor says two children can work it) ; it is 

 easily erected and takes up little space ; and its 

 price is R750, packed and delivered. — States-, 

 man, Dec. 12. 



