August i, 1889.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
n i 
we may rest assured that some leaves have been al- 
lowed to tak- colour in the rolling or drying process; 
and tbe colour of the outturn will tell the tale by 
showing a few discoloured leaves here and there. The 
finer leaf will invariably be found stronger than the 
coarser, and the flavour of the former will be far 
superior. I cannot say from my own experience that 
the tasting of green tea is a pleasant task : it takes 
one a long time to get over the bitter acrid flavour 
they possess, t»nd many will never get to like it. How- 
ever, when green teas have to be made for the home 
market they must be tasted every day in order to en- 
sure the evenness of quality of the whole break. The 
increase in price which they command and the faci- 
lity with which they may be turned out even in the 
worst weather must serve to reconcile the planter to 
their unpleasant flavour. 
I now have to make a few brief remarks on Fancy 
Teas. The first that I shall deal with is what used to be 
classed at Genuine Flowery Pekoe.. This consists, ex- 
clusively, of the tender, convolute bud at the end of 
the shoot, picked by itself. It is withered slightly in 
tbe sun, but n >t rolled, and dried off gradually, rather, 
weather permitting, by sun, than by fire heat. To 
command the highest price, it should be scented ; and 
then has realized, and may again realize, from 10s to 
15s per lb. If, however, the planter takes into con- 
sideration the immense cost of picking these the fine 
buds separately, the extreme care required through- 
out, the whole cost of manufacture, the trouble of 
setting, packing in small boxes, the loss to his 
other teas by the absence of the fine Pekoe tips, 
and the very uncertain state of the market for such 
a purely fancy article, he will take my advice and 
leave it alone. 
A more useful fancy tea is where the bud, first 
leaf, and, when tender, the second leaf, also, are 
picked together and so manufactured. This leaf is 
then slightly and carefully withered, lightly rolled, 
but the utmost care taken to secure an even, close 
twist and curl. It is not fermented beyond 
such partial colouring as it may require in the trays, 
and is dried off at a rather less heat than ordinary 
black tea. The great object is to bring out the Pekoe 
tips as near an approach to white as possible. It 
will then class as Finest Flowery Pekoe, and, if well 
scented, will realize from 4s to 6s per lb. This tea 
too should be sent home in small boxes containing 
from 18 to 20 lb. each. It is really a compromise be- 
tween a black and a green tea, and scenting is al- 
most a necessity in order to command a high price. 
It would not find a market in this country, and from 
the trouble attendant on its manufacture is hardly 
worthy of much attention at the planter's hands. 
Gabnets have gone up so much in the market 
lately owing to failure or exhaustion of the mines 
hitherto yielding this gem, that experts are being 
sent to report on all localities which are said to 
be garnetiferous. Mysore is known to produce 
garnets in abundance, but whether the gems are 
of any worth has not been ascertained. Mr. A. 
Streeter visits Bucklaspore, in 'the Hassan district, 
shortly to report on the garnets of that locality. 
— Indian Agriculturist- 
Central Tea Factories. — A London tea firm 
makes the following inquiry and suggestion to a 
Colombo house : — 
" We suppose interests are too conflicting to allow 
of au arrangement by whioh 10 or 15 contiguous 
estates should erect one common factory, with a 
machine capable of bulkiug 10,000 lb. at one operation. 
Pool the produce of the estates and divide the pro- 
ceeds of account sales in proportion to quantity of 
green leaf sent in. This would give us large bulks of 
100 to 200 half-chests to deal with. Now that the 
whole island averages 9d there is more possibility of 
combination than before. Messrs. itucker & Ben- 
craft suggested this in their circular of December 3rd, 
1885, and we suppose that since then 50 factories 
have been erected where 10 would have sufficed and 
saved vast outlay." 
Highest Cinchona Analyses : Java and 
Ceylon.— We mentioned the other day that crown 
chips from Alnwick estate had analysed in large 
quantity up to 6-73 and renewed crown shavings 
to 7*40 per cent sulphate of quinine. In contrast 
with this, it may be well to mention that the 
highest analysis of Java estate bark in 1888 — 
doubtless Ledger bark— was 9-42 per cent of quinine 
sulphate. 
Tobacco.— We learn that Mr. Dickson's 
London Company is not likely to go in for culti- 
vation, but for the establishment of depots dotted 
all over the country where the green leaf can be 
bought up and despatched, we suppose, to the 
central curing establishment in Colombo. The price 
to be given for the green leaf is stated to be 25 
cents per lb. Meantime, Mr. Vollar is reported to 
be opening for tobacco near Katugastota, on 
account, no doubt, of the local Company. 
Salt as Feetilizer fob Geass.— Grass in our climate 
is much injured by droughts, and salt is one of the best 
absorbents of moisture. A dressing applied in Spring to 
grass land will help to keep it cool and moist through 
the growing season, and benefit thus if in no other way. 
But salt is also a solvent, and enables grass roots to avail 
themselves of soil fertility, that without it would be 
locked up and out of reach. By developing other 
mineral fertility a dressing of salt will make herbage 
grown by its aid more palatable and nutritious. If 
it can be evenly distributed, as it can be by sifting 
out small lumps, and putting on with a drill, 150 to 
200 pounds per acre will be none too much. The 
common practice is to sow some salt with the grain 
crop with which grass seed is sown. On an old 
meadow the drill may be loaded with salt, and its 
teeth allowed to scratch the surface as the salt is 
distributed, thus doing two jobs at one operation. — 
American Cultivator. 
Silk Industey of Geeece. — After having experienced 
a period of great prosperity, the silk industry in 
Greece, says tbe Journal de la Chamber de Commerce 
de Constantinople, is now in a depressed condition. 
The production of cocoons, which in 1855 amounted 
to between 1,200,000 and 1,400,000 kilogrammes, fell 
in the period comprised between 1870 and 1880 to 
about 500,000 kiiogrammes. Since the year 1884, this 
quantity has still further decreased, and the produc- 
tion, which is centred in the south of the Peloponnesus, 
in Messenenia and Laconia, did not exceed 200,000 
kilogrammes of cocoons, that is to say a yield in silk 
of about 18,000 kilogrammes, of which about 10,000 
kilogrammes are exported. This diminution must be 
attributed to the disease of the silkworms and to the 
low price of cocoons. Almost all the cocoons and 
silks from Greece are shipped to Marseilles, and 
Calamata is the principal port for shipment. — 'Journal 
of the Society of Arts. 
Oil of Sassafras. — The manufacture of the oil of 
sassafras is becoming an important industry in some 
parts of the American, especially in the Southern 
States, where this tree is common. Only the roots 
are used ; they are chopped up into small pieces by a 
machine constructed for the purpose, the oil being 
then distilled from the chips by the aid of steam. 
About one gallon of the oil, weighing nine pounds, 
is obtained from one thousand pounds of the chips. The 
uses for which the oil of sassafras can be employed 
are numerous and varied. It is a favourite perfume 
for soaps and candies ; it is used as a solvent for 
different gums, and as a liniment. It is also very 
largely employed in the manufacture of several popular 
proprietary medicines. The importance of this industry 
may be expected to increase rather than diminish, as 
the sassafras and the persimmon are the two trees 
which are spreading most rapidly over the old and 
abandoned fields throughout the Southern States out- 
side of the pine belt proper; and, at present prices, 
good wages can be made digging out the roots. — 
Garden. 
