THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, [October i, 1889. 
and Ceylon for our quality. The development ot 
the cultivation of tea in Ceylon, during the last 
five or six years, has been enormous, and we 
now obtain from that island a certain proportion 
Of tea that rivals the fine old China teas. 
It has rested with the Mazawattee Ceylon Tea 
Company to take advantage of this new produc- 
tion of fine tea from Ceylon, and to supply a want 
long felt. By skilful selection and blending of the 
finest Ceylon growths, they have given fresh life 
to the taste for fine tea, which had become so 
nearly extinct in this country. They have more 
than 3,000 agents throughout the United Kingdom, 
and there is now no excuse for people to drink 
rubbish themselves or to give their friends such a 
wretched apology for tea as should bring a blush 
to the face of every right-minded nation." 
Here is a copy of the label ■ — 
Mazawattee; 
A high class tea 
from the sweet-scented island 
Ceylon 
which produces 
the most luscious tea iu the world. 
" Maza," I am told, is short for "Mazadhar," an 
Indian word in unison with " lusoious " which 
was on the label before the adoption of the brand. 
The business is essentially a packet one, the 
blend, price, and frequently the grocer's name 
being on the label, a large stock of labels being on 
hand for the packages of constituents. " Loose teas," 
that is blends in chest and half-chest quantities, 
for those who retail in small quantities are also 
available. Nothing is omitted that is necessary to be 
done, to meet the requirements and gain the sup- 
port of " the million," whom of course it is the 
interest and bounden duty of growers and caterers 
alike to endeavour to reach and satisfy. 
Mr. Densham claims to be the originator of the 
packet business, and many of those who predicted 
failure, ridiculing the idea, are now active competi- 
tors: so much so, that there are large packet-making 
and blending business, carried on in some 
of the bonded warehouses. I have personally 
witnessed some very interesting and busy scenes 
there, and saw even China tea being put into pretty 
canisters and packets for export. 
By the way, on my visit to some of the bonded 
warehouses to see the reweighing and repacking and 
rebulking processes of tea as done there I passed 
through the Jews' market in Whitechapel and under 
the gas lamp in Castle Alley of infamous and noto- 
rious fame as being the scene of " Jack the Rip- 
per's" latest disgusting tragedy. The Jews' market is a 
rowdy place, well stocked though it be with excellent 
provisions and requirements of all sorts for the outer 
and inner man ; and numerous policemen and 
deteotives in and out of uniform are moving about 
to preserve order. 
It is interesting to see the gradations in Mr. 
Densham's premises from small hand-power mixing, 
sifting and cutting machines to the large ones now in 
use driven by a gas engine and capable of each hold- 
ing eighteen chests at a fill, finishing the work in 
about 45 revolutions of the machine. Many means 
for economizing labour are used, suoh as lifts and 
shoots, and spaces are marked with the name of 
each firm of carriers, where each evening the driver 
can see what loads are ready for him to carry away. 
The lead is cut by the manufacturer in sizes to 
suit \, $ and 1 lb. packets, so there is little waste. 
What interested me aa much as anything was the 
rapidity with whioh the packets were made up. 
Three boys at one table make three thousand 
two hundred, one-quarter lb. packets in a day ; 
the work being divided at follows : — 
One boy preparing packet ; 
,, ,, weighing and filling ; 
,. ,, pressing with lever and closing. 
The labels are put on by separate hands ; and the 
packets being of uniform size put on trays of known 
capacity are easily counted and quickly packed in 
boxes for removal and dispersion by van and 
rail all over the country. CEYLON TEA. 
P. S. — I have omitted to mention that Mr. 
Densham expressed himself pleased with some of 
the "oolongs" which have come from Ceylon 
lately, and said he wished there was more of this kind 
available. A prize for " oolongs" might be offered at 
your local Shows. I was shown samples in a broker's 
office of Neilgherry " Flowery Pekoe " purchased at 
15s. a lb. and " Orange Pekoe " purchased at 10s. a 
lb., 15 lb. of each variety, for the Indian Court at 
the Paris Exhibition. There is a brisk market in 
London for your finest teas ; competition for them 
being very keen. Ceylon Tea. 
BARLEY GROWING IN THE NAWALA- 
PITIYA DISTRICT. 
Our Kandy correspondent writes :— " The Rate- 
mahatmaya of Uda Bulatgama (Nawalapitiya dis- 
trict) has by way of experiment tried to plant barley 
from seeds received from the Brewery Company, 
at Nuwara Eliya. The garden where the barley 
has been tried is in Weligoda, on the Dolosbage 
road, about one and half mile from Nawalapitiya. 
The result has been a great success. The ears 
of corn are well formed, eight inches in length, 
and the R. M. expects a good crop almost imme- 
diately. The extent down is about \ of an acre. 
The R. M. has bsen distributing seed to others in 
the neighbourhood and is willing to advise those 
who will undertake to plant the grain, Unfor- 
tunately, the recent rains have damaged the corn 
a little — but the stalks are still 4 feet high and 
present a very good appearance, The stems, he 
says, are like hill paddy. The R. M. thinks the 
best season to plant is in February. The plant 
require very little moisture. Three months time is 
all that is required for the plant to grow- fully, 
The R, M, will gladly give information to 
persons desiring it. Some specimen of the ears of 
corn are left at the Nawalapitiya resthouse for 
Inspection of Visitors. Mr, Girihagama the Rate- 
mahatmaya is a very intelligent headman and 
deserves great credit, The natives of his district 
and of other districts would do well to fellow his 
example in this iespect," 
New Use for Tin Cans. — Scraps of tinned iron 
have long been a waste product, whose application, 
ior any purpose worthy of the intrinsic value of 
the metals contained in them, has been an un- 
solved problem. It is true that scraps of this kind 
have been cast, but the hardness and granular 
structure render the metal fit only for use as 
weights. Also, to a slight extent, the tin has been 
removed by electrolytic prooesses. "But," the 
American Manufacturer says, " there has not been 
any definite use of this produot as a material 
manufacture until its recent use for nails. Scraps 
of tin are cut by dies into rectangular bits, with 
a length of about three times their width. Ihese 
scraps are then fed from an automatic hopper 
between dies, when they are squeezed first to square 
form, like a nail, and then headed. Nails of this 
kind are well fitted for many purposes, being free 
from tendency to rust, also light, very rigid, and 
capable of being driven into the hardest wood 
without buckling." 
