November i, 1889.I THE TROPICAL MJ1*1tOT-TUmST. 
343 
THE NEED OF CHEMICAL ANALYSIS lN 
THE TEA FACTORY: 
TEA-TASTING AND WATER IN COLOMBO AND LONDON. 
(By a Practical Man.) 
It seems that a necessity for a local chemical 
analyst to the Planters' Association is beginning 
to be felt. If there was an " Experiments 
Committee" of the Planters' Association, it 
could no doubt find more than enough of profitable 
work to keep an agricultural ohemist going, and 
perhaps one or two assistants as well, lor it is not 
a great deal that one man can do unassisted. 
1 do not see that there is much that a chemist 
could do in the factory, unless he could devise a 
simple process for determining the exact point at 
whioh fermentation should cease. 
It would seem as if the process of fermentation 
at least greatly affected the amount of albuminous 
matter present, as Dr. HaSBall found in black 
tea 15-55 P er cent » and ia 8 reen tea 24 ' 39 per cent ' 
T have seen other analyses in which the albumen 
in blaok teas and in green teas also is set down 
at very much less than the above. This suggests 
at least one line of investigation. 
With regard to the other subject, viz., the 
affect of the quality of the water usea upon 
th e taste of the tea infusion, I should say 
the purer the water the better, i. e. .the flavor 
nhtained will be more entirely that due to 
the tea In tnis re8 P ect 1 think the c ' olomDO tea 
tasters have a pull over the London men. Of course, 
if an alkaline substance like carbonate of soda be 
nut into the water, more will be extracted from the 
tea than by pure water alone, but the neutral 
salts which occur in natural waters will, I believe, 
be found to reduce rather than increase the amount 
of extract I believe the Colombo water contains a 
lower percentage of total solids than that of any 
larce town in Great Britain, Glasgow excepted; 
Thus we have expressed in grains per gallon the 
following amounts of total solids :- 
Colombo i"8 to 2-8 
Glasgow 1'6 
London 18" 
Liverpool 6'8 
Manchester 4-3 
Edinburgh 7*9 
If it were a necessity to meet the taste of the 
London buyers to use water of the same quality 
as in London, I believe this could be done if we 
got a full mineral analysis of the London water 
used by tea tasters. It would be easy then to add 
the necessary quantity of salts to Colombo water 
to make it closely resemble the London water. 
I have no doubt tea tasters in London use good 
filters for the water employed in tea tasting. Now 
a good filter such as Maignen's Filtre Eapide practi- 
oally takes all the organic matter out of Colombo 
water, and I think would do the same for London 
water, leaving only the mineral ingredients to be 
dealt with. 
and the activity created thereby is not confined 
to Colombo machinists, patentees' agents or import- 
ers. By no means. There are centres upcountry as 
fuli of activity and original work, for the benefit 
of tea planters as almost any in Colombo. Take 
the Hatton establishment for instance. How many 
in Colombo realize the completeness or extent of 
the Ironworks here : that the workshop alone gives 
employment to over 100 skilled hands, that beaide 
half-a-dozen lathes of various sizes, four drills, 
punohing and shearing machines, circular and band 
saws, planing, emery and screwing machines, &c, — 
there is a castiron foundry in full operation, and 
that the enterprising proprietors are at this moment 
doubling the size of their cupola as they cannot 
overtake the work with the present one. When 
this is done, Hatton Foundry will be able to 
cast single pieces up to 10 owt., a very notable 
result surely, for a " jungle" foundry in Ceylon. 
As regards the work done, it is interesting to 
learn that among the rest, one tea sifter complete is 
turned out weekly, and that there are about 100 of 
these (the invention of Brown, Rae oe Co.) now in use. 
Again, " Souter's Roll-breaker combined with the 
Hatton Boll-sifter" is in great demand and is 
considered by very many planters to be about the 
best machine of its kind. There is a great run 
on turbine piping just now, the report being that 
Messrs, Brown, Rae & Co. have orders on hand for 
over 1,000 feet and as they make every foot of it 
themselves, casting all the bends, some of them 
over 2 feet in diameter, — some idea of their busy 
Works can be formed. 
HATTON IRONWORKS. 
Residents in Colombo have only a poor idea of 
what the Tea Industry is doing for the country and 
a great number of the people at outstations. It is 
Boarcely realized how great the difference the full pre- 
paration of tea on the plantations makes, as compared 
with ooffee which was sent away " in the rough" to 
be finished in Colombo stores. The quantity of 
maahinery too required for tea iB very much greater, 
Assam Tobacco.— To the already large list of 
tobaccos used for cigar wrappers must be added 
that grown in Assam, both from Virginia and local 
seed. The quality of both appears to be much 
the same, and is reported upon most favourably 
by two wellknown firms, namely, Messrs. Kmst- 
hausen and Co., of Calcutta, and Messrs. Begg, 
Dunlop and Co., of the Pusa tobacco factory. — 
Times of India, Oct. 10th. 
Portland Cement for Setting Iron Work. — 
A correspondent to an American contemporary 
has found clear Portland cement to be a good 
substitute for sulphur in bedding cast or wrought- 
iron upon stone or iron foundations. It is unaffected 
by oil, and can be made thick or thin with water 
as may be required and does not chill upon con- 
tact with cold surfaces. Where used to bed 
wrought-iron beams upon cast-iron column brackets it 
has been found to answer perfectly, even when not 
more then an eighth-of-an-inch in thickness. — Indian 
Engineer. 
Speaking of Peanuts, it is astonishing how this 
article is coming into a variety of uses. In the 
United States it is largely eaten in the roasted state, 
and much enjoyed. It abounds in oil much resemb- 
ling olive oil, and which can be used for similar pur- 
poses. The best peanuts contain 50 per cent, of this 
colourless oil, which is obtained by cold expression. 
Hitherto the chief use for peanut oil has been in 
soap-making. The nuts are also dried and ground into 
flour, out of which a very palatable kind of biscuit 
is manufactured. Recently peanuts have been roasted 
and used in the manufacture of chocolate. In their 
roasted state they are also used for coffee. In their 
natural condition the niggers crush and ferment them, 
and thus obtain a cheap drink. The peanut is said 
to be a very easy plant to raise, and the stem and 
branches are a highly acceptable fodder for cattle. 
The demand for peanuts has been trebled within the 
last three years, and although more than three mil- 
lions of bushels are raised annually, the supply is not 
equal to the demand.— Dr. J. E. Taylor, F, L. 6'., in 
Australasian, 
