546 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [February i, 1890. 
fast, have just erected working models on a substantial 
scale of their latest types of Down-draft and T " Siroc- 
cos " in Mr. Geo. Ure's convenient show-rooms on the 
ground floor of 132, Queen Victoria Street. These 
working models oomprise all the most recent improve- 
ments in both these types of Sirocco, and are perfect 
representations in every detail of their full sized proto- 
types. Moreover, in the case of the Down-draft model 
teas of various qualities, down to the finest dust, are 
aotually put on the trays, so that visitors may appre- 
ciate how immovably t he tea remains on the trays when 
the full blast is turned on. The fan is worked by a 
treadle arrangement at the correct speed to represent 
conditions precisely similar to those of the full sized 
Sirocco. 
The details of the recent valuable improvements in 
the construction of the stove are all easily accessible for 
examination, and in th \b connection we should add that 
Mr. Davidson has reoently received a letter from the 
manager of a tea factory in India, who states that he 
has pulled his new Down-draft Sirocco completely to 
pieoes after six months' constaut work,for examination; 
and that every detail is in as good condition as on the 
day on which the Sirocco was first erected. 
The new fan now applied to the larger sized Down- 
draft Sirocco is considerably larger thau the original 
one, and, after an elaborate series of experiments, its 
construction has bean so improved that the amount of 
work to be done by the larger machine is accomplished 
with less expenditure of power, which is a great ad- 
vantage, of oourse, whare available power is an item of 
importance, or where difficulties in getting the speed 
required for the original fan may exist. 
The new T Sirocoo has a hood applied to it, with a 
flue for leading the evaporated moisture either out of 
the building altogether, or, as this warmth is still effi- 
cient for withering purposes where the Blackman sys- 
tem of withering is in use, the flue can pass up through 
the floor above, and discharge the heated air into the 
withering room, whence the fans will, by the circula- 
tion they create, put this heat to valuable use. 
This addition of a hood and fl ue is a most important 
one where the T Siroccos are employed in iron-roofed 
houses or in factories having a close-boarded floor im- 
mediately above the Siroccos ; as in these cases the 
moisture-laden air from the Siroccos, having no rapid 
means of exit from the room, hangs over the drying 
tea like a wet blanket, so to speak, and prevents eva- 
poration. This accounts for the "No. 1" Sirocco, 
which has a large air chimney to draw off the mois- 
ture, being so successful in suoh houses as above de- 
scribed. 
We feel sure that our tea friends will be much 
interested by an inspection of these elaborately com- 
plete models. 
St. Clair, Talawakele, Jan. 3rd. 
Messrs. Mackwood & Co., Colombo. 
Dear sirs, — I .have put the three chimneys on to 
the Drying Chamber of the 20 Tray Sirocco. They 
are 18 inches in diameter, 10 feet long, and carried 
through the roof. The result has been most satis- 
factory. Working wi'h a temp, of 190° to 200°, I caa 
easily turn out 95 to 100 lb. made tea per hour count- 
ing from the time the first tray went in until the 
last tray oame out finished. Thus : First tray on 
4 - 45. Last tray out 10'45. Time firing 6 hours. Made 
tea 585 lb., average 97J. A longer run would, of 
course, have brought out a better average, if 30 
minutes be taken off above time, the out-turn would 
be 106 lb. I do not notice any increased consumption 
of firewood. I find the quantity used varies so much 
with the quality of the wood, some days I have been 
under one pound to a pound of made tea, and other 
days up to 1'30 of fuol. Shall be happy to show the 
machine to anyone you send here. — Yours truly, 
(Signed) Joseph C. Dunbar. 
—Ed. T. A.] 
CINCHONA BAEK SYNDICATE. 
Colombo, January 14th. 
Dear Sib,— Enclosed we beg to hand you a letter 
from the Honorary Seoretary of the Soekaboemische 
Land bouwvereeniging of Java to whom we wrote 
some time ago proposing co-operation with the 
Syndicate here with respect to shipments of cin- 
chona, and we shall ba glad if you will make its 
contents public. — Yours faithfully, 
DARLEY, BUTLER & Co., 
Agents for the Ceylon Cinchona Syndicate. 
Soekaboemi, Dec. 28th. 
Messrs. Darley, Butler k Co., Colombo. 
Gentlemen,— In kind reply to your favor of 14th 
October 1889, we hsg to state that the opinions in 
Java concerning the formation of a Cinchona Syndi- 
cate for Java, in co-operation with that of Coylon, 
are still divided. While no few persons iuterested in 
cinchona-growing, consider such a Syndicate as a very 
good means to euforce the market, others consider 
all co-operation with Ceylon and British India as 
useless, because notwithstanding the low unit Java 
can stand the depression still for some years to come, 
in the expectation that in the meantime Ceylon will 
fall back and at last Java shall come to the front as 
the leading producer of cinchona bark. 
While considering all discussions on the subject, 
our Association sent a petition to H. E. the Go- 
vernor-General of Netherlands India, asking that the 
crop of Government cinchona bark be diminished. 
In reply to our petition, we received the grati- 
fying answer, that our Government had already 
taken in consideration that proposal, so that we 
may expect, that in the future the Government 
gardens will produce not more than 600,000 half 
kilogrammes of bark a year. 
Ou a future petition of our Association to His 
Excellency the Minister of Colonies in the Nether- 
lands to raise at the auctions at Amsterdam the 
unit for the Government factory-bark to a minimum 
price of 15 cents, we might not yet receive an 
answer. 
Within a short time we shall be glad to send 
you a copy of our Statistical Table for 1890 concern- 
ing the crop of Cinchona Bark in Java. You will 
see out of it, that notwithstanding a Cinchona 
Syndicate for Java has not yet been formed, already 
a large lot of estates are diminishing their crop or 
will not make a crop at all. Only some ore uproot- 
ing their whole plantations, while in comparison with 
our table of 1889, already twelve estates have aban- 
doned cinchona growing. 
All these facts seems to us satisfactory with 
regard to the enforcing of the cinohona market. 
But still, — if our fellow-planters in the British India 
are joining in a British Indian Cinchona Syndicate, 
in co-operation with that of Ceylon,— we will try 
the utmost to rally the Java cinchona planners around 
a Java Cinchona Syndic ite. — We are, gentlemen, yours 
faithfully, R, A. Eekhout, Hon. Secretary. 
G. Mundt, President. 
COTTON YARN FOR CHINA. 
Colombo, January 16th, 1890. 
Dear Sirs, — We have the pleasure to enclose 
herein a circular received by the last mail from 
Hongkong which will give you valuable information 
regarding the consumption of Indian cotton yarn 
in China and encouragement to the new industry 
of cotton spinning in Colombo.— -We remain, yours 
faithfully, FRAMJEE BHIKHAJEE & CO. 
Hongkong, January 1st. 1890. 
Report and Tables of Imports and Exports of Indian 
Grey Yarn and Raw Cotton, during the year 1889, 
by J. Jamasjee. 
We have to report a considerable expansion in the 
trade in Indian grey yams during the past year, 
the demand and consumption showing an increase 
over that of 1888, as will be observed from the ap- 
pended Tables. The total sales reported in Hongkong 
show an inert ase of about 15,743 bales upon those of 
the previous year; and the exports from Hongkong 
to Shanghai and Japan exceed those of the previou 
year by about 1.U63 bales, or nearly ,25 per cent. Th 
