January 2, 1888] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
487 
THE RINMOND-RICHARDSON TEA 
ROLLER 
The public trial of this machine was held at the 
Lebanon Group factory, Madulkole on the 3rd inst., the 
following gentlemen being present : — Messrs. Bewley, 
Cnff, Hastings, Clarke, W. G. Dickson, Clench, 
Ferguson, Joseph Eraser, Kynaston, Melvillo White, 
Patterson, Prance, Reid, Spencer Shelley, Smail, Tait, 
Throckmorton, Walker, T. C. Owen and T. Dickson, 
Manager. 
At 1-30, the three rollers wore ohargod as follows : 
—The "Excelsior" with 250 lb. wither, the Black- 
stone, No. 2, with 100 lb., and tho Robey's with 364 
lb. These figures represent the normal charge for 
oach machine. 
The three machines wero started and worked simul- 
taneously, each roller was run for a full hour and the 
charge thon taken out aud sifted. 
The woights of these teas, from the roll sifter, in 
proportion to tho charge are given below : — 
The " Excelsior " out of 250 lb wither gave 24 lb Tea 
,, "Black8tono" do 100 do do 10 do 
,, "Robey's'' do 304 do do 18 do 
The balanco of the roll was then returned to tho 
respective rollers and re-rolled, and after firing in the 
"Victoria" and sifting in the "Eureka," the per- 
centages of fine and coarse leas were as below : — 
Bro. Pek. Pek. Pek. Son. Sou. 
The " Excelsior " 26 p.c. 38 p.c. 24 p.c. 12 p.c.=100 
„ "Robey's" 19 p.c. 43 p.c. 19 p.c. 19 p.c.=100 
The Barber's roll after fresh rolling was not kept 
separate, the machine being required to contiuuo the 
day's work immediately. In considering the above 
percentages, it must bo borne in mind that the 
Robey's machine had 46 per cent more work to do in 
the same time than the "Excelsior," for a con- 
mmption of 40 per cent less power. 
♦ 
PLANTING IN NETHERLANDS INDIA. 
(Translated for the Straits Times.) 
Sugar is not tho only article in which Eussia seeks 
to compote with planters in Java. They have suffered 
much from the quantities of Russian beet root 
sugar flooding the market. The Russian Government 
has made up its mind to try cinchona growing. 
Plantations of this valuable tree have been started 
near Tiflis. They have taken so kindly to their novel 
enviroi'nieut, that the extension of the plantations 
has been decided upon. 
Indigo growers in Java havo become so alarmed by 
rumours of that article having been artificially manufac- 
tured in Europe, that thi y have set on foot enquiries 
into the natter. The result has been somewhat tran- 
quillising. The artificial product known by the name 
of Alizarine has only recently come into the market, 
aud shews all the characteristics <.f a permanent dye, 
and admits of shades of colour pretty similar to 
those of indigo. It still does not yet come up to 
the standard of tho latter, and has yet thr draw- 
back of clearness. There is some prospect of Alizarine 
proving a formidable competitor to indigo from its 
suiting woollen goods, its permauence of colour, 
and its simpler manipulation in dyeing. The low 
prices now riding for indigo lessen still further the 
chance of Alizarine gaining command of the market. 
MAURITIUS. 
(From tho Mercantile Record and Commercial Gazette 
(18tli November.) 
Port Lor is, ISth November 1887. 
Thr wi.ATHRit and TltE mop. — Some ten dajs since, 
the Mather has been much finer and tho manipulation 
is going on very actively. The yield is not very 
satisfiirtory and generally it U inferior to that of 
last year. It is to be feared, as we have u I rend; 
aaid, t lint it will be difficult to cover the present de- 
ficiency of H7, 186 bag* 
Vanilla — There hn« been a brisk demnnd for fine 
qualities ami the market closes very firm. A few lots 
of first quality offered for sale this week fetohed 
R24'20 per kilo, above 6 inches. A lot of about 300 
kilos from Seychu lies (Foret Noire) was publicly sold 
at K18 per kilo above G inches and Vanilloes R5 per 
kilo, from 5 to 0 inches. We entirely confirm the re- 
marks we made in our last iseue as regards the 
present crop. The 1888 crop however will bo short 
at least one third as compared with the present one, 
and the reason may be attributed tc an abnormal 
loss of flowers for which no definite cause can yet be 
traced. 
FEVER AND ITS CURE: QUININE FOR 
THE MILLIONS. 
To the Editor or the " Pioneer." 
Sir, — In your issue of 15th instant in the leader, 
"England and India in 1885," you state that in 
India, "of the 5 millions of recorded deaths, fever 
accounted for 3* millions;" and again, "the Army 
Sanitary Commission point out that the four main 
epidemic diseases have in the course of ten years 
swept off no less than 38 millions of the inhabitants, 
and that the 30 millions of fover deaths registered 
during this period must be taken to indicate attacks 
of fever several times over tho entire population 
and a really incalculable loss of working power to 
the country." Medical opinion confirms the latter 
part of this statement, aB the doctors all agree that 
the deaths from fever do not average at most more 
than 10 per cent of the sufferers from fever. You 
then enforce the Army Sanitary Commission's advice 
as to the enforcement of sanitary measures at large 
whilo admitting the pecuniary and other difficulties 
of so doing. But if these difficulties will prevent 
our dealing with the four main epidemic diseases 
as we would wish, with the worst of them, fever, 
we can deal without any of these difficulties. Yon 
do not allude to 'he fact that as against fevor 
there exists a specific remedy, now very abundant 
and very cheap, which it is only necessary to put 
for sale in every village in the country to afford 
immediate relief in 99 out of every 100 cases of 
fever. 
On the 27th of January 1885 I sent in to the 
Madras Government an offer, if they would give me 
the aid of their officials (without which it would be 
hopeless to attempt it), to place within four months, 
without any expense to them, an ounce of the best 
quinine in every village in rhe Madras Presidency to 
be sold in doses of 5 grains each by the village 
moneghar to every one having fever, at an anna a 
dose, with further stocks of the same quinine at 
euch tehsilclar's office and at each collector's office 
to renew the supply to each moneghar on his paying 
for the last bottle supplied to him. For Mudras 
alone this would havo required 75,000 ounces of 
quinine My belief was and is that as soon as the 
people knew that they could always get as many 
doses as they required from tho moneghar of their 
own village at their own door, every fever-stricken 
ryot or coolie would find somehow one anna, or less 
ihnn half a clay's wage, wherewith to shake off his 
fever and restore himself to the power of working. 
In an ounce of quinine there are 109 doses of 5 
grains each, which would thus give 109 minus to the 
moneghar. I proposed to give him 13 annas as 
bis reward for selling and to supply him from 
the stock at the tehsildar's office with another ounce of 
quinine on his paying 00 annas or Bo" to the tehsildar. 
Tho tehsildar would refill his stores from the collec- 
tor's store by forwarding to the collect, r Kti per ounce, 
mid the collector, on forwarding that to my office at 
Madras, would nt oi co have bis store refilled from 
there. My expectation was that by degrees thin \\«»uld 
lead to a large consumption, to an oiujrm.iis saving of 
life, and to a still more enormous reduction of ihe 
lorn, of working power to the country. 
The Madras Board of Revenue recommended that 
my offer should be at once accepted, but the Madras 
Government refused on the ground that they meant to 
pply the bark from tho-r own cbinchona garden* to 
the making of a febrifuge by their own quiuologiM for 
