July 2, 1888,] THE. TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
CEYLON UPCOUNTRY PLANTING REPORT- 
NEW TEA SIFTER — TOBACCO — CACAO — COOLIES. 
Central Province, 28th May 1888. 
Mb, Barker's newsiftee is the coming machine. 
That gentleman has already made his mark in 
regard to tea manufacture, and has gained such 
an honourable position therein, that the best 
marks in the market have found it hard to keep 
up with him, and harder still to beat him. Now 
his new sifter is about to be offered to the 
planting public, and those who are going in for 
sifting machinery will act wisely to see it, before 
they buy any other maker's. I had heard of the 
merits of the machine in question, and, being 
desirous to see it at work, with Mr. Barber's kind 
permission I visited Blackstone. The account 
of the combination of qualities which the sifter 
was said to possess, and which was sent me by 
its inventor, read like a romance. He put it 
thus ;— " Quantity of outturn : — Equal to the wants 
of any Ceylon garden. Quality :— Leaf unbroken, 
bloom preserved, no dust. Power : — One cooly to 
work and feed. Highest merit:— Resolved on selling it 
at a fourth or fifth of the price asked for any of the 
fashionable monsters of the day, needing motors to 
move them." The note sounded above is pretty strong, 
and it has a sweetness in its " highest merit," 
which, if ever known here before, has all but died 
out of the land ; certainly never heard in these days 
of big sterling prices ; and becomes all the more 
welcome to the planter's ear from its extreme rarity. 
Tho machine is not a very imposing thing, takes 
up little room, and when working makes hardly 
any noise. I won't describe its construction or 
principle, as Mr. Barber's patent papers are not 
yet completed, I believe. What I have to do with 
in the work it turns out, and its quality. It was 
proposed to put through 50 lb., and complete it 
in half-an-hour. This was done by one cooiy who 
fed and worked the machine at the same time, and 
with several minutes to spare. Indeed an old woman 
or a boy would have found it easy work. Working 
ten hours at that rate would put through 1,000 lb., 
which 1 fancy fairly covers the first advantage 
claimed, " equal to the wants of any Ceylon 
garden." 
As to the quality of work, it was as stated above, 
"leaf unbroken, bloom preserved," but I would 
qualify the 'ino dust" to "hardly any dust." There 
was a very little, which needs only to be noted 
for the sake of strict accuracy. I fancy very few 
would trouble to eift it out. 
The proportions of the 501b, were as follows :— 
Broken Pekoe . . . . 12 lb. 
Pekoe . . . . 15 „ 
No. 1 Pekoe Souchong. . .. 13 „ 
ii 2 do .. .. 3J „ 
Coarse and red leaf . . 2J „ 
The missing 41b. remained in the machine, adher- 
ing to the sifter, as the brushes which are to 
keep them perfectly clean were not fitted on. Had 
a second 50 lb. been put in, it would have weighed 
ctly, I doubt not. Indeed, had the four 
minutes which were to spare in the half-hour al- 
lotted to the experiment been occupied in working 
the sifter, very likely a good deal of the attached 
leaf would have been detached without any other 
aid. Tho 2$ lb. of coarse leaf were all that called 
for after manipulation by hand : the red leaf to 
be pioked out, and the balance broken through a 
No. 7 or 8. 
I have already spoken of tho power, Tho cooly 
turned the machine with the ane hand, and fed 
tho tea iu with the othor. It is proposed to havo 
hppper above, big enough to hold say 50 lb. or 
more at a time, which will be so regulated as to 
feed the sifter itself, and when that is done, it 
will be child's play for a cooly to put 1,000 lb, 
through in an ordinary working day. 
Then as to the "highest merit," the price asked 
is to be R200, I understand. "I expect an un- 
parallelled run on it," writes Mr. Barber, and I ex- 
pect he is right. As I said at the beginning, this 
new sifter is evidently the corning machine, and 
while its inventor has doubtless had his own 
interests in view while spending his thought and 
labour in the perfecting of it, still we will all 
benefit by its use, and in offering it at that 
moderate rate to the public, he puts it within the 
reach of many, who would think twice before 
they would buy any of the higher priced sifters. 
The Cultivation of Tobacco is being so warmly 
taken up, and the desire for accurate and detailed 
information so general, that it is not to be won- 
dered at that those who do know should utilize 
their knowledge. I have seen the MS. of a brochure 
on the "cultivation and preparation of tobacco" which 
may soon see the light, and which should be very 
welcome to many. Besides treating on the best 
European methods of planting and curing tobacco, 
information will also be given regarding the most 
approved native styles of preparation. 
Cacao is making up now i i i lie way of blossom- 
ing, and better still in setting. You hear on all 
hands of the promise of a good crop. 
Coolies keep flocking in. It is a sight to see 
them at the railway stations, clustering in the railway 
carriages like bees, and this thing keeps going on 
day after day. Whatever rocks are ahead of the 
tea planter of the high districts, that of want of 
labour is not likely to be one. Peppercorn. 
THE GLASGOW EXHIBITION. 
(By " Aberdonensis") 
Glasgow, 17th May 1888. 
My dear " Observer," — I have been four times 
at the Exhibition and am tired of it, but I am 
not tired of escorting young friends there. It is 
a grand success. The glorious weather that in- 
troduced the first week of the Exhibition was 
extremely fortunate. At the Ceylon tea-room I 
met two "Moses's." One "Moses" used to be 
in Dumbara and dabbled in the fine arts in the 
way of amateur photography, and is now in a 
most elastic business in Glasgow. The other 
"Moses" was one of the boys. At least if he was 
not pulling my leg his name must be Moses. I 
spoke to the two boys in their tongue, and they 
became demonstrative, and I was being reduced to 
an exhibit of the show instead of a spectator. I 
told them " molla peysa venum " and " sattam 
podu wanda," and they were quieter. They seemed 
happy, but it was funny to see soldiers and others 
shaking hands with them, I asked if they were 
taking a white wife out, at which they hugely 
laughed. The tea-room is a splendid success, 
judging fro.u appearances. One very familiar face 
was often to be seen, — the form more portly, but 
still familiar, 1 mean the Ceylon representative. 
I saw Mr. Shand repeatedly I met " W. McK.," 
who was woll and was on the eve of going oil' to 
America. The Ceylon Court is very nicely arranged. 
Tho growing Tea Plants are, in my upinion, the 
best feature. The next best is the choice col- 
lection of Jewels and Precious Stones. T'io 
next is the series of 1'hotos showing tea 
planting from tho cloaring to the steamer. There 
ought to havo been a Sinhalese family engaged 
at some work. In the Indian emotion some natives 
were oooking, and crowds were there. The smell of 
