Julys, 1888.1 THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
59 
QUAILS ON THE HORTON PLAINS: WHO 
WILL TBI AND CAPTURE ONE? 
Dear Silt, — I notice your further remarks on the 
quails, and write to suggest that you may have 
a friend within easy reach of the Plain, who would 
try and secure a specimen, as the same birds in all 
probability would bo still in the neighbourhood. 
As you feel sure they were quails, it would be 
very interesting, indeed, to identify the species, 
particularly as the birds seen would almost cer- 
tainly have been a brood raised on the Plain ; the 
quail family naturally inhabits plains from sea- 
level to a medium elevation. In India it has been 
thought worth recording that two or throo species 
have been found so high as 4,000 or 5,000 feet 
elevation ;* but I can find no mention of any species 
nesting so high. 
As to hawks, they are far less numerous, and 
eagles too than I can remember them. Everybody 
possessed of a gun seems anxious to try his luck 
on any poor bird of this family, which may come 
within range of it, and the race has suffered 
accordingly. 
The term "bevy of quail" is used by sports- 
men in the same way as a " covey of partridges ;" 
the terms not being interchangeable, but 1 cannot 
tell you why this distinction is made. Another 
term is a ' witp of snipe,' and there are many 
more of a similar character. 
I notice a small mistake or two in my letter, 
due, I dare say, to careless and hurried writing. 
C. efatmensis, and T. tai'/oor are the quails' names. 
S. B. 
"On a visit to the Museum we saw amongst the 
quails specimens exactly like those we put up on 
Uorton Plains, and we find that the species 
is Coturnix chinensis, judging by the small 
size and the very dark colour. As this swamp 
quail is native in Australia, there seems no reason 
why it should not exist at 7,000 feet altitude in 
Ceylon.— Ed.] 
TEA-DRYING : DAVIDSON'S SIROCCO. 
Sirocco Works, Belfast, May 29th, 1888. 
Sin, — We are just in receipt of your issue of 1st 
May, in which there appears a letter dated 28th 
April, from Mr. R. Morison, Chairman of the 
Kalutara Planters' Association, complaining that 
ho had been unable to get certain duplicate- cast- 
ings for "Sirocco" stoves from Messrs. Mackwood 
iV Co., our agents for sale of " Siroccos " and 
"Sirocco" parts in Ceylon. 
Mr. Mori son's letter in the first part reads as if 
OO duplicate parts whatever could bo got for our 
' Siroccos" in Colombo on the date of his letter, 
but our last Slock List, received by the previous 
mail, detuiling the number of duplicate parts with 
our Colombo Agents at the time, shows a full 
stock in hands of all the castings usually asked 
for, viz., those which are in immediate proximity 
to the lire, and consequently liable to burn away. 
In .Mr. M orison's concluding paragraphs, he, how- 
over, states tlmt the castings which he especially 
referred to were Nos. *o0 and Sol, but as these 
castings form the exterior of the stove sections, 
mid are not affected by the lire, they do not 
Ml out, hence he had experienced no previous 
demand for them lor renewal of stoves in use, 
nor had wo been called upon to supply them to 
repair breakages. 
We are always moat anxious that users of 
"Siroccos" should bo ablo to obtain any duplicate 
• An ulevution of .">,UII0 foot in Northern India is 
equivalent, to r.'")U iu Oeylou.— Ed, 
parts they may require with the least possible amount 
of inconvenience, and had we thought these cast- 
ings would have been wanted, we certainly would 
have had them in our Colombo stock, and in 
future they will be obtainable from our agents, 
now that we know they may be required occa- 
sionally to repair accidental breakages. We had 
considered, however, that it was almost impossible, 
owing to their position in the stove sectione fand 
more particularly as these sections are paoked in 
very strong wooden cases ), that the castings refer- 
red to could have received any greater damage inside 
the packing-case, than being simply cracked, and 
their being merely cracked does not render the stove 
unfit for use in the least degree, so that, had Mr. 
Morison known, he might have used the stove 
without any difficulty, unless, perhaps, the cast- 
ings were absolutely broken in pieces, under which 
circumstances, the external damage to the packing- 
case ought to have been such as to justify him 
in refusing to accept delivery from the carrying 
company, as it would have indicated such gross 
maltreatment of the package on their part as 
to render them accountable for the damage sus- 
tained. 
We do our very utmost to have our " Siroccos " 
packed so securely that even if a case were tilted 
from a railway waggon, so as to fall with a clean 
drop to the ground, as the writer saw actually 
occurring in India, there would be a reasonable 
chance that none of the contents got thereby broken. 
We may here mention that we lately received a 
testimony to credit of our packing from an engineer 
in the Assam province, who informed us that he 
had on several occasions erected a "Sirocco" com- 
plete in four hours from the time the cases were 
all delivered in the tea-house, and on one occasion 
had won a bet by doing it in three hours, and he 
stated that he would not have taken up the bet 
had he not from his experience been able to rely on 
the apparatus being most carefully packed. 
We take this opportunity of stating that we are 
always glad to receive from planters, directly or 
otherwise, information of any difficulties that may 
arise in their practical experience of erecti*; or 
working our " Sirocco " driers, as we recognize that 
the first important step towards obviating such 
difficulties is that we obtain an accurate knowlsdga 
of their existence.— Yours faithfully, 
DAVIDSON & CO. 
CEYLON TEA NOT KEEPING: A WARNING 
FROM A BROTHER PLANTER. 
Edinburgh, 2nd June 1888. 
Dear Sin, — I write to warn our Ceylon tea plan- 
ters of a danger which threatens the good name, and 
therefore the sale, of Ceylon tea in the British and 
foreign markets. This danger oonsists in the fact 
that many of the teas sent home will not retain 
the strength and style which they possess when 
placed on the market, and very soon deteriorate by 
keeping. 
This is no new complaint, for we heard 
of it in Ceylon some time ago ; but it is a com- 
plaint which, if not attended to at once, 
and removed, cannot fail to prove fatal in a 
degreo to the interests of Ceylon tea planters. 
In Ceylon, I think, wo do not quite realize it 
yet ; but at homo it is a very startling reality ; 
for one hears it mentioned, not only by largo 
wholesale buyers, but ovon by private cousumers. 
A wholesale dealer has just told me that lately 
he bought a large parcel of remarkably good Ceylon 
tea : tasting it somo time afterwards, ho could 
not understand why he hud bought it ; as it could 
then bo beaten by the sumo tens that it had for- 
