Jan. I, 1894.J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
485 
Thia air is, of course, laden with moisture derived 
from the leaf over whioh it has been passeiJ. In 
that condition it again re-enters the heating furnace 
to be once more passed over the tea. The humi- 
dity contained in this air is by the fire converted 
into steamy vapour, certain to prove deleterious to 
the tea t) be dried by it. In fact, as Mr. McGuire 
remarked, the machines are made to use air charged 
with that vary quality of the outaide atmos.ph ere 
whiah it is the special object of the p'aiter to 
avoid. Hygrometrical tests made by him had 
yielded as high a measure of damp in this air as 
100 per cent. It wag obviously desirable that the 
exhaust from the fan sliould not be permitted to 
re-enter the furnace. It should be led to the 
outside of the room in which the driers were placed, 
fresh air, in as drj' a state as possible, alone 
being permitted to enter the furnace. Mr. MoGuire 
said that this rule, — under his advice, — had 
already been adopted on one or two Ceylon estates, 
and with the most marked beneficial result in 
the quality ot the tea manufactured. He cited 
one instance of such an estate, the product of 
which, when manufactured during the warm, dry 
season, always fetched at the home auctions Is to 
Is Id per lb. But such tea as it produced during 
the more humid seasons always fell off eo in 
quality that the average for it did not exceed 7d 
to 8J. The result of the adoption of the new method 
had been to equalize the quality of the outturn 
throU)?hout the year, and the higher average ot 
price was now maintained for all shipments made 
from this particular estate. Although quite un- 
acquainted with the details of tea manuiacture my. 
self, it seemed to me that the argument upon which 
Mr. MoGuire based his proposal in this respect 
must be a sound and comraonsense one. I exa- 
mined the brokers' sale lists to test the correction 
of the statement made as to the averages now 
obtained by the teas of the estate referred to, and 
found therefrom no reason to doubt that the figures 
had been correctly quoted. 
The second point to which our attention was next 
drawn had reference to the present system pursued for 
withering tea. Mr. McGuire remarked : — " Before 
entering upon this I should like to give you a homely 
example in illustration o£ the matter. It a 
laundress hangs her washing out to dry on a 
warm, still day, it dries soft and pliable. If, on 
the contrary, she exposes it when a wind is 
blowing freely, it dries it is true, hut it dries 
bard and harsh. Now it is the latter result, I 
eontend, whioh is produced by passing a blast 
of air over tea leaf to assist withering. Not 
only does it harden the leaf, but it inducfs a 
certain amount of premature fermentation whioh 
is distinctly detrimental. It is the essence of my 
plan that the withering floors should be so arranged 
above that containing the driers that the air 
discharged by the fans of the latter shall ascend 
thiough pipes into the withering room?, tbese 
being divided into ssveral compartments to enable 
tea in feparate stages to be kept distinct for ex- 
poBuro to tha warm, moist air ascending from 
the drier fans. The humidity ot that air, while 
its heat assists the withering, will preserve the 
pliability of the leaf, a point ot essential impor- 
tnnoe." Mr. McGuire then exhibited to us plans 
for a model factory in which his snew system 
oould bo given the fullest (tfqot to. Some new 
machinery, he puid, would be required to introduce 
the new method recommended, but it would not be 
costly. Onn planter, he told us, had just left for 
Ceylon taking with him the machinery required 
for making the change on bis estate, and be 
prodictod that before Ion;' B\ioh a oli".ngo would 
b« very gauurally adopted. lie pointed out as an 
essential feature ot his proposal as regards the 
withering rooms, that both the inlet and outlet 
for the air should be on the floor level. Thia 
would ensure that the colder air would sink and 
pass out, while the warmer incoming air would 
rise evenly throughout the room to take its place. 
Other details were referred to in our conversation, 
but these were of minor importance, and no space 
can be spared for their mention. Mr. McGuire 
told me that he was returning to Ceylon shortly 
after Christmas to take charge of the factory being 
erected for the proprietors of Davidson's Sirocco 
Patents in Colombo, so you will very soon be 
able to obtain full information from himself on 
all points of his proposals. These, he believes, 
will eli'eot a new departure in the manufacture of 
tea, and one he feels confident that will prove of 
great value to all tea plauters. 
; CiNCeOiNA ALKALOIDS V. OPIUM. 
The question asked by Mr. Caine in the House 
of Commons on Monday night, relative to the sale 
of cinchona and cinchona alkaloids by the Indian 
Government, has probably some connection with the 
well-known views of the member for Bradford on 
the opium question. The advantages of quioine over 
opium as a malarial remedy have often been pointed 
out, and since the cinchona planters in India and 
the East have fallen upon lean years they have re- 
peatedly tried to devise means for a successful pro- 
paganda in the interests of quinine among the 
Chinese and the natives of Indo-China. Whether 
tbese natives will appreciate the promptings of the 
commercial-philanthropic movement, and forsake 
the soothing opium in favour of the, at best, 
tasteless quinine, is another matter. Mr. 
Caiue paid a flying visit to British India a 
couple of years ago, and has since then zea- 
lously thrown the mantle of his protection over the 
toiling millions of ludia. But whatever Mr. Oaine'8 
motives or the result of his action may be, it will 
be interestirg to have a detailed aocount of the 
turnover of the Indiau quinine-factories. Much hai 
lately been doue to cheapen and popularise the 
loaally-made febrifuge, and of the latest efforts in thia 
direction full particulars were given in this journal 
a few months ago. It is noteworthy perhaps, that 
Mr. Caine's question follows closely upon an article 
I in the Times, giving particulars of the system of 
I retailing quinine in Indii. Particulars of the manufac- 
ture of quinine in India, and its distribution, have 
repeitedly bsen given in this journal, but it is in- 
teresting to notice that, according to the Times, 
I month by month tbe applications for quinine at the 
I Indian post-offioes (where tbe drag is retailed in 
farthing packets) have steadily increased, and that in 
September no fewer that 120,000 doses were served out 
I through this channel in the single Lieut-Governorship ot 
j Bengal. The quinine i'i made up in little airtight packets, 
I each containing 5 gr jins, with the Royal arras as k 
guarantee of its purity, and the price and quantity 
clearly printed in the vernacular language. The 
120,000 packets thus sold in Lower Bengal during the 
moiitti of September were independent of the crowds 
of fever patients at the village and district dispensaries. 
; The quinine is made over in balk from the Government 
j factory to the Gaol Department, and is subdivided 
I by prison labour into farthing packets, 1,400 of whioh 
I go to each p^nnd avoirdupois. A certain number of 
I ihe 5-griin packets is sent to evory postmaster iu 
j the Lower Provinces of Bengrtl, and a gmall 00m- 
I miesioii is allowed on tte sale. — Chemist and Bi-uciyist. 
\ THE CINCHONA TRADE. 
Sir, — It is some time since I have troubled you 
I with observations on the position of cinchona. My 
I present excuse for doing so is that you yourself have 
adopted the cloak of (Jasaandra, and have done 
Ro at a time wnen it is most threadbare. 
I SCO that in your reports on tbe cinchona sales 
you have for somo timo spoken of them a.s " uuini- 
port.ant," " most unimportant," and " the least un« 
