Jan. 1, 1894.] THE TRQPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
487 
IMPROVING THE MANUFACTURE OF TEA, 
Finality is a term which oan never, it would 
seem, be oorreotly applied to any partioular process 
or to BnytbiDR else. It may be eaid, however, 
that one special process, the one in which we 
in this Colony are especially ooncsmed, that 
of the manufacture of tea, seemed in some of 
our recently-equipped Factories, to have been 
brought to as a high a pitch of perfection as was 
likely to be reached. But the statements made to our 
London Cerrespondent by Mr. McGuire, (see page 
484) a gentleman well-known here through his con- 
nection with Davidson's Siroccos, would seem to 
indicate that we h^ve not ytt attained to the 
desired point, Indeed; the mistako he has 
referred to, would seem to attack the very 
A B C of our method, and we fancy there are few 
who will tot recognise it as an error, or who would 
not wish to be able to correct it. It should be satis- 
factory to us all to receive the assurance given 
by that gentleman that, although there are con- 
ditions that need amendment in the Ceylon practice, 
our system is yet much in advance of that of our 
Indian fellow-tea planters. Now Mr. McGuire has 
professionally visited a large number of the 
estates in Assam, Sylhet and other districts of 
Northern India wherem tea planting is carried 
on. It is evident, therefore, that his know- 
ledge of the subject of tea curing has been 
obtained from a varied experience of tha methods 
pursued here and in India. Mr. MoGuire has 
cited as evidence of the correctness of the 
alterations he recommends, that on a certain 
well-known Ceylon tea estate, the introduc- 
tion of his new method has had the effect 
of levelling up to the maximum prices ob- 
tained for the produce of that estate the produc- 
tion of all the year round It has been well- 
known hitherto that the quality— and consequent 
price— of tea sometimes varies according to the 
season in which it is made. In the special 
case quoted, tea made during line and warm 
weather always fetched an average of from 
Is to Is Id per lb. But tea made while dampness 
prevailed in the atmosphere sank to an average of 
about 7d only. The result to the improved method 
introduced by Mr. McGuire has been to equalize 
the price of tea leaf all the year round to the top 
level. Our London Correspondent tells us that 
he has verified the assertion by reference 
to the brokers' list of tea sales. There is no 
doubt that to achieve such a result as this it 
would be worth the while of tea estate 
proprietors, especially in wet districts, to 
incur some extra outlay upon the remodelling 
of their factories. This, we are assured, is not 
likely to be very large in most cases. At 
all events, if the fact be as above stated, it is 
not likely that the proprietors of large gardens 
would cavil at the neceseary outlay. Some time 
back, we discussed in these columns, the desirability 
of taking steps to remove humidity from the 
air used in the several processes of manufacture, 
for all seemed to agree that this exercised a very 
material and injurious effect. As we understand 
the suggestions made, the main conclusion is that 
the air drawn through tho driers by the fan 
should not be permitted, as at present, to escape 
into the room in which the drying process goes 
OD. It is discharged from the fans laden with 
the humidity it has extracted from the leaf, and 
at present it is again drawn into the heating 
furnaoes and re-discharged upon the leaf, bearing 
with it that humidity converted into steamy 
vapour certain to he injurious as likely to pro- 
mote quick fermentation. Mr. McGuire's con- 
tention ia that j'rcsh air alone should enter the 
furnace, while the air once used should be dis- 
charged outside of the drying room. There seema to 
be commonsense in this suggestion. It can be of 
no use trying to obviate the eiiects of dampness 
in the outside atmosphere, it we deliberately draw 
air into the furnace largely charged with thia 
quality by previous use. The next objection taken 
with regard to existing practice relates to 
withering. It is sought to assist this proceas at 
certain periods by a blast of heated air. The 
effect of using this, we are told, is to harden 
the leaf. The illustration of clothes dried in 
warm and still weather and of those dried on a 
windy day is an apt and pertinent one. The 
suggestion now made is that the air discharged 
by the fan from the driers should be conveyed 
by pipes to the withering floor, where its warm, 
soft influence would, it is said, be of special 
value in producing that gradual withering which 
it is most desirable to obtain. We leave practi- 
cal planters to discuss the two points chiefly 
raised in the above, only remarking that every 
advance or alteration of process calculated to im- 
prove the quality of our teas is to be welcomed from 
whatever quarter it comes. It seems to us, too, 
that a great deal still has to be learned about tea 
leaf and its manipulation in the factory, before tea 
planters can feel that they have fully mastered 
their profeesion. 
THE PACKAGES USED BY CEYLOX 
TEA PLANTERS 
not being strong enough to bear transhipment to 
the Continent. They complain that when sent 
there the boxes arrive broken and show considerable 
loss of tea, and this, it appears, cannot be recovered 
from the shipowners. They add: — "In the 
mutual interest of shippers and consignees we 
shall be glad if you will ventilate this grievance 
in the Ceylon press," This is undoubtedly a matter 
which should receive the greatest possible amount 
of attention from your planters. It is probably the 
case that a great deal of the tea purchased 
here and forwarded to the Continent has had to be 
rebulked in this country. We know that soma 
persons regard the practice of rebulking here with 
favour. They hold that it enforces a levelness in 
the quality and measurement of the contents of the 
chests that cannot be obtained by any other 
methods. But my letters recently conveyed to 
you a complaint made to me by a leading 
firm of brokers as to the tendency among your 
planters to pack the chests too tightly, and its 
result in producing a large amount of broken 
and dust tea. This tendency the firm in ques- 
tion declared to be the main cause for the 
necessity for rebulking. They pointed out the loss 
arising from it, and furthermore stated that the 
chests so dealt with could never be efficiently closed 
again so as to bear re-export without injury to their 
contents. Anyone who has visited one of our tea 
warehouses and seen the xiatohed-up condition of a 
large proportion of the tea chests, from Ceylon would 
readily endorse this complaint. An attempt to 
redress the cause for this would probably go far to- 
wards meeting the grievance stated by Messrs. 
Malcolm, Kearton & Co., but it seems to be likely 
that, apart from this particular feature, the chests 
themselves are inherently too weak to bear more 
than just the journey home to London. As so 
much of the tea destined for the continent is pur- 
chased here in the open market, your planters can- 
not discriminate so as to pack teas for the re-export 
Eervicein epeci.ally strong oases. So it seems to ba 
the only resource, if the evil stated is to be avoided 
in the future, that endeavour should be made to 
