6i8 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [March i, 1894. 
A few months after Dr. Husekarl's return to J&.va., 
the Bhip in which his family were eailiog from Holland 
to rejoin bim foundered off the Dutch coast. Ihg 
Dootor's wife and bia four daughters were among the 
eti;hty passengern who pcribhed iu the waves. Shortly 
after this domcetio calamity, Hasskarl had the mis- 
fortune to differ from Dr. Junghabn, who bad mean- 
while returnei to Jiiva, and among whose duties wag 
that of saperviging the new cinchona-culture, on mtuy 
vital principles of tirj system of cullivntion. The 
breach between the two men became too wi>le lo admit 
of aatisfaotory co-oi)erdtion. Hasakarl therefore re- 
■igced, leaving Java in 1856 with all the honours of 
war, in the shape of miiuy ordera and ctosses, 
and a life-pension of about 85/ a ye»r. Since that 
time the Dootor has lived in retirement iu Ger- 
many, the rec pieut of m'iny ofBoial honours and 
much beloved by hia neighboars in the little German 
frontier-town where lie spvut the last thirty years 
of his life. Dr. Uasskarl is survived by his second 
wife, a Dutch lady. Daring the last few years his 
memory almost entirely failed him. and he had long 
been quite incapacitated for work. It is a singalar 
fact that the most valuable of all cinchonas, the 
Ledgeriana variety, was not introduced into (bo Indies 
by any of the collectors eBpccialiy appointed by the 
British or Dutch Governmeata, but by a private 
trader in South America, the late Mr. Ledger, who 
ooUeoted the seeds with the aasisiauce of an Indian 
oartier, one Manuel luca Maeniani. When the Boli- 
vian authorities discovered the part pliyed by ihis 
Indian cascanllero, they threw liim into prison tor 
assisting tt)e foreigner in robbing the country of oao 
of its chief riches, and there he perisbeJ iniserab'y. 
Not a single one of the vartoas species iutroJuoed by 
Uasskarl is nowadays plaated in the Etat for com- 
mercial purposes: Notwithstanding the fact that 
Hasskarl's South AiULrican mission produced no 
permanently successful result^, time bas amply siiowu 
that the methods of ciocboau-cuUure ad/o a'ei by 
him, and (to somJ extent) als3 by Tnysm-iu, were 
scientifically crreot. — Chemist and Druyyist. 
TEA CVRiNG ilAKllINERY. 
In our issue of May Cth, 1892, we ma ie reference 
to the importaut character of the machinery that 
the competition of India and ceriaiu British ColoL-iea 
with the long-88tabli>>hed tt^a trade of Cbioa had 
brought into use. We then wro'e nuitr the impres- 
sion that the machinery was of so highly effective a 
character that little or nothing ojuld ba added lo it to 
improve the quality of the fiuisaed tea tmnod out by 
it. But it hue become known to us that iu that 
impression we were mistaken. It ij true, perbap*, 
that as regards the michiues them elves improvement 
was scarce'y poisible, but even this approach to 
finality did not overcome a tendeucy to inequality of 
production, which was especially noticeable at varying 
seasons of the year, humidity iu the external atmo- 
sphere being responsible for a variation in this tbat 
often reduced the price obtained for tha tea made by 
more than 5^) per cent. While, therefore, it appeared 
to be almost impoisible to devisd improvemeats iu 
the maohinei tbemselvts, it at length became m inifest 
that some a'teration of procedure was necessary if a 
level of quality was to ba maiiitaioed. Is a raos an 
intelligent observer that the drying apparatus was 
being worked on a wrong ah initio principle. The air 
discharged from the fan drawing it tlirough the furnace 
and ever the tea was sufferdd to escape iuto 
the room containing tha drying machines. This air 
was necessarily ch^rgea with the moisture extracted 
from the leaf duniiig iis treatment. And yet tha same 
air is, under existing methods, suffered to re-euter 
the furnace anl again pass over the tea trays H> - 
grometrical tests made have shown that ttii^ air is 
charged up to 100 per cent with humidity. On eu- 
tering the fumace this becomes devtloped into » 
steamy vapour most injurious to the diymg tea. 
Manifestly, therefore, the remedy must be to preveut 
air 80 charged from re-entry into the dryin^^ chamber. 
One estate wtiioh has made the chioge has, we are 
informed, found aa the resalt thU its teas maiuuia as 
almofet level qoality throughout the year. A fortb«r 
improvement, It ia said, will result from permitting 
the air ^o discharged from the faaa to play upon the 
tea leaf during the preliminafy prooeas of with^riag. 
At present this procesa is awsitted doriog daap 
weather by paegiuR over it a sIroiiK blast of dry heated 
air. The result of this is nneatiafaotorv, as it pro- 
daces a hardoesB anl dryness not desirable iu this 
first stag-i of treatment, and it besides induces a pre- 
mature fermentation hiirhly detrimenla'. The iyitem 
now proposed is to lead the warm humid air discharfced 
from the fans in the dryinit-room to the wilherini; 
chambers, these being made as air-t'irht ai pr>(>«ible, 
and bavin; their only vents on the floor level, ro as 
to innnre the escape of the coldrr air only. While, 
tt'ertf ^re, the machinery used will remato as at preaeot, 
the method of working it and the adaptatioD of its 
is'uit g products will alone be chauged ; and this, 
it is rnnfidently expected, with most profitable reaalts. 
— Engineer. 
« 
REVIEWS. 
CEYLON HANDBOOK AND DIRECTORY, 
l8i*:3-94. 
" Forgasoit'i Ceylon Handbook and Direot«ry" i« 
one of the most complete works of its kind, anl its 
value is proved bv the fact tbat it bas been issued 
regularly since 1855 Not only doep it give complftte 
lists of the principal Europetns and natives io the 
island, but it also affords much statistical inforosa- 
tion as to the progress of this important dependency, 
rei'ordiog the chief events of bisiorieal interest from 
Tear to year, and detailing the pablio works that 
have been undertaken or accompl shed. It is from 
Buoh materials alone that the history of Ceylon can 
b» accurately traced. Mr. J. Fergason, who edits the 
Handbook, has bai long experience in the country, 
aui has drawn together a vast array of .statisties 
b°ariag upon every branch of Government, of in- 
dustry, and of commerce. Under the heading of 
Publio Works he has detailed the progress of railway 
ox*eo8ion, the buildiufr of a new harbour at Colombo, 
the water supply worka there, and the important 
department of irrigation works ; and he explains with 
great fulness the fiaancial condition of the island, 
especially with reference to the undertakings for the 
public benefit. FropoFala of great praotioal impor- 
tance which are yet under consideration are fully 
described, amongst these being the schemes of railway 
extension which will ultimately unite Ceylon with 
the South Indian rai'way system ; the introdaction 
of tramways at Colombo, and the reclamation of the 
foreshore in the neighbourhood cf the capital. In 
criticising recent legislation on the subject of taxation, 
Mr. Ferguson expre^'es himself as decidedly against 
tbe abolition of the Paddy Tax, a reform which was 
introduced at the instigation of the Cobden Club, bat 
which the writer anticipates will have most disae- 
trous results. He maintains that the removal of this 
tax has been misrepresented to financial reformers in 
this country, and pcints out that it has already brought 
about a protective policy whereby middlemen are en- 
rieh->d at the expense of the poorer classes in a manner 
totally opposed to the fundamental tenets of the Oobdeo 
Club. Frotn the figures given by Mr. Ferguson it 
appears that while about £100,000 are spent on intoxi- 
cating drink in Ceylon the cost of education only 
amounts to £230,000 ; bat he looks hopefully forward 
to tha time when thfse figures will be reversed. 
According to the last census the to'al population waa 
3,007,789, but of th- S9 only 599,554 of all ages could 
read oir write. The indut'tries of Ceylon have been 
reoeutlv undergning- much aUeratirn. Tea-planting 
hiis LOW t,ecom9 a most importmt occupation, aod the 
oultivntiou of co-ffrte, cocoa, ciuchuaa, and spices forma 
a very valuable ad'iition to the rice-growing which 
waa once almott the only agricultural indastry. Com- 
parative tables of exports and imports show tha^ 
Ceylon is recovering rapidly from the depression froni 
