June i, 1894.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
835' 
and other bad timbers ; and another 3 storied 
building with J brick walls which were rcallij 
suppored by the window frames in a state of semi- 
collapse, as the window frames had been eaten 
up by white ants, being made of rubbishy timber ; 
and instances ot this kind could be multiplied 
all over the countiy, where Proprietors will 
suffer heavily in the long run although at first 
no doubt a few rupees were saved. 
With machinery matters are even worse and 
engines, and rollers, sifters, and fans, can be 
heard all over the country knocking themeelves 
to piec:s, through want of little trained attention 
to the beEtring surfaces. Heated bearings are 
common, and thousands of gallons of oil are 
needlessly wasted in lubricating the machinery in 
factories ; (often too, oil of the most unsuitable 
kind). Priming in boilers under the oircum- 
staaces must be common, and I will be very 
surprised if we do not hear of boiler explosions 
over the country with fatal results before long, 
as the machines get older and weaker. 
Oil a well-known estate not long ago, with an 
engine below the power o£ the work required, the 
energetic Superintendent used to harnj a 56 lb, 
weight on the safety-valve to increase its power I W 
And it was a perfect miracle that the Engine 
Driver was not blown into eternity and this 
went on for over one year. 
Another case that came to my notice was Chat 
of a boiler, where on inspection the whole of 
the lire bars ot the back were melted into a 
solid mass ; and of course it did not work 
efficiently ; and quite recently I heard of two 
down-draft Siroccos, with all their trays and tea, 
being converted into furnaces, and the whole of 
the trays and lea bting burnt to cinders, all 
through want of ordinary knowledge and atten- 
tion. But how can we expect otherwise when 
sets of expensive machinery, costing from K60 
to RIOO per acre, for the area of tea in bearing 
are placed in the hands of Superintendents who 
have had no previous training whatever, and have 
numerous other duties to perform and who are 
too often assisted by a Tamil cooly only (of pro- 
found ignorance on 37 cents a day) in the super- 
vision of this valuable machinery. 
You cannot expaot local Engineers to complain 
when every worn-out (I should say torn-out) bear- 
in^-, or break-down means handsome profits in 
repairing. Mean and ignorant parsimony is at 
the bottom of it ail, In India each concern of 
considerable size has its own European Engineer 
who attends to the erection of the buildings and 
machinery and the proper-working of the latter. 
It one estate alone cannot afford it, two, three or 
sis estates support one man, between them; and 
the Superintendent knows his machinery is being 
properly looked after while he devotes his time to 
legitimate estate work. Add to this the fact that 
some Indian I'irms send their astistants to got 
a proper knowledge of machinery at Gainsboro' 
or Bomo other Engineering centre, before they 
start for India end we see how far ahead of us 
our Indian neighbours are in this matter. 
I commend these remarks to the unbiassed at- 
tention of proprietors of Ooylon estates. Pay your 
men well, and they will work for you well ! And 
put men over them fo report to you who know 
practically what they are writing about, and how 
to advise those under them. Do not allow creep- 
ers on your properly, unless you are certain tboy 
are likely to be useful in the future to you, and 
the commuuily at largo ; and in any oaes do not 
bo party (by doing it, or allowing your Managevs 
lo do it) to extracting cxttavaguot prciuiumB, from 
j'oviths fkbout to Btart iu life, by any f^klge pretence^ 
See that your machinery and buildings are pro- 
perly looked after by men of professional knowledge. 
" A stitch in time" often saves the whole machine, 
and if we endanger the life of the employees by 
want of proper supervision, rest assured it will 
result in some frightful accidents before long, 
and Government forced supervision, as they have in 
England, which will be found ten times more irk- 
some than was the forced Medical Inspection o' our 
labourers. — Yours obediently, 
EUROPEAN EMPLOYER. 
WHAT CONSTITUTES GOOD TEA. 
Dear Sib, — In your last issue, on page 774, you 
were good enough to call attention to my letter 
and you did so under the heading of " Improved 
Tea-making and Better Prices." You invite wide 
discussion under this heading, and naturally it 
should form the banner and war cry ot all tea 
planters, of all tea proprietors— of all concerned. 
But as a small beginning let us know what is 
"good tea." Invite definition of the term "good 
tea." There is no use ia discussion unless all 
start from one defined and fix°d point. 
In yours of 17th April you have commented on 
and favoured us with a lecture by Mr. Ernest 
Hart, and seeing that he so clearly expresses his 
liking for " Japanese 'green' or unfermented and 
unfaced tea," you still advocate that he should 
be presented with some finest Ceylon broken pekoe. 
He may be brought to change his opinion, 
but is it really better that he should do so, than 
that the Oeylon planter should try and humour 
him and send him some tea as good or better 
and of the same sort as his favourite Japanese 
tea- But that is not my point. Mr. Hart gives 
you clearly his definition ot gocd tea, and as he 
is a leader of medical opinion, he will have 
the doctors on his side, and their patients 
no doubt in great numbers, altogether a most 
important class. Shall we then start with Mr, 
Hart's definition of "good tea,?" It is no use asking 
the planters themselves — they are trained to 
consume tea that would tan the hide of a bullock 
- -and tho.'se few who have to buy their own tea 
don't buy beat Broken Pekoe. 
Let us ask " Philpot "—he of the Bitter Oiy 
(and by the same token hia cry was for more 
bitter tea). I expect that rasp, strength, body, 
fullness, would predominate in his definition. 
Whatever it is let is go on the list. Is there 
anyone else whose opinion should be asked ? 
A planter sent some tea to his mother who was 
profuse in her thanks, but she had to confess that 
it was too strong and that it was simply delicious 
when mixed with her usual China tea. Is her 
opinion worth putting on the list, as follows ? 
" Good Indian tea is one which is delioioa^s 
when mixed with China Tea." 
Thinking of authorities whoso definition of 
"good tea" will be of value, I can hit on none better 
than " Lipton;" he knows what good tea ie. He 
sells tons of it, none higher than Is 7d. Evidently he 
has discovered what is •' good tea;" perhaps the 
verdict may bo ''a tea which you buy for Gd 
and eell for eighteen pence " (ttiis would be a 
penny short of the hcsi but still near enough). It 
ia wrong, however, of me to try iiud anticipate a 
" verdict." But seriously, will he tell us what 
sort of tea is best liked? 
Tea planters long ago used lo send home for 
samples of " Uoroiinau's ' beet ton and they 
couldn't tell it from their own fauuiogs nud red 
