2 2 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [July 2, 1894. 
the time of pluokiug probably contain less tannio 
for the above reasoD." I have often beard tbat 
heavy manuring spoils tbe quality of Ibe tea (i.e. 
its b tterness) and it was attributed to the flush being 
more succu'eot and watery ; here, however, we have 
a better reason. 
Page 160 ibid. Legomin ' and it is to th's that 
their intuitive vatoe is chiefly due in tea, it 
also occurs up to 24 per cent." — So also page 229 
aj to tbe va'ue of egumin. The possibiily of 
making this solube without spoiling tbe taste 
of the ten sh ud be kept in view an I experi- 
mented on — any bow tea for certain purposes might 
be especially made with soda in order to get at the 
Legumin. I think tbat I 3aw a few days ago a patent 
for some combination of tea and soda. Perhaps the 
invention is on a good track. 
Page 163 ibid. " Tbe wax " in the leaf. I never 
heard of this before. The Chiuese withering process 
ia confusing. It has not the same meaning as oar 
term " withering," but the gentle patting of leaf 
before rolling has a very good effect on the product 
( tbe tea made). Yeais ago Mr. Qow patented a v. ilberer 
which attempted this process — patt'cg the leaf while 
it was being softened with warm air. Tbe result was 
unfortunate, a3 the leaf turned red, and the machine 
never came into use. A more rapid patting and no 
hot air would probably bave given thu lea' the desired 
softness. Ioaie got a fairly go^d result by puttir g 
leaf in a revolving barrel, and with it several beams of 
wood four inchts square, but I abandoned the experi- 
ment for want of meacs. 
Page 203 ibid tt lis us that plantations in China 
" will not yiel-J profitally after they are teu or twelve 
jea's old, a id they are often dug up and replanted 
before that time." This idea sounds something like 
tt theory held by some platit.-rs tbat old gardens n ill 
n'.t give good tia, it is worth discussing. 
Page 208 ibid. " Two leaves ai d a bud are now 
oommonly pluckelat a time." It is not so very long 
•go that four leaves could be plucked and 15 years 
ago, as man} as six&nds.vdi leaves were taken and 
made iuto tea. It is a di-puted point whether 
coarse plucking gives more tea per acre than fine 
plucking : this being a question of libjur— but it 
certa'nly doos not pay now to make coarse tea. 
Page 210 ibid, "On comparing chemically the tea 
produced from fine and coarse plucking itbasbten 
found that the f. rmer his a higher total extract and 
more tannin while the theine is about tbe same." 
Before the time wheu Indian tea wa< wauted for its 
tannin we could pluck audatud coursj tea lecaose 
the theine was about the same. Pdople d> drink tea 
which is nasty, weak, and almost unpalatable be- 
cause of its theine. For this chemical, people, 
the world over, hunt up any plant cm- 
taining it — lioka, coffee, kola — it does not mat'er 
What the shell ia bo long us it contains theine. il.iving 
lost sight of wbat the consumer wan's, we cannot 
now use our coarse leaves. 
P»ge 211 ibid — Lower percentage of tannin and is 
due "aho to the presence of a larger proportion of 
cellulose aniTqucse matter." In Australia they used 
to drink "'Posts and rails" i. e., stalks, because ttey 
contained theine— but all tbat is done away with— so 
let it pass. 
Page 217 ibid.— Withering.— I find nothing new — 
the latest idea is to use boards instead of cloth for 
withering on, but this came out after Mr: Bomber's 
book was published. 
Page 225 ibid. — "Oxida'ion prccess." — The cool 
separat3 house, the water spray, are old ideas more 
or less believed in, these are all plans for retaining 
the strength of the tea. 
Page 227 ibid, — " 4th."— Experiment of supplying a 
limited quantity of air lor checking oxidation might 
have beeu used with benefit in former days wnen 
deficient accommodation w.is allowed, as a rule, for 
heavy flushes of leat. The rolled leaf used to lie about 
and get sour, whereas had it been placed under heavy 
weights it would have remained unchanged. 
The above being the simplest menus of allowing 
a " limited supply of a. r." 
Page 228 ibid. — " With air and oxygen gas wbieb 
gave a bright co'our tbe liquor was fltvoury but uot 
very pungeut." Lrq'iid oxygen is now supplied : per- 
haps we shall u-e it wben we want flavjur and do 
n t miud losing excessive pungency. 1 think thai 
Mr. Bamber found that oxvgen hatieued tbe oxi- 
dation : in these days of baete this also may be of value. 
f.age 231 ibid. " If therefore wet fuel is employed 
at this s'age tbe air, although heated will be aro'oet 
saturated wi'h moisture from the wood and incapable 
of rapidly removing the moisture from the leaf." 
There most ba some mistake here ; bow does the 
air from the wtt wocd get to the tea? Tbe furnace 
products go up the chimney, tf.e beat from wet or 
dry wood is only used to f eat th» air chambers of 
the furnace. 
Same page (231) lust paragraph, eta'ee that the 
high emperature employed and the rapid escape of 
moisture as steam rarriet Hway the ess mini oil 
mcchanicil'y. 
Pape 232 i<id. The temperature employed for rir*t 
firing averages about 21° F.' This most be a mis- 
print lor '270" V. However this paragraph tells 'is of 
the harm done by driving off ihu final moisture by 
the use of i o high a temperature and uo great a 
draught Now the dowu-'lta'uht sirocco reverses a 1 
the inductions given by Mr. Uamber- The wetJe»f 
is put in tbe 'ottoui and supplied with compara- 
tively cool w« t air. the dried tia at tbe top gets the 
maximum of t uiper<tturo and the grcate-t draught. 
For 'h : s rea«on prnbnb'y tbi* machine is co* liked 
as a finishing meoldne and is generally u ed only for 
half firing. Mr. Bamber remarks on the D. D. Si'occo 
in page 233, but do?s not seom to have d< tected tbe 
fault of do ng exactly the reverse rt what h-j con- 
siders right au J proper. 
Page 234 ibid. About "fat'y acids" and "cheesy 
flavour' shoal I he studied thoiotlgbl) ; for un- 
doultelly every pound of chee-y tea helps to give 
us a bad nam<\ 
Page 235 ibid. Final firing ''in a temperature of 
212° F for over Iwj hours.'' Sir. Bamber shows us 
plainly the benefit of this, nod it is piobal>l» that 
if bis instructions were carried out universally, 
there would be much less bud tea sent to tbe break- 
fast table. When we work for the- consumer, we shall 
have to attend to such detail?, as under-cur^d tea 
will be rejected, and rightly si. But as we make 
tea only to sell, it certainly is a great point to 
bave it as heavy hs possible op to tbe moment to 
its being knocked down, at fay 5d. For a short 
ptr'n d the ai d r-cartd tea is not very baJ. but tbe 
process of long slow final firing will loie jou. as 
much as 5 per ceut. in weight. It is argued that the 
loss of value through onoittiug thi3 fiual firing, and tie 
loss cf weight by doing it thoroughly, just about 
c 'unterbalmce one anjtber. So why take the trouble d 
Here again we have the ' market" iu full view, but 
the consumer is lost sight of. 
Page (249) ibid — Rainarks on the "tea made from 
bushes blighted with green fly." Tbe yield at such 
times is very small — the chemistry of green fly leaf 
might bo carefully studied; perhaps such studies 
might lead to irDiortmt reru ts, and reveal some 
method of manufacture which would give the de-ired 
result of flavour and aroma- The Chinese have some 
way of shading the bushes for roin-- weeks belore 
they »re p'ueked, in order to bleach the leaves 
p rtially, the re-ult being a tea of peculiarly deli- 
cate flavour. But our market has no pa'ate for 
shades of flavour,— so ne will let it pass. I 
have seen green fly affected busk s of which the 
flush was stunted. I counted sixty fully grown (four 
and five leaf aod a tip) shoots on one axil some 
of which were more than t«o inches long. It Would 
be of value to know whether this temporary check 
to growth has any effect on the succeeding flush 
(■■hen tbe bight clears off). I have found that this 
blight clears tff very suddenly, and thit an abnor- 
mally flee flash springs out at or.ee. Shoald this 
invariably be so, planters would tnafce prepariions 
for tbe sudden rush of leaf, 
