548 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Oct. 1,1894. 
and the pao'ss of hounds kept by sporting memb ra 
of the planting community are hardly sufficient to 
keep down the game. The oprn season is now the 
nioBt unfavourable one for bunting, and rorue owne.s 
have been obliged to b< II their hounds in contequenre. 
The ForeBt Department plantations at Nu"aia E i' a 
and Nanuoja are suffering much from the attacks 
of red deer end elk. In tome pieces as new p' ants 
are put in they are hrowted down. I thould not Le 
surprised to b<ar that private* properties tuff<T iu 
the fame way. It would be therefor? reshalle to 
make some provisions for keeping the game down 
within reasonable limits. 
PHOPJBED FOBE9TRY BRANCJI AT THE ECHOOL Or 
AGRICULTURE. 
Owing to the courtesy of tho Goverumei t of India, 
some of our tuperior officers bava been able to 
Study at tho Imperial Forest School at Dehra Dun, 
and in 1894 two rangers are to be rent iioui here. 
It bts, however, struct me that, with the present staff 
of the Agricultural School, loge'b* r with seine addi- 
tions from the Forest Department, it wonld hi 
possible to give to oar ranger* bi d guards, aud alto 
to esndidates for appointrront in those gradts, a 
training which, although not equal to that obtainable 
at the Indian school, would materially help iu a pio- 
per aid careful treatment of cur fcrests. Large i»mi 
of money are uu doubt tpent on the Dehra Dun 
school; the best Profssois are obtained fioin all 
parts of India, aud an experience ot thirteen ve^rs 
has now 6uown the best way to impart a p actical 
knowledge ot forestry and its tppeudaut tciences, 
aid we cannot hope all at onco t> compete wit' 
Dehra. But, whereas this Government cannot aftoi d 
to send more than three tr four men at a time (<>r 
a lengtheiod period of time to a distant place like 
the north of Ixdia, it may be more praciicab'e to 
have classes iu Colombo and to tea< h t restry in the 
voiy forests in which officers will be cilhd upon to 
practise it. I have theref< le been cr* ered by Govern- 
me! t to dieca's the matter with the Director of 
Public Instruction, who has kindly offc f-d to give all 
the sssistaLca possible. The final proposals lave vol 
yet gone iu, but we shall submit ihem be lore loi g. 
The receipts for 1893 amounted to R3C5,7o;> (as 
against 462,427 in 1893) and the charges to R404,75G 
(as t giicst 475,491 in the previous year.) 
TEA DRINKING IN JAPAN AND CHINA- 
To take a cup of social tea in China and Japan is 
not enly a pleasure, as it is with us, but a solemn duty 
born of generations of custom. * * * The delicate 
straw-coloured beverage which is consumed in Japan 
differs very materially itom the infusion call« d tea at 
home. * * * Tee teapot is heated with hot water 
before the tea is put in, then hot water, not toiling, is 
poured over the leaves, and immediately poured 
on aud off, but it ii never avowed to ttaml on tho 
leaves mere than a minute. 
In most houses a kettle of water is always en the 
Mb add, a sort of portable sto\e, ie-emb ing a brazie', 
and this is set before the tea-maker, who watotes 
the bubb'es and steam with »9 much anxiety ai if 
tho fate of the whole Empire depended upo'i ti e 
water biiug used at a certain instant. B.th men 
and women make tea so daintily and deft'y that it 
is a perfect delight to wat h tKen. * * * 
The natives themselves use neither milk n r sugar 
in their pale, yellow tea, but when they can get a cup 
cf what they call Ok'ma tea — which i* a greet <reat, 
for they pref < r it to their own— they use " all the 
trimming-.' * * * 
The Banko teapots, with tie plainly visible thumb 
marks, are much prized by the Japanese , but a tiny 
teapot of Kaga ware, with ten cups— the Japanese 
dozen or set — is the one most oojomonly seen. Some 
of the fine tea sets cost fabulous Bum*. 
Many of the old families have brass or iron kettles, 
beautiful aud ar.istic, which they proudly shew, and 
declare that they have come d wn to them by direct 
inheritance from ancest' ra who used them fix and 
foven hundred jeara ago. A story is told of one ol 
the Sbeigurs, who, being very food of tea, rather 
unscrupulously gratified his taete for fine kettles by 
robbing the pagodas of Buddhist, temples of the brass 
r'nga that surmounted them, and used tbe metal 
thus eer-ute 1 lor casting a kettle, which be declared 
gave '■ no harsh taste to the water." • * * 
Tbe Ctineae are as inveterate tea-drinkers as tbe 
Japane e, hot they use leaves p-epsred in a different 
way." * • 
Tbe Chinese keep a'ways a kettle of water boiling 
over the brazier ready to make tea at a moment's 
notice, for no visitor ever gees to a bouse without 
being offered tea en arriving and deiarting. Tbey 
nie boilirg wa'er, and poor it over th« dry tea in 
each cup. Among the better class, • cup shaped 
like a small lo»l is used with a saurer wt.ich ie a 
little le?s in diameter thr.n the top of the bowl, and 
is used for a cover when the tea i» bowing. When 
the boiling water i* p> ur< d over the t°», it is coven d 
for the spare of two > r three mii ule«, by whi< h time 
tho leaves have unfolded aid fallen to the bottom 
of the cup, having tbe tea clear and del ciously 
fragraut.* • * 
Tbe Cbire<e have a variety of teipots, most <f 
the m much lamer than the toy things of the Jnparew, 
aud many of them kept in a basket cosy. The handles 
or bails are often bamboo or mc'al. similar to ttc 
do-bin of the Japanese— " The Lady" Aug. 9 
+~ — 
PIASSAVA FIBRE. 
Cm my way to Cape Coast I noticed a small quanlily 
of Pia«sava Fibre being shipped from Appam. Tblt 
valuable fitre is obtained from tbe palm «bich is 
so common and plen'iful in this pait of tbe eo'or \ , 
Damciy, " Hap* ia Vinifera." It is a very important 
product, beiDg worth from £45 to £60 p r ton 
accordirg to qaali'y.* Greit interest is at present 
shown iu Euglacd in tbe e'j.coverv of similar fibres 
to tl if, aud there is a iood nakt-t for tbero, but 
the mnplv is very small, ow n^ chiefly, I think, to 
the difficulty experienced in eitracirg ai d cleaning 
ti e fibr*. It is chiefly used f ir I rnshmnklng. I will 
make ei quiries and endeavour to ob am information 
respecting suit** le macbim ry f < r cleaning and pre- 
paring the fibie which information, if I am able to 
procure it Bhall be published in n-y next report. — Mr. 
W. Ciowthers Report, Cold Coast. 

SELECTED ENGLISH PATENTS. 
Tea.— No. 15317.— The Waygood Tupholme Grocers 
Machinery Co., Lid., and B Tupholme, Falmouth 
Road, London. — Relates to apparatus for catting, 
equalizing and blending tea. The catting apparatus 
consists in a pair of the usual cellular rollers and two 
knives A iu contact therewith, which are fixed on 
shafts B carrying levers connected by a. spring Pawla 
are pivoted on the levers and are usually supported 
by the fixed checks, but when nails, stones, or other 
articles push back either of the knives a little, the 
corner of the pawl moves in to gear with a cam 
on the roller shaft, and the lever C is thereby pushed 
further way, so that the knife A is turned sufficiency 
to allow the foreign body to pass. The spring D then 
brings the knife back to the cutting position. From 
the cutter the tea falls upon a travelling r and, to which 
oiher tea may also be Bar/plied, aid it coiivejedto a 
mix nj-cy Under containing three canted wings ai d two 
b»yori5t tided trihedrors which during a few revolu- 
tions of the drum, effect the bid d.ng. The dcor of 
the drum is opened and closed by a pair of racks 
thereon, which can be put into gear with two 
pinions on shafts ab<v.' aud below, operated res- 
pectively by a pulley with an endless rope, and by a 
hand-wheel. From the mixing drum the tea glid<s 
gently into troughs in which scoops fit easily. Or 
the tea may be delivered into a chest by a travelling 
belt. For delivery into bin< on tbe floor below a 
r.ceiver or carriage ii used having four triangular 
* "Written two years ago. — Ed T.A. 
