Nov. i, 1894.] THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
3*7 
ower and eleetrioity developed from water power in 
everal different countries. The figures tending to 
how that the economy as compared with steam 
wa a nos so great as might at first be imagined. 
Planters may possibly wish to know how suoh 
an estimate would work out as applied to engi- 
neering requirements in this country. 
Any one with the most elementary knowledge 
of costs will probably agtee wi'.h ms in saying that 
no comparison of costs is to ba taken as accurate 
ua less all the details are given, and the compilers 
of the figures can be cross-examined as to how 
they treat minor details. It is scarcely neo?ssary 
to illustrate this by examples. Another sourca of 
error in these modern days of rapid inter-com- 
mu uioation of news, financial quotation, and the 
artificial manipulation of labour by combinations 
of employers or employed, is the rapid fluctuation 
of all prices. As an instanoe of this the price 
of small coal in tha north of England within 
the year 1888 rose from under 4s to over 7s a ton. 
The history of this revival of trade is of soma interest. 
In the early part of that year trade was down to 
dead low water mark, " Watch freights," said a 
thoughtful commercial man to the prcs nt writer. 
Some trifling addition to one scale of the balance 
of demand and supply, put demand for freights 
slightly in excess of supply, hence more ships 
were wanted, hence more iron, hence more coal, 
henoe more ships to oarry tho ooal, hence more 
iron to make the additional ships, and so on in 
quasi geometrical progression. Again the labourers 
got higher wages, waxed fat and kicked, 's opped 
in the lints ' or struck, henoe less output of ooal, 
henoe higher prioes still, d>c, &c. 
To return to the original point. Apart from 
costs it may be stated that the most favourable 
conditions for the sujoessful competition of 
electricity against steam are where fuel is dear 
and water powtr abundantly and cons'aatly avail- 
able, in sufficient but not unmanageable amount. 
In a country of hard winters the possible freezing 
of the supply and consequent dam»ga to plant 
and interruption ot work, introduce complications 
of not. inconsiderable importance. 
In our temperate upoountry climates of the tropic?, 
to use what may sound a contradiction in terms, 
thi3 last diffioulty vanishes. It would be out of 
place here to go at length into the question of 
hydraulic prime movers, except to say that the 
seleotion of the most suitable form of turbine 
or water wheel for any particular plaoe, is 
not a mattar to be decided on without 
due attention to the conditions of height of fall, 
variation of supply, and purity of water. Some 
planters are too apt to oondemn turbines in toto 
when they have used a delicate maohine fit for 
high pressure and clean water, in a place when they 
should have put in a strong turbine of low effi- 
ciency with the digestion of an ostrich for stones 
and sand. 
Given the water supply avaitable and power required 
the selection and installation of the turbine can of 
oourse be safely entrusted to the experienced hy- 
draulic engineers of this oountiy. The selection of 
the eleotro motor plant will depend almost entirely 
on the distance. For modtrae distanoes measur- 
able by bundrtdj oi yards the simple lo.v potential 
direct ouir. ut system, (a dynamo r.t one end driving 
a Bimilar maohine at the othei) would naturally be 
ohoscn. For longer distancas the lots of power on 
tho way, and the consequent necessity for larger 
machinery to supply the wasted power renders suoh 
a bimple system impracticable. Without cumber- 
ing your column with an excess of technical 
detail it may be etat.d that the higher the 
potential the leea current is required to transmit 
the same amount of energy, and there is the less 
proportionate loss in the conducting wires. 
Now _ high potential dynamos and motors 
are difficult to construe; and somewhat 
"pvraly" to manage. Taii dilflculsy has been got 
over by the three-phase system where turee con- 
ducting wires are used instead of two and the 
ourrent is changed by a eocalled trans:ormer to 
a current of higher potential and leas amount to 
be let down again to a lower potential with greater 
amount at the other end of the conductors where 
it feeds tha motor. An installation on th ; s system 
was a luded to fay your London correspondent 
in your paper of the 21st ult.— This adaptation of 
(theoretically) very complicated electricit principles 
is one of the greatest triumphs of modern electricity. 
It would not be fair to attempt to estimate the 
cost of suoh a system for any given horse power, 
but perhaps it may be said that a dynamo or 
motor has only one moving portion, and requires 
about the sama am;untof lubrication as a rotary 
fan. The cost i3 somewhere about £10 per hoise 
power, not including spare parts. The cost of a 
turbine and accessories is sufiioiently well known 
to planters. 
If any planter of pioneering spirit interested 
in this question wishas to help on the cause of 
soientifia enterprise, I should suggest his submit- 
ting a rough specification to a few of the leading 
eleotrical firms, and obtaining from them an 
estimate for his requirements. 
J. S. S. 
CEYLON TEA IN AMERICA BY AN 
INDIAN PLANTER. 
Dear Sib,— Your Overland Observer No. 37, p a o- e don 
contains a letter from Tho. F. Tburber on Cy.on Tea 
in America. Below this is another article with the same 
beading a portion of which catches my attention I 
mean the sentence which says that " the best results 
in the introduction of Ceylon teas could probably be 
more quickly attained in sections (of America) that 
consume fermented teas, such as Oolongs and Congou " 
I presume that the reason for this supposition is that 
your Ceylon teas are more " similar " to these noterl 
than to other forms of China tea. So that the 
question arises— how far should this " similarity " 
be encouraged ? Would it be possible to dispose of 
any perfect imitation oolongs in the sections noted 
as a p*ying price, given that such imitations shall 
be steadily forced on those sections, and a constant 
supply be ready to meet the demand ? The English 
man of 14th Sept. has given us some letters in renlv 
to one by " T " to the Times. One of these is from 
Mr. Ernest Tye, the Secretary of the Association in 
London. Mr. Tye says that Ceylon teas have a 
better chance in markets which use China tea 
because its teas have a greater " similarity" to China 
Tea than these of India nave. You see that Mr Tva 
brings this up as an argument in your favour where 
as you yourselves have, up to date, lamented the faot" 
ADd it is a fact. To me it is an encouraging fart' 
and points out (to me) that by encoura fi in<* this 
similarity to China tea, and perfecting it, we^hall 
have the pleasure of seeing your teas transferred to 
other markets than the one built up by India Your 
place instead of your company would be preferahlo 
in Mincing Line. If you go to America ou the score 
of superiority ' (as understood at present) you will 
t ike .second place to India as you do in London But 
should jou lake the hint given, unintentionally h v 
Mr. lye, you may take first place there, shouij you 
refuse to take the Lint, I suppose that sooner or later 
India will take it, and succeed (although jouhaveft 
better chaoce) because many of our dUtricta are on 
tho Ceyiou level of capability of making S0 Z 
drinking tea, but incapability of makSiff tho 
strong st, or most " superior " mixing leu iu 
another of the letters, in reply to T " ' iMr 
G. Saton cays that India has proved' in'' 
