Sept. 1, 1900] THE TROPICAL 
AGEICULTtjRIST. 
161 
insects. The governmunt of the state of Bahia is also 
enconragiug the growth of manicoba, distributing a 
pamphlet of instructious. A discouraging report is to 
the effect that " lately the entire cargo of Ceara 
[manicoba] rubber shipped in an English steamer 
was refused in London, under pretext that this gum 
was of too inferior a quality." 
RUBBER EXPEDITION TO THE SOUTH 
SEAS. 
In pursuit of its object — the greatest possible inde- 
peDdence of Germany in regard to the importation 
of tropical products from foreign countries — the colo- 
nial iadusti-inl committee, at Berlin, have decided to 
send a " Gutta-percha and Caoutchouc Expedition " 
to the South-sea colonies," for the purpose of — 
1. The study of the Gutta-percha and Caoutchouc 
culture and exploitation, in Dutch and British Indies 
(Sumatra, Borneo, Java, and Straits Settlements) ; 
2. Planting and increasing the Gutta-percha yield- 
ing Sapotaccees, and the caoutchouc yielding Ficus 
trees and Jpocjnacse vines of New Guinea and the 
South-sea isles ; 
3. The sending of large quantities of seeds and plant 
material to New Guinea, the South-sea colonies and 
Kamerun, to introduce a regular culture of Gutta- 
percha and Caoutchouc on a large scale ; 
4. Transporting larger quantities of Gutta-percha 
leaves and bark to Germany for experimentation, to 
produce Gutta-percha suited for manufacture. 
Rudolf Schleohtir, the botanist, has signi- 
fied his willingness to carry out the expedition. 
Herr Sohleohter should be especially quali- 
fied for this important undertaking, in conse- 
quence of his rich experience gained as leader of 
the Caoutchouc expedition to Inhambane and West 
Africa ; he also carried out, successfully, the expedi- 
tion to West Africa in behalf of the colonial industrial 
committee, introducing the culture of Caoutchouc 
plantations in Kamerun. 
The cost has been estimated at 60,000 marks, 30,000 
of which have been placed at the disposition of the 
committee, with the proviso that it obtain the re- 
mainder from interested parties. 
The Caoutchouc and cable industries have every 
reason to v>'illiugly and materially assist the com- 
mittee to carry out its plan of sending a " Gutta-percha 
and Caoutchouc expedition " to the South-sea islands. 
An authority in our industry once said : " The 
Caoutchouc goods manufacturers must manifest the 
same interest in the agricultural side of their industry 
as the sugar manufacturers accord the beet culture ! " 
The truth contained in these words stands today 
without a doubt, and the sharper the condition of the 
Caoutchouc market becomes, the nearer a possible 
Caoutchouc famine approaches, and bhe more we notice 
on the other side how the industries of other coun- 
tries are actively employed in the cultivation of 
Grittaporcha and Caoutchouc plantations, the more 
energetic should we be to transform this object to 
a fact indeed. It is sowing seed into the future, but 
some day it is bound to bear abundant fruit, and 
repay generously the sacrifices ma.de. — Die Gumriii- 
Zeitung (Dresden). 
GREEN TEA IN THE KANGRA VALLEY. 
(To the Editoi', hiclian Planters' Gazette.) 
Dear Sir,— It may be of interest at the present 
time, when attention is being called to the ad- 
visability of making green tea instead of black 
in some proportions, that the system of manu- 
facture of green tea in the Kangra Valley should 
be made known. It is obvious that this system 
lias its defects, but the same sliould be useful 
as a base uijon which to make experiments and 
improvements. There are few tea districts in 
India where greens are still made, but as this 
one district produces annually nearly two million 
pounds of this class of tea as against aboiit one 
million pounds of black tea, it may ratlier be 
classed as a green than a black tea pioducing. 
district. The whole green tea crop is purchased, I 
believe, locally, and exported via Lndakh to Central 
Asia, or sliii)ped to the Persian Gulf. 
In order to mal<e green tea the leaf is allowed 
to " run out "considerably, four or live leaves being 
plucked on one shoot, the consequence is that tlie 
quality of the', tea would probably he too inferior 
to compete with China or Japan greens in Euro- 
pean or American markets. There is no doubt 
that really good green tea could be made if more 
care were taken as to the quality of leaf used 
and more attention p;.id to cleanliness in manu- 
facture. The kutcha leaf is taken immediately 
from the plantation, and without any withering 
operation is thrown into iron, hoiizontally placed 
jians which are bnilt ever brick clmlas fed by 
wood tires. Each pan takes about 12 pounds of 
green leaf at a time and is kept from a high 
temperature to red heat, the leaf being stirred 
and turned briskly in it tor one minute for dry to 
seven or eight for wet leaf, some skill being required 
to prevent it from being scorched. Two wooden 
forked sticks are used to loss the leaf continually 
in the pan, and when it is sufficiently flaccid, it 
is thrown out on to a table, which is placed 
nearly level with the pan itself, and vigorously 
])and-rolled while still hot. T!;e rolled leaf is 
left in balls of about six inches in diameter, 
but these are carried off almost immediately to 
be broken up again and spread thinly upon 
bamboo mats in the sun. Here the rolled 
leaf remains until the juice which has exuded from 
it and is upon its outer surface becomes sticky, 
and the leaf becomes slightly darker in appear- 
ance. It is then hand-rolled a second time (the.se 
last two processes being sometimes lepeated) and 
the rolled leaf is made up into larger balls, whicli 
are then taken to the facing pans. These pana 
are built in chvlas at an angle of 30° to 45°, 
two generally being placed back-to hack over one 
ckula. The heai of these must not be nearly so 
great as that of the withering pans and not suffi- 
cient to burn the hand if quickly passed over 
them. One of the large balls is thrown into a 
pan and moved about quickly for some time until 
it has become heated, when it is broken up autl 
stirred from side to side with a piece of wood 
until the tea has become dry and lias obtained a 
grayish gloss. Each leaf of tea produced in this 
way has the appearance of a little twisted ball. 
The only sorting done by the growers is to take 
out the dust by means of a No. 18 bamboo or 
wire sieve, and to hand sort the flat or Bohea leaf. 
The remaining bulk obtains a local price of from 
As. 12 to Rel-1 per bufti (4lb.), equal to As. 3 
to As. 4-3 per lb., the dust ancl Bohea fetching 
about As. 4 to 5 per butti, equal to As. I to As. 
I S per lb. 
Many of the green teas manufactured in the 
Kangra Valley are coloured with soapstone by 
which they acquire a line silky giey appearance. 
Teas coloured i!i this way seem to be in rather 
greater demand than the uncoloured ones. The 
coating of soapstone is, I believe, supposed to 
preserve the teas to some extent. So-called soap- 
stone which appears to be the same as the clay 
slate found in the Eastern Himalayas, can be 
purchased in the local bazaars. It is applied to 
the dried tea, about 10 lb. of the latter being 
put into a warmed pan with four ounces of the 
stone and the whole stirred backwards and for- 
wards vintil the required qolour has beei] obta|n«d, 
