208 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST [Sept 1, 1900. 
affects the liquor, and will, I think, improve 
the keeping properties of the leaf -so treated. 
China green teas, which are highly glazed, 
are very good keeping teas, much more so 
than blacks. 
Although I should deprecate following 
Chinese methods in many respects, I thinic 
Ceylon planters cannot do better than follow 
them in tiie matter of glazing the leaf, es- 
pecially as Ceylon greens are inclined to be 
dull dead and unattractive in leaf appearance, 
without the glaze. 
The following is the extract referred to : — 
"When you final fire for packing, I recom- 
mend that \\ hen the Sirocco traijs are spread 
to put them in a ' steam cupboard,' (parti- 
culars can be had from Messrs. Brown & 
Co., Limited.) and turn on steam for 30 
seconds, before firing ; this will give 
the tea a fine gloss or to take the juice 
of some of the tea you are rolling, and 
water ei\ch tray when spread with it, seeing 
that all the tea on the tray is moistened 
with it. This latter process is best done m a 
wooden ti-ay or box, and the juice mixed in 
with the hand sufficient to make it cdl damp 
(every grain) but riot ivet, then spread on the 
trays and fire at 190 to 200, and you will 
have the 'glazed' tea which some American 
dealers prefer." 
To which Mr. Deane has since added the 
following post-script in copy sent to me : — 
"A good plan, indeed the better, is to use 
one roll of steamed green leaf on the day of 
final firing for glazing only, to do this steam 
the leaf and squeeze out most of the water 
before starting roller, then put on the weights 
and roll till there is no juice left, collect- 
ing the juice in buckets. You will get 
sufficient to do over 1,0001b. of tea and the 
juice will be thicker and the glaze more 
pronounced and the twist tightened." 
" Of course the leaf in the roller after this 
can only be fired and mixed in with the 
fannings." 
As this glaze can be applied to different 
degree,s I would suggest planters to send sam- 
ples to me in order to ascertain whether the 
degree of glaze applied is as it should be. 
While on the subject of green tea, I might 
mention that I deprecate describing Ceylon 
green tea as Chinas are graded, viz. " Hyson," 
&c., far better grade as j)er Mr. Deane's 
letter or as suggested by Messrs. Larkin, viz. 
Ceylon black tea gradings with the prefix 
green, to which I would add, avoid the word 
*' Broken," as brokenness, in green tea, con- 
demns ; thus we have "O.P.," " P," "P.S.," 
" Souchong," &c., all leafy grades. 
Apologising for taking up so much of your 
valuable space. — Yours faithfuUv, 
P. P. STREET. 
GREEN TEA MANUFACTURE IN CEYLON. 
Writing to a Madras paper ("Plantmg 
Opinion") Mr. Drummond Deane gives the 
following list of proprietors or Agents in 
Ceylon as using his patent process :— 
Ceylon Tea Plantations ... 2 
lia.stern Produce and Estates ... 2 
Maskeliya Tea Co. ... 1 
A E Wright, Esq. ... 1 
E Kosling, Esq., Cliairman, Ceylon 
Planters' Association, Hon. .7 N 
Caiupbell, Ceylon Planters' M. L. C. ,., 1 
C P Hayley, E.sq. ... i 
Messrs. Geo Steuarb & Co. ... 2 
and several more are on order. 
This makes ten factories so far in all, 
Mr. Deane adds 
"So far no one in India has tried my method, I 
suppose, on the principle "that nothing good 
can come out of Ceylon." I hope shortly to have 
permission from Loudon to go in for " f<reen 
Teas" myself, but "London Agents" don't hke 
teas goms to America naturally, and there's the 
rub, when one is financed from London. " 
The Indian Planters' Gazette of August 
25th, says : — Letters from planters in the 
tea districts point to the fact that the green 
tea manufacturing mania has not caught 
on in Bengal and Assam. With the excep- 
tion of one or two faddists, no one gives 
it. even so much as a thought." 
CEYLON TEA IN AMERICA. 
The total imports, exports, and net imports of 
tea for the fiscal year ending June :Wth, 1900, 
v\ere as folio n's : 
Imports fiom — Pomnds. 
- <^hina .. .. 40,867,290 
^iipan ... .. ... 3.5,189.623 
East Indies ... 4,455,450 
United Kingdom .. .„ 2,444.400 
British jSIorth America .. 1,352,616 
Other Asia and Oceanica . . 302,636 
Other countries ... .. 231,476 
Total ... .. ,. 84,843 491 
Exports .. ., 1,539,869 
Net imports .. ... 83,303,622 
Hints to Hay Growers —The hay-growing 
experiments by Sir John Lawes at Rothamsted 
Park have had interesting re.'snlts. On land which 
has had no manure for forty-five year.s the weight 
of hay secured is 12^ ewt. per' acre ; the plot 
receiving a mineral manure lins given 27 cwt. 
per acre ; while the plot receiving a nnxture ot 
nnnerals and ammonium salts has yiehled .38 
cwt. ; and the plot receiving minerals and nitrate 
of soda has given 491 cwt. The heiiviest manured 
plot produced 60J cwt. per acre, while the same 
plot on a portion of the land which has receive*! 
a dressing of chalk in addition to other manures 
gave 65:1: cwt- per acre, - Joitrncd of Horticulture 
August 16th. 
^ . 
RAINFALL RETURN FOR COLOMBO. 
[Supplied by the Surveyor-Oeneral.) 
1895. 
1890. 
1897. 
I 1898. 
1899. 
Av oi 
SCyrs. 
[1900. 
Inch. 
Inch 
Inch 
Inch 
In-h. 
Inch. 
Inch. 
January . . 
5-00 
2-92 
3-81 
■2-i2 
6-98 
3-22 
3-72 
February . . 
0-81 
y-35 
1-68 
1-98 
2-78 
1-93 
0-63 
March 
1-84 
5-64 
3-oa 
4-21 
0-88 
4-78 
3-71 
April 
9-34 
6-93 
10-97 
22-81 
6-66 
11-31 
15-12 
May 
10-09 
9-31 
8-30 
5-80 
17-73 
12-09 
10 -6! 
June 
13-99 
8-37 
10-14 
10-94 
9-23 
8-37 
7 -S3 
July 
0-52 
2-85 
5-24 
6-15 
1-11 
4-£8 
6-77 
August 
0-92 
0-35 
9-09 
0-97 
0-02 
3-67 
735 
September 
4-09 
10-99 
4-58 
6-90 
1-4S 
6 01 
1-78 
October . . 
30-36 
16-78 
4-71 
20-60 
12 99 
14-52 
November.. 
5-83 
19.81 
ll-.Sii 
17-38 
b-58 
l2-66 
December. . 
9-44 
11-76 
8-89 
3-05 
4-44 
0-39 
Total.. 
9-2-23 
101-06 
82-73 
103-11 
73-48 
88-33 
57-£4 
* From Isc to 6lh .Sept. 1-78 inches, that is up to 9-30 a.m. 
on the 6th Sept.— Ku CO., 
