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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[July 1, 1899. 
• ANALYSIS OF COPRA (KERNEL OF 
COCONUT PALM). 
City Analyst's Office, Colombo, May 17. 
Dear Sib, — In reply to your French corre- 
spondent at Reunion, who wished to have 
a fuller analysis of copra than he found in 
my Manual of Chemical Analyses, I have 
not had occasion to make any fuller analy- 
sis; but as coconut poonac is simply copra 
after the greater pai't of the oil has been 
expressed, the composition of the latter can 
be calculated from the analysis of the former. 
If we regard a good sami^le of copra as 
containing 67 per cent oil, and taking the 
moisture at about the average of 6 per cent, 
the composition of copra would be lepre- 
sented as follows : — 
COMPOSITION OF COPRA. 
Per cent Per cent 
Moisture ... ... 0-00 Carbo-hydrates ... 1.5-21 
Oil G7-00 Woody fibre .. -2 11 
Albumenoids ... 6-69 Ash 2 99 
Total lOO'OO 
The nutrient ratio, and the nutrient value, 
of copra such as above, calculated in the 
usual way, would be 127o a.nd 1S9'4 respec- 
tively.— Yours truly, M. COCHRAN. 
"FACILITIES FOR MAKING GOOD TEA." 
Londoti, May 19. 
Sir, — Your notes on the above subject are very 
interesting. 
The ventilation of tlie subject of niannf.acture 
and the procedure in diH'erent districts will have 
the ailvantage of undoubtedly iiiiprovi.ng the 
quality in many places. The majority of jjlanters 
in India and Ceylon have made up their minds, 
*' let's hope" to sacrifice quantity to quality, and 
every effort should now be made to put a good 
class of tea on the market and not to be alarmed 
at the bogie of the cheap teas that are to be 
, shipped from China. 
With regard to ivithering aeeommodalion, very 
few factories are in a position to keep their leaf 
properly thinly spread for more than a couytle 
of days when tliere is a rush of leaf coming in 
—go that the leaf has to be made into tea ready 
or not — and t!ie re.sult is inferior tea. A neat 
and compact withering process is a great desi- 
deratum — and if not too expensive would pay fur 
itself on a large factory in one f-eason. One of 
the greatest deficiencies is in rolling power.* It 
is quite accepted as a necessity in India to roll 
the leaf thoroughly twice for 15 to 20 minutes 
each time according to the condition of the leaf. 
The last rolls take place after o.xidation — ^^and 
the leaf is taken straight from the roller to the 
driers — yet, how many factories are there that 
can can y this rolling out thoroughly on a heavy 
day ? Tea-roiling machines are now made much 
cheaper than formerly and requires but little 
driving power, so that there is but little e.\cnse 
for any factory not to be provided with ample 
rolling accommodation, which is such an important 
process in manufacture. A new system of drying 
tea by steam has many advantages, especially 
for-final liring and packing, J, H. H. K 
* A rolling machine for every 100,000 lb. of tea 
made as stated by your correspondcn!;, is an absohite 
neceasity. 
CEYLON TEA IN AMERICA. 
Kandy, 23rd May. 
Dear Sir,— If Mr. Pineo is not on the " Thirty 
Committee," do not you think he should be 
asked to stand. Ills vast experience in America 
in pusliing our staple, added to his well-known 
busiiiess capabilities, should prove of tlie utmost 
value to our local men. — Yours faithfully. 
TEA 
[We think Mr. Pineo is admirably qualified to 
serve, if he is willing.— Ed. T.A.] 
INDIAN "GREEN TEAS." 
Sin, —One can scarcely take up a commer- 
cial paper without coming across complaints 
fromCoiisnlar reports and elsewhere of tlie fat- 
uous, and to themselves ruinou.s, stubl)ornness 
of h'jmc manufacturers in refusing to manu- 
facture and p;ick tlieir wares to the wants and 
requirements of foreign buyers. It .almost 
seemed as if " this hidebound Toryism re- 
fusing to stretch an inch until it burst," was 
entirely confined to the home manufacturera ; 
but judging from a letter of Commissioner 
Mr. Mackenzie, the Ceylon planter also 
C(msider.s himself the best judge of what 
his customers ought to take ! On page 8()4 
of the May issue of the 1\ A. occurs the 
ft)llo\ving para : — 
Green.^. — In Mr. Blechynden's report to his 
Committee he Sj-ays aijout i(iifci~mented teas : — 
" Some s;iinples of these Oolong teas made in 
India were sent me early this year. They 
were found h(i suitable for the market, and 
lirms were so ready to give immediate large 
orders that I liave had to revise my opinion. 
I now believe that there are certain dis- 
tricts in India, where Oolong teas of a 
character to command a ready sale can be 
made, and if such teas are produced there is 
pme.ticcdhj no limit to the business that could be 
done," etc. Those Indian greens, I mentioned 
in my letter of the 14th were picked up at 
once. 
DIMBULA TEA PLANTER, 
[Our correspondent should quote the rest, 
namely : — 
Uiitortiinateiy tliere were only .i few hundred ca,ses, 
whei-eas thousands could bs sold. These could be 
soid e.isily, whereas our blacks /o/- ^/cice are unsale- 
able being too dear. An Importer bought some CeyloQ 
greens lately. He has twice told me the people to 
whom be sold them could not get rid of them— as they 
were good and pretty, but different from the kinds used 
here. These people have mu; wired to him to reserve 
for them auy other similar Ceylon greens he could get. 
Mr. Mackenzie's letter is dated March 20th 
last : have there been favourable stvles of 
Ceylon Oolongs in New York since thea ?— 
Ed. T.A.] 
MANURING COCONUTS. 
Dear Sib, — Mr. Seven's report on this sub- 
ject in your paper of April 19, is both inter- 
esting and instructive. I beg Mr. Beven to 
give us the following information. 
1. Of the trees experimented, how many are there 
to the acre ? 
2. Are there any vacancies? 
3. Are thei e any youug plants in those vacancie,s ? 
4. If so, hc'W old ar J those plants ? 
5. How mucli does the manure cost to reach the 
estate ? 
