Oct. 1, 1899.] 
THE TROPICAL 
AC4RICULTUR1ST. 
28i 
nearly 26'8 per cent. This increase is attributable also, 
in part, to reductions iu duty and price ; but it is note- 
worthy that with rising prices Iheve was in 1898 an 
increase of 1-7 per cent, over the 1897 imports. 
Coffee Peoduction. — From figures compiled by Messis. 
During and Zoon, of Rotterdam, some idea of the 
importance of Brazil as a factor i a the coffee supply 
may be gathered. Since 1895, when 13,283,800 bags 
coflee were produced in all the countiies of the world, 
the aggregate yield has considerably varied, sinking 
to 11,729,500 bags in the following year, increasing to 
15,000,000 bags in 1897, and afterwards expanding to 
about 17,745.000 bags in 1898. This seems to have 
been the heaviest quantity ever raised in a single year. 
At the end of 1893 the aggregate quantity of coffee 
on hand, so far as it could be ascertained, was only 
1,585,000 bags ; whereas at the close of last year it 
embraced 4,734,000 bags, or about treble tlie former 
amount, and this great excess has been looked upon as 
a very serious matter for the importers. 
The Outlook.— First, says the Orocer, excessive stocks 
must be worked off ; next, supplies must visibly de- 
crease ; and thirdly, to strengthen the position all 
round, the consumption of coffee must steadily pro- 
gress onwards without a break. With these conditions 
fulfilled, importers and growers may have the satis- 
faction of seeing their hopes of higher rates realised. 
Assam Rubber Trees fob the Soudan.— According 
to a report of Sir William Garstin, k.c.m.g., to the 
Foreign Office, there is a good prospect of the Soudan 
becoming a rubber country. There i?, of course, an 
increasing demand for India rubber owing to its elec- 
trical and vehicalar uses, while the natural supply is 
diminishing. It must, therefore, be cultivated, and it 
is believed that the rubber tree of Assam would flourish 
in most of the Soudan, especially south of Khartoum. 
Big Figures. — It is pointed out by a correspondent 
that the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his Budget 
speech on April Ifith seems to have understand the 
reveune brouglit in diuitg the past financial year 
by the tea duty. According to the annual report of 
the Commissioners of Customs the amount of the 
increase was not £62,000, as Sir M. Hicks-Beach is 
reported to have said, but £155,297. Altogether 
£4,023,503 was realised in the shape of tea duty, wbich 
appears to be the largest yearly sum received since 
Mr. Uoschen in 1890 reduced the duty from sixpence 
to fourpence. In weight the tea on which duty was 
paid exceeded ■240,000,0001b— 9,318,0001b more than in 
the previous twelve months. The whole of this amount, 
however, must not be credited to the year's consump- 
tion. As the Commissioners point out, just before 
March 31st, when the year ended, a big cheque was 
handed in at the Custom House, this large payment 
obviously covering tea which we are now consuming. 
Still, after allowance is made for this there was an 
advance in the clearance of about 3,000,0001b. 
Indian Tea Companies. — The list of Indian tea com- 
panies registered in England, giving the acreage, 
capital, secretaries or agents, offices, directors and 
agents, compiled by Mr. George Seton, has been re- 
vised and brought up to date. From this it will be 
seen that the seventy-six companies have an acreage 
of 288,440 acres, and a capital of £9,578,440.— fi, and 
C. Mail, Sept. 1. 
"SIROCCO •' MACHINERY. 
A new and delicately-bound catalogue of tea 
machinery, issued from the well-known Belfast 
"Sirocco" Works, serves to confirm the recent 
reports that the presiding genius of that estab- 
lishment, Mr. S. 0. Davidson, has recently made 
some new and interesting discoveries in a wider 
field of engineering science than tliat with which 
he has hitherto been associated. While true to his 
early love, the tea industry, he claims to have 
attained results in his experiments with air forces 
which are calculated both to extend the scope of 
I)is operations as a successful engineer and en- 
hance his reputation as an oiiginal thinker, who, 
untrammelled by usually accepted theories, 
boldly strikes out a couise tor himself, and offers 
to the sceptical striking proofs of the success of 
his achievements. The catalogue we have just 
received is therefore of more than ordinaiy in- 
terest, iu that it describes andillustrates the results 
arrived at by this new departure in the 
CONSTRUCTION OF CENTRIFUGAL FANS. 
Before referring to that portion of it devoted to 
Fans, we will glance briefly at the machinery in 
the order in which it is found, the first place being 
given to tea machinery, which Mr. Davidson sup- 
plies for " every process in the manufacture of the 
leaf," the description of which, accompanied by 
suitable illustrations, is full and explicit on all 
points, including approximate dimensions and cost. 
We have on previous occasions described the 
"Sirocco' tea machinery in detail, so that it is 
unnecessary to do more than chronicle their order 
in the list before us. I'irst we have a useful 
machine known as a Leaf -Convey or or Elevator, 
'i'his, it is pointed out, is a convenient and ex- 
peditious machine for the conveyance of the tea- 
leaf from one part of the factory to another. Next 
we come to the 
TEA LEAF AVITHERING MACHINE, 
which is now reported as doing its work in a 
remarkably short time, irrespective of atmospheric 
or other conditions, the leaf when thus withered 
producing, it is mentioned, a stronger liquoring 
tea than that obtainable by natural witheiing. 
The machine, we understand, is capable of keeping 
two rollers going, and is driven by a new and 
ingenious engine which proved quite a success. 
The " Sirocco " Rolling Machine, which comes 
next in the catalogue, is of the type which works 
witliout a top pressure cap, and it is claimed to 
be " up to date " in every respect. The Roll 
Breaker, Cooler, and Sorter, it is stated, cairie.s 
out tiie operation of sorting and cooling freshly- 
rolled leaf, breaking at the same time any lumps 
and balls there may be in the tea. Then come 
full descriptions of the tea-drying machines — first, 
the Auto-Siroceo Tea Drier, which automatically 
subjects the wet; leaf at the start to a high 
temperature, which immediately checks fermenta- 
tion on the leaf entering the machine, and then 
finishes off the drying at low temperatures. 
There is the well-known 
DOAVNDRAFT " SIROCCO " 
with Multitubular Air Heater, and also with Cast' 
iron Vertical Flue Air Heater ; and the various 
types of Self-acting Updraft " Siroccos," with 
their varieties of Side-drawer and Endslide tray 
arrangements, and fitted with similar Air Heaters. 
Following these, are illu.strations of the new patent 
metal trays for " Sirocco " Driers ; while a further 
section ot the catalogue is devoted to Tea Sorters 
and Cutters, and the Davidson-McGuire Tea 
Packer, all of which are well known and do nob 
need further description. 
There is, too, a Tea Pellet Compressing 
Machine for dealing with tea dust, which is simple 
in construction, and converts the tea dust to pellet 
form, thus enhancing its value in the market. 
While these machines, the use of which i.s 
confined to tea gardens and factories, have until 
recently formed the chief output of the Sirocco 
Works, Mr. Davidson has, as we have stated 
beeu occupied of late in sieving other problems Iq 
the domain of engineering, and he now claims to 
have brought about a revolution in the construe-, 
tion and manufacture of Fans, a new departure 
which has not only astonished engineers, but has 
rendered an e^i'ly enlargement of his Belfast 
