THE TKOPICAi. AGRICULTURIST. 
[Jan. 1, 1903. 
TEA FERMENTS, 
The hunt for the tea ferment seems to go on 
apace. Some th ee years ajro tlie theory of tobacco 
gaining its fiivour frotu tlie feiiiien caused by 
bacteria, W IS wi lely ci ciilai e'l, ami i lie iflea was 
entertained by '*<miv, that it mi<;lir, he the ^ami^ with 
tea. The American Govern iiii-nt took up the 
subject and employed Mr. C Loew, a botanical 
specialist, to conduct a ser e^ of investlKatioiis 
•which he embodied in three Bulletins of the U.S. 
Department of Agriculiuie. He was unal)lH to 
find any bacieria, and gave a long explanatio:i as 
to why they could not be the cau.=e, explaining 
how, under the conditions of manufacture, they 
were unlikely to live and multiply ; but he isolated 
from the Tobacco leaf fiist an enzyme, then a 
perenzyrae, and lastly a catalase, all belonging to 
the class of oxidising ferments. Soon afier the 
publication of his first paper an enzyme, showing 
the same reaction" as hi^^, was demonstrated in the 
tea leaf. Now after the publication of his third 
Bulletin on Tobacco last year, he has left America 
aud taken up a professorship at Tokyo, Japan, with 
the result that the Japs are likely to forestall 
us in the scientific manufacture of tea ; as, 
in a Bulletin of the Agricultural College of 
Tokyo, ri'cently published, Mr. Aso, evidently in- 
spired by Mr Loew, has been investigating the 
diffe ence in colour between green and black tea, 
anil finds that the fiuij^hed black tea contains 
much less taunin than the green. He also shows 
that the original tea leaf contained an oxidizing 
enzyme that is destroyed by heating at about 77° C. 
Also that during the fermentation of the leaf in 
manufacture of black tea, the enzyme oxiilises 
the tannin, giving rise to a brown iiroduct. This 
is going rather further than anything that has 
been previously published in India, but we are 
glad to know that our investigators are not far 
behind, it they are not actually to the front, for 
one of them professes to have discovered an 
enzyme extraneous to the tea plant, which, like 
that found in tea, has r,he power of rendering the 
tannins and other cell contents soluble, and can 
be used to increase the power of the original 
article. He is evidently pretty confi lent of the 
results, as he has taken out a patent to protect 
his discovery, is anu 'iinced in a r-'cent article. 
— Indian Gardening and I lantinq, Nov. 21. 
THE NEW DIRECTOR OF THE COLOMBO 
MUSEUM. 
Dr. Arthur Willey, of Cambridge, has, I hear, 
been appointed Director of the Museum at 
Colombo, Ceylon, .vhicli will be vacant eaily in 
the spring of next year. The appointment is 
Under the Colonial Office, and is considered one 
of the best posts of the kind in the service. Dr. 
Willey is an accomplished naturalist, Z lologists 
will readily recall the excellent scientific work 
he did during the Cambridge zoological expedition 
to the South Seas in the years 1894-7. The main 
object of his journey was the investigation of the 
liie history ot the pearly nautilus, and his re- 
searches added very considerably to our knowledge 
of that little known genus. Latterly Dr. Willey 
held an appointment as lecturer in biology at 
Guy's Hospital, which he resigned on being ap- 
pointed tea po~t in British Guiana, and iie was 
about to proceed to S <Ui h America when he heard 
of Uis aclvauceujeat to Ceylon,— Xiopal " Times." 
PLANTING NOTES. 
A FiVE.PoiNTKD Tea Leaf. -A remark- 
able tea leaf has been brought under our notice 
by the courtesy of a Colombo gentleman, 
■■-p"^ '^hich was btoiiglii in in a b.isket 
ot leat in the AgiMS, is extraoidinarily nial- 
torinea and consists of five distinctly formed 
leav(-s all joined together on one stem. One 
wonders how such a freak occurred and one 
also ^yonders how it came to be in a h isket 
ot tea! Alas!-iias some one returned to 
eplucking ? 
Green Tea Bulking at Calcutta.— The 
idea of a central j green tea factory for 
Colombo was first advocated locallv in fa 
letter from America to a local firm which we 
publi.shed some months ago. Indian Garden- 
mj and Planting understnds from the I 1' A 
Committee minutes that there is on the 
tapis a project for establishing a sort of 
central Hong in Calcutta for equalising, 
sorting and bulking green teas from various 
sources and placing them on the American 
mn.iket on the Chinese and Japanese system. 
It would be of great advantage to establish 
such a central factory in Calcutta, where 
half cured teas could be worked up into 
finished homogeneous break.s. The teas in 
bulk here, says our contemporary, could in 
the final stages, be turned out far better 
under the eye of a practised expert for 
whom we would not have far to seek and 
the result would be more satisfactory than 
that produced by many different planters 
making small breaks in the districts. Phe 
proposal has everything to recommend it 
and it is hoped to see some enterprising 
syndicate take it up. 
Tea CoMPAffiES.— We publish in our daily 
reports concerning three Ceylon Tea Com- 
panies. Mr. J Holmes who presided at the 
sixth annual meeting of the Central Tea Co. 
explained the falling off in crop that there, 
had been in comparison with the previous 
season in consequence of the unfavourable 
weather, find the lower average nrice 
obtained. Money has been very wisely 
expended we think, in making necessary 
alterations to factories and machinery and 
in providing improved, and, in the end 
ciieaper, means of transport on Kahagalla 
The condition of the estates, we are glad to 
observe, is satisfactory, and there is a 
gratifying improvement in prices. A very 
hopeful account is given of cardamom culti- 
vation. The question of over-pioduction is 
dealt with in a practical manner, the practice 
of manufacturing quantity at the expense of 
quality being condemned. It is also pointed 
out how we are benefiting India in exchange 
and how the extra duty affects the cost of 
production. The Caledonian and Hornsey es- 
tates have also suffered from over production 
and low prices, but a hopeful view is taken 
of the prospects as will be seen from the 
directors' reports. The directors of both 
Companies have expressed the opinion that 
the outtok for Ceylon tea is more promising 
tiljan it haB been for sometime past, * 
