July i, 1891..I 
THE TROPIOAL A'CSRICULTURIST- 
23 
shafts, bolts, pulleys, cko., planing, slotting and shear- 
ing maohines, vertical and circular saws, and other 
machinery all driven by steam. A large radial drilling 
machine attracted the visitor's attention. This 
machine is used largely in connection wish the 
manufacture of Jackson's smaller tea rollers. The 
j)ieoe of machinery to be operated upon being 
onfe properly laid on the .able there is no 
neobssity for moving it in the slightest (although 
the casting may require boring at diUerent points) 
until the work of boring has been acoomplished, 
for the drill has a Bwingiv-ig arm in which there 
is a slide from which the borer depends so that 
in the language of the engineer, it is "quite true" 
in its work. "To the reflective mind," philoBO- 
phically, adds our aorrespondent, "there is much food 
for thought in this eharacteristic of a simple pieoe of 
mechanism, and the moral lesson it teaches can- 
not be too often enforced." Of the variety of 
saws he makes special mention of one which he 
says must very considerably faoilitate the v/ork in 
the carpentering department inasmuch as it has 
an arrangement of blades by which it can out 
up a log of wood into a large n umber of planks 
at once. After watching for a short time work- 
men engaged in the actual fitting up of m&chines 
the visitor proceeded to the upper stoiey of the 
building, where on one side ha foucd men at vfork 
on the famous tea rollers aud the pateut pulpers 
of which the firtd has turned oat thousands and 
is still executing orders, bat principally for Java, 
there being pract:oally no demand for them now 
in Ceylon since the failure of coffee. On the other 
side of the building carpenters were busily preparing 
wood for structural purposes and fashioning it 
into doors, window-frames, &a. Amongst, the 
apparatus there considered worthy of some 
notice was a planing machine which did 
its work not only expeditiously but with 
remarkable efliciency, the wood coming out so 
smooth that it had a polished surface. A b/i,nd 
saw was also closely examined, and the faaoy 
work it accomplished evoked admiration. Going 
downstairs noticing in p;',ssing that Wt'.ler buckets 
were suspended throughout the building so that 
any outbreak of fire — a remote contingency but 
still one which requires to be guarded against — 
should be promptly dealt with, the visitor crossed 
the intervening yard, where ho saw the water-wheel 
and barges being built, to the bhicksmilhs' shop 
fitted up with a number of fires fanned by curreats 
of air passed through pipes fiom a steam-driven 
fan in a small engine-room adjoining ; two steam 
hammers which cari bo regulated so as io come 
down almost as lightly as corking maohines or 
with tremendous oiuehing force when rt quired, 
several large drilh and shearing and punching 
machines. Tt was an interesting sight to see ihe 
native smiths at v/ork. They wielded thehammej- 
with a strength and skill which licked the re. I 
hot iron, into shape as it it were of the 
c msistenoy of putty rasher than of metal. fc)Ci.ntily 
clothed as they were, tlioy fearlessly attacked the 
glowing iron and seemed perfretly heedless o! the 
flying sparks. The foundry was next in.-pfcted. 
It is situated farther along Prince S:reet beyond the 
ooal-sheds, and unlike the other buildings has been 
entirely constructed by the Messrs. Walker. It was 
in the morning when our correspondent visited the 
place, and he had not the opportunity therefore of 
seeing any cast, but he saw all the appliances and 
had the process clearly explained to him by the 
superintendent, an intelligent, hard-working Scotch- 
man. He saw a large number of pillars being 
prepared, and these he was told were intended to bo 
used in the extension of the Grand Oriental Hotel. 
In [addition to ihe crane outside for lifting the 
raw material to the cupolas down which it ia 
tiitsd into the furnace, there are three others 
iuside used for conveying the vessels con- 
taining the molten metal to the moulds. 
Large quantities of old metal are remelted, and the 
visitor was much interested to observe that amongst 
the material to be used for this purpose were piles 
of cannon balls and as many big guns as would suffice 
for the equipment of a tolerably sized fortification. 
The ordnanoe he believes had been in use at 
Triuoomalee, and it will now undergo a pro- 
cess similar to that which is implied in the con- 
version of "swords into ploughshares," being diverted 
from destructive to constructive purposes. The 
guns are broken by means of a heavy ball of iron 
op.lled "Jumbo" being raised to a height and 
then suddenly dropped upon them, and the 
fragments are then put into the cupola as re- 
quired. Leaving the moulding shop, the marine 
work being executed by the firm was inspected ; 
and our correspondent says he was quite 
astonished to find so many Tessela whose repair 
had been undertaken by the firm. He noticed 
that the hopper barge "Industry" had just left 
the slip, and was informed that it bad been prac- 
tically replaced from stem to stern. On the slip 
t.iere was a steam launch having a saloon deck; and 
on enquiry the fact was elicited that the vessel 
belongs to Mr. Akbar. it is being fitted with new 
engines, and from the shallowness of its draught 
appears to be admirably adapted for river navi- 
gation. The slip it should be mentioned is 300 
feet in length and is capable of taking up a vessel 
of 100 to 120 tons. Amongst the other vessels 
noticed by the visitor was a steam lauQch being 
built for the British India Co.; and he could not 
help admiring its graceful lines. Salvage operations 
also form an important part of the firm's business, and 
the establishment is thoroughly equipped with all the 
requisite apparatus for this difficult and often danger- 
ous work — a huge coffer dam, salvage pumps mounted 
and ready for action, and divmg gear. Altogether 
our correspondent says he was greatly pleased with 
his visit to tho works, and coculuiies by expressing 
bis best wishes for the success of the firm under its 
new name. 
— ^ 
TEA PLANTING IN NATAL. 
(By an ex-Natal Tea Planter.) 
SITES FOE planter's HOUSE — TEA PLANTING A SUCCESS 
IN NATAL — SOIL — CLIMATE — NUESKRIES — PLANTING 
AND PICKING — MANDBING AND DIGGING — SHELTER 
TKBES — LABOUR SUPPLY — PBEPARATION OF TEA — IN- 
SUFFICIENT TRANSPORT FACILITIES— CEYLON TEA IN 
NATAL- 
The site which the Natal tea planter chooses for hia 
homo ia one of a somewhat elevated position as the 
great importance of fresh and pnre air has become 
fully recognized. Extended views of landscape are 
usually selected, for tho front or principal outlook ; and 
as these already exist in Natftl, the site of the hall or 
custltt is settled, where natural beauty exhibits itself ; 
no other place is selected. 
Tea is admirably adapted to the climate of .South 
Africa. BIy stay there was for two years and was on 
an estate of 4,500 to 5,000 acres, three hundred of 
which were planted with tea. I found that tea likes 
a damp, warm and genial atmosphere. Heat and 
moisture seem to be the two thingti which make the 
thiug a success. It is nectseary also to screen the 
tea from rough and cold winds ; and if treated fairly 
well, :t will give good returns aud good flushes, and 
will cause the planter to smile°when he puts his hands 
into his pockets. The soil in Natal is of a rich, yellow 
loimy nature, iuclining to be sandy, it is not hard 
aud lumpy, but loose, and this causes the roots of the 
tea to run easily, and find their beds. It is a great 
thing to see that the plants sre put in carefully ; if 
