AGRICULTURIST. 
907 
leaf, Bcd ft very smftll engine to work it, Mr. Jackson's 
duties olteo extended fur iuto night, md it was this 
aod| tiiis alone that gave him his first Btart in tea 
miic hiiery. 
He made his first resolution in the lonely midnight 
hour that ho would produce a machine that would 
do the work so as to give him time for sletipafc any 
rate, and before 3 a.m. next n:oruiiig he had made 
a model disclosing exactlj tlie motion imparted by 
coolies ill rolling leaf on tables by hand. 
On showing this to Ins brother peimission was given 
to make a macliiue, which in course of time was done, 
and proving a euccesa it was thought deeiiable to 
patent it. 
The patent epecificalion was crudely drawn up, and as 
most of our leade'-s will know w.is eubsequentlj the 
Bubjec of much and bovere litigation betweeu Mr. 
Taokson ai d Mr Kinmond. 
Mr. Jackson has much gratification iu the fact that 
some of the very first rollers he made have stood the 
te-it of seme 20 ytars' work and are wtU spoken of at 
the present day. Soon it began to be kLOWnthata 
new roller bad been inven'ed ihat wouid aoiuaUy finish 
the rolling of the leaf, and orders began to conae iu ; 
but who was to mak^ the machines? 
Mr. .John Jackson at this time lesigned the maimce- 
mebt of the Scottish As-am & Co. end returned to 
Scotland, and with him took some 8 or 10 orders for 
xlie new roller, but singularli enough to say much 
difficulty wa.s fi nnd in gettiug any firm at Lome to 
mnke the machines. No engineers of standiug hsd 
ever before beard of tea niacbii.ery, and ic being 
quite a new venture, bs they termfd it, oiic after an- 
other dtclii ed to take it up, till at last a fi:m iu 
Glaefiow was prevailed on to make them. Thej made 
about GO rollcra iu oil, when Mr. Jacki-on went ho^ne 
aud to his great dtligbt got Messrs. Marthall Sons 
aud Co., Ld., to take up the manufacture of tbern, 
and from that day to this Mr. Jackton has been 
able to give Planters the highest class machii ery. 
Everything now went well till the crash came vith 
Mr. Kinmond, which ewept all from under the 
brother Jacki-ons' feet and causeil a oissolutiori of 
partnership, Mr. William still holding on to it, whilst 
Mr. J.ihn retired and went to Auserica. 
Mr. Jackson had a lo g aud severe struggle to 
regain lost ground and sptalts very feelingly ol 
Me^rrp. Marshall Sons & Uo.V, Messts. Bnlmer Lawrie 
fcOc's, and the Planterh' gieat kindness to him at 
this time, and says he ronld not have survived the 
blow but for them. 
The single action and S'andard Rollers had up to 
this time been his productions. Tha Standard Poller, 
although a g( od machine, was expennive in constrnc- 
tiou, and for a cor.siderfcble time in bis home in Aber- 
deon Mr. Jacksonhad be< n thmking of a possible me- 
chanical means of producing a iess costly machine 
that V ould have the sarr;e action cu the leaf as the 
Standard Ro ler. Oar.-ful thought thus produced ihe 
mell-knowu Excrlsior Roller, the peculiar crank mo- 
tion of which ii said to be unique in the list of mecbani- 
cnl n ovtmcnts. 
Hsving now got a good ro'ler Mr. Jackson began to 
turn his attention moie closely to Drying mi.chinery, 
but it is only within the last 5 or 6 jears he has given 
epeicial thought to it, and in this bhort time it pur- 
prises us to lei»rn he Las .«old over 500 Victorias, 
300 Venetians, and t.ince May this year, when 
hilt fust new Britannia Dryer was started in 
C'ej lou, somelliiDg close on 100 ord' rs have gone 
h( me for Ihoni, and from all we bear of this fine new 
machine be is likely sooq to creep on lo the four 
fljiuri B wiih it. 
M .J.ickson nlfo surprises us by stating that there 
are some 50 patrnts granted in Calcutta alone fur 
rolling machines, and with s ino feeling of pridi; 
says: — " I think I lun the duly one wl o Las como 
through froni the start in Tea M»cliinery," and cxpri s- 
sing treat tbankfiiliieas to genuine old fricmls still in 
Ahsani and Ceylon, who have supportid liini through 
good ;iu.l Imd t'lupp, ho stiil bopcM for many years to 
ilevoto his whole energy to the dovel 1 uu nt and 
improvement of machinery u.sed iiittio nmnufnctnro of 
%&a,— f iidioii Flaiiiers' Gnsrtts. 
NOTES ON PRODUCE AND FINANCE. 
Tea AND Tannin.— Life would be monotonous if it 
were not for the fi lip given to it by those little alarmist 
rumours wi h which the medical papers beguile the 
weary hours and excite the imagination of their 
readers. Those who gape lor the lack of Bome- 
thing to do, and must have a new stneation at »ny 
price, find the first moment ol a startling aDoounce- 
ment po^itivelv excitinu. Between the Lancet and 
the British Medical Journal, the average hnm»n 
being who eats and drinks food subject to analysis 
may always feel on the qui vive, is so disposed. 
The British Medical Journal, for instance, in the 
course of its researches into the mysteries of tannin 
iu tea, and in that of China in particular, as compared 
with teas of Indian and Ceylon growth, gives the 
following result:— " Chitia, 7''14 tannin, 3-11 theine. 
30 minutes' infusion ; Indian, 17'73 tannin. 15 miuutea' 
infusion; Indian and Oeylon blended, 10-26 tannin 
8 91 theine, 15 minutes' infusion." If this be correct 
the Indian and Oeylon teas appear to contain nearly 
double the quantity of tannin to be found in 
China tea, even when the latter is infused for a 
much longer time than the former. The British 
Medical Journal, in the article referred tr', says: 
"Some examples which have been forwarded to us of 
the results of hnalyses for tMunin and theine in tea 
indicate contiderable variation in the amount of tannin 
according to the quality of the tea and the ftage ot 
growth at which it is picked. In some blends of 
China teas the percentage of tannin extracted by 
infusion for thirty minutes was 7-44; theii e, 3-11 • 
and a similar result was given in the examination of 
the finest Moning ; while, on the other hsnd, with 
line Atsam tea a perrentage of 17 73 of tannin by 
weight wa.s extracted after infusion for fifteen minutes • 
and two blends of Assam and Ceylon tea ga e res- 
pectively 8 91 and 10 26 of tannin. On the whole, it 
is probable that the Indian teas are much more heavily 
leaded with tannin than the China or Japan teas. 
Moreover, tte common method of prolonged infusion 
in boilinj; water i» well calculiited to extract all the 
tannin, while it ditisipatcs the flivcur of the tea. To 
be drunk reaeonably, tea should not be infused for 
more than a minute, and with water of which the 
temperature does not exceed 170° Fohr. It should 
be taken without fugar or milk, which would drown 
the fi.ivour of the delicate and aromatic infusion 
thus obtained. This, at least, is how tea is drunk 
both in China and Japan, whence we have boTowed 
the use of it. W ith our European method of pro- 
longed infusion in boiling water we destroy all the 
best flavour of the tea, and we extract such heavy 
proportions of tannin as to cultivate indigestion as 
the result of tea-drinking. Indigestit n is unknown 
among tea-drinkers in the East, end it is, in all probn. 
bility, only the result of our defective nee of the 
loaf." Tho ideacf lea ii fusing forone minute only is 
certainly novel, und will amuse Mincing Lane. As 
for the consumers of ten, they will, no druht, with 
that perver.^ity which characierisf s the victims of a 
bad habit, continue to drink tt a infused as usual 
audaciously selecting the If as of India aud Ceylon iii 
preference to tho-e of China, because the former are 
stronger and give better value for the money. 
Tea Planting AND Tea Retailing. — The eeqiiel to 
the brief correspondence which appeared in our 
columns about two months back about the advustagcs 
—real or imaginary — which the grocer who was himself 
interested in tea fjardene pofses.-ed over the tea le- 
tailer who was not. is now to be found iu the prof- 
])ec'us ot the May-Bloom Tea Plantations, Limi:ed, 
which appears m feverul phpers It is evidence of 
f ho keen competition in the lea trade and the neces- 
sity for novelty of idea, if of nothing el.te. The ocm- 
prnvjiii its prospectus, appeals to the grocertotako 
shares, and thus " beconii " bis own planter, and be 
will tlen (assihttd by powrrfnl advenisen.enls) "be 
in a position (o sucoi fsliilly contend against the 
severe competition arising from firms who stylo them 
felvca 'planters.' or wl o, by weight of llieir advertise- 
ments, tliro:>ten to monopolise tho sale of one of the 
most protitablo articles of the retail dealer." The 
