Nov.  j,  1895.1 
THK  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
319 
A TEA  MACHINIST’S  FACTORY 
I spent  last  week  in 
ABEUDKEN, 
where  I was  j^lad  to  meet  several  Ceylon  friends. 
I also  took  the  opportnnity  of  vi.siting  lUr.  William 
Jackson’s  factory,  where  the  models  of  his  various 
inventions  are  prepared.  Mr.  Jackson  showed  me 
■Dire  of  his  new 
P.\UAGON  TEA  DIUERS 
(similar  to  the  one  which  has  recently  been  erected 
on  Great  Western  estate)  and  explained  the  various 
improvements  which  it  possessed  ivcr  previous  driers. 
I also  saw  in  process  of  manufacture  one  of  the 
new  tea  roll  breakers  which  Jfr.  .Jackson  has  just 
invented,  a marked  feature  of  which  is  its  compara- 
tively noiseless  working.  U]rstairs  were  models  of 
Mr.  .Jackson’s  varioirs  previous  inventions;  some  of 
the  latter  ones,  however,  being  absent,  owing  to 
their  not  having  yet  being  returned  after  produc- 
tion in  court  at  the  recent  trials  of  the  famous 
l.rw-suit.  On  the  floor  was  a quantity  of  “ withered  ” 
eaf,— not  tea,  but 
ELDEll  LEAVES, 
a boxful  of  which,  after  rolling  and  firing,  stood  close  at 
hand.  The  leaf  when  hot  from  the  firer  has  a smell 
not  unlike  that  of  tea,  but  this  soon  disappears.  When 
Mr.  .Jackson  first  began  utilising  the  elder  leaves 
thus,  he  noticed  that  his  workmen,  as  they  left  of 
an  evening,  would  pocket  a handful  of  the  fired  leaf 
to  carry  home.  He  therefore  asked  his  foreman  to 
malvo  inquiries  as  to  what  the  men  did  with  it  ; 
and  ho  w-'S  amused  to  learn  that  two  cupfuls  of  the 
decoction  acted  as 
AN  EMETIC  ! 
Mr.  .Jackson  tried  one  cup  of  the  infusion  himself ; 
but  it  took  a lot  of  cream  and  sugar  to  make  it 
palatable.  I was  also  shown  a box  of 
TEA-DUST, 
one  of  five  which  had  been  sent  to  IMr.  .Jackson 
from  China  with  an  order  for  a machine  that 
would  separate  from  the  tea  clay  the  dust  that 
was  mixed  w'ith  it.  (The  tea  dust,  I should  ex- 
plain, was  what  is  used  for  the  manufacture 
of  “brick  tea”;  and  consumers  have  begun  to 
resent  having  to  pay  for  and  swallow  clay  dust; 
hence  the  application.)  The  English  agent  of  the 
Chinese  firm  was  shown  a machine  w'hich  he  thought 
would  suit  the  purpose  of  his  clients  ; but  he  would 
not  fix  on  it  until  he  had  referred  to  them ; .and 
meanwhile  he  insisted  on  returning  the  boxes  of  dust 
to  China.  One  box,  how'ever,  Mr.  .Jackson  retained 
as  a curiosity. 
TWO  INGENIOUS  MACHINES  OF  AMEIUCAN  MANUFACTURE 
were  shown  me  by  Mr.  Jackson.  One  of  these  was  for 
boring  holes  in  iron  or  wood,  the  borer  being  cap- 
able of  being  moved  to  any'  position  upwards,  down- 
wards, or  horizontally.  The  price  was  con-idcrably 
less  than  that  asked  for  an  English  machine  of 
inferior  capability.  To  the  other  machine 
AN  AMUSING  STORY 
W'as  attached.  One  day  Mr.  -Jackson  was 
on  the  point  of  leaving  for  London,  when 
in  walked  a Ymkee,  who  asked  if  he  would 
look  at  a machine  for  cutting  wood,  at  the  same 
time  pulling  from  bis  pocket  a bundle  of  prospectuses. 
Mr.  .Jackson  replied  : “ I am  leaving  for  London  in 
ten  minutes;  so  you  had  better  show  the  papers  to 
my  foreman.”  “Oh,  but  J can  show  you  the  machine 
itself,”  said  the  Yankee.  “ Why,  have  you  got  it  in 
y'oiir  pocket?”  asked  Mr.  Jackson.  “No,  but  it  is 
outside,”  returned  our  American  friend  ; “.and  lean 
show  it  to  you  at  W'ork  here  within  ten  mii  utes  if 
you  wish.”  Mr.  .Jackson  consented  ; and  soon  up  drove 
a convey'ance  drawn  by  a couple  of  fine  horses,  with 
two  men  holding  the  machine.  'J'his  was  set  up  on 
the  floor  of  Mr.  .Jackson’s  woikioom  ; and  ten 
niinutes  afterwards  I\fr.  .Jackson  was  on  Ins  way  to 
the  station  for  Jjondon,  and  the  Yankee  was 
away  with  a cheque  in  his  pocket. 
“That  is  how  the  Americans  do  business,”  added 
Mr.  Jackson,  “while  tl>e  English  workmen  arc  nap- 
ping.” The  machine,  which  is  a very  simple  one, 
has  over  and  over  again  repaid  its  cost  to  Mr.  Jack- 
son,  who  has  never  repented  of  his  hasty  bargain. 
D.  W.  F. 
NEW  PRODUCTS. 
An  old  jflanter  w'ritos  “ Thanks  for  l!i 
valuable  infonuatiun  re  C'ami)h()r ; the  tree  would 
erow'  well  liere,  tliore  being  .sevcr.al  varieties  in- 
(ligenous.  Another  indigomuis  tree  here  might 
be  turned  to  aceoiint  tim  Gora'.a  of  the  Sinhalese 
belonging  to  same  family  as  the  Mangosteen — 
and  producing  the  Gainh.jf/e  of  coimiierce — what 
is  tlie  value  of  Gamboge  at  present ‘P’ 
So  far  baede  as  188-1,  a consignment  of  Gamboge 
in  its  natural  state  from  Ceylon  fctclied  Gil  os 
])er  ewt.  in  the  home  m.arket.  TTiis  w.as  from 
the  Grirn'uia  morellri  (the  “Gokatu'’  or  “ Kana 
Goraka”  of  the  SinliAlese).  How  collected  we 
cannot  s;ty.  In  18;)!,  tlicre  wore  17  ewt. -0-1 2 lb. 
of  “Gun'i”  exported  from  Ceylon,  the  local 
Customs  V, ablation  being  RlTo.  In  1893,  the  ex- 
j)ort  was  41-cw’t. -1-6  lb.  valued  .at  Rl,5.j0.  The 
latest  London  quotations  for  Gamboge  are  : — 
Siam  (pickings  to  good  clean  pipe)  £6  10s  to  £10 
os  (per  ewt.  we  suppose). 
^ 
WHOLES!  )M  E CO  F FEE. 
A writer  in  The  Jjuncet  lameut.-i  that  good,  whole- 
some, pure  coffee,  free  fiom  chicory,  is  not  brought 
to  the  notice  of  the  public  by  advertisers  as  much 
as  tea,  cocoa,  or  chocolate  is.  Ash-  observes,  those 
who  have  travelled  on  the  Continent  know  that  a 
cup  of  excellent  coffee  can  be  obtained  at  an  almost 
trifling  cost,  and  know  what  an  .excellent  stimulant 
it  is.  Why  (it  is  asked)  should  this  be  ? and  why, 
on  the  other  hand,  should  coffee,  ev  u in  the  homes 
ot  the  rich  in  this  country,  be  too  often  wholly 
undrinkable?  That  there  is  no  difficulty  about  the 
making  of  good  coffee  is  held  to  be  proved  by  the 
fact  that  the  best  is  made  in  the  simplest  apparatus 
— a plain  eartheuwai'o  jug.  This,  with  boiling  water 
and  a reasonable  amount  of  berries,  freshly  ground, 
is  all  that  is  required.  “Roth  the  demand  and  supply 
of  coffee  in  this  country  (adds  the  writer)  are 
diminishing,  but  a more  extended  knowledge  of  its 
value  as  a stimulant  and  as  an  article  of  diet  would 
ensure  its  increased  use  and  in  due  time  its  reduced 
price.” — Dai';/  News,  Sept,  5. 
♦ 
THE  CANARY  ISLANDS. 
Although  largely  and  necessarilj'  of  a highly 
technical  nature,  the  lengthy  ai  ticle  in  tlie  .Angu.st 
number  of  tlie  Journal  of  tlie  Royal  llorticiil- 
tural  Society  on  “ The  Plant.s  and  Ganlen.s  of 
the  Ganaiy  Islaml.s,”  by  the  Assistant  Director 
of  the  Royal  Garilens  at  Jvew,  will  he  read 
with  considerable  interest  not  only  by  scientilio 
botanists  (wlio  nill  liiul,  in  addition  to  the 
general  discussion  of  tlie  flora  of  the  several 
islands  of  tlie  Arclii|iel<igo,  a list  of  such  Canary 
lilants  as  are  at  pre.seiit  under  cultivation  at 
Ivew,  and  a catalogue,  apjiarently  the  first  that 
has  ever  been  gi\en  in  Englisli,  of  the  native 
and  introduced  plants  in  tlie  Rotanical  Garden 
near  Orotava),  but  by  the  annually  increasing 
number  of  our  comitrymeii  who  direct  tlieir 
steps  to  these  soiitlierii  resorts  to  escai>e  the 
Siverity  and  the  uncertainties  of  Tmp  winter 
climate,  and  also  by  market-gardeners,  fruit 
growers,  and  indeed  by  all  classes  of  trade.s- 
men  who  are  in  any  way  connected  with  that 
coiirplicated  problem — the  distiibiitioii  of  our  food 
supplies,  wlietlier  obtaineil  from  home  or  foreign 
sources,  d'lie  Ganaiy  groiqi  is  composed  of 
1.3  islands,  six  of  which  are  very  small. 
Tlicj'  are  situated  almost  wholly  between  llie 
ijavallcls  of  28deg.  and  29deg.  N.,  but  they  are 
scattered  over  several  degrees  of  longitude,  so 
tli.at  while  Fuertcvontiira  is  witliin  GO  miles  of 
Cape  Juby  on  tlie  African  coast,  Raima  and 
