Nov.  I,  1395.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
325 
amount  of  “flush”  on  the  bushes,  and  the  first 
thing  one  should  do  on  going  into  the  field  where 
the  pluokers  ore  is  to  tell  by  looking  at  the  “flush” 
bow  much  each  coolie  must  pluck  in  order  to  get 
“full  name.”  A good  coolie  will  pluck  from  20  1b  to 
30  lb  with  a fair  flush.  Very  often  a cent  cash  is 
given  for  every  pound  over  20  lb  and  I have  known 
a woman  to  pluck  60  lb  and  more  in  one  day  with 
a good  flush  on.  By  the  time  the  leaf  has  been 
w'eighed,  all  the  other  coolies  from  other  parts  of  the 
estate  had  assembled,  and  a mark  put  against  their 
names  in  the  check  roll  if  they  had  done  a full 
day’s  work,  and  half  if  they  had  not  finished 
their  task.  By  4-30  muster  was  over,  and  so 
finished  my  first  day’s  work  on  a tea  estate. 
Quit®  an  easy  one,  as  I afterwards  found 
oat;  for  during  most  months  of  the  year  there  are 
various  works  going  on  which  have  to  be  supervised 
very  carefully — clearing,  planting,  pruning,  Ac.  The 
weeding  of  the  estate  is  always  given  out  in  con- 
tracts to  the  kanganies  at  so  much  per  acre,  and 
one  has  to  see  that  these  contracts  are  kept  clear 
up  to  date. 
The  most  important,  and  probably  most  scientific 
work  on  an  estate  is  in  the  factory  in  the  manu- 
facture of  tea.  Tho  process  of  turning  the  leaf 
from  its  green  state  when  plucked  off  the  tree  into 
the  condition  in  which  we  see  it  at  home  is  one  of 
great  interest ; and  in  large  factories  hundreds  of 
pounds  worth  of  machinery  are  worked  by  turbines 
or  steam  engines.  The  process  is,  when  the  leaf  is 
brought  into  the  factory  it  is  spread  out  very  thinly 
on  tats  of  jute  hessian  cloth,  stretched  tightly  6 in. 
or  so  one  above  each  other ; there  it  is  left  for 
several  hours  to  wither,  on  an  average  from 
sixteen  to  twenty-four.  Of  course  the  weather 
greatly  affects  the  time  of  withering.  'When  the 
leaf  is  sufficiently  withered,  it  should  feel,  when 
squeezed  up  in  the  hand,  something  like  a silk 
handkerchief.  Then  it  is  taken  and  put  into  a 
roller  and  rolled  till  all  the  capsules  in  the  leaf 
are  thoroughly  broken,  but  the  leaf  itself,  though 
rolled  and  pulpy,  should  not  be  chopped  up. 
Nearly  every  planter  has  his  own  ideas  as  to  the 
proper  method  of  rolling,  and  cejtaiiily  no  hard 
and  fast  rule  can  be  laid  down.  The  planter  must 
study  the  texture  of  his  leaf,  &c.,  and  judge  for  him- 
self what  suits  his  estate  best. 
After  rolling  is  over,  the  leaf  is  laid  out  on  tables 
and  allowed  to  ferment  for  a short  time,  then  it 
is  put  through  the  firing  machine,  and  it  comes 
out  at  the  other  end  tea,  as  the  term  is  applied  at 
home.  But  the  process  is  not  yet  over.  There 
are  machines  called  sifters,  and  through  them 
the  bulk  is  sifted  on  wire  meshes,  of  different 
sizes,  the  top  mesh  coarse,  the  next  finer,  the  next 
finer  still,  and  so  on  ; and  by  this  we  get  tho  dif- 
ferent grades  of  Broken  Pekoe,  Pekoe,  Pekoe  Sou- 
chongs, &c.  The  tea  is  kept  in  big  bins,  and  once 
a week  or  fortnight  or  month,  as  is  necessary,  the 
tea  is  packed  in  chests  on  which  are  stamped  the 
grade,  the  name  of  the  estate,  and  any  other  neces- 
sary information.  The  coolies  carry  it  off  to  the 
storehouse  on  the  Government  road,  from  whence 
it  is  carried  by  bullock  carts  to  the  nearest  station, 
often,  as  in  the  case  of  the  district  I was  in,  over 
sixty  miles  away. 
'The  trains  take  the  chests  to  the  Agents  in 
Colombo,  who  ship  them  off  to  the  tea  auctions  in 
Mincing-lane.  Only  very  intelligent  coolies  are 
employed  in  the  factory,  and,  as  a rule,  they  receive 
higher  wages  than  the  others.  An  ordinai'y  coolie’s 
pay  averages  from  8d  to  9d  per  diem.  The  estate 
supplies  him  with  rice,  which  is  deducted  from  his 
pay,  but  rows  of  quarters  called  “lines”  are  sup- 
lied  free.  A coolie  tukes  a J bushel  of  rice  a week, 
irt  he  is  not  allowed  Ihs  full  quantity  unless  he 
turns  up  for  muster  five  d.ays  in  'the  week,  except  in 
cases  of  illness.  My  experience  of  coolies  is  that 
they  are  very  good  fellows  to  work,  provided  they  are 
justly  and  firmly  treated.  The  cost  of  production  of 
tea  must  necessarily  be  very  cheap  in  order  to  make 
any  profit.  In  fact  it  should  bo  placed  in  the  London 
market  for  something  about  6d.  per  lb. 
A tea  planter’s  life  in  Ceylon  is  by  no  means  an 
unpjeasaint  one ; indeed,  I look  back  upon  the  time 
spent  there  as  some  of  the  happiest  years  of  my  ^life 
but  tho  work  is  often  hard  and  very  monotonous,  and, 
to  those  who  cannot  stand  tropical  heat,  most  trying. 
The  usual  way  of  learning  one’s  work  is  under  the 
pupil  system.  You  pay  a planter  from  £150  to  £200 
tor  a year,  for  which  he  boards  you,  and  lets  you  learn 
the  work  on  his  place,  and  also  promises  to  do  his  best 
to  get  you  a billet  of  “ sina  durai,”  i.e.,  under  assis- 
tant, at  the  expiration  of  your  year.  A sina 'durai’s 
billet  usually  begins  with  83-33Rs.  per  mensem,  that 
means  a nonfinal  £100  per  mouth;  but,  of  course,  with 
exchange  so  low,  it  is  not  actually  half  that  sum 
in  sterling  money.  When  I left  Ceylon  nearly  two 
years  ago  the  island  was  simply  swarming  with 
you»g  fellows,  and  it  was  difficult  to  get  these 
billets,  and  I knew  lots  of  young  men  who  were 
only  too  glad  to  W'ork  for  their  board.  I think 
it  is  most  imprudent  for  any  young  fellow  to  go 
out  to  Ceylon  to  become  a tea  planter  unless  he 
has  got  a fairly  good  capital  to  back  him.  I have 
seen  very  moderate  estates  indeed  sold  for  £8,000. 
Of  course,  it  is  cheaper  to  open  up  land  yourself, 
but  then  you  must  wait  for  three  years  before  you 
can  expect  any  returns. 
For  anyone  fond  of  sport  there  is  generally  plenty 
to  be  obtained  in  the  way  of  deer,  pigeons,  &c., 
and  in  the  wet  months  ssipe.  Down  in  the  “ low 
country  ” there  is  some  big  game,  but  nowadays 
elephants  are  getting  so  scarce  that  one  has  to  pay 
a license  of  RlOO  for  every  one  shot.  I never  met 
such  thorough  good  fellows  anywhere  as  the  planters 
in  Ceylon,  most  hospitable  and  generous,  and  I 
received  more  real  kindness  during  my  four  years’ 
residence  there  from  people  almost  eomparative 
strangers  than  I think  I should  have  at  home.  No 
wonder  that  I entertain  the  happiest  recollections  of 
the  years  I spent  in  “ sunny  Ceylon.” 
VOYAGEUK. 
-The  Field.'] 
CAUCASIAN  TEA. 
The  successful  experiments  made  with  the  tea  culti- 
vation in  the  Caucasus  have  led  to  very  sanguin# 
expectations  as  to  the  future.  M.  Bataline,  the 
director  of  the  St.  Petersburg  Botanic  Gardens,  has 
visited  the  Caucasian  shore  of  the  Black  Sea  for  the 
purpose  of  reporting  on  its  cultivation.  In  this 
report  he  says  that  the  resources  of  the  country  are 
admirable,  but  little  has  been  done  to  use  them. 
“ Over  an  extent  of  thirty  versts,  from  Novoros! 
siisk  to  Gheledjik,”  says  the  report,  “ the  soil 
and  the  climate  are  not  favourable  to  the 
cultivation  of  fruit.  The  only  important  orchards 
are  those  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Touapse.  The 
strip  of  land  between  Gheledjik  and  the  Asche  River 
is,  on  the  other  hand,  highly  suited  to  this  kind  of 
cultivation.  Here  are  found  wild  the  chestnut,  the 
laurel,  the  samschit  or  Caucasian  palm,  and,  to  the 
South  of  Gaza,  even  the  olive.  At  Soukhoum  plants 
can  be  cultivated  which  were  formerly  not  dreamed 
of.  Fruits  and  grapes  are  not  good,  but  rice,  indigo, 
cotton,  olives,  palms,  lemons,  and  oranges  have  been 
acclimatised,  especially  on  the  property  of  M.  P. 
Tatarinow.  A tree  nine  years  old  produces,  on  this 
estate,  about  400  oranges  a year.  The  tea  plant  also 
grows  here.  The  English  were  the  first  to  demon- 
strate that  the  soil  of  this  locality  exactly  resembles 
that  of  those  parts  of  China  where  the  best  kinds 
of  tea  are  grown.  The  first  person  who  succeeded 
in  growing  the  tea  plant  in  the  Caucasus  was  Colonel 
Solovtsow,  who,  however,  had  many  difficulties  to  con- 
tend against.  At  first  he  had  to  import  plants  from 
China  since  none  can  be  bought  in  Europe ; the  Customs 
formalities  greatly  hampered  him.  The  Customs  House 
officers  went  so  far  as  to  disinfect  these  plants, 
believing  them  to  be  vines,  and  hoping  to  prevent 
the  phylloxera.  The  Societe  Economique  Libre  sent 
M.  boolvtsow  a telegram  congratulating  him  on  hi» 
excellent  results.  e s m 
“ At  the  meeting  at  which  M.  Bataline  read  his 
report,  tea  grown  in  the  Caucasus  was  served  and 
its  flavor  was  found  to  be  satisfactory.  The  tea 
plantations  of  Colonel  Solovtsow  are  situated  in  the 
arrondifisement  of  Batoum.  He  began  to  cultivate 
tea  nine  years  ago  and  he  has  had  excellent  results, 
