48o 
THE  fROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
IJAN.  I,  1897. 
3.  The  leaf  receptacle  in  this  machine  being  station- 
ary, the  power,  which  is  absorbed  in  other  machines 
for  imparting  motion,  not  only  the  movable  receptacle, 
but  also  to  its  contained  chaige  of  leaf,  is  ilms  eaved. 
Tlie  machiiio,  when  empty,  can  be  easily  driven 
at  full  working  speed  by  one  man,  and  when  charged 
with  about  MoUUj.  of  withered  leaf  it  only  reqaires  two 
horse  power  to  drive  it. 
■1.  T.'i ; discharge  of  the  rolled  leaf  is  effected 
through  a door  in  the  side  of  the  leaf  receptacle  over 
a stationary  shelf  or  tray,  so  that  the  discharge  is 
effected  with  great  facility  and  cleanliness. 
5.  The  leaf  receptacle  is  entirely  open  over  top,  and 
all  necessity  for  the  apxjhcation  of  any  pressure  on 
the  leaf,  by  means  of  a weighted  lid  or  cover,  is 
entirely  obviated,  through  the  employment  inside 
the  leaf  receptacle  of  what  are  termed  in  the  catalogue 
“ x)loughs,”  and  of  a cone-shaped  pr  jjectio.i  in  the 
centre  of  the  cavity  or  well  in  the  roiling  table,  the 
combined  operation  of  which,  when  the  table  is  in 
motion,  causes  the  leaf  to  so  circulate  that  it  has  a 
continuous  “ boiling-up  ” movement  in  the  centre  of 
the  mass  from  bottom  to  top  of  the  lerf  ivceptaale, 
where  it  falls  outwardly  ali  around  to  the  sides, 
quickly  finding  its  way  down  agai  1 to  the  bottom. 
6.  The  outer  surface  of  the  leaf  receptacle,  and 
the  outer  edge  of  the  rolling  table  are  so  cou- 
struoted  that  any  leaf  and  juice  which  escape 
through  the  clearance  space  between  the  lower 
edge  of  the  leaf  receptacle  and  the  upper  surface  of 
the  rolling  table  are  automatieally  swept  round  to 
a delivery  spout  on  the  table,  wnere  they  can  be 
collected  in  a bucket  and  returned  from  time  to 
time  into  the  top  of  the  leaf  receptacle,  whereby 
the  danger  of  collecting  such  escaped  leaf  by  hand 
from  the  upper  surface  of  the  rolling  table,  as 
hitherto  uecessary  in  other  machines,  is  entirely 
obviated. 
The  many  practical  advantages  which,  as  above 
mentioned,  are  claimed  to  be  embodied  in  Mr. 
Davidson’s  new  Rolling  machine  will  be  readily 
apparent  to  experienced  planters,  and  as  Mr.  David- 
son has  spent  about  a couple  of  years  in  bringing 
the  machine  up  to  its  present  working  efficiency, 
and  is  placing  it  on  the  market  at  a price  lower 
than  usual  for  Rolling  maohiues  of  similar  capacity, 
we  would  anticipate  for  it  a very  successful 
future. 
Of  the  new  Automatic  Endless  Web  Sirocco  Tea 
Drier  next  referred  to,  it  is  claimed  that  the  ope- 
ratioiis  of  this  machine,  which  has^  been  in  use 
during  the  current  season  at  Baraoora  Estate,  bylhet, 
where  it  gave  an  average  output  of  3201b.  per 
hour  of  perfectly  dried  tea,  accomplishes  what  has 
lontJ  been  desired  in  the  drying  of  tea-;-uamely,  m a 
continuous  workiug  maohiue  to  automatically  subject 
the  wet  leaf  at  the  start  to  a high  temperature,  so  as 
to  instantaneously  arrest  fermentation  and  then  nnish 
off  the  tea  to  perfect  dryness  at  low  temperature, 
which  system  of  drying  is  claimed  to  enhance  the 
quality  of  tea  produced. 
Then  we  come  to  the  “ Down-Draft  ” Sirocco,  to 
which  the  special  feature  of  the  large  automatic  drier 
can  now  be  applied  in  a modified  form,  so  that  the  first 
tray  of  wet  leaf  can  be  brought  under  the  influence  of 
the  fresh  hot  air  from  the  store  immediately  on  going 
into  the  machiue.  Then  there  is  the  Up-Draft 
which  rsitilT  so  popular.  There  is  the  well-kiiowu  Tea 
Sorter  as  well  as  tli-e  Packer,  to  which  a self-ac  g 
homier  for  filling  the  tea  is  now  applied.  There  |s  also 
an  unproved  tea  cutting  mill,  ut 
tions  and  descriptions  of  a special  design  of  double 
cylinder  steam  engine  suited  for  te.a  estates.  So  con  ■ 
■navativcly  small  a matter  as  a “ Double  Clmcbei  belt 
fastener  which  has  been  a great  success  in  various  mills 
aXactoUes  in  the  United  Kingdom,  has  not  been 
omitted,  and  in  looking  thiough  the  pages  of  this  pam- 
phlet the  reader  will  gather  a good  idea  of  the  i^qiiire- 
Keiits  of  a tea  garden  and  how  efficiently  Messrs. 
Davidson  & Co.  endeavour  to  cater  for  same. 
PLANTING  AND  PRODUCE. 
(From  JI.  & C.  Mail,  Dec.  4.) 
Te.v  in  tuk  C.rucAsus. — There  have  been  so  many 
contradictory  reports  about  the  tea-growing  experi- 
ments of  the  Russian  Government  in  the  Uaucasus 
that  it  is  difficult  to  arrive  at  the  truth.  The 
latest  account  indicates  that  mystery  attends  the 
whole  business.  The  Odessa  correspondent  of  the 
Times  on  Tuesday  stated  that  “ another  large  body 
of  Ghiuese  have  arrived  at  Odessa  en  route  to  the 
Caucasus,  where  they  are  going  to  superintend  the 
cultivation  of  the  tea  plant.  “ Such  success,”  he 
adds,  “ has  attended  the  Government’s  efforts  in 
tea-plauting  in  the  Caucasus  that  several  large 
estates  there  have  been  acquired  by  private  persons 
for  this  purpose,  and  it  is  expected  that  in  the 
near  future  Russian  tea  from  the  Caucasus  will  prove 
a xiowerful  rival  in  the  tea  markets  of  Plurope.” 
As  it  has  been  stated  that  tlie  tea  plauting 
operations  had  resulted  in  failure,  the  Russian 
authorities  must,  if  the  last  account  be  correct,  liave 
been  “l.iying  low”  about  them  previously. 
OrnEU  WoiiLDs  TO  Conquer. — It  is  depressing  to  think 
that  the  tea  drinking  country  of  the  world  par 
exudleacc,  Russii,  is  so  faitlifiilly  attached  to  the 
Ciiiua  market,  and  that  although  bold  effort i have 
been  made  011  behelf  of  ludiati  and  Ceylon  tea 
garden  proprietors  to  induce  the  Russians  to  change 
their  ideas  and  alter  their  palates  so  little  com- 
paratively has  come  of  it.  The  consumption  of 
tea  in  Russia  attains  enormous  proportions,  and  is 
yearly  on  the  increase.  According  to  the  Journal  de  la 
Chamhre  de  Commercede  Constant inople,  Russia  imported 
in  1894,  through  the  port  of  Odessa,  15,692,000  kilo- 
gramme’s (a  kilogramme  equals  2,204  lb.)  of  tea  from 
Uhina.  Through  the  custom  houses  of  the  Baltic 
large  quantities  of  tea  are  entered,  chiefly  consigned 
to  Moscow,  or  for  local  consumption,  and  by  the 
land  customs  of  Eastern  Siberia  about  20,000,000 
kilogrammes  of  tea,  representing  a value  of  about 
50,000,000  roubles,  were  imported.  All  the  tea  im- 
ported by  way  of  Odessa  or  other  European  fron- 
tiers is  leaf  tea,  but  that  coming  into  the  country 
via  the  Chinese  frontier  is  chiefly  tea  in  bricks  of 
different  dimensions.  These  teas  are  consumed  by  the 
nomads  and  the  northern  peasants  by  reason  of 
their  cheapness  and  the  facilities  of  transport.  The 
customs  duties  011  this  kind  of  tea  are  much  lower 
than  those  on  leaf  tea.  In  the  various  retail  shops  leaf 
tea  is  sold  in  packets  weighing  g,  J,  or  1 Russian 
pound  at  prices  vai'ying  according  to  quality,  from 
81)  copecks  to  5 paper  roubles  the  pound,  but  as  a 
rule  sufficiently  good  tea  may  be  purchased  for  1 
rouble  50  copecks  to  2 roubles  50  copecks  per  pound. 
Russsia  exports  annually  a certaiu  quantity  of  tea 
in  xiacketa,  prepared  by  the  large  importing  houses 
of  Moscow,  which  are  well  known  throughout  the 
whole  of  Europe.  By  way  of  Odessa  30,000  kilo- 
grammes were  shipped  in  1894  to  the  destination  of 
Roumania,  Bulgaria,  Turkey,  and  Austria-Hungary. 
The  import  of  Ceylon  is  so  far  inconsiderable,  but 
it  is  hoped  that  it  will  improve. 
Crop  Esti.wates,  Revised  and  Otherwise. — A long 
continuance  of  cheap  tea  is  the  outlook  4he  Grocer 
predicts.  The  speculative  opinions  indulged  in  with 
regard  to  the  Indian  tea  crop  for  1896-97  have  been 
numerous  and  contradictory,  but  they  have  enabled 
the  Grocer  to  safely  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  crop  will  be  of  much  greater  magnitude 
than  that  in  the  previous  year,  or 
even  heavier  than  the  one  gathered  in  1894- 
i)5.  The  actual  outturn  in  that  season,  it  will 
be  remembered,  was  127,l27,000lb,  followed  by  a 
largely  increased  yield  of  135,479.0001b  in  1895-96, 
and  now  there  is  another  materially  augmented 
crop  raised  for  the  piesent  season.  By  favour  of  the 
Indian  Tea  Association  in  Loudon,  our  contempo- 
rary is  iiiformod  that  the  production  for  this  year, 
based  on  the  “ first  " revised  estimate,  was  icckoued 
at  141,781,6681b.,  which  was  2,518,8521b  less  than  the 
original  calculation  in  June,  when  it  was  expected 
the  Indian  tea  produce  would  equal  144,303,5201b  ; 
but  later  advices  received  only  a week  ago  stato  that. 
