THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
455 
Jan. t, 1898.] 
A VISIT TO UDAPUSSELLAWA. 
THE NEW FACTORY ON RAGALLA 
ESTATE. 
(By a Special Visifcn-. ) 
The Ragalla New Factory, or rather the work 
of levelling, was comniencecl on November 13th 
of last year, and tea-making was started in the 
building on the 10th June of this year and con- 
tinued ever since. The plan of the Factory may 
be sketched for the printer as follows : — 
12-6 
y " 
—37-6- 
HH 
W 
M 
d 
Firing 
Room. | 
2- 
y 
— 60-0— 
'O 
Sifting Room 
~Main Shaft, 
Up Draft 
Sirocco. 
-125-0- 
RoUers. 
Office. 
Geound Plan. Ragalla Factoey. 
THE GENERAL DIMENSIONS OF THE FACTORY 
are — main building, 125 feet by 42 feet, with a 12 
feet 6 incli verandah running the full length of 
the front .side. The manager’s office is in the 
centre of this verandah, but built higher 
and with a storey above it, for weighing the 
green leaf and as an entrance to the second 
floor. This entrance is approached by “ladders” 
from both sides running parallel with the 
main building. Ordinary stairways have not 
been adopted : sloping platforms reaching up to 
the entrance being considered more convenient. 
One of these “ ladders ” has ribs of wood to 
keep the coolies from slipping on wet days, but 
Mr. Nicol for the sake of the younger pluckers 
and to make the ascent as easy as possible for 
them has left the other without these ribs. 
Behind the main building almost at each end and 
built at right angles to it are the fermenting 
and firing rooms with an open court between 
them. The latter has an open verandah, on the 
outer side, from which the driers are fired, and 
is only one storey in height. The fermenting 
room however has two upper floors, same as 
the main building, for withering purposes. The 
fermenting room, unlike the rest of the factory, 
which has only three feet of brick above the 
ground level, has been built up with brick for 
17 feet on both sides, and on the gable end with 
14 feet. This is for the [lurpose of keeping the 
room as much as possible from being affected by 
the direct rays of the sun. The room itself is 
50 feet by 37 feet 6 inches, and has a concrete 
floor. On passing into 
THE FERMENTING ROOM 
from other parts of the building we at once felt a 
considerable reduction in temperature, almost 
equal to the difference between the night and 
56 
day shade temperature of the locality. By a 
thermometer placed in the room, we found 
the temperature was about 64 degrees Fab. This 
lowering of the temperature is secured by hang- 
ing ordinary jute hessian from wires running the 
full length of the room, about 10 feet above the 
floor, and saturated with water. These jute hes- 
sian screens run down on both sides of the room, 
having immediately below a drain in the floor 
covered over with cast iron grating to carry 
away the surplus water falling from them. 
Besides these screens, and just in line with them, 
are two water taps, which are kept running as 
required to help to reduce the temperature. 
Practical tea planters will understand the reason 
for the moderation of the temperature while the 
fermenting operation is proceeding. The vola- 
tile and delicate 
E.SSENTIAL OILS OF TEA, 
which, of course, give character to the commercial 
article readily evaporate from the newly rolled leaf. 
How to retain the essential properties of the 
leaf during the process of manufacture is the 
crux of tea-making, and perhaps the higher 
temperature at which loiv-country tea is gathered 
and manufactured may partly account for its 
inferior flavour ! Who can say ? We knew of 
one gentleman who was experimenting in this 
direction, by devising means to fire the tea in 
a vacuum ! We have never heard with what 
result. This point, however, opens up the whole 
question of tea manufacture, and it is here where, 
perhaps, an expert chemist might score. In any 
case, the advantages ot cool rolling and cooler 
fermenting is now widely recognized, although, 
perhaps, the practical apjdication of the know- 
ledge is not so widely effected owing, in many 
cases, to want of accommodation. 
THE FIRING-ROOM 
is 62 feet 6 inches by 37 feet 6 inches, and is 
fitted with an ample ventilator or lantern in the 
roof. The heated air can be directed into the 
withering-floor, by ducts which can be operated 
to supply either the one or the two floors to 
help the withering process. A new paragon 
drier fired, as already stated, from the verandah 
as well as a down draft sirocco, is installed in the 
firing-room. Both are driven from tlie main 
shaft' by a counter shaft on to a short secon- 
dary shaft let through tlie wall on a level with 
the floor, which then drives the shaft in the 
firing-room. The paragon was in operation when 
we visited the factory, and on entering the 
room, the sweetest scented air we remember hav- 
ing ever experienced in a tea factory greeted our 
olefactory nerves, and, we could not help ■ x- 
pressing our delight. It was more like goii g 
into a confectioner's shop with its delicate inter - 
mixture of scents ! Here were the essen- 
tial oils from the tea dissipating under- 
the influence of the lieat of the para- 
gon, and which if retained might add a penny 
or twopence to the price of the tea on the 
market ! This paragon is capable of making 
400 lb. made Tea per day, and is a beautiful price 
of machinery in every w'aj'. 
THE SIFTING ROOM 
is a part of the main room partitioned off, 
close to the Firing Room. All the rooms 
are partitioned from each other by half glass 
partitions and large door ways by wliich ac- 
cess can be got from the main building to 
any other one direct— verandah connection be- 
tween the fermenting and firing rooms, 25 feet 
by 12, feet wide, facilitating access in their case 
