April i, 1898.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,* 
683 
elation on tlie subject asking that body 
to bring the matter to the notice of the Resi- 
dent-General. We regret to say that the 
to $19. That this latter figure shows quite an 
abnormal condition of things, your Committee feel 
convinced, and that, with in!})roved curing, a 
reaction will set in appears merely a matter of 
time, for the Straits Settlements can always more 
than hold its own with regard to cost of produc- 
tion, as compared with Kio and Santos, whose 
huge crops have contributed so largely to the 
present depressed condition of the coffee market. 
At the same time, it is evident that coffee planters 
must turn their attention to the cultivation of 
other products as well, and your Committee are 
glad to be able to report that a large number of the 
valuable Para rubber trees have been planted, and 
that coco-nuts and ramie, the latter at present on a 
small scale by way of experiment, have both 
received their share of attention. 
CREEPERS AND DEPRESSION 
We are urged once more by a prominent Co" 
lombo merchant to raise our voice or rather our 
pen, in deprecation of the continued flow of young 
men to Ceylon, in order to learn “ tea plant- 
ing” with the hope of getting a start in life 
and future employment as planters. Let it 
be known that the planting country is “cliock- 
full” even now of young men who have little 
or no prospect of remunerative employment. 
For one vacancy— a niinor Superintendentship — 
recently advertised, there were sixty applicants 
we are told ; and yet we know that proprietors, 
agents and inspectors find difficulty in securing the 
right man, whose whole heart will be in his 
work, in this time of depression from poor prices 
and high exchange. A new feature full of warning 
to young planters and especially new comers, 
is that absent proprietors must, in many cases, 
return to work, throwing out their managers, 
if the depression continues. Again, the process 
will be-^the abandonment in some of the older 
planting district’s of non-paying fields and at the 
same time, an increase of the acreage in the charge 
of each reliable man. Every possible means 
of economising is bound to be adopted ; and 
not the least will be getting rid of young 
men, “creepers” &c., who have not proved tin nr 
selves “worth their salt.” The time has there- 
fore come, in all seriousness, for discouraging any 
additions to the list of “ the unemployed in the 
planting districts of Ceylon. 
SORTING TEA. 
We believe that the tendenr-y towards careless 
sorting i* becoming universal, and that it should be 
checked, and perhaps the strongest reason in favour 
of more careful sorting is that the buyers and bro- 
kers complain of too many sorts. Take, for example, 
a merchant who dealt in coins: he should not 
object to finding several rupees in the bags of pice 
sold to him as copper only. It is strange that 
sorting machinery, instead of becoming more ela- 
borate and delicate, has become more “ simple,” 
and the latest developements put temptations in the 
way of the Manager. A screw is provided at the 
lower end of the cylinder by which it can be de- 
pressed, J.C., a ready road is opened to hurry over 
the work when there is a press, and the tea can 
be rushed through. It is well worth thinking of. 
How much fine tea can you afford to present gratis 
to the buyers of your coarse tea, in order to save 
time and trouble? Is it just possible that you give 
away the 'price of an extra sorting machine by 
hurrying through one month’s tea ? Suppose that 
you niake 72,000 lb. of tea in one mouth ( — ono 
maunds=30 maunds daily) and that by hurried sort 
ing you lose .3 per cent of orange pekoe, and this' 
oranp pekoe loses 6 annas per pound by getting into 
the low grade teas. The sum works out 72 000 Ih 
X 3 per cent.=2,160 « 6 annas=12,960 annas = sin 
rupees, which is the price of an extra sorting machine 
We have purposely overstated the case, but do thinV 
that many estates tlirov away the price of a sort 
mg machine during the c-.'re of one whole 
season, and that some few actually sacrifice nor 
maund of tea by careless sorting ('Thp 
above show a loss of R800 on 900 maunds of^^teaT 
The buyers like careless sorting because it saves 
them trouble and gives them better value for thair 
money ; the brokers like it because it saves trouble ^ 
the Managers like it because it saves trouble • 
^e inventors of machinery supply what is wanted 
We can remember the birth of sorting machinerv 
and some of the earliest machines had oscill«Hn„ 
frames, into which a hand sieve could be nlaoerf onf 
rernoved when sufficient tea had fallen thronJh 
Later on we took to cylinders five feet in diameter 
with battens insiie, and the tea received the treatment 
which turns cream into batter. aiment 
Now we find the cylinder to be about 3 feet in 
meter, the different “meshes” are 3 feeflonc^ 
that the tea has hardly time to get full v sorted; the°n on 
a heavy day you can depress the cylinder and set the 
work done quicker. The machine referred to^« 
inirably adapted for its purpose (which k not 
sorting but to suit the ideas of the ManLers *hrot^ 
ers and buyers). With sufficient inCfment ± 
maker of the machine could turn out 
would give two Orange Pekoes, two Pekoes 
Souchong, Proken Tea and Dust. But Sie prFce of 
the machine would be greater. Or two nf h? u 
machines would sort well if not maTe to «7o -’"a 
large quantity. Of course, the great inducement to 
hurried sorting IS have big “breaks,” but a Sence 
to the tea sales will show that small breakro^^^LI 
teas sell well. Referring to the last ten coi 
find a Dooars garden sold 4 chests BroLn Orkuan 
Pekoe at 10 annas and 23 chests Pekoe Paiinin^a^f 
5 annas 8 pie. The Broken Orange Pekoe war^OO lb 
the diffe^nce in price 4 annas 4 pie and if 
Broken Orange Pekoe had been put in’ or left hHhe 
^nmngs, the loss would have been over RlOO b,., eg 
400 lb. of good tea would not have raised iha ® 
of the 2,3001b. of Pekoe Fannings. There Vrda r 
in ovei sorting, because the tea can be 
grey if kept too long on the sieves, but the idea is nXt 
to get more Orange Pekoe by longer sifBffif? • if iffb J 
the fine teas should be extrLteTL/ore 
kept separate from the fine teL f j 
ftrr cutting up the bulk. We Le SS 
from experience, and so can recommend othir, ^ 
try m->re careful sorting. On some estsfia 
first operation is cutting® up the t^a in Tl 
bre ker, which forces a!l tL tea though a No I 
-sieve. This mixes up all the grades ' t 
Pekoe Souchong leaf will get into ^the^ Orange Peko? 
On these estates it would be well to trv 
Orange Pokoe and Pekoe can be got withnT,! "^** 
breaking, and these two teas should be W ^ 
rate. Having got out the “ fine ” fe, iiT 
could be broken in the Reid’^ breaker an 
into Pekoe Pekoe Souchong and Broken ^ea This 
would necessitate more mlchin^Jv 
but the di^rence in prices obtained would nav S 
that and leave a profit ^ 
^ood sorting, that we think it would pav°to™bn^t*“ 
in the market and resort it-^x°TctFn7 tL 
grades from the lower and sellintr th ® higher 
they would haveL25 of Orange Pekoe 50n^of P°u^’ 
•„a ™ o, P.k„. f 
