N.B.—Notice the labour staff required for three months in the year to make charcoal; the immense space (and heat) taken up by choolahs; cost of timber used for charcoal; the number of trays, gauze, iron, &c., &c., required; the masonry and carpenter’s work always more or less out of repair; loss of small tea falling through trays, &c., &c.
Now let us take
Cost of machine-dried Tea per maund.
| R. | A. | P. | ||
| 1st. Those machines which dry by coke, say cost of coke | = | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 3 men at annas 4-6 per 5 maunds Tea | = about | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| Cost of drying per maund Tea for a machine, drying by coke 5 maunds in 10 hours | 0 | 10 | 8 | |
I now give an estimate of cost of 1 maund Tea dried by a machine of similar capabilities, but drying with any sort of fuel—coal, wood, grass, bamboo, &c., say 2 maunds of firewood at 6 pie per maund = 1 anna per 1 maund Tea.
N.B.—Price of firewood at 3 pie per maund should be nearer the mark.
3 men’s pay, annas 4-6 for 5 maunds in 10 hours = annas 2-8 per maund. The analysis of the above comes to this—
| R. | A. | P. | |||
| Charcoal | drying | = | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Coke | „ | = | 0 | 10 | 8[100] |
| Wood fire | „ | = | 0 | 3 | 8 |
We read of machines drying with any fuel, and doing double the Tea of what I have estimated above, and how people can still stick to charcoal beats me.—(No signature.)