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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[March i, 1884 



ia«rf.— Land fit for the cultivation of the different 

 products can be had near to the now existing roads 

 within from 6 to 8 miles, and I sha'l now suggest to 

 you that the road to go into the interior ought to 

 commence from Thayetchaung. There is a range of 

 hills that runs almost east and west : the road ought 

 to enter froui the base of the Pawdu Hill. This you 

 will see, I Isnow, yourself directly it is pointed out 

 to you : this will lead into virgin jungle on both aides 

 and reach the hill known by the name of the " (Jow's 

 Hump." Planters would then have no excuse to com- 

 plain. As " many men, many miods," bo with planteis ; 

 those that choose high elevation, there it is up to 4,000 

 flat and first-rate virgin soil : the distance cannot be 

 more than 20 miles from there to this large, luagnificent 

 '• Cow's Hump" hill, .and this takes planters away 

 from the sea. 



Nutyadaung is not fit for the different products tliat 

 a pLauter has to give a written guarantee to your 

 Government for. In my humble opinion it is (oo iiar 

 the influencf of the xea (lir, but tlie flat land can be 

 turned to account there also for different other products 

 that 1 shall refer you to hereafter if wished. 



If you start from Thayetchauug and go right into 

 the interior you have such a splendid field before you 

 and a road or rail running direct for the wluufage and 

 near to where large ships can safely lay at anchor. 

 The great secret is not to mike mistakes in starting 

 a new enterprize. This has cost me a good deal of 

 thought and hard tramping in wet .and sun, and I have 

 not put my hand to paper until I gave this import.int 

 subject due consideration and bal meed one side with 

 the other. 



This takes planters away from villages and it opens 

 up the country grandly at little expense to tlie Govern- 

 ment, and this will be a great boon for the planter; 

 he can get his supplies of rice close at hand. A rice- 

 mill can be put up here at little expense as timber 

 is near, and a new town built: it will soon grow, 

 merchants will follow the planters in due course, and 

 dilBculties will disappear if the right sart of hardwork- 

 ing men are put iu power here, who will not throw 

 difficulties in the planter's way but put aside all humbug 

 and be fair between man and man. 



Labour. — I find no difficulty about labour, but I find 

 what the Chief Commi siouer said to me to be correct, 

 that is, th.at th" maistries cheat and do much to dis- 

 courage our labour. They are given cmitracts from 

 Government, and instead of being looked after by the 

 immediate supervision of the Divisional Officer, as is 

 done in Ceylon, they are left here to, and in the po»'er 

 of, the contractor, who takes advantage of them in every 

 possible way. We want to know our workmen and look 

 afier them ourselves; not to loll about in the morning, 

 but be up by 5 a.m. and look after our dift'erent duties 

 in the .rit'/(i until 10 a.m.; give them then a couple of 

 hours at midilay and see that they finish their different 

 taskfi by .o-30 p.m , and have every man on oiiinwn. "check- 

 roH,"then one knows them and one knows their ways. 

 The Burmese are a nice docile ptople, willing servants, 

 and cheerfid workmen, and we must study their w.ays 

 and treat then just lite children ; and we will teach 

 them yet that there is a sweetness in honest labour, 

 and aiso teaoh them how to cultivate their hilly ground 

 and improve theflavour of Ihelr diftercut fruits. Direci ly 

 they sec the advantage of this they will do it with 

 profit to themselves and advantage to your revenue. 



I h.ave also inspected the lands from Tavoy right 

 into the heart of the juugle for IG miles, and find that 

 we can get land 9 miles from here well adapted for 

 the cultivation of the different products I have now 

 mentioned and an elevation from 1,.500 up to 2.000 feet. 



This mornma I got up early and went to the end 

 of the Siaiii road as far as the road is made passable, 

 and 1 could sec ata alance that there is a grand opening 

 in this direction: nothing but hill and dale for miles 



and miles ; soil free subsoil ; just tlie country f'r all our 

 products, and a splendid climate. I have never been 

 in better health though out daily in sun and rain, and 

 I find I can do just as good a day's work here as in 

 Ceylon. 



1 fear this long letter will weary you, as it is of 

 greater length than 1 intended, and if you choose you 

 can publish it to the world, as what I have written 

 are plain facts, and you can also put my naoie. I 

 have already written to the Ceylon Ubsen;er, Colombo, 

 and expressed my ideas of your grand country, and 

 1 also expressed my thanks to yourself and the Chief 

 ! Commissioner for the very kind way in wiiich you 

 received me. 



TEA IN THE KANGKA VALLEY. 



It is remaikable that whilst Tea is so uuiversally 

 used in England the public should know so little 

 about it, and be, therefore, such iudift'erent judges as 

 to what they should look for as tlie signs of a go.id 

 article. There is a mistaken notioa still abroad that 

 "flowery Pekoe" is made of the white, camellia-like 

 blossom from the bush, and that several species are 

 cultivated to produce the various qualities of Teas. 

 Many of your readers may feel aa interest in learn- 

 ing something concerning the Kangra Valley 'lea 

 district and the method of cultivation, picking, aud 

 making of the Tea grown there. The exh.iusted leaves 

 from their teapots will then guide them in their future 

 piirch ises ; when they have learned that in carefully- 

 made and honestlj-pMked Tea there are no sticks or 

 other incongruous matter, but simply the leaf of the 

 cured, dried Tea which has opened and expanded 

 in the water to something like its pristine state. All 

 the kinds of Tea, which are described as Pekoe, Orange 

 Pekoe, Pekoe Souchong, &c., are picked at the same 

 moment, from the same stem, from the same bush. 

 The barely developed little leaf, covered witli a delic- 

 ate down, which is just unfolding on the top of the 

 spray, is to prrduce the fiutst Tea ; the first perfect, 

 but still tender leaves, the next ; and the broader 

 ones, lower down, the Bobea, or coarse Tea. These 

 leaves are all manufactured together into Tta, as we 

 shall see presently ; and the best Tea to drink is, 

 perhaps, the liquor derived from the mass as it stands. 

 But the different sized leaves are all laboriously 

 sorted by hand, after manufacture, before they are 

 exported to the English market, to meet the nquire- 

 ments of the trade and in accordance with the China 

 mode. These carefully sorted leaves have to be mixed 

 awain to make a Tea for actual use, such, for ex- 

 ample, as Pekoe Souchong which is, perhaps, the 

 best mixture; and some of the finest Tei goes to 

 make coarse China Teas drinkable and fit for the 

 market. The coarse T.-as from the Kangra^ VaUey 

 are sold in India and are not exported to England, 

 where we get the mass of our Tea corcuntr.ated, as 

 it were, bj- this removal of all leaves of scanty strength 

 and flavour. 



The Kangra Tea Plantations.— These lie along the 

 slopes of the North-West Hiitiala\ as, nestling at the 

 feet of grand mountains of from 10,000 to l'J,000 teet 

 high, and comprising, between the Ravee and the 

 Sutlej, 8,000 squire miles of country. The district of 

 kangra proper, leaving out the sub divi-ion ul^Kulu, 

 and ih-i highly plctniesqne native statcn of iVlundi, 

 Socket, and Chuniba, extends from the Beas, where 

 the natural watershed divides it from the H..oshiar- 

 pore district, to the boundary of the Mundi State, 

 near Byjuath, on the one side, aud to Nooriiore on 

 fhe ofher. It is in this lovely valley tihat most of 

 the European Tea-planters have settled, aud made 

 around th^ ni confortable homes and honieslead", « Inch 

 remind the sun-scorched visitor Croin the plains ot 

 India of lar-off English farms. At the upper i)art ot 



