August i, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



1^5 



THEORY AND PRACTICE IN TROPICAL AGRI- 



CULTURE : WEEDS ON PLANTATIONS. 



(By an old Ceylon Planter.) 



The irrepre'siUe advocate of weeds, Mr. Halliley, 

 has iu a letter of ten lines, ran full tilt into two 

 scieutit ■ theories, restiug ou bases of long careful 

 patient experiment. The bulk of scientific evidence 

 goes to shew that fnv if avy plants derive any part 

 of their nitrate'' fr m the atmosphere. Again nitrates 

 do not evaporate but are lost by percolation beyond 

 the r.gion of roots. 



If weeds obtain from the soil, all the nitrates they 

 contain, is it not wasted labour to grow them for 

 the mere purpose of restoring to the soil, what they 

 have abstracted from it 't 



If those, the latest and best supported theories be 

 scientifically correct then the practice rauBt be scienti- 

 fically correct, of keeping the ground occupied by a 

 cultivated plant, free of .all other vegetation. 



As for keeping the soil moist the great complaint 

 of Ceylon in the current cycle is superabundance of 

 moisture and the paucity of sunshine. The Ceylon 

 planter is the moat molest ^of truth-seekers : he 

 aeads earnestly such pages of the book of nature 

 as are open to his lights, and he listens with the 

 confidence and reverence of a true disciple t ) the 

 teachings of masters whose studies have er.i led them 

 to turn over leaves that have rcniaineil sealed to lim. 

 The consequence of such a temper is that the slovenly 

 and perfunctory are abhorrent to his 1 abits. In«h t- 

 ever he undertakes he aims high, and the records 

 of his successes are written in the market lepoits of 

 Wincing Lane. Be it cotl'ee, tea, cinchona, cacao, 

 cardaraoms, the newest as the oldest of his products 

 assume at once a place iu the first r.mk and keep 

 it. It is to be hoped that no utterance of any 

 apostle of the slovenly, however brilliant, may ever 

 move him, from his cuosen ground of careful culture 

 and manipulation of whatever he produce?. Let 

 other lands keep their secrets if they have any and 

 laugh at their own wit, if Ihey have any, the Ceykn 

 planter will never remain long in the background 

 Avhen he earnestly sets about creating a superior 

 quality of tropically grown produce. 



BALMEE, LA-WEIE & OO.'S INDIAN TEA AXD 

 V'EATHEE KErOllT: SEASON 1883-84. 



Calcuita, 7th July, I8S3. 

 Our last Report was dated 23rd .June ; for the past tort- 

 night the weather in the tea-gi-owiug districts, has on the 

 whole been satisfactory. Ou the whole there still seems to 

 be a general want of rain, and though some gardens are 

 pirkiug up for sometime lost, most are considerably behind 

 h st year- 

 All thos'! cocnected with Indian tea will learn with ijlcas- 

 uro that the Indian Tea Association Lave gained the cou- 

 cess'o-is lespect'ns the weighing of tea in bond, that it 

 b:>s been so lorg striving for; the Association is to be 

 hi a tily congratulute.l on the satisfactory result of it efforts, 

 ard it" oily r<s:s with the pl.autt>rs now to make the new 

 s\ stem one of practical advantage. 



Assam. — Dil raghar. Trospects are improving iu this 

 lora itv. rain bavin;; fallen more or less d.aily : the Brahma- 

 pnti a "overliowed its banks at some points but fortun- 

 ately the waters soon subsided, and caused little damage. 

 The' plants were flushing nicely and beginning to lose the 

 clurred 1 )ok they have had for some time; but the chilly 

 niglits complained of still by a few managers retards the 

 rapid prom-uss that the gardens .should be making ; there is 

 slight indications of Thrips, and red spider and blight are 

 ou°sorae gardens. jAipcit.— The gardens here are doing 

 well in tea, and some are ahead of last year in outturn. 

 SiBSAtiAE.— The weather has been favorable for growth in 

 this part latelv, a moderate amount of r.ain being accom- 

 panied with sun heat. Ulislit is disappearing and good 

 flushes as coming out so that gardens that are greatly behind 



last year, have a chance now for picking ujj a little, 

 JoHHAT. — Hot and dry weather still prevails in this part, 

 with only occasional showers that do but little good ; leaf is 

 thin and outturn very eleficient L.\khimpore. — The weather 

 here contiiuus favorable antl fair tiushes of leaf have come 

 out ; red spider and green fly seem lesg vigorous, probably 

 owing to the jjrevalent damp heat ; on three mornings 

 there was au unusual fog noticeable. Most gardens are 

 much behind in outturn. Mu.sgledie. — The regular rains 

 have not yet set in, and the weather is very hot ; red spider 

 is bad everywhere wliich shows there is no growth in the 

 bushes. Unless the regular r.ains set in soon, prospects will 

 be gloomy, and the niaindacture will probably fall short of 

 the estimates. Gowuati. — The weather is too cool still to 

 be seasonable and prevents heavy flushes ; most gardens will 

 not be able to make uj) for the quantity lost at the beginning 

 of the season. 



Cacilvr. — Good growing weather has favored most parts 

 of the district, hut on some estates canstant rain has impeded 

 the progress of manufacture; blight is very bad in aU parts 

 of the district. 



South West Sylhet. — The rainfall here has been inad- 

 equate and the weather cloudy and cold ; leaf wliich had 

 been coming on well, was very much checked by these 

 imfavoiable conditions; on 29th ultimo however a change set 

 iu and 24 inches of rain fell in one night. 



DARJEti.iNG. — Since the heavy rains reported in our last, 

 this district has.nad favorable weather for tea, but a good 

 deal of sickness is prevalent, and cliolcra has appeared 

 causing much anxiety. 



The temperature has been very changeable, the thermo- 

 meter being sometimes as law as (V2=' in the day; the 

 mornings h.ave been mostly warm and sunny followed by 

 cloudy afternoons. A pecuUarity in the leaf produced lately 

 on seune gardens is a long piece of stalk between each leaf, 

 Avliich may be the result of recent mrfavour.able weather. 

 From the Dooars we hear that the weather lately has been 

 showery, and everyone very busy trying to get off their 

 flushes before they are too matm'cd ; ^ the late continued 

 rains had brought such a heavy show of leaf. 



KuMAOx. — The monsoon seems to have burst over tliis 

 chstiiet on '29th ultimo, about a fortnight later than usual. 

 Many gardens ;tre so far behind last year in outturn that 

 there is Ultle chance now of them pie;king up, for the 

 previous rain had come down in heavy but very partial 

 showers. 



liAXGEA Valley. — In this district the monsoon burst on 

 ■2(>th ultimo and the tiushes have since run out veiy well, 

 so that the outtm-u is equal to last year on some gardens ; 

 the quality of tea also is better than the average. 



CniTTAiiONG. — The rainfall has now far exceeded last 

 year, tlu'ee quarters of the average of the year h.aring been 

 ah-eady registered iu the northern part of the (hstrict ; 

 sunshine' would he very welcome, manufacture being still 

 behind and impeeled by the rains. 



NEW PRODUCTS IN CEYLON: GENERAL 



PLANTING REPORT. 

 Repout, Jl'xe 1S83, ox \ Lowcocjjjtry Estate, 



NEAR HeXARATGODA. 



We have had a good deal of rain in June, but 

 hardly any planting weather : sharp showers lasting 

 five to lifteeu minutes, foUoweil by some hours of 

 bright sun; planting was consef^uently carried ou under 

 difficulty an hour or two at a time, and from the 

 '-5ih the rain stopped altogether. Had weather per- 

 mitted, I would have cleared out my tea nursery : ai 

 it is, I have more than one-third of the plants remain- 

 ing. Of the 23,000 I managed to get out during the 

 mouth, there is not one per cent of failures. The 

 percentage of failure iu the planting done earlier in 

 the season is large, iwrtly from cricket-cutting, though 

 many of those cut are growing again, but chieHy from 

 the eighteen days of dry weathei- that folhiweel the 

 great rain-storm of May 8th and 9lh, 



It appeared to me in the early days of May that 

 the coli'ee fungus was on the increase, but the character of 

 the weather since has not suited it. and the great.'r par-t 

 of the coliee, seems absolutely free from it, and looks 



