13^ 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[August i, 1883. 



luattei". ami the twelve months mean the addition of con- 

 siilerable experience. 



•■ I am more and more eonrinced that tea-growing in Natal 

 is certain to succeed, anil that it will prove a mine of wealth 

 to the colony, far beyoml any gold mine that may be opened 

 out in the interior. The result "of my experience is at all times 

 at the service of all. The more pointed the questions put 

 to me regarding the modus q2)erandi and results, the better. 

 There is nothing to keep back and nothing to Ije afraid of. 

 Some friends exjjress astonishment that I endeavour to in- 

 duce others to enter upon the cultivation of tea, when, by 

 pushing my own forward, and keeping quiet, I may com- 

 mand for a longer period a kind of monopoly, and thus the 

 sooner obtain an independency. Well, there is something 

 in that ; but it appears to be shortsighted policy. I might 

 gain in the beginning, and the colony would lose. The 

 sooner we occupy our waste lauds with industrious settlers, 

 the sooner we shall all be benefitted. If whilst helping 

 myself I can assist others, I am satisfied. If the colony holds 

 back from investing in what must prove a blessing, it has it- 

 self to blame ; my personal benefit will not suffer. 



" To return. The prospect for the future appears to be 

 exceedingly good, lly area has increased from thirty-two 

 to fifty acres during the past season. Of these fifty acres, 

 only three-fifths of an acre consists of the orighiaUy im- 

 jiorted plants, planted out in November and December 1877 

 — consequently now nearly five-and-a-half years old. ]\Iy 

 present picking is from oj acres, planted in November, 

 18,sO, and three-fifths of an acre unplanted plants, with a 

 slight picking from plants eighteen months planted out. 

 Jly return from this will. I confidently believe, reach 2,rXK) 

 lb." by the end of the season, in May. To define it more 

 distinctly ; say 5i acres under 2h years old at 250 lb. per acre 

 — 1,375 llj. and three-fifths of an acre (5J years) say 500 lb. 

 ( or over SCO lb. per acre), and the balance of 125 lb. from a 

 few plants in the IS months' olds. .Such yields as these, or 

 anytlung approaching thereto, cannot be sui-pa.ssed iti the 

 world. The colony possesses thousands of acres of laud that 

 may yielil ao average return from good culture of SCO lb. 

 per acre, and the cost of that tea delivered in I.>ondon need 

 not be more thaTi lOd per lb. I am certain that tea can 

 be grown in Natal at less than Sd per lb. ; that the class we 

 shall produce need not average less than Is -lil per 11). in 

 liond in London ; that if in the future planters can be certain 

 of Is per lb. in Durban, the enterprize is one that means 

 wealth to the cnlony. The question is frequently put to 

 me. ' What weight of green leaf can coolies pick per diem.' 

 During the past month I have weighed each picker's leaf at 

 noon and evening. The following is the result of my last 

 picl;ing, February 2Cith and 27th. On the 2Cth. 15 men, 2 

 girls and 2 boys (coolies)— 19 hands — noon, weighing 18i> lb. 

 leaf ; evening, 171 lb. ; total 361 lb. ; average. 19 lb. each 

 hauil. The largest picker gave 2Sj lb. and the lowest, a 

 little boy. SI lb, On the 27th. 13 pickers— noon, 167 lb.; 

 evening. 124 1b. : tot.al. 291 lb. of leaf ; average, nearly 23 

 lb. per hand. The two days' 652 lb. green leaf turned out 

 148 lb. of made tea. N.B. — Early .and late in the season the 

 jield of made tea to green leaf is 1 lb. to 4 lb. ; at the ])re- 

 sent time leaf and stalk are very full of sap. and it takes 

 a little more than 4 lb. of green leaf to give I lb. of dry tea. 

 The cost of picking this leaf comes to 2^d per lli. of made tea. 

 The co.st of rolling and drying came to the same as thn 

 picking— total. 4|d per lb. of manufactured tea. Had 

 women only beeii employed to pick, the cost would have 

 lieen reduced by •Jd per lb. Had I possessed a rolling mill 

 mid drying furnace, it would have been reduceil Ijd more. 

 Thus, with a Ircpiate apiiliances the cost will lie consider- 

 ably lessened ; .say picking and making to 3d per lb. ; how- 

 ever, under present circumstances, a cost of 4|d per lb. 

 The culture of land will not under any circumstances be 

 over £5 l>er acre per annum (it should be considerably 

 less). This includes weeding, cultivating, manuring, prun- 

 iu"^ and cartage of manure, tools. &^.. which, allowing StiO 

 lb' of tea per acre (when five years old aud above), will give 

 lid per lb. for the annual growth of the tea — total, Cd per 

 11). This will not include interest on capital and personal 

 expenses. 



" From the foregoing, those interested can draw their own 

 conclusions, ily oi)inion is that an enterjirize is before the 

 coloMV well adopted to the requirements of those possessing 

 but small capital, from £oW and upwards. Especially is 

 this tha case v.UeB ten ov twelve can gro-.v for a central 



factory. The advantages are such that proper appliances 

 erected in a convenient position to receive the leaf as iiicked, 

 from a radius of three miles, could manufacture tea of 

 more even and reliable quality than can be done by several 

 individual makers. In India, estate belonging to large Com- 

 panies have from 3t)i'> to 2,000 acres to pick over. Here the 

 individual ow^ler of from It) to 50 acres of tea can bring 

 such to a position of bearing pow'er which no large concern 

 can possibly do, and consequently, by merely picking leaf 

 and selling it at once, a large amoimt of trouble is avoided . 

 Indeeil, I should be very glad to know that ten or a dozen 

 people were disposed to settle down in this neighbourhood 

 for the purpose of tea-planting. I am quite prepared to 

 purchase their leaf iu the green state, and give, until ex- 

 port becomes a necessity, not less than 3d per pound for 

 the leaf direct from the tree, and afterwards a price based 

 upon the result iu the English market. Will tea-growing 

 be remunerative to grow in the Midlands? I see no reason 

 why it should not, but I do not beheve the yield of leaf 

 will equal that obtained on the Coast. Until someone fairly 

 settles the question by trial, we must rel}' on facts obtained. 



" The importance of this matter, in a social, pohticaland 

 commercial sense, is my a]iology for thus intruding upon 

 the columns of the colonial papers. 



" Kearnsey Tea Plantation. March. 1886." 

 — Home ami Cuhniial JlaiL 



ON AGRICULTUEAJ. EXPEEIMENTS. 



BY DB. JOHN- n. PAGE. 



The importai^ce of accurate experiments in ag:riculturc 

 cannot be over-estimated, and it is a subject which is 

 attracting a great deal of attention in all agricultural and 

 scientific circles at the present time. 



Having had some experience in conducting agricidtural 

 experiments. I am free to state that the difficulties at- 

 tending them are far greater than they are commonly 

 supposed to be. The factors which enter into the subject 

 are numerous and intricate. In ' the first place, the mere 

 observation and record of the facts involved, from day to 

 day, is difficult, while the analysis and collation of all the 

 facts accumulated, so as to be formulated into principles, 

 requires a trained intellect. In the second place, it is diffic- 

 ult to find land of uniform quality and to make experiments 

 of general application, from the fact that soils differ, clim- 

 atic influences vary, and seasons are unlike, while it is 

 still more difficult to estimate the extent to which these 

 influences operate as factors in producing given resvdts. 



Great stress is laid now-a-days on the importance of teach- 

 mg students the art of conducting experiments. I agree 

 ^^■ith Professor AVhite, of Perdue University. Indiana, "that ex- 

 periments should have a prominent place in agi-icultnral 

 instruction, but that they should be taught as a means of 

 ini'estifffiiioii and traiiuitf/.^' It should be borne in mind 

 that experimental farming and practical farming are very 

 different processes. Experiment, like experience, is a dear 

 school, and experimental farming is no exception. Com- 

 mon sense and a thorough scientific training are necessary, 

 as a means of preparation, for experiment in agriculture, 

 in order to reach valuable results of general application. 

 To insure this, the soils, plants, animal implements and 

 plots of an experimental farm should be made as much 

 a part and parcel of the " tcachi/it/ aid:y " as are the black- 

 boards, diagrams aud microscope in the lecture-room. A 

 common and very faulty idea exists in the minds of many 

 farmers, that scieuce is an cntiti/. that it can create ami 

 make anew, aud in this way they expect too nuich from 

 its teachings. They fail to realize the common .sense idea 

 that science can accomplish iwtJt'hh/ of itself : an idea well 

 expressed by Dr. Oliver 'Weudell Holmes, in regard to the 

 science and practice of medicine, when he said : — •• .Science 

 is a first-rate piece of funiititre for a man's upper cham- 

 ber, if he has common sense on the ground floor. I-Jnt. if 

 a man hasn 't got a plenty of good common sen.se. the 

 more science he has. the worse for the patient." This is 

 especially true in reganl to the experimenters iu agri- 

 cidture. It must be admitted, that howe\cr much help we 

 may get from the applieil sciences as contributions to our 

 social life, their help to our agriculture mil never cause a 

 revolutionary change. For. after all that we can do to the 

 soil by the' addition of the best manures which expeii- 

 ujsutsi researcli aud the knowledge of the chemist can 



