7^4 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[April i, 1884. 



these are too numerous to detail, but TPoe betide the de- 

 linquent, or the poacher upon the vruic preserves, for 

 fines, never under five pounds, and mounting to as many 

 as fifty, await hhn. Until, therefore, la'handoit dii I'tirech, 

 as the law styles it. is announced publicly and legally, touch 

 it, we repeat, who dare ! And even when the permitted 

 harvest is going on, there are many salutary i-estrictions 

 as to precedence, proprietary, seignorial and parochial rights 

 to be reUgiously complied with before the general oi-polloi 

 swoop, and disposal can be made. This cutting and gather- 

 ing is a very picturesque scene, and is worth a word of 

 outline. At low spring-tide the reapers may be seen by 

 scores, a mUe or two from the seaboard, cutting and shear- 

 ing where the crops are heaviest. Carts having been dragged 

 through sand and slush sod, over low roofs, by pools and 

 other impediments to these bu.sy spots, and loaded — loaded 

 to the utmost of horse-power — return in long strings of 

 Indian file to the shore, thence to different farms, the 

 water streaming from the dripping aJg». This vraic will 

 sell for 10s. and more per load of over 1 ton, whereas the 

 drift vraic may be bought at from 2s upwards, according 

 to the distance it is carted from the shore. 



The vraic scii of the spring cutting now going on ia 

 generally applied wet as it is to all grass and pasture 

 lands, and left untouched to decompose and soak in. It 

 seems in this condition to render the grass crisp, tender, 

 and highly palatable to cattle. The weeds of the summer 

 -cuttings in July and August become available for roots 

 and again for herbage. 



The ckirt wrack— rjviic venant, gathered just now and a 

 little while back— is ploughed deeply into the fields for 

 Potato crops and general gardening purposes ; later in the 

 season, say after April and mitil August, it will be collected, 

 every scrap of it, by cottagers along the shores, dried, 

 stacked, burnt as fuel, and the ash sold to the farmers as 

 a top-dressing for corn lands. 

 _ It will take from 10 to 12 tons of vraic to fertilise as 

 richly as the Jerseyman does fertilise an acre of his cver- 

 being-utilised ground, but besides vraic some small propor- 

 tions of artificial m.anures will be required to produce the 

 heavy crops he habitually calls upon bis laud to brmg forth. 



It is said that, excepting the Faroe Isliinds, seaweeds 

 are more extensively used in .Jersey th.an in any other 

 part of the world for agricultural purposes.— H. L. 0.— Gard- 

 eners^ Chronicle. 



BRAZILIAN COFFEE. 



The continued improvement in market value of this 

 article is a feature not to be overlooked, as it shows 

 a steady increase of consumption in those countries 

 ■where Brazil ootFee is most appreciated, namely, the 

 Un,t>d States and the Continent of Europe, and that 

 the Rio coffee exhibitions held on the spot and in 

 England have not been without a result in making 

 the article bett;r known and appreciated. It was 

 thought at one time that the large production of 

 coffee over the world would go on increasing, and 

 JMexican production brought fi rward as a bugbear where- 

 with to frighten Brazilian growers, but like most other 

 Mexican predictions this one has proved to be delusive, 

 nor has there been auy notable iucrpase elsewhere. 



The fact is that few countries are so well adapted 

 to coflfpegrowing as Brazil, with its table lands, or 

 command so large an area of suitable territory for 

 growing it, and ibis, combined with railway f^ic'litii.s 

 on a lai-ge scale which are now being carried out, 

 must greatly facilitate the transportation of coffee to 

 the ports of shipment, as well as open out new dis- 

 tricts for its culture. It is one of those cases where 

 (unlike sugar) msclianicil means are not required (but 

 simply growing and picking, the latter process a com- 

 paratively ensy oi e as sljowa in our last num'itr by 

 tie exirarrd nary result of the workiug of eleven 

 families with free labour on the Santa Clara estate 

 near Rio de .Janeiro. 



The improved coudition of Br-izilisn coffee is all 

 the more satisfactory as it has come about by natural 

 means, and not caused by any speculative movene it. 

 It will tend to inspire planters with coolideuce, and 



mateiially benefit their financial position, .at the same 

 titne there is no rea-on why other agricultural pur- 

 suits should not be resorted to, particularly as re- 

 gards the food supply of the Empire, a subj ct to 

 which we have frequently drawn attention. -.SoH^A 

 American Journal, 



[A representation much too coiileur de rosf. The 

 planters are not only suffering from the production, 

 but the abolition of daviry hangs like the sword 

 of Damocles over them— Eu.] 



DARJEELING. 



I am sorry to hear that fever is very rife amongst 

 the tea planters on the Western Dooars just now. 

 Many have had to go to sea, while most have been 

 more or less prostrated. Cholera has made its un- 

 welcome appearance in the Terai, and there have 

 been dropping cases of emall-pox in the neighbour- 

 hood of Kurseong. 



We had a smart fall of snow here on Friday after- 

 noon, and the weather has been decid dly raw and 

 unplaesant ever since. It ia admitted on all sirles 

 that this is the most severe winter we have had in 

 Darjeeling for years past. There have been an un- 

 usually large number of changes in the managtment 

 of tea gardens in the district this year— chiefly in the 

 Terai and Western Dooars. It is satisfactory to be 

 able to say that the past tea manufaoturins; season 

 in this district was pecuniarily a very successful one, 

 as prices ruled high all round, and thus the fall off 

 in quantity was more than made up for by encbanced 

 prices. It is early in the day to speculate as to 

 the prospects of next season, as so much depends 

 on the weather. One thing is certain, and that is, 

 should war break out between France and China, 

 the result must be a very considerable advance in the 

 price of Indian teas, and especially of Darjeeling. 

 Pruning is well in hand throughout the hill purtion 

 of the district, and it seem to me that even more 

 than ordinary care has been taken in carrying on 

 very important operation. Male labor is still very 

 scarce owing to the embargo put on its subjects by 

 the Nepaulese Government, but as usual, there are 

 any amount of women and children available for 

 work in the hill. 



The Dooars' gardens and many of those in the 

 Terai are very badly off indeed as regards labor, es- 

 pecially the former. It remains to be seen whether 

 it will be possible to keep the enormous tracts of lands 

 put out under tea in the Dooars within the last 

 twelve months clear of jungle during next rains. 

 Most people doubt it. It has now been conclusively 

 proved that even with the aid of machinery it is im- 

 possible to work a tea garden at a profit, unless there 

 is an adequate supply of labor for outdoor work, and 

 I tliink I am well within the mark when I say that 

 it pays better in the long run to keep an average of 

 one and-a-lialf coolie (or ought it to be coolies) for 

 each acre of cultivaiion. I have heard no complaints 

 of red spider this year so far. 



Mr. Christison, the General Manager of the Lebong 

 Tea Company, returned to Darjeeling a few days ago 

 after a well deserved holiday trip round the world, 

 and yesterday (14th Feb. ) Mr. Curtis, Manager of the 

 Tukvar Company, left Darjeeling on nine months' 

 leave. — Indigo and Tea Planters' Oaxette. 



Te.\ in Bengal. — The area imder tea during the year 

 18S2-S3 increased from 42,217 to 48,092, the number of sep.-ir- 

 ate gardens at the same time riiring from 271 to 300. The 

 total approximate yield of the ]5engal Province was 11,170,504 

 pounds, of which nearly ten millions came from Darjeeling 

 and Julpigoree, and the bulk of the remainder from Lohar- 

 dugga. The average outturn in pounds per acre of matured 

 plants was in DarjeeUug 302, Julpigoree 390, Chittagong 322, 

 and Lohardugga 170.— Indigo aiid Tea Planters' Gasette, 



