i86 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[Septemder I, i883> 



imports of ludiau tea had gone up from 671,000 1b. 

 in the Exhibition year, when the attack on the China 

 monopoly was liist made in force, to over 2^ mil- 

 lions of pounds ill 1SS2S3. Of all this tea only 

 220,000 lb. have been exported, and tliere was no 

 stock in lirst hi^nds. Indian tea, therefore, whicli now 

 constitutes one-third of the tea consumption of Eng- 

 land, is alrealy up to one-tenth of that of Austra- 

 lia and the process will he onwards, there and in 

 America. 



THROUGH THE TEA DISTRICTS OF 

 NORTH INDIA : No II. 



(Bij a Geyloi Planter.) 



T'l'jpore, Assam. 

 From Dhubri onwards np the river the country 

 maintains the same character as l>rIow until the 

 nei"hhourhood of Oowhatty is reached ; long stretches 

 of grass land, liable to floods, and at certain times 

 forming the bed of the river wlien it changes its 

 channel, a by no means nnconmion occurrence. All 

 this country is very wild and abounds with game 

 of all kinds ; rhinoceros, elephants, buffalo, tiger, 

 etc. , are said to be very plentiful. Immediately op- 

 posite Dhubri lie the Garrow hills, where Sander- 

 son's elephant-catching establishment is, and it is 

 from here that the Orovernment supply of these 

 animals is maintained. At Dhubri several passengers 

 who had come np direct from Calcutta joined • the 

 steamer, having been kept waiting for two days at 

 the former place in cousc(iuence of the slowniess 

 of the steamer, which was several days late. At 

 Gowhatty, which by the way is an exceedingly pretty 

 but very Ifot and unhealthy place, the first tea gard- 

 ens in Assam are to be seen, and they are not very 

 good it must he admitted. As the steamer stopped 

 here some time to deliver macliinery, I had an op. 

 portunity of visiling gardens in the neighbourliood, of 

 which 1 availed myself. Much of the tea land in 

 this district is " teelah, " on slopes which in Assam 

 are considered steep. In Ceylon we should look on 

 it as gently uudiUating merely, we have nothing 

 similar to the flats in Assam a little higher on the 

 river. The slopes are entirely undraiued, and in 

 consequence are seamed by wash, as might be ex- 

 pected ; terracing does not appear to havn been at 

 all largely practised. In Cachar if was thought for 

 many years that tea would not grow on the flats, 

 and gardens were mostly formed O'l " teelah " land. 

 Terracing on such land has been largely gone in for 

 of late 3 ears, but the Ceylon system of draining 

 does not seem to have found favor. The difficulties 

 in the way of following our system of cultivation are 

 not ohvious till one realizes the pLCuliarities of the 

 Indian climate, and the stjle of work which it 

 necessitates. The tea g.ardens in Assam are all in 

 a normal condition of weeds which would not be 

 tolerated in Cevlon for a day. Much of the land 

 that is opened is grass jungle, full of a flowering 

 grass very similar to our " ilook' : to eradicate 

 this in such a forcing climate would be exceedingly 

 difficult and expensive, if not impracticable. Again, 

 in these Latitudes lliere is a period of dry "cold 

 weather, a mdd form of winter in fact, during 

 which the growth of all vegetation is more or less 

 arrested, and when the ground becomes thoroughly 

 hard and ciked, and impenetrable to the early rains of 

 the spring. This condition of the soil neco.ssitutes 



deep holing, and in Bome large concurns the experi- 

 ment of regular systematic ploughiug is being tried. 

 This dislurbiuce of the soil makes it very desirable 

 that the laud be flat, or, if on a slope, that some 

 form of terracing be accomplished, whilst it would 

 seriously alloct the stability of catch-water drains 

 cut across the hill side. It is quite o'n'ious to any- 

 one who sees the country for himself that tlie system 

 of hoeing the soil and so keeping the weeds" from 

 choking out the cult'vated plant is the only practicable 

 form of cultivation. On flat land thia system presents no 

 difiiculty whatever; on slopes some form of terracing 

 is neces.sary to prevent serious loss of soil, and the 

 expense of this is a great drawback, and is one chief 

 reason of the present universal planting of flat land 

 only, to the exclusion of anything approaching to a 

 steep face. It is dithcult to believe that the hoeing 

 of the soil does much positive good, as some planters 

 here affirm : it seems more ])robable that the benelit 

 is mostly of a negative kind, the obviating of the 

 caking tU'ect of tlio cold season on tlie surface. Tlie 

 depth hotd is generally from y inches to a foot, and 

 this portion of the soil being constantly disturbed 

 (it is turned over every 3 or 4 weeks during the 

 rains) cannot afford much nourishment to the roots. 

 On the other hand, nothing in the shape of weeds 

 is removed from the land, and the soil receives a 

 cjustaut supply of rotten vegetable matter grown on 

 its surf.ice, and which must fertilize the undisturbed 

 soil in which the plant feeds. The suitabilitj' of this 

 system to the circumstances under which tea is grown 

 in Assam is no argument in favour of its adoption 

 in Ceylon, and most planters with whom I discussed 

 the matter wished that it were practicable for tliem 

 to keep their land clean without disturbance of the 

 soil, as we do. It is also no small consideration 

 that the cost of these constant hoeings is treble at 

 le.ast the cost of weeding clean land in spite of the 

 length of time in the cold weather when the growth 

 of weeds anil tens is alike at a standstill. It would 

 appear prob .ble that at one time the whole of Assam, 

 from the spurs of the Himalaya on the north to 

 the Naga and other hills ou the south, was a vast 

 inland sea. The soil is mostly a stiff loam, very 

 rich and fertile for 10 feet, more or less, and below 

 this a very deep and imiieuetrable stratum of sand 

 and waterworn gravel. From the foot of the hills 

 extensive banks of almost absolutely flat land extend 

 towards the river, and lietween these banks lie stretches 

 of swampy grass land liable to inundation, and which 

 the natives cultivate with paddy. This is the char- 

 acter of the land higher up the river, the neighbour- 

 hood of Gowhatty being more hilly, and probably an 

 oldi r geological formation. Towards Tejpore the tea 

 gardens improve greatly in appearance ami yield, and 

 are formed solely on flat laud. These banks of land 

 are generally intersected by numerous deep gullies, 

 which carry oft' the drainage water, and which are 

 always allowed to remain in jungle, as they are liable 

 to be flooded. In many cases the land is so flat that 

 it is very difflcult to cut outlet draius, and sometimes 

 these have to be made ten or more feet deep to 

 carry the water off into the nearest natural ravine. 

 There is a most remarkable absence of stones and 

 rocks all over the country, stone masonry aud metalled 

 roads are therefore almost unknown, at least I came 

 across none. The roads are, on the whole, very good, 

 and much better than oue is led to expect. They 

 are, of course, very much cut up during the rains, 

 and very muddy, being made of earth oidy with no 

 foundation, but the horses which are never shod are 

 accustomed to them, and .riiling is very quiet and easy. 

 From all accounts Assam in the cold weather must 

 be a very jjleasant place : the fishing aud shoot- 

 ing are both good then, and there is liltle 

 work to be done on the gardens but pinning, so that 



