X20 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[November i, 1S83. 



MB H.VY ON THE TEA ENTERPRISE IN 

 CEYLON. 



Marc Antony prefaced a speecli wliicli moved liis 

 liearers to a " sudden flow of mutiny," by declar- 

 ing, "I am no orator, as Brutus is." And so Mr. 

 Hay deprecates the idea that he p(^sesscs the strength 

 of stylo of an Armstrong or the fullness and facility 

 of an Owen. He has just given iii plain words his 

 dcas of pruning and plucking, and they will be 

 none the less valued if the graces of style are, a« 

 Mr. Hay modestly supposes, absent. Mr. Hay was 

 unfortunate in being oouipelled by illness to leave 

 the island for a time, just at the period when a 

 considerable number of estates were arriving at the 

 bearing stage, aud the late Jlr. Cameron was cor- 

 respondingly fortunate in the time of his arrival. 

 There can be no question that — whatever his anteced- 

 ents or his system may have been — Mr. Cameron 

 gave a new and brightly cheerful aspect to the tea 

 enterprize iu Ceylon aud the prospects of those eu- 

 w.iged in it. We can only regret that he is not here 

 to speak for himself, as Messrs. Armstrong, Owen 

 and Hay follow each otlier in more or less caustic 

 criticism of what they deem his over-severe system 

 (jf pruning aud plucking. '1 here are a good many ' 

 tea planters who consider such criticism as ultra rircs 

 (spelling the second word with a u instead of an e,) 

 and who pass it by as a digi'cssion or parenthesis, 

 in matter which would remain very valuable were the 

 surplusage deleted. As fur as Mr. Hay is concerned, 

 he did good service to the tea enterprize before the 

 advent of Mr. Cameron, aud long may he be spared 

 to point to other estates besides those he names, as 

 strong proofs of the good effects of the Hay system 

 of harvesting tea. Due value will be attached and 

 careful attention will be paid to Wr. Hay's weighty 

 words on plucking aud pruning; but we suspect that 

 more sensational than any figures of speech which 

 the tea expert could have used, even if he had re- 

 sorted to tiie Mandarin dialect of the Cliinese lau- 

 guage, will be the ufl'eet of the bare arithmetical figures 

 he gives to indicate the cost of openuig 250 acres 

 of tea land in Ceylon. Instead of the exodus we 

 have been lamenting, we may look fur an immigrat- 

 ing rusli, especially of Indian tea-planters. They will 

 open their mouths as well as their eyes at the state- 

 ment that for a net cost of Fi271 per acre, the 

 area of land named can in Ceylon be brought into 

 bearing in its third year, fully planted, quite clean 

 and perfectly pruned ; supplied Mith a tea house 

 costing liS.OlO ; a water wheel at Rl,500 ; an " Ex- 

 celsior " Jackson's roller at Rl,690 and a Kinmond's 

 Dryer at K'2,S(J0, besides extra pulleys belting, &c. 

 JBut their amazement will reach a climax when told 

 that in tlie fourth year the estate will yield bO,COO lb. 

 ot tea (320 lb. per acre,) which valued at (iO cents 

 Ceylon currency, (less than 9 annas per lb.) will 

 I'talize l!4S,0i;0 and leave a profit ol I!21,C45 on 

 tlie year's worldng. At tliis rate of progress and 

 calculating on 400 lb. per acre in the fifth year, 

 tiiat year would see all capital and interest reim- 

 bursed, an estate free of encnmbranee and money to 

 the good The natural feeling will le " Too good 

 to be true!" Mr. Hay, however, with his credit 

 as a tea planter at stake iis.scrts that he has gone 

 into no extremes ; aud judging by what has already 

 been done in t eylou, while hoping that tta may be 

 spared any similar attack of bliglit to that which 

 (only temporarily, we hope,) dethroned coffee, there 

 w-cuis no ground for impeacliing Jlr. Hay's sanguine 

 jiud cheering estimate, U' /lenn'eia castntrix has cUs- 



covered coffee, the Ceylon planters ha\'e discovered 

 tea, and there is good reason for hoping that we 

 are now experiencing the first effects of that tide 

 which taken at the flood will bear the colony on to 

 renewed fortune. There is, of course, a reverse side 

 to the picture as to all others. Well let us have 

 both sides fully before us ; weigh all the evidence 

 ■pro aud con and see how the index points. At pre- 

 sent it seems to stand steadily at "tea and pro- 

 sperity." 



MR. C. A. HAY ON THH TEA PLANTING 

 ENTERPRISE IN CEYLON. 

 Showing how a 250 acres tea estate, fitted with all 

 necessary machinery and appliances, can be brought 

 into bearing in the third year at a net cost or 

 e217 per acre, m'hii.e giving a profit of k21,000 in 

 the fourth year ; showing also how the tea should 

 be pruned and plucked. 

 Dear Sir, — I have read with much pleasure both Mr. 

 Armstoug's aud ]\[r. Owen's papers ou tea, and in nearly 

 all that has Ijeeu written I agree with both gentlemen 

 except with regard to pruning. 



Mr. Armstrong considers that at first pruning (or topping 

 as it is called in the island) tlie bu.shes should be cut 

 across at 3 feet, as it is from tliis height that they begin 

 to form themselves, and the wood Iielow to thicken; at the 

 next ]jruuiog where 2 or 3 inches new wood is left the 

 Inishcs.are too high to be plucked properly ))y small chil- 

 dren, and thus get damaged by their pulling down the shoots 

 and, when uualile to get at the ilu.sb, push their way into the 

 centre and break off tlie delicate lateral branches. 



The .system I have always carried out has been (both 

 in India and Ceylon) to equalize the wliole of the young 

 tea at 1.5 or 18 months old to IS inches, and I have then 

 left them uu*il the eud of the 2nd year (of course if the 

 uew growtli is very vigorous a little leaf can be plucked a 

 month or fo before the second pruning) ; by doing this 

 the uj)«ard tendency of the growth is checked, aud the 

 side branches begin to expand ; also from every single st«m 

 cut, from two to three uew shoots will grow, aud thus 

 form a good plucking .surface. As the bushes can only 

 grow in IJie width of half the space they are planted in, let it 

 be 5\<i, ii'.i, or -I n 3 ; it stands to reason that if they 

 are 2, 3 or 4 feel high they liavc just the same actual 

 space to grow in, thcu why have Iiushcs formed at such 

 a height that they cannot he properly plucked by children 

 of whom there are so many on estates, and who generally 

 bring iu quite as much leaf as the women ? 



At the scond pruning I would ag.aiu cut straight across 

 the bush leaving at least 4 inches oi uew wood. I 

 would carefully clean out all whip wood, bangy [hard] 

 growths ou the stems, aud cross growths, and cut 

 back close to the stem any branches inclined to trail 

 ou the ground. I would on no account cut back any of 

 the lateral branches, but let them grow unchecked until 

 they are the same height as the shoots first plucked after 

 this pruning. 



At the third pruning I would recommend n? particular 

 height but take the bushes at their widest part aud cut 

 these ; the cooly has only to cast his eye at the outside 

 of the bush he is going to prune, and, hiving found out 

 the spot, he should first of all cut out tlie centre branches, 

 then, always cutting towards him, go round tlie hush until 

 he has got it to look flat, anl then he should cut out 

 as on other occasions ail whip wood, baugy growth and 

 cross growths, letting the centre be if anything more ex- 

 posed than the oatside. Should there be any white W( 0.1 

 he ought \o cut this out nearly down to the stem or 

 branch from which it springs ; 'then a uew shoot will 

 grow, and, when up to the height at which pluckiug has 

 begun, can be checked ; but ou no account should aujr 

 flush be taken that is not above the pohit at which prun- 

 ing has been carried out ; by doiug the work in this way 

 the bushes need not he cut down until they become too 

 high aud will keep free from crows' feet. 



Ou commencing plucking m the 3rd year I would give tho 

 coolies sticks of the desired height to pluck at, so that 

 Uicy coul(| uuikc uo mistake ; the hushes hayiug boeu pfuued 



