jUKE 2, 1884,] 



IHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



927 



soils, the Ceara will not Btand with impunity such 

 droughts as we have had this year ! 



The inferiority of some badly cured samples of rubber 

 sent home for valuation has been ascribed by the 

 brokers to their having been taken from trees that 

 were too young, but this is clearly a mistake, because 

 well cured rubber from the same trees was valued at 

 the highest prices. (i. W. 



FORMING TEA PLANTS. 



Dear Sik, — There seems great . diversity of opinion 

 as to the proper time or stage at which young tea 

 should be first cut down to form the bushes. One 

 experienced tea planter, in the course of a lecture 

 which appt^ared in the Observer some time ago, men- 

 tioned, I think, that tea should be allowed to grow 

 to a height of six feet before cutting down, and not 

 a few cultivators seem to adopt this sjstem as a 

 sound one. As I consider the matter of great im- 

 portance, I shall be glad if you will allow me 

 space in the Observer for my own decided opinion 

 and to invite discussion. 



Anyone who has given attention to the habits 

 and growth of the tea plant must have observed 

 that the best sorts or greater proportion of them, 

 if allowed their own way, would send up one, two 

 or three stems as the case maj be, and, so long as 

 these are allowed to go on unchecked, few, if any, 

 side-shoots will grow out from below when they 

 are required to form the busb, and, even if a few 

 grow, they would he weakly and useless so long as 

 one or two stems are allowed to go ahead as lead- 

 ers. Some of the objections to allowing the tree 

 to grow to six feet are, there is the great waste 

 why grow them to six feet, then cut ofi' and throiv 

 away four feet of that ? Would not this extra heifiht 

 have been better added to the width which woiilil 

 have been simple enough. Another objection is, they 

 are much uiore apt to grow seed ; but, possibly, the 

 strongest objection is, the oppportunity is lost of 

 forming equal, well-balanced, well-shaped trees from 

 the liegiuumg, iustead of the spreading bush with the 

 shoots regular and as nearly as possibly the same 

 strength. The tree cut down after attaining a height 

 of six feet is but two or three thick stumps with all 

 its other shoots to grow and its breadth to make, is 

 unequal and is more difficult to keep in shape ever after. 



Tea-fields should be gone over with the knife when 

 only ten or eleven months old. All plants that are 

 only sending up two or three stems should be cut 

 down to eight or nine inches to make them send out 

 shoots all round. Any shoots running ahead of the 

 rest, especially centre shoots, should be cut lower than 

 the others. This will give an advantage to the outsides 

 which they require in forming the bushes. A little 

 attention in this way to form the young trees from the 

 beginning will be required more than once before the 

 final cutting down for Hushing, but will amply repay 

 the little cost. Some say it would be a check on 

 young plants ; such is nol the case, let us have your 

 own opinion. M. 



[Our "own opinion," not being that of a practical 

 tea planter, would not c.irry much weight, but it seems 

 to us that our correspondent has much reason ou his 

 side ; and we know, that, ou the property in which we 

 are personally interested, the superintendent tops 

 plants at and under eighteen months in the field, and 

 we believe he would never think of allowing a plant 

 to attain a height of six feet unless it were grown for 

 seed-bearing. — Ed.] 



TIMBEU FOR TEA-BOXES : CAJQAL REMARKS. 



15th May 1884. 

 Deae Sir, — Referring to a letter in your columns 

 suggesting the caju-tree a.s suitable timber for tea- 



boxes, a friend of mine remarked that the timber 

 might do well enough but that it is not a very 

 common tree in some districts — in fact, one only 

 comes across it ca^'tt-ally ! 



Happy thought : — To send this to the Observer as 

 my own joke. 



"Kekuna" is a common tree, and could be cheaply 

 sawn up ; do you know of any objections to it 

 on account of taint in the wood or other diawbacks ? 



AJJAK. 



[We do not know about the timber of the kekuna, 

 but, apart from the value of the trees as oil-yielders, they 

 enliven the scenery so much by their bright foliage that 

 we should be sorry to see them cut down. — Ed.] 



CAJU TIMBER FOR TEA-BOXES. 



Colombo, 21st May 1884. 



Dear Sir, — Referring to the letter ou " Timber 

 for Teaboxes: Cajual Remarks," permit me to inform 

 " Ajjak " that the caju tree is nut the rate thing he 

 supposes it to be. They could be had in abuud- 

 ance in almost any village in the Western Province, 

 where (and so I suppose in other coconut-growing dis- 

 tricts). It is customary to grow a caju between every 

 coconut plant for the sake of the shade. It is 

 besides such a hardy and quick-growing tree, that, 

 wherever care is not taken actually to root them out, 

 it will be found that caju forests form themselves 

 spontaneously. 



I have not bad the pleasure to see my first let- 

 ter in print and am therefore unaware that any re- 

 ply has been given in the way of footnote to 

 the question I raised as to whether caju timber 

 would be suitable for the iiurpose of packing tea, 

 Lead going ou the sides of course. This question 

 settled, I can promise "Ajjak" that he will find no 

 lack of caju timber. 



If required, I shall be glad to send you samples of 

 caju planking, fresh as well as dry. — Yours truly, 



X. Y. Z. 



[We should be glad to see a plank of the lim- 

 ber.— Ed.] 



INSECTS ON CACAO PL.iNTS. 



Orangegrove Estate, Polgabawela, 21st May 1884, 



Dear Sir, — I send to your address some iuseots I 

 found on my estate feeding on cacao plants. The 

 branches are denuded of leaves and the tender bark at 

 the tips of branches is stnpt ofT. 



There were about ten to twclveona tree, but on a few 

 trees only. 



I shall feel obliged to know what these are, and if 

 cacao planters are aware of the inroads of these insects. 

 —Yours laithfully, ED. D'SILVA. 



[The box sent contains a number of active little 

 insects maiked on the back like castor oil seeds. Our 

 entomological authority pronounces them to be weevils, 

 but he does not know the name — Ed.] 



WEEDING AND COFFEE CROPS. 



Del tola, 22nd May 1884. 



Sir, — In reply to Mr. Halliley, I beg to inform him 

 that 1 had charge of Bahatungoda from 18(54 to ISOO. The 

 estate was never a clean one, but I tried to keep down 

 the weeds by monthly weedings ; during the time of 

 my management (after the first year), the average crop 

 was about 5,000 bushels of parcbnient. 



Mr. E. H. Cameron took over charge from me ; he did 

 nut continue the monthly weedings, and he did not get 

 half the amount of crop. — Yours faithfully, 



W. A, HOWIE, 



