376 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[November i, 1883. 



planterp, and care taken to hare as few trifling 

 shades of quality as possible, the expensive and 

 troublesome process of bulking in the home bonded 

 warehouses would immediately be abandoned, and a 

 considerable percentage would drop from the charges, 



PRACTICAL TEA CULTIVATION. 



VVindblowuridge Estate, 6th Oct. 1883. 

 Dear Mr. Editor, — Whilst so much correspondence 

 as to treatment of tea is going on, perhaps j'ou may 

 have noticL-d that not one out of our three public 

 tea-men have toucbbd on the following point in their 

 addresses : — After pruning, either from leaviuij too tine 

 ■woiid or from raw cold winds, the tea trees throw out 

 their new shoots, containing only two and sometimes 

 three leaves in both iiistauces, the end one being 

 bangy, and then the shoot or flush seems to stop. Would 

 you kindly tell me with your expL-rience if one leaf 

 should be plucked and then the new flush be allowed 

 to grow some six inches or so before again pluck- 

 ing, or should the b.uigy be left ? and in that case, 

 the tiees being insuffic:eutly clothed with foliage, 

 would they with their rising sap push forth the 

 b.TUov flush, or would it remain stationary '! — Yimra 

 truly, BEGINNER. 



THE GERMINATION OF TFA SEED. 



12th October 1883. 



Dear Sir,— As great quantities of Indian tea seed will 

 be shortly imported to the island, any method of secur- 

 ing .a large proportion of germed seeds will perhaps be 

 appreciated. The one described below gives good results, 

 it' carefully tried. Ou opening the imported cases germed 

 seeds are often found, and, if far tadvanced in growtn, 

 careful treatment is required in septiratiiig them from the 

 "mass of entangled rootlets, and special attention inputting 

 them down in the beds to secure a straight taproot. 

 The soil of the beds for these should be a little 

 stitf and firm, or the result wiU be seedlings and 

 plants with long and slender tap roots of an incon- 

 venient length to plant out. The ungermed seeds in 

 the case should be simply aired in an open room or shed 

 for a few hoiurs before being put into the germing beds. 

 In making these beds, select an open dry and flat plot 

 of ground where the soil is firm, or, if not, it should be 

 well stamped ' and hardened ; measure out a strip of 3 

 feet in width by 10 feet or more in length. Remove the 

 soil within this space to a depth of 8 to 10 iuches, tak- 

 ing care that the sides of the shallow pit or sunk beds 

 are perpendicular and well battened to prevent them 

 sliding or falling in. See that the bottom of the pit is 

 level and hard. Then sprinkle a layer quarter; an inch 

 thick of old' lime (coral lime is the best),* .and then a 

 layer of fine dry grass or straw or mana (stalkless). Then 

 place a layer of two inches of the compost prepared as 

 per direction below, then alternately a layer of seeds and 

 an inch of compost, the last layer being of the latter and 

 lit least two incdies in thickness. The seeds should be 

 laid close, but not touching each other. AVater the whole, 

 snfiiciently to damp but not to drench the bed. 



Put up over the bed a light low shed with a double 

 roof or covering — portable one preferable. Dr lin two feet 

 off the bed on all sides to carry oft in wcit weather the 

 wash from the roof and to prevent the bed being tlushed 

 or made excessively damp. At the end of the first week, 

 cover the bed in the evenings with damp mats or gun- 

 nies; after watering the beds slightly if it is needed. Ee- 

 move the gunnies or mats every morning. The heat 



* 1 read an extract in a recent number of youi' journal 

 advising the use of Ume to germinate S-'cds — probably by 

 mixbu; it with soil is meant. If so, the quantity used must 

 ■fac veiy, very small, and that of very old lime. I would 

 not, however, run the risk of losing seed by mixing it 

 with soil or compost for seed. Th "! us e of it as advised 

 by me is to generate heat, and keep off sour di^mp, also 

 as a partial preveutitive against wire and other earth 

 Mornis coming up and tlisturbiug and sometimes injuring 

 (be compost and seed. 



emanating from the soil at night is pecidiarly necessary 

 to secure successful germination of all seeds, and 

 the soil should be damp but friable. The best 

 mix ture or compost for the beds is made up of one of old 

 (or, if new, well washed) coir refuse 3 baskets ; oi friable 

 soil (or, in heu, stiiT soil and mould mixed) 2 baskets ; 

 clean sand, not too fine, 1 basket. Where the coir refuse 

 cannot be got, then use fine paddy husk, or old sawdust. 

 After the tliii'd week, gently remove a strip of the compost 

 and seeds along the width of the bed, taking care not to 

 distui'b the lime and straw-covering over the lime. Then 

 proceed with small sticks to loosen gently the mass, pick- 

 ing out the germed seeds. These should at once he put in 

 shaded beds timelj' prepared. The ungermed seeds must 

 be removed and replaced as before. The process of re- 

 moving can be repeated weekly in dry weather and eveiy 

 day in wet weather till the eighth, week, when the balance of 

 ungermed seed can be tested in the following way. Put 

 these into tub a of water for half-au-hour, and those that 

 sink can be tried again, being allowed to remain for about 

 two weeks or more in the germing bed. By the use of 

 a portable roof, in case of very wet weather especially in 

 high elevatious, the beds can be occassionally exposed to 

 the sun. W. PKOWETT FERDINANDS. 



CEARA RUBBER EXPERIMENTS. 



Peradeniya, 13th Oct., 1883. 

 Dear Sir,— Kindly give in an early iesue my most 

 emphatic denial that the sample sent to you was 

 m.aunfactured s'uft' from Europe. It is pure CearA 

 rubber taken from trees on Peradeniya estate and 

 treated by a new process. If I have got so near the 

 niinufactured article as to deceive the savants of 

 Colombo, 1 am pleased with the result. I have taken 

 your" tip" about the smoking process, but have improved 

 upon it, and that was the first sample. Another ex- 

 periment was made j'esterday with the same process, 

 with, I think, even better results. — Your faithfully, 



H. A. GILLIAT. 



COFFEE FUNGUS : MESSRS. STORCK AND 

 SCHROTTKY AND THEIR CARBOLIC CURE. 

 CUverton, Dikoya, l.?th Oct. 18S.3. 



Dear Sib, — I see by your paper of the 10th instant, 

 that Mr. Storck "begs to differ" with the gentlemen 

 who siijned the report on the carbolic experiments on 

 Claverton. and I therefore venture to offer a few 

 comments on his letter which may or mny not throw 

 light on the mutter, according as people are disposed 

 to consider the carbolic treatment seriously or to 

 regard it as moonshine. When Mr. Storck cavils at 

 our statement that "the apparent results of the 

 experiments must still be very much matter of opinion," 

 he appears to overlook the fact that the report was 

 the work of a coaimittee. On the files of the 

 Association are Eve more oi' less lengthy reports from 

 individual members of that committee differing very 

 widely on more than one point, and I think, if Mr. 

 Storck had had the task stt him, which was given 

 me, of compnunding these diffeient views, that he 

 too would hjve arrived at the ccmc'usion that the results 

 of the experiments were very much a matter of opinion. 



The one point, however, on which we were all 

 unanimous was, that, as a practical cure to be recom- 

 mended to the struggling planter, the Schrot ky-cam- 

 Slorck sjstem fell short of our requirements. As 

 this opinion was arrived at on very various grounds, 

 I venture to give my own reasons for endorsing it. 

 I may say, to st.irt with, that I hive perfect f.aith in 

 the dusting process of Mr. Scbrottky as a 

 means of destroying the diseasespures in their 

 atmospheric stage, and that, given favourable wea- 

 ther, 1 believe that it does this so eflffctually 

 as to stamp out the disease for a very considerable 

 period. The inability of the fungus to again make 

 bead in the treated coflee, as compared with olher 



