December i, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



38S 



put into Windsor Forest were about IS months old 

 and had both their branches cut down and their taiJroots 

 pruned, and all did well. 



5. What sized plants are best for planting in coffee 

 fields, in a clearing, and what for supplying? 



For my own part, I like a good strong healthy plant 

 of about 6 10 S inches with not too much green growth, 

 uu'ess it is going under the shade of coffee. A well- 

 hardened plant, red wood to the toj), stands best in the 

 open, and, if planting at an unseasonable time with no 

 allowance for shade, I think a small "Z-or 3-leaved one 

 stands the heat best. 



6. How many plants should a maund of seed give ? 

 Locally-grown seed, freshly picked and planted, 



has turned out 43,000 plants from two maunds. Seed 

 v.iries attd runs as high as 55,000 and as low as 

 10,000, the latter being very large. On an average I 

 have found obout 25,0 go to the maund. I can only 

 speak from my own knowledge, not having had time 

 to enquire elsewhere. I have planted an equal number 

 of seeds from a maund containing 55,000 and one 

 containing 12,000, and the plants from the 12,000 to 

 the maund came up best and were the stroni;est. 



Yield. — What will be the probable yield per acre of 

 tea planted in coffee land at 3,000, 4,000, 5,000 and 

 6,000 feet, up to six years old ? 



Judging from the way in which the bushes on 

 Abbotsford estate are flushing at an elevation of 5,600. 

 and from my owu personal experience after growing 

 on Windsor Forest in abandoned coffee land. I see 

 no reason to doubt that an] average yield of 400 lb. will 

 be got throughout the district, if the general quality 

 of the bushes is good. Of course, in the lower val- 

 leys, and on some of the highly manured lands, much 

 more wiU be got, but, judiciously worked, 400 lb. 

 per acre will be very remunerative. 



2. — What will be the probable yield of exposed 

 fields of laud previously worked as coffee, and, if steep, 

 will they in your opinion be profitable as tea fields? 

 Where the land is exposed, the bushes can be 

 planted closer, and the pruning carried out immedi- 

 ately after the burst of the S. W. is over or I 

 should say when the S. W'. is mell over. Unless the 

 weather is persistently raw, cohl and misty, and the 

 wind very fierce, the flush is not, retarded very much, 

 and, wlien the bushes are well-grown in their third 

 cr fourth year, they seem to stand the wind re- 

 .markably well, from the nature and aspect of the 

 land. So the pruning can be carried out facing 

 the N. E. first and S. W. last. I have not noticed 

 in my wanderings through your district any land 

 too steep, if tlie parts pointed out to me by Mr. 

 Tall)0t are the steepest. There need be no fear of 

 planting up such land and working it profitably. On 

 very steep land, I consider it a mistake to plant tea, 

 as the coolies are so constantly going over the ground 

 about three times a month all the year round. The 

 soil, if cultivated, is in danger of all being pushed 

 into the drains, and worst of all, in moving about 

 from tree to tree, the women tear down the branchea 

 by catching hold of them, to save themselves from 

 '■ falling. 



3. — What rainfall is requisite for successful tea 

 cultivation ? 



I do not think that there is any danger of this 

 being too little in this district, and, from all 1 have 

 seen, theie is not too much. I did not feel .iny 

 great inconvenience from the 230 to 250 inches which 

 fell on Windsor Forest, and I don't suppose you 

 Buffer from more than that amount up here. For my 

 own part, I would like the fir.=t drop to fall as the 

 last basket of loaf .ras weighed in, and before the 

 last tomtom had been beat in the morning, then 

 throughout the day hot steamy atmosphere. 



4. — Will soils with limestone grow tea and give" 

 a good yield ? 



This I cannot answer, and must leave it to someone 

 else. I know that lime in nursery beds is death to 

 tea seed and young plants. Why it should be I 

 cannot say, but this is quite different to limestone in 

 the soil. 



Cost of Production.— So much has been written by 

 Mr. Armstrong, and in'such an able way, that I need 

 not say anything, upon cost o mauufacturingby hand 

 verms machinery, except with regard to plucking. 

 I consider an average of 16 lb. per cooly throughout 

 the year as much as one can expect at all events, 

 until the Itibor force of the country has became more 

 accustomed to this work. I am informed by ilr. 

 Hughes of Gallebodde that a saving of 5J cents 

 per lb. is effected iu this way. Hamlworh roUinrj 

 at 361b. per man ... ... 4c. per lb. tea. 



Watching and withering at RIO per 

 month on say 25,000 lb. tea is ... J ,, ^^ 



Drying, cost of charcoal and labour 2J ,, ,, 



7o. ,, 

 Machine rolling, withering, cutting 

 firewood (firewood being close) ... IJ „ ,^ 



Saving... ... 5ic ,, ,, 



In spite of drying by machinery, I think it necessary 

 to have a small supply of charcoal handy iu case 

 of anything going wrong. Certainly the Jackson's and 

 Siroecoi _do not soon get out of order. Still, it is 

 best being prepared. Charcoal is also useful for 

 getting up heat for withering in parts of the store 

 not influenced by the ,heat of the drier and for 

 soldering iho linings of chests. 



III.— What are the relative quantities per 100 1b. 

 of tea, of wood, coke and coal for firing ? 



Very much depends, iu drung tea over char- 

 coal, where your furnaces are built, how the char- 

 coal burns in them, and the quality of the charcoal. 

 I find that it generally takes from 1 to Ih lb. of 

 charcoal to dry 1 lb, tea, and for drying and redryiug 

 before packing on an average 21b., so that it takes 

 say 8 lb. of wood to a pound of tea, hand manuf.acture. 

 A Jackson drier (of which I am sorry I can say 

 nothing favorable) will dry 400 lb. tea with one yard 

 firewood of 5 cents to the yard or 560 lb. A little 

 over 1 lb. wood to a pound tea, not counting wood, 

 used for redrving which is very little. With regard to 

 the Sirocco, I can say that it does infinitely 

 better work : it does 20 per cent more thin Jackson's at 

 50 per cent less cost. Mr. Hogg of Imboolpiliya estate 

 writes 21st July this year :— " The Sirocco burns 2 lb. 

 firewood to 1 lb. manufactured tea and does 35 lb. 

 per hour." Best of all macbines however is Kinmond's 

 drier, one of which (No. 2) is equal to 4 Sirocco 

 machines. For coal and coke, I know nothing about. 



IV. Iu this district do you foresee any difficulty 

 as to withering so as to make the best class ol tea? ? 



Not, if the factories arc properly built. I would 

 have nothing to do with_weather- boarding. Keep your 

 heat in and your cold out if you have boauling ; 

 plaster inside. I would even go the length of plaster- 

 ing the upper withering loft boarding. Have plenty 

 of liglit and don't spare glass. Light always helps on 

 withering. If the sun shines in too strongly have a 

 cloth to put over. Have your windows so that they 

 can open if required ; have plenty withering space, so 

 that ir. wet weather the leaves can bo laid quite 

 thin ; it is the wet weather one has to think about 

 in Ceylon not the dry. When withering has to he 

 forced and there is no sun, the space above the drying 

 machine is best. 



With regard to manufacture, I can hardly make 

 any remarks : so much has bten already written. All I 

 can say is, see that tbe women pluck good leaf. Try 

 and protect it as much as possible on the field froiii 

 rain, and, each time that they put a fresh lot of 



