December i, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



3S7 



'^op heavy pressure may be required. Always eolder up 

 what has been packed the same day, and make tho 

 carpenter nail down the lid and hoops. Then all that 

 remains is to mark the name and numbers. 



Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, before concluding, there 

 is one thing I sliould like to eay : that is to warn you 

 against close-plucking, a fault which I fear has to a 

 great extent been aggravated by the jealousy which 

 appears to exist between planters in this island as to 

 average prices brouglit by their teas in London. From 

 what I have seen on a few estates that I have passed 

 through, I am afraid there is some chance of their 

 proprietors finding in the future that average prices 

 have been too high. When a man plants vp a clearing 

 with te;i he should look upon it as an investment to 

 give him a fair income for the remainder of his life- 

 time. Plucking the bushes on the top and all round 

 directly tip and one leaf appears will not. conduce to 

 this result, although returns for the first few years 

 may be good. My advice is — aim chielly at making a 

 bush with a large pluekiug surface, and lay down as a 

 golden rule that for the first few flushings after 

 pruning you leave on every shoot plucked Uvo leaves 

 untouched and, later on, always one. 



I could not have believed, when I entered this 

 island 5 years ago, that tea would have uiiide such 

 gigantic strides, in spite of hard times and want of 

 cosh. All I bopc is that many more acres may be 

 added to the amount already in bearing, and that we 

 may go on and prosper. C. A. Hay. 



Blackwater, Oct, I2ih, 188.3. 



Mr. Hay said ho would be glad to answer any 

 questions any gentleman would like to ask. 



Mr. AVicicuAM asked if a tea-house 100 ft. x 20 fc. al- 

 lowed for in the estimate was sufficiently large for 

 an estate of 200 acres giving the yield anticipated. 

 The tea-houses he had seen in gardens in Darjiling 

 were much larger, and be instanced one Iiouse as 300 ft. 

 long. He also considered Mr. Hay's estimate for freight 

 in machinery, 30 per cent, was not sufficiently high, 

 his e.xperieuce being that 70 per cent should be allowed. 

 In reply, Mr, Hay stated that he considered the 

 dimensions given for a store large enough. He knew 

 the store in Darjiling referred to by Mr. ^V'ickham, but 

 a largo portion of that store was never used, and 

 it was unnecessarily large, ^^'ith regard to cliarges 

 for freight his figures had been obtained from a re- 

 liable source. 



Mr, Fekgusojj confirmed Mr. Hay's statement as 

 regards requisite store-room. The tea-house at Abbots- 

 ford for 110 acres measured 30 X 60, and in that all 

 manufacturing processes were carried on, and he could 

 easily wither 2 000 lb. of leaf. 



Mr. SiNCLAiB, who appeared somewhat sceptical about 

 the permanency of tea, asked if the anticipated yield 

 of 400 lb. per acre would be maintained without 

 manure and other members asked questions of the 

 same tenor. 



In reply, Mr. Hay stated, from what he had seen 

 of the soil m the district and from the amount of 

 manure, applied to coffee, he might safely predict a 

 yield of 400 lb. per acre for years at least, and looked 

 upon tea as a permaucucy. 



Mr. A. Campbell asked if the flavour of the manu- 

 factured tea was likely to deteriorate as the bu-shes 

 grow old and whether manure all'ectcd tho flavottr 

 of the tea as well as the yield of leaf. 



Mr. Hay replied that the flavour wouhl not de- 

 teriorate ; manure would not aiTect tho flavour tliougb 

 it certainly would the yield. 



Mr. Smith suggested the use of Clerihew stores as 

 being suitable for tea. — Mr. Hay said he had seen 

 plans of buildings of somewhat siniilar arrangement, 

 though never seen them in use and doubtless they 

 would lie most suitable lor tea business. 

 Mr, A, I'AMreisu. asked if plnutiug 3 >< 3 was not 



more advisable than 5x5 or 4x4, by keeping the 

 bushes well-pruned, they would not interfere with one 

 another and they would have their plucking surface 

 neari;r the roots ? 



Mr, Hay consideredj if the trees would cover the 

 ground, 5n5 was a good distance;; but, if they were 

 planted 3 '^, '.}, quicker returns would be obtained, and 

 if after a time the bushes were found too close, the 

 alternate ones could be rtmoved. There was no object 

 in having them too large, in which case they could 

 not bs properly plucked. 



Mr. Ferguson, referring to the growth of tea in 

 high lands, stated that there was a tree on Abbots- 

 ford 25 feet /)i iliameler, and wished to bear testnnouy 

 to the goodno.'s of Assam hybrid over China bushes ; 

 the latter flushed well for a time, after pruning, but 

 in a very short time gave up flushing and went bangy. 

 Tho C tlAiEMAN thanked Mr. Hay for the exhaus- 

 tive manner be had replied to the questions put to 

 him, and a cordial vote of thanks w.as accorded him. 

 The report of Sub-Uomniittee on manuriug and prun- 

 ing was then rtad. 



Proposed by Mr. IIiimpiikevs seconded by Mr. 

 WrciCHAM and carried th'it the report be adopted. 

 The clause in tho report which states that managers 

 of estates in tho neighbourhood of the Wallahas at- 

 tributed the falling-ofl of crops to the ravages of 

 grub gave rise to difcussion. 



Mr. Elpiiinstone was strongly of opinion that grub 

 was the cause of our crops falling abort, \s-hich was 

 only to bo nmedied by collecting the grub and manur- 

 ing, and gave statistics of crops picked from Logie and 

 Belgravia, where the grub had been persistently collected. 

 Mr. SixcLAlii held sitnilar views. The grub not 

 only ate the roots of the coflfee, but aleo the manure 

 and thoref'ire the results of mnnure were not equal to 

 what they were previous to thedays of gruband thisstate 

 of things would continue unless grubs were collected and 

 the coffee properly cultivated. He had collected no less 

 than 140,000 grub from 25 acres, during a short period. 

 He did not understand «hy people in the Lindula district 

 should desire to plant tea, and proposed tlie followin" 

 resolution, seconded by Mr. Elphinstone : — "That ■'lub 

 and want of cultivation are the main causes of the 

 sudden falliug-off of crops in the Lindula district. " 



Mr. \V. Sjiith was strongly opposed to the idea of 

 grub beiug the cause of cn,p3 falling-ofl'. He had speut as 

 much money and trouble over grubbing as any member of 

 the district and bad also manured higWy. The falling- 

 offof crops was not ccnfined to Lindula only, but the 

 whole export from estates and native gardens was 

 seriously aflfceted and must be attributed to leaf-dia- 

 ease, and he no longer lelieved in the manuring and 

 cultivating of coffee, and, if the resolution were passed 

 it would be most misleading. 



Mr. LAWKANCis agreed with Mr. Smith in so far that 

 leaf-disease and not grub was tho cause of short 

 crops, but much regretted what Mr. Smith had urged 

 with reference to the uselessncss of manuriug and 

 cultivating of coflf'ee in this district. His estate" Bal- 

 moral, continued to give good crops bythe aid of manure 

 every third year, and he never had collected the grub. 

 Mr. Sinclair again j^rged the want of cultiv- 

 ation and the grub as the principal causes and also 

 the planting of cinchona among the coffee, &c. &c. 



After further discussion Mr. .Sjiitii proposed, and 

 Mr La\ve.4NCE seconded, the following amendment:— 

 "That leaf-disease is the main cause of the failure 

 of coffee crops in Dimbula and Lindula during the 

 past 4 years." For the ameEdment 8, for the resolution? 

 amendment carried. 



In connection with grub not attacking tea, Mr. 

 Smith stated, he had searched for grub amongst tea 

 Ijlanted on pataua land without finding one, whilst the 

 patana in close proximity was crammed with grub. 

 C, J. SCOTT, Homy, Kecretary. 



