SEfrf. 1, i886,J 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



187 



PLANTING ON CEYLON PULLS, 



TUK ABNORMAL DISTRIBUTION OF RAINFALL THIS SEASON 

 HIXHEllXO AFFECTED TEA AND 'FLUSHING' UNrAVOEABLTi 

 — MINOR enemies: the great BANDICOOT rat — ON THE 

 WHOLE, TEA NEVER LOOKING SO WELL AS NOW — ALSO 

 CINCHONA OFFICINALIS. 



Upper Liudula, 9th Aug. 1886. 



As I telegraphed to you this morning this district 

 seems about to receive compensation for the defi- 

 cient raiufaU of the first half of 1886. It is not 

 so n.uch tlie absolute deficiency we have had to 

 complain of however, as the abnormal distribution 

 of the rain which did fall in the early months of 

 the year, and which affected so unfavourably tea 

 which had been pruned in the closing months of 

 1885 and flushing generally. The fearfully rainy 

 year 1882, when 30 inches beyond the average fell, 

 being excluded, the averages for the first four months 

 of the year at Abbotsford for the three years 1883 

 to 1885 compare thus with the figures for the 

 same months in this year ;— 



1880, 



•January 

 February 

 March 

 April 



6 07 inches, 

 0-92 



1-80 



1) 



12-06 



Average, 



2' 11 inches. 

 3-76 

 4-04 „ 



o'38 „ 



13-29 



April, delayed 

 December and 

 to six weeks, 

 corrected the evil 

 long hung fire 



so 



Total ... 



The actual amount of moisture precipitated is this 

 year deficient by not much more than an inch. The 

 defect was in the concentration of so much of the 

 fall in the first month of the year, while February 

 and March, the cold windy months of the year, had 

 scarcely more than three inches amongst them, April 

 also not getting much more than half its usual 

 allowance. Deficient rainfall and cold winds checked 

 tea flushing to a serious extent, but May and June to- 

 gether showed an average rainfall lO-^i'i;- 8-14— 18-46, 

 bringing the total for the half-year up to .SO-52 

 inches, or ,r46 below the averyge of the previous 

 three years. Tuly followed with 11-38 inches, less 

 than three inches below the average, while August 

 in its first eight days having shown 7-84 (the average 

 for the whole l)eing 11-99), promises fully to restore 

 the equilibrium. If only a genial temperature ac- 

 companies copious rainfall, there can be no question 

 that the collections of leaf in the latter portion 

 of the year will atone for the deficiency in the earlier. 

 In ordinarily favourable weather pruned tea ought 

 to have recovered itself and to be yielding well 

 in 2^ monlhs. fully in 3 months, after the ap- 

 plication of the knife. The abnormal drought 

 in February, March and 

 cess in the case of our 

 pruned tea, by a month 

 rains of May and June 

 now the bushes which 



the pro- 

 January 

 but the 

 and 



are 



flushing luxuriantly. Our trouble at present, indeed, 

 what with rain and mist, is to overtake the 

 withering of the leaf which comes pouring in, 

 laden with a good deal of the moisture by which 

 it has bsen satui-ated. There is no sign of blossom 

 on the pruned fields now come into full flush, 

 but I suppose it is due to the abnormal season that 

 so much more than we could wish of the fields 

 pruned a year ago have gone off into flower and 

 fruit ; not merely China-hybrid, but many of the 

 highest Assam hybrid jat. Some of the best seed 

 is being gathered and after a few more leaf pick- 

 ings, of course the knife will correct the tendency 

 to produce blo^tjou aoid iruit iiiidlead of lealt Is 



the case of a few bushes, so few as to be scarcely 

 worth mention, this tendency to free blossoming 

 and the aprrnrance of dark spot on the leaves, 

 have led to the shedding of the entire crop of 

 foliage. Buch trees, if pruned, will probably recover, 

 unless, indeed, their roots have touched the fatal 

 symplocoK with its poisonous fungi. Black, or rather 

 brown bug has been prevalent, in proportion, I 

 think to the abnormal drought of February- April, 

 but it is curious to notice how this blight aliects 

 certain fields and never appears on others. As far 

 as my experience and observation go, this is 

 the most serious affection to which tea in Ceylon . 

 is liable, for the moth, which comes and goes i 

 does little mischief. There have been occasional 

 scares of hilopdti>^ and " red spider,' but 

 neither of these pests has, as yet, done appreciable 

 harm in Ceylon. The forest rats, which at inter- 

 vals, made irruptions into our coffee fields and did 

 much apparently wanton damage, in cutting off 

 the primaries close to the stem, with a cut as clean 

 as that of a pruning knife, have not as yet I 

 believe, attacked our tea cultivation. But the 

 gigantic member of the rat family, the bandicoot, 

 has been giving us a little trouble here recently, 

 in the ravine, curiously enough, where the big 

 black imnderoo monkeys in former days devoured 

 the tops of our cinchona officinalis plants, stand- 

 ing on their hind hands and puUing down the tops 

 with their forehands. The bandicoots whose habitat 

 is a belt of jungle left near the bungalow, do 

 not seem to care for the fever plants or for the 

 leaves or branches of the tea bushes. But they 

 have discovered that the thick, succulent tap roots 

 of the best jat tea bushes are dehcacies and to 

 get at these they have dug up several of our very 

 best bushes. Traps having been set, a young 

 bandicoot was captured and I requested it might 

 be preserved for me to take to Colombo as I 

 know there are many Europeans in Ceylon who 

 have not seen this huge black rat. A carpenter 

 was accordingly asked to construct a box for the 

 safe keeping of the creature. He refused, saying 

 it was contrary to his religion, the religion which 

 teaches that there is no God, but that you must 

 not take the life of any creature, however dan- 

 gerous or noxious. In this case it was explained 

 to the man that the object was not to take away 

 life, but to preserve it. All in vain, and it is not 

 worth while taking the man to Court for refusing 

 to obey a lawful order. Tea, like every cultivated 

 product has its enemies, but none of ^those 1 have 

 named are formidable and on the whole I have 

 seldom seen the great " new product " looking so 

 well. The same may be said of the r-ubsidiary 

 cultivation of cinchonas (C, OftirimU!^, chielly) 

 amongst the tea. The cinchonas were put down 

 long enough after the tea, to secure the thorongli 

 opening up and drainage of the soil by the latter. 

 The result was an unprecedented success with the 

 cinchonas, and now the coppiced plants are even 

 more flourishing than wore the original stocks. 

 There is scarcely a coloured leaf to be f.ren, and 

 the only question is whether the cinchonas will 

 even pay enough for the elements of which they 

 must deprive the tea. It is surely the very irony 

 of fate that when bark is at its lowest, th^ trees 

 are here and elsewhere at their best. 



August lOth,— Since the despatch of my t. ley ram 

 yesterday morning the weather has contiiUid wet 

 and stormy, the south-west monsoon having aa ;erted 

 itself at last. The soughing of the wind last night 

 \\as wild and the " blowing " continues, with mist 

 and rain. The fall in the 24 hours to 6 this morning 

 was -33 inch. The most was made of the third 

 of an inch, however, being well spread ovck tbo 

 •^i lioury< 



