i26 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[May 2i 1887, 



was wanted, and added accordingly about an eggspoon - 

 ful. The whole was hoiled again for about a minute 

 and then tested and pronounced excellent. The amount 

 was about equal to the contents of two ordinary quart 

 bottles. 



4. Attempts have, I believe, been made to produce 

 from the refuse of Tea gardens a substance resembling 

 Bhutia Brick Tea, but so far, I believe, they have beeu 

 unsuccessful. It would seem, however, that the en- 

 deavour should not be given up, as there cau be little 

 doubt that if Planters could manufacture a commodity 

 which would suit the taste of the Bhutias, Assam Tea 

 might penetrate eventually iuto Oeutral Asia. Bhutia 

 Tea cau hardly be the produce of any country but 

 China, and although recent eiKjuiries tend to show 

 that China Tea cau be carried wonderfully cheaply 

 into Thibet, yet it is hardly possible that Assam Tea 

 could not undcr.sell it. Kven supposing that the 

 Bhutia's more than doubled the real price iu their 

 statement to me, and that in Bhutan Chinese Tea 

 cau be bought at Rl-8 per brick (about .')i annas 

 per lb.). I imagine an Assam planter, it he could 

 produce a similar article at all, could do so for 3 annas 

 a pound, or e\'en less. This would certainly enable 

 liim to sell with a profit, and yet at a price which 

 would probably induce the Bhutias to buy. 



5. The obvious objection to any attempts to manu- 

 facture Brick Tea is that, even if made, trade with 

 the savage tribes on the Assam borders is too inconsider- 

 able to produce an eil'ect on the Tea Industry of 

 Assam. The objection is perfectly sound as far as 

 these tribes are themselves concerned, but it will not 

 apply if we can once break the Chinese monopoly. 

 If the Bhutias perceive that they can buy the materials 

 for the extraordinary mixture they call Tea at a 

 cheaper rate in Assam than in Bhutan itself, they 

 are certain to make their purchases here instead 

 of in the interior. Once introduced at a cheap 

 rate iuto Bhutan, it is more than probable that 

 our Tea would pass into Thibet, and its spread 

 in the interior of Central Asia would be then 

 regulated mainly by the cost of its carriage from 

 Assam as compared with the cost of carriagf. of Chi- 

 nese Tea from China. 



6. The above considerations have led me to obtain 

 samples of the stixfl' the Bhutias use, and I am sending 

 you a small box containing three bricks of tea and 

 two sealed bottles of the infusion I saw manufactured. 

 You will be the best judge of the method iu which 

 to utilize the samples, should you consider the subject 

 Rufluciently important to justify your Inking action. — 

 H. Z. Dakrah, Ofl'g. Director of Agriculture, Assam. — • 

 Indian Tea Gazette. 



SILK CULTURE IN SIAM. 



In a report issued by the Foreign OfHce on the 

 condition of jSiam, it is stated that the culture of 

 silk is strictly confined to the numerous Laos settle- 

 ments throughout the country, and to the Cam- 

 bodians in the south-eastern ptovinces bordering on 

 Cambodia ; nowhere are any Siamese known to rear 

 the silkworm. The reason generally given is that 

 whilst the art of silk culture, which is deemed 

 a difficult one, has been transmitted to the Laos 

 through successive generations, the Siamese are in 

 comph-te ignorance of it. The preat centres of the 

 prndui'tion of silk in Slam are Korat 130 miles to 

 the north-east of Bankok; and Battambong, 200 

 miles to the south-east. Beautiful cloths, sometimes 

 of grent value, are woven in Chiengmai, and a certain 

 quantity of raw silk is said to be exported from 

 Hluang Prabang, on the Mekong river, to Chieng- 

 tuiig, one of the principal Shan States. The produc- 

 tion, however, is small in comparison with that of 

 Cambodia and Annam, and the export is, conse- 

 quently, unimportant, consisting entirely of so-called 

 K 'rat silk. It is taken to the latter place iu small 

 quaiititics from the neighbouring Laos and Cam- 

 bodian provinces, such as Buachum, Pimai, Suwana- 

 pbum, Si^akat, Khukan, Sangkha, and Surin, and 

 there sold, or more generally bartered for cotton and 

 other goods, to Chinese traders, who n'-soll it a 



Bangkok to the exporters. At present, half the 

 number of families iu a village composed entirely of 

 Laos rear the silkworm, but they almost all, without 

 any exception, weave their own cloths. The silk 

 culture is coufiaed solely to the women, who take 

 a share even in the cultivation of the tree. A large 

 proportion rear the silkworm only in the wet 

 season, when the plant is in leaf, and, therefore, 

 obtain the seed from the few wlio rear a small 

 quantity throughout the year, barely sufficient to 

 keep up the breed, or only a small quantity of leaves 

 is furnished by the plants during the hot season. The 

 tree is called by the Laos, tun man \ and the worm, 

 tua 711011. There are two kinds of trees, and it appears 

 doubtful whether they were oi-igiually distinct. The 

 large kind is similar to the mulberry tree, and in its 

 full growth attains a height of from twenty to thirty 

 feet. This tree is by no means common, as it is 

 found very difficult to rear, requiring great care when 

 young, though when it has firmly taken root it 

 requires no attention, and is said to attain a great 

 age. Like the European tree, it has a small white 

 flower in cluster, but it bears no fruit. In Hluang 

 Prabang, about four-hundred and fifty miles to the 

 north, it is said to bear a red berry, and is probably 

 the same as the European black mulberry tree. It 

 is reproduced from cutting, and is found to grow best 

 on dry sandy soil. The common description of tree 

 is much smaller, and consists of a stem about half 

 an inch in diameter, with small branches at regular 

 intervals. Its height is generally about five feet, but 

 it sometimes reaches seven feet. The bark is similar 

 to that of the large kind, and the leaf appears to 

 differ only in size. It is planted on dry ground, and 

 requires constant watering and some care until it has 

 grown to a height of one or two feet, and is measured 

 once a year, in the sixth month before it is cut. The 

 shape of the leaf is cordate or deeply indented. Its 

 size does not exceed two or three inches iu the small 

 kind, while that of the larger is often more than 

 double. Both kinds bear leaf all the year round, but 

 very little in the hot season. It is from the eighth to the 

 eleventh month, that is to say, from June to September, 

 that the new trees bear a sutScient quantity of 

 such tender leaves as are most suitable for the 

 youn g worms. The silkworm rearing season is, 

 therefore, from the end of June to the end of 

 September, and two broods are generally reared. The 

 eggs are hatched in the period of ten days, the worm.s 

 are then kept on the same piece of cloth on which 

 the eggs have been laid by the moth for four or five 

 days, when they are large enough to be taken off 

 and placed on a round flat tray of bamboo wicker- 

 work about three feet in diameter, with a rim one 

 inch high, in which they are kept until ready to spin 

 the cocoon. The wicker-work is not close, but suffi- 

 cient space is kept for the litter to pass through with- 

 out the worm falling off, and the basket is then called 

 takreng; this precaution, however, is often neglected, 

 and the ordinary baskets used for winnowing rice are 

 commonly used. These are called kadony both by 

 Siamese and Laos, but in the north the rim is gener- 

 ally higher, and they are then called ho. The worms 

 are not fed for the first few days, they are then fed 

 three times a day. They cast off the skin four times, 

 and the size of the worm at the third casting of the 

 skin is about an inch, and it is then of the ordinary 

 greenish tint. The worms that are ripe are removed 

 to a tray similar to the one described above, but hav- 

 ing on its flat surface a number of concentric circles 

 of bamboo trellis work about an inch and-a-half high ; 

 there is thus between the circles a series of compart- 

 ments one inch and a half broad, in which worms 

 spread their web and spin the cocoon iu the course 

 of a day or night. This tray, called tcho by the Laos, 

 as well as the other ones containing the worms or 

 seeds, are all placed on a series of frames called klu'iK/, 

 made ia such manner as to prevent ants or other 

 insects from molo'sting the worms or cocoons. The 

 contrivance is very simple, and is constructed as 

 follows. A series of four or five oblong frames are 

 formed by four vertical pieces of bamboo, or some- 

 times rope, about four feet long, which are kept apart 



