March i, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



735 



lu open scrub jungle tlie formation of vegetable mould 

 is naturally very much less, autl, as might be expected, 

 if the subsoil is examiued, it will generally be found to 

 be poor. No doubt there are other circurastauces conducing 

 to the poverty of tho jungle, and amongst these chiefly 

 the want of rain, and these causes act and react on each 

 other. 



The difference in the soils of evergi-een forest and deci- 

 duous forest is very distinctly marked on the lower western 

 slopes of the Ghats. Here, up to an altitude of SOi) to 

 1,000 feet, the slopes are covered with semi-deciduous 

 forest of Jermimilias and Latferstrmmia:^ mixed with the 

 large thorny bamboo, tho greater portions of which are 

 burnt almost annually. In coming down the Ghat roads 

 the dilference in the soil of the road cutting is at once 

 noticed ; between the thin greyish layer of the vegetable 

 mould of the evergreen, and the thick black layer of the 

 fire devastated deciduous forest, I have noticed the same 

 thing on the Oarcoor Ghat from Niligiris to Oalicut. A 

 few days ago, in going through a coffee estate on the 

 Ghats, I passed a j^lace where the soil was a rich deep 

 black resembliug what is seen in the eastern deciduous 

 forests, strongly contrasting with the absence of mould 

 in surrounding portions of tho estate. It had been lately 

 dug, and on looking closely, I noticed a number of piecB 

 of charcoal mixed with the soil. On remarking on this 

 I was told the place was the site of a toddy drawer's 

 house aud garden, and the rich bhick mould was eWdeutly 

 partly produced from burnt vegetable matter. 



The fine coffee estates in what is called the '• Bamboo " 

 district in Coorg owe their flourishing condition to the 

 rich black vegetable soil of the deciduous forest. In the 

 first days of coffee planting, every one thought that the 

 soil of the dense Ghat forests must be everlasting, as 

 compared with the deciduous, but the fallacy of thi.s 

 supposition is proved by thousands of acres of abaudoned 

 coffee states on the Ghats, whereas estates planted fifteen 

 years ago in the " bamboo " are as flourishing as ever 

 and shew no signs of decay. Supplies come up as well 

 as when first the estate was planted, shewing that the 

 soil retains its vigour. In the Ghats it is not so, the 

 exhausted soil refuses to rear the young plant, so that 

 vacancies cannot be filled up. And it is remarkable that 

 this is not only the case on steep slopes, but also on flat 

 places and hollow where there can be put little wash. 



I trust that these observations will bring out those of other 

 observers on the subject. OooRG. 



[On the other hand was it not the case that a large 

 proportion of the bamboo estates in "Wynaad were killed 

 by borer? — Ed.] 



TEA CULTIVATION IN CEYLON. 



A TniP IHROUOH THE AVISHAWELLA AND YatIANTOTB TeA 



AND New I'hoducts Distkicts. 

 Work on a coffee estate in these days is by no means 

 child's play, neither is it of a \-ery perfunctory nature, little 

 play being allowed by Colombo Agents eveu after work hours, 

 some of them,I verdy believe, imagining that the introduction 

 of Lawn Tennis aggravated the spread of leaf disease. A 

 coffee planter's duties, however, as far as regards their inter- 

 mittent character, are not to be compared to those of 

 a tea planter, who is unable to leave his estate, unless 

 he has very skilled native supervision, eveu for a short 

 time without risking the most disastrous consequences. 

 Crop time, the only really very anxious time that a 

 coffee planter has, and when a more than usual amount 

 of responsibility rests on his shoulders, comes, but once 

 a ye.ar, and only lasts for a few months, whereas a tea 

 planter is picking nearly all the year round and generally 

 once a week. During all this time his constant super- 

 vision is necessary for the proper curing of the leaf, 

 aud that, not so much in the field as in tho store, stand- 

 ing over fermenting leaf or tho firing process, both far 

 from healthy occupations. The heated wet leaves throw 

 off n strong fume laden with astringent properties, and 

 I had not been long in the curing house before my head 

 began to ache as it had not done for years ; but this I 

 believe is usually the case with those new to the work. 

 The whole secret of success in tea cultivation is in the 

 proper and careful ciiiiii£ of the leaf, and imless much 



time and care is expended in this department, it little 

 matters how well the estate has been opened, how well 

 it is drained, how luxiu-iant tho growth of the trees, or 

 how many flushes are picked. There is not so much 

 difference between the lowest yield per acre aud highest 

 aa between the lowest and the highests price for the 

 same quality, whether pekoe or pekoe souchong. It 

 will be seen, therefore, that anyone teaching us in any 

 way to improve the make and qviality of our teas would 

 be doing us all yeoman's service. For some time Ceylon 

 tea was not received at all favourably at home and this 

 was not to be wondered at, seeing that few of our 

 tea planters had possessed any previous experience of 

 the process of tea making, and most of it in consequence 

 was badly prepared, so that tasters at home said it had 

 a bad color and a strawy flavor. By degrees however, 

 it made its way, slowly at first but, nevertheless surely, 

 and last year began to be extensively used at home for 

 mixing with other and less flavored teas. 



Since then, however, and in fact quite recently, dealers 

 at home have manifested a desire to dispose of our tea 

 without mixing and on its own merits. In consqueuce, 

 planters have been obliged to slightly alter their mode 

 of preparation so as to lessen the sharp flavor hitherto 

 given for mixing purposes and to make it, instead, of a 

 more mild and melow character. This is really a most 

 encoiu-aging sign, fraught with many good consequences 

 to our tea planters aud likely to stimulate them I feel 

 sure, if possible, to greater exertions to place a good 

 marketable tea before the public at home. That this will 

 be done, and Ceylon tea rank as high if not higher than 

 any other in the London market is merely a question 

 of time, aud in the same manner as our Coffee is renowned 

 for its high qualities and richuess of flavor throughout 

 the world so I am sure will our tea. A few words as 

 to how the delicate thin green leaves are transformed 

 into dark black tea ready for use, will no doubt be of 

 interest to many wJio have never seen the operation per- 

 formed. In order to procure flushes, the same process 

 is resorted to that coffee undergoes, viz, pruning, but 

 with this dift'erence, that whereas the latter is only relieved 

 of its old wood and useless branches, and the sun allowed 

 to enter the ceutre of the tree, the former at its second 

 year is pruned down, or rather cut off and topped, at 

 about 18 inches high, all the suckers being left. There 

 have been different modes of pruning that have recom- 

 meded themelves to Ceylon planters, but the process 

 from the time of the application of the knife at two 

 years old, to the despatch of the boxes of tea from the 

 store in the way tliat I am about to describe, is the 

 one adopted by all estates visited by Mr. Cameron, who, 

 from his experience aud the fine prices he has secured, 

 is so well qualified to decide. After topping at 18 inches 

 every branch or sucker, a few of the poorer and weaker 

 ones are singled out, especially those growing very close 

 together, and the trees are then left in this denuded 

 condition, the sun causing nearly all the leaves remain- 

 ing to wither aud drop oft'. It is some time after, of 

 course, before a picking can be made, varying with dif- 

 ferent conilitions of soil and altitude, but some little time 

 must be allowed to elapse, when a fine young flush of 

 new leaves will be out all over the tips of the branches. 

 Hitherto, planters have not picked oftener than once in 

 3 weeks, or once a fortnight at the outside, and, in con- 

 sequence, not only according to Mr. Cameron, where many 

 flushes lost, but what was gathered was mostly older leaf 

 than was ncces.sary. Consequently, the tea was dark 

 strong, and astringent and not Ciisily rolled, as the hard 

 leaves are not so flexible as the young and tender ones. 

 His process is to pick at least as often as once in 9 

 days, and, if possible, once a week. I saw an estate where 

 they were going over a field that had been gathered but 

 5 days jireviously. This is how the yield per acre is >o 

 very nnu-h increased on estates under his charge. At 

 the third year the tree is again pruned do\\'n flat, th(^ 

 coolies being given sticks, cut to the right length viz. 2 

 feet. Again is some of the old withered wood singled 

 out, and the younger and browner left and preserved 

 as much as possible. The next year it is pruned to i 

 feet 3 inches, and so on till sixth or seventh year, when 

 it reaches 3 feet, beyond which it is never allowed t" 

 gtow. After this, the next move is entirely a matter oi 



