i>7o 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[May I, 1 883V 



Mr. Russell, the Cioverimient astronomer ot New South 

 Wales, is quite opposed to that Mr. EUerv, as is also that 

 of hundreds of the intelligent settlers ot this colony. If 

 the proceedings ot the Royal .Society of New South Wales, 

 of which I am a member, be searched, it will there be 

 seen tliat the question has been very exhaustively treated 

 by Mr. Russell and others. About two years since, a great 

 many letters also appeared in the Si/ilitei/ Mail and other 

 papers. The conclusions arrived at were: — 



1. That timber is not the cause of rainfall, but its 

 effect. 



2. That iu those countries where the forests have been 

 most extensively cleared, such as the United States and 

 Australia, the rainfall has not been thereby lessened. 



3. On the other hand, that where the forests have been 

 killed, the grass has increased from fom'foldto tenfold, and 

 the wealth-pi-rnlucing power of the land in like ratio, and 

 that the enormous quantities of water absorbed by these 

 forests remains in the ground and makes its existence seen, 

 not only by the increase of giass, but also by numerous 

 springs and by creeks known to be dry exeept in very wet 

 periods becoming permanent watercoiu'ses. 



My own experience entirely agrees with these conclusions; 

 by ring-barking I have caused a spring to become per- 

 manent that only ran diu-ing a very wet season, and I 

 would strongly advise every farmer or squatter who has 

 indications of surface drainage upon his land, such as spots 

 which keep green long in summer, or grow rushes or small 

 gum saplings thickly, to ring the timber along these water- 

 courses, and he will not long be in doubt of the truth of 

 these theories. 



It is a well-known fact that gums are planted in Italy 

 to (h-y fever swamps, and that each tree acts as a natural 

 pump. No bushmau who has stripped a sheet of bark can 

 for a moment doubt the great quantity of water one tree 

 takes up. A single willow has been known to absorb a 

 spring. When the tree has been remove<l the spring has 

 flowed again. Spain, a country like Australia in many 

 respects, is usually pointed out as having .suffered froin 

 forest denudation. If space permitted I could easily show 

 that the low standard of farming .inil grazing in that 

 country is entirely due to other causes. 



Let Mr. EUery consult Mr. Russell upon this important 

 question, and I am sure his opinions will soon change. — lam, 

 &c., ViGiLEX. — Eogau River, N.S.W. 



TEA PLUCKING IN CEYLON. 



Tea plucking in India and in Ceylon are two very 

 different things. Upon my first taking up visitiug here 

 in Ceylon, I intended to carry out the Indian method 

 of plucking, but I discovered the gi-owth was so quick 

 that if oui" Indian mode was adopted, the tree would 

 make so much wood and leaf that (natui-e being .satisfied) 

 it woidd refuse to flush. 



I consider that eighteen months' growth in Ceylon is equal 

 to 3 years in India; consequently, it is better to begin 

 a gentle course of plucking (which is really pruning) at 

 18 months old, so as to form the bush, than to allow 

 the tree to rmi up, say. eight to ten feet, then ruth- 

 lessly prune it down, and by so doing throw away what 

 really ought to be in tea boxes. I consider the damage 

 done to the tree by this method of treatment incalcul- 

 able ; in fact, in one or more gardens that had been 

 allowed to run up. as described above. I feared to prune 

 the trees to the required height, knowing the shock might 

 prove fatal. Again, if early plucking is carefully carried 

 out, the bush receiving a check on top, throws out laterals 

 and so forms itself. 



In India, a tree pruned and allowed to run for one 

 year without plucking would make between three and 

 four feet, in Ceylon it wuvUd make near ten. If we do 

 not pluck our trees here they will simply run away from 

 us, and in proof of this, I could mention more gardens 

 than one. Indian tea planters, and Ceylon men also, 

 ridicule the idea ot our gettuig 70(1 lb. of di-y tea per acre 

 all round. From what I now see, I have come to the con- 

 clusion that SOO lb. is nearer the mark for carefully planted 

 estates in the lowcountry. I have no fears of the bu,sh 

 being injiu'ed by this so-called " close plucking," if it gets 

 a good start after primmg. The tea tree in Ceylon is 



always gi'owing, both above and below ground, and I have 

 not on any estate noticed the bush receiving a check, unless 

 where it has been insufiiciently pruned. 



I am not responsible for the remarks — that tea is 

 hardly and likes a poor soil. On the contrary, it will only 

 flourish in the soil that suits it. I acknowledge that we 

 nmst to some extent vary om- method in Ceylon, accord- 

 ing to the different districts ; the same as is done in 

 India. 



I presume that here, as in India, there are planters 

 and pfanto-i'. I have known adjoining gardens, similar 

 in every respect, where yearly dividends varied as much 

 as theu- manager's style of working. In conclusiou, I 

 consider that, as managers of tea estates are obhged to 

 go roimd every month or six weeks, they are well able 

 to watch the effect of their mode of plucking, and, such 

 being the case, were the bushes seemingly the worse, a 

 change could at once be made. It nmst always be re- 

 membered that success in tea depends entirely upon these 

 three following important operations, viz., Fntiiini/, Flnck- 

 ing and Mannfactufe; if these are not carefidly attended 

 to, fair returns cannot be expected. If, however, super- 

 intendents will only study the most desirable methods for 

 obtaining the largest outtiu-n, combined with the best 

 average, not for one or two breaks, but for a whole season's 

 shipments, I feel convinced that the tea enterprise in Ceylon 

 will prove a remunerative investment. — W. Camekon. 

 — Yatiautote, April 2nd, 18.S3.— "Oeylou Times." 



THE OATALPA, A VALUABLE TREE. 

 Some time ago, Sir .John O'Shanas.sy called attention, iu 

 the Legislative A.ssembly, to a celebrated American timber 

 tree called Catalpa speciosa. The Ministers of Lands and 

 Agriculture moved in the matter, with a view to procuring 

 information, and have received reports from Mr. Guilfoyle, 

 the director of the Botanic-gardens, and Mr. Ferguson, 

 inspector ot state forests. Mr. Guilfoyle reports on the 

 27th November, 1882, that the tree is said by many horti- 

 culturists and botanists in America, where it is in<ligenou8, 

 to be one of the most valuable timber trees known. One 

 writer, Mr, 0. H. MiUer, of Fairmount-park, Philadelphia, 

 says: — "There is a fine grove of cataljia in the park, some 

 of them very large, one measuring 13ft. in circumstance." 

 A Mr. Arthur Bryant, of Princeton, Illinois, is said to have 

 in his groimds a catalpa of the speciosa variety, raised from 

 seed in 1839, which measured in 1879 (stump high) 3ft. in 

 diameter. Other of the trees in South-Eastern Missouri 

 measured, in 1866, 3ft. and 4ft. in rhameter, and 50ft. to 

 a limb. In Indiana, the trees reached a diameter of 4ift. 

 From one tree, a limb was cut oft 45ft. from the stump, 

 a section of which was Sft. long .and 12|in. in diameter at 

 the small end. A Mr. Barney, of Ohio, reported that a 

 catalpa gate-post had been taken up, after being 46 years 

 in the ground, and was found as sound as on the day it 

 was set, no signs of decay being visible. Catalpa timber 

 used in a stockade in Imhana hail been found perfectly 

 sound after being nearly 100 years in the ground. Similar 

 piirticulars are given as to other pieces of this timber 

 which have remained soun<l after being in use about 100 

 years. One log, after lying across a stream nearly 100 

 years, was cut into perfectly sound boards. Professor John 

 Callot states that the timl)er is universally accredited with 

 wonderful power to resist decay and time, and that, after 

 diligent inquiry, he had found no one willing to say the 

 timber was liable to rot. Another writer stated that no 

 decayed catalpa logs were ever found in swamps. The tree 

 throve iu France and Germany, and in protected po.sitions 

 in the South of England. It grows rapidly, and the wood 

 is remarkably light, fine in texture, and capable of receiv- 

 ing a brilliant polish. The bark was said to be tonic, 

 stimulant, and antiseptic. The tree can be readily raised 

 from seeds and cuttings, and in this climate the seeds 

 should be sown in September or October, and the cuttings 

 planted out of floors in March or April. The tree has been 

 of rather .slow growth in the Botanic-gardens, the largest 

 specimen, although iq:)wards of 18 years old, being only 

 about 10ft. or 12ft. high. That trady growth was doubt- 

 less due in a great measure to the poverty of the soil. 

 The tree would not bear much exposure to strong ^vinds, 

 and delighted in a loose and tolerably good .soil. Thepi'esenfc 

 stock of yoimg plants iu the gardens, numbering some 30 



