November i, 1882.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



401 



Schaumbourg, have been occupied with the influence of 

 potash on the production of sugar in beet. After the 

 bedding was cleaned in tlio morning;, the boards were 

 strewn with 1 cwt. of kauite, and J cwt. of gypsum, per 

 two tons of soiled beddiuf; : the latter on being removed 

 was allowed to steep in putiid mine, and in time applied 

 at the rate of 11 tons per acre, to a marly soU. The 

 maum'e, enriched with kauite, produced a sKght augment- 

 ation in yield of roots, over the gyi)sum combination. 

 Tlie salient fact elucidated by Prince William on his 

 estate in Bohemia is that chloride of potassium exercises 

 no essential action in humid years, while in dry seasons 

 IJ cwt. i)er acre secm'cs an increase of 3 tons of roots 

 per acre ; that the salt of potash acts less by fm-nish- 

 ing that element to vegetation than by its absorbing 

 and retaining Inmiiility for the plant. 



The Prussian IMinister of Agi'icultm'e appointed Messrs. 

 Kijniget Iviauch to study the changes which water under- 

 goes, and the action it produces when applied in ii'rigation. 

 The expeiimeuts took place at Munster, where several 

 systems of wateiings and drainages are employed. About 

 5 per cent of the water employed, on an average, escapes 

 by the subsoil ; in a soil destitute of ilssmes, etc., the loss 

 is less than is generally uuagined : heavy and persistent 

 rains do not penetrate the soil beyond 12 inches, and 

 humidity entered in proportion as the sm-face presented 

 cracks, or was honeycombed by moles, A'c. ; th'ains flow 

 oidy when the rain has ceased, and discharge waters 

 that have arrived from distant points, due to accumul- 

 ation in impermeable strata, &c. The more the temperatm-e 

 of the water employed for ii'rigation is elevated, the 

 more beneficial it is for vegetation : the water in flowing 

 over the meadow cools quickly it the an be cold, while 

 if the contraiy, it augments rapidly. Even in cold seasons, 

 the water possesses a sensibly higher temperatm-e than 

 the soil, thus preserving the latter warmer for a longer 

 time. The fertilizing action of ii-rigatrng water depends 

 less on the absorptive properties of the soil upon the 

 matters held in solution than on the precipitation of 

 the matters in suspension, and the du'ect absorption of 

 these nutritive elements by the roots of plants. The 

 only nutritive element retained by the earthy pai'ticles 

 with jiersistence is potash, and the water is deprived 

 of the mineral matters it contains in proportion as the 

 temperatm'e of the soU, of the water, and of the ail', 

 augment. It is from the water du'ectly then that plants 

 extract nuti'iment, save potash, which the soO seizes upon : 

 thus in the seasons when vegetation sleeps, the water 

 escaping by drainage from in'igated meadows is poorer 

 in potash OTN-ing to absorption by the soO, than the 

 irrigating water itself. The application of jjotash salts 

 to grass lands under migatiou produces an elimination 

 of the lime in the soU ; the equilibrium becomes re- 

 established when the potash ceases to be ajiplied. Similar 

 observations apply to phosphoric acid. The ii'rigating 

 water introduces oxygen into the soU, similarly .as does 

 tilling the laud : it reduces the acidity also of tlie soil, 

 as the water escaping by the di'aius is in'overbially richer 

 in acid combinations. 



Belgium has started a new idea, that of founding an 

 agi'icuitm'al station, or technical college, exclusively devoted 

 to the conduct of scieutiiic and practical experiments 

 connected with the gro^vth and manufactui'iQg of sugar 

 beet. 



The Pastern' process of vaccinating sheep as a preservative 

 against eltarhnn, after ]U'oving a success in the north of 

 France, has tm-ned out the same in the warm south. 

 The point on wliicli attention is now fixed is for how 

 long — six, twelve, or thu'ly-six mouths — does the efficacy 

 of the pock endm'e? Time of coiu'se vnR settle the point. 

 Native Barbary shocp are proverbially known to resist 

 charbon, but when crossed in France that immunity 

 disappears. 



That other scoiu'ge, the phyUoxcra, continues to ex- 

 tend its devastations : autliorities are commencing to 

 make up then' minds to expect that malady as permanent, 



and reqiming to annually employ insecticides against it, 

 as siUphm' is for the oidium. The best insecticide is 

 still sulphm-et of carbon, joined to fortifying manurings. 

 Irrigations dm'ing autumn are excellent, and M. Jules 

 Maistre even practises the same during summer. 



The prospects of the beet crop are good : the density 

 of the juice is remarkably satisfactoi'y : only continued 

 moist weather can make an alteration. 



INDIAN TEA.S. 



[The indefatigable Mr. Moody, of Messrs. James Henty 

 & Co., has circulated tlie following information with a 

 cat,xlogue of 1,253 half-chests oflmhan tea which were to 

 be sold on 21st Sept.] 



The following Extracts are from, a valuable Mamial jn.-t 

 published in Londmi : — * 



One of the most remarkable circumstances in connec- 

 tion \vith the development of tlie tea trade is the rapid- 

 ity of the increase iu the production of Indian tea. It 

 is within the memory of many still eugaged in the trade 

 that the idea of India being one of the most important 

 branches of the business would simply have provoked a 

 smile, and yet, in the year 1881, there was imported 

 44,.585,00O pounds of Indian tea ; and, large as this quantity 

 is, it failed to keep pace with the consumption, which for 

 the same ye.^r was -18,342,000 pounds. This is an increase 

 of tenfold in fifteen years, and even iu weight is nearly 

 one-fourth of the entire dehveries of tea ; while, should 

 money value be taken as the test, the proportion would 

 be mucli larger, as the price commanded by Indian tea 

 is considerably greater than that of China. 



The taste for Indian tea is rapidly increasing ; here and 

 there some even prefer it by itself. In Belfast and other 

 parts of the North of Ireland scarcely any China tea is 

 consumed, the trade being nearly all confined to the stronger 

 Indians ; but the greater portions of the Enghsh people 

 like in every blend at least half China tea. 



No China teas possess such sharp piquancy, such groat 

 strength, and such pronounced yet dehoate flavour as the 

 better descriptions of Indian teas. To obtain the perfec- 

 tion of these qnaUties it becomes essential to use the best 

 Indian varieties. 



The cultivation of tea is, in India, much more a mat- 

 ter of science than it is in the Celestial Empire. The 

 Chinese, from time immemorial, have grown their teas 

 on every little available space— sometimes on hillsides 

 sometimes on patches of land comparatively barren. They 

 have used Uttle or no manure; in fact, the son has fol- 

 lowed in lus father's steps without attempting to excel 



On the contrary, the growth of the tea industry in 

 India has been fostered by many experiments— experiments 

 as to the climate most suitable to tea-growing, as to the 

 soil most congenial to it, and the manure by which it is 

 most nourished; experiments as to the best methods of 

 manufactiu'e, and also experiments to ascert.ain the best 

 kind of plant to cultivate. All these problems have been 

 solved to a certain extent, but there is no doubt much 

 progress will still be made. 



When, therefore, we consider the difference between a 

 system of cultivation so barred to progress as that of the 

 Chines .' and one so enterprizing as that of the English in 

 India, we cannot wonder that, while Indian tea has been 

 advancing greatly in public estimation, China tea has made 

 comparatively little progress. 



There is one remarkable difference between Indian and 

 China teas, and that is, while first, second, third, and 

 fourth crop China teas are different in character, and res- 

 pectively inferior the one to the other, there is nothing 

 m Indian tea to proclaim its rekationship to any particular 

 crop 01' gathering. 



The following are the principal districts from which our 

 supply of Indian teas is obtained : — 



A.ssam Hazaribagh (Chota Nagpore). 



DarjeeHng. Chitt.agong. 



Cachar and Sylhet. Xeilgherry (Madras). 



Kangra. Dooars. 



Dehra Dhoon. .Tulipg. : ie. 



Kumaou and .Simla. Rangu: : 



Trade. 



The Art of Tea Blending : a Handbook for the Tea 



