572 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[January i, 1883. 



TEA PLANTING IN INDIA. 



The Indigo Planiem' Gazettp. d^es not believe that 

 " tea planting in India is over-done." " We hold 

 that not more than one-third of our Indian tra ovglit 

 to find its way to the United Kingdom. After we 

 have shutout, by giving a fair article at a low price, 

 rhina t-as from India, Cabul, Persia, and the Con- 

 tinent the biilance ought to go to the English market; 

 and when we learn that these as well as the Ameri- 

 can and Australian markets are glutted with Indian tea 

 we may then a mit that " tea-plauting in India is 

 overdone," In the mean time it behoves planters and 

 estate owners to pay more attention to their manu- 

 facture, pavticularly to the perfect dying of the finished 

 tea prior to packing ; and managers ought to bear in 

 mind the old watchword of the pioneers of tea-plant- 

 ing in India 'we hfve got to heat the Chinese.'" 

 Althoujli at some few gardens manufacturing is, 

 to some extent, going on, it may be said that season 

 1882 is now closed, and, except in very few instances, 

 with poor returns to owners. The estimates for the 

 season were very large, and according to the exper- 

 ience of past years this full quantity was scarcely 

 expected, but planters this year have fully justified 

 their returns, and they and owners have to Ije con- 

 gratulated on the quantity made. The quantity 

 made does not alone account for the heavy 

 fall in prices which has occurred within the 

 last twelve months, and there is no doubt that the 

 quality of tlie outturn has had much to do with it. 

 Managers generally have plucked as fine leaf as usual, 

 and, we have no doubt, have done their best to en- 

 sure good tea, but with such heavy flashes, which 

 have been common (his year, it has, firstly, been 

 diflScult to get the leaf otf as young, and again, the 

 large quantities sent in to the factories have tried 

 their resources to the uttermost, especially as regards 

 withering, and sometimes leaf has had to be made 

 up quickly in the best manner possible. Planters 

 cannot be blamed if difficulties of this sort come in 

 their way, as with such a press of work it is im- 

 possible to turn out such quality as they themselves 

 would feel a pride in producing. The only way in 

 which this can be remedied is hy employing more 

 machinery ; but then again, machine ma'le teas, as a 

 rule, have been complained of by the brokers. They 

 have been called " hard rolled leaf," and the liquors 

 of machine dried teas are styled "roasted flavour, 

 baky, over-fired," &c. We do not considtr the 

 machines should be blamed for this, but it seems 

 to be in many cases want of intelligent supervision 

 at the machines. The judicious regulation of the 

 weights in the rollers and of the temperature in 

 the driers is not work that can confidently be left 

 to a native engineer. It wants some one of higher 

 intelligence, one who can properly judt:e as to state 

 of the leaf when brought in, and all those little 

 matters which it is well-kuowu are not sufficiently 

 attended to by the ordinary class of tea house native 

 assistants. We do not think it is sutficient to have 

 occasional supervision, but it should be constant ; 

 of course there would be some extra expense, but 

 the tea made, would without doubt, be much belter 

 and the garden results woulil easily bear the extra- 

 man's salary. — Indigo Planters' Gazette. 



Tomatoes as a Remedy for Liver Complaint.— For 

 people, troubled with a liver — and every one seems to be 

 conscious of possessing that rebellious organ now a 

 days — the free consumption of tomatoes, raw or cooked, 

 is belter than all the doctor's stuff in the world. This 

 is now very widely known, and people who have a 

 natural or acquired taste for tomatoes find the food- 

 medicine so very agreeable that they will not wilhngiy 

 go a day without aome of it during tha tomato aeaaou. 



The consequence ia that tomatoes are dear, and they 

 will certainly be very much dearer if the supply is not 

 largely increased. When they can be grown with ad- 

 vantage at all, they are very prolific, and I have no 

 doubt that they can be grown to sell with profit at 3d. 

 per lb. — Mark Lane Express. 



Mr. Halltley's Plea for Weeds (page 573) is not 

 to us conclusive. It was after the era of clean weeding 

 that the largest average crops were obtained, although, 

 no doubt, good crops were obtained in spite of weeds. 

 The absence of weeds cannot possibly be the cause 

 of leaf fungus, but their presence forms a nidus for 

 the spores. The scientists advise the removal and 

 burning np of twigs even. Mr. Halliley's advice is to 

 conserve the weeds ! 



The Madras AoRicnLTURAL Exhibition of Fee- 

 RnARY 1883. — In connection with this exhibition prizes 

 are to be given for Essays in regard to which some 

 of our tropical agriculturists might compete ; for in- 

 stance : — 



For an essay on manurial substances : animal, vege- 

 table, and mineral, procurable in India. The report 

 must especially notice those substances which are as 

 yet unutilized in the agricultural practice of India. 

 The probable cost of each manure when prepared for 

 use, and the uses to which each is particularly suited, 

 must be particularly noticed — BIOO. 



For an essay on the management of soils under 

 coftee, or tea. or cinchona in the Madras Presidency, in 

 view to maintaining their fertilitj' — R'250. 



Intending competitors should apply to W. R. Robert- 

 son, Esq., Superintendent of the Uovernment Agricul- 

 tural Farm, Saidapet, Madras, from whom all informa* 

 tiou I'egardiug the exhibition can be had, 



ViTicuLTUKE IN Ceylon. — On page 570 we publish 

 another iuteresting letter respecting vine culture 

 in Jafi'ua, and to the gossip respecting the Boude- 

 wyn and Bartholomeuz families, whom we knew well 

 some forty years ago, we may as well add our own 

 modicum of old-world lore The late Mr. P. F. 

 Toussaint, District Judge of Point Pedro, told us 

 that a predecessor of his hi the Magistracy of the most 

 northern town in Ceylon, a Dutch gentleman named 

 Maxfeldt, had a fine vinery, which he wished his 

 English successor in office to take over at a valua- 

 tion. This the Englishman declined to do, when the 

 Dutchman proceeded to destioy the vines. — The red- 

 soiled uplands in the Jaffna Peninsula, alluded to by 

 our correspondent, as capable of irrigation by deep 

 wells, always seemed to us to be well fitted for vine 

 culture, and had we had money we should have tried 

 an experiment wdien resident at Point Pedro. Any 

 one willing to go into the enterprize now, would 

 have the advantage of getting from Australia, espe- 

 cially hot, Souther i Australia, cuttings of all the 

 finest varieties of wine and table grapes, introduced 

 from Europe at vast expense and now acclimatized to 

 bear extreme heat. Be it remembered that in ad- 

 dition to the Ceylon market, and the demand for 

 steamers calling at Colombo, there would be the large 

 markets of Southern India. When the writer of this 

 was Sub-Collector of Point Pedro, he had the over- 

 sight of the catamarans which carried the mails to 

 and from Point Calimere, on the opposite continent, 

 a distance of some fifty miles, and he found that the 

 catamaran men took regularly supplies of Jaffna 

 grapes, for Madras civilians and military men, who 

 with their families came to Point CaUmere for a sea 

 change. Steamers ply to Colombo as our correspond- 

 ent points out ; while the run, even by catamaran 

 to Point Calimere or Negapatam, could be quickly ac- 

 complished, and from Negapatam there is the Indian 

 railway system communicating with Madras and 

 aU the chief towns. The enterprize seems worthy of 

 Gousideratioa t 



