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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[July t, 10^4. 



is put in, there you are sure of plants. I have no 

 wish to prejudice the sale which so many nursery- 

 men are now doing well on. In fact, two years ago 

 I got K30 per thousand for tea plants, and my con- 

 science in no way interfered with my accepting this 

 figure (which at the time I thought rather too little) ; 

 but what I wish to make clear is that tea plants are 

 now, or will be shortly, within the reach of every- 

 body, and that consequently a tremendous increase 

 in the planted acreage will be the result. Tea will 

 be planted wherever men have the land and money, 

 and this tea will in most cnses not be of the good 

 jats which we shall surely require when we compete 

 with India. Low prices will always fall heavier on 

 the men who have inferior kinds, and in many cases 

 estates which would not even grow coffee trees will 

 be expected to make their owners' fortune in tea. 

 The result will be that in a few years Ceylon tea 

 will lose its present high character, and this, re- 

 operating on the people who have in some measure 

 caused it, will entail widespread ruin and disaster. 

 Now, sir, is it not time to utter words of well-meant 

 warning ? I am no pessimist, and have great faith 

 in the bright future in store for tea where judiciously 

 planted, and with high-class plants ; but anyone can 

 see much trouble looming in the distance for those 

 who recklessly shove plants of any sort into any 

 soil in any way, so as to be able to call a con- 

 siderable acreage " tea." I pray that they may not 

 bring down others with them. Would it be an im- 

 possibility to procure through the agency of the 

 Central Association the results of the cultivation of, say, 

 ten tea estates in various localities, i.e., expenditure 

 and nett returns, number of coolies per acre and cost 

 of machinery, with range of jprices to show increase 

 or decrease during last two or three years. Some- 

 thing of the sort should be certainly done both for 

 the information of the planters and for the necessary 

 consideration of the labour question which (if, as I 

 have heard stated, tea estates require in full plucking 

 three coolies per acre without contractor) will soon 

 prove a terrible drawback to the enterprise. — I am, 

 dear sir, yours, &c. , A. B. C. 



GERMINATION OF CEARA RUBBER SEEDS. 

 Mercara, North Coorg, Madras, 2nd June 16S4. 



Dear Sib, — I have read your paper with great in- 

 terest, and, though I have received much valuable 

 information from it, I have never hitherto been in a 

 position to add to its stores of knowledge. I have 

 lately been making experiments in the growth of 

 Ceara rubber. It seemed to me that the tedious 

 operation of filing each seed might he done away 

 with. 



I am glad to be able to inform you that my ex- 

 periments have been at last crowned with success. 

 By my method the attacks of auts need not be 

 guarded against, as it seems only to be liable to suoh 

 attacks when filed. The rats seem also to leave it 

 alone which is another great thing. In fact, by this 

 system, no plants need be lost at all with a little 

 care. I will now proceed to explain what should be done. 



Put iuto a shallow box (a brandy case will 

 do) about two to three inches of fresh horse-dung, 

 first removing carefully any straws, &c. Then Having 

 spread it out smoothly, lay the seed rather thickly 

 on it ; after this cover the seed with the same number 

 of inches of the same material. Nothing more need 

 then be done but to take care that the dung be 

 kept damp. The seed germinates in a week to ten 

 days, and shortly afterwards shows above the manure. 

 It must then be transplanted into a nursery or into 

 baskets filleel with eaiih as the dung will not be 

 sufficient alone. 



I hope the above will be of use to some 

 brother-planter, and that, when others try it, 



they may be able to improve upon it. I have only 

 lately made this discovery and have no doubt ti.at 

 two heads or more will prove better than one.— I leg 

 to remain, dear sir, yours faithfully, 



J. B. FERGUSON. 



RICE CULTURE BY MEANS OF MANURE. 



Sir, — Mr. Werakody's statement (p. 875, Vol. III.) shows 

 that the yield of rice is increasi d by the use of fish refuse as 

 manure, but it would have been more complete and in- 

 structive to his fellow-cultivators, had he mentioned the 

 extent of land over which the manure was used, and 

 the increase in weight or measure of the crop due 

 to the 2 cwt. of fish used. That manure of any kind 

 will more or less benefit paddy ia not a thing that 

 needs proof, but the eiuestion really to be settled is 

 how many cents worth of paddy can be got from, say 

 50 cents worth of manure applied to the soil. The 

 way to settle this point is : take two equal extents 

 of the same field ; leave the one plot unmanured, 

 but in every other respect treated the same as 

 the manured portion ; keep an exact account of the 

 original cost, carriage and application of the manure. 

 When the crop is reaped, weigh or measure the whole 

 crop of the unmanured plot ; weigh or measure an 

 exactly equal quantity of the crop of the manured 

 plot. That which remains over, is due to the manure 

 used, and, to make it a paying transaction, should 

 be of sufficient local value to cover the whole cost 

 of the manure and leave an overplus as profit 

 otherwise it will not pay. It is nonsense to say, 

 that rich manure tends to further impoverish laud 

 already as poor as it can well be. All organic 

 matter in its decomposition yields more or less 

 plant-food, and, in so far as its composition con- 

 tains plant-food, it will enrich the soil to that 

 extent. The cultivator has no right to complain 

 of the result of a manuie that increases his 

 crop to the extent of paying all costs and 

 leaving a profit. He must not look for permanent 

 improvement from a single application. When the 

 crops have exhausted the mauure, of course, the 

 land will be as poor as ever, but he cannot eat his 

 cake and have his cake : if he finds that 50 cents 

 worth of mauure will give him an additional CO 

 cenis worth of crop, he will stand in his own light, 

 if he does not repeat the operation as often as he 

 finds it necessary. The fertility of exhausted land 

 can only be restored by putting iuto it more plant- 

 fooel than the crops take out of it, and to bring it 

 up to a given standard the applications of manure 

 must be frecjuent. L. 



[Lawes' experiments proved that the effect of 

 stable manure applied to land was evieleut a 

 score of years subsequently, and there can be 

 little doul t that so in proportion other manures 

 will not uiily give betier crops but absolutely add 

 to the fer ility of the soil. — Ed.] 



Camphor is made in Japan in this way: After a tree 

 is felled to the earth it is cut up into chips, which are 

 laid in a tub on a large iron post partially filled with water 

 antl placed over a slow fire. Through holes in the bottom 

 of the tub steam rises slowly, and, heating the chips, 

 generates oil and camphor. Of course the tub with the 

 chips has a closely fitting cover. From this cover a bamboo 

 pipe leads to a succession of other tubs with bamboo con- 

 nections, and the last of these tubs is divided iuto two com- 

 partments, one above the other — the dividing floor being 

 perforated with small holes to allow the water and oil to 

 pass to a lower compartment. The upper compartment is 

 supplied with a straw layer, which catches ami holels the 

 camphor in crystal in deposit as it passes to the cooling 

 process. The canvphor is then separated from the straw, 

 packed iu wooden tubs anel is reaely for the market. The 

 oil is used by the natives for illuminating and other pur- 

 poses.— Leader. 



