August i, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



135 



"TEA STATISTICS IN EXCELCIS." 



Such is the heading under which the local " Times " 

 embodies our figures of the tea yield on Abbotsford, 

 noi. in order to inform the few, who do read his sheet 

 aud who do not see the Observer, of the satisfactory 

 progress that is being made in tea cultivation, but 

 in order that he may devote half a column of editorial 

 v isdom to the exposure of the " misapplied," " errone- 

 ous," "absurd," "comic" deductions which were 

 made from them. 



Now in our article it will be seen that we made 

 no deductions editorially : we simply gave our cor- 

 respondent's lignre8 and remarks as he supplied them. 

 But none the less do we consider thar. his figures 

 and deductions are perfectly correct, and we feel sure 

 that they will be accepted as such by all who study 

 them. In order, however, that our Indian friends 

 may not be led away by the specious arguments of 

 the " Times " editor, whose chief object seems to 

 be to encourage them in their belief that Ceylon 

 planters tinge all their doings with a golden hue, 

 which cannot be supported by facts, we take the 

 trouble to explain our correspondent's figures, if such 

 a term be applicable to what ought to need no explan. 

 ation. 



The totals of our correspondent's statistics stand 

 thus : — 110 acres have given 29,117 lb. of made tea 

 in months, upon which he remarks : — "The average 

 yield for the whole acreage for the six months is 

 . r >29 lb. per acre. The yield and average will now go 

 on steadily rising till the end of the year, when I 

 shall again, if spared, send you the 12 months' re- 

 turns, showing I hope, over 600 lb. per acre." Upon 

 this the " Times " observes : — " We cannot refrain 

 therefore from pointing out that 29,117 lb. of made 

 tea oft' 110 acres for six months is about 264^ lb. an 

 acre. Our contemporary's informant thinks otherwise, 

 however, for he makes the result exactly double, 

 namely, 529 lb. per acre. This he has arrived at by 

 halvimj the acreage [We italicize — Ed.] and divid- 

 ing the amount ot made tea by it — a perfectly legitim- 

 ate proceeding to show the probable yield for the 

 whole year, if the second half-year was likely to 

 produce as much as the first, which it is not. But 

 he has forgotten that he has done this and calmly 

 takes The result to be, not the probable result of 12 

 mouths' plucking, but the actual result of the past 

 six ! * If 529 lb. are gathered per acre in six 



mouths, we should have thought that more than 600 

 lb. would be obtained at the end of the year, partic- 

 ularly if ' the yield and average went on rising.' " 



Will our readers kindly study the logic of this 

 tirade. Imagine a critic of figures supposing that our 

 correspondent would, in order to arrive at the 3'ear'a 

 average, halve the acreage and divide the amount of 

 made tea by it! Does it uots ! nkehim that the more 

 usual way is to double the yield aud divide it by the 

 whole acreage ? 



Again, the superintendent of Abbotsford does not say 

 that the actual yield for 6 months was 529 lb. per acre, 

 hut the average yield, a very different thing. As we do 

 not believe in the value of tea-sales averages unless 

 they represent an equal standard of tea, or the whole 

 produce of every estate, so we do not believe in the 

 practical value of the yield of a single acre or a 

 single month, though the figures may be and are 

 highly interesting. The great value of statistics is 

 to show what the whole acreage of an estate has 

 done, or is reasonably likely to do, for the whole 

 year. For instance, we find that in the 8th week for 

 18S4, Abbotsford gave 3,000 lb. made tea: this is at 

 the average rate of 1,418 lb. per acre, and yet we 

 see the average put down at 681 lb. : plainly show 

 ing that the total lb. made up to date were divided 

 by 8 (weeks) aud multiplied by 52 (weeks), in order 

 to discover the true yearly average. The " Times " 



editor not only does not believe, but plainly denies 

 that for the second half of the year Abbotsford will 

 yield as much as the first. Now to show that it 

 may be reasonably expected to yield more, we here 

 re-state some of the facts we have already given. 

 Daring the first half year, 95 out of 110 acres were 

 pruned, 5 in February, and 90 in March, April and 

 May, so that from July onwards all, even the latest 

 pruned portion, will be coming into bearing, and will 

 naturally be yielding more and more each month, 

 while the trees themselves will be growing older aud 

 stronger, and presenting an ever widening plucking 

 surface. Of course, our readers understand that all 

 these and like calculations are based upon the con- 

 dition that no disease do materially injure the trees. 

 Another reason for expecting an increase of yield is 

 that throughout the whole 95 acres, the prnniugs, 

 weeds and near-lying rubbish, such as rotting-wood, 

 ravine-soil, stable aud cuttle- manure, &c, have been 

 buried in the rows on the upper side of the bushes, 

 and surely this fact of itself would be quite suffi- 

 cient for the manager of an estate to rely upon in 

 looking for larger returns. The Calcutta Commis- 

 sioner, however, may be a believer in the idiotio theory 

 put forward the other day that it is useless manur- 

 ing tea, as it Bends its tap-root so far down into the 

 subsoil ! 



MR. JARDINE ON CACAO AND ITS 

 ENEMIES. 

 Mr. Jardine has thought it worth his while to 

 answer the flippant letter in the " Times" which we 

 recently noticed, and gives valuable facts as the re- 

 sult of his observation. He evideutly believes that 

 true Caracas cacao will resist the attacks of insects. 

 We quote a3 follows : — 



I have always held that the mischief done to the cacao 

 shoots was due to an insect or insects; at the same time 

 I think it quite possible that the abnormal season has 

 had something to do with its unusual virulency. Surely 

 I need not tell " P. F. L." that debilitated trees (equally 

 with animals) are more liable to attacks of disease than 

 healthy ones. What then more likely than that the sap 

 was in some way changed, and rendered more platable to 

 the insects ? It is a pity, no doubt, but still it is a fact, 

 that I cannot attribute the damage done here to the 

 Helopeltis, though I am bound to believe your corre- 

 spondent wheu he states that the mischief done to 

 places under his observation is due to them. I have 

 not kuown the insect for so long as " P. F. L.," still I 

 know it well enough, aud deplore the damage it does 

 to the cacao pods. When it is proved to me that the 

 Helopeltis does not breed iu the cacao tree, but in some 

 other, aud the attacks are all made by the fvil-grovm 

 Jiil only, I may theu be prepared to believe the mischief 

 is due. to them ; but, so long as I see the insect in its 

 unhedged state in numbers, on the cacao pods, ami 

 still see no harm done to the young shoots, I hope I 

 may be permitted to doubt. Helopeltis has been here 

 for three years and caused much damage to pods, but is 

 it not. to say the least, strange that during all that 

 time they never attacked the young shoots ? Most cacao 

 planters will, I am sure, bear me out in this, namely, 

 that for some years, Helopeltis has been numerous, and 

 done more or less damage to cacao pods, but not to young 

 shoots ! In the face of " P. F. L's " sneering disbelief at 

 my statement, that the destruction here was caused in a 

 few nights, I repeat the assertion. From the time 



the insects disappeared from the20-acre field I allude to 



anil be it observed that no other part of the estate was 

 attacked — in about August 1881, up to the first week in 

 May 1884, there had not bei-u any sign of insect attacks 

 on the place. I have had many opportunities of con- 

 trasting cacao grown under forest shade aud in the open, 

 and where shelter belts have been planted, and the opinion 

 1 have formed is that shade is hurtful, but shelter 

 beneficial. These last should not be planted too close, saya 

 ] chain apart, on sloping land, and 'JO feet in Hats. They may 



