May x, 1885.] 



THS TROPICA!. AGRICULTURIST. 



841 



TEA MANURES. 



Pending the day when the tea-planters of Ceylon 

 will be able to invite Mr. John Hughes, F. C. s., to 

 repeat his visit to this island, we cannot do better 

 than pay attention to the sound and thoroughly 

 practical advice which he has been good enough to 

 send U3 in the following paper. It will be observed 

 that Mr. Hughes bases his advice on the inform- 

 ation published as to crops already gathered of tea 

 on some of our richer plantations. He then shows 

 us, as only a scientific agricultural chemist can, what 

 such crops mean in reference to our soils, and the 

 withdrawal of the various indispensable crop con 

 stituents. Finally, he gives us in the plainest 

 form his counsel as to how the principal con. 

 stituents needed for tea plantations in Ceylon can 

 be supplied ; and it only remains, therefore, that 

 merchants who are in a position to sell to the planters 

 finely-ground steamed bones, castor or cotton cake, 

 should make the fact known. We trust that several 

 expeuments will at once be made in accordance with 

 Mr, Hughes's suggestion in different districts and at 

 different elevations, so aa to have the results made 

 known for guidauce iu the future. Such results 

 would be most interesting to Mr. Hughes himself, 

 and, as we have already said, he might by-and-bye 

 be got to pay another visit to our planting districts ! 

 His paper is as follows : — 



It has been very properly pointed out by recent 

 writers in the Ceylon Observer that the actual yield 

 of tea per acre must not be taken as a true guide 

 to the special merits of one estate against another, 

 for the quality as well as the quantity must be 

 considered. 



In these days of new production it would be a 

 serious mistake to expect that quantity should be 

 able to make up for an inferiority in the quality, 

 inorg especially as the tea industry being comparatively 

 new iu Ceylon, and its character hitherto rendered 

 famous in the Mincing Lauc markets by reason of 

 its line flavour aud da:k-colore 1 liquor, it ia most 

 imnortant that the consignments should only be of 

 the best obtainable quality. These practical points 

 will, of course, naturally occur to the minds of ex- 

 perienced planters, but with plenty of available labour, 

 well-appointed machinery cpable of turning out a 

 large yield per diem, there is always a strong tempt- 

 ation to piofc coarsely rather than finely ami so in- 

 crease the bulk. It should however be remember d 

 that a yield of 1,000 lb. to 1,200 lb. of prepared 

 tea per acre must be regarded as a somewhat 

 exhausting crup, and that, while newly-opened 

 estates may, and probably do, produce so largo a 

 quantity for the present, yeo we must expect a falung- 

 orl in a few years' time as a result of coutinu d and 

 heavy cropping. Indeed, uuless the soil is specially 

 rich or some help in the Form of manure be afforded, 

 the peculiar forcing nature of a favourable climate only 

 contributes to the more rapid exhaustion of the soil. 



According to Peligot, a di tingui'ehea chemist who 

 has devoted particular attention to th 3 analyses of 

 tea, the leaves of thi3 plant a e -pec ally rich iu nitro- 

 gen; thus iu perfectly dried ti 1 at 1 10 • '. he [1 and :— 

 In 100 parts of Pekoe ... 6 5S of nitrogen. 

 „ Gunpowder 002 ., 



Souchong ... li'lo 

 ,, Assam ... 5 10 „ 



From analyses of Lcyhui tea made by my* If I believe 

 the average proportion of nitrogen is sometvbat less 

 106 



than is usually found in ordinary Assam tea, and 1 

 think we may fairly assume that in 1,000 lb, of Ceylon 

 tea as sold we have : — 



Nitrogen ... 45 lb. 

 Potash ... 22 ,, 



Phosphorio acid S ,, 

 Lime ... 2J,, 



Now, 45 lb. of nitrogen is as much as would be re- 

 moved per acre by an average crop of wheat, barley 

 or oats, allowing for the nitrogen coutainod in the 

 straw as well as in the graiu ; and we know that 

 continuous corn-growing is very exhausting and can 

 only be done uuder the most favorable circumstances. 

 Further, it is always usual to return the straw in 

 some form to the land so that at least a quarter of 

 the original nitrogen removed is really returned. 

 Again, in the matter of potash, an average ciop 

 (30 bushels) of wheat removes 10 lb. in the grain, 

 and ... ... 18 „ in the straw, 



also (40 bushels) barley removes 10 ,, iu the grain, 



24 ,, in the straw, 

 and (45 bushels) oats removes 9 ,, in the grain, 



30 ,, in the straw. 

 Therefore, in respect of potash, we must regard a 

 yield of 1,000 lb. of made tea twice as exhausting as 

 an average crop of the abovenamed cereals, assuming 

 that the straw of the latter is always returned to 

 the land. 



But Ceylon soils are somewhat poor in potash readily 

 available for plant-food, and I should therefore think it 

 most desirable that potash as well as nitrogen should 

 eventually be applied to tea plantations in the form of 

 some manure. 



Next we come to the phosphoric acid which stands 

 at 8 lb., which seems small, but practical experience 

 plainly shows the good results of the application of 

 phosphatic manures, and the analysis of a great number 

 of Ceylon soils clearly indicates the necessity of 

 supylying this most important constituent of plaut-tood. 

 Lime stands last and amounts to only 2£ lb. from 

 1.010 lb. of tea, but we find that an average yield of 

 corn, whether wheat, barley or oats, does not contain: 

 in the grain more than 1 or 2 lb. per acre, as against 

 8 or 9 lb. in the straw. 



There is, therefore, no direct necessity to supply- 

 lime, though it may be indirectly useful in the prepar- 

 ation of plant-food, and for the retention of carbonic 

 acid brought down with the rain, and thus assist 

 in the future disintegration of the granite rock. 



Having thus briefly noticed the few leading con- 

 stituents which require to be applied iu the form of 

 tea manure it is only necessary to remark that, nitrogen 

 can be most usefully provided either from castor, 

 rape, decorticated cotton cake, dried fish, shoddy or 

 cattle manure. That potash can be obtained either 

 os muriate or as sulphate of potash ; the latter probably 

 being the most suitable to Ceylon soils. 



Phosplmric acid can be applied either in small doses 

 of concentrated super, containing 20 per c nt or mora 

 of soluble phosphoric acid, or else iu the form of 

 finely-ground steamed bones which moreover are also 

 rich in nitrogen. As the latter can be obtained at 

 Colombo at a reasonable rite, planters can make a 

 practical t'ial for themselves. Lime will be contained 

 also iu the super, and the bone-, will not in such 

 a case have to be applied separately. 



I 1 onclusion a mixed manure made from Ibe materials 

 can be so compounded that a 100 parts would contain 

 Nitrogen ... ... 4 per cent 



Potash ... ... 3 ,, 



Phosphoric acid ... 10 ,, 

 and this could be applied this next season by waj of 

 making a practical experiment, 



Highly concentrated manures like sulphate of nm- 

 monia, nitrate of eoda, and similar readily soluble 



