August r, 18S5.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



51 



^on'i^spondonci:!. 



To the Editor of the " Ceylon Ol'setrer. " 



BLACK-BUG ON COFFEE. 



Agra Store, 22ad June 1SS5. 

 Dear Sir, — One of your onrrespnndeQts wishes to 

 know the liest remedy for the cure of black-bug in 

 coffee. If you think the enclojed is worth your notice, 

 you might advise iiim to try it, and kindly publiah 

 it in your next. — Yours faithfully, 



WILLIAM JDDD. 



Cure for Black Bra on Coffee, — First cut down 

 all giiava trees iu the field near the buggy coffee 

 and bury or burn all branches and leaves. Spread a 

 thick covering of pig manure on the surface 18 inches 

 wide all round the tree, taking care that the manure is 

 direct from the stye without any m xture of cattle- 

 manure, and I have not the least doubt you will soon 

 see a favorable change iu the coffee. 



MOIST VS. DRY HEAT FOR TEA 

 WITHERING. 



Kelani Valley, 24th June ISSo. 



Dear Sir,—" Agricola" 'a Withering Rebuke to a pract- 

 ical proprietor is amusing, if not instructive. "P.P.," 

 however, is not far wrong in his theory, though 

 (probably owing to the steamy atmosphere in which 

 his speculations were carried on) his ideas of cause 

 and effect are less clear than might have been, had 

 they been formed under more favourable circum- 

 stances. During many years of tea planting both in 

 cold and hot climates, I have had my full share of 

 the difficulties a planter has to contend with in the 

 matter of withering, and have made many (I confess 

 futile) attempts to overcome them by artificial means. 

 To sum up the re-ults of years of experience in a few 

 words, I find ;— 



(Ut; That really good tea cannot be made from 

 leaf that ha» been subjected to a higher temperature 

 than 90° during the withering. 



(2nd) That the cause lies not in any waste of 

 juices, but from the action of extreme beat 

 rendering the leaf unfit for (or incapable of) 

 undergoing the chemical changes necessary to produce 

 what we call fermentation : the result of forced 

 withering being an uneven greenish outturn, a thin pale 

 liquor and a harsh unpleasant flavour not unlike a 

 weak cup of bad green tea. To illustrate the effect 

 of the heat by an extreme case : if the leaf be 

 subjected to a temperature that would fit it for 

 rolling within an hour after plucking, the result 

 would be a perfectly grcfn outturn, a pale straw- 

 coloured liquor and almost as bitter as an infusion of 

 cinchona bark. 



(.3rd) That, up to 80° or So" a perfectly dry 

 atmosphere is best for withering, but above t)0° 

 moist heat alTeota the fermentation far less than 

 dry heat ; so much is this the case, that I believe 

 110' would not injure the leaf if the atmos|ih<re 

 were charged with imusture — at the same time, be it 

 remembered that 110° of moist air would take as 

 long to wither the leaf as 85" of dry. Never having 

 studied solenoe, I cannot tell " Agr.cola " why moist 

 heat has less injurious effect on tlie lenf t an dry 

 heat, but that it is to, I know from 



EXPERIENCE. 



PLANTING NOTES FROM TAVOY, BRITISH 

 BURMA : 



THE VALUE OF A GOOD JAT OF TEA. 



Sir, — Isee " Lindula Proprietor" complains of want 

 of information about indigenous tea. Can't find it in tha 

 T. A. Dear me. Liudula, Esq., put on your ?pee< 

 and look up July number, pp. 13 and ,3!), year 1833, and 

 you will find information as far back as 1874, sumo years 

 ago, Mr. Editor ; and one can have oouUr demouatiatioii 

 of results in Seaforth, Horagalla, VV'mdsur Forest mid 

 St. Rumbold^, not a long distance from Liudula There 

 you will find the oldest indigenous and the heat 

 hybrid that is to be found in t'eylon, di.stinctioii 

 easily perceived by an experienced eye : colour of 

 leaf and bark of tree quite dititrent, of a much 

 lighter pale-green leaf, and the bark of the ludiuenous 

 tree of a much lighter colour than cither China or 

 hybrid. 



Those seeda of indigenou? and high-class hylirid 

 are the first of the kind turned to good practical 

 account. And it does » poor fellow's heart gooil (in 

 this lonely spot) to read the grand r.ccount of those 

 estates still holdmg their own, and to think of tlie 

 "senior editor 'looking down upon them with .idmiration 

 when he surmises that they must surely have been 

 planted with indigenous or near the real Simon pure, 

 Quito right, indigenous and No. 1 hybrid ! 

 Indigenous. Hyhrid. 

 5 maunda to GO 

 I may be able to further enlighten some of you, 

 on the value of a good jdt of tea. I remeniljtr some 

 of you pooh-poohed Oiveua quutalitma im the v.i:ue (.f 

 a mauud of tea-.>-eed. I h^ve i ow iu my p .sse.s.-iiou 

 replies from four different, firm^ in O.ilcutta. and 

 prices of tea-seed from Pv,25 to K150 per maund. 



I had the plea-uie of seeing Mr, W^inl here whet) 

 he came to T.avoy : although he had little tim^, he 

 came to see me here. Mr. Wur,! is now Chiif Com- 

 misaionir of A-sain, was f rmerl\ Jii licial Comniissiouer 

 there, and, a* he is a man ot observation and takes 

 a gr at iuteieat in tea cultivation, he gave me sterling 

 good advice. Ho taid : " If y u plant tea, put in the 

 best hybrid and indigenous that you can secure j 

 plants of an interior kind will thrive well for a time, 

 better even thau indigei.ona or A 1 hybrid, as they 

 feed for a time <m the puriace soil, but tliey have 

 not got strength to penetrate Mime sub-toils, and all 

 inferior jilts atter a time do not pay to keep up." 

 Indigenous will make way with its root.s through 

 rott-n rocks, but iudigenous should not be planted 

 alone. From all information 1 have got, the best 

 flavoured tea and greatist quautity for an average 

 yield is from tea p'.auttJ wiih indigenous and hybrid 

 mixed. In the tea districts now, inferior tea is 

 being pulled up, and the best kinds being pknted 

 instead. I trust this informatiou may be of some 

 use to your lovely island. — Yours faithfully, 



JAMES D. WATSON. 

 P.iS.— Can you give me any information on the 

 value of annatto seed ?— J. D. W. [Let " J. D. W." 

 refer to page 65G, vol. 1883-84 of T.A.—Ev.] 



TAVOY SIAM KOAD. 

 The scenery down the river is intensely pretty. High 

 hills averaging 800 to 1,000 feet, running along on 

 cither side and thickly woorlod to their very .summits. It 

 certainly is not child's play for the Assistant Kngineors to 

 trace the roa I, for in many places the hills seem to bo 

 literally almost perpemlicular, and it is a case of holding 

 on by one's eyelids, while tlie brushwood is so dense and 

 tangled that iu many places one has to actually crawl 

 through it to get to an opening wlicn tracing. I'lenty 

 of game ahound.'J in the shape of sninhur and harking 

 deer, wild pigs, deer, rhinoceroses, jungle fowl.s, pea hcuB 



