THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[July i, 1885, 



veyor should also mark out the ground, showing which 

 part would bo most suitable for tea cultivation, cattle 

 ground, and timber reserve — giving the area of each. In 

 order properly to examine a piece of jungle laud, it is 

 necessary to cut paths or farries through the dense under- 

 growth ; and if this work is not carefully supervised, the 

 natives invariably follow any old tracks which may happen 

 to run iu the required direction. If there are no tracks 

 they will choose out the lightest jungle, and as in laud con- 

 eieting of chains of hills and valleys, the lightest jungle as 

 well as the old jungle paths generally run along the top 

 of the hill ranges, a false notion will be given to any one 

 passing along a farrie thus cut of the area of the land ; 

 and it continually happens that gardens are opened up on 

 undesirable hill land under the impression that the site 

 chosen is a large flat with a few low hills. On elevations 

 of 2,000 feet or higher, the forest is generally old and the 

 ground light, and iu these places the difficulty of seeing 

 the land would not be so great. 



Soils. — Nearly all soils appear suitable for ten, stiff clay, 

 well drained and cultivated being well adapted for it, as 

 well as the lightest sandy soils on which bamboo jungle 

 grows. Light sandy soil heavily manured appears to give 

 the largest crop, but it is impracticable to manure a large 

 area. Bamboo land is enriched by the large quantity ot 

 leaves which fall every year, and also by the network of 

 fine roots which spread for some distance near the surface 

 of the ground. These roots thorougly disintegrate the soil 

 and serve to manure on the death of the tree. In some 

 places the soil contain large quantities of slate-like stones, 

 or is full of " Kunker," or is hard and gravelly. These 

 places should be avoided, but a mixture of kunker and 

 ■oil a few feet below the surface, and where the kunker 

 only occasionally appears on the surface, is desirable on 

 Bccount of the natural drainage it affords, and also on 

 account of some property in kunker* soil, probably some 

 mineral which is much appreciated by the tea plant. 

 There are some estates below the hills containing some 

 etretches of fine tea growing among large stones which 

 are so thick as to prevent any cultivation except an 

 occasional picking and forking between the stones, but 

 these are exceptions to the general rule. When land 

 prospecting, holes should be dug at short intervals two 

 feet deep, and the soil carefully examined. At every 

 four inch depth, the hole should be cleaned out, and the 

 soil placed in a heap on one side. In this way there 

 would be six heaps, showing the variation of the soil at 

 various depths. The best soil for the tea in hill or plat- 

 eau land is generally black or dark leaf-mould near the 

 surface, with a rich yellow red subsoil. If the soil on examiu- 

 ation prove satisfactory , the prospector may rest assured as 

 to its quality — of bamboo, virgin forest, or very luxuriant 

 sun-grass, or if in the case of low land, ekur or huldie 

 is growing on it. But the soil still better suited for tea, 

 or indeed for any othe"- crop which requires much man- 

 ure as tobacco or sugar is to be found in narrow strips 

 of low swampy land between tee'ahs. The heavy rains 

 rush down the teelahs, carrying with them a small quan- 

 tity ot " wash," and, in the course of centuries, hollows 

 which were below the flood level of the country are 

 raised above it. In these places tall grasses grow— ekur, 

 null, huldie, cane, and eralee grass. Large quantities rot 

 yearly, and new shoots springing up, the result is that 

 the surface soil becomes ;i mass of decayed vegetation 

 to a depth sometimes of thirty six feet or even more. In 

 the higher parts where the swamp rises, trees grow with 

 a dense undergrowth. Sometimes this " tal" or cheel 

 land is coated with a deep surface soil of ,saiul,and in this 

 case it is not so valuable as sand, or sandy soil does not 

 contain much plant food imless under e.tcc-ptionril circum- 

 stances. At other times it con.siets of Hue clay, in which 

 caae if heavily drained and thoroughly cultivated, the 

 clay turns into soil full of nourishment. If the day is 

 dark coloured and full of decaying vegetable uiatter, 

 the result of cultivation is still more satisfactory, and 

 the value of the soil increases with the arooimt of de- 

 cayed vegetation it contains. .Sometinu's the soil on 

 teelah or hill land although containing a large propor- 

 tion of Kand is good for tea, and this is specially the 

 case when it has previously grown bamboo. The loot 



* Kunker is an imparo limcBtouv.— -Gp. 



of the tea plant finds its way readily through the light 

 surface soil, and penetrates deep down into the subsoil 

 which is generally more consistent. The rain also per- 

 colates readily through the sandy surface, and the plant 

 is en.ibled to absorb some of the mineral matter of the 

 soil below. In some parts of Assam stretches of low lying 

 land are found covered with httle mounds three to four feet 

 high called koorka. It is supposed that the mounds are 

 thrown up by worms. This kind of laud is generally 

 drainable, and well suited for tea. Small patches are 

 sometimes seen in Sylhet and Oacbar, where the hills 

 fall away into thedhan khets. 



Labour. — Having found the proper site, the next great 

 question is how to get the very best result at the least 

 possible cost. It is of course impossible to make the 

 cheapest and also the best garden at the same time, and 

 it is still a matter of dispute as to how far it is advisable 

 to increase expenditure to improve results, and what ratio 

 one should bear to the other. Putting the average yield 

 of the bearing tea at 3i maunds, and the working expend- 

 iture at 13Us to 150s per acre, and the average price 

 of the tea at 45s per maund, the annual produce of the 

 acre would realize K157'8 at an annual cost of 130s to 

 150s, or R17 8 yearly profit. The average price and yield 

 have perhaps been fixed a little too low, but the average 

 profit is probably not more than 5 to 6 per cent, while tho 

 cost of opening out the gardens as well as working them 

 is yearly decreasing and though the yield is increasing, 

 the market is falling iu the same ratio — if not faster. 

 Now, as the manufacture of tea, is a delicate operation, 

 and the quality of a crop may easily deteriorate to 

 tho extent of 2 annas per lb., it is evident that a 

 certainty of profit can only be secured on gardens 

 which give a yield considerably above the average, while 

 their working expenses are comparatively low. It costs 

 proportionately far less to turn out six maunds an acre ott 

 a fine garden, than three maunds oflt a poor one. Planters 

 I now understand that a 200 acre garden yielding 1,200 maimds 

 is much more valuable than a 400 acre yielding the same. 



In three estates equally well worked, and in which the 

 same quantity of leaf was plucked, and the same quantity 

 of tea produced, the result might be roughly estimated as 

 follows : — 



•K.<! 



3 6< 





o< 

 u 



CM en 0) o 



K. 1!. Percent. 

 155 700 22 



80 500 IG 



5* 200 2i» 



A estate with a fall of 2 rm". per lb. or realizing 35 rs, 

 per maund for its tea, would still show 9 per cent profit, 

 while O estate under the same circumstances would show 

 a lossof Ti percent, consccjuently an investor with 700 rs. 

 (per acre) would be in a better position with an acre of A 

 estate than with 10 acres of C estate. 



These figures are given to show tiiat it is more import- 

 ant to make a good garden than a cheap cue, and if the 

 difficulties are not po.sitively insuruiountible, it is better 

 to choose the soil which gives a high yield even if 

 it should be disadvantageously situated and costly to operate 

 upon. — rinntey.i' Gazette. 



Some Experiments of Cunsideeable Impoetance, so 

 far as irrigation is concerned, were made during last year 

 at the agricultural farm at Saidapot, in Madras, with the 

 view of ascertaining what quantity of water produced the 

 best returns from soils such as those in the farm. The ex- 

 periments tended to show that the smaller quantities of 

 water representing a rainfall of 1, 2, antl 3 inches respect- 

 ively produced the best outturn, and that a nuich suuiller 

 quantity of water than is commonly used by r.-vyats would 

 siifEce to produce very good crop.s. No comparison, how- 

 ever, is gven of the results of these experiments with the 

 results of irrigation on any land of similar quality by 

 ordinary rayats, or of tho quality ot water usually ma<.le 

 use of by the rayats. — Calcutta Enylishmiui. 



* The profit por acre should be HIS. 

 pev cwt.— Ed, . 



Surely equal to 7?r 



