September i, 1SS5.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



191 



paira only ; though a few may arrive as migrants as 

 well in the cold season, certain it is that all our well- 

 known migrants of the iliuinal birils of prey (I al- 

 lude in particular to the barriers) come over in that 

 season, and tlitir coming and going is as well detiaed 

 as that of the swallow (//. rufticus) orthe grey wag- 

 tail (;!/. ?Hi'aH«j)e), the latter being the very earliest 

 to arrive in this district of all our cold season visit- 

 CT3, and the earliest date I have noticed it at, was the 

 first week in September, but as a rule it arrives a 

 week or two later. I am (jnite sure the Uobby in 

 question was nn adult bird, and therefore almost 

 certainly to have nested at the usual time, which is 

 early spring with all birds of prey, and probably a 

 second batch later on. One can hardly suppose that 

 this bird was a forlorn bachelor rushing through the 

 world in search of a mate ! So I commend your read- 

 ers who tike an interest in Ornitholo{.y, to try and 

 clear up the mystery ns to whether Ceylon may claim 

 as a resident ihe Indian Hobby. ZOOZOO. 



PRACTICAL HINTS ON TEA CULTIVATION. 



Sib, — With books now available on every detail con- 

 nected with the culture of tea, from the seed to the 

 cup, and the Tropical Agricidhirist monthly, teeming 

 with information, it may be supposed that further 

 hints as regards the elementary stages are quite un- 

 necessary. Having recently come across more than one 

 nursery however, that, through want of attention to 

 ample details, are partial failures, and having in view 

 the many failures cf coffee nurseries down — shall I 

 say to the end of the cotf'ee era?— and as the Ohscrvtr 

 penetrates nooks and corners where books have not yet 

 found their way, I am induced to offer you some bints 

 wh'ch I trust may be useful to someone; — beginning with 

 Nursfies. — The soil for nurseries should be free, 

 open, loamy, and rich, for the following reasons: — It 

 is hardly practicable to put in the seed with the eye 

 placed in such a way as the germ of the root would 

 be downward aod that cf the stem upward ; but, if 

 planted in free light soil, it matters little how the 

 Seed is placed. N-iture has endowed it with sutficicnt 

 adaptive power to rectify itself. As it grows it will 

 turn i'self right and form a straight plant. If on the 

 other haul you put seerl in a clo<e, still' soil some of 

 those ihat happen to have their eyes down w.U not 

 be able to come up at all : this .accounts for moie 

 of the v.-cancies tliat recur when seeel is pbinteil at 

 stske than is generally thought of. Others will ijrow 

 up round the seed, not being nble to turn it and will 

 form a knotted or club-rooted plant which every ex- 

 perienced planter throws away. There are men who^e 

 opinions deserve respect, who tell that nurseries thould 

 be made io poor soil, giving as a reason thar plants 

 removeel from a poor soil to a rieher turn out the 

 moit auccesstul. i belie I'e that in more of an accipted 

 theory than a eound one or one founded on experience 

 or experiment. Next to good seed, good soil is ne- 

 ces'ary to get ^ood sturdy well-devel< ped plants. 

 No one ever beard of a planter preferring to buy the 

 thmskinned starved wires of a poor nursery if he 

 could procure the vigorous plants cf a richer sril. 

 In preparing a tea-nursery seven or eight inci es 

 depth it enough to dig the seil, and if there is a 

 hard subsoil so much the better to discourag'; the 

 growth of a taproot. Four feet is aconTcnicnt 1 readth 

 to peg cIT the beds, with eighteen inch alleys be- 

 tween. I mention these small matters because I saw 

 a nursery the other day, the formation of which had 

 been left purely to coolies. The beds were more like 

 potato drills or ridges than nursery beds, the alleys 

 taking up more of the space than the beds. The beds 

 should be raked to an even surface slightly raised 

 in the middle. Cross lines are the most convenient 

 aud the plauts easily counted in them. They may be 



made by using a kind of heavy rake with five or six 

 wooden angular teeth -l^ or 5 inches apart drawn across 

 the btd. The seed may then be planted three inches 

 or thereby apart in the lines and at such depth as 

 to be IJ inch when the surface is levelled. 



Planting. — Now as to planting, whether is it the bet- 

 ter system to plant seed at stake or to plant 

 stumps or plants from the nursery ? Both systems 

 have their advocates, aud circumstances will often 

 iutluence the decision. In case of the land being 

 already open and having to be kept clean, and 

 no nursery available, there is strong inducement 

 to put in seed : the work is done and the cost of 

 making a nursery saved. It should be kept in 

 mind, however, that planting of all kinds should be 

 firmly done : a loosely-tilled hole keeps too much 

 water, and the plants have not the same chance 

 to establish their roots nor resist wind. If to 

 avoid these evils the holes are well filled aud 

 firmly trodden after putting in the seed, unless im 

 light, loamy soil, many of them for reasons men- 

 tioned will never come up, aud lots of others unable 

 to turn their seeds will have twisted roots. I think 

 it is preferable to not tread them very much when 

 planted, but go over the field scraping in earth aud 

 treading round the plants whm they get to be a 

 few inches above ground. Planting with plants or 

 stumps is, I think, much to he preferred. Then ia 

 the opportunity to reject inferior plants and twisted 

 roots. Given a good planting season, little supplying 

 will be required, and your clearing will come into 

 bearing ten or twelve months earlier than if planted 

 with .'■eed. I wished to add something more on plants, 

 but I fear I have trespassed too much ou your valuable 

 space already.— Yours &o., ARBORItULTUEIST. 



CARDAMOMS IN HAPUTALE. 



Wiharegalla, Haputale,27th July I8S5. 



DE.4R Sir, — I am sending by this tappal a small 

 box in which I have enclosed a few seeds picked from 

 a clump of supposed-to-be cnrrlamoms. As this 

 palam is three or four times the size of the ordin- 

 ary caidnmom fruit, I shall feel obliged if you will 

 let me know (1) whether they are cardamoms ; (2) 

 if so, whether they are Mysore, Malabar, or in- 

 digenous, as we have only a one clump producing 

 fruit of tliis kind in a clearing of 8 acres. — Yours 

 faithfully. ARTHUR l.E FEUVRE. 



[They certainly seem to be cardamoms and look like 

 Mysore ; but the opinion of au expert is required. 

 We shall try aud refer the specimens to Dr. Trimen. 

 -Ed] 



HARVESTING CINCHONA. 



Deltota, July 29th, IS85. 



Sir, — I see that "Cinchona" has .insweivd that part 

 of my letter and gives reasons for slnving in alternate 

 strips. The following are against the practice : — 

 Take, for rxaniple, a tree shaved for the first time. 

 If shaved in alternate strips, the 2iid shaving (i. e. 

 the stnp left the previous time) would not be re- 

 newed birk ; while, if a thin slice were taken from 

 the whole stem, the 2uel shaving would all be re- 

 neweel bark. Again see the exccsive cost. If the 

 whole tiee were shaved, more bark would natur- 

 ally be obtained from each tree, and each cooly ig 

 likily to bruia; in more bark fan if strps were 

 left. The cost of thatchirg would be so much greater. 

 The same amount of maiia will have to be used, 

 .although less bark was taken. Taking all this into 

 consideration, I think shaving the whole tree in- 

 stead of strips the better, because more economical plan. 



