January i, 1886.] .THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



465 



TEA MANCKES. 



Ob this subject \vp aiipend an interesting and ira- 

 povtant letter from Mr. John Hughes, which we 

 recommenJ to the attention of tea-planters. Castor- 

 poonac (white) is one of the best applications to 

 tea, because not only i« it rich in nitrogen (7 to 

 7J per cent) but it is also offensive instead 

 of attractive to insect life. The importance of 

 Mr. Hughes' letter on this occasion lies in the 

 advice he gives as to the treatment of otlier 

 manures, such as fish-guano and cattle-dung, so 

 as to prevent their becoming the food of noxious 

 insects, instead of benefitting the cultivated plants 

 to which they are applied. Most of the fish- 

 manure used in Ceylon comes to us from the 

 coast of Malabar, where there is a large fish- 

 curing industry, and, as a great portion of the 

 fish is cured by being simply placed on the sand 

 of the seashore, Mr. Hughes' warning against the 

 existence of sand as a large constituent of the 

 fish-manure offered for sale is worthy of attention. 

 The planter having obtained fish guano contain- 

 ing the minimum of valueless sand, the great 

 point then is so to treat the rotten fish, rich 

 in ammonia, as to render it unpleasant to insects : 

 ants in the lowcountry and lower hill regions and 

 cockchafer or other grubs everywhere, from sea- 

 level to the highest altitude at which tea is grown- 

 What Mr. Hughes advises, and the advice seems 

 sound and judicious, is, that to fish, cattle-dung 

 and all amuioniacal substances used as manures 

 should be added a proportion equal to 10 per cent 

 of superphosphate of lime. This should be. done 

 previously 'o application, time being given for the 

 acid in the superphosphate to jiermeato the whole 

 mass. We need scarcely point out that the super- 

 phosphate, besides the specific crt'ect for wliich 

 M« Hughes advises its application, has itself a 

 highly important manurial value, containing, as 

 it docs, some potash besides the phosphatic matter, 

 wliich will tend to support the trees under the 

 luxuriant production of leaf which the nitrogenous 

 castor-cake, fish or cow-dung wiU foster. 



We cannot but feel that we and our readers are 

 greatly indebted to Mr. Hughes for the readiness 

 witli which he places the results of his professional 

 kn.iwledge at our disposal. Where tea estates have 

 boen opened on virgin soil and are still young, of 

 course the only manurial application necessary is 

 the burying of primings, weeds and the clebiis of 

 rotting timber. But a very large proportion of 

 the tea estates of Ceylon occupy the sites of more 

 or less old and exhausted coffee plantations. For 

 such lands the application of manures becomes 

 necessary at once, if the expense can possibly be 

 afforded. Tlie usual estimate for old cofitee land 

 is about 300 lb. of made tea per acre. We should 

 suppose it quite possible to raise this average by 

 means of manuring to 500 lb., the qitaUty of the 

 tea, in respect of strength, following the increase 

 of i|uantity. The whole ijuestion, then, is one of 

 comp.iiativo expenditure and additional returns 

 with higher prices obtained. We well know how 

 expensive manuring is, not so much in its first 

 cost and carriage to the estate, as in its apphc- 

 ation, not to 1,200 bushels per acre as in the 

 case of coffee, but to from 2. -500 to 1,000 in tea 

 cultivation. If the necessary money can be oli- 

 taiued, however, we feel certain the returns would 

 be profitable in every sense. 

 69 



7',l, Mark Lane, London, R.C., 

 23rd Oct(.ber 188o. 



lu my runiarks upon Mr. Carter's experiments 

 (contained in my letter of t)ctober Dth), 1 pointed 

 out the probable reason why the results of the 

 application of castor ■pouna(: liad proved more satis- 

 factory 'lan those obtained frnni the use of bone- 

 dusl, namely, that, inasmuch as nitrogcMi was 

 thi' principal m- ■■nre ingredient roi[uired by the 

 tea-plant, it wu^ only n^isonable to conclude that 

 the fertilizer which supjilied the largest proportion 

 of this v.-iluable constituent in a form suitable tor 

 assimilation was the most suitalilo and economical 

 manure for tea plantations. 



If, therefore, white castor-poonae pontaining 7 

 to 7J per cent of nitrogen can be purchased in 

 Colombo at about I{:i.j per ton, it is to be pre- 

 ferred for tea to bone-dust containing only ;!-70 

 per cent of nitrogen, and wliich would probably 

 cost KfiOper ton. In addition to castor, other kinds 

 of poonac will doubtless be found useful, thus 

 dried blood, woollen refuse, fish guano (vhich is 

 finely ground dried-fish), and many other materials 

 of a similar chniaoter whose value, however, will 

 be largely regulated by the proportion of nitrogen 

 they may be found on analysis to contain. 



Indeed, well-prepared fish manure free from sand 

 should be a cheap and readily procurable fertilizer 

 for tea in Ceylon ; but, it it is used, I should 

 like to add a word of caution to the effect, that, 

 if planters wish to benefit the tree, and not to 

 feed ants and grub, it will be necess.nry to treat 

 the fish manure with some chemical such as 

 sulphuric acid or soluble phosphate of lime. 

 In other words, to mix the dried fish already 

 finely ground into a meal, with some concentrated 

 superphospate, say, 5)0 parts of the former to 10 

 of the latter, and allow the mixture to remain 

 in a heap for some days before niiplying it to 

 the land. 



In the West Indies, I am infoniu'd, thai in 

 dry seasons on any soil lish manures have helped 

 to feed ants rather than to noiu'i--b the sngnr- 

 c.ine, and it is highly important that planters in 

 Ceylon should take all necessary precaution.; to 

 avoid similar result.-i on their tea estates. Of 

 course, the climate of Ceylon is naturally humid 

 and long droughts arc very unusual on the hills, 

 still it is {piite possible that many of the severe 

 attacks of grub at the roots of coffee trees may 

 be indirectly due to the in-cvious use of catllo 

 manure, fish, or even poonac — and that if such 

 materials were mixed with some superpho.-phate 

 in a heap protected from the weather, for some 

 days before application, the future I'esults would 

 be more satisfactory, and, while improving the 

 I character of the fertilizer, would also ma'ce it un- 

 palatable to insects and grubs. This is a matter 

 I certainly worth the careful consideration of practical 

 I planters, for it seems a distinct waste of manure 

 1 to apply it in a condition in which it may con- 

 tribute food for grubs, itc. 



That tea plantations will require manure sooner 

 or later, there can be no doubt whatever, and 

 the poorer the soil and the more forcing the 

 climate, the more immediat? netessity will there 

 b« for its application, hence the importance that 

 planters should select these manures which arc 

 likely to prove practically the most economical. 

 Judging from the letters I have already received 

 in connection with this question of tea manur- 

 ing, it would appear that Indian planters, as we i 

 as those in Cevlon. ,are lieginni ig to recogniz,^ 

 the future importance of really suitable fertilizers. 

 JoH.N HuoHES, F.C.S. 



