January i, 1886.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



497 



BAT GUAXO. 



TO THE EDITOR OF THE "MADRAS MAIL." 



Sir, — In reply to the letter of your correspoiulent 

 "Amateur," which appeareil iu your issuu of the 

 ami instaut, relative to the use of Bat Guano as 

 a mauure for flower gardens, I beg to state that 

 the guauo in question is extensively used by farmers 

 for the rapid and luxuriant growth, and rich produce 

 of certain vegetable.-^, such as the Snake Uuurd, 

 Trichosanthcs An*;uina ( Linu\ Cucurbitaeea-, known 

 as Poodaliargai in Tamil, Brinjnl or egg plaut, 

 Katherre kai. T.imil, Solanum Alelangera (LinnK 

 common chilly, MoUagah, Solanum Anuuin, Solanace.v 

 and some others. Tho guauo Is employed as a top 

 dressing to plants before they begin to tlower, by 

 powdering the dung, and mixing it with cattlo or 

 vegetable manure, but not by itself. I have seen 

 the giuino from bats very largely used by gardeners 

 at Manargudi, where it is procured in abundance 

 from the Hindu tomples, at a very little cost. The 

 interior contain thousands of these nocturnal animals, 

 which have been their dwelling for ages; hence it 

 gives a strong ami offensive, or unpleasant smell to ; 

 people visiting these temples. 1 have never seen bat , 

 guano resorted to as a manm'e for flower gardens, 

 but a trial of it can be made, mixed iu the same 

 way as ilescribed above. It should be watered regulary i 

 and plentifully, otherwise the plants will die. I find 

 in the 2ud volume of the "Pharmaceutical Times 

 and .lournal of Cliemistry/' 1867, one Mr. Tbomas 

 Dickson, of Lincolnshire, an eminent farmer, speaks i 

 of the extraordinary supply aud use of the guano from 

 bats, and states that when he was employed as a ! 

 manager of an extensive estate in Jamaica, a consider- , 

 able increase of sugar was being procured there by 

 applying a new guano as tillage. Dr. J. H. Balfour, 

 of Ktlinburgh, speaks very highlj' of guauo or the ! 

 dung of sea fowl as a special manure, its value 

 depending partly on aniniuniacal salts aud partly on 

 pho?(phates. The special manures may be called 

 " rapidly acting manures." They are composed of in- 

 gredients which are intended for the special benefit 

 of the crop to which they are applied, while comparat- 

 ively little effect is produced on those that succeed 

 it. Tanjoru. 



BOHEA TEA, 



(From the '* Indiiat Jifvietc'^s' Cream of Monthlies.) 



Extract from an article iu Cornhill Mac/azine, 

 entitled *'Sorae Recollection of Buddhist Monasteries." 



Following the course of the river Miu at about 

 eighty to one hundred miles above Foochow, the 

 traveller comes to a region of most beavitiful scenery 

 where the mountains tower to a height of from six 

 to eight thousand feet, and the river winds amid 

 majestic crags, all broken up intu fantastic forms, 

 gigantic towers, Cyclopean columns, an majestic 

 ramparts. This is the celebrated Bohea tea couutry ; 

 the cultivators are Buddhist monks, whose very numer- 

 ous monasteries nestle among the huge rock, or 

 are perched on the summits of perpendicular pre- 

 cipices, which, seen from the river, appear to be wholly 

 inaccessible. 



The tea fields where these agricultural brethren toil 

 so diligently are most irregular patches of giound 

 of every size and shape, scattered here, there, aud 

 everywhere among these rocky mountains; but, like 

 all Obinese gardening, the tea cultivation is exquisitely 

 neat, and the multitude of carefully clipped little 

 bu.shes have a curiosly formal appearance, in contrast 

 with the reckless manner in which Nature has tossed 

 about the fragments of her shattereil mountains. 



From these strange fields the carefully gathered 

 leaves are carrie»l in large basket-work trays of split 

 bamboo to the monasteries, there to be sprea»l on 

 mats and left in the fcun till they are partially dry, 

 after which they are placed in very largo flat circ ilar 

 trays, and barefooted brethern proceod to use their 

 feet as rollers, and twirl the leaves round and round 

 till each has acquired an individual curl. (This does 

 not sound very nice, does it?) Then ■ the whole 



process is repeated a second time; the leaves havo 

 auother turn in the sun, another foot-curling, and h 

 more elaborate hand-rubbing. Then once nior« they 

 are exposetl to the sun, till they are so thoroughly 

 dried that no trace of green remains. They are tlieii 

 packed in bugs, each weighing about si.vty lb., and 

 despatched from tho monasteries on the shoulders of 

 tea-coolies, each of whom carries two bag.s slung from 

 the ends of a bamboo which rests on his shoulder. 

 Thus they are consigned to the foreign tea-merchants, 

 to be fired under their own supervision in the great 

 tea-hon|^*, where the hitherto unadulterated leaf 

 receives that coatini;' of indigo and gypsum which 

 imparts the bloom so highly prized in the Kuropeau 

 market, to wliich it is shipped in bo.ws labelled 

 '* pure uucoloured tea," greatly to the edification of 

 the heathen Ohinee, who is not so much astonished 

 at the fraud as at the singular taste which is said 

 to necessitate its practice. It is needless to remark 

 that tho Chinese merchauts have themselves taken 

 the hint, and prepare specially coloured tea for 

 foreigners. 



THE MANURIAL VALUE OF FRESHLY 

 FALLEN LEAVES. 

 Our knowledge regarding the manurial value of fallen 

 leaves has recently been added to by Professor Emnier- 

 ing and others, in a communication contributed to the 

 current number of the Jiiiil. Centr.y 1SS5. 

 The results are given in the following tables: — 

 ■(snin^sq 

 snuidiBQ) 

 mBaqajojf 



-Aj.Cs sn 



-(jnqo.r 

 snojanf)) 



I^O 



•(nsominiS 



snniv) lapiv 



nouiuioj 

 -(snuB^^Ij; op 

 -nosj joay) 

 . oaocasOifs 

 2 '(BqiB 

 t B|n}9a) 

 d qajig -iSAlFi^ 

 ". -(Ba^uaSjB 

 2sn|ndi>,i) .ii![ 

 ^ -do,[ JO.\-,!s; 



i. '("qi" 



Z "IFS) «oi 



g • (saaosauBO 

 ?H snjndo.x) 

 j«ldo,[ iaJO 



a 



■-a 

 >* 



.J3 



B 



'" ; : g4 h u • 



i - ' "si's ■ 



ir, p, ./J ^4 r-. P-. x tn 



■ "S -< St 'J £ 3 



fea> ^ ' 



te >> : jaUBOi 



A glance at these figures will show the imrncnce 

 variation in the constituents, and conse<piently in the 

 manurial value, of different plaut leaves, but it must 

 be remembered that a few analy.ses of plants or their 

 separate organs th» not sutJice to decide what kind and 

 what amount of plant food a crop neetls, and still 

 less iu what combination they produce the best effect ; 

 they simply tell what kind and amount the plan 



