L'Ec. I, 1885.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



425 



Tkiims L'sep bv Indian- Tea PI-.^NTEns. — 

 "Namouna" is tBe HimUistani for pattern, speci- 

 men, muster, niuitero. A 12-aiina lire is a lire 

 o( r2-16ths strength ; a fall strength lire would bo 

 ■ a Ki-anna fire (i. e. a whole rupee tire). Thus, 

 a jmlfje who is considered right in 3 out of 4 

 of his judgments is called a 12-anna judge. He- 

 {larding other Hindustani words, " jAt " simply 

 moans " caste " a much niore generally intelligible 

 woid than " jat." " Gymkhana ". is tlio proper 

 spoiling, not "jymlihana": it means a place of meeting 

 for feats — "gym" meaning a feat, trick, dodge, in- 

 genious way of doing anything.— Cui: 



CcLriv.vrioN' on Piaxtatioxs. — The dilficulty of 

 tabulating the information respecting the acreage 

 undor different products may be judged from tlie 

 following extract of the letter of an extensive iiro- 

 prietary planter:—" Some of the figures are not, 

 strictly sj'eaking, correct with regard to tea area. 

 \Vc are planting more tea now and throughout 

 the next few months, and the total area in tea 

 is what the acreage should be before the year is 

 out. There is another thing : a considerable area 

 of lea is planted in the coffee, and, though next 

 month all the non-bearing coffee where the tea 

 is growing well will be cut out, it has not yet 

 been cut out. In some cases, too, little patches of any 

 good coffee in certain fields have not been planted 

 through with tea, though the greater part has. 

 It is very difficult, therefore, to be anything but 

 a]iproxiniate with regard to ten areas. In a coui)le 

 of years this will all be rectified." 



Tiiv. — The Cci/foii Ohnrrvct- publishes a letter which 

 lias been received from London by one of its corrcspoud- 

 cntif. The writer of this letter writes to bis Ceylon 

 friend as follows: — " Tou ask if we drink Ceylon tea? 

 and the answer is, the grocers do not care .about it, 

 tliey say it cannot be depended upon, it varies so much ; 

 and if so, wliy cultivate it f Then again, doctors are 

 setting their faces against tea : two doctors advised 

 me not to ciriuk it at all. So wo only use it for 

 afteiTjoons, and even then at many houses cofiee is 

 ofl'ercfl at afternoon tea parties, so many people are 

 not ull'jwcd t:) touch tea. In the hospitals now cofiee 

 is given as a stimulant iustead of brandy, and every- 

 where it is being preferred ; so why turn your coffee 

 into tea plantations r " The writer, doubtless, gives the 

 result of his own experience, which, we imagine, is 

 nut very great. Ceylon planter.s are not likely to be 

 inllu.ucid in the smallest degree by such a eoninmnic- 

 utiiin, which, in face of the growing dtniund for Indian 

 and Ceylon tea and the decrease in the consumption 

 of coffee, is absurd. The letter referred to contains a 

 reference to the medical tbeory about tea which is 

 worth noting. Jfedical opinion, as those who have bad 

 the misfortune to seek it, know to tlicir cost, is veiy 

 diveisificd and eccentric on the matter of diet and 

 drink. One medical man recommeu'ls strong wine, 

 where another advises abstention from alcohol. Others 

 tell their patients to drink coffee and avoid terr, while 

 iu some cases coffee is strongly condemned, ^\■e have 

 nodpsireto find fault with these various views. Medical 

 advice is frequently conflicting, but who shall attempt 

 the delicate tiisk of deciding under such circumstances. 

 Anyway some medical opinion is not against moder- 

 ate tea drinking. Cups of ten. coffee, or nny other drink 

 taken at shortintcrvals throughout the day may he as in- 

 jurious in their way as ''nips" of alcoholic drink, but un- 

 adulterated tea taken in moderation is not hirmfiil, 

 except in isolated cases. By the way it may interest 

 Indian and Ce) Ion tea planters to learn that a fiinnd of 

 lea retailers who makes Indian and C<ylon t' as a specially 

 recently received a letter from a well-known lady, in 

 which, the writer praised their tea, stating that China tea 

 always made her nervous, but she could drink India 

 or Ceylon tea without any ill-effect, and that she should 

 henceforth recommend these teas to her friends on that 

 account. This view may be legarded as a srt-off to 

 the medical testimony vaguely referred to in the letter 

 from Loudon to C'eyluu and it i« of at least equal value 

 AS a matter of opinion. — Moitw 2\eKi, 



Pn. Tim:!::: on " C.iuams" C.vc.w.— We call 

 attention to the letter from Ih-. Trimen (on 

 page 121) .summing np very clearly the 

 amonnt of practical and scientific knowledge at 

 present available as to the .several varieties of 

 cacao. Wo may supplement what tlie Director 

 says by the foilowiuf; extract from "The Cacao 

 I'lauter's Manu.al," — by K. Berthelink, Planter of 

 Surinam, — roccu.y xntblishcd :— - 



The Car:ica.-i sort is red. The .Surinam cacao i-; 

 tho ordinary yellow sort, and is planted everywbeiv. 

 In a Cacao-liold many diflercnt varieties _ of Cai-ao. 

 sometimes even as many as l\\'ont.y, :ire found. Tho 

 best sort, however is the so-called Prreplain Ciican, 

 distingiiishi d by a thin, smooth shell, anil tho fullness 

 of its beans. 



Then you have (he Male Cacao-tree. This disHrt- 

 gulfihes ilselr by constantly jiroihicing a ({uantity of 

 blossoms, and very few (at most 3 or 4) fruits. These 

 fruits, if they do oonie to maturity at all, <njly contain 

 as a rule 2 or :i suiall beans. l''ortnu.iteIy this spe- 

 cies is very rare, one tree only uooin-rinii' within ait area 

 of twenty acres. Tho red Cariicas sort is rarer than 

 tho ordinary ycUuw sort. The lUfl'eronce holwecn those 

 two is considerable. The Car;icas sort sluiofs up nioro 

 vigoronsly aod !u\ni'i;i,ntly, disiilays more growth, (Itinr- 

 isbes more exuberantly and bears a groak'r f[uanlily 

 of fruit iiian the indigenous species; il Ijcu.i's also n.nch 

 better the vicissitudes of the seisons. Caracas cacao 

 long* prosorves its properties in fioMs wbero it is 

 pbinted alono: but planted botween the iniiigonous, it 

 degonorates and assunn^s the properties of the i-onimon 

 sort. The first se ds of (^ar.icas cacao were lironubt 

 hither by the C.overnor R. F. Von Itii dors in 1SI."> or 

 'Uj so not more than 40 years ago. 



Tm! " Tea-Planters' Vade Mecum," compiled 

 by the editor of the Iniliuu Tea Gazette, seems 

 an admirable and invaluable work. No tea- 

 planter, however varied his experience or wide 

 his knowledge, can afford, we imagine, to be with- 

 out it. Every detail connected with the history, 

 growtli, manufacture, and market of tea seems ex- 

 haustively and systematically dealt with, and 

 brought carefully up to date. The book has a 

 coin]irehensivc index, and an appendix of ruled 

 blank pages for the cultivator's notes upon his 

 own experience or the contents of the work. The 

 subject is. conveniently divided into sections. 'The 

 first treats of the history and geographical dis- 

 tribution of the tea-plant, and the second of llio 

 climate, drought, and rainfall. The third dc:ils 

 with tea from the scientific point of view of the 

 botanist and chemist — the latter leading naturally 

 to section four on tea adulteration and. the sub- 

 stitutes used for tea. The next nine sections are 

 concerned respectively with the soils, manures, 

 drainage, seed-sowing, transplanting, cultivatimi, 

 blight, pruning, and plucking of tea. and one 

 section is de\'oted to the relations of the sau-tiee 

 to tea-growing. Section fifteen describes the ne- 

 cessary buUdings with the latest iuiprovenionts. 

 and the three following deal with the iiiiportaiil^ 

 subjects of steam and other maclunery, and 

 the inoihiH ojKratuli of manufacture. Section iiiue- 

 tcen treats of tea-sorting and bulking ; section twenty 

 of the timbers suitable for tea-boxes. Then follow 

 sections devoted to tea-weighment, the brick tea of 

 China, Jlurina, and Thibet, Indian tea outi^ldc 

 Bengal, Ceylon tea, tea outside India and Ceylon 

 and finally tea manufactured in China and .lapan. 

 From this ■summary it will be seen that the "Tea- 

 Planters' Vade Mecum" contains all the knowledge 

 that the variest tyro reipiires, and muoli that tlie 



' most experienced planter ihould not be without, 

 We catniot wish better, both t ir the cnmpiler and 

 the Indian tea-industry, that a copy of the wol I. 

 maybe found on the shelves of eveiyjjei-sju'intei- 



' ested in the subject,— Pfoiei;/', 



