April i, 1886.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



703 



TEA AND CINCHONA IN CEYLON. ' 



The weather throughout January was extremely 

 wet, with a gotxi ileal of wind. Fiue weather has 

 now set in and February seems likely to be dry 

 and warm, as it usually is. The dampness last 

 month bus been very beneficial to tea all rouud, and 

 absolute salvation to those whose necessities obliged 

 them to delay their planting until the end of the 

 season. Great preparations for planting are being 

 made for the coming season, and many millions of 

 plants will be put out in due time. Fnmi time to 

 time our local journals contain letters on what appear 

 very simple details, but the dednctious drawn from 

 them do not strike everyone who has been accustt)med, 

 and possibly for many years, to make use of such 

 details as a matter of course. The saving of labour 

 showni in the enclosed extract is one of no little 

 iuterest ; and may be new to some of your readers. 



"The origin il tea-fields in Ceylon were usually 

 planted 5 feet by 4, or 5 by 5 ; then 4 x -l ; while now 

 4x3 has become the most common, and, perhaps, in 

 our present want of early returns, it is the best, though 

 we are duly warned by our Indian friends that this 

 distance is rather close. It should always, however, 

 be renicmbereci that a st<^^ip or rough piece of laud 

 may be planted much closer than a flat or clearing 

 of somewhat even lay ; though even on the steepest 

 or roughest laud the worl'inij line-'i should never be 

 closer than 4 feet. Four by three permits, 7>rar(ira/((/, 

 the same number of plants per acre as ;!i > .'fj aiid 

 with the vigorous action of the tea root gi\e"s the 

 advantage in its favor, residtiug really in one-eighth 

 less travelling by the plueker, to pluck the same 

 number of trees. For instance, in a daring 2iXJ yards 

 wide, there would !.(• 1.50 lines, if planted 4 . 3, and 

 171 if 3* xai, showing an increase of labour necessary 

 in the latter, as compared to the former. Consider- 

 ing the matter in this light, those who have planted 

 4 ,•: J may ultimately benefit very largely, for there 

 is no doubt of the power of the plant being able to 

 fully occupy the land with its roots. It is merely a 

 matter of time. Thus, in a clearing with lines (i feet 

 wide, 5 feut wide, and 4 feet wide, and 3.V feet, the 

 number ot lines respectively for 200 yards would be 

 a6 follows: — 



6x3 100 lines plucking say 2,400 trees. 

 5x3 120 „ .. 2,800 „ 



4x3 150 ,. ,. 3,600 



^'3 171 ,, .. 3,600 „ 



" Consiilcring the immense area travelled by phickers 

 throughout the season, it, is very desirable" that this 

 work should be made as easy ,as possible, the aim 

 being the largest quantity of leaf, for the least pos- 

 sible trailing. The writer remembers in the old days 

 of coffee that coolies were told ' you must either 

 bring in plenty of /uilam, or else finish a large stretch 

 of land,' implying most emphatically that the two 

 results could not be attained. It will certainly be 

 the same with tea, and the less we trail our coolies 

 over the hills, the more leaf they will, in consequence, 

 bring us. 



"■While upon this subject, has it never struck tea- 

 planters how excessively the labours of our phickers 

 are increasc.l upon steep estates by always having to 

 go up and down the lines on| the face of the hill, 

 wheu, by transverse or oblique lining, the feature 

 could be skirteil, i\am(*amy then having no more 

 downright shoulder work than his <l»ra when he walks 

 along his well-traced, almost horizontal roads. Also. 

 if the lines were far apart and the trees close in the 

 line, so .-vs to almost form a hedge, would there not 

 also be a saving of wash? 'Would not the closely 

 planted trees hel|) to protect the land from the rush 

 of dtbrin down its face? 



•' It has always been a vexed quest ini whether plants 

 are better than s. ed at stake ; though, in my mind. 

 I have no two opinions upon the subject. Plants are 

 generally more certain than seeds, but, where the 

 soil is guild, the climate to be depended upon, and 

 there are no injurious insects, 1 should much prefir 

 seed at stake, as there are no tunied roots, and no 

 injury to them through exposure. The root of a tea- 



plant is a very important organ, for all must have 

 observed how carefully it is projected downward in 

 the economy of the jilanfs growth, before tliere is 

 much seen above ground.'' 



Since writing my last letter, I have heard but little 

 moro of Mr. Gilruth's tea nuiehinery, as there a]ipeara 

 to be an iusufbcieney of competition aniougsi machin- 

 ists in Ouylon. In the old eotfee il.iys there were two 

 establishments in Kandy, and of lat(? years uidy one. 

 Monojioly of any kind is now an acknowledged evil, 

 and I cauuot help thinking there is a very good thing 

 to be done in Kantly by an enterprising tirm of mach- 

 inists, who would supply and repair tea machinery, 

 and do a general hardware business in that town. 

 You have doubtless seen a description of I\Ir. Gow's 

 system of withering tea-leaf, and I am rather curious 

 to read the expression of the opinions of your planters 

 on the pnncii)le of bruising the leaf during the pro- 

 cess, so opposed as it is to all expressed ideas hither- 

 to, and is the very thing Mr. Gilruth claims to have 

 avoided. 



I see notices in our journals headed. "Another 

 tea-taster from Loudon ;" " Another tea-broker has 

 commenced business in Colombo." At this rate we 

 shall have as many gentlemen as we c;in find work 

 for. indeed how all the brokers manage to obtain 

 a living is rather 'a puzzle. .Just now there is a 

 ce.s.satinn in planting, but I hear of more than one 

 instance where cinchona is being rooted up under 

 the impression that it is doing damage to tea-plants 

 put out amongst it. For .sometime past flourishing 

 coffee has been cut up for a similar reason. I observe 

 a notice in one of your papers about the probable 

 introduction of Japanese tea-boxes to your estates. 

 I should myself imagine that similar boxes could be 

 made cheaper on the spot, that is where there is 

 available wood than they cost imported from Japan. 



A notice has appeared of an insect infesting both 

 cinchona aud tea. which, until identified or named, 

 by scientists, is known as the cinchona-bug. At it is 

 of such interest to planters \ do not hesitate to .send 

 it to you in full, and need only add that I person- 

 ally took part in the investigation, and can fully bear 

 out the assertions as to its abundance on cinchona, 

 though 1 have not seen it on tea. The existence of 

 the insect, as far as is visible to the unaided eye, 

 cannot fail to have been observed by cinchona-planters, 

 but its prolonged existence under the outer cuticle of 

 the bark has hitherto apparently remained unknown ; 

 and the immense number of them extracting the life- 

 juice given from the bark would seem to account for 

 so many young plants failing to grow though they 

 rem.ain alive, a state ef things which hitherto has 

 not been accounted for. About a month ago we were 

 informed that this insect, which we will tor^conveiii- 

 ence designate the cinchnna-bug, was fouud upon tea- 

 plants as well as on cinchona. This statement wo 

 did not care to circulate until we had opportunity 

 of verifying it, but we much regret to find il proved 

 to be true. A correspondent writes in answer to our 

 inquiry : " Yes ! I have found the insect as thick on tea 

 as it is on cinchona." Here, then, is another pest to 

 contend against, and one of uo small moment either; 

 and we hope our correspondents will not fail to lot 

 us know the results of their investigations. The fol- 

 lowing is the paper referred to:— 



•' I'pon many cinchona trees, even yonug plants ot 

 one year's growth, may often be observed small 

 blisters, scarcely an eight of an inch in diameter, of 

 the same colour as, and in fiict forming p.trt of, the 

 bark. They are grouped promiscuously round the stem 

 and upon the under sides of the branches. Under 

 this blister, which merely forms a thin covering to 

 a shallow cell in the bark, lies a small insect, which 

 at first sight would appear to be the /nipa of some 

 minute beetle; but a closer examination soon shows 

 the roi'.take. They vary from white to chesnut upon 

 the upper surface, according to age : the litter being 

 the colour assumed by the adult female, the under 

 side is pale purple. Th<y are soft and tleshy, have 

 no outwanl or visible miinbers, and appear to bo 

 absolutely devoid of eyes. But from nearly the centre 



