June i, 1886.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



^75 



purchase teak boxes iu Calcutta, and pay Ks. 2-8-0 

 each lauded at the uearest river gbat. I heard that 

 the Assam Company imports 35,000 teak tea boxes 

 annually from Calcutta. 



In the liorelli Company's gardeus, the steam saw 

 was hard at work prupariug wood for tea boxes. I 

 was tohl that pro%-ided tlu- wood was properly dried 

 there was not the slightest fear of its fujuriug the 

 tea. and all species which would saw well, and are 

 uot too heavy or hard, were u^ed, the kochan 

 {Duahun'ia sonn*:ratioid€s) having the prt-'ference. On 

 the islands and banks of the BorelH rivur there are 

 nearly pure forests of this tree, which is of rapid 

 growth, and a Marwari merchant has st;trtcil a saw- 

 mill to prepare teii boxes for the planters at the 

 Balipara Haut, which he sells at 1 rupee each. Jlr. 

 LumsJen, the Manager of the Borelli Company, 

 showed me how he was gradually eradicating China 

 plants from hi^ gardens, by pulling them out hy ropes 

 attached to an elephant, at tht; nite of i-'i.") plants 

 per diem. Twenty acres of China plant are thus 

 removed every year, and the ground replanted with 

 indigenous or high class hybrid plant, and the yield 

 thus increased from it or 3, to 7 or s maunds per 

 acre. The bad results of former heavy prunings were 

 evident iu the diseased stalks of the old tea, many 

 of which were furrowed by white ants up to the top 

 of the bush. The beneficial results on the growth 

 of tea of the sau tree, A(l>i:zia :>t/j>idatay have 

 attra'jted the attention of many planters, and I saw 

 for myself that bushes under the shade of this tree 

 were more \*igorous than their neighbours. A small 

 pamphlet on the subject has been published by the 

 Indian Toa Association, in which many Assam planters 

 give their experience on the subject, all being favor- 

 able to the sau tree. Mr. I'eai considers that ail 

 the Assam AWizziasj namely, A. elata, sUpuJa'a proc-ra 

 'Kl/Jiatisxiiii'i, have the property of improving the 

 growth of tea directly under their shade. The sau 

 tree has very long .superficial roots and bears ijuant- 

 ities of seei), the former may assist in draining the 

 soil, and the pods and leaves falling on the ground 

 may enrich it, whilst the shade is not too great to 

 affect the production uf leaf in the tea bushes. The 

 greatest attention is now paid to the water supplied 

 to tea garden coolies, and their huts are far better 

 than those of villagers in the Diln, but there is still 

 a giiod ileal of sickness amongst those freshly imported. 



The planters jre a tine healthy set of men, aud 

 play polo regularly, and the gardens ate so inimerous, 

 that the old solitary life in the jungles is a thing of 

 tlie past in Uarrang. It is worth noting that certain 

 species of forest trees spring up naturally in tea 

 gardens. In Darrang the simal has the preference, 

 in the Western Duars it is the kadam, AnthocephuhiH 

 i'adaniha. In the Dtin, it is the tun, Ceilrdi Tooiia. 



Coi-'FEK.— The writer sapiently adds;~If coffee planting 

 succeeds in Assam it will he some compensation for 

 the extensive area of new tea cultivation in <,'evlon, 

 where splendid yiel-la of leaf have r^. suited. It is 

 probable, however, that the tea plants will not long 

 stami the forcing climate aud seeuiingly poor soil of 

 Ceyion. All vegetation retjuires some re.st, and the 

 old tea plants in Dehra J)iiu, where the severe cold 

 of winter and the dry west wmds of May and .Time, 

 nece.ssarily put a lung stop to tea making, is still 

 perfectly healthy and free from any blight or dist;use, 

 and contrasts well in this respect with the more 

 luxuriant plant in A.ssam, though there are probably 

 tea bniihes in the Dun older than any in As.sam. 



TOBACCO CI'LTIVATION IN THE BKITISH 

 ISLANDS. 

 The tobacco plant ( N'ieotiana Tabacum \ must be 

 considered as a tender annual, completing its growth, 

 llowering, and ripening its need within the compass of 

 uiie seuMi.sn, ami finally destroyed by c^ur early frosts. 

 If sown simply iu the opou ground it will not germirnite 

 8onn enuugh for our purpose; ; therefor*^ the young plants 

 Bhu«ti«l*i>e raised nndt:r glass, and pricked out inlo hirge 

 pans, 1>oxes, or contrivenccs of a similar nature. The 

 plautiog out may be done at the tjanie time with the 



ordinary ornamental bedding-out stuff early iu May or 

 as soon as two or three strong leaves have been made j 

 and as a rough and ready rule the crop may be cut 

 when the gardener is making his first I'elargoniuntt 

 cuttings for next year. 



rrtn'AiUTiON OF THE GROUND. — This is perhaps the 

 most important part of the whole business. If the 

 crop is growu upon the flat the lower tier or two of 

 leaves, which aie the most valuable part of the plant, 

 as being the first to ripen, will inevitably be injured by 

 slugs, caterpillars, and heavy rains. Therefore, the 

 ground must be laid in high aiid wide riilges, us for 

 Swede Turnips, but on a larger scale, and flattened or 

 platformed at the top, so as to allow of a zig-zag 

 •trrangcnient in planting. This is the American plan, I 

 believe, and was adopted by me from an account given 

 in the (lardeaers^ Chronicle some years since. The 

 advantages are manifest. The plants grow, as it were, 

 high and dry, with the lower leaves hanging over and 

 supportiid by the sides of the ritlges, which latter 

 should be sutKcieutly wide apart to admit of the tread 

 or free passage of the cultivator. 



8uiiMEii CuLrivATioN. — As the plant progresses 

 laterals are formed at the base of every leaf. These 

 nmst be removed as soon as they can be handled, and 

 care taken that none steal a march from being hidden by 

 the lower leaves. I'Ve.sh ones will spring from the base of 

 those first pinched out, and, as they are rapidly pro- 

 duced, this will be daily but absolutely necessary work. 

 The flower-spike bhould be removed as soon as a few 

 blossoms have expanded, and all subsequent attempts 

 to flower must be checkeJ. This part of the matter 

 requires skill aud judgment, for some of the plants will 

 run into flower when too little developed to be prontable, 

 in which case a lateral may be encouraged to grow till 

 it becomes the leading shoot, aud in turn ready to 

 undergo the same treatment. 



The HAUvfc:s'ni\(j Pehiod. — To produce anything 

 like good quality it is essential that the crop should be 

 cut before the sun has lost too much power. In our 

 Knglish autumn, when cool damp nights are llie rule, a 

 rank luxuriance is induced in many piants, and 

 eminently so in tlie case of Tobacco, when the bulk of 

 the plant iucrea.ses euormously at the exjiense of i|uality. 

 Consequently a crop left to tin; last monuMii before 

 frost appe.irs will be a long time in drying, retpuring 

 artificial heat from lack of that of the sun. It fnllows 

 that it is better to cut too soon than too late, aud this 

 may be done as soon as the leaves at the base begin to 

 turn yellow, when the whole plant will undergo the 

 proper change in curing. It is rect»mmended that tho 

 plants when cut shuuld be allowed to lie an hour ut two 

 on the ^Tunud. when the leaves will b.:'C(»me wilted and 

 drooping, as this will be found convenii-ut when \h>^ next 

 process, that of hanging them ujt, is pprformed. For 

 this purpose a wall nail is drivcM into the sti^m, near and 

 a^, right angles to the base of it, thus forming a kind of 

 hook, wluMeby each plaut may be hung to a MUiidn'i* of 

 stretch<'d wires, cords or other supports, in su'di a place 

 as a large vinery. Here the le;ives will sonn begin 

 gradually to assume the rich brown colour proper l.o the 

 connuercial article. The lamina or blade will ehiinge 

 first, and ftul)sequently, the midrib and larger veins; but 

 imtil these last become perfectly dry thispirl of thu 

 process cannot be considered finished, for if in the 

 stripping antl packing an imperfectly dried stalk is 

 inchideil, inouldinoss will assuredly set in anil irijure 

 the sanq)le. The footstalk, if propi^rly dry, should be 

 sufficiently brittle to be snapped in two on a hot day. 

 The eye, however, aud touch will soon become sulfi- 

 ciently practised to judge when the leaf has attained 

 this state. 



Tiir; FkumbntatioN. — The leaves rau^t now be strip- 

 ped from the stalks, dumped, autl tied in < btmdle.Huf 

 a do/.iui or more of leaves, by string towards the Uoug 

 of tin; footstalk. The.se bundles, when fiatteuetl out, 

 will take a fan-shaped form, and are then technically 

 called "hands." The damping process may be done in 

 various ways and should precede bundle making, to 

 avoid loss and disfigurement owing to bri(tl< ne.is. 

 yprinkling with water is daugerous, for if a h^uf bu 

 pocked actuality wet, mouldiness is likely to be th» 

 result. Some hours in a damp cellar, or even out-cf- 



