64 CULTIVATION AND MANUFACTURE OF TEA. 



level. After this mark off the beds and paths, the latter one 

 foot broad only, with string and pegs. Then raise the path 

 six inches above the spots marked off for the beds. This 

 latter must not be done by earth from the beds, but by earth 

 from outside the intended nursery. Next dig and pulverise 

 the soil of the beds to a depth of six or seven inches, no 

 more, and level the surface. 



All is now ready for the seed. A string, five feet long, 

 with a small peg at either end, is given to two men who 

 stand on the path at either side of the bed. Each man has 

 a six-inch measure. The string is laid across the bed, 

 beginning at one end and pegged down on either side. A 

 drill is then made along the string about one inch deep, and 

 this done the string is, by means of the six-inch measure on 

 either side, removed, and pegged down again in the place 

 for the next drill. Seeds are then sown or placed along the 

 first drill made, two or three inches apart, and the earth 

 filled in. This is repeated again and again till the whole 

 bed is sown. 



If the character of the seed is doubtful it must be laid in 

 thicker, but with good seed two-and-a-half to three inches is 

 the best distance. 



The sowing finished the artificial shade has to be given. 

 Along the paths, at five feet apart, put in forked stakes, two 

 feet long viz., six inches into the path, and eighteen inches 

 above it. Connect these with one another by poles laid in 

 the forks ; now lay other (but thinner) poles attached to the 

 first poles at either end across and above the bed ; and again 

 across these latter, that is along the length of the beds, split 

 bamboos, and then bind the whole framework here and 

 there. The said framework made will then be two feet above 

 the beds viz., eighteen inches of stake support, and the six- 

 inch raised paths. The eighteen inches of opening all round, 

 under the frame, that is, between the frame and the path, 



