88 CULTIVATION AND MANUFACTURE OF TEA. 



but the thick wood must be pruned down to varying heights 

 several inches lower. 



Small plants must naturally be more lightly pruned. 



The best plan is, I think, to have two gangs : 



The first to go ahead and cut out the thick wood (here 

 judgment is necessary, so let them be the best men) to 

 varying heights, from about n to 18 inches. The second 

 gang to follow, each with a rod 20 inches long, to cut down 

 all the light wood left to that level. 



All plants, how low or how young soever they may be, 

 must be pruned somewhat.* The lower their stature and 

 the less their age the less pruning they require. 



Of the two extremes, at least with the Tea plant, it is 

 probably better to over than to under-prune. The treat- 

 ment of the plants, with reference to the leaf to be taken in 

 the spring, must be a good deal regulated by the way, or 

 rather the extent, to which they have been pruned. On 

 this point see page 103. 



The cost of pruning depends on whether it is high or 

 low, and whether the plants are large, middling, or small. 

 The greatest cost is about Rs. 6, the least about Rs. 3 per 

 acre. 



Let all prunings be buried between the lines of plants, if 

 possible, before the leaves have even withered. They make 

 capital manure, but much of the virtue escapes if they are 

 allowed to lie on the ground any time before they are buried. 



* But not before the end of 18 months after transplanting, as the object at 

 first is to get a long tap-root to draw moisture from low down, and this is best 

 attained by allowing the plant to grow as it will. I look on this as all- 

 important. I care not how high a plant may grow, for 18 months I would in 

 no way interfere with its growth. 



