CAMELLIA 



TEA SOILS THEA 



Cultivation 



will almost certainly be attacked by blights at an early age. Much 



i as to the cause of flavour in the tea, produced from Relational 

 Is, notably those of Darjeeling, and it now seems, most probably, 

 Dimeoted closely with the presence of relatively large quantities of 

 huiio acid and potash in the land. Other causes complicate the 

 oil. but it is almost certain that the mineral plant-food constituents 

 r\ important relationship to flavour. The presence of more than 

 ry small quantity of lime in a soil seems almost fatal to successful 

 ,1 It ure : the average amount present in India is under 0'2 per cent. 

 e/// U/C.4L CHARACTERISTICS OF TEA SOILS. AtMMia. The soils actually 

 tea culture at present in India are of very great variety. In the 

 uiptnru valley (Assam), while all the tea land is alluvium, the best results 

 t>een obtained on fairly light, red, rather coarse sand or silt, or on the 

 . older, and redder alluvium which forms small plateaux in certain districts 

 ir, Bishimth). The following are typical analyses, the samples having 

 taken from the surface to 15 inches deep : 



Matter, etc. 

 of Iron 

 a 



hosphoric Acid . 

 i-c.lulile Silicates 



Virgin 



,T.-- I..,',]. 



Upper 

 Assam. 



Dgen 



6-75 

 2-95 



5-74 

 0-09 

 0-72 

 0-38 

 0-19 

 0-08 

 83-10 



Virgin 



Forest Land, 

 Upper 

 Assam. 



100-00 

 0-14 



5-75 

 3-11 

 6-95 

 0-11 

 0-74 

 0-20 

 0-28 

 0-06 

 82-74 



100-00 

 0-12 



Virgin 

 Bamboo 

 Forest Land, 

 Upper 

 Assam. 



3-76 

 1-72 

 3-29 

 0-06 

 0-47 

 0-16 

 0-24 

 0-05 

 90-25 



Virgin 



Forest Land, 

 Upper 

 Assam. 



2-87 

 0-91 

 2-13 

 0-04 

 0-18 

 0-10 

 0-02 

 0-03 

 93-72 



Older 

 Alluvial 



Land, 

 AMBID. 



100-00 

 0-09 



100-00 

 0-09 



7-40 

 5-03 



10-77 

 0-09 

 0-52 

 0-58 

 0-18 

 0-05 



75-38 



100-00 

 0-13 



:achar and Sylbet. The tea in the Surma valley (Cachar and Sylhet) Cachar and 

 originally planted almost entirely on small hills (teelas) which occur over s y met - 

 ist all these districts, and which were surrounded by low-lying flat land, 

 swamp. Much of this low land was in later years found to be perfectly 

 ible of drainage, and when drained formed very rich beds, sometimes of 

 at, sometimes of black soil highly charged with organic matter. Tea has 

 en found to flourish exceedingly on these so-called " bheel " soils, which pro- 

 normous crops of low-quality tea. In Sylhet in addition to these types 

 of land, much tea has been planted on plateau land very similar to that in the 

 Brahmaputra valley. The " teela " and " bheel" soils of Cachar and Sylhet are 

 ;t>d in the following analyses: 



221 



