LAY OF LAND. 37 



plants in a twelvemonth.' Of the two, the first must be 

 chosen, for if the latter were pursued the plants, getting 

 gradually more 'and more denuded of- soil, would simply 

 topple over in two or three years. But choosing the lesser 

 evil, the mischief is not confined to the bad effects of low 

 cultivation. Dig the land as little as you will, the great force 

 of the rains washes down a good deal of soil. The plants do 

 not sink as the soil lowers, and the consequence is that all 

 Tea plants on slopes have the lower side bare of earth, and 

 the roots exposed. This is more and more the case the 

 steeper the slope. These exposed roots shrivel up as the 

 sun acts on them, the plant languishes and yields very little 

 leaf. 



Attempts are made to remedy the mischief by carrying 

 earth up from below yearly, and placing it under the plant ; 

 but the expense of doing this is great,, and the pallia- 

 tion is only temporary, for the same thing occurs again and 

 again as each rainy season returns. 



The mischief is greater on stiff than on sandy soils, for on 

 the former the earth, is> detached in great pieces and carried 

 down the hill. I know one garden in Chittagong, a large 

 one, where the evil is so great, that the sooner the cultivation 

 is abandoned the better for the owners. 



A great many gardens in India, indeed the majority, are 

 on slopes ; a few in Assam, the greater number in Cachar, 

 some in Chittagong, and almost all the Himalayan planta- 

 tions. Such of these as are on steep slopes will, I believe, 

 never pay, and instead of improving yearly (as good gardens, 

 highly cultivated, should do even after they have arrived at 

 full bearing) such, I fear, will deteriorate year by year. 



Plantations on moderate slopes need not fail because of 

 the slopes. The evils slight slopes entail are not great, but 

 the sooner the fact is accepted that sloping cannot vie against 

 flat land for the cultivation of Tea the better. 



