522 MANUAL OF THE NILAGIRI DISTRICT. 



CH, XXIX. mucli closer, and confined to narrower limits, yield a very mucli 

 rpj,^ larger return, and that too at a less cost. 



At present it is the rule in Assam to put out hybrid plants 



at a distance of 4 feet by 4 feet, and very large returns are thus 

 obtained at an early age. On the other hand, the very close 

 system, 3 feet by 2 feet and 2^ feet by 2^ feet, frequently prac- 

 tised in Darjeeling and the North-West Provinces, is not to be 

 recommended. 



In my opinion for a fair class of hybrid plant 3 feet by 



3 feet is the closest that the bushes should be planted at the high 

 elevations on the western side of the Nilagiris ; and 4 feet by 



4 feet, or at the outside 4 feet by 3 feet at elevations of 6,000 

 feet and downwards on the eastern and southern slopes of the 

 hills. Planting 4 feet by 4 feet will give on land perfectly free 

 from stone, and excluding the space occupied by roads, drains, 

 &c., 2,722 plants per acre, but making allowance for these, say a 

 little over 2,000 plants clear per acre. Two small compact bushes 

 4 feet in diameter will yield a very much larger supply of leaf 

 than would the bush of 8 feet diameter, and the amount of 

 manure required per acre will remain the same. 



A few planters incline to the hedge system of cultivation^ 

 say 3 feet apart in the row and 5 or 6 feet between the rows. 

 The system is not one to be recommended : it is far better to let 

 each plant have a regulated distance on all sides to which it can 

 spread its roots in search of nourishment. Others incline to 

 what is called the quincunx system, i.e., commencing the second 

 line from half way between the two first pegs and going back to 

 the same line in the third row as shown. The system has little 

 to recommend it. 



When the pits have been exposed a short time to atmospheric 

 influence, and the monsoon rains have set in, they may be refilled, 

 care being taken that only the best soil is returned and that that 

 is free from roots, weeds, stones, &c. The soil should be heaped 

 up to some height in the centre, as the rains will soon compress 

 it again, and a small pit in which water will lodge would be the 

 result. The cost of this work will be about Rupees 2-8-0 per 

 1,000 pits, 

 -planting. The land is now ready to be planted. There are two ways of 

 doing this, and both have their advocates, viz., planting the seed 

 in situ and transplanting seedlings from nurseries. In .<??'/ k plant- 

 ing is performed by sowing three or four tea seeds, germinated 

 or fresh, in each pit, shading or not according to the state of the 

 weather, and subsequently, when they are 2 or 3 inches high, 

 leaving the strongest grower in the pit. Those removed serve 

 to fill up vacancies that may exist, or may be planted in a nursery 

 for use the following season. Some planters allow all to grow up 



