524 MANUAL OF THE NirAGIRI DISTEICT. 



CJI. XXIX. likely ultimately to succeed, and this course will in the majority 

 ;j77~' of cases be pursued by the planter who prefers certainty to 



chance. 



There is a practice now coming much into favour of raising 

 the germinated seed in small baskets of split bamboo : and thus 

 transferring them to the pits they are meant to occupy. The 

 outer covering of bamboo soon rots, and allows free passage to 

 the lateral rootlets. In the case of filling up vacancies this 

 system has much to commend it. 



Nurseries. Concluding that the planter has in part at all events preferred 



the certainty to the chance, and made up his mind to raise at any 

 rate a great portion of his plants in nurseries, we have now to 

 consider the formation of the nurseries in which these seeds are 

 to be sown. In all tea seed there is a proportion, seldom less 

 than 8 per cent., of empty shells or unripe nuts, and these planted 

 out in beds not only waste room, but give the beds an unsightly 

 appearance when the plants have begun to show above ground. 



The best site for a nursery is a piece of level ground, if such 

 can be procured — failing that, a gentle slope on which terraced 

 beds can be easily cut out. A very convenient size for nursery 

 beds is in my opinion 30 feet long by 5 feet wide, with 2| or 3 

 feet paths between the beds. The beds themselves should be 

 well dug to a depth of 18 inches, and raised about 4 to 6 inches 

 above the level of the paths. It is by no means a bad plan to 

 lay the top soil of the paths on to the beds. The edges may be 

 faced with stone, flat tiles, bamboo slips — on no account should 

 solid manure be appUed to nurseries ; it attracts larvae of all kinds, 

 which do much damage by eating the tender roots of the seedling. 



The surface should be made perfectly smooth and even. On this 

 the seeds may be spread in a layer one seed thick, and covered 

 over with an inch or an inch-and-a-half of good sandy loam. A 

 good watering should be given in the first instance, and afterwards 

 a lighter one from time to time as necessary. The seed of the tea 

 plant, like most other seeds of a fleshy description, is very 

 intolerant of an excessive supply of water, and this is more espe- 

 cially the case with seed that has travelled a long distance, say 

 from Assam, and been allowed to dry partially on the journey. 

 The greatest caution must be used therefore in giving these 

 seeds just as much water as they can utilize and no more. At 

 the end of five weeks the upper layer of soil may be removed, and 

 those seeds that have commenced to throw out a radicle, or have 

 burst their shell, may be taken out for sowing in the nurseries. 

 The remainder should be covered over agaiu and let alone for 

 another fortui"-ht. 



