520 MANUAL OP THE XILAGIRI DISTRICT. 



CH. XXIX. should be replaced as early as possible by healtlxy individuals 

 Z raised in bamboo baskets. English garden trowels are the best 



tools for transplanting- purposes. The average cost of planting 



out may be said to be about Rupees 3 to 4 per acre, 

 —cultivation The year after planting, so soon as the spring showers set in, 

 piunmg. ^^^ young plants will commence to shoot freely. Until they 

 have attained a height of from 18 inches to 2 feet they are best 

 left alone ; but when the centre and main lateral shoots show 

 an undue tendency to upward growth, they should be cut back. 

 The more spindly the centre growth, the closer back it should 

 be cut. This comparatively rough treatment of the centre will 

 determine the flow of sap more strongly into the lower side 

 branches, and cause the young plants to fill out into symmetrical 

 bushes. Lateral growth might be equally well encouraged by 

 stopping the lateral shoots, and the leaf so obtained might be 

 made into tea. Much risk, however, attends this operation, as it 

 is difficult to make the pickers understand clearly the difference 

 between those shoots which should be picked and those that are 

 best left alone. A light trimming with a knife to all straggling 

 branches is a much safer course. 



As far as possible the plants should be trained to a single stem 

 for at least 6 inches above ground. A light surface trimming 

 about the middle of the south-west monsoon, followed by a some- 

 what severer one at the end of the north-east rains, will probably 

 be found sufficient during the second year. A couple of months 

 or so after this second trimming a crowd of young succulent 

 shoots will spring up all over the surface of each plant ; and 

 when these have attained a fair length, say from 6 to 8 inches, 

 the upper leaves may be picked and manufactured. The greatest 

 care however must be taken to allow the lateral branches to grow 

 unchecked. From 2| to 3 feet is about the best height at which 

 to maintain the surface-level of the plants at pruning. This will 

 allow them from 1 to 1 4 feet of upward growth during the course 

 of the picking season ; and so long as they are maintained within 

 these limits the women and children can reach with ease the 

 shoots that have to be plucked. About July the plants will be 

 old enough to undergo their first systematic pruning. The upward 

 shoots from which crop has been taken will be shortened back to 

 1| or 2 inches of young wood at their base, and those lateral 

 shoots that show much growth will be shortened back to due 

 limits. This course of treatment will be continued until the 

 plants have fully covered their ground, by which time they will 

 have nearly attained their full jnelding power. 



Judging from my own experience, the best time for pruning is 

 from early June to middle of August, and it is generally about 



