MANUAL OP THE NiLAGIRI DISTRICT. 533 



a permanent crop like tea or coffee its ase, independent of combi- CII. XXix:. 

 nation witli other substances, is not to bo advised. A small rp^^ 



quantity, say | to ^ lb. per tree, mixed with half a basket of 



animal manui'e, may eke out a scanty supply of the latter, which 

 latter will in its turn serve to check the reaction which would 

 otherwise ensue when the stimulating properties of the guano had 

 subsided. 



Fish is a very powerful and forcing manure, and should, in my pish manui-e. 

 opinion, only be used in combination with animal manures. It is 

 very rich both in phosphoric acid and niti'ogen. From 1 to 2 lb. 

 fish to I to 1 basket of cattle manure should not only have a 

 powerful, but also lasting, effect in increasing the yield of leaf in 

 a garden. 



Its direct action may be speedily noticed in the improved 

 brilliance and vigour of the foliage of the plant to which it has 

 been applied. 



Having fully discussed the respective merits of the manures —application 

 generally in use, I now come to consider the best method of 

 applying them. To illustrate this in the clearest form, I will 

 avail myself of a short extract from Dr. Lindley's " Theory and 

 Practice of Horticulture :" — 



" As to the use of applying manure, ifc must be obvious that it can 

 be of nc use unless it is in contact with the absorbing part of the 

 roots ; now these parts are young fibres and spongides as has been 

 ah-eaJy stated, and, when plants have arrived at any size, the roots 

 form the radii of a circle of which the circumference is the principal 

 line of absorption. This being so, if a plant has arrived at the state of 

 a bush or tree, it is useless to apply manure at the base of the stem, 

 because that is precisely where the power of absorption is least, if it 

 exists at all ; and, as the circle formed by the roots is generally greater 

 than that of the branches, the proper manner of applying manure is to 

 introduce it into the ground at a distance from the stem about equal 

 to the radius formed by the branches, and yet, although this is so 

 evidently right, I have seen a gai-dener who ought to have known 

 much better, sedulously administering liquid manure, by pouring it 

 into the soil at the base of the stem, which is much the same thing as 

 if an attempt were made to feed a man through the soles of his feet." 



To further illustrate the object I have in view, I shall make 

 another short extract from my lengthier paper on the cultivation 

 of tea ! — 



" Now the part of the foregoing remarks of Dr. Lindley's to which 

 I wish to draw most earnest attention is that relative to the distance 

 from the stem at which manure should be applied. There are still, in 

 Southern India at any rate, planters who believe that close to the stem 

 is the proper place to bury manure, and many, evidently with a view 

 to render it still more useless, lump it at a depth far below the range 

 of feeding rootlets. Now the advice of Dr. Lindley that the manure 



