92 CULTIVATION AND MANUFACTURE OF TEA. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



FILLING UP VACANCIES. 



So difficult is this to do, that I have heard several planters 

 declare they would attempt it no further, but, on the con- 

 trary, accept the vacancies in their gardens as an unavoid- 

 able evil. 



That it is difficult I, too, can certify. Seedlings put into 

 vacant spots year after year die, either in the rains they 

 are planted or in the following spring. If, however, a few 

 yards off a fresh piece of land is taken in and planted, the 

 plants live. What is the reason ? It can be nothing con- 

 nected with the soil, for on adjacent spots they live and die. 



It puzzled me a long time, but I believe I can now explain 

 it. First, seedlings planted in vacant spots in a garden are 

 never safe. When in the rains there are many weeds in the 

 gardens, and it is being dug, the young seedlings are not 

 observed, are either dug up, or injured so by the soil being 

 dug close to them, that they shortly after die. This is, I 

 believe, the principal cause of the failure, and it may be in 

 a great measure, if not entirely, obviated by putting, first, a 

 high stake on either side of the seedling, and taking care it 

 remains there all through the rains. Secondly, as an ad- 

 ditional precaution, and a very necessary one, before any 

 such land is dug, send round boys with " koorpies" to clean 

 away the jungle round the young plants, and at the same 

 time open the soil slightly over their roots. Doing this 

 "cultivates" them, and the plants being apparent, with the 

 newly-stirred vacant spaces round them, are seen by the 

 diggers, and are not likely to be damaged. 



