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dormant period, viz,, December to February, after which, ap- 

 plication of rape-cake, ashes, lime, asafoetida and salt may 

 follow at the base of each plant and then when any pests 

 are noticed, spraying of the bushes with a mixture of sulphate 

 of copper and lime (i : 10 with 200 parts of water), then 

 dusting with soot and alum, may be resorted to. This should 

 be followed by top-dressing with salt-petre in March. The 

 flushing of leaf coming after such cultivation and manuring 

 and application of insecticides and fungicides, should be healthy 

 and free from blights of all sorts. Picking of spotted and 

 crumpled up leaves during the dormant period, and burning 

 them, should be also practised. 



705. The seed should be kept in moist earth throughout 

 winter and sown in March in seed-beds. When a year old, 

 the seedlings are planted out 5ft. apart. For the first 3 years 

 no plucking is done but the plants are kept pruned in the 

 cold weather 3 to 4ft. high. The first plucking of leaves 

 takes place in the 4th year, after which the plucking goes on 

 regularly 3 times a year as long as the bushes are alive. 

 The first picking is usually done in April.* This makes the 

 best tea of the year. The picking should be done carefully 

 so as not to bruise the leaves, nor injure tender shoots. 

 The third picking goes to make the coarsest tea. About 

 2,000 plants go to an acre, 250 to 300 Ibs. of tea being got 

 out of an acre in three cuttings. 



706. Withering. The leaves are exposed to sun and air 

 for the first 2 or 3 hours after picking. But in rainy weather 

 or when the atmosphere is very damp the withering operation 

 is done artificially by passing a current of dry air through the 

 leaves. There is little chemical change in the leaf during the 

 process of withering beyond the loss of a certain proportion of 

 moisture contained in it, and the consequent concentration of 

 the sap ; but if the leaf is bruised or injured, so that the air can 

 gain free access to the sap, a process of oxidation and decom- 

 position sets in almost immediately and causes a loss in the 



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