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lies just beneath the Himalayas in the Mangaldai district, and which 

 runs from this point west right into Kamrup. The rivers descending 

 from the hills, instead of running over its surface, in great measure 

 descend into it and form underground streams for ten miles or so, 

 then again appearing at the southern edge of the bank in question. 

 In the interval the ground water is often 80 to 100 feet at least 

 below the surface, and the soil is an extremely porous sand. It will 

 be seen that in a tract like this the lack of water might be a very 

 serious hindrance to the growth of tea,* and that, if irrigation 

 were at all feasible, such a district would be one in which it 

 would be likely to be advantageous, Some years ago, I believe, 

 Mr. R. N. Davidson suggested the trial of irrigation on tea 

 nurseries in this very district, and this has proved such a 

 success that it is now almost a universal practice on or near this 

 bank to arrange for the irrigation of nurseries, and by this means the 

 young plants are rendered almost independent of weather or of 

 climate in so far as the amount of rain occurring is concerned. The 

 value of irrigating nurseries in all districts subject to drought has 

 now, I think, passed beyond the experimental stage, and one 

 may almost consider it as proved that in many cases by this 

 means a much improved class of plant can be produced for future 

 plantings. 



When the irrigation of the tea garden itself is discussed, a much 

 larger question is, however, opened out. At first sight it seems rather 

 paradoxical even to mention irrigation in a province where the 

 rainfall reaches 60, 80, or 100 inches per annum, but I am not sure 

 that it is as paradoxical as it seems, at any rate in such lands as I 

 have just described and in regions where the rainfall is so badly 

 distributed, The profitableness of any method of irrigation can only 

 be determined by experiment. Of one thing I am certain. By its 

 means both in Mangaldai and Nowgong, as well as elsewhere outside 

 the Brahmaputra Valley, the length of the season can be materially 

 increased, Only one experiment has, however, I believe, been 

 conducted in this direction, and this was on the Bhutia Chang 

 tea estate in the district above mentioned in Mangaldai, Tapping a 

 stream three miles above the garden, the water was brought into the 

 land by an open ditch, and finally, having reached the plot it was 

 wished to irrigate, the water was allowed to run in furrows between 

 the rows of tea. The effect in November last (1900), when I examined 



* This has actually happened in the spring of 1901. 



