56 



Tezpore has a bank of red loam, and the Doom Dooma ridge is a 

 deep red sand. But the amount, on analysis, of the Oxide of Iron 

 does not here seem to be really greater than in those gardens where 

 for one cause or other the soil has not the rich red colour, It is 

 merely in a different state of combination, which may or may not 

 indicate a readier availability for the plant, but which does mean a 

 thoroughly aerated soil. 



I thought that if the total iron had no appreciable effect on the 

 quality of the tea, the amount available for the plant might be some 

 guide to the value of the soil for this purpose. This seemed likely to 

 be the case, for a trace of iron has a great part to play in forming rich 

 dark-coloured leaves. The following analysis seems to give support to 

 this idea, and it is distinctly a line to be followed out in the 

 future. The exhaustion during the growth of tea has in every 

 case been considerable, and this may in some measure account for 

 the reputed falling off in the quality of many old gardens, In the 

 cases cited, however, there still seems an ample margin of readily 

 available iron for many years to come 



LOWER OXIDE OF IRON. 



Mr. Bambrer enunciated last year a theory that the quality of 

 tea was directly connected with the amount of lower Oxide of Iron 

 in a soil, an ingredient which is, however, hardly ever present except 

 in very minute quantity. As far as Ceylon soils were concerned, the 

 amount of the lower oxide found was a fairly satisfactory measure of 

 the quality of the tea produced upon the land. I cannot say that 

 this theory fits in at all with Assam conditions. The lower oxide 

 does not seem to have any constant relationship either to flavour, 

 pungency or strength, and I am inclined to regard its percentage 

 as depending (i) on the quantity of Organic Matter; (2) on the 



