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In every case the subsoil to be applied as manure is poorer 

 than the soil on which it is to be placed, Can it therefore be worth 

 applying as manure ? It might perhaps be answered that these 

 subsoils may contain stores of mineral food apart from the above- 

 named constituents and that these are rendered useful to the plant 

 by putting the material on the surface. This may be the case to a 

 small extent, but from my analysis of the Assam subsoils, they are 

 never so rich as to make it worth while applying it to the tea at an 

 enormous cost. A top-dressing soil should therefore be analysed in 

 respect of nitrogen and organic matter before application. The 

 whole process only takes a very few days, and it would save the 

 absurd waste of labour which has taken place recently. Any sample 

 sent should be accompanied by a description (sandy, heavy, red clay, 

 &c., &c.) of the soil to which it is intended to apply the material, 

 and thus a vast amount of waste expense would be saved. 



SUMMARY AS TO TOP-DRESSING SOIL AS MANURE. 



In summary, therefore, relative to material for top-dressing, 

 peat will always increase the luxuriance of tea, but there exist some 

 doubts whether the quality is not deteriorated by it : hullah soil is 

 the most variable material possible, but to be valuable should be (i) 

 black ; (2) covered with rank vegetation ; (3) not from running water ; 

 (4) lighter in texture than the land to which it is to be applied. Once 

 scraped, a hullah cannot usually be profitably again used for top- 

 dressing purposes, even under the most favourable conditions, for ten 

 years. Forest jungle soil may occasionally be profitably applied, 

 but no general rule can be laid down, and garden subsoil is only 

 worth using either to replace the soil taken away by wash, or to 

 improve the texture of the land. It is emphatically advisable that a 

 partial analysis should be made of any material suggested for 

 top-dressing before this latter is applied. 



CATTLE MANURE. 



Next in importance to top-dressing soil as a fertilising agency 

 in Assam is cattle manure. Nothing is more astonishing to an 

 outsider visiting Assam tea gardens, than the little use which is 

 made of this material. Always present, generally in enormous 

 quantity, it is indeed rare to find any place where any systematic 

 attempt is made to utilise it, On the average garden of 500 acres 

 there are usually at least five hundred cattle, and each of these may 

 be estimated to produce at least 2 tons of dung per annum, or, 



