almost abruptly from the plain in places. On stifier land in this 

 section are some of the older gardens of the Assam Tea Co. Below 

 are analyses of those which have borne tea for many years. 



The most effective dressing hitherto applied on these gardens 

 has apparently been hullah soil, and anything seemed to be of 

 benefit, provided it was of lighter character than the land on which 

 it was put. Relative to this, Mr, Hulbert writes me concerning 

 Bamon Pukri: 



" The top-dressed section shows up uncommonly, but this is by no means the excep- 

 tion. It is really wonderful the way in which tea treated in this way has improved in 

 all our gardens, even on old worn-out places like Ligri, where the soil used is not much, 

 better than the garden itself, the bheels it is taken from having been utilised several 

 times." 



The reason for this success in the use of poor top-dressing soil 

 as manure I can only ascribe to the fact that the top-dressing renders 

 the soil lighter and in better condition than before, and as the above 

 analyses show the Mackeypore soil, at any rate, to be anything but 

 exhausted, the addition of the lighter materials has rendered the 

 plant more capable of getting at the stores of food in the soil. 

 Where the material was more clayey than the land on which it was 

 placed, as in one experiment at Bamon Pukri, little, if any, good 

 resulted. Green manuring with mati kalai has here resulted in 

 marked benefit, and on all the gardens of this type should do 

 great good. But great benefit could hardly be expected to accrue, 

 unless the application was a recurring one, say once in three years 

 on the same plot, with the addition, if possible, of a little (say one 

 ton per acre) cattle manure before sowing in May. By this means 

 a much more luxuriant plant of the green manuring crop is obtained, 



