TEA. 109 



every third or fourth day, until the plants have taken hold of the ground. Du- 

 ring the rains, grass springs up with great rapidity, so as to render it impossible 

 for one man to keep three acres (the quantity assigned by us) clean. This, how- 

 ever, is not necessary, if care be taken to make a golah round each plant, and 

 keep it clear of weeds ; these golahs ought always, in hill plantations where the 

 ground is irregular, to be connected by small khauls or channels, in order to make 

 irrigation easy ; by so doing too, water, if the supply be scanty, which often 

 happens in the hills in the hot weather, will be economised. 



r r , 

 rh 



We have already stated that 4 sqiiare feet ought to be assigned to each plant. 

 In China, according to Professor Royle, three to four feet are given ; this, how- 

 ever, is too small a space to allow the plant to grow freely. After the tea plants 

 are transplanted, it is not necessary to protect them. 



The best seasons for transplanting are towards the end of February, or as soon 

 as the frost has ceased, and throughout March, and during the rains, and until 

 the end or middle of November, depending on the season. 



In transplanting, four parties ought to be employed ; viz., one person to dig 

 holes, a second to remove plants, a third to carry them to the ground where they 

 are required, and a fourth to plant. By this means, not only time is saved, but 

 the plants have a much better chance, when thus treated, of doing well. When 

 the seedling beds are extensive, so many of the plants ought not to be removed, 

 that is, a plant left every 4J feet, and these beds added to the plantation. 



On pruning, best season and mode. The plants do not require to be pruned 

 until the fifth year, as the plucking of leaves generally tends to make the plants 

 assume the basket shape, the form most to be desired to procure the greatest 

 quantity of leaves ; if, however, the plants show a tendency to run into weed, 

 from central branches being thrown out, this ought to be checked by removing 

 the central stem. In the fourth year a quantity of the old and hard wood ought 

 to be removed, to induce the plants to throw out more branches. The best 

 season for pruning is from November to March. 



On irrigation. To keep the tea-plants healthy, irrigation for two or three 

 years is absolutely necessary, and no land ought to be selected for a tea planta- 

 tion which cannot be irrigated. 



On the other hand, land liable to be flooded during the rains, and upon which 

 water lies for any length of time, is equally detrimental to the growth of the 

 plant. This applies to a small portion of the Kooasur plantation, which receives 

 the drainage of the adjoining hills, and the soil being retentive, keeps the water. 

 Deep trenches have been dug in order to drain it off these, however, owing to 

 the lowness of- the surrounding country, act badly. Three successive seasons 

 plants have been put into the ground, and aa often have been destroyed on the 

 setting in of the rains, showing the necessity of avoiding such kind of land for 

 tea plantation. 



To facilitate irrigation, &c., as already stated, in the Deyrah Dhoon, I have 

 limited the tea beds to three feet in breadth. This is particularly requisite in 

 land so constituted as that of the Deyrah Dhoon, it being so porous, as men- 

 tioned by Major Cautley in his " Notes and Memoranda of ^Watercourses." This 

 is caused by the superincumbent "soil not being more than from one to three feet 

 thick, in some places more, but varying exceedingly. Beneath this there is a 

 bed of shingle of vast thickness, through which the water percolates ; it is this 

 that renders the sinking of wells so difficult in the Deyrah Dhoon, and which has 

 tended so much to retard individuals from becoming permanent residents ; at 

 present there are many tracts of several thousand acres in that valley unoccu- 

 pied from want of drinking water, as for instance, at Innesphaeel. 



