ey E e 
CHAPTER IV. 
PRUNING. 
This is really the most important operation 
of the whole year and one about which there is great 
difference of opinion. Nearly all Darjeeling gar- 
dens are pruned from 20th November to be» 
ginning of March. No doubt, it would be better 
if the pruning could be begun in January and 
finished about end of March, but very few gar- 
dens can afford to put off their pruning so late, 
as they have not a sufficient supply of labour 
to risk it, and the gardens have all sorts of 
work which has to be done before the plucking 
commences. A manager ought always to know 
beforehand whether quality or quantity will be 
required and in exactly what state every por- 
tion of his charge is, what yield he got from, 
and what growth there is on the different pora 
tions. Where blight (if his charge is subject 
to it) appears, and which pieces are most attack- 
ed, and by what blight or blights. What por- 
tions of the garden flushes first and bests, The 
