Tea Planting. 



By H, Messervy. 



[HE plant I should recommend for cultivation in 

 the colony is a Hybrid Assam Tea, as in my 

 experience the seed of such a variety bears 

 travelling well. The seed should be packed in charcoal 

 dust, and two cases of 6 cubic feet each would contain 

 sufficient seed to plant up 50 acres of land. In clearing 

 the land of course all trees should be felled and lopped, 

 and after the branches have dried up a little, the whole 

 field should be burnt off, leaving only the trunks of the 

 trees lying on the ground ; the next work to be done is 

 to line out the field. This is done from hill to hill, two 

 men holding a long rope between them, the rope having 

 marks every 5 feet along it, these men stretch the rope 

 and then gently lower it on the ground, and boys run 

 along putting in pegs at every mark on the rope. The 

 men then raise the rope and move on 6 feet, when they 

 drop it again and the boys peg off as before. This lines 

 off the field in rows 6 feet apart and pegs 5 feet apart in 

 the rows, thus giving about 1,200 pegs to the acre of 

 ground. After the plan has been lined off, shovelmen 

 are put into the field who dig a hole at every peg, the 

 hole being 18 inches in diameter and the same in depth. 

 These men are followed by others who fill the holes with 

 the fine vegetable mould which they rake off the sur- 

 face surrounding the holes, they tramp the soil well 

 down into the hole and then replace the peg to mark the 

 centre of it. Then comes the planting; I should advise 

 this being done during the November rains. The seeds 



