February, 1912.] 



117 



Edible Products. 



Standard Dressing for Bananas 

 per Acre 



2h-S cwts. Sulphate of Potash (96% 

 pure) 



3 -4 ,, Superphosphate (17% water 

 soluble phosphoric acid) 



l£-2 „ Sulphate ot Ammonia (20% 

 Nitrogen) 



Equivalent quantities of phosphoric 

 acid and nitrogen may also be given in 

 other forms, e.g., in the form of organic 

 manures, such as meat works retuse, 

 dried blood, etc. In any ease, it is 

 essential, in the cultivation of bananas, 

 to maintain an ample store of humus in 

 the soil, and also to apply at regular 

 intervals dressings of lime. 



Au important point is the influence 

 of the manure on the size of the buuches. 



In Jamaica, " a bunch " is "nine," In 

 Fiji a bunch of eight hands, or over, is 

 a "large bunch," under "eight hands" 

 is a "small bunch." The relative pro- 

 portion of large to small bunches is of 

 great commercial importance, because 

 the price obtained depends so largely 

 on the size of the bunch. 



In the experiment conducted by the 

 Department of Agriculture in Fiji (see 

 Table on page 116), which was planned by 

 Mr. Ohas H. Knowles, an attempt was 

 made to determine the influence of the 

 manure on the size of the bunch. He 

 found that while on the unmanured plot 

 only 25% of the bunches were " large," on 

 the plot receiving phosphoric acid and 

 nitrogen, 74 % were large bunches. On 

 th6 plot receiving potash, phosphoric 

 acid, and nitrogen, 66% were large 

 bunches, and although this proportion 

 is lower than from the plot without 

 potash, the absolute yield was so very 

 much more from the complete manure, 

 that the extra outlay for potash was 

 amply justified. 



It is difficult, if not impossible, to lay 

 down hard and fast rules for themanurial 

 treatment of any crop, and the writer 

 would urge all planters who intend using 

 artificials, to test his recommendations 

 by practical trial before adopting them 

 throughout a whole plantation, but there 

 can be no possible doubt that on the 

 lines indicated, and with the ever 

 essential concomitants of lime, humus 

 and good cultivation will profitably 

 increase the crop, while maintaining the 

 fertility of the plantation and the size 

 of the bunch. 



THE INDIAN TEA INDUSTRY. 



(From the Indian Agriculturist, 

 Vol. XXXVI., No. 9, September 1, 1911.) 



The Labour Question.— 1. 

 So far as the tea industry is concerned 

 there would appear to be no signs of 

 relief in the matter of the labour supply. 

 Each year the labour problem becomes 

 more acute, and while the bulk of 

 gardens are still able to cope with the 

 work most essential to their well-being, 

 the whole position is one fraught with 

 anxiety for the future. Famine in the 

 recruiting districts, when it occurs, 

 gives the industry an opportunity of 

 recouping itself for the annual exodus 

 from the gardens of imported coolies to 

 the waste lauds in the vicinity, and 

 short crops also from time to time 

 alleviate the situation. But the con- 

 stant drain on gardens is greater than 

 the influx, and the position is compli- 

 cated by high wages, which do away 

 with the necessity on the part of the 

 cooly of working the greater number of 

 the days in the month. 



This latter phase is responsible in the 

 non-agreement districts for much of the 

 shortage of labour, and it is only a 

 question of time when gardens in Assam 

 and the Surma Valley will find them- 

 selves in the same predicament. At 

 present the Act holds in Assam and its 

 prestige is felt from end to end of the 

 Valley. • Coolies who are not actually 

 under agreement or who are at least 

 only bound by Act 13 are deterred from 

 independence of opinion as to whether 

 they should work each and every day or 

 not. And in any case the discipline on 

 these gardens is so long establisned that 

 until very late years no cooly attempted 

 to sit in his house at his own sweet will. 

 This desirable state of affairs is rapidly 

 altering, and with the threatened with- 

 drawl of Act 6, it is only a matter of a 

 few years before it is done away al- 

 together and the cooly will say frankly 

 that he will work only when the spirit 

 moves "him. The interpretation of a 

 cooly 's sweet will in regard to his work 

 has been found to be a period just suffi- 

 cient to earn the few essentials to 

 support life and indulge occasionally in 

 intoxication. If a cooly can live com- 

 fortably on Rs. 5 per mensem and fifteen 

 days' work can procure him that amount, 

 it is in the nature ot things characteris- 

 tic to the Orient, highly improbable 

 that he will work an extra day to 

 secure himself an excess wage. 



That is the position at the present 

 day in Darjeeling, in the Terai, and in 

 the Dooars, and. although coolies in 



