Edible Products* 



120 



[Feb. 1908. 



Maximum 

 Minimum 



Table //.—Average Temperature for the Years 1898 to 1906. 



1898. 1899. 1900. 1901. 1902. 1903. 1904. 1905. 1906. 



79-02 79-46 79-51 80'06 79-05 78'72 79-67 77-25 77-54 



66-55 66-74 66*88 62-25 64*29 63'23 64"59 64-48 64-04 



THE MODE OP CULTURE. 



The ground taken for planting has 

 been common grass pastures. Three 

 methods of preparing the ground or 

 planting have been tried : (1) ploughing 

 and cross ploughing, (2) forming trenches 

 1 foot wide and 18 inches deep, and (3) 

 digging holes where the plants are to 

 stand, about 15 inches cube. It is not 

 possible, at present, to express an 

 opinion regarding the comparative 

 merits of these methods ; in all the 

 earlier cultivation the land was pre- 

 pared by ploughing, and the last two 

 methods have not been tried sufficiently 

 long to judge results. The plants were, 

 at first, 'put in 6 x 6 feet apart, but it was 

 soon found that this gave too much room 

 for weeds. A plant was then put in 

 each interval in one direction, making 

 the spaces 6 feet by 3 feet. In the later 

 plantings, the distance has been still 

 further reduced, the holes being placed 

 4 feet by 2 feet. It is, I believe, in India 

 the custom to plant closely so as to 

 cover the ground quickly, but I do not 

 purpose to reduce the interval between 

 the rows below 4 feet, because that 

 width is necessary to allow of cultivation 

 and to let in light and air between the 

 plants. Propagation is by seed ; cuttings 

 occasionally strike, but not sufficiently 

 well to be useful. Planting the seed at 

 stake appears to be preferable to 

 forming seed-beds and transplanting. 

 In the latter case a spell of dry weather 

 and hot sunshine after transplanting 

 may cause the loss of many plants. The 

 seed may be germinated before being 

 planted, but great care is then needed 

 in planting it, as the young shoots are 

 very fragile; if not previously ger- 

 minated, the plant should appear in 

 from one or two mouths after sowing. 

 "When the plants have grown a few 

 inches high, the ground is gone over 

 and any gap supplied. In spite of this 

 supplying, there appear gaps later on, 

 which are filled with plants from seed- 

 beds of about the same age as the rest 

 of the field. The cultivation for the 

 next three or four years is simply to 

 keep the ground between the plants as 

 clean as possible. This entails a con- 

 stant expenditure in destroying weeds 

 one month to see them grown again in 

 the next montn. This long period of 

 expenditure without income, combined 

 with the considerable outlay for 

 buildings and machinery, is the great 

 drawback in the industry. After about 



four years, when the plants may be 

 about 4 feet high, they are cut down to 

 a uniform height of about 9 inches. 

 Of course all the leaves come off with the 

 prunings, and the field becomes a scene 

 of withered twigs and bare stumps. In 

 six weeks these stumps will have thrown 

 out a quantity of fresh young shoots, 

 which are allowed to grow to a height 

 of about 6 inches and are then tipped, 

 i.e., the end is broken off. After a 

 further wait of about a month, the fresh 

 growth is plucked for crop. It is usually 

 found that the first pluckings do not 

 make such good tea as the later ones. 

 Prom this point the crop depends upon 

 the weather. If there be mixed rain and 

 warm sunshine, with moisture in the 

 air, the trees should give a crop of leaves 

 at about two weeks' interval for some 

 months, gradually giving less as the 

 time returns for pruning, which consists 

 of cutting all the leaves down, and 

 removing all knotty and badly grown 

 wood. In the second cutting the plants 

 are left 13 or 14 inches above ground, and 

 in each succeeding year the height is 

 increased about 2 inches. In India it is 

 expected that each acre should give at 

 least 1,000 lbs. of green leaf in a season ; 

 but, as the yield must vary with the 

 space allowed to each plant, the age of 

 the plants, and to some extent also with 

 the weather, it is impossible to make 

 really reliable comparisions as to the 

 yields per acre. 



THE PREPARATION OP THE LEAF. 



After plucking, there are four pro- 

 cesses through which the leaf has to 

 pass : first, withering ; second, roll- 

 ing ; third, fermenting; and fourth, 

 drying. In the old Chinese culture all 

 was accomplished by hand labour, but 

 in Jamaica it would be impossible to 

 compete for commercial purposes with- 

 out machinery. The plucking of 

 the leaves requires care; only the 

 soft young growth at the end of the 

 shoots must be taken, consisting of the 

 bud with tAvo, two and a half, or three 

 leaves, according as whether the pluck- 

 ing is to be fine or coarse. The axils of 

 the leaves below the part plucked must 

 not be injured, and to break off the 

 whole shoot at the joint (as is sometimes 

 done) must be treated as a serious 

 offence. The freshly plucked leaves have 

 to be spread out as much as possible 

 apart from each other to wither. For 

 this purpose much space is required, as 

 a single pound weight of leaf will need 



