Al*RlL, 1909. j 



Miscellaneous. 



so that the reasons for successes and 

 failures must be investigated and 

 recorded. It is obvious that both sides 

 would benefit by this procedure. 



A great deal of the planter's daily- 

 work may be made to have an experi- 

 mental and scientific value without 

 much effort, provided only that obser- 

 vations are made and records kept. 

 (For example, the effect of the appli- 

 cation of any manure may be measured 

 by leaving a portion of the field un- 

 treated and comparing the remainder 

 with that. At present it is customary 

 to apply the dressing to the whole 

 field, so that there is no knowing what 

 would have happened if the manure had 

 not been used.) A few observations of 

 this kind carefully correlated by scien- 

 tific officers would soon givefrise to know- 

 ledge of a most valuable kind. 



Similary, slight variations might be 

 made in the methods of cultivation, 

 and the results noted and compared ; 

 these would undoubtedly throw a flood 

 of light on many vexed questions. 



If this aspect of the question were 

 grasped by planters, it would in turn 

 react most beneficially on the scienti- 

 fic workers, whose attention would con- 

 stantly be called to the methods of 

 local practice, and their merits and 

 defects- At present, ssientific work is 

 retarded from a want of accurate know- 

 ledge of many points relating to plant- 

 ing work. This want might easily be 

 remedied by increasing the exchange of 

 information in the manner indicated. 



There is a danger that the scientific 

 workers may pursue lines of investi- 

 gation which carry them out of touch 

 with the planters among whom, and for 

 whom, they live. These investigations 

 may be useful and valuable, they may 

 indeed be quite necessary; but if they 

 tend to separate planter and scientist, 

 their value is lessened and the efforts 

 of some other worker will be necessary 

 to bring the two together again. 



The scientific worker should be re- 

 quired as part of his duty to carry on 

 investigations of an abstract character 

 so as to extend knowledge, and to keep 

 his mind alert and capable of dealing 

 with new problems ; if his time and 

 attention are wholly occupied in dealing 

 with so-called ' practical ' duties, he will 

 soon lose his mental alertness and fail 

 to deal successfully with the problems 

 presented by the planter. Constant 

 intercourse with the affairs of the 

 planter will ensure that his work does 

 not cause him to lose touch with the 

 problems he is required to handle. 



The work of a Department of Agri- 

 culture will be much advanced in use- 

 fulness if the planters will realize, and 



act upon, the idea that it is incumb en ^ 

 on them to approach the scientific 

 workers with their knowledge and their 

 problems, as well as for the scientific 

 worker to approach the planter, ail( j 

 happily, in many instances, this desir- 

 able state of affairs is found to exist. 

 —Agrictdtural Neros, Vol- VII, No. 170 

 October 31, 1908. 



NOTES ON THE APPLICATION OF 

 MANURE TO TEA. 



Mr. J. F. Jowitt of Craig Estate, 

 Bandarawela, in a letter dated the 26th 

 February, 1909, points out the difficulty 

 of obtaining an even distribution of 

 manure in tea fields, owing to the great 

 variation in the number of bushes per 

 acre. He quotes instances of a large 

 surplus and similar deficiency over 

 definite acreages, for which the correct 

 amount of manure had been supplied, 

 and suggests the following simple method 

 for ascertaining the average number of 

 bushes per acre, and so arriving at the 

 amount to be applied per bush. Mr. 

 Jowitt has also devised a cheap and 

 simple measuring tin, which will be 

 found very useful for manuring tea or 

 other similar products. 



Recipe.— Take three smart podians, 

 one of whom can read and write, four 

 strings with rings at the ends (any old 

 rings will do) each 1 chain in length, also 

 four poles 4 or 5 feet. 



A. C. 



R D. 



Two coolies start from A, in the centre 

 of a row of tea, putting rings of two 

 strings over pole at A, one coolie goes to 

 R, D, the other to C, D. Count bushes 

 within the square, do this at three or four 

 places in a field, according to its size, not 

 always selecting the best or worst tea, 

 taking flat and steep portions of the 

 field— strike average, multiply by 10 and 

 deduct 5% for roads, this latter I find to 

 be a fair allowance. If cross strings cut 

 centres of bushes, take only half the 

 number of bushes in that line. 



Six podians did 410 acres on Craig. 

 The bushes to an acre vary in different 

 fields considerably— 2,353, 2,628, 2,716. 



Calculations made by podians have 

 been checked in several fields and have 

 proved practically correct. Where mix- 

 ture is applied to alternate rows I find 

 alavangoe holes at the two ends of the 

 field or portions of the field form 

 efficient marks. 



I have also devised an adjustable 

 measure which will take from 3 oz. Basic 

 slag and Lime mixture up to 6£ oz. of 

 castor cake mixture. 



