and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society. 



391 



TEA PLANTING IN JAVA. 



We direct attention to the letter which Mr. 

 Hugh Tomlinson writes us on this subject, offer- 

 ing an alternative method of cultivation to that 

 advocated in the " Instructions to Superinten- 

 dents " published by us last month. Mr. 

 Tomlinson refers to our "very hearty endorse- 

 ment" of these methods; but we merely quoted the 

 opinion of the planter who favoured us with the 

 " instructions " and invited criticisms upon them. 

 We are well aware that the system of cultivation 

 which suits one estate may be quite unsuited to 

 another estate on which different conditions 

 obtain. On the whole clean weeding has answered 

 exceedingly well in Ceylon, although in Assam, 

 where it is not practised, the industry does not 

 by any means suffer. Mr. Tomlinson asks our 

 opinion on the two points he raises in his letter. 

 It is a matter for the practical planter, however, 

 and we trust some of our planting readers will 

 favour us with their views on these matters. 



MR. TOMLINSON'S LETTER. 



Bandoeng, Java, 4th March. 



Sir,— I have read with interest " Some Valu- 

 able Planting Instructions " in your March 

 number. Your very hearty endorsement might 

 lead one to believe that this was the only satis- 

 factory system of cultivation. 



May I suggest an alternative one for tea, 

 whereby the good soil is also preserved ? (Your 

 anonymous instructor can only be referring to 

 preservation of soil as none of the grasses he 

 mentions would improve it. Their names are 

 Hydrocotyle Asiatica excellent for preventing 

 wash when planted in the rows where tbore are 

 no waterholes, Impatiens Latifolia, Senecio 

 Javanicus and Richardsonia Scabra.) 



Clean weeding with a four inch hand fork, 

 whereby the good tilth so strongly recommended 

 by Dr. Willis in the October T. A. is obtained, 

 and the use of waterholes, prevalent throughout 

 W. Java. The waterholes are placed horizon- 

 tally, from 1— 1£' deep, about 6" broad, of 

 varying lengths and separated by 6" of solid 

 ground. My sketch may show the system :— 



ooooo ooooooooooo 



OOOO 0000 o ooooooo 



oooooooooooooooo 



ooooooooooooooo 



ooooooooo 0000000 



000000 oooooooooo 



At each pruning the waterholes are moved 

 down a row, when the old ones can be used 

 for burying the prunings in. Surely as little 

 soil is lost by this method as in a dirty garden ? 



The Manager of Pangledjar has told me that 

 he has made exhaustive tests of clean and dirty 

 gardens and has proved both by crop and chem- 

 ical analysis that clean weeding is the best for 

 his estate. That his opinion ought to carry 

 weight is proved by his figures. He has 479 



bouws of tea of which 67 were planted in 1908. 

 Of the remaining 412 bouws 64 are old coffee 

 gardens replanted with tea only 1, 2 & 3 years 

 old, which naturally give an inferior production, 

 yet the crop for ' 1908 was 850,855 lbs or an 

 average over 412 bouws (721 acres) of 1180 lbs 

 per acre. Pangledjar is 2300' a. s, 1. and is a by 

 no moans flat estate. The oldest tea is 8 years. 

 Nett price costing 5Jd, f.o.b ljd. 



I should very much like your opinion on this 

 and my next point, as I should have thought it 

 quite wrong for anyone to dogmatise, as your 

 anonymous instructor has done, about one 

 method for several estates. 



Most Managers here dig a new clearing as 

 deep as they can aiiord— say anything up to 2 J.' 

 I find however that a few who are obtaining 

 wonderful results dig as little as 3"— 4." The 

 latter argue that the young seedling requires 

 the good soil on the surface, and that as the 

 roots grow deeper the humus is gradually worked 

 in deeper too, whereas by digging deep origi- 

 nally the seed is planted in more or less un- 

 sweetened ground and the growth is conse- 

 quently retarded. Do you consider these reasons 

 outweigh the advantages of deep digging ? 



Malabar, pace Mr Bingley, is not our only 

 wonderful tea estate, you see ; I am only waiting 

 for one or two annual reports to shew there are 

 others too. Apologising for the length of this 

 letter, I am, Sir, yours faithfully, 



HUGH TOMLINSON. 



SHOT-HOLE BORER AND PR EDA - 

 CEOUS ENEMIES. 



Kandy, March 16th, 1909. 



Dear Sir,— I beg to forward herewith 



copy of letter received from Mr. E. E. Green for 

 the favour of publication.— Yours faithfully, 



ALEX. WARDROP, 

 Secretary, P. A. of Ceylon. 

 (Enclosure.) 



Mote Hall, Bearsted, Kent, 23rd Dec, 1908. 



The Secretary, Planters' Association of Ceylon. 

 (In continuation of my letter of 8th December.) 



Dear Sir, — The result of my enquiries as to 

 the habits of Clcrus forniicarius corroborates my 

 belief that the introduction of the insect to 

 Ceylon would be unaccompanied by any danger. 

 The species of this genus are known to be purely 

 insectivorous and are parasitic upon various 

 small boring beetles. The Clerus itself is con- 

 siderably larger than the insects upon which it 

 preys. But it lays its eggs in the tunnels of the 

 borers and its larvas enter the galleries and 

 devour the original occupants. In Europe, the 

 insect is found principally in fir trees, which 

 fact leads one of my correspondents to doubt 

 whether it would accommodate itself to the 

 different conditions of the tea-bush. But an- 

 other entomologist, who is familiar with the 

 species in its native haunts, assures me that it 

 occurs also in many other trees and he sees no 

 reason why it should not be able to exist on any 

 tree that would supply suitable provender in the 

 way of boring beetles and their larvte. 



