Edible Products 



532 



[June, 1909. 



the valuable property of improving its 

 mechanical condition. This property is 

 not possessed by all the manures in use, 

 for those like nitrate of soda only give 

 up plant-food, while cow dung and green 

 manures not only supply the bushes 

 with food, but also greatly improve the 

 mechanical condition of the soil and 

 help it to retain moisture. The question 

 as to the propriety of improving the 

 really improveable tea soils is, in any 

 individual case, to be satisfactorily 

 answered by, ascertaining at what 

 expense, in relation to the probable 

 profit, the process may be performed. 

 Assam-gardens getting As. 8 per lb. for 

 their tea could use more expensive 

 manures than Dooavs gardens only 

 getting, say, an average of As. 5 per lb. 

 The question we must consider is will 

 the cost of manures be fairly returned 

 by the profits of our increased crops ; 

 we require to ascertain, in the fix'st 

 place, what will be the probable return, 

 within a moderate length of time, for 

 our outlay, always keeping in view the 

 prospective prices during the period. 

 Such, at least, is the principle of calcula- 

 tion, which ought naturally to guide all 

 planters, as their outlay is strictly 

 pecuniary. 



The Best Plant Food. 



We will now consider the manures 

 commonly used on tea gardens. The 

 oldest and most popular of manures is 

 cow-dung mixed with jungle, old thatch, 

 and the excreta of horses and goats. 

 Cattle manure is very often treated 

 with indifference as to the effects of 

 exposure ; it canuot be too strongly 

 stated that this is an abuse. Practically 

 all tea soils, with the exception of bhils, 

 are benefited by dressings of dung. By 

 its use a light soil is assisted to retain 

 moisture and withstand drought, a 

 heavy soil is rendered lighter and moie 

 porous, and is, therefore, easier to work, 

 carbonic acid is evolved which helps to 

 coirode phosphates and liberate potash 

 from the soil. 



The plant-food in dung is relatively 

 small and the chief advantages resulting 

 from its use as a basis of successful 

 manuring are rather secondary than 

 direct. We may assume that in a ton 

 of average manure which has been kept 

 under cover during the rains there are 

 8 lb. of nitrogen, about the same amount 

 of potash and 5 lb. of phosphates. Stable 

 manure is rather richer than cow 

 manure, but more liable to loss on 

 keeping ; goat manure is peculiarly rich 

 in nitrogen. I should recommend apply- 

 ing cattle manure at the rate of 7 to 8 

 tons per acre ; this can be done including 

 the cost of collecting, at from Rs. 12 to 

 Rs, 16 per acre. A thousand acres 



garden ought, in the majority of cases, 

 to be able to apply cattle manure mixed 

 with jungle to at ieast 100 acres annually. 

 Green Manures. 

 Green manures are considered to be, 

 weight for weight, as good as cattle 

 manure. In the Dooars we have tried 

 Mati Kalai, Dhaineha, Tephrosia, Arahar 

 dhal, Crotolaria, and the Sau tree, and 

 in the majority of cases they have 

 proved a success. All these are legu- 

 minous plants and are able by their root 

 nodules to fix atmospheric nitrogen. 

 Woodashes, like cattle manure, should 

 be kept under cover ; if exposed to 

 drenching rains most of the potash will 

 be washed out, and the chief value of 

 the ashes be lost. Wood ashes are 

 generally applied at the rate of about 

 5 cwts- to the acre. Now that coal is 

 used in many factories, it may not be 

 out of place to state that coal ashes are 

 practically useless as a manure and only 

 of benefit mechanically to the stiffest 

 clay soils. Bones are a very slow acting 

 manure, owing to the time they take to 

 decay, and should always be ground as 

 finely as possible. By the decomposition 

 of bones, the organic matter they con- 

 tain is converted into ammonia, carbonic 

 and other acids. The presence of fat in 

 bones retards their decomposition ; this 

 can be removed by steaming them at 

 high pressure. Oilcakes as tea manures 

 are coming into more general use, and at 

 their present price ought to be used on a 

 much larger scale; they are generally 

 applied at 5 mauuds to the acre. Dr. 

 (now Sir George) Watt strongly con- 

 demns the burial of primings because 

 of the risk of spreading blights. The 

 burial of primings as manure is a 

 question that is open to discussion, and 

 it may be pointed out that by burying 

 prunings deeply the lisk of spreading 

 blight is greatly minimised. It is 

 generally believed that by adding 2 to 

 8 cwts. of basic slag to an acre of buried 

 prunings, the destruction of fungi spores 

 is ensured ; this is doubtful, but the 

 basic slag adds to the value of the 

 manure. 



If full benefit is to be derived from 

 manuring the efficiency of drains must 

 be considered. 



NOTE ON TAPIOCA. 

 By N. Kunjan Pillai. 



(From the Agricultural Journal of 

 India, Vol. IV., Pt. 1, January 1, 1909.) 



The usual practice of sun-drying tapi- 

 oca in this country is to remove the skin 

 first, then cut it into thin slices and 

 expose the slices to the sun for five or six 



