August i, 1889.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
I 4 r 
Euoker & Benoraft gave suggestions how to 
get over the difficulty of varying tares, and 
revised Customs Eegulations were also published in 
Nov. 1885. On this subject the "Supplement "says : — 
By these rules the Customs took upon themselves 
the power of allowing ?i margin of two pounds^upon 
the Gross weight, and getting an average Net by* turn- 
ing out and taring 10 per cent of a break. The ex- 
perience of the Dealers who have signed the before 
quoted circular, is that in practice, 75 per cent, of the 
weights are against them in parcels so treated. Com- 
plaints have been rife in the country about loss in 
weight, and now the country grocers and dealers have 
refused point blank to buy from the London Trade 
any more Oeylon and Indian Teas, unless with an 
average tare, instead of being "weighed net,'' as it is 
termed. This compels the London Dealers to "pass 
it on" to the Merchant, who has now to face the 
position. Either he must manage to get his packages 
to tare even weights or each package will have to be 
Bulked and tared here as we pointed out in the cir- 
cular of November 25th, 1885. 
The Japan packages have this advantage, that the 
weight is very even, but as we said before, take great 
care that the wood is well seasoned, and suitable for 
tea. Until the lead of a Japan package is cut, or 
even for a few days after cutting open for inspection 
the tea will remain all right, but after being sold for 
a month or two, if the wood is the least aromatic or 
cedary, the scent is certain to affect the tea, and 
then up comes the package from the country buyer 
with the complaint the tea is unsaleable. The Lon- 
don dealer pockets the loss and says nothing, but 
become prejudiced against what ought to be, and are 
if carefully chosen, most useful and well made pack- 
ages. The Stanley Wrightson packages run even tares 
also, and possess many other advantages. The perfect 
package is not yet made. 
Then follows a table :— 
P3 
< 
A 
1-5 
P, H 
h3 
r o 
* S. 
S A 
« HI g 
O R g W 
w ^ w 
> (site 
• as H 
w < * 
h a < 
> <° 
o „ 
vi m ■a 
p 
Not 
ex'ding 
16 lb. 
^ co m co o 
<i © O O O O 
17 lb, 
to 
34 lb. 
^CDC-CO iO © 
CO © © © © © 
35 lb. 
to 
44 lb. 
« O © GO tO © 
co © — < © © © 
45 lb. 
to 
59 lb. 
^ © <N i-l CO © 
•iHHO © © 
60 lb. 
to 
79 lb. 
• H|W 
^ CO iC, CM O © 
r— 1 
■o'HHH © © 
80 lb. 
to 
89 lb. 
• 
CO CO H O 
■v* r— i i-H rH © © 
90 lb. 
to 
129 Jb. 
^tOOlO O © 
00 T-l rH H iH © 
130 lb. 
to 
159 lb. 
c^l— fi 
© CO © CO © 
i-H >- ' 
H CI H t-h © 
[160 Jb. 
to 
199 lb. 
^ CO (M CO CO i-l 
W CN CO CM rH © 
[Bate 
'(</) Landing & Housing 
(£ Management Kate ... 
.(<?) Bulking & Taring ... 
Bulking, Taring, or *i 
Weighing nett, se- > 
parately ) 
[e] Bent — per week 
^ CO i 
E-i to pq 
(3 
W 
w 
o 
M 
o 
o 
p 
Thin we get a repetition of hints already given 
ribouL "Bulking in the Factory," and advice as to 
quality versus quantity of the same purport as 
Messrs.. I. A. Bucket- & Beneraf t advanced a year ago. 
C(0 
QJjhICI 
9 ThInsS 
tw *~ 
21s &dS 
5 ^ a Ji 
J> E- ,Q CO 
^ CO cS ^ 
A 
r- OJ C3 
53 
bo 
to ijri • ™ 
^ §CH©5 CP 
O cti m q ira 
^ 2 >vrs 
SALT IN COCONUT CULTIVATION. 
My object in writing this is to correct a misappre- 
hension of yours as to the views I hold on the use 
of salt in combating leaf disease. In. crediting me 
with being " confident that salt will be of use in 
combating and averting" leaf disease, you unconsciously 
do me an injustice. All I did was to propound 
a theory that, as in cultivating Coconuts inland, 
the natural conditions under which they grew were 
absent, disease followed. I proposed applying salt 
freely as a top-dressing to Coconut properties in inland 
districts, so as to reduce the dissimilarity in conditions 
as much as possible. I do not admit that my sugges- 
tion that the cause of the disease may be due to 
deficiency of salt in the soil has been negatived by 
the discovery of disease on trees growing even in 
the sea-shore, for the trees there may have been in- 
fected iu the same way as healthy people with sani- 
tary surroundings are infected. 
In a former article I believe you stated that in 
your reply to Government you gave the probable 
consumption of Salt for coconut cultivation at 150 lbs. 
the acre, or 2 lbs. per tree. That is an excessively 
low figure. The value of salt in the cultivation of 
cereals is not established. The small quantity found 
in its ashes can, it is said, be supplied by the soil 
to which it is carried by natural means. In very 
rare instances is the benefit derived from application 
of salt to cereals apparent, and yet I lately stumbled 
on the opinion of Wrightson, professor of Agriculture 
at Cirencester, that salt ought to be applied at the 
rate of 5 cwt. the acre for wheat, and that it " has 
long been employed as a manure." The ash of the 
straw and grain of wheat contains but a very small 
proportion of salt, and yet 5 cwts. the acre is re- 
commended to be used as a dressing for wheat; so 
that less than ' J of that quantity for coconuts, a 
product that has its home on a soil impregnated with 
salt, is absurdly low. I think that J a ton per acre for 
cocunuts will be a very moderate dressing. Possibly 
your estimate was for the substance as a manuriai 
agent, but I think the least value salt possesses is 
as a manure. It is useful 1st as a manure, 2nd a s 
affecting the soil chemically, 3rd mechanically, and 4th 
for its hygrosorptive properties. I have already discussed 
salt as a manure. As I said in a previous communi- 
cation, it is said to render soluble the phosphates, 
nitrogen and potash in the soil as well as silica. 
Silica is the substance that stiffens all forms of vege- 
tation, therefore salt may be of help to coconut trees 
to overcome the bad habit peculiar to trees in inland 
districts of requiring a support for their bunches of 
fruit. Salt keeps a soil moist, and therefore free, by 
the property it has of attracting moisture from the 
atmosphere, and last, though not least, cattle feeding 
on a herbage growing on a soil impregnated with suit 
mre likely to be in good health and condition. So 
that, quite apart from the leaf disease, salt is of very 
great value to coconut planters. I advocate its use 
not in homeopathic doses as a manure, but as a top- 
dressing to the soil. Its value can be ascertained only 
by experiment, and this reminds me you have not 
made public the reply you received from the Govern- 
ment to your request fo salt to experiment with. 
Surely, the Government could not have refused to 
give you a small quantity of salt for experimental 
purposes for fear it would affect the revenue pre- 
judicially 1 
I will now summarise all the information I have 
on the value of salt. "Salt keeps the land cool and 
moist. It neutr:i! ses drought. It glazes and stiffens 
straw. It keeps the ground in such condition that 
fruits and grains fill plumply, however long continued 
the drought. Fruit trees manured with salt bear more 
fruit than when manured with compost. Ammonia, 
potash and phosphoric acid are rendered soluble by 
the action of salt. A leading scientist calls it a soil 
digester. It retards the maturity of a plant, thus 
lengthening the period of growth, and ensures a better 
yield. Impure salt is to be preferred, as it contains 
other valuable plant food. 57 percent of the saline 
matter of blood is composed of salt, and this is partly 
discharged through the skin and kidneys, therefore a 
