THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [March i, 1890 
more, now that the Western markets are open to her 
traders. Toug-Kiug and Cochin China are never likely 
to prove serious competitors for our custom, their tea 
being of an inf c rior brand. But Java is not falling be- 
hind in the race, and all the hill countries of India — 
Assam, Dehra-Dun,Kumaun, Darjiling, Cachar, Kangra, 
Hazaribagh, Ohittagong, the Terai, and the Nilghiri* 
— are extending' their operations in black tea. Natal has 
been demonstrated to be a tea growing region, and 
there are grounds for believing that the West Indies, the 
Southern Unite ! States, Brazil, Fiji, Australia, and 
even the South of Europe can produce fair marketable 
leaf. But there are other elements beside quality which 
enter into the tea-growing industry, and the first of 
them is cheap labour. We must remember that in 
India and China a labourer opable of picking and firing 
leaf may be had for from twopence to sixpence per day, 
and that it is difficult for any other countries to enter into 
competition with regions where aprimary margin of p rofit 
is so fully ensured as in those portions of the Bast. It 
would be idle to attempt the appraisement of the dif- 
ferent qualities of these teas. Apart from the fact 
that those best qualified to form an opinion rarely 
come to the task with a judicial mind, a great 
deal must be allowed for individual tastes. But most 
tea drinkers prefer the cheaper Indian and Sinhalese 
teas to the ordinary "chops ". from China, while it 
cannot be honestly contended that, in nicety of 
preparation, the latter are oomparable with the former. 
It is equally undeniable that the finer kinds of China 
tea possess distinctive qualities which have not yet 
been imitated by any other growths, and so long 
as Russia keeps her taste for the dearest " chops'' of 
Congou, so long will the Flowery Land find a good 
market for her produce. As soon as the Siberian 
Railway is completed, this trade is likely to largely 
increase, and if ever China is wise enjug'a to permit 
foreigners to set up tea-curing establishments in the 
interior, and to build railways, so that the present 
transit dues which handicap her products can be 
minimised, she may once more be able to hold her 
own in the competition. — Standard. 
4. _ 
PETROLEUM ENGINES. 
A correspondent writes : — 
[By the following cutting from the English 
Mechanic, it would seem that these engines are 
not a monopoly of Priestman, as I supposed, and 
to which possible circumstance I attributed their 
excessively high cost. Let one or more of the 
several keenly competing local agents for Priest- 
man's engines introduce a few specimens of Alt- 
man's, which it is devoutly to be hoped may be 
offered at a more reasonable price. — Cor.] 
Petroleum motors are being simplified and improved 
to such an oxtent that they may now be ranked amongst 
the useful small motors. In one manufactured by 
Messrs. Altman & Co. of Berlin, ordinary common 
lamp petroleum is used with great success, and a num- 
ber of these little engines, varying from 1 to 4 horse- 
power, have been running for over a year in different 
parts of Germany and Russia ; whilst in Belgium a 
company for their construction has been formed, and 
the works, situated in Brussels, are in full swing. 
Insurance regulations constitute one of the formidable 
obstacles to the introduction of this class of motor in 
England. 
REPORT ON THE NATIVE METHOD OF 
CULTIVATING AND CURING TOBACCO 
AS PURSUED BY THE RYOTS IN 
THE MADURA DISTRICT. 
The land selected for tobacco cultivation is either 
'iver or ash colored, or deep red, both of which are 
good ; the former color being preferred. Great stress 
is laid on the quality of the well water which should 
he brackish. As the ryots endeavour to get as much 
produce out of their lands as possible, a grain crop 
is usually grown dur ing September, and when this 
• Travancore ought to have been added,— -Ed. T. A. 
is cut, the tobacco crop follows. Some of the ryots' 
however, usually retain half the area of their tobicco 
lands for tobacco, solely, planting the balance with 
combu and other grains. 
Ploughing does not commence till September and 
is continued through the rains. This is done seven 
or eight times whether the soil is in condition or 
not; the result is that clods of unbroken eaith are 
turned under, and the land, as a rule, is never brought 
into proper condition. No other implement than the 
native plough is used for cultivation, and the ijurface 
is merely ploughed to a depth of 3 inches. The ryots 
have thus no means for producing a fine tilth or for 
levelling the surface after ploughing. 
Soon after the grain crop is cat, goats and sheep 
are penned on the land every night for a month or 
six weeks. The droppings of these animals are left 
exposed to sun and rain till a large area has been 
thus manured and are then ploughed into the soil- 
Some of the richer ryots collect their cowdung and 
place it in heaps on the field ; others use this manure 
for fuel. 
The seed-beds are merely parts of the field with 
little banks raised round the sides to retain the water. 
No attention is given to the situation of the beds as 
long as they are close to the well. Exposure to hot sun, 
wind and driving rain is not thought of. The size of 
the beds is usually 5' x 5' square. The surface of the 
beJ having been worked up to a fine state with the 
hands the seed is scattered broadcast without ashes or 
any other mixture. Very little manure is used for the 
beds, as it attracts grubs and other insects. After 
sowing, the beds are worked backwards and forwards 
with fingers to cover in the seed. The beds are then 
watered from a channel connected with the well, being 
literally flooded to a depth of half an inch or more. 
This necessarily cakes the surface and but a limited 
number of seeds germinate in irregular patches. Ger- 
mination takes place in seven or eight days. The beds 
are never covered and as they are watered in the early 
morning the hot sun by caking the soil retards the 
growth of the seedlings and causes many to wither 
away, the reasons for which are invariably put down to 
the wind, &c. The seedlings a'so naturally get much 
damaged by being trampled upon whilst being weeded 
or extracted for transplanting. 
About six to sexeu weeks after germination the 
seedlings begin to show three leaves, but it is not 
till the leaves are 3 or 4 inches long, i.e., when the 
plants have rooted themselves well in the soil that 
they are taken out for transplanting. When the plants 
are ready for transplanting, the beds are flooded in 
the monirng and the plants pulled out. The seedlings 
being so large, hardly one escapes damage to the 
roots besides dragging smaller seedlings out of the 
soil, so that for one seedling extracted there are about 
four which are destroyed. The seedlings are taken 
out in the morning and kept in a house in a well- 
covered basket and transplanted in the evening. 
Previous to transplanting the land is ploughed up 
and suitable hills and rows made up with hoes. 
When planting, the channels are flooded and the 
seedlings inserted in much the same way as paddy 
is planted. The soil is often so sloppy that the plant 
fails to take root and in consequence withers away 
and dies. The tap root is very often put in bent 
up and I have collected as many as twenty seedlings 
out of a space of 30 square feet where the tap root 
was bent up into a curve ; these plants had all died. 
The head ryots say, however, that they are aware of 
the necessity for the seedlings being firmly planted 
at the commencement, but owing to defective super- 
vision their servants scamp the work. 
After planting, the seedlings are watered every 
morning and evening till they take root. Thereafter 
irrigation is only conducted every other day during 
the morning. The snapping of the tobacco leaves 
may often be heard by anybody standing near the 
man who is guiding the water amongst the plants. 
Most of the work in tobacco cultivation is done in 
the morning, such as hoeing, topping, sucke'ring, &c. 
After the whole arra has been transplanted, weeds 
grow up plentifully. These are not removed for some 
