August i, 1887,] THE TROPICAL 
TEA IN BOGAWANTALAWA. 
We are indebted to an occasional correspondent 
for the following pnticulars in connection with tea 
in Pogawai.talawa : — Tne ground planted up was a 
bit of Patana soil at the riverside in Bogawautalawa. 
Klevation wow d be abjut 4,31)1). Owing lo the long- 
continued monoon of 1886 and the very exceptional 
drought which followed upon it, tliis year has not 
been very gcod for tea up to date (16th May). How- 
ever through Bogawantalawa the tea continues to 
look well and some of the finest of it is on the extreme 
high estates such as Loinorn and North Cove." 
3k Acies of Tea planted 3' x 3' in May 1883. 
188'4. 
Green 
eaf. 
Yield from 1st July to December 31st 1427 
1 u 
10. 
» 
in 
January 1885 
297 
33 
)> 
)> 
February 
693 
33 
i> 
March 
384 
33 
'? 
33 
April 
996 
33 
33 
>■> 
May 
992 
33 
June 
1169 
33 
33 
33 
July 
505 
33 
August (Pruned) 
222 
)' 
yy 
September 
40 
33 
» 
3) 
October 
4S7 
1} 
yy 
November 
407 
31 
}J 
yy 
December 
1095 
33 
8714 
IK 
ID, 
33 
>t 
January 1886 
Til 
33 
33 
yy 
February 
1224 
33 
33 
yy 
March 
1448 
33 
13 
yy 
April 
1585 
33 
' »j 
yy 
May 
1440 
33 
3) 
yy 
June 
1631 
31 
' ii 
yy 
July 
916 
33 
n 
f " 
August (Pruned) 
578, 
)> 
yy 
■>>l 
.September 
Nil 
33 
» 
') 
October 
487 
33 
November 
407 
» 
'3 
December 
1095 
J> 
11528 
lb. 
il 
1) 
January 1887 
555 
it 
i> 
33 
February 
823 
)» 
>' 
33 
March 
588 
J) 
s» 
April 
1716 
13 
' ?33) J 
to 16th May 
1022 
)J 
4704 
lb. 
On wet days deductions were made for wet loaf 
of from 10 to 15 per cent. 
Average outturn of ten (Manufactured) equals 25 per 
cent, ot green leaf. — " Ceylon Advertiser." 
+ 
PAULONJA IMPEBIALIS. 
1!V CASPAR HII.I.KU. 
Tli is tree has not received the attention that ils 
fast growing n/id value as timber deserves. Its growth 
exceeds any other tr«e in this locality, — has been 
grown of a circumference of 72 inches in twenty-five 
years. Its growth in comparison with chestnut is fully 
2 to 1. lis durability as posU, in a tiial of twelve 
yearn, shows it to be equal to cbestnut. 
It is qn.to haidy here, where our coldest winter 
days are from 12° to 15° below zero; but from the 
fact that its blossom Wads frtez-3 in the wood at 
about 12°, it is doubt' . if it could bo relied on much 
further north. On amount of its spreading habit 
and dense foliage, it is not a good tree to plant along 
hue rows, or along highways. It should bo planted 
forest like, 5 to 10 feet apart, ami after growing 
MVeral years should be cut off at the ground, and 
then it will make sp routs 10 or more feet high in 
ono season. 
The trees from time to time should l>o thinned out, 
so that by the end of ten or more years, the remaining 
trees should he; 1.", or more feet apart, aoCOrdipg I i 
thnltiiKss. Tho thick planting at first, is for the 
purpose of inducing upright, growth, instead of the 
extended side branches. Plantings made ou »uch rough 
AGRICULTURIST, 
pi>rts ot the farm that hardly pay for general farm 
crtps, w ould no doubt in time become the most valuable 
pat t of the farm. 
The thinnings on such plantings will be no small 
item in paying tax bills and interest on land. 
Coiicstonn, Lancaster Co., Pa. 
[The Paulonia is very highly esteemed lor its timber 
in Japan. — Ho. G. M. |. — Gardeners' Moiilhti/. 
[There are some seedlings of the tree at II ik;a!a, 
but they do not seem to flourish. — En. ] 
COTTON AND VINE CULTIVATION IN 
BUSHIRE. 
Consul Malcolm, in Ids last report, says that the 
cultivation of cotton in the environs of Bushire is 
somewhat peculiar as compared with the system exist- 
ing in the interior, where the phuts are aniitrds, and 
grown by irrigation, whereas in Bu.shire it is grown 
without any irrigation, and the plant iives up to twenty- 
fire and thirty years without diminishing in yield. A 
plot of ground is ploughed up about three times during 
the rainy season, with the object of rendering the soil 
as soft as possible, then, just after the last rains, seeds 
first cleaned from every particle of the cotton, are' 
soaked in water for two or three days, and then sown 
in furrows of about eight to ten iD'rjhes deep, in rows 
of five or six feet apart. The seeds are thickly sown 
and covered over with earth ; they begin to spr»ut id 
about ten days, and the plants are entirely left to the 
mercy of the elements, the only precaution taken be- 
ing to prevent their being destroyed by cattle. "With 
a heavy fall of rain after the sowing, the seeds, as 
a rule, die, or come up very sparsely, and fresh seeds 
have to be put down immediately. If the soil is rich 
and soft, the plants grow thickly, forming a sort of 
hedge, but as a rule only two or three plants survive 
in the space of a yard. The plants, if in gojd soil, 
begin to bear in the first or second year, and continue 
increasing in yield up to their fifth or sixth year, 
when they may be said to have arrived at maturity. 
During the successive rainy seasons the space between 
the rows is carefully ploughed up, and grain is sjwn, 
with double advantage, the ploughing being considered 
highly beneficial to the cotton, and its dead leaves in 
time serving as mauure for the grain. Cattle are 
allowed to enter the cotton fields towards the end of 
autumn, as it is considered that they perform the work 
of pruning. A healthy plant is estimated to yield 
cotton to the value of eightpeuce, but the average 
yield may be taken at one shilling for every six plants. 
The plants blossom first in May, and the cotton is 
collected in July, when they blossom immediately a 
second time, reopening in September. The rearing of 
the vine is also, according to Cousul Male ilm, peculiar 
iu Bushire. On a declivity, a well about Jour feet 
in diameter is dug to a depth of sixteen fee', and 
a space of five feet is filled in with Ir.'sh soil well 
manured ; then a healthy layer of the vine is put down 
early in March. For tbe first month it is watered four 
times, and then less frequently, about twice a month 
until the autumn. The reason of planting the vine 1.1 
welis and on slopes is to prevent the scorching heat 
of the sun striking at the raots, and also to permit of 
rain water to collect therein during the winter mouth-, 
which is the only means of watering the plant. 1 he 
vine begins to bear from the first year, but the 
bunches are plucked off for the first three years. Tufi 
p.aut attains its maturity iu six years, when ils \i i I 
varies, according to the soil and the att nation it receiv. 
from one hundred and thirty to seven hundred pouudi 
of grapes. — Journal of the Society of Ai t.'. 
« 
SERKYS TEA. 
Tn h r the above name, a medicinal tea h 's attrasted 
some attention of late — though if we ace to believe all 
ihat is said of it, its use is ot great antiquity. I> 
is advertised as "Dr. do Oardarier.'s Serkys of Vsiu, 
or Sultana'^ Imp, rial Tea, Preserver of lie I tb, Youth, 
and Beauty," and in the printed description wuioh 
accompanies each packot, the following statement is 
(jiveu : — " This great treasure until now qiiveloped i I 
mystery, was discovered by the dervish wlW&rrt brou.i.t 
to UjjUt tbu qualities ot Moka, and by huo psefMtod 
