THfc TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST [June i, 1888 
Bold for out of the salt ships, to agriculturists and 
planters it would be conferring a far greater and 
more real boon than by the creation of agricultural and 
statistical and irrigational et hoc genus Directorships. 
The sour, ill-cultivated fields of India would, if each 
had a tongue, cry with such a lamentable howl for salt 
as would drive the Government and its empirical 
advisers into a fit— of sense." Tea Planter. 
—M. Mail, April 21st. 
[Is salt really so valuable as represented? If so, 
kainit, which consists largely of common sa't com- 
bined with potash, ought to be a valuable application 
to tea. — Ed.] 
TEA CULTUEE IN ASSAM. 
Miss E. M. Clarke contributes to the Asiatic Quar- 
terly Review an article on the Indian Tea Trade : — 
In this, as in all other forms of husbandry, large 
profits are dependent on high culture, and an 
annual expenditure of R100 an acre will amply 
repay. Constant, that is to say monthly, hoeing is 
the most beneficial treatment for the plant, the 
demands on the vitality of which require to be 
met with a constant stimulus. Its productiveness 
depends on the frequency with which it " flushes," 
or sends out new leaf-shoots, and " the more 
hoeing, the quicker the flushes," is an axiom of 
tea culture. From February or March to the 
middle or end of November, the season in Assam 
of the activity of the plant the flushes succeed 
each other at irregular intervals, varying between 
seven and twenty days. A small crop and scant 
profits are represented by a total of 18 flushes ; 
ample production and large gains, by 25. A tea- 
garden in full flush is a very pretty sight, as its 
thickly planted bushes then appear as if crowned 
with gold. 
As the young shoot must be plucked while still 
callow and tender, an army of leaf-pickers is re- 
quired to carry on the operation simultaneously. 
The leaves are daintily nipped off by the thumb 
and index finger, half the last one always being 
left so as to draw the sap upwards towards the 
new growth. In the first plucking of the season, 
only the bud and half the leaf next it are taken, the 
maximum of three and-a-half leaves in addition to 
the bud being progressively reached as the season 
advances. 
The quality of the tea is determined by the 
position of the leaf it is made from. Thus, the 
closed bud and half-open leaf next it, forming 
the head of the flush, alone give true Pekoe ; the 
two succeeding leaves Souchong ; and those still 
lower down Bohea and Congou, the latterj how- 
ever, being a quality rarely manufactured in 
Assam. The production of " Pekoe tips," which 
owe their silvery or orange grey bloom to the 
down on the callow bud, is also generally neg- 
lected, the separate treatment they require being 
too costly to be repaid even by the high price 
they command. 
Each bush yields a yearly average of 2 oz. to 
3 oz. of finished tea, representing four times that 
weight of green leaf. This figure is, of course, 
largely exceeded by individual plants, and one has 
been known to give 13£ oz. The gross production 
throughout India of 256 lb. to the acre is surpassed 
by th&t of Assam, reckoned at 280 lb. The latter 
is the minimum of profitable production, taking ex- 
penses of cultivation at R40 to the acre, R100 being 
required for really high culture. A profit of £20 
ought, according to estimates, to accrue on a crop 
of 400 lb. to the acre, but is found in practice to 
shrink to £10 or £15. Well-cultivated gardens 
produce 5001b. to 8001b. per acre. While the figure 
of 920 lb. has been reached in Upper Assam, and 
1,0001b. per acre is hoped for among possibilities of 
be future. 
Plants grown for seed, blossom in the spring, the 
flower resembling that of the white dog-rose, and 
the seed is ripened in October or November. That 
of the indigenous plant sells for R20G to R300 the 
maund, or chest of 80 lb. ; that of the hybrid for 
R50 to R80. The vitality of the seed is injured by 
travelling, and a large proportion fails if transported 
to any distance. 
All the operations hitherto recorded are purely 
agricultural, but no sooner has the Assam tea- 
planter gathered his fermented to the saccharine 
stage, as it is drunk without the extraneous sweet- 
ening demanded by the European palate. 
" Sunning," in which the fermented leaf is ex- 
posed to the drying influence of sunshine, is counted 
as a fourth process, and is preliminary tc the 
fifth and last, that of " firing." The fuel used 
is generally, though not necessarily, charcoal, and 
the tea is crisped by being exposed to its heat on 
wickers drawers or shelves. It only remains to 
sift it, in order to separate the coarser and finer 
qualities, after which it is packed in 80 lb chests, 
and leaves the plantation in the same state in which 
it reaches the market. — Pioneer, April 26th. 
GOLD IN THE SOUTHERN PROVINCE 
OF CEYLON : 
THE DEWURANGALA GOLD-FIELD: 
Practical Information. 
(By a Special Correspondent—an old Australian 
Gold-digger.) 
3rd May, 1888. 
The situation of Dewurangala has already been 
described in the Observer. The part being worked 
for gems, and where gold is said to have been 
found, is a flat of a few acres only, possibly about 
five acres. It is bounded on the south by a long 
high ridge, thickly covered with jungle. 'On the 
north side there is a succession of little hills. 
The features of the place— not altogether discourag- 
ing—would drive the experienced miner to the 
conclusion, that if leads of gold are found about 
there, they must be very patchy. That there is 
gold there, would almost appear to be a settled 
question, and the prospects already secured, if real, 
are more than ample to warrant its being thoroughly 
prospected. On the 30th ultimo I accompanied 
Mr, Geo. Armitage to the spot. Mr. Armitage was 
kind enough to show me several pieces of gold, 
and outline sketches in his note-book of the nug- 
gets previously noticed in the Observer, and pointed 
out the holes out of which they were said to have 
been taken. One small piece, about 1 gr. or 
li gr., he had washed out himself. This looked an 
important indication that gold was scattered about 
and to be found at no great depth. A remarkable 
feature about it is that with the exception of this 
little bit, all the gold found should have been in 
such large pieces before reaching the bottom, and 
that there was no fine gold found at the same 
time. Light and scaly gold is often found near 
the surface and all the way down to the bottom, 
but pieces are generally on or near the bottom. If 
there were fine gold which one would have natur- 
ally expected with the nuggets, the question 
arises what became of it? No one has heard of 
it. If thrown about their gem pits with the debris, 
a shower of rain would have made the particles 
show up. Only very fine particles could go through 
their gem- washing baskets. I noticed that they 
were very closely woven. The gold itself too is 
peculiar, rough and rugged. It does not appear to 
be up to the fineness of virgin gold. I would take it 
to be under the standard value 22 carats.* This may 
be a deception, however, caused by circumstances. 
* Mr. Armitage made it 17 carats ?—Ed. 
