April i, 1889.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
681 
MANURES FOE TEA. 
The following information interesting to Tea Plan- 
ters is extracted from the proceedings of the A. H. 
Society of India: — 
From Messrs. Williamson, Magor & Co., forward- 
ing a circular from the Director, Department of 
Land Records and Agriculture, Assam, and asking 
for an opinion on the suggestion it contains. The 
circular deals with green manuring with mustard 
and its applicablity to Tea gardens, and advocates a 
trial. Without an aotual trial it is difficult to form 
an opinion as to the practicability of green manuring 
a Tea garden; one of the difficulties which presents 
itself, and which the Director also notes, is that 
the portion of the garden so treated would have to 
be left alone till the crop would be big enough to 
be dug into the ground ; to derive the full benefit of 
the system the crop should be allowed to grow until 
it comes into flower, and should be dug into the 
ground before the seeds swell, a large area could not 
therefore be easily dealt with unless labor were very 
plentiful; digging-in a crop requires much deeper hoe- 
ing then that ordinarily given, and in fact ap. 
proaches to trenching; as this operation would be under- 
taken say two months after pruning, and when the 
bushes would be making new growth, it seems pro- 
bable that the growth would be checked, as by the 
treatment many of the roots would be cut, and some 
of the new growth might be further injured in clear- 
ing the bushes of plants growing close to the stems. 
It is also difficult to say what effect on the growth 
of the bushes the young and vigorous crop of mustard 
in the land would have; and another consideration 
is, whether the shelter thus given would cause an 
increase of insect pests. Without practical trial it 
is almost impossible to say whether, on the whole, 
green manuring could be beneficially done on a Tea 
garden. The experiment is simple and easy to make. 
Messrs. Davenport & Co. wrote: — We notice from 
our copy of the " Proceeding? of the Society for last 
month, that our offer to assist in obtaining samples 
of Tea soil for analysis had been accepted. We shall 
therefore feel obliged if you will send us instructions 
regarding the obtaining and forwarding of samples, 
and shall be very glad to give all information and 
any assistance we can in this matter." Recorded with 
thanks: the instructions required were sent to Meesrs. 
Davenport & Oo. 
From Messrs. Barry & Co., forwarding samples of 
Tea bushes from Dooloo, Cachar, and an extraot from 
Mr. Aitchinson's letter respecting analysis of Tea 
garden soils: — "I think what is equally of importance 
with the analysis of the soil and Tea plant, is the 
means whereby a Tea planter may know the relative 
value of oil-cakes and all other manures. All kinds 
of oil-cake are good manures, and so are all kinds 
of manure I may say ; but I should like to be able 
to say what I should pay for such and such an oil- 
cake or other manure. A poor oil-cake would require 
to be liid on in extra quantity, and so on." 
The relative value of different manures can only 
be found when it is shown what is necessary in the 
first place for the support of the plant, and in the 
next, which of the constituents happen to be defi- 
cient in the soil. In this connection the following 
will be interesting : it is an extract from a paper read 
before the Royal Horticultural Society at Ohiswick. 
at their meeting on the 17th of October last, by 
Edmond Tonks, Esq., b. c. l. of Knowle, Wariokshire: 
the paper is on canker in fruit trees, which Mr. 
Touks traces to the want of suitable nourishment in 
the soil, and he narrates the result of his experiments 
with artificial manures on cankered trees, which seem 
to have been eminently satisfactory. He says : — " The 
food required by a planter is a complicated mixture 
of many elements, all of which are necessary for its 
well-being. The complete absence of one of them 
would be fatal ; a deficient supply of one would arrest 
its development, and render it subject to disease. 
Nothing is more instructive and conclusive on this 
point than the copies of photographs of plants grown 
for the purpose oi testing the effect of manures moro 
or less complete, to be found in treatises on the sub- 
ject. That of " Ville on Artificial Manures-," published 
by Longmans, contain many such illustrations, which 
clearly show that when the soil contains every element 
of fertility but one, it remains absolutely barren. For 
instance, in a soil without potash, the vine makes 
no growth. It remains to say that the manures 
necessary to restore a tree to health vary as the 
soils: although the ashes of the wood of the apple 
tree contains 71 per cent, of lime — an exceptionally 
large quautity — it would not be necessary to supply 
this element on a lime formation ; nor would soda be 
required in a soil near the sea, although, in other 
geological formations or situations, a deficiency of one 
or both may be the cause of canker. Like conditions 
apply to the other elements. Various soils require 
such manures as will supply their various deficiencies ; 
but as it is most difficult to ascertain, even by analy- 
sis, what may be the deficiencies of a soil, the practi- 
cal way of dealing with the subject is to study the 
analysis of the ashes of the plant in question, and 
to use a manure which is composed of these elements." 
WHITE-ANTS. 
The following very curious details are from the pro- 
ceedings of the A. & H. Society of India: — 
From Mr. J. Oleghorn, Balasore. " By today's dak 
I am sending you preserved specimens of three Queens 
of White ants taken this day out of one of the ant 
hills so common in this district. On previous occa- 
sions I had tried to preserve specimens in very strong 
spirits of wine, but the subjects become discoloured 
and not recognizable. The specimens now forwarded 
have been preserved in a solution of Honey, Borax 
and Boracii; acid, which I expect will keep them fresh 
for 10 or 12 days only, so they should be sent over 
to the museum to be treated by some proper preser- 
vative. The three specimens were removed by me this 
morning from one nest; the three were found lying 
extended side by side on a horisontal platform of 
smooth clay, of about six inches in diameter, domed 
over. By the natives it is considered a royal find to 
discover three in one nest, and when so found they 
are considered to comprise King, Queen and Prime 
Minister. It is usual to always find two in one nest, 
King and Queen, as the natives designate them. These 
grubs are totally distinct species to those found in 
the district of Shahabad ; there the Queens are found 
singly enclosed in a hollow spherical ball of mud of 
about two inches outside diameter, the diameter of 
the cavity being about one and three quarter inches, 
which cavity is filled up by the Queen grub being 
doubled up, in which position she lives, White ant 
hills are very numerous in this district: they some- 
times attain a height of 10 or 12 feet above ground 
level. I have formed an opinion, which may be 
premature, that the white ants here do not 
consume the wood and vegetation they attack, but 
that the material is carried away and formed into 
combs, which combs are made to produce fungoid 
spores, and on these spores the ants live and feed their 
young. These spores on being exposed to light, pro- 
duce very handsome fungoid growths. In the combs 
which I have spoken about, the young are found 
of all sizes crawling about, and the absence of eggs 
appears to me to be very remarkable. The white 
ant introduces itself to every trade and profession, 
and it would be very difficult to caloulate the annual 
money value of the loss it causes to the country. I 
have been induced to send you these specimens by 
seeing that Mr. W. J. Simmons of the Microscopical 
Society has taken up the subject, and as every one 
in India is daily more or less acquainted with this 
destructive oreature, I hope that a controversy will 
be started, and that the opinions of many observers 
may bsi recorded, so that the natural history of this 
animal may be discovered, and that these creatures may 
yet be made to give a return for their depredations." 
Several letters on the same subject have been re- 
ceived from Mr. Oleghorn ; as he is continuing his 
researches, and will probably embody the result in 
p aper, they are not reproduced present. 
