3°2 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [September i, 1881. 
of the causes of which, as far as I know, there are 
4 distinctly different causes. 
Black. There are I think 3 distinct aDcl other trival 
causes. 
Irregular ,, 4 
Curly „ „j „ 2 „ „ ,, 
Well -twisted or open ,, 4 ,, „ ,, 
Showy, handsome, <kc 4 ,, ,, ,, 
Leaf;/, ch«gy ,, „ 3 or 4 ,, ,, 
Brown „ „ „ 2 „ ,, 
Common ,, ,, ,, 4 or 5. ,, ,, 
As it is impossible in some gardens which have 
not got the proper appliances and are deficient in 
labour force to carry out their manufacture exactly 
as they should like, many of the above causes have 
to be neglected to procure good tea. 1 will just 
mention a few, viz. supervision, cultivation and pluck- 
ing at too long intervals ; these are some of the main 
reason*. A man may not be able to give sufficient 
time for supervision, and thus many of the above 
causes have to he neglected in order to procure good 
tea ; his insufficient labour force deters him from 
making tea of a good quality (it he is an honest man), 
otherwise he might make it off only a certain portion 
of the garden, and make it good by keeping a large 
staff in the tea-house, whilst in the mean time he is 
losing thou;ands of young seedlings in nurseries, or new 
plauted out seedlings, for want of keeping them clean 
and not citching crickets, the ground they occupy 
not being a yieldiug area. Also he may have some 
low flats requiring draining, when a stitch in time 
would save nine, but as this area is also not yielding, 
it is also neglected, and only sufficient pluckers, culti- 
vators, and people to supervise the best yielding 
portions of the garden are given, and all improve- 
ments sacrificed to the manufacture of good tea, which 
he has got tho linoleum to make, and whi"h if he docs 
not he will get the sack. Now 1 say this is false 
policy, aod only done vhrough ignorance on the pro- 
prietor's part. If owners will not leave their affairs 
in the hands of their trusted arid tried planters, 
and abstain from giving strict orders, they must 
come to grief. 
Now we come to look at another side of the 
question, viz., the interests of the planters themselves, 
how that affects the interests of the proprietors. I 
think it will be the exception (not the rule) where 
experienced planters are under terms of agreement, 
and in fact during the last t wo years comparatively 
few agreements have been given to any planters ; 
on the contrary, a large nirnber left the tea districts 
for want "f employment. The remainder were, as a 
rule (I think I m iy say), willing to sign agreements, 
as their situations in tea were made very precarious. 
N'~>w why did not proprietors give agreements ? Simply 
because they themselves are desirous of making the 
planter's .situation a precarious one. They take not 
the slightest interest in him, they think, oh ! we can 
easily get another man any time. But now if tea 
goes up, I am not so sure of that. When a planter 
is placed in such a precarious position by his employers, 
and does not kuow at what moment he may get 
kicked out, he will not eudeavour to make himself 
comfortable or improve his garden. For the future 
he'll simply do what I have stated above, viz. sacri- 
fice future pounds for the present pence ; he loses 
confidence in bis employers, and they distrust him, 
and the iuevi'able consequence is, that after a year 
or so, an entirely new man is substituted, because, as 
lii; proprietors will say. "latterly the garden has 
not done very well." Hoping these few hints may 
do good, and prove that many are unconscious of 
being p nny wise and pound foolish, and also prove 
that nothing is lost by takiug proper care of employer's 
interests, I am yours, 
Sylhd, June 1831. " Fair Play." 
ON THE BARK OF BROUSSONETIA PAPYRI- 
FERA AS A MATERIAL FOR PAPER- MAKING. 
Memorandum by D. Branbis, Inspector-Ge^ral of 
Forests, on the baric of Broussonetia papyrifera 
as a material Jor paper -making— dated the 
29th November 1880. 
In a memorandum on the subject of the cultivation 
of bamboo fur paper stock, dated 8th July 1875, I 
made the following remarks regarding the Paper 
Mulberry : — 
In conclusion, it may not be out of place to draw 
attention to a tree which is grown largely in Japan 
as coppice wood on a short rotation similar to osier- 
beds, and which furnishes a large proportion of the 
paper stuff used in the country. This is tho Paper 
Mulberry (Broussonetia papyrife a : 'Forest Flora of 
North-West India,' page 410). This tree appears to 
accommodate itself readily to different conditions of 
climate ; it thrives in Western Europe, on the South 
Sea Islands, and in Siam, and there seems every 
reason to believe that its cultivation may succeed in 
Nvrth-West India. I know of few trees more promis- 
ing (in a suitable climate) for the supply of paper 
stuff on account of its free and rapid growth and the 
abundance of its fibre. 
In the report on the progress and condition of the 
Royal Gardens at Kew during the year 1879, just 
received, the following passage regarding thin subject 
occurs :- • 
B'oussonetia papyrifera. — ' The bark of the well- 
known Paper Mulberry supplies the material from 
which the tappa cloth of Polynesia and the bulk of 
the paper of Japan and China is manufactured. The 
Japanese cultivate the plant very much in the same 
way that we grow osiers, and they use only the 
young shoots for the manufacture of paper. A sam- 
ple of the bark, which came into the hands of Mr. 
Routledge, is stated by him to be 'nearly if not 
quite, the best fibre I have seen.' * * * 'I must 
admit it is even superior to bamboo.' * * * 'it 
requires very little chemicals, and gives an excellent 
yield— 62 - 5 per cent in the grey, i.e. merely boiled, 
and 58 per cent bleached.' The tree is indigenous 
in the Upper Salvveen forests of British Burmah, and 
as soon as reserves have been demaracated in that 
district, and officers placed in charge, efforts should 
be made to establish regular plantations. In March 
last I visited, on the banks of the Maytharouk River, 
a seitlement of paper makers from Siam, engaged in 
making the well known snow-white paper, which is 
sold in the bazaars in Burmah. The procedure is of 
the simplest character, and the great advantage of 
this fibre is that it is white naturally, and that it is 
readily cleaned. It should also be cultivated as an 
experiment by forest officers at other places in Bur- 
mah, in forest gardens, or regular plantations. And 
I would reeommead that it be tried at the Sitapahar 
and Ramanpokri Plantations in Bengal, at S_hillong, 
and at the Kulsi Plantation in Assam. It is not im- 
possible that it will be found to succeed elsewhere 
in India, for the trees thrives in Western Europe 
where it stands frost and snow, in China and Japan, 
and on the South Sea Islands, — Indian Forester. 
USEFUL GARDEN RECEIPTS. 
(From Hogg's Gardeners' Year-book.) 
Petroleum vs. American Blight. — I have been able 
to almost entirely get rid of that pest to my apple 
trees, American blight. Last year the trees were 
completely covered, but after the fall of the leaf I 
had them carefully dressed with petroleum, which was 
applied to the affected parts with a paint brush. 
Contact with the petroleum seemed to destroy the 
insects, and I was in hopes they had entirely dis- 
