October i, 1881.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
35i 
certain extent, shows how these large returns per acre 
are to bo got by means of "garden" cultivation and 
liberal manuring : — 
Certainly, hoeing is not practicable in thickly-planted 
lands. 11' Dash will lake the trouble to use the hmglish 
fork, not the kodalee fork, he will be able to dig deep 
and well. There is trouble always at first, but the 
garden year by year comes beautifully into order. By 
thick planting, judicious pruning and plucking, and 
sppctively, gave in^ 1875, ' 11 mnunds of tea per 
acre. Cow-dung is very good, but Dash says 
that he cannot got enough of it. Oil cake, he says 
has got into disrepute. Most likely it was not the 
fault of the oil-cake, or the tea tree, but that of the 
manager, who because he had manured, thought that 
he could pluck everything off. No manure will enable 
the tree to stand unmerciless pinching. The same manure 
may not always give a good result. Manuring should 
lie changed, or a compost made. Trcos manured with 
COW-dung this year should have oil-cake next, vege- 
table mould next, bone dust and so on ; simply to 
change the position of the soil over the roots, and 
to bring fresh food for the plants ; for they are like 
an oyster— they cannot go beyond a certain distance 
iu search of food ; it must be brought to them. This 
is the reason for a light hoeing or forking. Deep 
digging, I believe, is necessary twice a year — once in 
Lpril, or May, and again at the break-up of the 
rama September and October; to prevent the earth 
cakingronnd the roots of the tree in the cold weather 
and so preventing them from acting. 
In connection with a coffee and cinchona plantation, 
a "garden," say 30 to 50 acres, of tea, liberally 
treated and well looked after, ought to pay well, if 
the requisite skilled labour and close supervision in 
manufacturing could be afforded. Otherwise the only 
chance for the owners of such gardens and of patches 
of tea geu< rally would be the establishment of a 
central factory, at which the newly-plucked leaf could 
be disposed of. The Kaudaloya Company might, in 
this way do a good turn to neighbouring planters 
with small areas of tea, and who cannot afford ma- 
chinery on their own account. At any rate, it will 
be interesting to watch the continuous yield of leaf 
in our Western districts and to compare it, from time 
to time, with the results obtained in India. 
THE VOYAGE OF THE GREAT AND SMALL 
EAST INDIAN BEES TO CYPRUS : 
LETTER FROM MR. BENTON. 
The following are extracts from a letter received 
by last mail from Mr. Benton : — 
Larnaca, Island of Cyprus, Aug, nth, 1881. 
John FEitiirsoN, Es<[. 
Dear Sir,— After my letter to you mailed at Aden, 
1 was again taken quite ill with fever. While on 
the Bed Sea our steamer passed very suddenly from an 
extremely hot atmosphere ii.to currents of cold air, 
which seemed to stream southward from the Mediter- 
ranean. This change of temperature, which occurred 
within a few hours' time, not only affected greatly 
those who wen' ailing, but made many who were quite 
well sutler considerably. In my weak condition you 
can easily imagine that it was trying for me. Ion. 
Benton had written to Adou to have me get off at 
Sue/ and ootno by way of Cairo and Alexandria, in- 
stead of Port Said, Jaffa and Bey tout, in order that 
I might avoid going into quarantine upon my arrival 
here from the Syrian coast, three days in quarantine 
being required of all passengers arriving from Syria. 
But at Suez, I was too weak and sick to land, and 
so came on to Port Said, and found a French steamer 
just about to leave for Beyrout. Upon iny arrival in 
this last-mentioned place the large bee*,. Apis dorsata 
(bambara), were still alive, having withstood their long 
hot journey wonderfully well, showing great tenacity 
of life, so great as to surprise me. The box of little 
ones Apis Jlore.a (dandwwal messo) was also in good 
order I had fed both kinds with sugar during the 
journey. In Beyrout both were permitted to fly. The 
large bees, which I call the Great East Indian bees, 
seemed restless even when the air was cool toward 
night, and many came out aDd died, while the small 
ones were more prudent and only flew when the air 
was quite warm. As a result the former dwindled 
away, while the latter were still in good order when 
I arrived in Cyprus two weeks later, after having 
waited that long for an Austrian Lloyd's steamer, 
the English steamer having been discontinued tempo- 
rarily on account of quarantine. But an accident 
happened, soon after my arrival here, to the queen of 
my little bees and now they are no more. However, the 
work which I did in ascertaining something of the bees 
of India and what could be done with them practically is 
appreciated by European and American apiarists, as 
many letters I have received, as well as the Bee 
journals from various countries, bear testimony. The 
matter is uot likely to rest where it now is, since 
in the interest of theoretical Bee-culture, even in case 
no practical result can be directly attained, it is 
desirable to obtain some living colonies of Apis dorsata. 
If I do not return to Ceylon I shall at least make 
an effort to secure additional colonies of these bombards. 
It is thought by many that a cross between these bees 
and our ordinary honey-bees, Apis melifica, may pro- 
duce favourable results. The Germans more particularly 
have agreatdeal to say about this— are, in facttheoriz- 
ing a good deal over it. But for my part I do not 
have much faith that a cross can be produced. It 
seems to me, that, though the large bees and our 
bees belong to the same genus, the species are too 
widely distinct to be likely to cross. I have not yet 
given expression to this opinion, but thought I would 
wait a little until one or two wiseacres of Germany 
who have never seen a living specimen of these bees, 
and I do not believe a dead one either, have had 
their say. When their important views have been 
made known, I shall claim the right to a few words 
in addition to what has already appeared from my 
pen, which at present consists of a few letters dashed 
off while on the steamer coming this way. I was 
intending to do some real solid work in the way of 
writing during the latter part of my journey, instead 
of lying in bed with fever, or Ion an ea^y chair, so 
weak I could scarcely move. It was quite a disap- 
pointment to me, as well as to many who were 
awaiting with great interest, some information of the 
strange new bees. I have been, and am now very 
busy here among my Cyprian bees, getting off ship- 
ments to Europe and America, but if I get time I 
will write something more for you and try also tr> 
send you a translation from the German, which, I 
think, would give a fair estimate of the importance 
attached by prominent German bee-keepers to the 
work of getting Apii dorsata. The Amerioan Bee 
Journal of June 8th, a weekly magazine devoted ex- 
clusively to beo-culturc, said in its editorial column:— 
'■ We have just learned that Mr. Fiauk Benton 
has seemed four colonies nf Apt* tlorsnfn as a result 
of his researches iu the E:ist Indies. He has had n 
vory difficult ami dangerous task to perform, and 
but for his indefatigable energy and indomitable 
courage ho could never have accomplished it. Bee- 
keepers throughout the world owe him a debt of 
gratitude, and will not wo hope, bo slow to repay it.'' 
