378 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTUB 1ST. [October i, 1881. 
it, woul:l be injurious to health by excluding the 
Sea and southerly breezes from entering the Fort and 
town. Mr Rhodes remained long enough in India to 
See to how admirable an extent hie efforts succeeded. 
The result of his experiments at Masulipatam suggests the 
carrying out of the same experiment at Negapatam and 
elsewhere, wherever the conditions exist which favored 
the Masulipatam experiment. I do not for a moment 
venture to hint at any exhaustion of the Srihuricott 
jungles north of Pulicat, from which our fuel supplies 
are derivable ; but I still think that there are certain 
tracts adjoining the Buckingham Canal and the natural 
salt water lagoons which would favor experiments with 
the mangrove. Given an oozy bottom and salt water, 
and the mangrove attains a luxuriance to put to 
flight any apprehensions that exist on the ground of 
a failing fuel supply. Wood, every householder knows, 
commands prices now ne irly double the rate at which 
it stood before railways and workshops employing 
steam-power came into existence among us, and the 
Securing of a fresh source which would leave cattle 
dung and palmyra leaves to their more legitimate 
use ought to commend itself to all who watch with 
anxiety the impoverishment of the land by scarcity 
of manure. The necessity of increasing our fuel 
supplies is being brought home to us each day with 
increasing force. It is not necessary to point out how 
many thousands of acres belting our tidal streams 
are lying waste and unproductive, and which, if laid 
out in the manner we wish to see them done, would 
cheapen one of the greatest necessaries of life. The 
limit of the fuel-producing capacity of the country 
has been nearly reached ; the fuel bearing acreage is 
now almost stationary, and perhaps decreasing ; and 
prudence no less than duty requires that any system 
Which proposes to deal effectively with an evil that 
threatens the comfort of thousands requires to be care- 
fully examined. We shall have lo fight a very un- 
even battle with the future, if a precaution now imperat- 
ively needed be delayed till worse evils come upon us. 
THE ACTUAL COST OF MANUFACTUR- 
ING TEA. 
TO THK EDITOR OF THE "INDIAN TEA GAZETTE. " 
Dear Sir, — Though not a Darjeeling planter, I beg 
to set you right in your remark relative to machinery 
after " Pundeem's" letter on "The actual cost of 
manufacturing tea. " 
The garden is supposed to make 500 maunds of tea 
only ; now machinery does not pay, I hold (except 
drying machinery), on a garden of only this yield. 
Putting aside all the items referred to by "Pundeem," 
I will try and explain what I mean, by giving two 
estimates — one for machinery, and one for manual 
labour — for a 500 maund garden, and you will be able 
to see what I know as a fact, even many old planters 
never think of. 
Hand rolling at 2 men per maund leaf at 3 annas 
per man = 6 annas per md. leaf = Rl-8 per md. tea. 
We will say that a fair average all round through 
the season is 10 mds. leaf per day for a 500 md, 
garden, so we will deal with this amount. 
Rolling 10 mds. = 3-12-0 at 6 aunas per md. for 
hand rolling. 
Rolling 10 mds, per machinery costs 3 annas pani- 
wallah, 3 annas wood-cutter (this is very low estim- 
ate), Engineer's pay R30 per month, for which 
he works in the year on an average only 3 months 
at most : we must multiply his daily pay, viz. 1 
rupee per day by 4 (on account of only 3 months' 
work in year), which is as follows :— 1/ x 4 = 4/ + 
3 as. -I- 3 as. - U4-6. Again, we expend 9 annas 
for oil, and again wear and tear of machinery, but 
we will for simplicity leave this out, and we have 
the following : — 
R. A. P. 
10 mds. rolled by hand 3 12 0 
10 ,, ,, by machinery ... ... 4 15 0 
The oil will be a constant loss all the year round, and 
for engine house repairs, sundry wear and tear, 
&c, also. 
I now beg to shew how a 1,000 md. garden is bene- 
fited by machinery. 
Cost of rolling, say average daily yield is 20 mds. — 
20 mds. hand rolling at 6 annas permd. = 7 8 0 
20 ,, machine rolling by above account = 9 annas 
oil, Engineer's pay = R30 per month ; but he works 
4 months (nominally), so we only multiply 1/ by 3 
(or J of a year), we then have 3/ + 9 as +3 as. 
pauiwallah, x 3 as. wood-cutting, = total of R3-15. 
Plea6e notice, that as the men requited for attend- 
ing to rolling machine would be the same in both 
cases, viz., for 10 mds. as for 20 mds., these items 
cancel ; when only 6 or 8 mds. leaf arrive daily : no 
need of a machine or engine. 
Sylhet, August 14th 1881. A. C. J. 
N.B.— l have never seen the above calculated or 
referred to, though mauy letters appear relative to 
hand rolling vice machine, by old planters and Cal- 
cutta men. 
P. 8. — In addition to the foregoing I beg to state 
that I have rather over-estimated the number of men 
required for rolling. I know that 1§ mds. good leaf 
can be easily rolled by 3 men, and I have seen 1 md. 
rolled per man, and have done it, but paid 3 as. 9 
pie to the man. W now have R2-5-6 rolling expenses 
for 10 mds. at 3 as. 9 pie per md. leaf, but even 
then if we cut Engineer's j)ay down to R12 per 
month, the hand rolling comes cheaper for the 500 
mds. yield, as we have then Engineer's pay per day = 6 
as. 3 p. x 4— 1-9 + 3 as. paniwallah, + 3 as. wood 
cutting + 9 as. oil (this should be also multiplied 
by 4), as it has to be used even in the cold weather ; 
bat say we only multiply by 2, then we have total 
of R3-1-0. — A. C. J. 
TEA : A FEW NOTES ON CULTIVATION 
AND MANUFACTURE. 
(From the Indian Tea Gazette, 3rd Sept.) 
I lately drew attention to some facts regarding 
the natural time for pruning the tea bush, and will 
now touch upon some facts regarding cultivation and 
manufacture. 
I. — Cultivation. 
The ordinary cultivation by the hoe reduces the 
outturn by an unknown quantity. 
Loss incurred by -'Deep hoeing." — Planters wonder 
how the outside branches of the bushes give over 
flushing and go to seed so much sooner than the 
centre of the bush. One reason is, that when the 
garden "gets a good hoeins:, " every feeding root of 
the plant, within reach of the hoe, is sliced off. 
To remedy this and increase the outturn, gardens may 
be dug with pickaxes in the cold season, and only 
scraped during the rains with hoes : or cultivated all 
the year round with digging forks, and so save the 
feeding roots as much as possible, while giving at the 
same time better cultivation. 
Method of Terracing. — Old, as well as new, tila 
gardens can easily be terraced by aid of a triangle 
and plummet, which would enable the soil to be 
cultivated without loss by hoeing ; the loss by wash 
is small compared with the loss caused by hoeing the 
surface soil off the tilas into the swamps below, leav- 
ing the plants on the bare faces of the tilas with- 
out nourishment or cultivation. 
