March i, 1882.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 8r 9 
ABOUT PERAK. 
Mr. Dean's very able report 011 the State of Perak 
enables me to condms i what I have to say, and all 
who wish for details should procure it. As he says, 
the country is one mass of heavy jungle, with perfect 
soil, for Coffee, Cinchona. Tea, and Sugar, suitable 
elevation for each being easily obtained, from sea level, 
up to 8,000 feet. From 150 000 to 200,000 acres are 
avail, ble, and numerous rivers, which are being cleared, 
will afford all necessary means of transport, until rail- 
way arc opened. It is it present the intention 
of Government to open about eight miles of rail, from 
the proposed post of this place, and afterwards twenty- 
three miles to Kwala Kangsas on the Perak River, 'i 
may say the work will not stop until it has opened 
up the whole State. Land is to be had for S2 per acre, 
and no doubt capital would bs treated with on easy 
terms if it was shown the work of opening up would 
be carried on with energy. The rainfall varies above 
this; at an elevation of 3,201) feet, about 300 inches fell 
during the past twelve months From all accounts 
this must have been an exceptional year, and this place 
is known to have the greatest rainfall in the State. 
About 20 miles to the Sou h-east and at the same 
elevation the rainfall was 80 inches. The average 
rainfall for the State may bo taken at 75 inches. 
The young Coffee, Cinchona, «and Tea that I have 
visited will compare most favourably with the best 
district in Ceylon ami those who have not, as yet, 
lost their all, should pay Ibis place a visit There 
is a good resthouse here, and one is being built at 
Kwala Kangsas. Travelling by boa^, with short, walk- 
ing trips to inspect the soil, &c, on. the hills would 
be the best way of seeing the country. This can be 
done, as the mountain ranges are not so continuous 
as to make it necessary to cross them. Labour will 
have to bo imported, for which the permission of the 
Indian Government has been obtained, and, 1 conclude 
by saying there is nothing to be done here, at present, 
without capital, but it is expected the war debt will 
be paid off this year, and when it is, Government 
intend (.pending money freely in opening roa<ls, &c, 
&e. Then, no doubt, there will be employment for 
experienced me:), accustomed to Tamil cool es. 
C. H. Caulfield. 
Tiiping Larut, Perak-, 14th January, 18S2. — ft Tivies. 
SUCCESSFUL FXI'EUIM ENTS IX TEA 
PLANTING. 
[I send you a copy of the Glasgow Herald. It 
contains a letter by a Glasgow grocer, S. Cranston, 
mentioning a very successful method of preserving 
teabced, and other points of interest.— Tor.] 
Slit, — We are iudebttd to Mr. Richard D. Cruick- 
shank, Indian tea merchant, Glasgow, for the following 
Hrticulars of his experiments and experience as a 
grower of Indian tea sreds for exportation to the 
diffeient localities in India, Ceylon, Fiji Island*, etc., 
tod wo have no donbt they will be lead with in- 
terest by every ouo connected will) the tea trade, 
and especially by the Government officials and eapit- 
abets who arc engaged in various undertakings 
which nro intended to open up the vast tnets o( 
India, by bringing tin m within the reach of com i ci ial 
enterprise, and thus tend to dcvelopo the resources 
ni the Empire. The difficulties which Mr. Cruick- 
shank encountered may best be icalizcd by n few 
quotations from Colon, I Money's Piiz-: Evay on Tea 
Cultivation, which states, with the clearness of an ac- 
knowledged authority, the condition* and circuill tai.ee* 
under which the propagation of the ten plant in 
India was begun upon ecientifio principle.-, h i. 
matter ol h.alory that the early efforts ol the East 
India Company were directed solely to obtaining 
seeds and plants from China. The opinion of the most 
experienced Indian planters of the present dav is, 
that all this trouble on the part of the East India 
Company was not only useless, hut positively injurious ; 
and when the Government was doing its best to foster 
gratis ; it made a mistake, the harm of whichlt '"ill 
take years to undo. Colonel Money begins his; essay 
with a laconic truism, " Nothing was known of tea 
formerly when everybody rushed into it ; and not much 
is known even now." Speaking of the varieties of plants, 
he says:— "These arc many, but all arise from the 
species which was discovered some forty years ago in 
Assam. The indigenous tree has a leaf nine inches 
long and more ; the leaf of the China bush never exceeds 
four inches. The indigenous ' flushes,' that is produces, 
new tender leaf (from which only tea is manufactured) 
much more copiously than the China, and tin's is in 
two ways : first, the leaves arc larger, and secondly it 
flushes oftencr. The infusion of tea made from in- 
digenous species is far more "rasping" and "pungent" 
than what the China plant can give. A pure speci- 
men of either is rare, and it is very difficult to rear 
successfully the pure indigenous. The China is much 
instance produced by the inoculation, when near together, 
of the pollen of the one kind into the flower of the 
plant— a hundred, or even more— and no garden is wholly 
indigenous or wholly China. Had China seed never 
been introduced into India, a very different state of 
matters would have existed now. The cultivation would 
not have been so large, but far more valuable. The 
Indian tea is vastly superior to China, and commands 
a much higher price at home, but it is still very inferior 
to what it would have been had not China seed been 
so recklessly imported and distributed over the country- 
it nill never be possible to undo the harm then done. 
Another difficulty was the transport of seed to any 
new localities, for nine times out of ten a large pro- 
portion failed ; and again, the enormous cost of tea 
seed in those days, 200 rupees a maund (about 80 
pound weight), 500 rupees a maund at least, deducting 
what failed, was its real price. This item of seed alone 
entailed an enormous outlay, and was another difficulty 
tea cultivation had to contend with. It was, however, 
a source of great profit to the old plantations, and 
principally accounts for the large dividends paid for 
years by the Assam Company. The seed of indigenous 
hybrid, and Chinese is like in appearance and cannot 
he distinguished. Thus, when seed formerly was got 
from a distance, the purchaser was at the mercy of 
the vendor. The tea flower (the genu of next M ar's 
seed) appears in tho autumn, and the seed is ripe at 
the end of tho following October or early November. 
It thus takes e>nc year to form, and when picked tho 
mass is still in capsules. It should be laid i i the sun 
for half-an-hour daily for two or three days, until most 
of tho capsules have split. It is then shell.- 1, and the 
clean seeel laid on the floor of any building where it 
will remain dry. Sunning after shi lling is obj Dtionable. 
The sooner it is sown after it is shelled t e better. 
If for any reason it is necessary to keen it Bay a 
fortnight or three weeks before sowing— it IB best kept 
towards germinating in layers oovered with i'ry mould. 
Put if to bo kept longer, leave it on the dry floor, 
as above, taking care it is thinly spread, ai ' oolleotisd 
together, ami re-spread every day to turn it. For 
transport to a distance it should bo placed in coarse 
gunny bugs, only one-third tilled; if the-c : . e shaken 
and turned daily during transit, a journey > f a week 
will not very materially injure the see I. 1 or a long 
ouruey it is lest placed in layers in boxes, with thor- 
oughly dry and line charcoal between the l.i; .. i 
