$8 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [August i, 1893. 
what ■ they are told, what more would you have ? i 
there's no fault to be found with the appearance 
of my place. 
P. J.— Of course, and they carry out your orders 
most minutely, why, if a branch of a bush, when 
pruning, is an eighth of an inch above the level 
they'll have it off even if to cut through an " eye," 
anything to get the bush level and please Master! 
If you will butcher the bushes so severely have at 
least a little mercy. They are long suffering and 
put up with a lot of bullyragging ; at the same time, 
respond at once to a little kindness which they never 
get from you. The appearance of your totum is all 
right old man! but should yield more, and wants a 
little common sense introduced to it. 
T.— Well, what about that ? every one does his 
level best to get flat- topped bushes and I flatter 
myself I succeed as well as any. I admit the yield 
is poor but lots of other men are in the same boat. 
Bosh 1 one can't hurt a tea bush. 
P. J. — Granted, but it's at the expense of your 
flushes if a branch be cut between two "eyes" it 
dies back to the lower " eye" an t healthy, strong 
lasting shoots spring from it, but if an "eye" be 
cut throvgh the naif "eye" left, makes spasmodic 
efforts to live by throwing out weak sickly shoots 
that run up into stalky buds and soon turn 
bangy, succumb to constant plucking, or take at 
least two years to arrive at anything like decent 
wood, surely it's poor consolation to your hurt to 
know others suffer as well as you. 
T. — Ah I some more of your nonsensical absurdi- 
ties ! Like your suggestion of burying green pruo- 
ings. I tried that and it did no good, but killed a 
few of my bushes near where I buried them I 
P. J. Yes it's a wonder you did not put the whole 
field out ; when one walked through the place it 
seemed as if one was walking on a spring mattress, 
that sort of burning of prunings is simply a waste of 
money and suicidal ; had you dug a trench across 
the row of bushes 1 foot or 18 inches deep in 
which to scrape the prunings and well mixed with 
the earth again trenched from above, thereby 
enabling rapid decay, you would have had a different 
tale to tell. 
T. — There's something in that I as the old woman 
said when she dropped a sov : in her stocking, but 
I'm not going to disturb the roots of my bushes again 
in a hurry. Did you not read an article in the Observer 
some time ago from a coconut planter signed " B." 
in which he suggested that tea planters should neuec 
disturb the roots of their bushes in anyway as he had 
found that it did more harm to his trees than good ? 
P. J. — Yes, but he should have given his other 
initial " F." A coconut tree and a tea bush are 
totally different : from one fruit is required and 
the other leaf. 
T. — You must admit all plants have three separate 
roots for three separate purposes, firstly mass of fibres 
that grow about the stem and cluster near the surface, 
these are for fruit-bearing purposes solely, secondly, a 
lot of roots Tarying in size and number, that strike later- 
ally off from their close associate, the tap root, in all 
directions, these are the wood and leaf roots which 
travel deep and long distances in search of food for 
wood and leaf formation ; now the more one tilths, 
thereby disturbing, cutting up, and killing the sur- 
face roots the better for tea and quite the reverse for 
coconuts. 
T.— So I thought, at one time and to prove it I 
trenched a hill aoout 9" all over, but I '11 never do it 
again 1 
P. J.— Considering the hill you trenched was al- 
most as steep as the face of a house the first shower 
of rain naturally carried the trenched soil down to 
the sea where it will no doubt make things easy for 
the railway that will some day connect the island 
with India. Tilth or trenching is admitted all over 
the world (barring our island perhaps) to be the next 
best thing to manuring ; it answers several purposes, 
principally sweetens the soil and enables it to take in 
certain atmospherical chemicals, nitrogen of which 
is not the leaat and which your "totum" sadly 
reqniree, 
T.— You seem to be a bit of a Bcientist ; had yon not 
better apply for Hughes' old billet ? 
P. J. — I'm neither a scientist nor do I believe in 
theory where I have proved it to be wrong by hard 
Eractical experience. Well good evening Tom, you've 
een too long in the island, old uau, and are far too 
conservative to understand anything out of the ordi- 
nary old j/roove ; better take a trip home or travel a bit I 
ARE CEYLON TEAS DETERIOEATING ? 
Hatton, June 27. 
Deab Sir, — A great many opinions have keen 
expressed on this matter a hardly two alike al- 
though all admit the fact that tea is very low. The 
abnormal weather is blamed, heavy pruning and 
all manner of things, but I think the reaeon is to be 
sought elsewhere ; our sol e are no doubt gradually 
becoming worn out, but we cannot tor a minute 
admit that in the short spdkce of two ye^re 
( such a material cxhaastiou has taken place as to 
cause the prices to ran down to their present low 
level in face of a strong statistical position. We are 
aware that just recently a " Bhilliug Canister" has 
been introduced by Lipton and followed suit by as 
many tea dealers as could afford to do so and 
further we are aware that trade generally has been 
in a very depresstd state in the United Kingdom 
recently and this state of affairs has had a direct 
influence on the mnssea of the people and forced 
them to curtail their household and other expenses 
all round and to patronize the " Shilling Oauister ' 
a nd all cheap 'teas more so than at any previous 
time. Then a demand for the inferior varteiiea is 
bound to lower the rate of prices for the better 
sorts to a certain extent. The demand for the 
lower kinds has (as we have lately seen) increased 
the demand for these teas and brought the prices 
within measurable distance of the better kinds. As 
soon as this came about, a demand sprang up for 
the higher varieties and we shall now no doubt see 
broken pekoes and such like teas fetching a far 
higher range of prices than we have seen for some 
little time. It is needless to cast ourbelves iuto a 
state of excitement over the manner in which we 
prune, pluck and make oar teas to better our 
prices. We should carefully study the reason of the 
fall of prices, for it seems very piain that the above- 
named reasons are at work which cause the decline 
under the present seemingly strong statistical position, 
It might be a;ked, sua iias been if I mistake LOt 
why it ii that ludian teas are now mocb higiier. 
than Ceyl< n's ? Can we woiider at tbe fact when 
we learn that tbe Indian position h %o aiioug snd tbe 
first arrivals have been so over delayed. Any one 
wLo has gone into a broker's room in Miuciog Lai e 
nnd simi^led eome o( tbe Indian audCe>ioa teas 
k^ ows that most of tbe former are very much strouger, 
darker in liquor and " creamier" than the Ceylun's. 
Up to May 3rd 1893 the Indian imports were 28 
millions of pounds as compared i«i:b 82 milLoiis 
I last year and if I had these same particulars up to 
date it would be seen that the posiiiou is stiouger 
I still and when we take theee facts all into account 
there is nothing to \iondti at wliy Indians should nuw 
be higher than Ceylon's. The opinion was expressed 
some little time ago in London, " that Cejlon is work- 
ing her own ruin," It may be as well for this party 
to know that we cannot afford to bolster up the 
prices of Ceylon teas by pluckiog fiae so that 
China might posh in her poor teas. If we can take 
this trade out of China's bands and make a better 
profit ourselves over coarse teas than for the ^tesure 
o£ seeing a high average for Ceylon teas we shall 
to it. If anyone thinks that tea planting wUI end 
in ruin, let him take to heart the fact that we can 
at all times limit our supply according to the prices 
duling at home. As soon as prices came donn we 
shall curtail tbe supply by plucking finer and on 
the other hand if prices rise we th&li go in for 
coarser leaf and finally, we shall pluok our flashes in 
the meuiDe]; that will prodnoe tbe best results.— Youre 
truly, W. A. T 
