Jan. 1, 1894.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 
475 
Cultivation will help us largely so far as yield 
and strength are oonoerned, but I doubt if there 
is any artificial prooees as yet available to help 
ua in this matter of developing flavour. Plenty 
of power, with a good system and plenty of 
withering aooommodaticn, will no doubt give the 
beBt result from the leaf available, but before you 
have a chanoe of being " galleried " the natural 
conditions must be in yout favour unless very 
fine plucking is adopted and the yield saorifioed. 
I see no reason, however, why we should stand 
Btiil and do nothing, and it seems decidedly a 
pity that the P. A. have vetoed the proposals of 
Mr. Hughes, Definite and reliable experiment is 
chiefly what is wanted. D. 
No. VI. 
A- GOOD WORD FOB GOOD FACToElEB AND THE 
ENGINEEB3. 
PalmerstoD, Deo. lat. 
OsAB' SiBi — With reference to letter of "25 Years 
a Planter;" be Dn's^es oat one very responsible 
factor, which to my mind is quit-i equ»l to any of 
the other three leasoDs, viz. jir, soil and < levalion 
he briOf!S forw&rJ, why some ettates get "stand 
oat '' prices from tlie others, 1 mean a thoroughii/ 
good Factory with first-olaas maohinerj-, ample wither- 
ing room, plenty of ventilation and cleanliness per- 
vading the whole builuiog and eurrouiidicgg. 
Wi'h a good Factory, I have seen Rplendid teas 
made, from indifferent tea bushes as regards 
jat and soil. With the three firit advantages, viz. 
good jat, good soil and high elevation, fine teas 
cau bo ma'le, and generally are in good weather, but 
it requires a first-oUea Factory to turn out good tea 
in all weathers, and ia quantity all the year round. 
A bold, well-marked leaf-flaabing jat of Hybrid 
Assam seems to be the beat kind of tet bush upon 
the hilh (4,000 feet and upwards.) It flushes better 
than Indigenous and more steadily, and gives as good 
a eample of made tea. 
We tea planters are indebted to Mr. Jackson and 
othi-r Engineers more than we admit for the good 
teas Wd turn out.— Yours faithfully, W. 0. B. 
No. VII. 
A GOOD WORD FOE " CHINA " — AND STILL MORE FOR A 
GOOD HYBRID. 
Dear Sib,— I agree with the correspondent of your 
Indian contemporary, that well plucked China tea, 
carefully manufactured, should have a good appear- 
ance, be "full of tip" and, I would add; ahould 
possess as good a flavour as Asiam though lacking 
the Nirengtb. As far as my experience goes there is 
DO queation that m ^voi tea can be made from low jat, 
from high — provided that no bad leaf is takru. 
The great advantage of high jat over low lies in 
the larger yield per acre, in cheaper plucking ; by 
• lesn r equrnt reoessity for pruning. Obina tea here 
never runs over 16 months, whilst high jat flushes 
for 21 months to two years, and I have fields of 
iudigenoGs Manipnri pruned two years and a half 
ago still flushing vigorously. 
Fine quality and flavour depend, I should say, 
more on elevation soil and climate than on jat. 
Qood manfaoture will keep and make the most of 
" flavour," when it is there, but can never put flavour 
into a tea where it does not naturally exist. I do not 
coQiidei that the Urge leat of "Indigenous," either 
Asiam or Manipuri, makes good tea. Our average 
price here baa seniiihly fallen ainoe some 90 acres of 
the latter have come iutu beatiug. The t«a made 
itvm it ia ouiirae and common. At this elevation 
3,600(t. to 4,3U0 feet I prefer a good Hybrid.— Youis 
faithfully, M. H. T. 
No. VIII. 
Nov. 30 th. 
Dear 8ibi-^To «b*aii, high prices and Urge yield 
HQ, doubt good s'^ii, and hi7li • 1 ovation are, all 
BiOMtary ; but I believe tiue lens iu aiui^litr quButities 
can also be made from inferior jat, given the other 
two oouditionB. To obtnin really high p'icea, in my 
opiuion, requires not rnly very fine plucking but 
very careful plucking (and manufaotnre), no bard 
leaves and as littlh stalk as possiblb ; but this, of 
course, makes the yiiH per acre comparatively sicall. 
Nearly all f-e aamp'es of teas I have tasted from 
very high elevations have plenty of flavour but lack 
strength.— Yon^^ truly, M. 
No. IX. 
Blair Athol, Dikoya, Deo. 1 
Dear Sir, — I hasten to ormply with the request 
contained in your letter of 29tb u't. : — 
1. Tea Cultivation in Ckvlon.— With regard to 
your correspondent's remark aa to a large yield, I 
quite concur with him in thinking that good jat and 
good soil are indispensable, and there is 00 doubt 
that good elevation is neeesfary for very flavoury 
and "stand oot " teas; and if BIr. Ptutberfoid, after 
his tour of inspection, ia able to give auy hints how 
to secure both big yields and high prices, he will 
be conferring a born on his brother planters, and 
enable Ceylon to cut out all competitors in the tea 
markets of the world. 
2. With regard to Ohina v. Assam Teas, I believe, 
that with the same efiSciency in the factory, equally 
good teas maybe turned out, as regard " make " and 
"appearance;" but there will be no comparifon in 
strength, the China being weaker in " cop," but 
more " tippy " in appearance. I have cot had 
sufficient opportunity of comparing flavour; so cannot 
answer this point. I would not recommend anybody 
to plant China teas in Ceylon, though I would much 
prefer to have a field of pure China, rather than an 
indifferent Assam Hybrid. 
I quite think with your correspondent that a really 
good Assam Hybrid is superior for our hill cultivation 
than pure Indigenous Assam. — Yours faithfnily, 
F; G. A. LANE. 
No. X. 
Dear Sib, — In reply to yours re Tea Cultivation in 
Ceylon, I do not know that my opinions can be of 
much value to your readers as I do not get the fine 
prices or the laree crops your correspondent refers to ; 
but I have often thought that fine prioes and 
large yields seldom go together. I have been led to 
this conclusion from the fact that many estates which 
at one time topped the list for price, have of late 
years been satisfied with medium prices ; no doubt 
they found it psid them better to profluoe more to 
sell at fairly good figures thin persist in their struggle 
for top rates. 
Yonr correspondent speaks of the favoured few 
getting these fine prices, as it ia not everyone who 
has the necessary requisites favourable to the produc- 
tion of high priced teas, yet there can be no doubt 
that more good teas could be produced if the buyers 
gave more for them. What is the good of com- 
peting for a top place when lid is only paid for a 
tea thus reported on ?— " Rather pretty small wiry 
black leaf with some fairly bright tipa. Infused 
leaf fairly bright and even. Full pure flavoury 
liquor." It would be a waste of good leaf for growers 
of low-grown tea to attempt to compete for top 
prices as their climate is against the production of 
these teas, but all in favor of producing good average 
quality with large yields per acre which is what 
they look for, and believed to pay best. 
A few of the conditions which ooour to me 
as being necessary to secure good crops are 
1st good soil, virgin forest (if it can be got). 
Elevation must depend on choice of district. 
Average tempetature and well distributed rain- 
fall, of «ay from 120 to 180 inches annually, and if in 
a windy district, a mild visit of the ono mon- 
soon ia qoite enough to rid the bushes of 'P]°^f' 
rust or other peats that tea is mort or loU liable 
to aaSet from. . 
2nd. The auitable land secured, come* the qucaUon 
1 ot leed, and aa Ibere are many well-kiaown proper- 
