476 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Jak. r, 1894. 
ties in Oe^ion famed for their good seed there need 
be no difficulty in getting the genuine article 
from many reliable soarceB if early application is 
made for it; 
3rd. To open forest'and forte* planticg in (he N 
E, monsoon, commence the felling early in the >ear, 
if at a high elevation to give plenty of time for 
the timber to dry ; otherwise a bad burn may be (h« 
result and costly and uneatiF;fBclory olcaring op may 
hinder your other works. 
4th; The land felled and wpII cleared, either by a 
good burn, or the removal of the timber for fuel ; the 
roadinit and draining should next have atteutirn and 
be well done from the first. 
5th. Lining and holing is next and of mach impor- 
tance. First the distance apart the tea is to be planted, 
and more I think have erred in p'anting tro far apart 
than too near, 3i ft. m 3J or 3 ft. m 3 ft. is more 
likely to give fatisfactory retnrns than thp former, 
Ab the bushes shelter each other better from the 
wind when closely planted and when a death occurs 
the vacancy is not so apparent and the necessity for 
supplying is not bo great. 
Having decided the distance apart and lined your 
field accordingly cut good holes say 18" x 12" one on 
lower side of each peg; don't move the pegs. 
6th. — Filling these holes with the best top soil 
requires careful supervision as coolies are apt to do 
the work slovenly, and only half fill them ; although, 
they may have the appearance of being heaped 
at the bottom they are empty and become re- 
servoirs for the rain water to rot the plants. 
7th. — The next work and most important is tht- 
planting. This can be done with seed plants, orstumps. 
If the former two germinated seeds about three 
inches apart and shade them, if the plants (to be 
planted) are small also shade to protect them from 
sun and wind, plants, if both grow one to be pulled 
out when it becomes a good-sized plant, if stump tbey 
require no shade when planted early in the monsoon. 
8th.- Now go on, keeping your planted land free 
from weeds in the most approved system, i.e., by 
carefully weeding once a fortnight or three times in 
two months, carrying off in bags any weeds collected. 
9th. — By two years or thereby your tea will 
probably be fit to centre or cut dowa at 
nine or ten inches from the ground. In doing so cut 
only the strong centre stems, allowing all the others 
to grow. In another 6 or 8 months if the old and 
new wood has grown well, apply your knife again, 
by Putting right across at a foot from the ground or 
some may recommend cutting at 20 or 22 inches, 
the former (at a foot) is preferable, if the tea is 
likely to suffer any from wind. 
10th — Keep your coolies from the bushes until the 
young shoots are well grown and you are able to leave 
three leaves above the fish leaf, having taken off the 
flush and all above the third leaf, — shoots under the 
plucked ones dont't touch for several rounds. 
11th— Keep a watchful eye on your bushes and as 
the flush gets into good plucking order gather it. 
The foregoing I consider a few of the conditions 
necessary to secure good crops, but as I have already 
taken up too much of your space, and your readers' 
time at present, I may have something more to add 
after I get my November accounts off. — Yours truly, 
AN OLD PLANTER. 
No. XI. 
Deo. Ist. 
Deab Sib, — In reply to your qtiestions my opinion 
is that China Tea if of good jat, i.e. pure Ohina and 
not a lov) class "hybrid (which is often mistakenly 
called " China ") will make magnificent tea and give 
a fair yield of say 350 lb. per aore, vide Laboo- 
kellie estate and Tomagong estate both of which l^rive 
considerable fields of China jat tea. 
A renlly good hybrid I consi'ter the best for hill 
cuHivfttion 3,000 Uet Hnd ever. Bat for the kw- 
country there is nothing like iiidigenous Assam. 
I agree with ''25 Years a piapter " SB to good jftt, 
good soil and good tl v t^on being requisite for large 
yields above 3,000 ft., but good pricea can be got from 
poor jat tea, if fine pluckirg ia resorted to, even if 
the foil ie comparatively ponr as *a« proTed in the 
ONse of Lucocmbe eBtale in Lower Mif^keliya wbieb, 
if my metr,ory server" roe right, at one tim* topped the 
market nben fire plucking was resorted to. 
In the lowocuntry my experience in small, but as 
far a« it goes "good Foil" it not cecesearv for large 
yields bat good jfit ie a tine qua tiou. Really fine 
quality, does cot seem obtainable in the lowooaotry. 
but the quantity makes op for this. 
Oi teti Tean, caricuely enough, aeem to be better in 
quality and liqnor when tnftde frott. lowoountry teas 
and Messrs. Whittall & Co.'e experiments io tbia 
direction will be watched with interest.— Yonra truly, 
18 YEARS A PLANTER. 
No. XII, 
De&b Sir,— " 25 Vearsa Plaiiter" a«ks yoa to get 
Mr. Ratherford to give bis ideas as to why some eettee, 
get fine prices and large yields. The qaeatioo ia a large 
order even for Mr. Ratherford, and " 26 Years a 
Planter" goes on to say that bis id< a is that "good 
jat, good soil, and a good high elevation are all" abso- 
lutely necessary to obtain this enviable position, ix.&c. 
High elevation no doobt gives fine flaioor, and tbia 
commands a " stand out" price, but I have yet to 
learn thnt high elevation also means " large return 
per aore." I fancy were it known what yield per 
acre some of t'e " stand out" plaoes give " 25 Years a 
Planter" woul I rub bis eyee, although I do not 
mean to say that a very small }ield and top prices 
are to be sneered at , far from it. It mutt pay b!i 1 
do not think ttie Ceylon Planter is one to sacrifice 
£ — 6 — d — for tbe honor and glory of showing highest 
averages in London list, or be as " 25 Years a Planter" 
fays " galleried.'' Stand-out prices however some- 
times come to tbrse not blesEed by being &t a"high 
elevation" of jat and soil are fcalf tbe battle, be tbe 
elevation high or low, tbe other half is worse to 
fight, as it means constant oare is the field and 
fttctory, and unless this constant care ia given no 
" sttnd-out" price will come. 
Sorely " 25 Years.-a Planter" 's last para requires 
no answer, as he wonld be a "blamed" fool who 
planted a bad jat in a bad soil at a lad titration 
whatever the last may mean. 
China versus Assam Tea. — This heading in South 
of India Observer does not I think loach us in Ceylon, 
as tbe " situation " is eo different. In the Tea 
Gardens of North of India froet and a oold season 
(a winter) have to be contended with, and the hardier 
the plant is tbe better ; but while allowiog that a 
hybrid of Ohina and Ixdigpnous Assam may be tbe 
plant " par excellence " as to flasbing, etc., how is 
it that the Assam pinnters will tell 30a that given 
a good Indigenous be has no fear of Ilelopeltis or 
Mosquito. Trets and shrubs in different countries 
and even looaliMes grow vi»ry differently. I have seen 
China tea in tbeFooohow districts growing and floarish- 
ing, bushes 90 years old such as yun cannot see in any 
other place, but these bushes we'e not treated as 
China tea is in Oeylen ; each bash was a giant in 
size. Here Ohina tea is cut down to six inches 
" as a pruning," this in a short time making a cover 
more like a grass field than a field of tea. Nature 
intended the plant to grow a baeh or tree ; the Ceylon 
planter makes Cbioa tea a creeper, (oieepers seem 
to be a paying idea in Oeylon), Nearly all pruoiLg is 
too severe in Ceylon, a trip to the tea districts of 
Ohina and Japan would show what size a tea bash 
can attain. Still as long as the h^st Indigenous resists 
Helopeltis, etc., better than Hybrid or China, then 
Indigenous is the tea aadlet us pray that John China- 
man may never take tn machinery fcr tea, or be wiil 
etill be a thorn in our side; his conservatism is oar 
safety. W. M. 
No. xm. 
Deo. 2. 
Dbab Sib,— I quite agree with 70a Id thiokiag tha \ 
