Jan. I, 1894.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
477 
to secure both yield and priceSj woald be very t»1u- 
able and shoald be obtaiaed. 
Possibly too, he may discover why certaio estates 
with good soil, jat ftud ilevation, the threo requisites 
you quote, and presumably, able maTagement, have 
deteriorated ia the laBt itw years and cotumind a 
much lower price in the market than formerly, whilst 
others in the same neighbourhood and apparently 
subject to the same cooditiotis are prosperiog. 
Many questions will arise on this eu jjdot; climate, 
the times aud extent of pruning, the methods ol 
pluokinj;, treatment of young tea, manuring and of 
coarse manufacture. 
It would be difiBoult, nay impossible, to lay down 
fixed laws for the culture of tea in difierent districts 
and at various elevations and probably in moat cases 
the suooesa of individual gardens is due to the ability 
and diporiminatioD of the Superintendent in seizing 
upon the special obaraotenstics of climate, soil and jac. 
Very likely Mr. Rutherford, with his previous long 
experience and a fresh toar through the planting dis- 
tricts may have much valuable advice to oSer on these 
poiata.— I am, sir, yours faithfully, PLANfER. 
No. XIV, 
Kandapolaj Deo. 2. 
SiE,— In compliance with your request that I should 
give yoQ my opinion with regard to tea cultivation, 
as to what ate the conditions necessary to secure good 
crops and good prices ; while good j^t, good soil 
and a high elevation are invaluable, I think given a 
medium elevation (say 2,600 feet and over) that fine 
pnoeB and fairly large returns can be secured by 
judioioas cultivation and the 'application of manure, 
I believe that manure not only iooreaees the yield 
bnt also improves the quality of the leaf, Careful 
plucking (inoliniog to fine rather than coarse pluck- 
ing) and taking the young flash just when it is ready, 
combined with close attention to details in manafac- 
tnre (which must include a " hard wither) will in my 
opinion result in the outturn of tea, the prices ob- 
tained for which will be well above the market 
average.— Youra faithfally, F. C. Q, 
No. XV. 
DeAb Sib,— I have had China, Hybrid and Indige- 
nous Assam tea to deal with, and in my opinion 
jat has little to do with turning out good tea 
compared to elevation and soil, and given both these 
latter, then, to make really stand out teas, that 
would attract individual attention in Mincing Lane, 
yield must be more or less sacrificed for finer pluck- 
ings at closer intervals, except during the months 
when the season causes the flush to be so delayed 
in coming forward as to effect the same result 'f 
MANAGER IN A LARGE WAY. 
No. XVI. 
Dbar Sib,— "Twenty-five Years a Planter " wishes 
Mr. Rutherford to tell us his ideas as to why a 
tavoured few estates get such fine prices and such 
larye returns per acre and proceeUs 10 state that hia 
idea is that " good jat, good soil and a good high 
elevation are all absolutely necessary. " 
The tine prices are, as a rule, undeniable, but the 
Larye returns compared to lowcountry estates I doubt ; 
elevation and sou alone appear to be inuufficient to 
produoo '* gallery " prices without good jat — look at 
the pi^des obtained trom some of ttie hi>;hest estates 
in the° island. My idea is that the continuous tine 
prices from high estates arc due, besides the adjuncts 
named by your correspondent,' to the fact that the 
bushes ■will continue to flush for three years without 
pruning and the leal is prodnced from brown matured 
wood instead of being the oatoome from comparatively 
uowly-pruued bushes. 
' 30 YEARS A PLANTliR. 
No. XVIL 
Henfold, Lindula, Dec. 2nd. 
My Dear Sih, — I have an average soil for tkeAr/ras 
a veri/ good jat, a mean elevation of 4,500 ft. and an 
average yield of 550 lb. per acre. I prune every 
eighteen months. All my tea but sweepings goes into 
the London market, and 1 shall have an average 
this year, possibly, of Is 2d. — the average to date 
of last sale wired Is Ijd. I have an actual acreage 
in tea of 508 acres; my total acreage ia 572 acres. 
I got my best tea seed through Messrs. Mac Neil & 
Co. of Calcutta. It is Keline "magenta," one remove 
from Manipur indigenous, dark in the leaf which 
is very corrugated and with a long tip ; the flush is 
much more yellow than that of a lower jat; the 
yield is very large. About one-fifth of my acreage is of 
this jat.— I am, yours faithfully, GEO. BECK. 
No. xvni. 
Dear S.e, — Given a sweet, rich soil, — jat, so long as it 
be even of its kind, does not materially alfect prices. 
At any elevation a high-class dark-leaved Hybrid 
once removed from Indigenous, yields heavily, whils 
best wichstanding severe weather and insect pesta 
I find the estates that regularly get the best prioea for 
all-round breaks are at an elevation of 4,500 feet and 
upwards, and' are yielding from 450 to 500 lb tea per 
acre as a result of rich soil and not of forcing climate, 
An all-important factor in the production of flavor 
and quality generally is unlimited and well ventila- 
ted withering accommodation. Were this mora 
gener<illy provided, Ceylon might ship treble the 
quantity of "fiaeal" teas that it does at present. 
M. 
No. XIX.— CHINA IS, ASSAM TEA. 
Deab Slit, — A good hybrid at all elevationa over 
2,000 feet ia decidedly deeirable, both for yield and 
quality, so far as my experience goes. I have not 
had enough to do with the lowcountry, but even 
then I should aay a first-clasa Hybrid, sucu as I 
have seen produced by Mr. Sandiaon, irom some; of 
his seed bearers near Ratnapura, would be better 
than pure Indigenous, certainly as good. 
To procure good prices one must have good soil, 
good jat all over, elevation and fine plucking \ and 
above all by oareful mauufaoture with ample space 
or natural loithering. A dry climate is not absolutely a 
desideratum, witness Ormidale in Upper Maskeliya, 
with say a rainfall of about 120 inches. One great 
draw-back to Ceylon planting is the uneoenness of jat 
over almost every estate. This was animadverted 
strongly on by Mr, Berrywhite on his visit to Ceylon. 
W. J. A. 
No. XX. 
Deak Sir, — I am in receipt of your letter with 
enclosures. 
I quite agree with your correspondent " 25 Years 
a Planter " that it would be most beneficial to Ceylon 
if Buoh an undoubted authority as Mr. Rutherford 
would keep his " eyea skinned " as he travels about 
and would let planters know betore he leaves the 
island it he can assign any cause for certain gardens 
getting big yields and tall prices. Soma of tiis own 
Company's gardens always get fine prices for their 
teas — Is Id to Is 2d average year in and year out. 
Wby i' Can he let us know whether it is due to 
elevation and superior jat and soil solely or is it due 
to a superior way of mauufacturiug. One garden — 
Wallahs— makes its own tea ana the tea of other 
gardens too and Waverley also I believe. Can Mr. 
Rutherford tell us why toey get such fine price lor 
their own teas and the gardens whose teas they make 'r 
U.e would confer a benefit on Ceylon generally if he 
could and woild, 
I believe years ago a Committoe of Pliinters 
met and formulated a series of qaeatioua re maun- 
faftariog »ud diatrib^ted copies aoioos (tit-owij 
