Aug. i, 1894.J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
in 
These analyses of soils ere accompanied with 
interesting notes from which planters may gather 
many useful hints and practical information as to 
the composition of soils best adapted to tea. 
Tea must be remarkably hardy and capable of 
adapting itself to a great variety of soil and 
climate to grow as it does, and apparently to 
flourish under tho varied circumstances referred 
to in Mr. Bamber's book. 
Again as to the benefit of manuring, the autho- 
rities quoted appear to hold in many cases very 
strong and opposite views. The author himself 
opens the subjeot with the following statement, 
page 79 : — " The use of manures for tea appears to 
have been long understood and employed by the 
Chinese and Japanese, manuring being the most 
important operation in the cultivation of tea with 
the latter, although in the interior of Japan where 
fertilising material may be scarce and transport 
costly, a great extent is cropped without much 
being returned to the soil." 
Again: — " It is aleo stated that the Chinese restrict 
their area of tea (green ?) cultivation rigidly to the 
amount of manure available, their principle being, 
that without continuous manuring there can be 
no continuous harvest." 
Further on we find the following — " Aeoording to 
Ball (Cultivation and Manufacture of Tea) the 
Chinese used to water their tea bushes in dry weather 
with water in whioh rice had been washed, and 
manure them often with manure in a liquid state, 
or with the dung of silk worms." 
This treatment probflbly refers to " Green" and 
not to " Blaok" tea as the Chinese generally agree 
that the latter is not manured being more fragrant 
when unmanured. 
" The inferior Hyson teas known to the Chinese 
as * Hill Tea' and the oommon Singh or Twankay 
shrubs reoeive no manure, beyond the grass and 
weeds, whioh twice a year are hoed up and plaoed 
about the roots to rot." 
As opposed to the above we find the following: — 
" Colonel Money speaks of manuring having been 
carried on with great sucoess in Chittagong, and 
says he was struck with the frequency and abun- 
dance of the flushes and the strength and flavour 
of the tea, and that although manuring was con- 
demned by Chinese as having a tendenoy to spoil 
the flaTOur of teas, it was greatly approved of by 
the Caloutta brokers and the manured tea fetched 
high prioes in the market." 
As a fitting comment to the above we find on page 
83 this statement: — "There seems to be a widespread 
opinion that it will never pay to apply manure to 
tea, because if once commenced, it will always 
have to be continued at intervals, or the plants 
will deteriorate more than ever." Again: — " Many 
planters especially in Assam hold the opinion that 
manuring is not required, as the outturn of some 
of the o'dest gardens is stated not to have diminished 
einoe the gardens were first planted from 20 to 30 
years ago." 
" This opinion is held by Dr. Berry White, who 
states in lecture on the Indian Tea Industry in 
1887, that manure was used to some extent both 
in Assam and Chittagong; and oer(a : nly in the 
North West Provinces, and tbe Kanpra Valley ; but 
in nearly a'l these osses they were not virgin soils 
but had te?n used by the ryots before to grow 
crops of rice and dhall. In suoh plaoes ordinary 
farmyard manure was very ute'ul and he had 
known it to treble the crop." 
Now in reference to these strongly expressed 
views surely with the tabulated results of the 27 
analyse before us, we oan readily understand that 
tho character and composition of the soil must 
be taken into ooniideration before arriving at any 
practical conclusion as to the eoonomy of manuring. 
Soils naturally rich in the important constituents 
of plaDt food, as many of these specimens are end 
at tt-e same time potsesshg a phys cal character 
capable of retaining such, cons ituents, wiil continue 
to yield good crops under favourable season? lor 
a great many years in succession, the actual 
amount of orop depending on the weather ex- 
perienced. On the other hand poor sandy siila of 
a porous character, and with a low ntentive 
power wiil naturally require some help in the 
form of manure, and such help must be contkued if 
the crop returns are to be kept up. The success and 
permanenoy of a tea garden depends upon the soil, 
situation, season, and the tkill devotad to the 
cultivation of the shrub and the subsequent treat- 
ment of the green leaf. 
These analyses, therefore, furnish a useful and 
practical standard with whioh to compare those 
of tea soils from Ceylon and other tea-proJuoing 
centreB. 
THE LATE OUTBREAK OF CATTLE 
DISEASE AT CEYLON GOVERNMENT DAIRY. 
Mr. A. Lye, the Colonial Veterinary Surgeon 
iu bis report on this subject to the Direotnr of Public 
Instruction says with regard to the last imported Dairy 
Stock that ho purchisel these cows (twenU-three 
one of which was drowned in Karachi owing to tbeboit 
having been capsized) in Kuracbi on December 12th 
and 13th, and left Bombay per bp. " Culna " with 
them on December 22nd and arrived in Colombo on 
Deoember 31st. all animals being healthy; rind on the 
same day be haoded them ovpr to the Superint' ndent 
Five ont of the eight siok cows died, the first-named 
from diarrhoea and weakness consequentou the exposure 
they were subjected to, throaghnot having bfen land^ 
on their arrival, and the two last of abortion, whioh 
is not an uncommon cause of death. Those cows 
were sufficiently quarantine.!, and the post-mortem ex- 
amu at:ons made on two of them showed that none of 
them suffered from or died of murriin. Regarding the 
old dairy stock he says lh*t disease first showed itself 
amongst the3e cows on, January 14th, on wh ch date two 
were reported off their food. He prescribed for them 
and they were reported well od the following morning! 
On the 17th January these two cows were a^ain 
reported sick, as also another which recovered 
the others dying. 
The chief "symptoms which had exhibited them, 
selves in these patients were aoute dia-rhce» and rise 
of temperature, and he was of opinion that the disease 
had assumed an infectious form,- as utder certain 
conditions bowel complaints would do. One recovered, 
and after the second day the most urgent symptoms' 
of the two were aocute congestion of the lungs, which 
was tbe immediate cause of death in each case. On 
making a post-mortem examination on or e he found 
the faintest lesion in the intestines, which mi«ht pos- 
sibly have led bim to suspect murrain but as there 
was au absence of all other iodicitions which would point 
tomurrain, and as similar lesions are found iu dyssutery, 
he formed no definite opinion on that point. The other 
died the following day, and the post-mortem appear- 
ances did not iresent any indications of a suspicious 
cbaract-r. Six cows were reported sick on tho 24th 
January, six on the 25th January, two on the 28th 
Jamary, and three on the 31st January, besides which 
sixteen calved at various dates during'that period were 
auinitted to the infirmary. Of the above eevenUen 
co.vs he was succisslul iu saving eleven ; of tbe sixteen 
calves eight ^recovered. Two iufla'oes died on the 
24th an 1 27tii J*i,uar> lespectively sod be then 
reported : "The diseases now appears to be identical 
with thut kui.wn iu Ceylon as murrain." These were 
the first animals which died of murrain.— On the 8th 
day of February he accidentally learnt that rutin uiu 
had broken out amongst the cattle belonging to the 
Superintendent, and located on the premise*. He 
