Feb.  i,  1893.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
509 
assembled  so  as  to  bring  their  labor  to  bear  easily 
and  cheaply  upon  picking.  Men  are  required  only  to 
look  after  the  machinery.  Dr.  Bhepara  has  planted 
far  apart  so  a*  to  be  able  to  use  the  plough  instead 
of  the  hoe. 
The  tea  turns  out  well  in  the  cup.  Its  retail 
value  is  75c.  a pound  for  Orange  Pekoe,  50  to 
60c.  for  Pekoe,  and  30  to  40c.  for  Pekoe 
Souohong.  It  is  an  Assam  hybrid,  a cross  between 
China  and  India  tea.  The  Assam  tea  is  a higher 
jat.  Mr.  Cottam,  who  has  the  honor  of  being  the 
pioneer  in  making  American  tea,  is  now  with  Steel, 
Hay  ter  & Co.  of  this  city. — Canadian  Grocer. 
VARIOUS  NOTES. 
Mosquitoes  and  Kerosene  Oil — Mosquitoes 
cannot  multiply  without  a breeding  pool  of  stagnant 
water.  If  householders  take  care  that  there  is  no 
pool,  no  marshy  hollow,  or  other  damp  corner 
in  their  compounds,  they  ought  not  to  be  per- 
sistently  troubled  with  mosquitoes.  But  sometimes, 
the  pool  is  not  easily  got  rid  of.  In  that  case  here 
is  the  next  best  oure  apparently,  according  to  the 
Globe : — 
Kerosene  has  been  tried  in  the  United  States  for 
destroying  mosquitoes,  the  old  idea  of  keeping  down 
their  number  by  dragonflies  having  proved  a failure. 
Four  ounces  of  kerosene  were  poured  on  a breeding 
pool  60  square  feet  in  area,  and  for  the  next  ten  days 
the  pool,  which  had  before  swarmed  with  the  insects, 
was  cleared  of  them. 
Planting  Prospects  in  Wynaad  are  not 
very  bright  to  judge  by  the  annual  report  of  the 
Wynaad  Planters'  Association,  which  has  juBt 
reached  us ; and  yet  one  of  the  first  items  in  the 
report  is  the  statement  that  “coffee  stealing  is 
still  as  flourishing  a trade  in  the  d? strict  as 
ever.”  Farther  on,  however,  we  oome  on  the 
following  paragraphs  of  considerable  interest  to 
Ceylon  planters 
During  the  past  two  years  considerable  attention 
has  been  directed  towards  the  possibility  of  discover- 
ing a cure  for  leaf  disease ; numerous  experiments 
have  been  tried  in  the  district,  and  Government  was 
approached  with  a view  of  getting  the  services  of  an 
expert.  After  giving  the  question  their  careful  con- 
sideration and  consulting  with  Dr.  D.  D.  Cunningham, 
Government  decided  that  an  investigation  would  be  of 
value  merely  from  a scientific  point  of  view,  and  would 
not  be  likely  to  result  in  the  discovery  of  anything 
which  would  be  of  service  to  the  planter,  and  I fear 
that  most  of  us  coincide  in  this  opinion. 
Amongst  other  matters  to  which  the  Association  has 
directed  its  attention  during  the  past  two  years  has 
been  to  the  encouragement  of  Tea  growing  in  the 
district.  With  this  object  a prize  of  R200  was  offered 
last  year  for  the  best  essay  dealing  with  the  question  of 
small  acreages  under  different  proprietors  with  a com- 
mon factory.  This  prize  was  won  by  Mr.  W.  M. 
Standen  of  Neddiwattum. 
As  for  the  general  prospects  of  the  district,  the 
periodical  ravages  of  leaf  disease  have  so  diminished 
the  profit  from  our  staple  produet,  notwithstanding 
the  high  prices  and  low  exchange  that  have  ruled 
during  the  last  two  years,  that  planters  have  been 
forced  to  turn  their  attention  to  other  cultivation. 
Liberian  Coffee  is  on  many  estates  replacing  the 
Arabian;  tea  is  now  being  widely  planted,  and  an 
experiment  is  being  made  in  growing  Fourcroya 
Gigantea  for  fibre,  the  result  of  which,  whether  suc- 
cessful or  not,  will  be  reported  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Association.  At  any  rate  I think  we  may  congratulate 
ourselves  that  there  is  no  lack  of  capital  in  the 
district,  or  of  energy  to  work  it. 
The  Associstions  of  Southern  India  have  very 
properly  asked  the  Madras  Governor  to  have  an 
M.  L.  C.  of  their  own,  and  they  are  anxious  to 
have  railways  extended.  Mr.  J.  W.  Hoskin  is 
Chairman  and  Mr.  Geo.  Romilly,  Hon.  Seoretary 
of  the  Wynaad  Assooistion ; we  wish  it  a long 
career  of  usefulness. 
THE  MANURING  OF  TEA. 
The  receipt  of  an  interesting  oommunioalion  from 
Mr.  John  Hughes  of  Mark  Lane  on  the  value  of 
coir  dust  as  a manure  to  the  tea  planter,  affords 
a good  opening  for  touching  on  the  subject  of 
the  manuring  of  tea  in  general.  Since  out  return, 
we  have  been  making  inquiries  as  to  how  far 
liberal  cultivation  in  this  way  has  extended,  and 
the  result  is  a series  of  rather  contradictory  re- 
plies. For,  while  we  have  on  one  side  not  a few 
practical  men  maintaining  that  if  tea  will  not  pay 
without  manure,  even  on  old  ooffee  land,  it  had 
better  be  left  alone,— on  the  other  we  have  in- 
dubitable evidence  afforded  of  the  advantage  of 
manuring  in  the  paying  returns  from  land  whioh 
without  suoh  cultivation,  could  not  be  saved  from 
abandonment  in  view  of  the  fall  in  prioes.  There 
are  old  ooffee  estates  now  in  tea  whioh  oome  under 
this  category  in  several  districts;  and  without  going  so 
far  in  other  cases  as  to  say  the  ohoice  was  between 
“abandonment”  and  “manure,”  yet  the  results 
in  these  instances  of  less  worn-out  land  have  been 
exceedingly  satisfactory  to  the  proprietor.  This  is 
the  case  in  the  high  and  medium  districts, — in 
Dimbula  and  Dikoya  as  well  as  in  Dolosbage.  One 
manager  in  a high  district,  reports: — 
“ Manure  (§  ton  to  acre)  pays  splendidly  on  medium 
soil,  but  don’t  put  it  in  till  say  7 or  8 months  after 
pruning.  I would  not  manure  tea  that  will  average 
4501b.  per  acre  without.  Tea  at  300  lb.  per  acre  with 
London  price  at  7Jd  will  pay  about  R50  per  aorej 
but  bad  soil  and  bad  situation  are  always  to  be 
avoided.” 
Another  still  higher  up,  writes  : — 
“ We  have  still  a large  cattle  establishment  and 
manure  tea  on  a pretty  extensive  scale  ; but  you 
know  1 have  a large  acreage  of  old  soil  to  work  with, 
which  was  put  under  coffee  over  50  yens  ago,  and  all 
my  labour  and  cost  of  manuring  does  not,  I fear,  do 
more  than  bring  our  yield  up  to  tbe  average  f 
younger  places  receiving  no  manures.  So  far  I see  no 
reason  to  change  our  system,  and  if  the  average  pries 
would  only  keep  about  10d  gross  a pound  and  exchange 
at  about  Is  4d  to  Is  5d  per  rupee,  present  owners, 
believe  me,  should  have  no  reason  for  complaint  with 
their  tea  investments.” 
Of  course,  in  both  cases,  we  take  it  that  land 
once  under  coffee  is  referred  to.  We  suppose  in 
the  case  of  tea  planted  on  virgin  forest  land,  at 
any  rate  in  the  lowcountry,  little  or  no 
manuring  has  as  yet  taken  place.  We  do  not  forget 
the  case  of  Mariawatte  with  its  splendid  facilities 
easy  lay  of  land  and  proximity  to  Gampola— • 
advantages  equally  possessed,  no  doubt,  by  Ban- 
darapolla  in  reference  to  Matale.  MoBt  tea  planters, 
however,  with  comparatively  unexhausted  soil  to 
begin  wih,  must  share  what  is  the  more  general 
opinion,  namely,  that  for  the  present,  manure  is 
not  required,  nor  should  it  be  touched  until  its 
necessity  becomes  quite  apparent.  And  yet  there 
may  be  suoh  a oase  as  delaying  too  long.  At 
any  rate  Mr.  Hughes’  proposal  to  the  Planters’ 
Association  about  oolleoting  the  leaves  off  a few 
tea  bushes  of  different  sizes;  “weighing  the  green 
leaf  and  drying  in  the  sun  and  again  weighing  so 
as  to  note  the  loss  of  weight  in  water;  then 
sending  him  samples  of  the  dried  leaves  and 
the  particulars  of  the  original  weights,  and 
number  of  trees  per  acre,”  so  that  he,  Mr. 
Hughes,  might  oaloulate  what  exhaustion  was 
caused  by  severe  pruning,  should  reoeive  attention. 
We  trust  now  that  the  hurry  incident  to  the  Chicago 
Exhibition,  iB  drawing  to  an  end,  Mr.  Hughes’ 
wish  as  above  expressed  will  not  be  forgotten  by 
tbe  Planters’  Association  Committee ; for  he  is 
assuredly  worthy  of  all  support  in  his  endeavours 
to  throw  light  on  problems  of  great  praotioal 
; important:  connected  with  tea  culture.  The 
