May  i,  1893.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
manuring  necessitates  the  pc rpetu atio n of  an  un- 
natural action,  is  one  of  the  strongest  arguments 
against  allowing  the  bushes  to  run  down  into  a weak 
and  exhausted  state ; and  is  equally  against  admin- 
istering stimulating  doses  of  manure  to  bushes  in  any 
cohdition  whatever.  Manures  that  operate  slowly 
and  feed  without  exciting  the  bushes  to  abnormal 
effort  are  those  which  a judicious  planter  will  en- 
deavour to  select,  and  he  will  apply  them  in  feeding 
volume,  and  not  by  trying  to  do  several  years’ 
manuring  by  a single  act.  The  action  to  be  imitated 
is  that  of  a pendulum,  which  receives  at  each  beat 
a gentle  tap,  just  sufficient  to  maintain  its  proper 
swing  and  no  more . An  occasional  heavy  blow  to 
set  it  swinging  for  some  time  would  destroy  its 
proper  function. — Local  “Independent.” 
TEA  AND  SCIENCE. 
The  Madras  Times,  referring  to  the  discussion  in 
the  Dimbula  Planters’  Association,  in  a short  article 
which  we  quote  elsewhere,  stigmatises  the  absurdity 
of  the  idea  that  the  employing  of  an  expert  by  the 
Ceylon  Tea  Planters  would  be  regarded  as  an  indi- 
cation of  decline  in  the  planting  enterprise,  and 
urges,  as  the  Ceylon  Observer,  and  we  ourselves  have 
done,  the  importance  of  systematic  scientific  investi- 
gation into  the  processes  of  cultivation  and  manu- 
facture of  Tea  by  an  expert.  It  is  very  doubtful 
whether  any  scientist  would  effect  important  im- 
provements until  after  considerable  research  ; and  it 
is  quite  certain  that  he  would  not  produce  any 
sudden  revolution  in  the  system  at  present  pursued. 
The  probability  is,  that  his  first  suggestions  in  re- 
gard to  cultivation  of  the  plant  would  concern  the 
condition  of  the  soils  in  which  it  is  growing,  and 
that  its  component  ingredients  would  be  reserved 
for  after  consideration.  The  physical  condition  of 
a soil  may  be  of  greater  importance  than  its  com- 
position, and  would  be  scrutinised  carefully  before 
any  analysis  were  attempted.  The  processes  of  manu- 
facture would  be  studied,  in  the  first  instance,  with 
reference  to  the  qualities  that  are  sacrificed  by  un- 
suitable treatment,  prior  to  any  attempt  to  impart 
fresh  qualities  to  the  Tea. 
The  disclosures  that  the  light  of  science  might 
make  would  probably  be  slow,  but  they  would  be 
certain  in  the  end  to  improve  the  practice  of  both 
the  cultivation  and  manufacture  of  Tea,  and  to 
give  the  enterprise  more  permanence,  by  means  of 
saving  what  may  now  be  unwittingly  sacrificed  or 
lost,  and  by  supplying  what  is  either  wanting  or 
wasted  under  existing  conditions.  A good  deal  has 
been  and  still  more  may  be  done  by  means  of 
experiment,  but  it  is  important  that  the  end  sought 
to  be  attained  should  be  itself  a real  desideratum. 
A coffee  planter,  who  conceived  that  the  soaking 
of  coffee  in  the  cisterns,  after  pulping,  must  be 
injurious,  constructed  a machine  to  remove  the 
slime  mechanically,  instead  of  fermenting  and  wash- 
ing it  off  the  beans.  The  machine  succeeded  per- 
factly.  The  coffee  beans,  fresh  from  the  pulper, 
were  cleansed  completely  by  the  new  operation,  and 
in  less  than  half  an  hjur  after  emerging  from  the 
pulper,  the  beans  were  beautifully  clean,  and,  so 
tar  as  external  moisture  was  concerned,  also  per- 
fectly dry.  In  this  condition,  and  having  not  been 
soaked  and  saturated  with  water  in  the  cisterns,  the 
beans  were  easily  cured,  and  they  presented  a most 
satisfactory  appearance.  The  experiment  appeared, 
at  that  stage,  to  have  been  a thorough  success. 
A quantity  of  coffee  so  prepared  was  sent  home 
to  be  reported  upon,  and  great  expectations  were 
indulged.  The  report,  however,  was  disappointing, 
for  tne  coffee  was  said  to  be  raw,  wanting  in 
flavour,  and  altogether  deficient  of  the  highest  qua- 
lities. The  simple  fact  was  that  these  qualities 
depended  on  the  fermentation,  which  had  been  so 
sedulously  avoided.  Such  was  the  result  of  a very 
costly  experiment.  An  expert  chemist  would  prob- 
ably have  suggested  the  result ; but,  whether  or 
not,  experiments  directed  by  an  expert  would  be 
aimed  more  directly  to  their  specific  ends  than 
ethers  conducted  without  the  light  of  science. 
1'$ 
We  have  already,  in  our  issue  of  the  23rd  of 
March,  strongly  recommended  the  employing  of  an 
expert  chemist  to  investigate  the  soils  that  are  be- 
ing cultivated  and  the  processes  of  manufacture 
that  are  being  employed,  with  a view  to  their 
improvement  by  the  light  of  science.  It  might  be 
some  time  before  any  important  results  would  be 
attained,  but  it  is  certain  that  in  the  end  well 
directed  research  would  suggest  improvements  in 
both  cultivation  and  manufacture,  which  would  tend 
to  the  economical  production  of  Tea,  the  improve- 
ment of  its  flavour,  and  the  permanence  of  the 
enterprise. 
There  are  many  suggestive  facts  in  the  short 
history  of  Tea  production  in  Ceylon  for  which  an 
expert  would  be  able  to  assign  a cause.  In  more 
than  one  instance,  within  our  own  knowledge, 
qualities  that  had  been  lost  were  afterwards  restored, 
showing  that,  in  those  particular  cases,  the  pro- 
cesses employed,  and  not  the  soils  or  capabilities  of 
the  estates,  were  at  fault.  Tea  is  a delicate  product, 
and  is  easily  affected  by  neglect,  for  want  of  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  chemistry  of  the  processes 
employed,  and  is  peculiarly  in  want  of  scientific 
examination. 
One  defect,  common  to  all  Ceylon  teas,  is  that 
they  do  not  keep.  This  is  a serious  disadvantage, 
and  one  that  will  tell  against  them  more  hereafter 
than  in  the  past.  Till  now  the  demand  for  Ceylon 
Tea  has  been  so  active  that  none  has  had  to  be 
kepi  long  unconsumed ; but,  as  the  production  in- 
creases, and  the  consumption  ceases  to  keep  pace 
with  it,  its  lack  of  keeping  quality  will  be  more 
and  more  felt.  We  have  noticed,  in  some  of  the 
latest  advices,  since  the  recent  run  on  the  lower 
qualities  set  in,  a preference  having  been  given  to 
China  teas  in  blending,  because  ot  their  superior 
keeping  qualities.  We  have  several  times  brought 
this  property  of  keeping  into  notice  in  our  columns, 
and  it  is  now  of  greater  importance  than  ever  it  was. 
The  problem  is  not  how  to  impart  a new  quality, 
which  might  be  a very  difficult  or  impossible 
matter,  but  how  to  fix  in  our  Teas  those  they  na- 
turally possess.  This  is  a much  simpler  problem, 
of  which  an  expert  would  probably  discover  the 
remedy  easily.  We  have  ventured  to  express  the 
opinion,  based  on  experience  with  coffee,  that  the 
lack  of  fixity  of  the  aroma  of  Tea  is  due  to  too 
great  rapidity  in  the  firing  processes.  It  is  in  these 
that  the  fixing  of  the  properties  of  the  Tea  consists. 
Col.  Money,  in  his  book  on  tea,  says  that  the  Chinese 
pan  their  teas,  that  is : fire  them  several  times, 
and  not  by  the  short  and  rapid  process  used  in  our 
factories.  He  reports  that  frequent  experiments 
satisfied  him  that  there  was  no  advantage  gained 
by  these  repeated  firings,  and  he,  therefore,  does 
not  advise  planters  to  adopt  them.  It  does  not  appear, 
however,  that  he  trie  1 the  effect  of  frequent  pannings 
on  the  keeping  qualities  of  the  Tea,  as  this  could 
only  be  known  by  a comparison  of  Teas  made  by 
the  two  methods  a year  or  more  afterwards,  and  we 
do  not  see  that  he  made  any  such  comparison.  Pos- 
sibly, some  of  our  planters  may  have  tried  the  ex- 
periment. Be  that  as  it  may,  the  keeping  quality  of 
Ceylon  Teaisagreat  desideratum,  and  worthy  of  crucial 
experiment  and  consideration — Local  “ independent.’  1 
♦ — 
INDIAN  AGRICULTURAL  NOTES. 
(By  a Practical  Agriculturist.) 
THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  DRY  LANDS. 
In  my  last  Notes  I pointed  out  some  of  the  main 
defects  in  the  management  of  wet  lands  in  Chingleput. 
In  these  I propose  to  give  a succinct  account  of  the 
cultivation  of  dry  lands.  But  before  I do  so  I wish 
to  point  out  that,  with  the  Mirasidars  of  the  Tamil 
Districts,  there  is  an  impression  prevalent  that  the 
management  of  dry  lands  ought  to  be  relegated  to  the 
poorer  classes  of  tenant-farmers  on  account  of  the 
uncertainty  and  poverty  of  the  yield  in  general. 
Good  farming  is,  with  most  of  them,  identical  with 
the  oultivatiqn  qf  wet  lands,  which  give  a fait  return 
