276 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST 
fOcT. 1, 1900. 
He could try all the proposed remedies for pests, and he 
could try all the latest discoveries in l;ea- mailing, such 
as red lights for the colouring room, or the refrigerating 
process. 1 see that Mi-. Stebbing agrees generally 
with the proposal for an experimental garden, and I 
faiucy that he imagines that I am running down the 
scientific officer himself. I do not doubt that Mr, 
Bambsr, for instance, did some good for tea planting,, 
but he made no discoveries, and has done little more 
than compile an encyolopoedia of existing knowledge, 
and in my opinion Mr Mann will accomplish no more 
unless ho is fixed to one place and investigates im- 
provements which are practicable and profitable. Sup- 
posing that the garden he takes over has been making 
6 anna tea for the last five years and a yield of four 
maunds per acre ; he will try all sorts of manures, 
giving their costs and the results in increased yie ld ; 
and he would try various methods of manufacture, and 
k-:ep records of results. He might, if he pleased, analyse 
the soil before manuring and tell us that he returned 
so much per acre of what was wanting, but that in- 
formation alone, without the facts as to increased yield 
and cost of manuring, would be of no interest or use 
to tea planters. The decadence of every moribund tea 
estate can be placed to the faults of the proprietors. 
As a rule, they grudge funds for absolute necessities ; 
they imagine that money cut off from the expenditure 
means so much more profit. What we want is an ex- 
perimental garden which will show the proprietors 
that a certain course of action ought to result in a 
certain profit, and they v/ill then find money for the 
necessary improvements. 
A large number of estates pay handsomely, and 
it may be asked why these should subscribe to show the 
way to their less fortunate brethren. There is nothing 
more certain than that tea planting is a progressive 
industry. Every manager should look ahead. He 
should find out what he should do if his tea goes 
down one or two annas per pound. I would not mind 
betting that within six years Assam tea will go down 
two annaa per pound, and that the tea of other dis- 
tricts will remain at the present figure. How many 
Assam planters reckon on a loss of two annas per 
pound ? If this does happen they must make more 
tea per acre and the experimental garden will show 
them how to do it. The decadence of Assam aver- 
o.ges is harJly a part of the heading of this letter, 
but as I have mentioned it I may as well give mv 
reasons. Assam tea prices are not given for their 
value for drinking, but only because of their ability 
to bolster up weaker teas. Every improvement in the 
weaker teas will thus decrease the value of the 
"strengthening" Assams, The weaker teas will have to 
improve to keep their present prices, and they iciU im- 
prove ; each year sees improved machinery and process. 
Whatever happens, even the best estate mtist look 
ahead and be prepared to increase its yield if ne- 
cessary ; the necessary knowledge can be acquired 
and stored up by the experimental garden. I would 
bar all catch crops, we want to know how to make 
"tea" pay. Universal improvement will not reduce 
the value of our teas, in fact, it is only by steady 
and marked improvement in the quality of our tea as 
a inhole that we shall be able to extend our markets 
and oust the Mongolians Mr. Lawrie said that every 
pice that we can spare should be used in opening 
out new markets, but improved quality of tea will be 
a great factor in doing so. Is it too late to have 
both the scientific officer and the experimental garden? 
The cheapest way would be to lease a garden which 
does not pay, for a period of five years ; the same 
could be done five years hence in another 
district. 
The great difficulty in experiments is keeping ac- 
curate records, and a scientific man would of course 
have been trained to keep records. 
I should imagine that some of the larger com- 
panieH would be glad to lease out say 200 acres of 
their worst tea, and allow the scientist to investi- 
gate the manufacture of their teas. The vendors of 
manures would give their goods free of cost as an 
advertisement. New tea machinery would also be 
given free of cost till proved of value. 
I agree with Mr. Stebbing as to the possibilities of 
catch crops, but they mnst be kept severely apart 
from tea science. Catcli crops will only enable bad 
gardens to hang on longer, and swamp our market 
for the ?ake of a small pL-olit from other crops. — 
A.C. — Indian Gardenintj and Platitiii;/. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
Orchid Fiuke,— Orchias are famous forheauty 
and geiieriil attractiveness, but it is not generally 
kiiov/a that tliey have a place in the arts tluiC 
(Ministers to the physical wants ot man. But in 
some parts of the tropics, where Orehi'Is abound, 
a very delicate libre is prepare 1 by the native.^ 
whicii they use in the prepar.ition of the U!any 
oruJiinents these races ])repare for tiade with 
he paler races of ii\eu.—Jounial of Horticulture. 
Phenomenal Sale of African Mahoganv. 
— On the 24th uit., at the auciion sale of Me<srs. 
Edward Chaloner & Co , at Liverpool, two lo{.'s 
of African mahogany were .sokl for the unpre- 
cedented amount of 1,530^. 'J'liese lo},'s fornie<l 
one tree, and were bouglit for the pufpo^^e of being; 
cut. into veneers for the decoration of the palatial 
residences of some of the merchant princes of the 
United States of America. The veneers are used 
in the place of wall paper, and, being beantifnlly 
figured, give a superb effect. The prices realized 
for the two logs were respectively 10s 3d and Ts 
3d per sui)erficial| foot, which is a record tor 
African mahogany hjgs in the rough state, as im- 
ported.— ^(r/i/i/t Trade Journal, Sept. 1. 
The Glut of Pbuit. — With tho present enormous 
fruit crop, especially .Plums and Damsons, it is 
devoutly to be hoped that means are being taken to 
preserve it whole, or as jam, so that the cultivators 
will not be losers by the bounty of Providence. 
Such bulky goods at the present onerous freight 
rates charged by the railways often cost more iu 
transit charges than they sell for, but preserved on 
the spot, or in the vicinity of the fruit orchards, 
their bulk is considerably reduced and their distri- 
bution as preserves made lighter and much less 
costly. We hear this year of Cherries and Plums 
left to rot on the ground, and it will doubtless happen 
that much of the Damson crop will be a loss to 
the growers because of low price and high railway 
rates, unless something be forthwith undertaken to 
turn the fruit into % marketable commodity. — Garden- 
ers' Chronicle, Sept. 8. 
A Substitute toh Turf on Lawns. — In Die Garte- 
nioelt for August 25 last, we remarked that a corre- 
spondent recommends as a substitute for grass in 
dry places under trees, and in any place where grass 
does not succeed, or mowing is not desirable, Veronica 
repens (erroneously called V. alpina), V. repens is 
but little known in gardens, but it is a plant worthy 
of being highly recommended. The plants form a 
regular, green, frosh-looking carpet, and possesses 
the desirable attribute of not suffering in unfavour- 
able weather. The plant is covered in the spring 
with innumerable whitish flowers, so that the lawn 
looks then as if covered whith fresh-fallen snow. The 
plant is propagat ed by division after the flowering 
is over in April, much in the same manner as Violeta 
and Chamomile are treated, and the plantlets set out at 
G inches asunder in well-tilled soil, being copiously 
afforded water at the start. In four or five weeks 
the plants will h ave grown together. Although the 
plant endures uniinjui-ed every sort of weather, it ia 
advisable in time of drought to sprinkle overhead 
