608 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Makuh 1, 1901. 
concerned, whether growers of fine or common tea. 
It is a mistake to thick that all parties are not in 
the same boat ; it is the weight of tea that is 
crushing the maiket quite as much as, o'- more than, 
one particular class. Certainly ttie high grown 
estates are, nnd should be, getting larger propor- 
tionate profits on their smaller outturns, but how 
badly do those prices compare, speaking generally, 
with those ruling but a few years back. If there is a 
demand for 250 million lb. of tea, and 275 millions 
are supplied, then the market must decline whether 
all that tea is fine or common. 
There is one other point we should like to men- 
tion, viz., that the idea of voluntarily plucking finer 
would not inspire confidence among buyers, as they 
would feel that in the event of a rise in price the 
method of plucking might be changed by telegram, 
and in six weeks or two months the mirket might 
be flooded and stocks greatly depreciated in v-.lue. 
The producer must inspire confidence in the trade, 
and the same can only be done through reduction 
in the supply being absolutely assured.— We are, 
pear Sirs, youra faithfully, Brokees. 
KA.1SING OUR OWN NITROGEN. 
Everybody believes tliat the .soil.s of California 
are abunciaiilly rich, yet in a Los Angelos paper, 
Professor A J Cool; stated that the orange 
gro'.vers spend an average of 150 an acre for fer- 
tilizers. Floiitla needs fertilizers even more, but 
tliey believe there in raising tlieir own nitrogen, 
not buying even cottonseed meal, except, perhaps, 
to get' a start. Desniodiuin (beggrar wee) cow- 
peas, and velvet beans, are legume.', and iiave 
power to diaw nitiogen from the atniosi)here 
through their rootlets, and transit it to the soil as 
food for future plant growth. Nitrogen is the 
most expensive element of our fertilizers, costing 
17 cents a pound, while phosphoric acid costs 6 and 
potash 5. The planter should aim to raise every- 
thing that he must have, which he possibly can 
raise, instead of paying out his hard-earned 
money for it. No farmer can afford to buy rough 
nitrogen for fertilizer when he can so easily raise 
it. Desniodiuni makes the best of hay, .if sown 
tiiick, so as to reduce the size of the stalk, and at 
the same time it enriches the land. If put in tall 
narrow cocks and capped, and left to cure for a . 
few days without netting wet, then opened and 
aired for half a day before being hauled in, it 
makes the most valuable hay the planter can 
produce. Horses not only relish it, but they 
actually fatten upon it without oats or other grain. 
Immediately after cutting, another growth starts 
up and makes a heavy second crop. Some farmers 
prefer to save this for hay, because the rainy 
season is passed, while they cut the first crop and 
leave it to rot on the ground, as it comes in the 
rainy season. 
The effect of this ])Iaiit on the soil is almost 
magical. Not only do tlie roots draw nitrogen 
from the atmosphere, but they also run down 
deep and bring up mineral fertility to the surface. 
A Middle Florida farmer, a native of the State, and 
accustomed to Desniodium all his life, has stated 
that he raised a crop of corn for twenty years 
consecutively on thin, sandy land, and the yield 
increased a little every year, with no manuring 
except that given by a crop of Desniodium follow- 
ing the corn each year. There is something which 
cannot be exiilained which makes heavily-shaded 
Boil gain in feitility. It is nature's way ofeniicli- 
inent. After jdowing down this dead Desniodium 
Vue can grow almost anything wiih astonishing 
results ; the shadins' of tlie land has made it 
mellow, and it is full of nitrates. Poiatoe.- revel 
in sucli a situation ; melons, punijikiiis, cucum- 
bers and bean^ grow like the iiroverbial gourd — 
Florida Fruit Grouer. 
tp:a plants from china. 
According to the " Aiinalcs de la Sociedad 
Kinakle Argentina," the Department of 
Agriculture in that country has procured 
a C]uaiitity of tea plants in good condition 
from China. These have been distributed 
among the State Agricidturiil Colleges for 
purposes of cultivation, and, as in tbe 
Argentines there is a choice of climates, 
it is aiitici]jated that ere long a suitalile 
locality will be found, and that an im- 
portant development in the direction of 
tea cultivation may lie looked for in the 
future. But, of coui'se, there, as in most 
Soutli American countries, the labour question 
is the lion in the way. 
IMPORTANT IMPROVEMENTS IN TEA. 
LEAF WITHERING. 
The results recently obtained in Ceylon from 
the artificial wiilierii <•! lea-leaf are of so much 
importance to the wln/le lea industry that tliey 
deserve some special reference in our columns. 
Messrs. David^^on & Co., Limited, of Belfast, 
whose " Sirocco " Tea Machinery for every oilier 
process iu the manuiacture of the leaf is so widely 
know and highly appreciated, claim the cieciit of 
having solved the ditticult subject of tea leaf 
withering. The experiments made by them in this 
connection extend over a period of fourteen years, 
during which, and moie pariicularly wiihin the 
last four years, we believe, that they expended 
well on to £10,000 in apparatus, plus cost of con- 
ducting large scale trials in different factories in 
India and Ceylon before attaining the present 
satisfactory results. 
These experiments were carried out by Mr. 
F G MaGuire, under Mr. S C Davidson's guidance 
and directions, and the resulting outcome is that 
now, at a small outlay to the tea garden pro 
prietor, thorough control of the wither is, it it! 
claimed, so perfectly obtainable that the quality 
of the tea produced is equal to that from leaf 
withered naturally under the most favourable 
circumstances of temperature and weaiher; and 
the time required for producing tlie wither is 
greatly reduced, so that the output capacity of 
the exsisting withering space is thereby iuci eased 
to such an extent that in many instances large 
extensions to withering houses have been obviated. 
A cold wither, it is stated, can now be obtained 
of such satisfactory quality that, if a small quan- 
tity of the leaf be pressed bei ween the hands, it 
will stick together, showing that the leaf has at- 
tained that desirable soft and clammy condition 
which is so conducive towards the pu d notion of the 
best results during suDseqnent manufacture. 
A large number of tacioiies in Ceylon, ranging 
from sea-level to over 6,000 ft. elevation, have, we 
understand, been equipped with the necessary 
apparatus during the past season, and in actual 
practice, perfect withers have been obtained in 
twelve to fifteen hours, from leaf plucked on wet 
days during the rainy season, and which on arrival 
at the factory was satui{it?d with rain water, ' 
