July 1, 1899. J 
THE TROPICAL AGEIOULTURIST. 
49 
FACILITIES FOR MAKING GOOD TEA-IX. 
From Uva, we have a letter from Passara 
aud one from INIadulsima, both of which 
mdicate satisfaction with the quality of tea 
now produced— the former district recog- 
nising no existing drawbaci^s to good manu- 
facture, and the latter holding that its teas 
are equal, and in many cases superior, to 
what tised to be turned out when prices 
were at their highest— the estates them- 
selves being in better condition than ever 
before. In both divisions, the jat is generally 
good with verv little that is inferior; while the 
soil too answers to the same description, there 
being no worn-out estates, most of them 
having been newly planted, and evidently 
not needing manure, as the answer from 
Passara to the question whether manuring 
would improve the tea and be profitable, is 
a simple " no." While Madulsima admits 
some deficiency in withering; accommo- 
dation, Passai'a, where the factories are 
all new, considers the accommodation suffi- 
cient ; and both divisions are blessed with 
factories well-equipped with machinery, and 
with abundance of motive power. In prun- 
ing, too, they have not suffered either from 
neglect or severity, regular and systematic 
use of the knife being the rule. Being bles- 
sed with well-distributed rainfall, Passara 
claims to have one of the best tea climates 
in Uva ; but there is voiry little laud left 
in the hands of Government for extension ; 
while Madulshna, with its teas as good as 
ever they were, holds the London market 
alone responsible for low prices. 
From the Southern low-country we have a 
letter from Nei)oda, which finds the weather 
the chief drawback to the manufacture of 
bettei- tea, as the effect of successive wet 
days is to prevent successful withering, and 
a letter froiii Bentota which complains of in- 
sufficiency of withering accommodation which 
however, is being steadily remedied. From 
both districts we learn there is no inferior 
tea— the jat being very fair, middhng to good. 
Though the soil may be generally poor, or 
appear so, it contains a lot of iron or other 
constituents which the tea bush affects ; 
while where rocks abound the soil is rich. 
There are no exhausted estates, in the sense 
of those which will not repay cultivation ; 
but both letters agree that manure would 
improve -the tea and make it more profit- 
able—one, with the qualification that much 
depends on the manure chosen and on the 
methods of application. Without deliciency 
ot withering accommodation being specially 
noticeable, three or f(mr wet days disclose 
insufficient space ; but otherwise factories 
are generally well-equipped. In Bentota 
the motive power is aniple, but Neboda can- 
not express itself satisfied in the absence of 
an alternative to provide for a breakdown. 
The labour was sufflcient at the time v/hen the 
replies to the Circular were -wi-itten last October, 
but as a rule it was otherwise. In early days 
the pruning was both too severe and too 
frequent, but there has been a gi-eat im- 
provement lately; and there has been no 
neglect of pruning which though it may 
affect returns, is believed to be helpfiil to 
the bush. As a low-country tea district, 
Bentota leaves little to be desired, but it is 
.^dle to expect up-country characteristic? Ui 
the tea produced. The same remark applies 
to Neboda, whose x*eflections on climate and 
altitude are worth reproducing : — 
" The essentials in tea-malcing are good leaf and 
good withering. The districts which have the 
climate best adapted to provide these mnst make 
the best tea. The gradation from best to lowest 
quality depends on the degree to which districts 
possess the climate that will supply these essentials. 
It is diiftcult to suppose that anything can remedy 
the natural drawback of adverse climatic conditions. 
Thus it may bo feared that chemistry must begin 
when the weather leaves off. Useful, though its 
labours may be (and we would hope that it may 
supply us with many hints to guide ua towards 
better manufacture), it is clear that the tea districts 
are tied and bound to conditions which, in the main, 
settle once for all their degree of suitableness for 
tea cultivation. Parts of Dimbula may be taken 
as supplying the best conditions, from that starting 
point you can go through the list, each supplying 
its weather-gauge for qaality and quantity. Too dry, 
too wet, too irregular— each with its debit and credit 
of bad and good, all short of the standard : some from 
worn-out soil as an additional handicap, hopelessly 
so. This district, judging by their tests, is far from 
the bottom of the list, and should be ' suitable ' for 
tea for a long time to come." 
. « 
TEA BLIGHT— CACAO— RUBBER. 
{From the Cryptogamist in England.) 
INTEEESTING NOTES FROM MR. CARRUTHEES. 
Writing to us on May 19th, Mr. Carru- 
thers is good enough to send us the following 
interesting notes : — 
"I noticed in all the Ceylon papers that 
that report of my inspection of a tea estate 
for the presence of fungi — printed 'there is 
jzist one disease ', instead of ' there is first 
one disease ' which made it read rather fool- 
ishly in my mind. 
" I was sorry you considered the report 
uuvv^orthy, but I was requested to go and 
report, and on a few hours' inspection I 
couldn't gain or impart more information 
than I did. I know Dr. Watt's publications 
re tea and other blights — he only compiles 
these things. Massee of Kew works at them 
and the dry or x^ickled specimens don't give 
the best material for work : consequently the 
' grey blight ' aiid many otJier fungi have 
never been investigated and only one stage 
of their lives described— their life history is 
unknown. I have here material which I 
collected, which I hope will enable me to 
give a more complete account of them, but 
have as yet had no time to look at it. 
"I have heard no word as to the Com- 
mission on Agriculture. I suppose it has 
come to some conclusions. [Not yet : still 
sitting.— Ed. T.A.\ 
"Just now I am trying to get the Nectria 
from the Ceylon cacao to grow on apple 
trees here, as I want to prove it as a distinct 
physiological species from N. ditissima, the 
apple canker here. I have some experiments 
at Rothamsted and here. 
"I have been approached with a view to 
rny visiting Mexico to report on rubber es- 
•■■ V/c felt that Mr. Carruthers bad not dona 
justice to himself or to the blight he was called 
on to deal with : it is a matter tliat -will require 
careful consideration 9U the part of experts,^ 
Ed, 
