Sept. 1, 1898.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
187 
7.: ^ He En of OP. 
THE CHERRY TREK AT NUWaRA 
ELIYA. 
Si. Denis, Island of Reunion, May 30, 1808. 
Sir, — I liope you will excuse the liberty I 
take in asking' you some botanical questions, to 
which I liojie you will deiga to grant a rejily. 
It IS concerning the Cherry Tree of Europe 
(Prunvs Ct'rasi(.5 and Primus Avium). Professor 
W. Detmer (University of Jena) asserts, in a 
treatise of Vegetable Physiology that this tree, 
introduced from Euiope into Ceylon by English 
colonists, at lirst lost its leases once only every 
year, as it does in temperate climates at the end 
of the autumn. Then, gradually, the tree be- 
came an evergreen never completely losing all 
its leaves. Is this correct? 
1 should be keenly anxious to know the answers 
to the few questions which I venture to put to 
you on the opposite page. If you could fill 
them in and send the half sheet to nie, I should 
owe you a thousand thanks. 
Not only do these points interest itic, but they 
have been asked for by a French horticulturist. 
—I am, &c., EDMOND BORDACE, 
Director of Museum, St. Denis. 
[We thought the ([uickest way of answering Mr. 
Bordage's questions would be to refer to Mr. Nock 
of Hakgalla Gardens and publish the result in 
the answers given below, Mr. Nock tells us that 
he has had to answer similar questions from 
scientists more than once of late. — Ed. T./J.] 
Questions and Answers 
1. Has the European cherry tree introduced iuto 
Ceylon become an everfji-een? — No. It loses its leaves 
at the end of every year and for a short time is 
quite bare. 
2. Does it flower abundantly in Ceylon ?— It flowers 
abundantly in the locality of Nuwara Eliya, [6,200 
feet above sea-level ; average temperature 57'7 degree i. 
Ed. 2'..!.] 
3. Does it bear fruit there? — It sets but little 
fruit, and that generally falls off before the stoning 
stage. Occasionally I have seen fruit colouring, but 
never saw one quite ripe. 
4. Is it sometimes reproduced from seed or kernel 
in Ceylon ? — Never, to my knowledge, by seeds, but 
plentifully by cuttings and suckers. 
5. Is it exclusively reproduced from cuttings or 
from grafting ? — Yes, from cuttings and srrckers, not 
grafting. 
TEA PRUNING IN' CEYLON : CRITICISM 
BY A SUCCESSFUL PLANTER ON " 1874 "s 
TEA-PRUNING LETTER. 
Sir, — Nothing is said in this very interesting 
letter of elevation, soil, jat or cost; so I will merely 
say that with us, at some 4,000 feet, I have 
found the greatest success with good jat tea 
(which is naturally a one-stem tree) instead of en- 
couraging the straight stems, in the way the 
writer describes, in removing them all and keep- 
ing the tree perfectly clear of them in pruning, 
and afterwards as much as possible in plucking. 
On ■■sur/t tea I look uuon them as simi>ly and 
purely gormandizers. The rest of the treatment 
in pruning, I quite agree with, and that ea(;h 
branch be treated on its own merits, and not 
merely left up to the one level. Also that the 
"frame" of the tree should a5 a rule always be 
preserved. lu Ceylon I think most planters 
adopt the up-pruning system as fai- as possible 
and few go down very low except for reasons 
given ill a letter signed ''Audi AlterHm Partem" 
i'l "Times of Ceylon" with wiiich I entirely 
agree. To leave such tea as "1874" sn^irots, 
would be very liberal treatment;but few would allo\V 
it with ijresent uijfM.vourable exchange aiid com- 
paratively low price?, and I am no; at all sure 
that where tea has been badly plantf-d at lirst 
and has all else against it, that even this would 
be as successful as cutting down, manuring and 
re-training in the right way — but it should never 
be cut down aqain lower than the 2 feet when 
once up to that. 
Instead of always cutting up the one incli when 
pruning (above the 2 feet) I have found that 
occasionally one can cut down bcticcen the pre- 
vious cuts and then go up again the one inch ; 
or it can be 2 inch cutting for 2 or 3 pruninga 
and then down H or even 3 inches, and let up 
again. This keeps the tree low and does not 
necessitate the cutting down to 2 feet at all 
even after the 1 foot, or " 12 upward cuts." 
Of course in Ceylon at this elevation we let 
our tea run from 2 to 3 years between prunings 
and at a higher elevation even nmch longer. 
In place of "surface pruning" advocated by 
"1874" I have found that cutting down (some 
3 inches or so bclou- level) the high branches 
only, and heavy bangyiug, or plucking down to 
lish leaf and then letting it up again, answer 
best, and it does not stop plucking altogether, 
though it may reduce the average for a time. 
There is no doubt about the importance of 
getting all the tea to one height and I have 
been trying to do this for years, but have found 
the most successful p'.an is to leave the smaller 
trees up to height ot the larger ones when tip- 
ping by stick measurement and not when pruning. 
The wood produced is superior. These trees too 
ought to be treated lightly for a time or left to 
grow up if they show any distress from plucking. 
In any case, however, it will take years to train 
all the trees to the one size ; for though one may 
get height it is not so easy to get bulk. Sup- 
plying also has a lot to say in keeping up a 
regular cover of tea, and can, as I have proved, 
be successfully done under ])roper conditions. 
With this treatment, and manuring such tea 
as requires to be kept up to the general stand- 
ard, I can get large yields (for Ceylon at this 
elevation) and good prices and realize a good proHt 
]ier acre ; but when it comes to doubling 800 lb. 
per acre all round even with the best possible 
cultivation, I must either doubt the possibility 
of any such thing, or wc are altogether out of 
the running in Ceylon as far as I know anything 
about it ! J. 
GOURDS, LOCAL PRODUCTIONS, 
Sir, — lu Ceylon the cultivation of gourds is Very 
much neglected, it is entirely in the hands of natives 
aud they seem to be quite satisfied with the few 
varieties they have, viz. La'jenaria Vulgaris and Ca- 
curbHa Moschata ; the Dii/a aud Rata Lahuot the Sinha- 
lese. Yot the number oi' these fruit taken ou board of 
stsamord and ships in something enormoud— there 
must therefore hi a brisk tride iu tho-e and it is a 
pity that its cultivation is not tnkeu up on a large 
scale. On looking over Suttoii"s or Carter's monthly 
catalogues, the most attractive aud luscious pictures 
of fruit are the different varieties of gourds and 
melons. Is this not a subject worthy of our School 
of AgvicultHrg ',' 
