436 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Dec. 1, 18&6 
and this cake quoted at K70 per ton is I think, 
good value for the nioiiey. 
But there is one little bone I have to pick 
■with my critic. He postulates that ca.'stor cake 
containinj? 2 94 per cent. phos))horic acid' will 
give 7 oz, of the acid in barely 1 lb. of the 
manure ! 1 do not know about this fact havinp; 
" escaped my observation," but it certainly passes 
my understanding'. — Yours truly, 
A. M. C. 
DkaR Sir,— I have no de.sire to continue this 
correspondence, if it is to evolve heat of any 
kind. My sole object in writing wns to point 
out that in the article under review, a calculation 
had been made on the important matter of manur- 
ing coconuts, in which the item of phosphoric 
acid in castor cake had been omitted. This lias 
not been denied. 
As to the " bone" offered me " to pick," all that 
is necessary to show that it does not exist, can 
loe said in a word. " A.M.C." reads "o dose" of 
the manure, as " 1 lb." of the manure. He will 
now see at once, that this correct reading causes 
his problem to vanish. As far as I am concerned 
this closes the discussion. 
A COCONUT PLANTER. 
TEA PRUNING. 
Sir —The letter by " J. L. D." (see page 345) 
ia certainly of permanent value to Taa Liter- 
ature. Auy piece of real experience mnst be of value. 
The only thing one has to guard against is making, sure 
that one man's success will serve our own purpose 
without due consideration of circumstances. But we 
can always make the record of another man's succceag 
the basis o£ enquiry and experiment. 
The difficulty up to now has been to get men to re- 
late their experiences. 
"J. L. D."ha8 found that 12 months' pruning has given 
better results at 2i00 feet elevation, than 15 or 18 
months' pruning. , , u v. 
The table given of daily average placked by each 
oooly is of no use because he does not state whether 
there Were the same number of coolies employed in 
1894-1895 &c. , . . ^ T J- 
Annual pruning is the universal pratice in the Indian 
Plains Districts. lu Chota Nagpur the bushes are 
pruned every second year, but pruned ?/(o;-0!<c?/!?v, t.ir., 
leaving only wood which is as thick as a pencil. 
In Kangra the bushes are pruned hard — (i.e. half 
inch wood left) eYery 5th to 10th year, and every 
January the year's growth is pruned oS but as the 
bushes are hard plucked, the growth is about eight 
to six inches after the hard pruning, and about five 
to three inches in the succeeding years. So we see 
that there is as yet no hard and fast rule about 
pruning. 
" J. Hi. D. " describes his pruning as ''light, and it 
is probable that several years of lijijht pruning, i.e., cut- 
t'ng off only three or four inches of growth will in course 
of time render it necessary to cut the bush down, or to 
thin out the light wood nnder half inch diameter. Light 
pruning has a technical term in Assam, it is called "Pbu- 
NiNG FOR LEAP " ; this means that it supplies leaf at 
the expense of the bush ; which will have eventually 
to be thinned out, and that when this is done the 
yield will be reduced for a time. 
I have written a good deal against '' cutting down," 
and more might be said about leaving too much 
when pruning the bushes. 
Cutting down is necessitated by the policy of 
p)umng for leaf for too many years in succession, 
80 that one year has to pay for the heavy yield of 
former years. And generally a new manager has to 
risk his reputation because the one before him did 
ppt calculate for the permanent good 9^ the estate, 
I quite agree with "J. L, D.", thU if yon feat thai 
yon are bound to go to the wall, ani/ meksore is 
better than none, and to run a risk ia better than to 
continue in the way that has failed. 
After many trials I have foand the following tb« 
best system : — 
The district is Chota Nagpur ; elevation 2,000 feet. 
The rainfall averages 5C inches, which falls in a few 
months ; 4 inches October to May ; 52 inches, June to 
September. 
We prune our bushes in May and June eo that they 
can begin to grow when the rains coine. 
In May the bushes are absolately dormant, 
from the great heat (up to 106 degrees, F) and want of 
moisture, (the difference betweau wet and dry bulb 
thermometers is sometimes 33 degrc-ee). 
In May I prune only half of the gtrden thoroughly, 
i.e., cut off all wood less than a pencil iu girth. 
"The new flush is placked when it has 4 leaves (aboot 
6 inches length of stalkj. I pluck one leaf and a bud ; the 
next flush I leave 2 leaves taking 2 leaves and bud ; 
the growth is then about 9 inches. The next tiaah 
(middle of September) I leave one leaf, taking 2 leaveg 
and bud. After this (end of September) I take each shoot 
as soon as it has 2 leaves developed. This plucking is 
continued until the bush ie pruned again in 2 years from 
last pruning. 
The bnsh never feels the knife for two years. The 
new growth ia good, solid, and matured, and as soon 
as it is pruned it throws out vigorous shoots. 
I conid get more leaf by pruning every year, bnt 
the bushes would not stand it without manure. 
I think that my system gives me the greatest yield 
of fine leaf without any harm to the bush ; in fact 
it allows them to improve year by year without 
manure. I am doing well under this Bvstem ; when I 
find that it fails me, I will adopt stricter measures. I 
am going to try a plot which shall be pruned annaally, 
and manured if it fails to improve. 
7'he cause oj the Arnt flush after heavy pruning being 
of inferior quality : — 
This an interesting problem. 
It certainly is a fact that the first picking from 
heavily pruned bushes makes bad tea. 
The outturn in the cup is dark and nasty, the liquor 
is thin. 
I pluck only one leaf and the bud of the first flash 
after pruning, and eren this makes bad tea which 
sells poorly. 
I can imagine one cause of this to be that the sap 
which has remained under the bark is forced up 
again mixed with new sap, and that it has acquired 
bad properties, or beea robbed of its good qualities 
while the bush lay dormant previous to commencing 
a new growth. 
Whatever the cause may be it is to be regretted 
that a heavy hulk of bad tea made from first pick- 
ings is annually placed on the market, and it would 
do a great deal of good if only one leaf and the bud 
(t. e. only half the weight of bad tea) could be made 
and sent for sale. 
There would be no loss in profit. 
The difierence in price between tea (of the first 
flush) made from two leaves and the bud, and tea nade 
from one leaf and the bud would be fully fico annat. 
First, two leaves, cost of plucking, manufacture, pack- 
ing, freight, selling would be about 12 rupees par 
mannd. 
2nd. One leaf and bud, same charges, would be about 
R13 per mannd allowing El extra for finer plucking. 
Then 
3 o <« 
S CO a 
p. 
ox© 
^'ee ox® V* a 
1 leaf 100 8 ,,w>. xvxu 
2 leaves 200 6 30 6,000 12 2,400 3,600 
1 leaf 100 6 30 3,000 13 1,300 1,700 
i leaves 200 i 29 4,000 12 2,i00 l,60Q 
3 
cr 
H 
40 
'OCfi 
S Q 
4,000 R13 1,300 3,700 
