i)EC. 1, 1898.] THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
437 
It will be seen from the'above that it would not pay to 
take half the weight if the two-leaf tea is expected to 
■ell for 6 annas and tha one-leaf tea for 8 annas. 
But there ia a decided balance to the good if the 
2 leaf tea is expected to fetch only four annas and 
the 1 leaf tea to get 8 annas. 
The same remarks apply of course to the tea of tha 
rest of the season, but the tea made later on is not 
BO absolutely bad as the tea from first picking. 
This question of first flush tea is of course perti- 
nent to the body of this letter about Pruning, because 
the more often one prunes the more frequently one is 
forced to make a certain quantity of bad tea. — A. C. 
ON THE ABOVE BY A CEYLON PLANTER. 
Nov. 15. 
Dear Sir, — 1 return you the paper on " Tea 
Pruning." It ia interesting, but I question if in 
Ceylou we have any district, — where the conditions are 
at all akin to Chota Nagpur 58 inches of rain, 52 
of which fell in four months, and only four inches for 
eight months, or half an inch a month I Each man 
has to be guided by hia circufflstances. All the same 
as "A.C." evidently thinks for himself and works 
ont his own problems, his letters merit attention. 
His shot at tha cause of the poor quality of leaf 
from newly pruned tea does not strike me as very 
happy. He says: — ''I can imagine one cause of this 
to be that the san which has remained under the 
bark is forced up again mixed with new sap and 
that it has acquired bad qualities while the bush lay 
dormant previous to commencing a new growth." 
Thei'e can be very little sap to force up from trees 
that have roasted in a temperature of 106 degree."" 
for eight mouths, besides, is it not the case that if 
the sap is not flowing up it ia flowing down ? I 
expect that the laboratory is the place where the 
difference between good and bad flush will be accn- 
ratey ascertained, and that guessing, happy or other- 
wise, won't leac" to much. 
"A.C." is wrong in saying that because it is not 
stated by me "whether there were the name number 
of coolies employed in '94, '95, etc. etc. the table 
given was of no use. It was the cost of plucking 
I was illustrating, and it matters nothing what coolies 
you have nor what crop you have, if the coolies bring 
in an increased weight of leaf, and their wages re- 
main the same. It results iu the plucking being 
done cheaper. I have not the estate books with me 
to give exact figures, but speaking generally, the 
pluckers were latterly fewer to some extent, but the tea 
was considerably incrensed. 
CEYLON TEA PLANTER. 
CAUAO DISEASE. 
Kandy, Nov. 19. 
Sir, — 1 CHclose for publication some prefatory re- 
marks and rules which have jii.st been drawn up 
by Mr. Canuthers in reference to cacao disease, 
which the Committee of the Planters' Association 
hope Goverumenb will have translated into Siii- 
lialese and Tamil for distribution among the 
native cultivators of cacao, so that preventive 
and curative treatment may be carried out gener- 
ally.— I am, dear sir, yours faithfully, 
A. PHILIP. 
Nov. 18. 
Th« cacao disease ia caused by the presence in th« 
tree of a fungus. A fungus is an extremely small plant 
and in this as in many other cases it lives in another 
plant and gets all its nourishment from the sap of 
the other plant. 
The fungus consists of two parts, 1st the mycelium 
or i-oota which are small threads, too small to be seen 
with the naked eye, and which run through the tissues 
of the cacao tree and 2ud the ipores or seeds which 
ipring from the mycelium. The spores are very small 
jadeed ; several millions, one layer thick, would only 
coTer a ten cent piece. If these spores alight on » 
cacao .stem, branch or pod in damp atmosphere they 
will grow and produce another canker spot. 
The canker in the bark can be seen as a rule by a 
darker patch and by drops of red coloured fluid exud- 
ing, and when the dark outer skin is scraped off the 
place will be seen to be quite brown or red coloured 
and moist and slimy. In the pod it makes the part 
where it is brown or blackish brown. The spores are in 
white or pink masses on the surface of stem and bran- 
ches and of all sizes from what can hax'dl.v be seen up to 
three or four times the size of a gram of rice. 
If the dark patches are allowed to remain in the tree 
they will spread and kill it and form many millions of 
spores which may attack other trees. The cutting out, 
if the disease has not gone too far, does not materially 
injure the tree or its bearing qualities ; and it is no use 
to keep diseased pods on the tree as directly they have 
a spot of disease the seeds no longer increase in size or 
ripen, but begin to deteriorate. When the trees ar« 
diseased, suckers should be allowed to grow. 
RULES FOR CURING DISEASE. 
In the bark, cut out ail discloured tissue and twa 
inches all round it. 
In the pods, take off all pods with any trace of dis- 
ease (the small pods of an inch or so in length are 
generally not diseased but dry up from want of 
nourishment). 
BUKN ALL PARTS CUT OUT AND ALL DISEASED POD 
HUSKS. 
In case where burning is quite impossible, bury the 
bark and pods deep. Lime put on them is advanta- 
geous. (Signed) J. B. Carrutuers, f.l.b., 
Cryptogamist to Ceyl®n Planters' Association, 
CACAO CULTIVATION AND PIUCES. 
Dear Sir, — It seems surprising that none of your 
cacao-planting correspondents have yet addressed you 
on the subject of the present condition of cacao, either as 
regards new methods of cultivation or as to the con- 
tinued low prices. 
With regard to the former question Mr. Carrnthers 
in his last report on the cacao canker has urged the 
removal of the greater portion of our shade trees 
so as to afford only " a light flickering shade, at 
some distance abovo the cacao trees, not so den se 
as to prevent the sun getting tbrougb, and keeping 
the air and the stems dry." And as regards the 
distances at which cacao should be planted, he men- 
tions having seen cacao which had been planted, as 
we used to grow coffee, at 6 feet apart ! 
In the matter of thinning out the shade trees most 
planters have already adopted his advice, (though 
native gardens are of course generally neglected), some 
perhaps even going too far iu this respect; but with 
regard to the planting of cacao, is there any 
one who has yet attemped to profit by the advice 
given ? If is very doubtful if there are even half a doxen 
estates in the island which are not suferincj from too close 
plantincf, yet we see the supplying of vacancies still 
being done at the same distances as formerly : the 
ambitious planter must have his 400, or at the least 
his 300 plants, to the acre whether they die soon 
or late. The writer has seen a small field of cacao 
which was planted, with other (temporary) products 
interspersed, at fifteen feet apart, and this distaqce 
is by no means too great. Even the small number 
of 193 healthy trees per acre is better than double 
that number chronically diseased. 
With the removal of most of the shade trees we shall 
to a large extent get rid of the leeches which are at pre- 
sent a very serious hindrance to good work on many 
places and the presence of leeches is always an indica- 
tion of excessive damp; but more regular attention might 
in very many estates be advantageously given to the 
clearing of drains. It is too much the custom to look 
on this work as one of the least importance, and aa 
long ag they are kept sufficiently deep to carry off 
rain-water, the ajration of the soil is completely 
forgotte'J. 
