May 1, 1899.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
769 
MANURING TEA : 
PKACTICAL EXPERIMENTS AND 
RESULTS. 
Wo mentioned the other day that a planter 
had promised iis some figures in reference 
to jDractical experiments in manuring, which 
he liad sent in to Slessrs. Freudeuberg & 
Co. Our application to the latter has been 
courteously attended to, as may be seen from 
the letter and return appended. These carry 
to a great extent their own explanation, 
more esi)ecially as Mr. Joseph Fraser has 
himself summed up the main results. We 
see that all the experiments, save one, shewed 
a profital)le retui'u even on the first year's 
crop ; but a second year's crop must be 
realized before a fair conclusion can- be ar- 
I'ived at as to the most economical and most 
durable as well as profital)le application. At 
present we suppose plot No. 8 stands at 
the head of the list so far as profit i^er acre 
is concerned, but then we are told the tea 
bushes shew a falling-off in vigour. The tea 
bushes on muiibers .5 and 7 are very vigorous ; 
but the ret urns in profit per acre are con- 
siderably less. vStill, v. e ha\-e to wait and learn 
which will do best during the current year 
without any further fertilizer. As re- 
gards the essential ingTcdients applied, 
there seems to be an utter absence of 
consistency, not simply as regards "Potash" 
as pointed out by Messrs. Freudenberg & Co. ; 
but also in regard to Nitrogen and Phos- 
phoric Acid which are most unequally 
supplied to the several plots without the 
higher quantities at all corresponding to the 
higher returns. But here agaiu, safe deductions 
can only be made when Mr. Joseph Fraser 
furnishes his next Report, twelve months 
hence. The inclusion of such retmnis in 
our Tropical Agi-indtii risf are of immense 
importance to the whole "planting" world 
for instruction as well as for future ready 
reference. Meantime here is tlie letter of 
Messrs. Freudenbei'g & Co. embodying the 
Report and figures remarked on above : — 
To the Editor " C'rtjloii Observer." 
Colombo, April o. 
Dear Siu,— Replying to your memo, of yester- 
day, we take pleasure in liatuiing you encloseil, 
the .statistics asked for, to which Mr. Fraser 
made at the time the following additional re- 
marks :— 
" With the exception of field No. 2, they have 
all paid for the manure and most show an 
excellent proht besides. Tlie results in yield 
next year will show more accurately which will 
give the best paying results per acre for a two 
yearly application — what is the best now may not 
by any means show the best results at the end of 
the two years. 
" The suppression of one essential nigredient in 
2, 3 and 4 sliows clearly their relative importance, 
Nitro^^en being the dominant clement. Potash 
the next and Phosphoric acid the lust, which 
agrees with my previous experiments. 
" The lliisic Slag throujih its free lime helped in 
several instances apparently to brln;; tlic nitre- 
fying ortianisms into play and hclpctl to render 
the inert nitrogen available for [ilauts. Next 
year's results will further tc^t this point. So far, 
as ai)pearance of the bushes is concerned, they 
Jgok best iu the following order o, 7, 10 ami U, 
9 shows most fungoid-EfFected leaves and a faliing- 
ofl in the vigor and succulence of the Hushes 
and S shows a falling-off to a more limited ex- 
tent. This may be owing to the lack of available 
nitrogen during the dry weather." 
^ These experiments are exceedingly instructive. 
Some of the results are difficult to reconcile as 
for instance plots 6 and 8 with a maximum and 
a mininuun supply of potash, but the following 
year may throw more light on the subject.— We 
are, dear sir, yours faithfully, 
FREUDENBERG & Co. 
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CO T}< CO 
1,120 Extra Dis- 
solved Guano. 
800 Castor Cake. 
" 200 Bone meal. 
03 800 Castor Cake. 
^ 201) Basic slag, 
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400 W. Castor 
ca' Cake, 
tl 400 Fish. 
^ "^lOOSnLof Ammo 
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200 Sul. of po- 
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2,50 Basic slag. 
M ^ 400 Blood meal. 
^ 150 Sul. of po- 
tash. 
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400 Blood meal. 
150 Sul. of po- 
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200 Basic slag. 
150 Sul. of po- 
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200 Basic slag. 
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