Oct. 1, 1903.J THE TEOPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
251 
Mr Mackay is enthusiastic about the ancient 
civilisation of Java which was of Hin'lu origin 
and highly developed. The Javanese, at tlie time 
Europeans reached the island early in the I6th 
Century, were more advanced than the contem- 
porary barbaric nations of America, and stood 
even above the Chinese in having a coinage system 
of gold and silver, — Straits Times. 
ALLEGED " COARSE " PLUCKING OF TEA 
IN INDIA. 
MISTAKEN NOTIONS. 
The rumours, which are recently bruited at 
Home, thac Indian planters were again reverting 
to coarse plucking, have been exercising an evil in- 
fluence. It is strange that the London trade, in 
particular have not yet learnt to recognise the 
fact that the same quality tea cannot be manu- 
factured the year round: that the quality of the 
tea made in the factory dei)ends wholly on the 
quality of the leaf brought in from the field : that 
the latter again, is wholly dependent on climatic 
conditions. Immediately there is an increase in 
production, owing to heavy flushes brought on by 
favourable weather — the flushes foUowiog in rapid 
succession— a scare is at once set up that coarse 
plucking is being resorted to ; those responsible 
for the harmful rumours forgetting that the leaf 
must be taken ofE the bushes, and that a rush of 
leaf of necessity means an increased outturn. Then 
as to the quality of the tea manfuactured from 
quickly grown leaf it also must of necessity be 
interior to that produced from leaf of slow growth. 
The sap of the former leaf is watery and wanting in 
the chemical constituents which go to make good 
quality tea. To jump to the conclusion, therefore 
that because there is an increase in the outturn 
and a falling off in quality planters must have 
reverted to coarse plucking, is an inference un- 
warranted and unjustifiable. Our attention has 
been called to this matter by a letter which "a 
very influential (London) correspondent" has 
written to the Englishman/' 
The correspondent practically asserts and takes 
it for granted that the -e will for a certainty be a 
largely increased crop of common tea from India, 
What riglit has he to assume any such thing ? 
Especially so in the face of the fact that the very 
same assertion was made at the commencement of 
last season and proved false. Next he positively 
asserts that planters have adopted "free pluck- 
ing," — in other words coarse plucking— we should 
like to know what authority he has for his s'ate- 
ment, — the recent telegrams ? Not content he goes 
on to say that in a tew cases a too short labour 
force to take off the leaf in time may be the reason 
for a largely increased crop of common tea. He is 
evidently not aware that Managers as a general 
rule, when their plucking force is short, pluck more 
lightly than usual, so as to skim over the ground 
as speedily as possible. Heavy plucking would 
retard rather than advance the operation. A 
garden with a short labour force for plucking 
would all else being equal, therefore rather pro- 
duce less common tea than otherwise. Then, as to 
his last sentence he surely must know that fine 
plucking has, in the great majority of cases, proved 
an utter failure and a dead loss to those gardens 
We gave this in Observer simultaneously. — 
Ep. T.A, 
which depended on their quality alone paying 
them, irre!*pective of quantity. Experience dearly 
bought the past three seasons has taught planters 
that the only safe policy to adopt is a via media 
one — to pluck neither too fine nor too coarse, but 
compromising between tlie two to pluck "medium." 
Neither quantity nor quality by itself will pay, the 
two must be suitably apportioned to ensure a 
profit. 
The genius who has penned the epistle takes 
two things for gi anted, — first that coarse plucking 
is the order of the day, secondly that all markets 
are going to be flooded with our common and 
commonest teas, with disastrous results to all 
connected with the Indian tea industry. The 
importation of our poorest kinds of tea into 
London should therefore be put a stop to, and we 
should not send too coarse kinds to compete with 
even worse stuff from China. In fact so far as we 
can make out about 40 per cent, of our outturn 
must not be admitted into the United Kingdom. 
The British consumer must only be supplied with 
the better qualities ; for which of course although 
the correspondent does not say so, the consumer 
will pay no more than he does at present for his 
blends. The blenders at Home would most 
assuredly be delighted at such an arrangement, 
and bless the writer of the letter. They would buy 
tea at anything from Is 6d to 2s 6d and sell their 
blends of the same at Is 2d. Like the old woman 
with the eggs, it would be the quantity of tea 
they sold that would pay them, — Indian 
Planters' Gazette. 
CASTILLOA SEED AND PLANTING 
IN MEXICO. 
The earliest bloom of the Casiilloa appears about the 
first of March, the seed ripeniuK within sixty days, and 
is usually all gone thii ty days later. The seeds are 
usually gathered as soon as ripe, and it is often a race 
between the planters and parrots to see which will get 
the mopfc as the latter are very fond of them. The seed 
is secured by knookitig the cones off the branches of the 
trees with long poles. The cones are then put in 
water, and allowed to stand over night, when the gluten 
surroonding the seed slightly ferments. The mass ia 
then piaced in a sieve, and the pulp easily washed 
away. Then after a final washing, the floaters or nn- 
vitalised seeds are skimmed off, and the residue are 
dried on mats in the shade. As the vitality of the 
Costilloa seed is very slight, it ia necessary to plant 
within a week or two at the longest. It might be well 
to note here that Mr Harvey kept some seeds alive by 
packing in charcoal, and that they germinated when 
planted several months later, but no one but a trained 
Horticulturist would be likely to be sacceasful with 
such an experiment. With regard to the planting of 
the seed, it is well to remen ber that the first rains are 
often times followed by a week or two of dry weather, 
it is therefore beat to wait until at least focr inches o£ 
rain have fallen, that is, when planting in heavy soil, 
and to have a reserve of seed saved for failures, either 
from dronght, washouts, or lack of germination. 
On one of the plantations I was shown the result of a 
very interesting experiment, which was designed to 
show why of two seeda, planted near each other in ap- 
parently equally favourable positions, one produced a 
vigorous tree, while the other produced a weakling. 
To determine this, the planter selected three aizea of 
seeda and planted ihem under equal conditions, suppos- 
ing naturally that the largest seed would produce the 
most vigorous plant. He learned, however, that size 
had nothing to do with it, as in some oases the smallest 
seeds produced gave the beat result. The real difference 
seems to be, therefore, in the inherent vitally of the 
seed itself, There are a great many ideas regaidiog 
