Dec. 1, I903.j THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 427 
THE BURIAL OF TEA FRUNTNGS ; 
Mr. kelway bamber's address. 
(From the Proceedings of the Dinibula Planters' 
Association, November 30th, 1903.) 
At a recent; meeting of the Uimbula Planters' 
Association, Mr. Kelway Baniber delivered an 
address on the subject of the burial of the prunings 
and the manuring of tea estates to secuie a per- 
manent improvement. The question of burying 
prunings is one of considerable importance, and 
Mr. Bamber's advice should have considerable 
wejgbt among planters, and his address reproduced 
below is well worth reading. 
The question of the burial of prunings has lately 
come into prominence in view of the fact that on 
a few estates on which it has been done, several 
plants have died out. I have been to these 
estates to see the results of the burial of prunings, 
and find the cau.se is very easily explained. On ti e 
fields vvhere these bushes died the prunings had 
been buried just before a very wet season — in tact, 
in September, on the Uva side. There were then 
three or four months of very wet weather, and the 
prunings did not decompose, and the fundus in tlie 
soil got on to them, and killed one per cent of 
the bushes during the following year. The holes 
were immediately opened when it was discovered; 
the prunings were taken out, and the holes filled 
in, with the result that the disease entirely ceased. 
I think it would be as well to briefly explain 
WHY THE BURIAL OF PRUNINGS IS RECOMMENDED 
and generally adopted in the island. A tew years 
ago when I came to the island there was a great 
deal of grey and brown blight prevalent in this 
and most other districts, and it seemed essential 
that something should be done to prevent the 
spread of these disease spores. Burning the 
prunings was first suggested. To do this it was 
necessary first of all to dry the prunings and then 
carry them into ravines or to the nearest road and 
burn them there. Before this could be done most 
of the spores would naturally be spread over the 
ground and, I think, as much harm is done in that 
way as by leaving tlieui on the surface. The only 
other remedy is to bury the prunings, and I recom- 
mended this to be done very largely, because in the 
first instance when the prunings are not dry and 
burial is done at once and well covered with 
basic slag or lime there is very little risk of the 
spores spreading on to the new leaves of the bushes, 
THE DEFICIENCY OF HUMUS IN THE SOIL. 
Another thing wkioh made me resomraeud the 
burial of prunings was the great deficiency of 
hv/mus in most Ceylon soils. As far as I can see 
on most estates there is no other possible source 
of hiomus. Where {an estate is just below forest 
there is a certain amount of nillu, or in other cases 
mfl,aa grass is available as Imnms ; hut in Dimbula 
there is no other source except by the burial of 
prunings. As long as this is done, with care to 
prevent the burial of big wood and so that only 
green leaves and prunings are buried, little harm 
can result. When you open a hole you will notice 
in nine cases out of ten a lot of white fungus, but 
it is not necessarily the^ fungus which causes 
root disease. 
BURYING REPLACES NITROGEN. 
The burning of prunings would also mean a 
very large loss of nitrogen to the soil — which 
is one of the most expensive constituents to 
54 
replace and, therefore, although you don'b 
actually add anything to the soil by the 
burying of tlic prunings you replace a large 
amount of nitrogen, in a form in which it can be 
readily utilised by the bushes. Another thing that 
made me decide to recommend the burial of prun- 
ings was the generally hard and uncultivated 
condition of the soil. It is very difficult to ensure 
thorough cultivation without some such method as 
the burying of prunings. I have examined 
a large number of estates where it has 
been done, and have noticed |that the soil is 
still in an absolutely friable condition. Beneath 
the holes, the ground is as hard as it was 
originally. It is almost impossible for tea to send 
its roots freely into the earth unless it is culti- 
vated. Hence this was one of the reasons why I 
recommended the burying of prunings. Another 
reason was that when the organic matter is buried 
it gives off a gas which dissolves in rain- 
water and renders the mineral matter in the soil 
available to the bushes. No artificial manure will 
do this in the same way ; but I would like to point 
out that the burial of prunings cannot be consi- 
dered an effective manuring. It is only recom- 
mended as 
A EA.SIS OF MANURING, 
Anyone who has dug up prunings will notice how 
many tea rootlets have grown into the holes, and 
this shows what the tea plant requires to encourage 
freer growth. It has been suggested and frequent- 
ly carried out to apply the manure in thsse holes 
when the root growth is fully formed there, and, 
up to a certain extent, this is a very good method, 
but it has been pointed out to me today that the 
period should not exceed six or eight months after 
the burial because the manures do not eeem to 
have the same effect on the crop. This is partly 
due to the fact that the manure is placed too 
deeply into these Iholes. The succulent rootlets 
are too much disturbed, audit becomes impossible 
for them to absorb the manure until new rootlets 
have been sent out ; but if the manure is put in 
at an earlier siage and not too deep, 1 think it is 
still one of the best methods. 
ALBIZZIA MOLUCCANA AND DADAPS. 
Another method that has been suggested for 
returning humus to the soil is the growth of 
Albizzia Moluccana and Dadaps among the tei. 
I would like to point out here a slight risk 
run in planting Albizzias throughout tea estates. 
I have noticed lately in several districts where 
grevilleas have been cut down, and where the 
stumps have died that several bushes have 
been killed near them. I have examined 
these, and find it was due to root disease 
spreading from the dead root of the grevillea 
on to the tea root and so killing it. If you have 
noticed the albizzia roots you must see they spread 
for several feet in either direction through the tea 
and if you had to cnt them down at any subsequent 
date and kill them, I think, if the fungus was 
already in the soil, there would be a very great 
risk of it getting in the dead roots and killing out 
the adjoining bushes. If Albizzia could be pollarded 
and could be kept alive by letting the suckers grow, 
I think there would not be so much risk ; bub I 
am not quite certain they can be pollarded. One 
or two gentlemen say they have seen good results ; 
but I have seen trees die when cut down. I myself 
think the Dadap is the more likely tree to be of 
benefit in this way, because at Peradeniya they 
