428 
THE TEOPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Dec. 1, 1903. 
have cub them down and pollarded them with very 
beneficial results. It forms annually a green 
mass of organic material which can be buried 
as a ,?reen manure. Of course the reason the 
Albizzia and Dadap are recommended is owing to 
the property they have of obtaining nitrogen from 
the air and not depending entirely upon the nitrogen 
from the soil. This is due to the fact that they have 
nodules on the roots in which certain bacteria live, 
capable of absorbing the nitrogen from the air for 
their own growth and passing it on for the use of 
the tree itself, where it is used to form leaves and new 
growth. When, however, these leaves are returned 
to the soil it means a distinct gain of nitrogen every 
year, and from that point of view I think Albiz- 
zias are to be recommended, I think 
POLLARDING SHOULD BE TRIED 
and, if it succeeds, the trees should be cut at an 
early date and allowed to grow again. Bat what 
I think will be a more important source of humus 
is the growth and burial of green crops such as 
Crotalarias or other of the leguminosce. I 
recommended this some years ago, but it has not 
been carried out to any great extent until lately. 
I have been getting reports from estates, and all 
these reports, I am glad to say, are very 
favourable indeed. Crotalaria is such a succulent 
plant if you pull it up after four or five mouths 
and bury it, that there is very little risk of the 
root-disease spreading from its use. 1 have made 
careful analyses of this plant, and I have found 
the growtli of one crop would supply as much 
nitrogen as if you applied fully half ton of castor 
cake. Of course, you cannot expect the same 
immediate results, but you must remember that for 
the tea to be permanent you must keep the soil in 
proper condition. Half-a-ton of castor cake does 
little or nothing to add to the humus. The crop of 
Crotalaria adds humus to the soil and supplies 
several tons of organic matter containing, of course, 
a large proportion of moisture, and all this does 
more to render the cultivation of tea permanent 
than any continuous application of artificial manure. 
Under certain circumstances I have recommended 
that the burial of prunings should be stopped 
entirely. These are chiefly in very wet districts 
or in very clayey soils or in fields, that have 
been within the last few years opened from iungle 
in which the disease is known to be prevalent. Bub 
even in these cases although, I think, it is better 
not to run undue risk, I consider it would 
be very slight if only 
GREEN LEAVES AND YOUNGER PRUNINGS 
were buried carefully with lime or basic slag. I have 
had numerous samples of prunings sent to me in 
which very large wood was buried, although I have, 
in ray recommendations to these estates, carefully 
pointed ouh again and again that on no account 
should large wood be buried ; and, I think, greater 
care in this respect should be taken, because if 
there is any disease about, the dead wood will 
help to spread the root-disease as much as anything. 
And the wood is of no use in the soil ; in many 
cases ib keeps the soil too open and it contains 
very little nitrogen or plant food. It is also of 
great use as a fuel to the coolies, and I think 
it is better left on the surface. There js a method 
that might probably be adopted' with ad- 
vantage in the burial of prunings. We all 
know —at least I. have seen — that wherever the 
root-disease has spread from buried prunings to 
the tea, it is almost invariably in wet clayey soils, 
and the holes have become more or less sodden 
with water. If you open up old holes in clayey soils 
you will find the ground is almost impervious to 
water, and I think if trenches could be dug down 
and the prunings buried in a way that no water could 
possibly hang about, the chief reason for disease 
would be remedied, for fungus will not grow so readi- 
ly in a well-drained soil. Another important point is 
that the burial of prunings should only be done 
before dry weather. I think there is not the 
slightest doubt from what I can see that great 
harm has happened from this. Cases of disease 
that have been reported have occurred where the 
burial of prunings had taken place before a period 
of wet which entirely prevented the decomposition 
of the prunings. 
Mr. Masefield : — How long would you say, Sir ? 
Mr. Bamber ;— I should say at least two or ttiree 
months before. When I first recommended the 
burial of prunings on account of the presence of 
grey blight, I think I recommended that they 
should be covered with at least six inches, if 
not more of soil. I think now that if the burial of 
prunings is confined to young wood and leaves 
ib is advisable not to go so deep. The bulk of the 
feeding roots of tea grow 3 or 4 in. to 1ft. from the 
top, and I think if prunings are buried to that depth 
only ib should be sufficient and less expensive. 
Mr. Masefield :— What would you limit the 
size of burying prunings to ? Brown wood? 
Mr. Bamber : — Yes, I think no prunings should 
be thicker than your finger. 
Mr. Masefield ;— Then ib would be safe to bury 
all brown wood. 
Mr. Bamber :— Except under the conditions I 
have mentioned, I think it would be safe. I think 
I would also suggest that where the burial of 
prunings has been carried out systematically for 
some years so that practically the whole of the 
estate has been brought under cvltivation, it 
might pay to omit the burying for one season and 
probably to apply rather more manure. By 
spending the money in manure, I think possibly 
a better return m.ay be obtained, for I know well 
that the burial of prunings is a very expensive item 
and does n ot always give the return one might expect 
from it. So it would be advisable to stop for an 
occasional round where the cultivation has been 
thoroughly carried out. I should like it clearly 
understood that 
I am not against the burial of prunings. 
It has several times been brought under my notice 
recently that I am now recommending the stopping 
of the burial of prunings ; but, except under these 
circumstances I have mentioned I would recom- 
mend going on with ib until we get some other 
source of returning humus to the soil. Ib is 
absolutely essential that there should be a consider- 
able supply of humus in the soil if we are to get 
continuous and good crops, and get the bushes to 
respond to manures quickly. If not you have to 
put far more manure into the soil at greater 
expense, and the return is invariably less. It is only 
by maintaining the humus and cultivation of the soil 
that the. expense of manuring can be kept down to 
the minimum. I do not know that there is any- 
thing further I have to say, but I will be pleased 
to answer any question any gentleman may 
care to put. 
