334 
THE TROPICAL AGRICUi.TUEIST. [Nov. 1, 1901. 
TEA CROPS AND MANURE. 
London, E.G., Sept. 6th, 1901. 
Dear Sir, — Under the above heading the 
Overland Observer received this week contains 
a short editoriiil comment uijoii tlie increased 
imports of manure and especially upon the marked 
increase ia the quantity sent Upcountry by rail 
during the year 1900. 
Appended to these annual returns for the past 
few years, there is given a statement ot the 
average yield of tea per acre, and for convenience 
ot reference these several returns are repeated 
as follows : — 
Average yield of Manure Im- Manure carried 
Tea per acre. ported. by rail. 
1895 12,487 tons. 7,213 tons. 
1896 396 lb. 1896 11,576 do 8,186 do 
1897 403 do 1897 10,874 do 8,431 do 
1898 400 do 1898 12,745 do 9,025 do 
1899 400 do 1899 14,200 do 11,126 do 
1900 424 do 1900 20,341 do 17,717 do 
fhe average yield of tea per acre cannot be 
taken as being dependent upon the manuring, as 
in the majority of cases it is reasonable to suppose 
that no manure had been applied, for at present it 
will be admitted that manuring has only been 
generally adopted on comparatively a very small 
number of estates. The increased yield of tea 
per acre, therefore, given as 424 lb. in 1900 as 
against 400 lb. per acre in the preceding year of 
1899 may fairly be ascribed to the coarser pluck- 
ing which was so generally resorted to in order 
to increase the outturn as a consequence of a 
demand for tea of low quality. 
The real interest in these returns is in reference 
to the increased imports of manure which have 
risen from 14,200 tons in 1899 to 20,341 tons 
in 1900. 
Further, of this 20,341 tons imported 17,717 tons 
were carried Upcouutry by rail as against only 
11,126 tons so carried in 1899. Obviously, there- 
fore, the great bulk of the manure imported is sent 
Upcountry, presumably for application on tea and 
coffee estates. 
In 1895 the manure carried by rail was only 
7,213 tons so that in six years the quantity of 
manure so carried had more than doubled. 
It would, of course, be interesting to know what 
proportion of the 17,717 tons was carried up 
during the (irst six months of 1900, also whether 
the returns for the first six months of the pre- 
sent year at all conespond in tonnage. Probably 
the low prices which have been obtained for the 
past year have mateiially checked the application 
of manure on certain estates. 
But nevertheless the very remarkable increase 
in manuring is evidently the result of practical 
experience. Planters on estates above 2,000 feet, 
are finding out that an exhausting crop like tea 
cannot be maintained in a flourishing con- 
dition on a naturally poor soil with a heavy 
rainfall, without some manurial assistance. 
As the writer has frequently pointed out id 
private reports the manure for Tea, or rather the 
judicious combination of different niarsures, should 
be so arranged that only a moderate percentage 
of nitrogenous ingredients i>i different degrees of 
solubility shoulil lie supplied, in union with a 
more generous qiruilihy of potash salts which con- 
stitute the dcjhiiaant element in the mineral 
portion of Tea, to whicli also must be added 
Phosphate of lime in an alkaline form, readily 
available as plant food. 
From the reports of the practical results of Bueli 
a system of manuring which the writer has re- 
ceived direct from planters, there certainly is 
every prospect that judicious manuring will con- 
tinue to be carried out on the tea estates of 
Ceylon. 
In conclusion it may be mentioned that in order 
to withstand the attacks of grubs and bugs it is 
very desirable that Bone dust, dried Fish, dried 
Blood or even crushed Cake should be chemically 
treated or mixed with chemical salts before ap- 
plication; otherwise sucli dressings may encourage 
insect life rather than benefit the Tea shrub 
JOHN HUGHES. 
ANTIQUATED NOTIONS ABOUT THE 
DATE-TKEIi;. 
(To the Editor of the Tropical Agriculturist. J 
12[h Sept., 1901. 
Sir,— There are some persons that still believe 
that the Date- Palm grows and flourishes in 
deserts— which it never did, and never will do. 
The Date-tree, like other trees, requires certain 
conditions of climate and soil. But apeJt from 
these, one of the first conditions of its healthy 
development is irrigation. In the desert of the 
Sahara it can Ite grown only in oasis, where 
there are springs of water. It does not seem to 
mind brackish water, and to bring out the luscious 
quality of the best varieties, they require in- 
addition manure. 
The following quotation, from the Journal of 
the Koyal Horticulturai Society of England for 
August 1901, p. 213, may interest the readers of 
the Tropical Agriculturist: "Date- trees in 
Spain (Kev. Hort. Beige, May 1901) -Contrary to 
the usual opinion that Dates do not ripen in S. 
Europe, there is at least one locality where trees 
produce excellent fruit. Elche is a small town 
near the Mediterranean wliich has an ' oasis ' of 
Date, trees, yielding excellent fruit equal to those 
of the Algerian Sahara. They were introduced 
and grown by the Moors when ruling Spain ; to 
whom also was the introduction of tbe orange 
due into Valencia and Pjotugal. The Dates are 
of a good variety. They are multiplied, just as 
the African Arabs used to do it, by separating 
the shoots from the base, and not by sowing the 
stones. Twenty-five female trees are fertilized 
by jreans of one male."- G. II. The probability is 
that the Date-Falm toas intioduced into Spain by 
the Moors , but it is doubtful whether what is known 
as the Valencia or Portugal orange was known to 
the Moors. The bitter, or Seville orange, was known 
to the Arabs, and it is that which the Moors 
probably introduced into Spain. 
In Oranges and Lemot-s of India and Ceylon 
p. 225, there is a ietter from Sir C F Boniiam 
which points to the intmduclion of the Portugal 
orange into the Peninsula by the Portuguese 
from China, or the Malay Archipelago, after 
they had doubled the Cape." It is probab'ie that 
in many parts of Queeii'^iand, and perhaps other 
parts of Australia, and of Suucii Afiica, the Dare- 
Palm would flourish, and become of imiiortance to 
the inhabitants. Its rcquireniencs are a suitable 
climate and soil, and wat. r ; and ti;'e two former 
can be discovered only by expeiimeut. If ihe 
stones of the best Dates {Tafilei', and others) were 
sown as an experiment, they njigho levea! whether 
the climate and soil were suitable to the healthy 
growth of their palm. There would be uncer- 
