THE TROPICAL 
AaRICtJLTURIST. 
[.Tttnr 2, 1802. 
ot which Wd have laboratory and tauks, while the 
oMi.--r accommodates the divers and other natives. 
With the numerous native and ship's boats added, we 
mak» a flotilla such as, the Inspector of Fisheries 
tells" me, has never before beea seen in this out-of- 
the-wav place. . ■ u i 
The "general marine fauna hwe is very rich, and we 
set up either by means of the divers or by dredgiu;:, 
new and interesting specimeuK every diiy including 
inanv crises of commensalif m and of protective 
colou' alien. We are al«o getting a good many new 
facts about the pearl oyster which will I hope enable 
us to make a useful report. But I don t intend to 
tell voa anything about our oyster work except in 
most general terms, as we shall not come to any 
conclusions until we have all the facts before us. 
With our numerous divers and facilities for aiedg- 
iuK and trawling we are miking a most thorough 
e.xamuiation of the ground and as vou know 
■Well in a biological problem of this kind, the 
whole of the rest of the f^una-both bottom and 
g„i,face— may have to be take'j into account. We 
are of course, taking frequent tow-nettings at 
different depths and times of the day, and I am trust- 
ing to you to work the Copepoda out for me, which 
will bea help in dewrmining the food necessary fo. the 
oyster, as we find some Copepoda in its stomach. 
There are a great many water snakes here It is 
striking to find animals like these of terrestrial oiigin 
BO far out at sea as we do. V7e have caught and 
dissected a considerable number. They have been 
9«.id bvthe divers to eat the pearl oysters, but we 
can find no evidence of that from their stomachs. 
Their food, so far as we have seen, is entirely small 
fishes Patt of my work is to report upon the most 
suitable spot for a small biological station. This has 
necessitated visits to several little-known parts of 
the coast Between two trips lately I had a coupU 
o^ days to spare, which enabled me, along with Mr. 
Willis Director of the Botanic Gardens to go np 
i^Qtn'ciPeak a very interesting climb. We were on 
the t™P on th; night of full-moon and found about .500 
pilgrimd worshipping at the shrine of the sacred 
fnntsteo-a motley crowd. We had a perfect sunrise, 
and the famous shadow of the Peak was well shown. 
We have seen no sharks yet at the pearl fishery, 
although they generally make their appearance. The 
divers wear charms to protect them, and they also 
have a shark-charmer, who plays a pipe to keep them 
a wav There is likewise a Goddess of the Pearl Banks 
who has to be propitiated. She was ormerly in 
prehistoric times an Amazonian Queen of the Cingalese 
who took such an interest in the pearl fishery thn she 
Tat all day on the northern end of Karativue Island 
watching the divers. Now Karativue is at present at 
Teast twenty miles to the south of the pearl banks, 
which must be discouraging to the believer unless the 
Queen had remarkable eyesight ; but there is a shoal 
upon which we have been dredging and which 
extends from the end of Karativue up to within a 
mile of where we have found the pearl oysters, 
Tnd it highly probable that that shoal was 
forme ly part' of' the island-which establishes at 
\IZ the possibility of the ancient story. The 
Queen like the northern part of her island is now 
beneath the waves and the j earl divers believe that 
Bhe is still watching them. I hope that this w.l reach 
vou in ti ne to give my remembrances to the biologists 
It the April meeting of the Society, and I hope to 
b. with yon at the May --t-^^7\°-^--„,,. 
THE RENOVATIOlT OF TEA ESTATES, 
(Bi/ an old Planter.) 
Althour'h a considerable number of gardens in the 
H,mn-i Vallev havr= covered their expenses and deoUred 
^ lidw.dH the sums carried forward indicate that de- 
^Ifiden 0 upon accommodation, either from banks or 
F^ency houflOH, has still been reFortod to for tiding 
olr the unproductive months ; thu.. very few proper- 
ties at the present time of writing are nnencambered 
with debt, and recent accounts show th it ov' - y 
large area the first flush has well b^- . iLiuiii- 
lated by hailstorms of unprecedented vioie i'-e Coa- 
sideriug the overstocks that must be lock/it up on th« 
Continent, and the dwindling down of the - ; ,rtagc l« 
less than one-fourth of whitt it was estimattd i j b<s i/i 
August Ust, the ripping visi',a -ou may be regarded as 
a blessing in disguise ; for thcie is reason to believe 
reduction in output has n .t been so loyally observed 
as those who professed to have adopted it wished their 
neighbours to believe, — the statistics proving the 
allegation. - * • The lighter soil in Sylhet and 
Cachar is exhausted, and though persistence ih 
keeping up estates which yield but meagra 
returns (that cannot really be oousidered legiti- 
mate profits) may suit the views of certain in- 
terested parties who alone benefit, the hopes of share- 
holders grow fainter every successive season. » * * 
The chief need ot the tea plant is ammonia, which bv 
enriching the sap gives extra strength to the leaf, 
which sales show the Surma Valley teas are deficient 
in ; phosphates develope wood and fruit, correspond- 
ing to bone and muscle, but as the ordinary run of our 
plants are tolerably w- 11 supplied in this respect, when 
not knotted and gnarled by the now fortunately obso- 
lete system of pruning ; the bone meal vended does not 
contain a sufficient proportion of ammonia to bring our 
leaf up to the mark ; an undue amount of the alkali 
would prove detrimental, but 25 per cent is certainly 
required, so that agents might well put themselves in 
communication with the local gas works upon the sub- 
ject. Were it feasible we are inclined to recommend 
one-fourth ammonia, one-fourth fine-ground bone dust 
two-fourths compost of well-desiccated weeds, dead 
leaves and other vegetable matter, or bheel soil pro- 
curable from such places as are inundated by mountain 
streams. The proper shape of the renovating pita will 
suggest themselves to most people, which may be 
wedge-like, the base being toward the root of the plant, 
such with the contents well stamped down as much as 
possible, to prevent evaporation of more volatile gas 
would have a lasting effect over three or four years, 
while simple top dressing, even when forked in. wastes 
its constituents up on the empty air. » • • More 
remunerative prices must be obtained, for the cost of 
production has reached its limits ; and the carryings 
forward are neither sufficient to meet cold weather ex- 
penses nor clear off any appreciable amount of the 
debt the majority of plantations are labouring under, 
still less yield any return to the investors, Mr Mann's 
whole attention should be directed to the subject of 
manure ; we do not require analysis ot soils, which 
everyone knows have long since parted with whatever 
productive properties they may have at the outset 
possessed. Few, even if they have the land, can afford 
the expense of extensions, which will return nothing 
for four years, and a good number by ill-advised 
relinquishments have brought their whole avail- 
able area under plant. The only hope therefore 
lies in renovation ; the alternative we need not 
dwell upon. Bule of thumb planting must now give 
way to systematic gardening, which ultra-con- 
servative orchard owners have at length realized in 
England. This, combined with curtailment in pro- 
duction, may yet bring the Surma teas up to the 9d., 
otherwise estates must be thrown np. For though 
many of the adjuncts or substitutes to tea, suggested 
ad 7iatiseam, promise better results, it has to be 
remembered that these will not thrive upon exhausted 
soil, though there nrm a number of people who in dis- 
cussing this matter are want to express a different 
opinion. — Indian Planters' Gazette. April 19. 
TOBACCO IN CENTRAL AFRICA. 
As the writer was anxious to know definitely 
whether tobacco should be fermented or not before 
exporting, the small sample submitted was viaf^r- 
mente^. 
