Vol. X. COLOMBO, DECEMBER ist, 1890. [No 6. 
ANALYSES OF TEA, TEA SOILS AND 
TEA MANURES. 
R. JOHN HUGHES analyaoJ 
speoimona of soils of a large 
proportion of the hill districts 
of Ceylon, in which tea is 
now grown, but with refer- 
ence to their suitability for 
coffee culture, indicating the 
meohanioal treatment and the nature of the manures 
best oaloulatedto improve the soils and help our then 
staple product. But since Mr. Hughes was here 
on the requisition of the Planters’ Association, tea 
has been grown in localities, such as the Eelanj 
Valley, which were not even conceived of as suit- 
able for coffee. Tea also flourishes in stiff and 
ferruginous soils, not so well adapted for coffee, 
and tea, being a leaf-producer and not cultivated for 
fruit as coffee was, is not so much benefited by 
the application of lime as coffee and coffee soils 
were. It seems to us, therefore, that not only ought 
our Planters' Association to respond readily to Mr. 
Hughes’s offer to analyze specimens of Oeylon teas, 
but that the scope of the chemist’s examination and 
report should be extended so as to include reports 
on the soils in which the teas are grown and in- 
dications of the nature and quantity of fertilizing 
matter necessary, or likely to improve the quantity 
and quality of the produce. More than two years 
ago the Agricultural and Horticultural Society 0 ^ 
India formulated an exceedingly comprehensive 
scheme of dealing with teas, soils and manures 
and also the technical details of the manufacture Of 
tea. The proposed scheme originated in a letter 
from Messrs. Jardme, Skinner & Oo. pointing out 
the very haphazard manner in which tea in India 
and Assam was manured. The letter was accom- 
panied by specimens of oil cakes used on various 
estates (one of which, by the way, bore the elegant 
name of “ Rose Kandy ”) and asked information 
although a lakh of rupees and upwards was spent 
annualbj on oil cake in Caoliar alone. On this letter 
the comment of the Secretary is : — 
“The information which is required for basing au 
opinion on the merits of different oil-cakes as a manure 
for tea, does not appear to exist. This should include 
analysis of the soils on which the tea is grown, of tea 
leaf, of the manures accessible, and other points of the 
like nature, without which the scientific treatment of the 
subject is impossible, The Society, and indeed all who 
are interested in the great Tea industry, are therefore 
greatly indebted to Dr. Warden, who has expressed his 
willingness to make a set of the required analyses which, 
when tabulated, will show at a glance what the different 
soils require. 'The importance of the data which will 
thus be collected can hardly be over-estimated, for much 
of the information will be as useful to cultivators of 
sugar-cane, indigo, &c., as to Tea planters. Blessrs. W. 
O. Bell-Irving and P. Playfair are appointed as sub- 
committee to give Dr. Warden such assistance as he 
may require,” 
At a meeting of the Indian Tea Association : — 
“ An unanimous opinion was expressed that Dr. 
Warden’s report on Tea Manures and Tea Garden 
Soils would be likely to prove most instructive and 
valuable, and as such, sure to be much appreciated 
by all interested in tea growing. On receipt of details 
as to the manner, &o., in which the samples should 
be collected, the Tea Association will be only too pleased 
to do the needful. It is suggested that samples be 
sent from three or four representative gardens in 
each district, say Oachar, Sylhet, Assam and the Dooars, 
and that gardens possessing different descriptions of 
soil be selected. One garden to send, say black peaty 
bheel soil, another plateau mould, a third stiff soil, 
and a fourth a specimen of Teelah formation. Some 
idea should be given as to the amount of earth (sur- 
face and subsoil) required as a sample, and the depth 
at which the latter should be taken, also as to the quan- 
tity of oil-cake, bone-dust, cow-manure, &o-, necessary 
for a fair test muster.” 
It will thu8 be seen that Indian Tea Gardena 
embrace all the varieties of soil which exist in Ceylon, 
although the terms “ bheel ” and “ teelah ” do not 
enter into our vocabulary, as descriptive respectively 
of swamp and hill land. Samples of soils and plants 
were actually sent to Dr. Warden, but the illness 
of members of his staff prevented the analyses, and 
details of the wider scheme were specified in the 
journal. The necessity for action was shown by 
I the statement that in Cachar, Assam, and Sylhet 
! there were many “ concerns ” still of lha highest 
as to the fertility of each as a leaf-stimulator. It 
was added that managers, as a rule, had little 
idea of the comparative mauurial value of oil cakes, 
class and remunerative with a yield of from -1 to 
6 maunds (320 to 4801b.) per acre ; but since gar- 
I dens were being opened oui which yielded (i to 8 
I maunds (480 to 640 lb.), the old estates, if not 
