84 
THE  TROPICAL. 
[Aur..  I,  1895. 
or  buff-coloured  friable  loam,  wliich  occurs 
in  patches,  and  wherever  these  patches  of  red 
earth  are  found  on  the  hanks  of  the  Chindwin  there 
villages  have  been  built  and  tea  planted.  Tire  jungle 
being  cleared  of  all  brushwood  and  undergrowth,  H or 
4 seeds  are  dibbled  into  holes,  the  holes  being  either 
2 or  1 cubits  apart.  The  object  of  dibbling  in  more 
than  one  seed  is  to  guard  against  blanks  ; however, 
all  the  seeds  that  germinate  are  allowed  to  grow. 
After  the  plants  come  up  all  the  tending  the  gardens 
receive  is  periodical  clearing  of  grass,  small  plants, 
weeds,  and  brushwood;  the  ground  is  never  hoed  nor 
the  plairts  pruned,  except  when  the  ravages  of  a 
parasite  known  as  Chihauwj  have  become  so  exten- 
sive as  to  kill  the  poitions  above  ground,  the  dead 
tops  are  then  hacked  down  with  the  ordinary  Burmese 
dania,  the  plant  at  once  throwing  up  stool  shoots  or 
root-suckers  which  in  three  years  take  the  place  of 
the  old  cut  down  plant.  The  small  plants  become 
large  enough  to  give  a crop  of  leaves  in  3 years  if 
the  kin  is  kept  free  of  jungle,  but  not  till  5 years 
if  the  garden  is  dirty.  Seed  is  borne  when  the 
plants  are  8 years  old,  but  they  do  not  come 
into  full  bearing  till  15  years  of  age,  the  nor- 
mal existence  of  a tree  being  40  to  50  years  if 
not  attacked  by  the  parasite  mentioned  above.  Some 
trees  last  longer  than  this,  but  old  trees  do  not  bear 
such  good  crops  of  seeds  or  leaves  as  middle-aged 
ones,  being  usually  stag-headed,  and  are  generally  cut 
down,  their  places  being  taken  by  vigorous  shoots 
thrown  up  by  the  stools,  some  stools  as  large  as  3 
feet  in  girth  being  seen.  A light  shade  is  beneficial 
to  the  plants  and  lessens  the  labour  of  keeping  the 
gardens  clean,  as  the  shade  kills  out  the  rank  grasses, 
such  as  thekke  Ac.,  which  spring  up  if  there  is  no 
shade.  Heavy  rains  are  not  good  for  the  seed-crop, 
as  the  seeds  drop  off  without  ripening  ; however,  if 
the  seed-crop  is  poor  the  leaf-crop  is  usually  good 
and  vice  renux. 
Hach  house  owns  from  one  to  three  kims,  the  various 
properties  being  bound  by  rough  cactus  hedges. 
As  already  stated  there  are  two  kinds  of  crops — 
the  leaf-crop  and  the  seed-crop,  (a)  The  leaf-ero/t. 
The  trees  flush  three  times  a year  in — (1)  Tagu  to 
Kason  (April — May);  (2)  Wazo  to  Waganug  (July — 
August);  and  (3)  Tawthalin  to  Thadingyut  (yeptcin- 
ber — October).  Of  these  three  Hushes  the  first  gives  the 
best  leaf  and  brings  the  highest  prices.  The  method 
of  plucking  is  to  x'luck  the  whole  shoot  except  one  leaf 
which  is  left.  Thus  if  there  are  three  leaves  in  a shoot 
the  shoot  is  nipped  off  just  below  the  second  leaf.  Each 
owner  then  takes  his  crop  of  leaves  and  throws  it  into 
an  iron  cauldron  full  of  boiling  water ; it  is  left  in 
this  water  till  the  leaves  turn  a yellow  colour ; th* 
Water  is  then  throwm  away  and  the  leaves  rolled  by 
hand  on  mats  ; it  is  then  ready  to  be  sold  to  traders, 
who  take  it  away  either  packed  in  bamboo  crates  or  in 
theinturnode  of  the  iiiiietsamjije  baniboos(/>.  l[amiUon\i). 
If  one  wanted  to  keep  this  tea  it  must  either  be 
kept  buried  in  the  ground  or  the  orates  and  bam- 
boos must  be  kept  in  water.  Kavvya  village  which 
has  the  largest  extent  of  kins,  makes  on  the  average 
20,000  viss  of  letiiet  annually.  The  price  at  the  village 
for  the  produce  of  the  first  flush  is  usually  R16  per  100 
viss,  for  the  other  and  later  flushes  R12-8-0  per  100  viss. 
The  seed-crop  ripens  in  October  and  November;  it 
is  then  collected,  dried  in  the  sun,  and  sold  to  Bur- 
mese traders,  who  come  up  for  it.  The  trader 
shoots  the  seed  into  the  bottom  of  his  boat,  the  bot- 
tom being  roi'ghly  lined  witli  mats,  and  then  takes 
it  down  to  Kettha  or  Tonhe,  where  he  sells  it  to 
the  native  agents  of  “ tea-seed  chiefs.” 
The  ))rice  of  the  tea  seed  on  the  garden  varies 
from  H3  to  1!I0  per  liaskct,  but  to  under-itaud  the 
method  of  buying  the  seed  one  muat  bear  in  mind 
that  the  trader,  always  a Burman  comes  up  in  .I.anuary 
or-  February  to  bargaiir  for  the  seed  crop  of  the 
following  November.  If  possible,  the  trader  makes  a 
contract  that  the  owner  will  sell  him  all  the  produce 
of  the  garden  for  a fixed  sum  per  basket.  Thus  in 
January  1894  the  Maungkan  villagers  contracted  to  sell 
all  their  seed  atH5a  basket.  'The  trader  then  advances 
on  tlie  condition  that,  if  the  villagers  cannot  pay 
liim  back  in  tca-sced,  they  must  pay  him  KW  per 
gent,  on  his  money.  If  the  trader  cannot  j^ot  a con- 
AGRICUIH'URISr. 
tract  for  the  whole  crop  he  always  manages  to  make 
advances  for  a certain  proportion  of  the  crop  on  the 
same  condition.  Thus  this  year  all  the  villagers  of 
Kawya  have  had  advances  on  the  condition  that  they 
pay  back  next  November  (in  seed),  cacli  basket  to  be 
counted  as  113.  Any  left  after  the  villagers  have  paid 
hack  their  advances  usually  brings  double  the  con- 
tract price.  The  trader  llien  hires  boats  and  takes 
the  seed  to  Kettlia  or  Tonhe,  the  rate  of  boat  hii'e 
being  from  2 annas  to  1 aim.vs  pjer  basket,  accoi'ding 
to  distance,  at  Kettha.  He  will  sell  to  agents  of  the 
tea  planter  for  an  average  of  R17  per  maung  (a 
maimg-=l  basket  10  pyis  or  20  pyis).  This  is  practically 
the  end  of  the  business  as  far  as  Burma  is  con- 
cerned, as  from  here  it  is  carried  by  Chin  or  Mani- 
piiri  coolies  in  baskets,  Scotch  fish-wife  fashion, 
to  Manipur.  No  tax  is  collected  or  any  transit  dues 
exacted  anywhere  along  the  route.  The  Chins  are 
said  to  carry  a load  of  one  basket  and  a quarter, 
the  average  weight  of  one  basket  being  14  viss,  and 
get  R5  to  E6  for  the  journey. 
It  will  be  seen  that  as  in  most  trades  the  middle- 
men arc  the  best  off  and  absorb  most  of  the  profit, 
The  Burman  trader  makes,  even  if  he  does  not  go 
in  for  the  advance  .system,  over  cent  per  cent,  and 
of  course  his  profits  arc  doubled  if  he  does.  The 
Thaungdut  Savvbwa  has,  I am  told,  petitioned  the 
Oovernment  to  be  allowed  to  levy  transit  dues  on 
the  tea-seed  passing  through  his  State,  though  on 
what  he  bases  his  claim  to  the  right,  I fail  to  see. 
No  Thaungdut  coolies  or  men  in  any  way  are  in- 
terested in  the  trade,  the  deveIoi)ment  of  which  is 
solely  due  to  the  liengalis  and  Buimians.  The 
SawDwa’s  clerk  Maung  Kyauk  Lon,  alleges  th.at  the 
Sawbwa  used  to  colled  (1  annas  per  basket  in  Bur- 
mese times  ; this  statement  is  false,  according  to  every 
other  person  I have  questioned.  The  only  transit 
tax  the  Sawbwa  has  ever  levied  was  one  on  boats 
and  rafts  passing  Tliaungdut  town;  this  has  of 
course  now  been  long  discontinued  and  had  never 
anything  wliatever  to  do  with  the  tea-seed  trade.  I 
believe  Slessrs.  The  Bombo  Burma  Trading  Company 
are  experimenting  as  to  the  feasibility  of  sending  seed 
to  Assam  and  Calcutta;  of  coiu'se  if  they  succeed  that 
will  settle  all  matters  of  transit  dues  both  for 
Thaungdut  and  Manipur.  I see  no  reason  why  the 
Bombay  Burma  should  not  succeed  as  no  care  to 
prevent  shaking,  the  effects  of  damp  or  of  heat,  is 
taken,  any  way  prior  to  the  seed  reaching  Manipur, 
by  the  present  method  which  seems  to  be  as  un- 
scientific as  possible,  and  yet  the  tea-seed  has,  as  is 
well-known,  a first  class  reputation  in  Assam  for 
germinating  properties.  The  tea-seed  experimented 
with,  however,  I would  recommend  being  bought  at 
any  cost  in  November ; the  best  way,  of  course, 
would  be  to  advance  money  on  the  following  season’s 
crop,  this  system  being  the  custom ; or  i.'lse  only 
the  leavings  and  old  seed  which  has  been  lying 
about  can  be  got,  which  naturally  would  not  have 
the  same  germinating  power  as  fresli  ripe  seed. 
From  what  I saw  of  the  gardens  they  were 
wonderfully  healthy  considering  the  little  care  taken 
with  them,  as,  with  the  exception  of  the  parasite 
referred  to,  the  tress  all  seemed  clean,  vigorous,  and 
full  of  leaf.  I should  say  tea-planting  with  Euro- 
pean methods  would  be  a great  siiccess  if  only  the 
labour  question  could  be  successfully  dealt  with.  That 
once  settled,  all  a planter  who  proposed  planting  in 
the  Chindwin  would  have  to  do  would  he  to  pros- 
])ect  f r red  earth,  and  from  my  own  experience  of 
the  forest  I am  sure  1 have  come  across  several 
tracts  of  similar  earth  to  that  on  which  the  tea  is 
grown.  I enclose  a spocimcii  of  the  tea  parasite. — 
M Mail. 
ruFFEL,  J’E.\.  COroNTTS,  At. 
IN  SFLANdOK. 
Coffco  is  the  stajilo  product  of  all  estates  in  (bo 
district  exce^iling  the  properties  ofiUessrs.  T.  11.  Hill, 
PL  Lister,  V/.  W.  Bailey,  none  of  these  estates  are 
more  than  six  years  old.  ‘‘Balii,'  ‘ Uganda,”  and 
“ .Setapakdalc,’'  together  with  portions  of  “Lincoln.'' 
“ Hawthorndon  ” and  “ Klang  Hates”  Estates,  to  the 
amount  of  2,500  acres  (approximately),  have  been 
granted  ouly  withiu  the  past  two  years. 
