154 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST.  [Sept.  2,  1895. 
fornicus,  figured  iu  the  periodica'  Hu'letiu  of  the 
U.  S.  Dep.xrtment  ' f Agriculture,  divieion  of  Ento- 
mology, for  March  1880.  Though  it  may  take  some 
time  for  it  to  develop  properly  iu  order  to  be  an 
effective  enemy  of  th  ^ Scale  insect,  it  is  satisfactory 
to  know  that  it  is  iu  existence 
“ This  short  note  is  merely  intended  to  draw 
attention  to  a subject  which  may  occupy  a prominent 
position  in  the  near  future.  Though  not  wishing 
to  appear  as  an  alarmist,  I fear  that  tea  is  threatened 
with  a new  danger,  which  may  do  more  harm  than 
any  of  its  predecessors,  judging  by  what  has  happened 
in  other  parts  of  the  world.  I would  seriously  im- 
press on  all  connected  with  this  great  i idustry,  more 
especiady  managers  of  gardens,  to  be  on  the  alert, 
and  at  the  first  indication  of  this  pest,  to  adopt 
remedial  measures  nt  once  to  stamp  it  out,  other- 
wise there  is  no  telling  what  the  consequences  may  be.” 
Various  other  pests  in  the  shape  of  white-auis, 
caterpillars,  beetles,  moths,  etc.,  attack  the  tea  plant 
from  time  to  time  but  usually  over  limited  ar  as  and 
at  irregular  intervals.  Although  their  vis  ts  cause 
a good  deal  of  trouble  and  annoyance  to  the 
gardens  concerned,  besides  occasioning  lo-s,  yet  the 
amount  of  damage  done  is  so  small  iu  comparison 
with  the  torraer  ones  that  they  do  not  attract 
much  attention. — Indian  Planters’  Gazette 
TEA  IN  THE  UPPER  CHINUWIN. 
The  following  is  a list  of  the  villages  of  the 
Uppof  Chindwin  which  export  tea  feeds,  the  in- 
habitants of  all  being  Shans  : — Kauiigkan,  Tiugiii, 
Kawya,  Mauugkan,  Tason,  Onbet,  Mainwo,  Tamanthe, 
Alalin.  , , • , 
Tradition  says  that  these  hns  (clearings)  were 
cleared  and  planted  some  ‘200  years  ago,  the  seed 
having  been  brought  from  Paiauiig  ( Northern  bhan 
States).  No  one  has  ever  heard  of  wild  tea  in  the 
jungle;  nor  have  I ever  come  across  wild  tea  in  the 
foresti’  in  spite  of  having  always  kept  a very  sharp 
look,  out  for  it,  and  it  is  my  opinion  that  the  tea 
plant  is  not  wild,  at  any  rate  west  of  the  Irrawaddy 
( by  the  way,  wild  cinnamon  [.  C.  Zenlanieum  j has 
been  found  by  me  fairly  common  in  the  evergreen 
forests  of  the  Uyu).  . . i 
The  gardens  were  originally  planted  tor  the  sake 
of  the  leavis,  that  is,  to  make  fetpef,  the  so  called 
pickled  tea  of  Burma.  However,  some  20  years  ago 
there  arose  a demand  for  the  seed,  at  first  inter- 
mittent, but  since  British  occupation  steady,  and  this 
has  now  become  the  main  source  of  income  to  the 
owners,  though  the  pickled  tea  is  still  collected  and 
made  as  of  old.  . , , . , • 
The  first  thing  to  be  done  in  planting  a tetpet-lan 
is  to  find  the  right  kind  of  soil,  what  is  known  as 
myeni,  literally  red  earth.  In  this  soil  the  tea-tree 
flourishes  to  perfecion;  the  look  of  this  earth  is 
very  characteristic,  being  a light  red  or  buff  coloured 
friable  loam,  which  occurs  in  patches,  and  wherever 
these  patches  of  red  earth  are  found  on  tue  banks 
of  the  Chindwin  there  villagts  have  been  built  and 
tea  planted.  The  jungle  being  cleared  of  all  bruJi- 
wood  and  undergrowth,  3 or -1  seeds  are  dibbled  into 
holes,  the  holes  being  either  or  4 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  planes 
come  up  all  the  tending  the  gardens  receive  is 
periodical  e'earing  of  grass,  small  plants,  weeds,  and 
brushwood  ; the  ground  is  never  hoed,  nor  are  the 
plant.s  priiiied,  exco)it  when  the  ravages  of  a parasite 
known  as  ihihaun;/*  have  become  so  extensive  as  to 
kill  the  portions  above  ground,  the  dead  tops  are 
then  hacked  down  with  the  ordinary  Burnieie  d.ama, 
the  iilant  at  once  throwing  up  sto.d  shoots  or  root- 
suckers  which  in  three  years  take  the  place  of  the 
old  cut  down  plant.  The  small  plants  liecome  large 
enough  to  give  a crop  of  leaves  in  3 years  if  the 
Hn  is  kept  free  of  jungle,  but  not  till  years  if 
the  garden  is  dirty.  Seed  is  borne  when  the  p'ants 
are  8 yoar.s  old,  but  tliey  do  not  come  into  full 
bearing  till  15  jeans  of  age,  the  normal  existence 
• Lorauthua  Sr. 
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  loaves  as  middle-aged  one.«,  being  usually 
staglieade'^,  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  thchke, 
&c , which  spring  up  if  there  is  no  shade.  Heavy 
rains  are  not  good  for  the  seed  crop,  as  the  seed 
drops  off  without  ripening ; however,  if  the  seedcrop 
is  poor  the  leaf-crop  is  usually  good  and  vice  versa. 
Each  house  owns  from  one  to  three  kins,  the 
various  properties  being  bounded  by  rough  cactus 
hedges. 
As  already  stated  there  are  two  kinds  of  crop.s — 
the  leaf-crop  and  the  seed-crop,  (a)  The  leaf-crop. — 
The  trees  flush  three  times  a year  in — (1)  Tagu  to 
Kason  (April — May);  (2)  Wazo  to  Wagaung  (July — 
August);  and  (3)  Towthalin  to  Thadingyut  (Septemner 
— October).  Of  these  three  flushes  the  first  gives 
the  best  leaf  and  brings  the  highest  prices.  The 
method  of  plucking  is  to  pluck  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 yel'ow  colour;  the  water  is  then 
thrown  a.vay  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  the 
interuodo  of  the  vu/etsauf/i/e  bsmboo  {/iendrocalamn.i 
HamiUonii).  If  one  wanted  to  keep  this  tea  it  must 
either  be  kept  buried  in  the  ground,  or  the  crates 
and  bamboos  must  be  kept  in  water.  Kawya  village, 
which  has  the  largest  extent  of  kins,  makes  on  th-i 
average  20,000  viss  of  letpet  annually.  The  price 
at  the  village  for  the  produce  of  the  first  flush  is 
usually  Rs.  10  per  100  viss,  for  the  other  and  later 
flushes  Rs.  12-8-0  per  100  viss. 
The  seed-crop  ripens  in  October  and  November ; 
it  is  then  collected,  dried  in  the  sun,  a' d sold  to 
Burmese  traders,  who  come  up  for  it.  The  trader 
shoots  ths  seed  into  the  bottom  of  his  boat,  the 
bottom  being  roughly  lined  with  mats,  and  then  takes 
it  down  to  Kettha  or  Tonhe;  where  he  sells  it  to 
the  native  agents  of  “ tea-seed  chiefs.  ’’ 
The  price  of  the  tea  seed  on  the  garden  varies 
from  Rs.  3 to  Rt.  10  per  basket,  but  to  understand  the 
method  of  buying  the  seed  one  must  bear  in  mind 
that  the  trader,  always  a Burman,  comes  up  in 
January  or  February  to  bargain  for  the  seed  crop 
of  the  following  November.  If  2>ossibIe,  the  trader 
makes  a contract  that  the  owner  will  sell  him  all 
the  produce  of  the  garden  for  a fixed  sum  per 
b.isket  Tuus  in  January  1.894  the  Maungkan  villa- 
gers contracted  to  sell  all  their  seed  at  R^.  5 a 
basket.  The  trader  then  advances  on  the  condition 
that,  if  the  villagers  cannot  pay  him  back  iu  tea- 
seed,  they  must  pay  him  100  per  cent,  on  his  money. 
If  the  trader  cannot  get  a contract  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),  each  b.isket  to  bo  counted 
as  Rs.  3.  Any  left  after  the  villagers  have  paid  back 
their  advances  usually  brings  doutle  the  contract 
price.  The  trader  then  hires  boa's  and  takes  the 
seed  to  Kettha  or  Tonhe,  the  rate  of  boat  hire 
being  from  2 annas  to  4 annas  per  basket  according 
to  distance  to  Kettha.  He  will  sell  to  agents  of 
the  tea  planter  for  an  average  of  Rs.  17  per  manng 
(a  inaung— 1 basket  10  pyis  or  20  pyis ) This  is 
practically  the  end  of  the  business  ns  far  as  Buima 
is  concerned,  as  from  here  it  is  carried  by  Chin  or 
Manipuri  coolies  in  baskets,  Scotish  fish-wile  fashion, 
to  Manipur.  No  tax  is  collected  or  any  transit  duos 
exacted  anywhere  along  the  route.  The  Chins  are 
* The  ordinary  Do  of  Burma,  exactly  the  same  as 
that  which  cutch  boilers  use  for  cutch  boiling. 
