April  i,  1896.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
689 
Tiik  Japan  Tea  (Jtop.— The  Japan  Weekly 
Mail  of  Fel>.  S says  : — Tlierc  is  nothin'*' doing  in 
Tea,  and  nothing  yet  can  be  said  aliont  Llie  new 
ci'oi*,  but  if  the  recent  cold  s[)ell  we  have  had  is 
nuicii  further  prolonged,  we  sliall  look  for  a delay 
in  budding  and  a late  season. 
Tea  in  America. — We  have  received  a copy 
of  the  New  York  Press,  containing  the  report 
of  an  interview  with  Mr.  Blechynden  regarding 
the  effect  which  the  proposed  duty  on  tea  would 
have,  and  we  hope  to  be  able  to  cpiote  it  in 
our  Monday  morning’s  is.sue.  It  ap[)ears  that  it 
was  with  some  hesitation  that  Mr,  Jllechynden 
consented  to  be  interviewed,  and  he  was  very 
cautious  in  what  he  did  say.  If  the  standard 
was  raised  the  pure  teas  of  India  and  Ceylon 
would  of  course  have  to  face  a keener  competition 
than  they  do  now,  but  on  the  other  hand  an 
impi'oved  taste  for  good  teas  would  be  established. 
The  views  of  Mr.  Beling  are  also  given. 
The  “Indian  Forester.’’ — The  contents  of  the  Feb- 
ruary number  are  as  follows  : — 1.  Original  Articles 
and  Translations  ; An  injurious  insect  in  Jodhpnr, 
by  Fi.  Stebbing;  llo-aff'orestatiou  of  the  Mahasti- 
Fagu  Ridge,  by  Pandit  Sunder  Lai  Pathak;  Die  Mathe- 
niatik  undder  Wald.  II.  Correspondence  ; Forest 
Appointments  in  Bombay,  letter  from  • Forest  Officer.’ 
IlT.  Official  Papers  and  Intelligence  : Summary  of 
Progress  during  the  live  years  1889  to  1894.  IV. 
Reviews:  Wood  Working  Machinery;  Forest  Admis- 
tration  Reports  for  1893-91  for  Bombay,  Baluchistan 
and  Burma.  VI.  Extracts,  Notes,  and  Queries  : Oil 
of  Turpentine;  Shifting  Sands;  Death  of  Professor 
'Wilkomm  ; Dr.  Grassmann ; 'The  Turpentine  Tree. 
Vll.  Timber  and  Produce  'Trade : Churchill  and 
Sims’  Circular,  January  1891!  ; Market  Rates  lor  Pro- 
duce. VIII.  Extracts  from  Official  Gazettes. 
Central  Travancore.—  Weather.— Y\x\q  with 
a little  land  wind  in  mornings.  Tea. — As  is  usual  at 
this  time  of  year,  not  Hushing  much.  Pruning 
is  going  on  in  most  estates  just  now.  Coffee. — 
Crops  fairly  up  to  estim.ate  with  one  or  two 
exceptions.  Nearly  all  new  clearings  have  been 
burnt  oft',  and  in  most  cases  the  burns  have  been 
all  that  could  be  desircil.  At  this  time  of  ye.ar 
when  the  grass  is  burnt,  more  or  less  damage 
is  caused  by  buildings  being  ilestroyed.  One  es- 
tate lost  three  lives  and  a writer’s  hou.se  in  this 
way.  Another  estate  had  its  factory  burnt  in 
which  A\,as  stored  nOO  bushels  coffee.  This  last 
however  wa.«  caused  by  u|)setting  of  an  open  kero- 
sine  lam[).  1 am  t<dd  i he  accident  was  caused 
by  the  same  cooly  who  managed  to  set  lire  to  the 
Clenmary  Factory  three  years  ago  in  (he  same 
w.ay.  It  seems  almost  incredible  that  the  sm  e 
man  should  do  the  same  thing  .again. — I’lanliny  Op.  - 
vion,  Feb.  29. 
Tea  in  America. — Ileviewing  Mr.  Blechynden’s 
work  in  America  during  Dec.  the  iVoHcer  says  : — If 
we  make  a suggestion  it  is  that  a large  sum  should 
be  provided  annually  for  extending  such  .adverlise- 
ment.s  as  are  already  issued  in  tbe  States,  where 
the  people  are  accustomed  to  sensational  jio.sters 
and  placards.  The  prcseid.  age  is  one  in  which  a 
demand  for  any  article  for  domestic  use  or  con- 
Rumiition  can  beci'catt'd  l*y  extensive  advertising, 
.ami  many  a firm  spends  thousands  of  jiounds 
monthly  in  ftircing  its  'u'ares  on  public,  notice. 
This  laactice  is  found  to  pay,  the  greater  the 
co.st  of  the  advertisements,  (he  larger  being  (he 
trade  deni, and.  if  the  Indian'  Tea  Association 
were  to  flood  America  with  announcements  re- 
g.arding  the  product  in  which  they  are  interested, 
and  keep  up  the  pressure  for  two  or  three 
years,  the  effect  would  soon  become  ajtp.arent. 
'The  advertising  wouKl  have  to  be  on  a large 
scale  .and  it  might  cost  .some  thousands  of 
pounds,  but  it  would  be  money  well  haul  out. 
The  Erection  oe  Central  Tea  Factories 
on  the  Nilgiris  is  strongly  and,  s, ays  the 
li/ail,  sensibly  advocated  by  I’laniiny  Ojiinioii  in 
an  article  bich  willbelotin  l in  another  column. 
In  these  days  of  keen  competition,  the  only  way 
in  which  the  _ small  man  can  li\e  is  by  co- 
ojjeiation.  Ibis  is  tine  in  ev'ery  bn.siness  in 
which  cheapness  of  luoduction  is  a prime  factor. 
The  main  reason,  we  believe,  wby  Nibdri  tea 
does  not  gener.ally  secure  the  big  prices  reali.sed 
by  that  of  Darjeeling  and  the  higher  .altitudes 
of  C'eylon  lies  in  the  fact  that  a number  of  small 
estates  have  to  depend  for  the  manufacture  of 
their  leaf  on  under-equi])ped  factories.  There  are 
many  localities  on  the  Nilgiris  where  a central 
factory  might  be  worked  at  once  to  the  .advanta-'e 
of  the  neighbouring  tea-planters.  ” 
A Flourishing  Comrany.— The  B.andarapola 
Estate  Comp.auy  is  doing  very  well,  and  the 
extent  of  the  )jroperty  is  being  steadily  au"-- 
mented— plots  of  hand,  sometimes  of  very  smail 
acreage  being  continually  iidded  to  the  'alre.ally 
large  area  of  Bandaraimla  est.ate  from  the 
adjoining  vilhages  Ovala,  Muandeniy.a,  God.apola^ 
Akirilla,  Allacollam.ada,  Bandar.ajiola,  etc.  The 
new*  purchases  are  being  put.  some  under  tea,  and 
others  under  cocoa,  according  to  the  soil.  The 
villagers  seem  to  have  been  convinced  of  the 
absurdity  of  keeping  their  holdings  of  land  un- 
cultivated, .and  so  they  dispo.se  of  tiieir  plots 
and  some  of  them  seek  emqiloyment  umler 
the  European  imrchasers.  The  gradual  absorjttion 
of  the  surrounding  properties  in  this  w.ay  will 
in  time  make  the  B.and.arapola  Estate  Company 
one  of  the  largest  Companies  in  the  island.  Sir 
George  Pilkington,  one  of  the  directors  of  the 
Company,  came  up  on  a visit  to  the  estate  tod.ay, 
acconqianied  by  Mr.  Hugh  I'Taser.  They  drove  to 
Bandarapol.a  round  Suduganga,  and  had  a luede 
over  the  new  clearings  on  that  side.  After  p.ayim-- 
a Hying  visit.  Sir  George  left  for  Kandy  thil 
evening  with  Mr  Fraser.— j/nCife  Coi\,  M.arch  6th 
Local  “Tin-.e.s.” 
The  Sa  Tree  in  Tea  Cultivation.— lleferrim*- 
to  the  letter  on  this  subject  which  we  reprint 
from  the  Indian  Ayricnlinri.sf,  our  contemporary 
says  : — 
VVe  venture  to  think  that  Mr.  Bamber,  whose  letter 
appears  elsewhere,  is  labouring  under  a misappre- 
hension. Dr.  Watt's  report  has  not  anpeared,  and 
it  is  therefore  premature  to  discuss  his  discoveries 
At  the  same  time,  we  would  remind  Mr.  Bamber 
that  neither  he  nor  Dr  Watt  are  the  discoverers  of 
the  action  of  certain  leguminous  plants  in  nitrating 
the  soil  through  the  agency  of  root-warts.  In  a re- 
cent issue  of  the  Agricultural  Ledger,  indeed,  Dr 
Wall  gave  the  history  of  that  discovery.  He  there 
maintains  that  investigatoi's  in  Europe  had  restricted 
the  formation  of  nitrogen-forming  w.aris  to  theTapi- 
lionacim.  The  da  tree  (Albizzia  slipulata)  belongs  to 
the  Mimosem,  and  should  therefore  not  have  nitrogen- 
foiming  warts  on  its  roots.  Now  the  discovery  that 
it  does  possess  such  warts  is  the  discovery  wliicli  Dr 
Yv  att  claims  to  have  made.  Mr.  B, amber  sac's  that 
he  also  had  made  that  discovoiy,  but  we  do  not  find 
that  the  quotations  from  his  'nook  support  Ibis  state- 
ment. Dr.  Watt  has  oveiy  light  to  say  that  he  was 
the  first  to  publish  the  fact  that  a number  of  the 
Mimosea*  foims  on  its  roots  nitiogen-giving  warts 
A.S  to  the  practical  aspect  of  tlie  case  it  would  sceni 
that  untd  Dr.  Watt  urged  tbe  cultivation  of  indi"en- 
ems  pulses  as  green  manme,  l\lr.  Bamber's  rec^om- 
mendation  for  giound-nut,  guun  or  lentils  for  the  pur- 
liose  received  at  most  only  a pas-sing  consideration  We 
doubt  very  much  whether  any  of  the  pulses  mentioned 
by  Mr.  Bamber  would  be  half  so  useful  as  the  Mati- 
kalai,  specially  recommended  by  Dr.  Watt.  Be  that 
as  it  may,  the  value  of  a leguminous  green  manure 
though  wcll-knowai  in  Europe,  seems  to  have  been 
too  long  neglected  by  tea-planters. 
