98 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Aug.  I,  1896, 
bnt  before  leaving  Darjeeling,  in  1893,  I was 
assured  by  several  managers,  on  whose  authority 
I could  fully  rely,  that  the  men  upon  their 
gardens  did  not  average  more  than  5 to  10  per 
cent  of  the  labour  force,  This  may  be  duo  iu  some 
slight  measure — but  only  to  an  inappreciable  extent 
— to  the  growing  wants  of  the  station  and  the  spread 
of  education.  The  evil,  now  most  serious,  may  be  to 
put  down  as  entirely  chargeable  to  the  Government 
recruiting  at  Darjeeling  for  military  police,  and  in 
the  past  for  various-  military  expeditious,  pub- 
lic works,  and  other  departments,  and  for  the  native 
army.  I do  not  charge  the  Government  officials  with 
willingly  doing  this  great  injustice,  because  on  the 
contrary,  I feel  perfectly  assured  they  would  be  de- 
lighted to  benefit  the  industry  and  district,  as,  I am 
glad  to  acknowledge,  we  have  often  had  proof.  But 
yet  the  recruiting  is  not  put  an  end  to,  notwith- 
standing the  repeated  appeals  of  local  representatives 
of  the  industry.  This  is  doubtless  due  to  the  change 
of  governors,  and  the  administrative  head  of  the  dis- 
trict only  holding  his  appointment  for  two  years.  It 
simply  arises  in  this  way — the  men  are  wanted  at 
short  notice  and  must  be  got,  but  all  the  same  the  in- 
jusiice  is  very  great.  The  gardens  have  collected 
their  coolies  at  considerable  outlay,  and  are  relying 
upon  them  for  efficient  working.  Of  those  who  leave 
on  military  service,  many  never  return,  and  most  who 
do  are  broken  in  health,  so  the  injury  inflicted  is  per- 
manent, as  statistics  prove.  The  system  is  most 
unjust : it  inflicts  heavy  loss  on  proprietors,  and 
untold  annoyance  to  managers,  and  has  the 
worst  possible  effect  on  the  coolie  morally.  The 
remedy  is  very  simple.  Let  Government  lay 
its  plans  sufficiently  ahead ; decline  to  enter, 
tain  garden  labour  under  any  pretence ; make  advances 
and  recruit  from  Nepal,  as  the  planters  do,  or  from  the 
plains  of  India  or  their  own  native  colonies  at  Kalim- 
pong  and  elsewhere  in  the  district,  which,  as  stated,  is 
much  more  than  twice  the  area  of  the  tea  grants,  and 
which  must  be  pronounced  a great  failure  in  every  way 
if  unable  to  meet  such  a demand.  I hear  that  Govern- 
ment have  recently  proposed  to  restrict  recruiting  in 
the  Darjeeling  district.  But  this  is  not  sufficient  now 
that  the  evil  has  become  so  acute,  the  gardens  having 
been  so  depleted  of  men.  The  recruiting  at  markets 
or  other  centres  frequented  by,  and  the  entertaining  of 
garden  coolies  obtained  directly  or  indirectly  should  I 
submit,  be  entirely  discountenanced  and  put  an  end  to 
by  Government.  I moat  respectfully  but  earnestly 
appeal  to  the  executive  of  the  Society  of  Arts  to  use 
their  influence  with  those  in  power  to  aid  the 
Darjeeling  tea  industry  in  this  matter. 
Another  important  subject,  that  can  only  be  briefly 
mentioned,  is  forests.  Their  conscrvauce,  in  the 
majority  of  cases,  has  been  too  little  attended  to, 
and  proprietors  must  soon  discover,  if  they  have 
not  already  done  so,  that  they  have,  to  their  own 
irreparable  disadvantage,  been  playing  into  the  hands 
of  the  Government  Forest  Department,  the  fuel- 
economising boiler  inventor,  and  the  electric  engineer. 
Neither  can  blights  be  dealt  with.  These  are  sure 
in  time  to  follow  large  tracts  of  cultivation  of  what- 
ever kind,  and  those  concerned  must  make  the  best 
of  the  situation.  “Red  spider’’  commenced  its 
ravages  in  the  district  in  1876.  It  was  first  most 
severe  in  what  seemed  a special  zone  of  its  own — 
the  dry,  hot  valley  of  the  little  Eungheet  river; 
now  it  is  prettv  general  in  the  Terai  and  all  over 
the  hills.  Nowhere  has  the  pest  been  entirely  era- 
dicated, but  a very  effectual  remedy  is  sulphur,  which 
on  many  soils  act  as  a manure.  The  “mosquito 
blight  ’’  though  noticeable  2,5  years  ago,  was  nowhere 
severe  till  about  eleven  years  ago.  It  has  long  done 
serious  damage  in  the  Terai  and  Mahanuddy  Valley, 
and  seems  to  have  increased  in  severity  in  other 
parts  of  the  hills  during  the  last  few  years.  Owino- 
to  this  pest  being  winged  and  migratory,  and  its  at^ 
tacks  worst  when  quality  should  be  at  its  best,  it  is 
less  amenable  to  any  application  than  red  spider; 
but  so  far  as  my  experience  goes,  injures  the  health 
of  the  bush  less.  Numerous  other  pests  are  known, 
but  none  of  them  are,  as  a rule,  really  very  hurtful, 
“Greenfly”  does  not  injure  the  constitution  of  the 
plants,  improves  qiialitj',  and  plant.s,  improves  quality. 
and  proves  helpful  rather  than  otherwise.  And  there 
is  this  consolation,  that  pests  on  the  whole,  if  they 
do  not  become  more  serious  than  they  have  yet  been, 
may  not  be  looked  upon  as  altogether  an  unmitigated 
evil  iu  these  days  of  threatened  over-production,  from 
extensions  recently  and  now  being  made,  as  well  as 
in  view  of  the  cropping  potentialities  of  the  present 
bearing  areas. 
The  Terai  was  opened  out  w'ith  inordinately  san- 
guine expectations  of  proving  much  more  remunera- 
tive than  the  hills ; and  at  present  I cannot  but 
believe  it  has  become  unduly  depreciated  in  public 
estimation.  This  is  the  rule  with  tea.  The  greatest 
drawback  is  undoubtedly  its  unhealthiness.  In  this 
respect  there  has  been  less  improvement  than  might 
have  been  expected  from  the  clearances.  As  has 
been  remarked,  it  has  also  suffered  severely  from 
blights.  The  soil  is  generally  good,  though  not  equal 
to  the  best  of  the  Dooars,  with  which,  however , 
it  compares  much  less  favourably  in  regard  to  spring 
rainfall.  The  Terai  has  suffered  from  its  labour 
having  been  attracted  to  the  Dooars,  and  when  at- 
tacked by  blights,  and  requiring  all  the  more  lib- 
eral cultivation,  I cannot  but  think  that  for  some 
years  before  1893  (when  I last  visited  it)  the  short- 
sighted policy  has  been  but  too  often  that  of  restric- 
tion and  starvation.  If  this  continues,  the  gardens 
cannot  fail  to  fall  more  and  more  into  the  hands  of 
native  managers  and  owners.  Under  an  improved 
water  supply  and  sanitation  this  district  should  be- 
come more  salubrious,  and,  with  liberal  and  suitable 
cultivation,  and  efficient,  but  economical  manage- 
ment, the  Terai  should  yet  compete,  not  unsuccess- 
fully, with  most  other  districts. 
Interesting  though  it  be,  the  subject  of  a tea  plan- 
ter’s life,  duties,  qualifications — which  are  multifari- 
ous— and  prospects  cannot  be  entered  upon  here. 
One  observation  I may  be  permitted  to  make.  On 
tea  gardens  all  Europeans,  in  relation  to  age  and 
social  standing,  have  the  welfare,  happiness,  and 
comfort  of  numerous  fellow-creatures  in  their  hands, 
to  an  extent  unparalled  in  this  country.  Hence  their 
responsibility  and  influence  are  proportionately  great. 
Those,  therefore,  who  are  unswervingly  just  in  their 
dealings  with,  and  have  a kindly  fellow-feeling  for, 
the  natives — a knowledge,  not  only  of  their  language, 
but  of  the  little  idiocyncracies  of  mind  and  thought, 
and  are  most  considerate  in  regard  to  their  customs 
and  habits— will  best  discharge  their  duty  to  a sub- 
ject-race, and  cannot  fail  to  prove  most  successful 
planters.  Very  much  depends,  of  course,  upon  the 
European  staff.  Their  lives,  as  a rule,  are  re- 
tired and  solitary,  often  wanting  in  plain  com- 
forts. Their  duties  are  exhaustive,  and  fre- 
quently depressing,  and,  when  faithfully  discharged, 
they  should  meet  with  the  support,  encouragement 
and  sympathy  of  the  proprietors  and  directors. 
What  has,  more  chan  anything,  enabled  the  indus- 
try to  cope  with  the  greatly  diminished  sterling  price 
of  tea  during  the  last  twenty  years  has  been  the 
introduction  of  labour-saving  machinery  and  the  fall 
in  exchange. 
The  most  encouraging  out-look  for  the  future  of 
the  British-grown  tea  industry  is  that  38,428,157  lb. 
were  taken  by  markets  outside  the  United  Kingdom 
during  1895,  being  an  increase  of  9,000,000  over  1891, 
as  against  19,300,000  in  1893,  and  nearly  three  times 
as  much  as  that  of  1890,  which  was  13,100,000  lb. 
There  is,  therefore,  every  reason  to  hope  that  un- 
der energetic  and  well-directed  efforts  to  develop 
them  the  foreign  markets  will  absorb — or  go  very 
far  to  absorb — the  greatly  increased  crops  to  be  ex- 
pected from  the  large  extensions  I’ecently  made,  and 
still  being  made.  The  expected  shortfall  of  imports 
from  China  for  1896  is  also  encouraging. 
But  the  fact  must  not  be  overlooked,  that  not  for 
nearly  twenty  years  have  we  found  the  consumption 
of  Chinese  tea  increase  and  that  of  Indian  fall  off 
in  the  same  year,  as  has  been  the  case  during  1895. 
Though  there  are  some,  directly  in  touch  with  tho 
consumer,  who  assert  that  there  is  a reaction  setting 
in  favour  of  Chinese  tea,  I believe  the  slight  relapse 
is  quite  satisfactorily  explained  otherwise,  and  may 
be  ascribed  to  medium  Indian  teas  having  been 
comparatively  dear  for  a fesv  months  early  in  the 
