Feb,  I,  1897.] 
THE  TROPICAI.  AGRICULTUkI8  T. 
563 
manure  composed  of  hones;  castor  cake  or  hones, 
castorcake  and  lisli.  Very  little  l.alky  iinmire  is 
a[)plied,  hut  in  some  cases  tlie  artilicial  m mure 
is  applied  when  the  prunings  are  hurieil.  f ilon  t 
think  nitrates  have  been  much  used  as  yet. 
[ think  tint  the  manure  has  temporarily  very 
mucli  iiii[(ro\'ed  the  size  and  apparent  strength 
of  the  b;i<hos  and  has  increased  the  yield  and 
not  percei)tih!y  reduced  the  (quality  or  the  value 
of  the  teas  made. 
Manuring  is  only  in  its  infancy  up  here  ; but  I 
,am  tolil  by  idanters  who  have  done  much  that  each 
application  improves  the  yield. — Yours  trulj^,  W. 
No.  XII. 
Central  Province,  Jan.  1. 
Dkau  Sii;, — In  reidy  to  your  Circular  of  the 
2Jth  inst.  in  re  manuring  I should  say: — 
1.  In  several  of  the  older  districts  it  is  being 
generally  resorted  to  and  the  younger  ones  are 
Following  suit.  A few  years  hence  it  will,  I anti- 
cipate, "he  general  throughout  the  whole 
country. 
2.  Bulky  manure  is  used  to  a very  limited 
e.\tent  nowadays  exce|>t  under  favourable  con- 
ditions as  regards  suoj)ly.  Cattle  manure  is  too 
expensive  and  gives  in  so  many  instances  a 
very  un determinate  idei  of  tlie  tertilizing  matter 
you  are  supplying  to  your  bushes.  The  organic 
matter  can  Ije  secured  at  less  cost  by  burying 
primings  green. 
J.  .Artilicial  manures  are  cbielly  used,  white 
castor  cake,  bone  meal,  and  lish  being  the  favour- 
ites. The  former,  if  of  good  (piality,  is  an  excellent 
nitrogenous  manure,  but  its  v'alue  in  feitilizing 
matter  varies  from  RIO  to  RSO  per  ton.  The  linest 
I have  had  of  late  years  showed  8%  nitrogen ; 
but  of  this  quality  1 am  informed  there  is  only 
a very  s;n  ill  supply  available  in  India.  Bjuc 
Meal  'is  m >re  definite  in  character,  unless  dearly 
adulterated  containing  2-1  per  cent  phosphoric  acid 
but  this  it's  main  element  is  only  re(iuired  by 
tea  in  limiteil  quantity,  so  that  any  large  appli- 
cition-of  this  can  only  be  a waste  of  money. 
The  Nitrogen  it  contains  some  8 per  cent  can  be 
mirchased  cheaiier  in  other  forms.  Pish  apart 
from  the  sand  and  moisture,  it  generally  contains, 
is  an  excellent  manure;  but  manure  vendors  do 
little  to  supply  it  imre.  It  in  niost  cases  con- 
tains frein  3J  to  50  percent  moisture  and  sandj 
though  it  can  be  purchased  to  contain  under  15 
per  cent  showing  close  on  7 per  cent  nitrogen 
and  5-i  pci'  cent  phosphoric  acid.  Nitrates  and 
Ammonia  are  being  used  with  distinct  advantage. 
Wlien  applied  in  combination,  on  sound  common 
sense  lines,  they  cannot  in  any  sense  be  detid- 
mental,  or  exhausting,  if  .so  used.  Used  indis- 
criminately of  course,  they  would  be  harmful 
and  exhausting. 
4 My  own  experience  is  that  well  compounded 
artificial  manures,  increase  the  yield,  improve 
the  quality  of  the  tea  and  ste.adiiy  improve  the 
liealthv  appearance  of  the  bushes  es[iecially  on  old 
coffee  land,  giving  in  a few  years,  wiiatwere  miser- 
able stunted  diseased  bushes,  fine  luxuriant 
ones. 
5 Systematically  manured  teafora])eriod  of  years 
with  the  es.sential  elements  of  fertility  in  due 
proportion,  gives  an  average  of  700  lb  per  acre, 
while  similar  unmanured  tea  gives  350  lb.  per 
acre  cand  as  regards  a|)pearance  of  the  bushes  the 
letter  is  simply  not  in  it.  U. 
MANURING  OP  TEA: 
LETTPlbS  I TO  XII  REVIEWED. 
If  any  proof  were  called  for,  of  the  neces.sity 
of  the  inquiries  we  have  instituted  touching  the 
manuring  of  tea  and  its  effects,  it  is  to  be 
found  in  tlie  varied  ami  interesting  replies  which 
we  have  received,  ami  hope  yet  to  receive,  from 
all  parts  of  the  island.  It  may  at  first  sight 
seem  superlluous  to  make  any  inquii'y  about  a 
matter  whicli  some  think  can  lead  to  but  one 
answer.  It  is  almost  an  axiom  in  agriculture 
that  land,  out  of  which  anything  is  taken,  should 
be  manured — that  is,  be  given  back  some  at 
least  of  the  consbitumits  taken  out  of  the  soil  ; 
and  it  would  seem  to  be  inevitable  that  crops 
must  improve  under  the  stimulus  of  manures. 
These,  perhaps,  rrray  Ire  accepted  as  truths  of 
general  applica'ion  ; but  what  is  true  of  man 
atrd  of  anirrrals  is  equally  true  of  ]il mbs.  The 
siitre  foo  1 is  irot  beneficial  to  all  cla.sses  alike  ; 
indeed,  the  sustenance  of  one  may  pr-ove  poison 
to  another.  But,  apart  from  the  regirhitiorr  of 
manuring  according  to  tire  crops  sought  and 
gathered,  ami  the  character  of  the  soils  to  be 
dealt  with,  a further  elerrrerrt  of  doubt  has  been 
irrtrodiiced  by  the  Irelief  exinessed  iii  some  quar- 
ter.s,  that  manuring — at  any  rate  rnanui-ing  with 
certiiirr  substances— injuriously  affects  the  quality 
of  tea  arrd  its  flavour-.  Irr  these  circumstances, 
itr(|uir-y  and  the  free  interchange  of  ideas  cannot 
fail  to  contr-ilnrte  to  the  cornriron  good;  and  it  is 
in  this  view  we  have  circulated  our  riuestions 
which  have  calletl  forth  rrrost  oncour-aging  arrl 
instructive  answers  fronr  fiv,r  arrd  near.  In 
our  review  of  the  replies  which  we  owe  to  the 
courtesy  and  public  spirit  of  our  correspon- 
dents, we  shall  deal  first  with  the  first  twelve 
conrmunications,  given  above. 
The  answers  to  the  first  question  : — Whether  the 
manuring  of  tea  e.states  has  become  gener-al  in 
all  districts  or  only  in  the  older  ones,  shew,  as 
was  to  be  expected,  sorrre  variety,  according  to 
the  standpoint  of  the  writer.  The  general 
result  may  be  said  to  be  that,  while  manuring 
is  not  resorted  to  by  cver-y  estate  in  a district, 
whether  old  or  new,  it  is  decidedly  on  the 
increase  both  on  new  estates  arrd  old  ; and  all 
but  general  on  the  older-  ones.  Tins  is  a rrrost 
hopeful  feature,  as  it  was  rrot  very  loirg  ago 
that  we  lamented  the  poor  show  which  manures 
made  botli  among  our  irni>orbers  in  our  railway 
traflic  returns.  The  irici-ease  we  would  trace,  riot 
alone  to  faith  in  the  ellicacy  of  manures,  but  also 
to  what  is  nrore  potent  tharr  faith  in  such  things, 
t lie  ability  of  the  pui-se  to  bear  the  charge.  Still, 
we  feat-,  tlrere  at-e  not  a few  who  do  nob  bake 
sufiicient  thought  for  the  morrow  ; but  ate 
selfishly  content  to  take  what  they  can  from 
their  land,  in  the  happy-go-lucky  belief  that 
things  will  somehow  continue  much  as  they  are. 
These  would  -,lo  wisely  to  study  the  answers  to 
our  fifth  question,  wliich  point  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  tttauute  has  dorte  much  more  than 
arrest  the  detei-i(»i-atio:i  of  old  land  which  has 
been  under  cultivation  for  a generation  or 
more— that  it  has  improved  it,  and  has  led  to 
heavier  crops,  and  thereby  to  more  remunerative 
returns. 
The  answers  to  the  second  question — Whether- 
bulky  manures  are  chiefly  used  ? — are  distinctly 
disappointing;  but  they  can  .scarcely  surprise  one. 
