570 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST 
[Feb.  I,  1897. 
No.  XXXV. 
Kalutara,  Jaii.  0. 
Deau  Sir, — la  reply  to  your  letter  of  26tli 
ultimo  : — 
1.  As  far  as  this  District  is  concerned  man- 
uring is  more  or  less  general. 
*2.  Not  in  this  District : Dones  and  Castor,  mixed 
about  one  bones  to  three  castor,  and  varying 
from  three  oz.  to  4 oz.  |)er  tree  is  the  rule. 
3.  It  is  usually  mixed  in  Colombo.  1 have 
not  heard  of  mncii  lish-manure  being  used  here. 
4.  1 believe  in  doing  without  manure,  as 
long  as  possible  without  detriment  to  the  tea, 
but  with  the  race  for  dividends  one  must 
apply  manure  or  fall  hack  in  yield.  1 am 
no  believer  in  the.se  light  forcing  manures, 
and  believe  they  are  sweating  the  tea  out. 
These  oi)ininns,  however,  do  not  lind  favour  with 
most  people  who  want  piohts,  and  plenty  of  them. 
5.  Manured  tea  i.s  far  liner  .and  bigger  in  the 
frame,  but  once  manure  has  been  started  you 
must  go  on  with  it,  say  every  two  years,  or 
the  tea  falls  back  again.— K.  T.  1>. 
MANUltINC;  OF  TEA; 
LETTElbS  XXIV  TO  XXXV  EEVIEWED. 
The  third  batch  of  letters  on  this  subject  are, 
if  anything,  more  interesting  and  suggestive  than 
their  j redecessors-  covering,  as  they  generally  do, 
wider  ground,  and  dealing  with  new  side  issues. 
Like  the  letters  we  had  t)ieviously  revieued, 
they  come  from  all  ))arts  of  the  country,  and 
are  written  by  Flan  tors  fully  qualilied  to  speak 
on  tlie  matters  on  which  they  dwell. 
Bulky  manures  continue  to  be  regajileil  as  the 
great  desideratum  for  tea  by  most  writers  ; and 
none  are  able  to  anticipate  freer  use  of  cattle  ma- 
nure than  at  ])resent.  The  manure  at  present  in 
use  comes  from  bungalow  and  milch  cattle  ; .and. 
on  estates  which  bolder  the  high  road  01  are 
situated  in  close  proximity  to  it,  from  the  baz- 
a.ars  and  road-side  cattle  sheds.  Cattle  estab- 
lishments would  necessitate  grass  reserves  ; and 
the  prevailing  opinion  is  that  land  would  be 
better  utilized  if  jilanted  up  u ith  tea  or  quick- 
growing  fuel  and  timber  trees.  In  these  circum- 
stances, artificial  m.anures— chielly  hones  and 
castor-cake,  as  in  the  earlier  letters — and  the 
results  of  their  application,  form  the  subject  of 
comment  in  most  letters.  The  general  result 
is  satisfactory.  “ 1S!)7,”  recognising  the  fact  that 
‘qilayed-out  coflee  estates  ” account  very  largely  for 
the  acreage  under  tea,  is  empliatic  in  the  0]>i- 
nioii  that,  “ if  we  wish  to  make  ends  meet,  we 
must  manure,”  though  he  would  rather  avoid 
manuring,  if  pos.sible.  The  same  wiiter  suggests 
.as  the  explanation  of  the  bettor  .averages  which 
Imlian  te.as  fetch,  that  the  estates  on  the 
neighbouring  continent  have  been  chielly  ojiened 
on  virgin  soil,  and  adopt  a ditl'erent  system  of 
pruning,  while  they  do  not  pluck  all  the  ye.ar 
round.  That  is  a j)oint  on  which  more  light  is 
required  ; for  we  do  not  desjaiir  of  better  prices 
with  greater  care  in  plucking  and  manufacture. 
().  C.’s”  unplea.sant  experience  with  Kandy 
refu.se  is  noteworthy  ; but  w.as  t ' e “ iusidions  de- 
function  ” of  his  plants  due  to  the  ([uality  of 
the  muck,  or  to  its  quantity?  It  is  wellkown 
that  theie  may  be  too  much,  even  of  a goo<l 
thing.  It  is  interesting  to  learn  that  careful 
records  are  ke)>t  on  New  Feradeniya ; which  is 
described  .as  one  of  the  most  methodically  man'' 
ured  estate.s  in  the  Central  Frovince,  and  that 
c.atlle  manure  comes  an  easy  first — doubling  the 
yield,  ag.ainstan  increase  of  only  one-third  from  the 
best  artilicial  manure.  That,  wo  suppose 
is  explained  by  the  character  of  the  soil. 
On  the  other  hand,  “Oram”  from  Dik- 
oya,  backs  artificial  manures  for  quicker  returns, 
and  superiority  in  every  way  to  bulky  applica- 
tions. The  dilierence  in  the  soil  under  the  notice 
of  the  two  writers  probably  accounts  for  their 
apparently  incompatible  views  ; but  it  is  satis- 
factory to  know  that  the  systematic  applica- 
tion of  castor  and  bones  for  8 or  9 years,  h.as 
led  to  no  untoward  lesults,  that  the  bushes  look 
improvetl,  that  the  jield  has  improved  at  least 
2U0  lb.  per  .acre,  and  that  cessation  of  manuring 
for  four  years  has  not  thrown  the  bushes  back. 
A.  F.  S.  from  Kotmale  reports  more  lasting 
elfects  from  cattle  manure,  while  artilici.al  yields 
quicker  returns;  .and  his  suggestion  that  where 
jio.ssible,  the  two  kinds  should  he  ajiplied  turn 
about,  is  worthy  of  attention.  Manuring  at 
intervals  of  2 or  3 years  seems  to  find  most 
favour,  .and  it  is  a great  point  that  manured 
tea  feels  thcell'ect  of  drought  le.ss  than  unmanured. 
The  testimony  of  A.  F.  S.  runs  directly  counter 
to  that  of  “A  Novice”  in  the  second  hatch  of 
latters,  as  he  reports  not  only  no  deterior.ation 
in  the  quality  of  tea,  but  even  .a  slight  improve- 
ment alter  manuring ; but  .surely,  the  dictum 
that  it  would  not  pay  to  m.anure  (ields  yielding 
less  than  250  lb.  per  .acre,  needs  qualification.  We 
should  think  tlnat  generally  the.se  would  require 
special  attention,  unle.ss  they  are  hopelessly  bad. 
The  general  conclusions  above-noted  are  sup- 
liorted  by  our  correspondent  from  Bogawan- 
talawa,  who  reiiorts  incercased  yield  and  stronger 
giowth  of  wood  as. a result  of  careful  application 
of  artilicial  manures;  by  \V.  B.  J.  from  Agra- 
liatana,  who  distinctly  denies  any  deterioration 
iir  (luality  or  flavour,  while  the  yield  has  been 
increased  trvoofold  by  systematic  manuring  ex- 
tending over  5 or  6 years;  and  by  “A  Believer 
in  Muck  for  Tea”  from  Kotagala,  and  “All 
for  Cultivation  ” fi'om  Bangala  who,  as  his 
vom  de.  }ilnme  inqilies,  believes  in  naught  but 
good  from  manuring.  “Froprietor”  from  Kele- 
bokka,  on  the  other  hand,  fails  to  .see  where 
the  jirolits  are  to  come  from  at  pi'esent  ju'ices 
by  the  ajiplication  of  artificial,  but  he  liimself 
has  obtained  the  l est  results  by  the  use  of  cattle 
manui-e,  line  sw  ecjnngs  and  cotl'ce  pulp  regularly 
collected  in  manure  heaps.  “ Oya  ” favours  manur- 
ing at  intervals  of  2 or  3 years,  and  pronounces 
distinctly  in  favour  of  tire  appear  ance  of  rnamri-ed 
fields  ; “ Farmer”  from  Dimbula  supports  tliis 
opinion,  and  speaks  of  altogether  beneficial 
results  from  rn.anuring,  “ especially  from  poorish 
looking  tea” — thus  runrring  counter  to  A.F.S.’s 
lack  of  faith — wdiile  he  would  think  twice  before 
applying  artificial  manures  to  really  line,  well- 
bearing fields.  K.  T.  B.  from  Kalutaia  counsels 
caution  in  the  use  of  rnanuies  Iniving  .a  forcing 
tendenc_y,  irr  which  we  agree  with  liim  ; but 
surely,  it  is  not  merely  love  of  dividends  which 
would  take  steps  ag.ainst  a “ falling  back  in  yield.” 
If  decreasing  crops  mean  Ic.wu'ncd  vitality, 
science  and  true  wdsdom  alike  would  suggest 
the  supply  of  adequate  plarrt  food  to  arrest  decay. 
BMUKEBS  SHOULD  USE 
CALVERT’S  DEXTJ-FHENOLENE, 
jV  fragrant  LK^UIt)  HENTIFltlCE  AND 
M()irni-w..\sii. 
Editor  of  Health  says; — “The  most  ofh'ctive 
prejiaraitioir  for  ridding  the  morrth  of  the  aroma 
of  tohacco,  and  loa\ing  a ])lcasarrt  taste.” 
Sold  in  1.5.  6(/.,  2.v.  (irf.,  and  I lb.  7.v.  Or/,  bottles, 
by  (Jhernists,  & c. 
F-  C-  CALVERT  & CO-,  Manche.ster, 
