April  i,  1897.]  THE  TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST, 
705 
a necessary  evil;  but  maj'  not  nmnuriii;f  restore 
strengtli  to  the  leaf  of  hard-pruneil  bushes,  as  it 
imparts  vigour  to  the  bushes  tlieniselves  ? 
• 
(Letters  Continaecl.) 
No.  xin. 
Hantane  District,  Feb.  1.1 
Dear  Sir, — In  reply  to  your  circular  for  the 
reasons  why  prices  of  (Ceylon  tea  have  fallen. 
(1)  I don’t  think  Cu.irser  l*lnel<ing  is  the  secret. 
Here  we  have  steadily  .gone  in  for  medium  plucking, 
never  changed  it,  but  the  prices  liave  <rone  down. 
(2)  Manuring  tea  is  not  so  general  as  to  aHect 
tile  whole  production,  nor  do  I believe  that  manur- 
ing does  aught  else  than  good. 
(3)  Severe  Pruning  I have  no  c.vpcriencc  of. 
I don’t  prune  severely  but  often,  every  twelve- 
month or  so.  The  estate  is  old,  the  soil  is  poor, 
but  it  is  liberally  manured  and  primers  are  kept 
steadily  at  work  all  the  year.  The  result  as  far 
as  1 can  yet  judge  has  been  wholly  benelicial  : 
no  falling-off  in  the  teas,  and  irood  plucking 
.averages,  all  the  year  round. 
(4)  That  “ good  tea  is  m.ade  in  the  field  ” is 
only  a half-truth.  Nobody  can  make  good  tea 
from  hard  or  over  grown  leaf,  but  any  one  can 
spoil  good  leaf  in  the  factory.  To  insure  good  tea 
requires  care  all  round,  just  as  to  work  an  estate 
well,  means  attention  to  every  detail.  Plenty  of 
withering  space,  and  the  ability  to  wither  is  a 
great  deal. 
(5)  Have  had  no  reason  to  complain  of  short- 
ness of  Labour  Supply  affecting  either  my  woik 
in  field  or  factory.  Have  been  stuck  up  with 
leaf  that  would  not  wither  and  been  bothered 
that  way,  which  is  bad  enough. 
(6)  Haven’t  an  i<lea  to  offer  since  you  prescribe 
“ Increa.sed  supply.” — Yours  fruly 
HANTANE. 
No.  XIV.  Feb.  lo, 
Dear  Sir, — In  reply  to  your  Circular  of  12bh  : — 
For  many  years  past  the  race  has  been  for  biggest 
yield  per  acre.  With  increasing  estimates,  Super- 
intendents have  had  no  clioice  and  quality  has 
been  sacrificed  for  quantity. 
2.  Ap))lication  of  artificial  manure  has  reduced 
price  often  by  about  Id.  per  lb.  Your  correspondent 
“ W.  H.  M.”  on  this  subject  is  right  in  saying 
that  manure  gives  a more  fibrous  leaf,  but  this 
result  is  not  confined  to  tea  grown  on  best  land. 
Dry  leais  lighter — bulk  for  bulk— and  ouUurn  from 
green  leaf  reduced. 
3.  Low  to  medium  elevation,  yearly  pruning, 
well  cut  down,  gives  best  quality  without  reducing 
yield. 
4.  No,  there  is  more  care  and  attention 
bestowed  on  manufacture  now  than  previously. 
Bad  tea  is  made  in  the  field— good  tea  in  the 
Factory.  With  bad  leaf  good  tea  is  impossible, 
field  therefore  responsible,  in  other  words  made 
the  tea.  Best  of  leaf  is  easily  spoilt  in  Factory — 
therefore  good  tea  means  tea  made  in  Factory. 
5.  Not  seriously. 
6.  Mixed  jat  gives  better  quality  of  made  tea 
than  any  one  jat  only.  Better  jats  give  bigger 
yields,  and  this  added  to  increased  and  increasing 
acreage,  manuring  and  coarser  plucking,  have 
enableil  us  to  oust  John  Chinaman  (pro  teni  !)  and 
almost  swamp  ourselves,  for,  during  past  ten  years 
our  London  average  has  fallen  from  Is.  3d.  to  8d. 
with  only  about  Id.  difference  in  exchange. — 
Yours  truly,  X.  RAYS. 
No.  XV. 
Medium  District. 
Sir,— My  rejily  to  your  questions  relative  to 
the  causes  which  have  brought  down  the  average 
prices  for  Ceylon  teas  would  he  as  follows  : — 
1.  Coar-ser  Plucking  accountable  only  when 
caused  by  flush  rumiing  ahead,  owing  to  scar- 
city of  labour.  Little  Coarse  )ducking  is  done 
on  upcountry  estates  now. 
2.  Certainly  not  due  to  manuring. 
3.  Here  we  have  undoubtedly  the  chief  cause. 
In  olden  days,  on  colfee  estates.  Pruning  rvas 
made  a stiuh/.  Even  such  shining  lights  as  G.  W,, 
A.  S.  (of  Hunasgeriya),  Fred  K.  and  the  well- 
known  and  respected  brothers  F.  R.  and  \V.  S. 
gave  their  minds  to  it.  Essays,  long  treatises 
dealing  with  every  phase  of  the  subject  were 
written,  it  was  the  sta]:le  of  argument  between 
Proprietors,  Agents  and  Visiting  Agents  and  of 
conversation  wherever  planters  'most  did  congre- 
gate and  whose  assistants  listened  and  learnt. 
Did  not  the  great  I.  G.  say  when  he  first  saw 
Haputale  (referring  to  pruning)  that  nature  had 
done  everything  and  science  nothing  for  that 
splendid  district?  and  is  not  the  epigram  of 
another  well-known  authority  and  prince  of 
real  cood  fellows  still  with  us  ‘‘the  knife  is 
the  best  manure”?  Yes,  togo  through  a coffee 
estate  in  the  sixties  and  .seventies  tvas  to  see 
cultivation,  but  for  the  poor  tea  tree  ! Crammed 
in  everywhere,  in  every  soil  and  every  climate, 
not  even  spared  in  its  tender  youth,  as  Viro-ii 
so  beautifully  describes  it ” 
Ac  clum  primci  novis  adolesc'd  frondibus  ceias 
Parcendum  teneris  * * ' * « * 
Ante  reforniidant  ferrmn. 
(“  They  diead  the  knife  ” indeed  !)  Mocked, tor- 
mented, sawn  asunder,  anything  is  good 
enough!  “ Cut  it  straight  across’”  says  one-” 
“cut  it  down  to  8 inches”  says  another;  “all 
this  (pointing  to  the  whole  'stem  of  the  tree 
“is  no  good,  cut  it  out”  says  a third  • “this 
should  all  be  in  the  factory  ” says  a fourth,  p’ointincr 
to  the  leaf  left  above  the  fish  leaf.  “ I have 
found  the  best  results  from  leaving  fily  one  leaf 
after  lumniug”  says  a fifth;  and  so  'on.  Any- 
thing is  good  enough  for  the  poor  tea  tree,  which 
has  saved  Ceylon  and  made  so  many  rich.  Cut 
away,  gentlemen,  cut  away  ! get  your  yield  ! 
force  your  ))oor  trees  to  push  out  every  leaf  they 
can  in  their  attempts  to  save  theni.selves  from 
asphyxiation,  and  then  .stri]  it  all  off— they  must 
give  you  more  or  die!  hut  don’t  expect  high  prices 
don  t imagine  that  the  poor  lialf-.strangled  un- 
healthy, sapless  wood  will  yield  you  the  same 
Imscious  leaf,  rich  in  the  same  components,  which 
will  be  pruduc  (1  by  the  vigorous  unhara.ssed 
four-year-oM  tree.  This  is  what  has  brought 
down  the  Ceylon  average,  Sir,  and  made  people 
say,  Ceylon  Estates  will  only  produce  line  tea 
when  they  are  young. 
_ 4.  Not  perhaps  to  inattention,  but  to  change 
in  met  .0(1  of  factory  work.  A few  years  ago 
we  rolled  for  20  minutes  to  half  an  hour  : 
the  le.af  never  got  heated  and  was  exposed  only 
a c(iu})le  of  inches  deep  on  cool  tables  till  it  was  pro- 
l.erly  oxidized.  Noic  we  roll  twice,  sometimes  three 
time.s-the  wluile  operation,  with  .sifting,  taking 
fiom  tv\o  and  half  to  three  hours,  and  notwith.stand- 
ing  every  ciue  to  keep  the  leaf  cool,  fermenta- 
tion begins  alter  the  fust  half,  or  three  quarters 
o an  hour  .■.ml  goes  on,  to  some  extent,  all 
the  time.  A .ittle  delay,  a little  want  of  smart- 
ness in  getting  the  leaf  into  the  driers  and 
OTer-fermcntation  takes  place.  A soft  flavour- 
less liquor  and  a “mixed  infused 
leaf  ■ 
IS 
