April  i,  1897.J  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
707 
no  reason  why  any  manure  should  do  so,  if  not 
aj)plied  iii  too  forcing  doses.  Perhaps,  the  loss  of 
flavour  may  be  traced  to  the  same  cause. 
3.  Yes,  I have  been  often  told  by  those  who 
have  had  experience  that  flavour  is  greatly  lost 
by  cutting  down  old  bushes  to  12  or  15  indies 
after  they  have  reached  too  great  a hcglit  after 
successive  prunings  ; I have  never  heard  tliat  such 
bushes  ever  regain  their  original  flavour  Besides 
this,  too  severe  a pruning  is  likely  to  act  in  tlie 
same  way,  though  in  a lesser  degree  and  from 
the  effect  of  which  bushes  would  be  more  likely 
to  recover.  With  insuflicient  young  wood  left 
above  the  previous  cut,  the  new  shoots  are  less 
likely  to  be  healthly  and  robust. 
4.  I believe  that  attention  to  careful  prepaia- 
tion  in  the  factory  is  as  great  as  ever  it  has 
been,  if  not  more  so,  and  there  is  better  machi- 
nery. There  is  no  doubt  that  different  modes  of 
manufacture  will  give  better  results  than  others, 
but  there  have  always  been  different  ideas  and 
different  methods  of  manufacture,  and  this  has 
little  to  do  with  the  fall  in  prices.  Yes,  good 
tea  is  undoubtedly  made  in  the  field,  but  not 
more  so  than  in  the  factory.  There  cannot  be 
said  to  be  any  one  work  in  connection  with  field 
or  factory  which  is  immaterial  to  the  outturn 
of  good  tea.  Neglect  in  the  field  will  neutralize 
care  in  the  factory,  and  vice  versa, 
5.  Shoi'tness  of  labour  need  not  fiave  any  effect 
on  prices,  because  runaway  flush  often  makes 
the  best  tea,  provided  the  coarse  leaves  are 
thrown  away ; but  very  few  estates  can  afford  to 
do  tills,  and  the  result  of  cour.se  is  a weak  and  point- 
less liquor.  In  my  own  case,  I have  not  hitherto 
been  too  short  of  iabour. 
6.  The  more  leaf  which  is  left  on  the  bushes, 
the  better  the  flavour  and  quality  generally,  but 
the  less  the  yield.  Many  estates  now  keep 
their  bushes  as  low  as  possible  for  the  purpose 
of  forcing  the  yield,  which  invariably  results  in 
a loss  of  flavour  and  strength  ; they  may  get  a 
higher  yield  and  perhaps  bigger  profits,  but  the 
tea  made  is  not  so  good.  G.  H.  G. 
XX. 
So  far  as  the  Matale  West  district  is  concerned, 
I think  most  of  us  have  plucked  coai  se,  because 
we  found  it  pay  best.  I doubt  whether  any  one  in 
the  West  Matale  district  plucks  line.  The  reason 
is,  I think,  that  we  find  we  can  get  quantity 
by  coarse  plucking,  which  gives  us  a very  satis- 
factory profit.  Were  we  to  pluck  line,  owing  to 
want  of  flavor,  our  prices  would,  in  my  opinion, 
increase  very  little,  but  our  yield  would  go  down 
very  largely.  At  present  the  places  in  the 
Matale  valley  are  giving  from  700  to  1000  lb. 
per  acre,  and  I have  very  little  doubt,  that  if 
we  plucked  finer,  we  should  make  less  profits. 
A very  well-known  jjlanter  and  proprietor,  some 
years  ago,  was  advised  by  his  brokers  to  try 
and  copy  Hoolankanda  teas,  which  at  that  time 
topped  the  marked.  He  wrote  back  that  he 
would  be  very  glad  to  do  .so,  if  ihe  brokers 
could  show  him,  that  it  would  i>ay  him  better 
to  get  2s.  for  his  tea,  than  7.jd,  This  appears  to 
me  to  hit  at  the  chief  reason  of  the  fall  in 
price  as  compared  with  India.  I am  inclined  to 
think  that  most  low-country  estates  have  tried 
more  for  quantity  than  quality,  because  it  gave 
the  most  satisfactory  results.  I certainly  think 
that  more  careful  plucking  would  raise  our 
prices,  but  I do  not  believe  it  would  compensate 
for  the  loss  in  yield.  T. 
THE  PLUCKING,  PRUNING  AND  PREPAR- 
ATION OF  TEA  : 
REVIEW  OF  LETTERS  XI II  TO  XX. 
It  will  have  been  seen  from  our  summary  and 
review  of  the  first  twelve  letters  on  the  "above 
subject,  tiiat  Planters  from  all  districts  are  agreed 
that  attention  to  all  the  three  P’.s  wliich  ap- 
pear in  our  heading  are  as  essential  to  the 
manufacture  of  good  tea,  and  the  maintenance  of 
our  reputation  in  the  market,  as  are  the  his- 
torical three  P’s  of  our  late  Governor,  to  success 
iu  life,  or  at  any  rate  to  the  character  of  a 
businessman.  Without  proper  iiruning,  the  quantity 
and  even  the  quality  of  flush  is  prejmlicially  af- 
fected ; bad  plucking,  whether  through  carelessness 
or  lack  of  labour,  is  fatal  to  the  turning  out  of 
good  tea  ; and  the  most  scientific  pruning  and 
intelligent  plucking  will  be  thrown  away,  unle.ss 
the  Factory  does  justice  to  the  pioduce  of  the 
field.  And  how  much  is  included  in  the  word 
preparation  or  manufacture  ! Everything  from 
the  weighing  in  of  the  green  leaf  to  the  weigh- 
ing out  and  taring  of  the  chests — including  with- 
ering, rolling,  sifting,  firing,  re-firing,  re-sifting 
and  ])acking:  can  all  these  things  be  possibly  ac- 
complished by  rule  of  thumb  ? Where  all  the 
conditions  are  normal— the  leaf  having  been  well 
plucked  in  good  time,  the  withering  accommoda- 
tion being  sufficient,  the  weather  being  favour- 
ad  le  for  even  withering,  and  all  the  machinery 
in  good  order — no  higher  intelligence  than  that 
of  tlie  Factory  kangany  may  be  necessary  to 
turn  out  a good  break.  But  one  or  other  of  these 
conditions  constantly  varies  ; and  more  than  or- 
dinal y intelligence  and  powers  of  observation  are 
necessary  to  meet  varying  conditions  ; and  “N's” 
reflection,  that  in  <lava  science  is  available  in  the 
Factory,  and  is  followed  by  bettei'  ami  improving 
prices,  deserves  some  attention.  We  have  our- 
selves always  favoured  the  employment  of  an 
Agricultural  Chemist,  and  we  are  confirmed  in 
our  opinion  by  the  notes  which  have  reached  us 
of  Mr.  Crole’s  Lecture  at  the  Society  of  Arts, 
in  which  it  is  not  difficult  to  discover  in  an 
abundance  of  technical  and  high-.souiiding  words 
and  phrases,  obsei cations  and  coun.sel  of  the  widest 
praciical  importance.  They  tend  to  establish,  what 
all  practical  Planteis  believe— though  they  may 
not  be  able  always  to  pr.actise  what  tiiey  believe 
or  to  exjdain  what  they  wish  to  practise — that 
the  dictum  that  good  tea  is  made  in  the  field 
is  true  only  in  the  sense  that  the  best  equipped 
Factory  cannot  make  high  class  teas  from  sap- 
less and  badly  plucked  leaves.  The  Factory  is 
of  importance,  not  alone  as  a repo.sitory  for  the 
many  and  delicate  processes  necessaiy  for  the 
manufacture  of  tea,  but  also  as  a check  on 
bad  work  in  the  field — that  is,  on  bad  jduckiiig. 
It  is  helpless,  however,  to  do  aught  in  respect 
of  leaf  ileficient  in  the  principles  essential  to 
good  tea ; and  it  is  there  that  science  should 
come  in— to  tell  us  if  the  flavourless  and  sapless 
leaf  can  be  improved,  and  if  so,  how.  We  re» 
fuse  to  believe  that  science  cannot  help  ns  in 
restoring  to  the  .soil  w h it  has  been  drawn  out 
of  it,  so  that  the  leaf  may  be  rcclothed  with 
the  properties  which  produced  good  Tea  from 
the  young  and  unexhausted  bush. 
So  much  by  way  of  preface  to  our  notice  of 
the  letters  13  to  20  of  the  series,  which  we 
published  last  week.  “ Hantane”  repudiates 
coarse  plucking,  and,  like  many  another,  claims 
an  improvement  in  plucking;  he  does  not  believe 
in  deterioration  through  manuring;  he  has  not 
been  short-handed ; he  does  not  practise  severq 
