836 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
\mt  have  tended,  more  particularly,  with  a low 
jat,  to  improve  the  teas. — Yours  truly, 
A.C.K, 
PLUCKING,  PRUNING  AND  PRE- 
PARATION OF  TEA: 
REVIEW  OF  LEi'TERy  NOS.  LXI  TO  LXX. 
The  lir.st  six  letters  in  the  iirevious  batch 
constitute  a departure,  in  some  res])ccts,  from 
tlie  character  of  the  sixty  letters  whicli  pre- 
ceded them.  The  earlier  re[)lies  to  our  ijuestions 
were  almost  without  exception  from  resi- 
dents on  estates.  Among  the  six  now  under 
review  are  several  Colombo  oi)inions,  from  Brokers 
and  Merchants.  “ Ledger”  feels  )io  doubt  that 
coarser  plucking  cx[)lains  in  great  measure  the 
fall  in  average  i)riccs ; and  while  he  concedes  to 
the  planter  the  right  to  deci<Ie  which  system  pays 
him  best,  he  rjiiestions  whether  the  goose  which 
lays  the  golden  egg  is  not  Oeing  killed  by  ex- 
cessive plucking.  Ceylon,  which  had  held  its 
own  against  India,  has  now  to  be  content  with 
a low'er  average ; while  the  rest  which  Indian 
tea  bushes  annually  enjoy,  should  ensure  them 
a longer  life.  “ Merchant,”  on  the  other  hand, 
is  silent  on  plucking,  but  holds  strongly  that 
the  value  of  our  teas  is  greatly  depieciated 
by  want  of  sullicient  attention  in  the  factory. 
The  superintendent  of  a large  estate  si)ends  very 
little  of  his  time  in  the  factory ; and  the  native 
teamaker  simply  works  by  rule  of  thumb  ; 
■tvhereas  in  India  European  teamakers  are  em- 
ployed, and  hence  the  superiority  in  make  and 
appearance  of  the  teas  })roduced  there.  Vet, 
when  Mr.  Mitchell  and  Sir  .John  Grinlinton 
propounded  a scheme  tor  training  tea-makers 
in  the  Technical  School,  where  .scientilic  and 
practical  instruction  might  be  combined,  the 
Planters’  Association  rather  douched  the  proposal 
with  cold  water;  and  it  was  dropped.  “Mei» 
chant  No.  ” does  not  think  coar.-er  i)lucking 
has  had  much  to  rlo  with  lower  juices  ; but  he, 
too,  is  emphatic  against  the  system  which  leave.? 
too  much  to  the  te.'i-maker,  and  contrasts  the 
old  7'eijihie  under  which  the  superintendent 
“ bosscil  ” the  kanackkapulle,  and  the  present, 
under  which  5U  jier  cent  of  the  durais  are  bossed 
by  the  tea-m.ikers.  Not  line,  but  careful,  j)luck- 
ing  once  in  nine  days  at  most,  attention  to 
the  bush  for  at  least  six  months  after  pruning, 
and  more  care  in  the  factory,  are  the  remedies 
prescribed.  “ \V  S.  ” holds  over-production  and 
higher  e.xchange  rosponsiole  for  the  fall.  That 
would  be  a reversal  of  the  bi-metallist  tlieory 
that  gold  prices  would  rise  with  the  rise  in  ex- 
change; but  so  long  as  quantity  pays,  the  .sys- 
tem which  raises  alarm  concerning  over-pro- 
duction will  be  followed.  Both  “ W.  B.  ami 
"Broker”  recognise  the  inlluence  of  poor  and 
worn-out  soil  in  regard  to  which  Indi.a  has 
the  advantage  of  us,  backed  up  by  annual 
wintering  and  more  favourable  climatic  con- 
ditions. Some  of  these  disadvantages  should 
be  .sought  to  be  overcome  by  systematic  and 
intelligent  manuring,  and  " Broker”  exju’esses  his 
belief  in  the  necessity  of  greater  attention  to  this 
remedy.  "Old  Dimbula,”  in  a long  and  inter- 
esting letter,  denies  either  that  coarser  jilucking 
is  the  rule,  or  that  when  coarse  leaf  goes  into 
the  factory,  it  can  have  any  bad  ell'ect  generally 
on  tliG  tcA.s  v'hicli  tiro  in  Ihci 
siftinm  ^But  may  not  the  sharj)  juice  and  the 
joint  ^rolling  and  fenneuiation  tell  on  the  llavourf^ 
iJuNE  I,  1897. 
The  theory  that  manure  produces  a weaker  tea 
from  the  jiruned  bu.'-li,  and  has  no  injurious 
effect  on  the  liquor  from  old  unpiuned  tea,  is 
one  tliat  demands  investigation,  as  it  is  not  easy 
to  understand  why  a bush  weakened  by  pruning 
should  not  have  tone  given  to  it,  and  thereby 
to  the  leaf,  by  manuring.  It  is  more  easy  to 
assent  to  tlie  remarks  cii  pruning,  which  deserve 
attention — condemning,  as  they  do,  the  cutting 
down  and  hacking,  misnamed  jiruning,  which 
obtain  so  widely.  Judicious  pruning  should  seek  to 
conserve  the  healthy  wood,  while  removing  small 
twigs  and  cross  branches  ; and  bushes  ten  j’ears 
old  iind  over,  .says  our  friend,  should  nob  be  cut 
below  two  feet,  as  the  old  stems  can  never  be 
rejilaced,  and  it  is  long  before  the  bush  under 
maltreatment  can  regain  its  branches  and  make 
a show  of  healthy  llavoury  foliage.  So  far  from 
there  being  neglect  in  the  factory,  greater  care 
than  ever  is  bestowed  on  preparation.  If  any- 
thing, there  is  misguided  over-zeal  which  leads 
to  uncalled-for  interference  with  the  factory  staff, 
instead  of  allowing  it  to  work  throughout  a 
month,  with  similar  leaf  and  under  identical  con- 
ditions, in  accordance  with  instniction.s,  which  have 
produced  good  tea  at  the  beginning  of  the  month. 
Needless  interference  and  fresh  instructions  prove 
puzzling,  while  they  lessen  thrir  pride  and 
interest  in  the  work  of  the  tea-maker  and  liis 
hfdjts.  As  a rule  it  is  contended,  that  there  is  no 
falling-off  in  the  teas,  but  the  demand  for  j)arti- 
cular  manufactures  has  abated.  Bhortiie.ss  of 
labour  does  tell  on  qu,"lity  by  bringing  in  hard 
and  bangy  leaf  ; and  also  lack  of  witherin'^ 
accommodation  ; but  when  the  market  is  fully 
su])|)lied  much  is  made  of  the  slightest  deterior- 
ation to  account  for  jtrices  which  are  mainly 
regulated  by  the  demand. 
"B  ” from  Hatton  and  " A.C.K.”  deny  the  pre- 
valence of  coarse  j»lucking ; wiiilc  “D”and  "Btiil 
one  of  the  Creejiers”  from  Kandy  North,  maintain 
that  coarse  j)lucking  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  fall 
in  prices.  The  last-mentioned  acquits  manuring, 
as  also  heavy  ju  uning,  which  is  getting  di.scrcditetl 
especially  oii  soils  which  refuse  to  grow  fiesh 
wooil  ; but  he  besjieaks  more  careful  suj>ervision 
in  held  and  factory,  and  believes  that  if  the  stocks 
in  London  weie  less,  j»rices  would  improve.  At 
j)resent,  only  teas  with  quality  fetch  good  jirices, 
howe\er  graded,  and  the  highest  ])iiced  teas  are 
not  the  handsomest.  " A.G.K.,”  too,  holds  lan^e 
supjilies  as  the  jjrincijial  cause  of  the  fall  Tn 
prices,  combined  with  the  larger  projmrtion  of 
low  and  medium-grow'u  teas  which  now  find 
their  w'ay  into  the  m.arket.  The  view'  that 
the  falling-off  in  (jualiiy  of  high-grown  teas 
fr-nu  the  (dder  estates  has  had  any  appreciable 
effect,  is  likely,  we  fancy,  to  be  disputed  ; but 
much  must  depend  on  the  definition  of  “high 
grown”  and  “ older  estates.”  Attention  is 
drawn  to  the  higher  averages  obtained  in  1895 
over  1894,  in  juoof  of  improvement  in  jducking 
and  manufacture  ; while  manuring  and  Jieavy 
juuning  have  hel|)ed,  rather  tlian  sent  down, 
jirices.  While  " D”  refuses  to  exjire.ss  an  ojiinion 
on  manuring  with  limited  cx|)erience,  " .S  ” i.s  con- 
fident that  "manuring  with  castorcake  and 
bones  is  a great  cause  of  juices  coming  down.” 
We  should  have  1)een  glad  of  the  facts  and 
exjieriences  on  which  this  dictum  is  ba.->ed,  as 
manuring  is  now  generally  considered  an  essen- 
tial of  cultivation,  and  the  two  articles  named 
are  in  almost  universal  use,  juesumably  be- 
cause  they  have  been  found  heljifu!  to  the 
planter.  " B ” claims  that  jumning  is  lighter  than 
it  was,  while  attention  to  the  factory  has  falleij 
