Nov. r, 1897.J 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
3^3 
“HOW TO ECGNOMISE THE AVAIL 
ABLE LABOUR SUPPLY ON OUR 
TEA PLANTATIONS.” 
IIEVIEW OF LETTERS XVIII. TO XXVI. 
Tlie nine letters now under review cover a very 
varied ran^e of districts. “W.J.” from the low- 
country, who h.as also had long experience up- 
country, is followed by “ G. D. D.” from a high 
district, and by “ S. ” from a mid-district. The 
first has had no practical experience of shoots, and 
as he left the bill-country before the era of tea, 
he excuses himself from oll'ering any opinion on 
shoots, tramways, and other labour-saving ap- 
pliances. “G. U.D.,” though also without per- 
sonal experience of shoots, has seen them at 
work, and thougii they are said to damage 
tea leaf, he cannot understand how that can pos- 
sibly equal the compensating advantages. For 
firewood they are undoubtedly useful ; but tram- 
ways would be difficult to work on steep places 
and too expensive on most estates. Telephones, 
tavalams, wire tramw.ays, cart roads, and carts 
in the lowcountry, are the labour-saving ap- 
pliances which must be requisitioned according 
to special circumstances. “ S.” knows that 
shoots work satisfactorily, and tliink, they should 
be used more largely ; but he counsels less 
costly or more lasting “runnel's” than those now 
in use. which are a great source of expense. 
“ B. W.” from the lowcountry, while asserting 
the undoubted usefulness of shoots for down- 
hill loads, expresses his preference for wire 
tramways for leaf, as they save crushing and 
damage, and can further work up-hill. He has 
experience of a 2 ft. tramway on the estate from 
which he writes, and finds that it saves a lot 
of Labour, as a car fully laden with 4,000 lb. 
of leaf can be moved by four coolies. “ Engineer,” 
with experience of erection, supports the pie- 
vious writer, as regards both shoots and wire 
tramways, and thinks they can be much more 
largely used than they are, as they efiect .an 
immense saving of labour ; and the former need 
not damage tea leaf, if stretched a,t an easy 
gradient. His opinion coincides with that of 
most planters, as to the inability of the average 
estate to afford a tramway ; but he believes 
that water-power might be far more largely 
used than it is— many estates using a steam 
engine all the year round, which mioht well 
utilise water 8 to 10 months in the year at a 
great saving of cost. “ K. V.”’s incredulity as 
to the fitness of shoots for the economical tran- 
sport of leaf should cease in presence of the 
body of evidence in their favour ; but he be- 
lieves in them for fuel, though not in tramways 
on the ground of cost. “ Lunugalla ’ has had 
no experience of labour-saving appli.ances for 
transport, but thinks trams should be useful 
where manuring is done to any extent. This 
opinion is not sh.ared by “ G. J. R.” from a 
high, and “ W. M. U.” from a low district, both 
of" whom aie in favour of shoots and aerial tram 
ways ; while the latter favours narrow’ hand- 
carts as a means of sa\ ing the coolies the 
carrying of tea chests, w'hich is work they 
detest. 
“ VV. .1.” is in advance of m.any, perhaps 
most, of his brother-planters in believing that 
weeding is being overdone. His difficulty lay 
in finding a weed which would protect the 
39 
grounil and save ivash without being injurious 
to tea and coil'ee. The entrance of grasses 
would have to be guarded agJiinst ; mosses 
would not grow below 4,000 feet — is he sure of 
this? — and even if an imported plant of very 
foic growl h be found he questions w het her there 
can be .any real saving of Labour. He is al.so 
entirely against .any digging in of crops grown 
for that purpose, as the loss of soil w'onld more 
than counteract any benefit from aeration on 
even moderately steep land. He is supported 
in this view by “ G. D. D.” atid also by “ S.,” both 
of whom favour clean weeding ; awl the latter 
has special experience of a moss-grown patch on 
his estate, which at once responds, now in tea, 
as it did when it was under colYee, as soon 
as light and air are admitted to the roots by the 
use of the “ karandy ” on the moss. We can quite 
understand this result, especially in damp situa- 
tions where the soil sliows .a tendency to sour- 
ness ; while, perhaps, in soil without such ten- 
dency moss will not thrive. And this view finds 
favour with “ K.V.,” who, while holding that 
moss does not seem to do harm, has found that it 
will not grow on some s))ots. On the other 
hand, he does not think weeding overdone j 
but he desiderates, what would be priceless, a 
plant which, while thickly covering the ground, 
would take little or nothing out of it 1 Con- 
sidering the general poverty of our soils and 
looking to the importance of preventing wash, 
he would neither grow’ a second crop nor dig it 
in. “W.M.U.” s.iares this view, while holding 
that weeding as practised now is underdone, 
rather than overdone. He would clean the land 
thoroughly to begin with, and thereafter never 
allow weeds to grow to the extent that would 
cause disturbance of soil for their removal. 
Mosses he would not disturb, as they go oft' 
w’hen heat and drought supervene. “Lungalla,” 
too, favours mosses, and objects to mamoty 
weeding, and so does “G.J.R” who pronounces, 
from long experience, that weeding cannot Oe 
overdone, and considers selected weeding next 
to impossible. “ B. W.”, however, always encour- 
ages mosses, &c., as soil binders and thinks cut- 
ting down weeds the correct and scientilic way 
of treating them and the soil. 
On Drainage all our cori’espondents are pretty 
well agreed - that the drains should not be too 
far apart, nor the gradient too steep. F'ew’ 
have yet made the acquaintance of eusens ; but 
those who have tried it, like it. Terracing is 
considered the ideal provision against w’ash, but 
the cost is prohibitory over any considerable 
acreage. Hand-carts as auxiliaries to transport 
are recommended by more than one Planter, 
because they wuu' 1 ooviaie unpleasant w’ork for 
coolies who, in the opinion of two very experi- 
enced and observ.ant Colonists, should be en- 
couraged to m.ake the existing labour supply 
go .as far as possible by santosums to men w'ho 
work 24 days at le.ast in the month. The idea 
is .an excelient one ; but the gift should go direct 
to the worker, so that he might feel himself 
independent, to its value at least, of the Kan- 
gany who generally appropriates all he can of 
monthly balances for debts, real or fictitious,* The 
* If it were porsilde to g. t R.-unasamy to bank 
such surp'us cash either at the Post Office or with 
Id- employer, a great advantage in starling him on 
a course of tluift w’onld result; but we fear tlie 
time has not yet come for a move of that kiud, how- 
ever desirable. 
