34 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[July i, 1891. 
they are hnddlod and squeezed in anybow, it often 
canses a lot of undue and useless shoots to appear, 
which greatly damage the growth of the tree. Beeds 
jnst sprouted are sometimes pnt into the hole to the 
number of from three to live, and if all rome 
up, they are easily lifted and planted elsewhere. 
In one season they will have pushed through 
their shading to the height of 1 foot to two feet. 
This shading is generally bronohos from trees, from 
grass, or from the wild date palms of Natal {Phonia 
reclinala or Phiinix spinoia)’ After the trees become 
large, so that they can stand alone, this coveting 
is removed, and tho trees grow sturdy and strong. 
The rainy season, or the good season, as it is called, 
commences in October, and it makes all hands busy, 
with planting and picking. The preparation of tho 
ground is done in the winter months; the jungle or 
" bush ” ns it is called in Africa is taken down, and all 
weeds; and rubbish are burnt, tho laud is ttirned over 
and holed, ready for the time when the rains come. 
A coolie will make two hundred to three hundred holes 
per day. Tho plan adopted in laying oat is to get 
as long lines as it is possible to bo bad ; tea is generally 
lanted four feet by three, but sometimes six feet by 
ve and a half. If wo could get our tea out 
in the early months of the rainy season, it paid us 
well, and whatever expenses were laid out in labour 
and attention, in tho first or second year, in the 
third we recovered all expenses. I have seen tea 
bushes there, ten and twelve feet across, with a heavy 
flush ; a man will bring in from twenty.fivo to fifty 
lb. of leaf per day, if there is a good Hush. Pru- 
ning operations uro done in the mouth of July, always 
oirttiug hard into tho centre of the tree so as to leave 
the tree, iballow basin shaped. Manuring and digging 
are done in the months of August and September, 
and any spare time is spent in taking down 
hmsb and olenning land. Seeds are gathered in 
tho month of Maroh, which is tho^ dry season 
and put into nureary hods, and by the *ond of Sep- 
tember or Ootober are quite ready for planting out in 
lines ; these linos are kept free of weeds so as to give 
the tea every possible ohanoe. Very little draining is 
done excepting in places where there is sfn'iding water 
or in places where there is likely to be a flood 
A most important thing in the successful growing of 
the tea in Natal is shelter. I find that with having 
shelter the treoe are stronger and are better able to yield 
a good flush. Shelter is host afforded by trees of a quick- 
growing nature and such as are known lo sncoced well 
in that locality. Hot and oolit winds have to be provided 
against as sometiiues the winds are so hot, that together 
with the heat of the sun they scorch the leaves; they are 
particularly hnttiul to tho young fln-h. The gum 
(Kuoulyptus) does well Ln’Nstal. growing to the height 
of twenty toot in three years. J‘inus insignus, P, finea, 
Pinus pinaster and Grevillta rohusta alae do well; in fact 
any trao ot an ornamental character is suitable to break 
wind, besidsB acting as a screen against rough blasts 
they produce a most pleasing effect. IJiies of fancy 
trees and shrubs wherever planted will proieot tho 
young and tender shoots of tea by neutralizing the force 
of the wind and rendering its effects on tender shoots 
loss dangerous. Tea planted within thirty feet of the 
gum will not grow well In order to lot the tea have fair 
play, even at this distfiico, trenches are dug seven or 
eight feet from the gum, t.j the depth of two ot tliroo 
feet which cause the tools lo seek a lower bed. 
All the work is done by Indians from Madras and 
Calcutta, who come out under a live years' agreement ; 
when that is fiuirhed they ste free men, they are at 
liberty to stay or engage elsewhere, for another term. 
If they stay ten years in Natal, the Government pay 
their passage back again, if just for one term only, 
they must pay their own pasfage.^ The women get 6s 
per month, the men from lOs to los with the allowance 
of lb. of rice per day, together with (ish, oil, dal, 
salt. They ate allowed to build their own houses in a 
stated time, wood and grass being within onsyreaoh. 
They work from sunrise to sunset. They are called to 
and from work by means of the estate bell, which is 
rung at certain times. They are capital workpeople, 
when well looked after. They are generally intelligent 

and industrious. The tea is made by means of machi- 
nery, the work being done by boys in the factory, who 
do well. The only thing which is a drawback is lack 
of means of transport, railways are not numerous as 
yet; as in other coiouies bullook waggons are much 
used, sixteen or eighteen going to tho span. Indian aud 
Ceylon teas are sold in the colony at lower prices than 
the home-grown tea, and this will probably cause the 
Natal teas to decrease in price, and will consequently 
bring a smaller return to the planter, who up to the 
present has realized very good average prices. None 
of the tea has yet been exported, anti as the total, 
acreage under cultivation is under five thousand acres, 
no doubt it will all continue to find a sale in the colony 
itself. yg m 
CEYLON TEA IN AMERICA. 
From a letter of Mr. Pineo, dated New York, 
loth April, we quote ae follows : — 
“You in Ceylon may think wo are not ordering 
tea very fast, and we are not, although I shall, I 
thiuk, eablo this week for 16,000 lb.; and yet wo ate 
working for results in a sure and, hitherte, nutried 
way. We are not having the tea piled, aud laid away 
on grocers’ shelves, hot we are gottiug it direot into 
tho houheholdi. That is what wo are working for 
now— so that, by-iuid by, tho grocer will be obliged 
to come to os aud will tell aud not pigeon hole and 
after awhile return our tea to as as unsaleable, un- 
desirable stuff. 
“ Out Ohiosgo agent has induced the proprietor of 
the ‘ McCormick’ building to change the name and 
it is now known as the ’Ceylon' building : hence you 
will uuderstaud we are quietly, slowly, surely sowing 
seed in good ground that we aro in tho first im- 
staiioe, thorongbly preparing. We look for sabstaniial, 
permanent, lasting resulU, sud are not working to 
make an immense showing at first, and then dia- 
appeaniig aud vacating the field and thus injariiig 
the cause wc are so earuesUy working for. 
We Lave made arraugemeuts with a gentleman 
hero who is believid to have largo means to make 
up tho retail selling of our brands of tea for New 
York City sn l suburbs. He has taken a splendid 
Atore, on A\ est 23rd Street, near the great retail 
esteblisbments of Stern Bros, and LeBoutillier Bros, 
where ladies Hook dai'.y by the thousand, and he" 
takrs the uativo servants aud all the expense of this 
matter upon himtolf, as well as investing a fair 
amount in tho Company’s stock. 
■‘This relieves the Company of a very largo expense 
aud what is still better, gives us a good worker. 
“ Muillsrd is the lasbicnable dealer incocoa, etc., and 
18 known as such alt over the United Btutos.’’ 

Coal in Possklawa. — Some time ago wo bad a para- 
graph stating that a mineral rorenibling coal had been 
touud on Rothschild estate, Pusselawa and that Mr. 
LeMosnrier, A. O. A., hearing of it, had taken tho matter 
np and had induced the Government to soud a sample 
of the find to Mr. Goo. Armitage. This gentleman 
fonnd the lumps sect him to be real coal, but could 
not say whether it wonlil pay to carry out prospect- 
ing operations in the ueighbonrhood of ibe find till a 
proper survey had been made on the spot. Govoru- 
ment sent homo Mr. Armitage's report to an expert 
in England and that is av far as Government has yet 
gone in tho matter, but wo hear that Mr. Lo Mesurier 
when ho went to EngUnd recently, took home a couple 
of cigar boxes filled with lumps of Ceylon coal for a 
further report on their quality and value. Sinoo 
the first find on Rothschild, it has boon discovered 
that tho stam of coal there can be traced again on tko 
opposite side of the valley, and we trust that the matter, 
which IS of great scientific as well as commercial im- 
portance, will not be allowed to rest where it is at 
present.— “Local Times.” 
