Manure should be applied to each bush, by laying it in a trench 9 in. wide and 6 in. deep, dug all round the bush at a distance of 6-12 in. from the stern, according to age, and covering it over with earth. Where there is not sufficient for this plan, it may be put into trenches between the lines, so that it will be accessible to the feeding-rootlets. The quantity of cattle-manure suitable for 4-year old bushes is 1 maund (of 80 lb.) for each 10-20 bushes, decreasing for younger plants.
Diseases and Enemies. Crickets.—These insects attack only young seedlings, whether in the nurseries or in the fields, about 2-3 in. high, cutting through the stem, and carrying away the leafy top to their holes. They seem to be most destructive on low lands, but their ravages cease when the stem of the plant is as thick as a stout pencil. The only remedy is to set boys to work to ilud their holes, and unearth the insects, pitying according to the number brought in.
Ants.—White ants are a much more formidable pest, as they work in myriads, and attack even the largest bushes. Fortunately they have a deadly enemy in the black ant, but other precautions are necessary ag-,itinst them. Between the rains and the setting-in of the cold weather they most frequent the bushes, which latter should be examined for them in the autumn and the spring, and well shaken to effect their dislodgment. The best application to drive then] away is petroleum, the refined kinds being more effective but more expensive than the crude. It may be sprinkled after diluting with water, or simply painted in rings around the stems and on the infected spots. Water impregnated with tobacco or tobaeco-oil is less permanent in its effiesey.
Blight. —This is most detrimental to the yield of a garden, as the young leaves become covered with brown spots, and shrivel up. Money recommends pruning off the diseased branches, and admitting air to the roots by scraping back the soil for 2 ft. round the stem, till the roots are nearly bared.
Flushes and Piching.—A " flush " of the tea-plant is when it throws ont new shoots and leaves, the latter constituting the tea of commerce ; thus the return from a tea-garden is governed by the number and extent of the flushes per season. These again depend upon the climate, soil, pruning, and cultivation ; they may be said generally to range between 25 (in good soil and climate, with high cultivation and plenty of manure), to 18 (where no manure is used, and the cultivation is not high). The average fiushing-period is 7-9 months, except for very elevated gardens, when the climate reduces it. Thus, in moderately high situations, it may last from early April to late
Oetober, giving 12-15, perhaps 18, flushes; in Upper Assam, Feb. 25 to Nov. 15; Lower Assam, Feb. 20 to Nov. 20 ; Caohar, Feb. 20 to Nov. 20 ; Chittagong, Mar. 10 to Dec. 20; Terai below Darjeeling, and W. Doears, Mar. 1 to Nov. 20. These dates are fixed upon by Money, who considers that 25 flushes should be got within the periods stated. The average intervals between the flushes are approximately 7-14 days, varying with circumstances, and including abnormally long breaks which are sometimes caused by untoward weather.
Fig. 1430 illustrates the way in whieh the successive flushes occur, and the system of picking recommended by the best authorities. The harder a tea-bush is picked, within eertain limits, the greater effort it will make to renew the leaves thus lost, and the greater the yield of leaves to be picked. The ordinary plant at the end of the season measures 31-4 ft. high and 5 ft. diam., and is then pruned down to 2 ft. high and 3 ft. diam.; thus it remains during hybernation. In the spring, the buds at the bases of all the leaves, and which are the gerras of future branches, gradually develop into shoots having 5 or 6 leaves with a closed bud at top. At the bases of these leaves are other buds, which similarly develop in time. The fully developed shoot has 6 leaves, including the bud, marked a bcdef ; it has started from a bucl k at the base of the leaf h, and now forms a complete " flush." The leaves a b, efc. have also buds 1 2 3 4, which will likewise develop in turn.
Assuming the shoot k to be the first on the branch i, it forms the basis of future crops on that part of the bush, and must not be removed. But its tendency to throw out new shoots is much increased by nipping off the bud a, in such a manner as not to injure the bud at the base of b. The lines indicate the points at which the leaves are nipped so as to avoid hurting the buds. The leaves ab are covered with a white silky down, and make a white or very pale yellow tea (not infusion), which, mixed with ordinary tea, constitutes " Pekoe tips," and adds much to the value. With the advance of the crop, it is practically impossible, by reason of the great cost for labour, to pick the various kinds separately : but in the first 2 or three flushes, no more than a and b ought to be picked, and they will then make a small quantity of white Pekoe tips. Later on, the colour becomes orange.