CULTIVATION OF MADE GARDENS.
As manuring, which is part of this, is treated separately, we have here
only to consider the best means of stirring the soil to give air to the
roots of the plants, and to keep down weeds, which, if allowed, injure
the yield vastly.
Unless when plants are full blown and in full bearing (and not even
then unless they are planted close) it is not only not necessary, but
a waste of labour and money, to open the soil all over the garden with
a view of stimulating or cultivating the plants. Much money has been
wasted in this way: for instance, in a garden planted 6 by 6 or 6 by 5,
and the plants but two years old, I have seen the whole dug many times
in the year. The roots of the said plants did not protrude at that age
more than 1 foot or so, what good could they possibly derive from the
extra space dug?
The soil _over_ the rootlets of Tea plants cannot be stirred too often.
The oftener it is done the oftener the trees flush, and when young the
more vigorously will they grow. What is the best way to do it?
I believe simply by digging _round_ each plant. I go to show why this
is, I believe, the best.
Putting aside the waste incurred in digging a whole garden when not
necessary, the way the soil is then dug near the plants is, I think,
objectionable. The ground is dug in a straight line _up to the plant_,
and in doing so, if the digging is deep, roots are very apt to be cut.
Again, when the work is task-work, the men shirk as much as possible
digging close up to the stems under the branches, and thus the soil
over much of the roots, is not stirred at all. This is not easy to
detect, for you must look under the branches of each tree to see how
the work has been done.
In “digging round plants” the men should _follow_ the kodalee round the
tree, and _the position of the blade in the same line as the roots_
makes any injury very unlikely. Even if tasked, as when the work is
examined, it is _only_ round the plants, it is more readily perceived
if the ground has not been stirred close up to the stems.
I therefore prefer digging round plants, with the view of cultivating
them, to digging the whole garden. I believe the object is better
attained. That it is much cheaper is evident.
The annulus, or space to be dug round, beginning 9 inches from the
stem, varies with the age of the plant. Up to two years one kodalee in
width will do, and after that say 2 feet.
The draw-hoe of 8 inches wide is a better tool for the above than
the kodalee, especially as it is work well suited to boys, and the
“draw-hoe” is a lighter tool.
Till plants from seed at stake are a year old, and till seedlings from
nurseries are the same age, calculating in the latter case from the
transplanting, no kodalee or even draw-hoe should come near them. The
soil round for 6 inches should be slightly opened once a month or so,
but it should be done with the “koorpee.”
We have now discussed the cultivation of the plants. The above often
done, say once a month, if possible, during the season, with judicious
pruning and liberal manuring, constitutes high cultivation. Did weeds
not grow there would be no need to do more, but weeds _do_ grow, and
must not be allowed. The richer the soil the more weeds, the more
manure you apply the more weeds also.
Weeds choke the plant and diminish the yield. Weeds take from the
soil, and from manure, when given, the strength you want for your
constantly recurring flushes. If, therefore, you have a large crop of
weeds you have a small yield of Tea.
How to stop this? There is one golden rule, “never let them get ahead
of you.” This, it is true, argues ample labour; but unless you _have_
ample labour for the area you cultivate, better let your money lie in
the Bank and not grow Tea. Reduce your area until you _can_ keep ahead
of your weeds, for keep ahead you must if you wish for success.
The secret of keeping ahead of weeds is to destroy them when young, to
do this again and again, as often as they come up, never allowing them
to bear seed. The kodalee, an excellent digging tool, is not good for
this: you want a lighter instrument, which can go over more ground and
will not open the soil in the dry season to any depth. The Dutch hoe,
the widest procurable in the blade, with a long lithe handle of 6 feet,
is perfect for this.
With weeds at the height fit for a Dutch hoe, viz., 3 or 4 inches, and
not numerous (which they will not be if you have “kept ahead”), a man
will easily do 45 square nulls, _id est_, 720 square yards. He would
not do more than 30 nulls with a kodalee.
The Dutch hoe must be well known. It is used for weeding drives and
walks in England.
To conclude shortly, for “hoeing and weeding” I recommend as follows:--
Dig the whole garden thrice in the year, viz., spring, rains, and
autumn. Bury all weeds as you dig in trenches between the lines.
In the intervals use the Dutch hoe as often as weeds appear.
Cultivate the plants by digging round them once a month if possible.
Do all this and you will find your garden is kept clean and well
cultivated, at far less cost than you incurred for cultivation when it
was choked with weeds for months together, while your yield will be at
the same time much increased.
If you keep your garden thus clean, and do not allow the weeds to
get ahead of you, the following table shows about the cost of each
cultivation operation each time you do it:--
Key:
A: Digging the whole surface
B: Digging round plants
C: Dutch hoeing or weeding
----------------+----------+--------+---------+---------+------+------
| Headman | Men at | Women | Boys at |Total |Say in
Detail of work | at 4-1/2 | 3-1/2 | at | 2-1/2 |cost | Rs.
| annas | annas | 3 annas | annas | |
----------------+ --------+--------+---------+---------+------+------
A | 3/4 | 12 | 5 | .. |2|13|6| 3
B | 1/2 | .. | 4 | 5 |1|13|9| 2
C | 1/2 | 4 | .. | .. |1|14|3| 2
----------------+----------+--------+---------+---------+------+------
If weeds get ahead the cost in each case will be nearly double the
above.
The following table, which is as near the mark as any such estimate can
be, will be found useful. It will also be made use of when calculating
the cost of making a garden in Chapter XXIX., pages 164, 165, and 166.
_Table showing the cost per annum of keeping up at its best 100 acres
of Tea from the year it is planted until the sixth year inclusive._
------+-------------+-------------+----------------------------------
Year |Rate per acre|Per 100 acres| Remarks
| per annum | |
------+-------------+-------------+----------------------------------
| Rs. | Rs. |
First | 50 | 5,000 |The year the seed is sown at stake
Second| 60 | 6,000 |
Third | 70 | 7,000 |
Fourth| 80 | 8,000 |
Fifth | 90 | 9,000 |
Sixth | 100 | 10,000 |The plants should be large plants
| | | now, but they will not be at full
| | | bearing until the eighth year.
------+-------------+-------------+----------------------------------
The above rates in the case of a 300-acre garden making will include
_everything_ but buildings.
The rates are progressive, because the expenditure on the following
increases, or should increase, yearly.
1. Manager’s pay (say every second year).
2. Assistant (first entertained, say third year).
3. Cost and wear of tools.
4. Cost of pruning.
5. Cost of cultivation.
6. Cost of manure.
7. General expenses.
No cost for Tea manufacture is included in the above, as this is
estimated for separately. See table at pages 160, 161, and 162.
Keeping up high cultivation in every way and manuring liberally, a made
garden in full bearing can be kept up to its highest producing powers
(including the pay of the manager, establishment, and everything else)
for Rs. 100 per acre per annum.
An acre of Tea may, I am aware, be kept up in a manner for Rs. 50 or so
yearly, but the profit on such a plantation must be nil.
On the contrary, with the above expenditure per acre, on a good and
favourably located garden, the profit will be very large. See table at
page 172.
It is with Tea as with all other cultivation. It has been proved in
England, and in all other countries where really high cultivation is
followed out, that the higher the system followed the greater the
profit.