that is, of from 200 to 400 acres.  If, on the other hand, it was on a more extensive scale, several hackery roads of 10 feet in breadth would be necessary, in order to cart away weeds, &c., or carry manure to seedling beds.

On seeds when ripe, and method to be adopted to ascertain it.—­In all September and October the tea seeds ripen, but in the more elevated plantations, as at Rumaserai, many do not ripen until November.  The seeds are contained in a capsule, and vary in number from one to seven; to ascertain that they are ripe, open the capsule, although green, and if their color is a nut-brown, they are sure to be so.  If they are not ripe, they are of a reddish-brown above, mixed with white.  If the seeds are allowed to remain a short time on the bushes, after they are ripe, the capsules burst, and they fall out; it is necessary, therefore, to remove them before this takes place.

On the method of sowing seeds, and season, and on the treatment of the young tea plants after they have germinated.—­The ground having been first well trenched and manured, that is, from sixty to seventy maunds of manure given to the acre, the seeds are, when ripe, to be removed from the capsules, and immediately sown to the depth of one inch, and very close, in drills 8 to 10 inches apart from each other.  The sooner that they are sown after being removed from the capsules the better, as their germinating properties are apt to be destroyed if they are kept for any length of time.  Some germinate in the space of a few weeks, others lie dormant until February and March, and others do not germinate until the rains.

The method of sowing seeds in China is thus described, being similar to the native plan of sowing mangoes in India.  “Several seeds are dropped into holes four or five inches deep and three or four feet apart, shortly after they ripen, or in November and December; the plants rise up in a cluster when the rains come on.  They are seldom transplanted, but sometimes four to six are put quite close to form a fine bush."[9] By this method nothing is gained, and the expenditure of seeds great.

    If the plants germinate in November, which, as already stated, many
    do, they ought to be covered with a chupper made of bamboo and
    grass.

In the hills, everywhere at an elevation of 6,000 and 7,000 feet, the ringal, a small kind of bamboo, of which there are several species, is found in great abundance, and well adapted for the purpose, and in the Deyrah Dhoon the bamboo occurs in vast quantity; the market of the Upper Provinces being chiefly supplied from that valley and other forests at the base of the Himalayas.  Bamboos are also met with to the height of six and seven thousand feet on the Himalayas in the neighbourhood of Almorah.  During the day, in the cold weather, the chuppers ought to be removed, and again