Abstract

Nitrogenous Cover crops. Various plants of the leguminosae family are grown in tea for green manure, and for helping to stop soil erosion. The method of planting adopted is to sow the seed thinly over about 1 feet width every other row of tea as soon after pruning as possible. (It is partly for this reason that the branches from pruning tea are usually stacked in every other row, so leaving alternate rows for planting cover crops.) Earth is lightly scratched over the seed with a kokra. The best times for planting are in the showery weather preceding and following the heavy monsoon. Species of Crotalaria, Tehprosia Vogelli, T. Candida and species of Indi- gofera are planted. Some Indigoferas like I. endecaphylla are planted from cuttings and spread over the surface of the ground giving a good protection from erosion in wet weather, but unfortunately they tend to die back entirely in dry weather, so being of no use to stop "dry wash". Some planters claim that on steep cultivated hillsides as much soil is lost in the dry weather by being pushed down by the labourer's feet and slipping of its own accord, as is lost in wet weather by wash. The other varieties mentioned are planted by seed, and being planted after the tea has been pruned, have plenty of room for quick growth. Cover crops of this kind are regularly cut back to about 1' to 1 from ground level, so producing plenty of loppings for mulching over and covering the ground, and even- tually rotting and supplying the ground with more nitrogenous food than has been taken out. (The various processes from fixation of atmospheric nitrogen through to its final oxidisation into nitrates for the use of the leguminous plants by Nitrosomonas, Nitrobacter and kindred bacteria, will be well-known to my readers). Once the plants are allowed to seed, they become woody and little or no more loppings will be obtainable from them, so they should be lopped when they start flowering, or when they bush out and start interfering with the tea. After about two years from planting the seed the leguminous plants become woody and useless and are rooted out. Anyway, by this time, the tea bushes have grown to a complete cover of the ground.

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