ills and in the Deyrah Dhoon, is a _fence_.
In the former, to prevent the depredations of wild animals, such as
wild hog, deer, &c., which abound in the hills, and though they do
not eat tea leaves, yet hogs, in search of tubers, in the space of a
single night will do much damage by uprooting young shrubs--in the
latter, to prevent the straying of cattle. The first thing to be
done, therefore, is to dig a trench three feet broad and two deep,
and to plant a hedge, if in the hills, of black thorn (_Cratoegus_);
if in the plains, the different species of aloe are best adapted for
the purpose. The fence being formed, all trees and shrubs are then
to be uprooted; this is very heavy work, both in the hills and
plains, from the vast number of shrubs, allowed by natives (from
indolence to remove them) to grow everywhere throughout their
fields. Roads are then to be marked off.

After this has been accomplished, the land is to be drained, if
necessary, by open drains--under drainage, for want of means and the
expense, being impracticable--and then ploughed three or four times
over. The beds for young tea-plants are then to be formed; these
ought to be three feet in breadth, alternating with a pathway of two
feet in breadth. By arranging beds in this manner much time and
labour is saved in transplanting; in irrigation the water is
economised, and in plucking tea leaves a road is given to the
gatherer. In transplanting, each plant is allowed 41/2 feet; this is
at once gained, the beds and pathways being formed by placing in one
direction the plant in the centre of the bed.

_Trenching_.--On the tea beds being marked off, they are to be
trenched to a depth of from two to three feet, in order to destroy
all the roots of weeds, which are to be carefully removed. The
trenching is to be performed by the _fowrah_, or Indian spade.

In the hills, in many places the _fowrah_ cannot be used, owing to
the number of stones. The work is then to be done by the _koatlah_,
a flat-pointed piece of iron, of about eight inches in length, which
is inserted into a wooden handle. It is in form like the pick, and
is much used in hill cultivation for weeding and opening up the
ground. It is, however, not much to be commended for trenching
purposes, as natives, in using it, never penetrate the ground beyond
a