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:—
| Detail of work | Headman at 4½ annas | Men at 3½ annas | Women at 3 annas | Boys at 2½ annas | Total cost | Say in Rs. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digging the whole surface | ¾ | 12 | 5 | .. | 2 | 13 | 6 | 3 |
| Digging round plants | ½ | .. | 4 | 5 | 1 | 13 | 9 | 2 |
| Dutch hoeing or weeding | ½ | 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 annum | Per 100 acres | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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.