Feeruart I, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



607 



much more loss than a similar attack in a country that 

 has almost continued growth. Our coolies do more work, 

 I think, than the Indian ones, and, generally, our estates 

 are much more economically worked, so that, quite apart 

 from any increased yield, I think our teas can be pro- 

 duced at as low a cost as those of India. I mean as 

 far as estate expenditure goes. Most of the Indian 

 gardens being worked by Companies, the expenditure 

 between the estate and the market is naturally much 

 greater than it would be in the case of an individual 

 proprietor, who has no Secretary or Director to pay ; and 

 the wonder is how many of the Companies pay any 

 dividends at all, when they are burdened further with 

 such large capitals, some standing at over £100 per 

 acre. 



The question of how our average yield will compare 

 with that of India is a very difficult one to settle satis- 

 factorily. "We cannot look upon the Galbodde, Mariawattie, 

 and other large yields as any help towards determining 

 what the average of some years over all our land will 

 be. Tea will not grow to pay everywhere, and some land 

 has been planted in Ceylon that can never bring anything 

 but disappointment to the proprietor and discredit to the 

 enterprise. Various blights, too, wiU, in ordinary course, 

 make their appearance and have their effect on the out- 

 turn. "We will certainly see a higher average yield than 

 Darjiling, perhaps from .300 to 350 lb. per acre, and if 

 we can get Darjiling prices with that quantity our future 

 is secure. Depth of soil is necessary to permanency, and 

 I fear that some of our lowcountry estates will be 

 short-lived, unless manuring can be cheaply carried out. 

 No manuring is done in India at all, nor coulc it be 

 done nearly so cheaply as in Ceylon. I attach less im- 

 portance than I did to the vicinity of charcoal and 

 timber, though it is very desirable to have the command 

 of them. The command of water-power, such as most of 

 our estates have, is a great advantage, and goes far 

 towards making small estates, i.e., under 300 acres, offer 

 acre for acre as good a profit as large ones. On the 

 point of size I can see nothing to justify in Ceylon the 

 idea that tea would not pay on anything except a larj:i' 

 scale. Of course, there is always some sa\'ing in certain 

 items when great quantities are dealt with, but the difference 

 in average profit between large and .small tea estates will 

 not be greater than it was in the case of large and small 

 coffee estates. In Ceylon, as a rule, I would prefer a 

 hill estate to a lowcountry one, unless the soil of the 

 latter was particularly good. I do not, however, think 

 that the difference in altitude makes a Darjiling estate 

 at 5,000 feet equal to a Ceylon one at 7,000 feet. The 

 difference is much less due, I suppose, to our insular 

 position on the one hand and the proximity to the great 

 plains of India on the other. Our climate at 5,000 feet 

 is just as raw and bleak as it is in Darjiling at the same 

 elevation, but we never experience the dry cold which 

 checks all vegetation both there and in the plains for four, 

 or sometimes five months. I think nearly all our opened 

 land in the young districts will grow tea well, and almost 

 any new land in the old districts will be equally good. 

 There is no use planting tea on really bad land— much 

 better abandon such at once. I do not mean this remark 

 to apply to the poor ridges and patches which make 

 themselves visible on all estates, and which for the sake 

 of the sun-ounding good land must be kept up; these 

 occur also on the Indian estates. Those who reserve their 

 best land for coffee or other products, and only plant 

 tea in the poorer portions of their estates, must not 

 expect to reach the yield of the best Indian estates, 

 where the best land has been given over to tea, On the 

 other hand, the slightly decreased yield of tea which the 

 presence of cinchonas, cocoas, or other products in moder- 

 ation occasions, will be more than made up by the retm-n 

 from those plants. 



We have been so accustomed to depres.sion and dis- 

 appointment in Ceylon, that it is difficult to believe that 

 prosperity will ever again attend our efforts ; but I feel 

 sure that in tea we have a product which, although it 

 will never give the maximum profits of coffee, will give 

 us steady returns, and again raise us to the fii-st position 

 in tropical agriculture ; Imt it must have justice shown it, 

 and be carefully planted on suitable land. — T. N. Christie 

 ju local "Times." 



INDIA CROP AND WEATHER REPORT. 



Fou THE Week ending the 29th Janoaey 1884. 



Geseral Remarks.— There has been slight rain in Madras 

 Sindh, the Punjab, and in one of the native states of 

 K.ajputaua dvu-ing the week. Harvesting continues in 

 Madras, Mysore, and Coorg ; in four districts of IMadras the 

 yield is reported below average, and in two districts up to 

 the average ; in Coorg coffee has yielded a good crop, but 

 the outturn of paddy has been under the aver»ge. Stand- 

 ing crops promise well throughout the Presidency, except 

 in part of tlie Bellary and Chingleput districts where they 

 have been injured. In Bombay the rabi prospects are 

 generally good, but some damage has, from various causes, 

 been done to the crop in parts of seven districts. Cotton- 

 picking is still going on in the Berars, and the prospects of 

 the rabi there and in Hyderabad are favourable. In Central 

 India and Rajputana the rabi crops continue to do well 

 except in Sutna and Ulwar where rain is needed. The 

 rain which fell during the week in the Punjab was con- 

 fined to the districts in the north and west, and the crops 

 in the districts to the south-east of the province are much 

 in want of rain. In the North-Western Provinces and 

 Oudh the weather has been cloudy, but no rain has fallen, 

 and it is urgently required for crops on unirrigated lands! 

 In some districts of the North-Western Provinces the rabi 

 crops are in ear. 



In the Central Provinces the crops are thriving and 

 prospects are excellent. 



No rain has fallen in Bengal, and the crops on unirrigated 

 lands in Behar and Chota Nagpore are reported to be 

 suffering much from want of rain ; in other parts of the 

 province they are fair. Oil-seeds and pulses are being 

 harvested, and sugarcane is being pressed with an average 

 yield. In Assam the prospects of the winter crops 

 continue good, and harvesting has begun in some places. 

 The rice harvest is over in British Burma, and the prices 

 of paddy are favourable. 



Small pox continues generally prevalent, and cholera is 

 severe in the Tanjore district of the Madras Presidency ; 

 there is some cholera also in Hyder.Tba(l. Bengal, and 

 Burma in a sporadic form. Prices are stationary, but' high 

 inBengal. 



JlADiiAS. — General prospects good. 



British Buema.— Twenty-five fatal cases of small-pox in 

 Rangoon ; some cholera in Tharrawaddy and Thongwa ■ 

 slight cattle-disease in Prome, Thongwa, and Thayetniyo' 

 otherwise public health and health of cattle good : harvest 

 practically over. 



Assam (Gaohati.)— Weather getting warm ; harvesting 

 of sali crops nearly finished ; pubHc health fair. 



BoxEDUST.— The great value and productiveness of bone- 

 dust as a manure was exemplified by the various cxhibts 

 made by Mr. E. Thome, of Bulimba, at the late summer 

 show. Aided by this fertiliser, he has made the indiffer- 

 ent forest soil of Carina rival the better soils elsewhere 

 in the production of immense kohl rabi, swede turnips 

 iroubark punipkius, cabbages, and custard marrows, for 

 each of which he succeeded in winning fhst prize— several 

 of which were not included in our prize-list published at 

 the time of the show. Five kohlrabi (turnip-rooted cab- 

 bages) weighed h cwt., and some fresh imphee fuUy 8 ft 

 long was sho\vn, grown by the aid of Booth's bonedust. 

 There is nothing equal to facts iu settling doubts and' 

 difficulties, and it gives us great pleasure to draw our 

 farming friends' attention to this fertiliser, for we have 

 for many years contended that for general use its cannot 

 be ."surpa.ssed. It is not .so prompt in its action a when 

 prepared with sulphuric acid and made into superphos- 

 phate of lime, but it is much more lasting, its effects 

 being plainly seen on crops after several years. It has 

 always been our conviction that bonedust was a more 

 valuable and legitimate fertiliser than guano, and in one 

 respect it has invariably shown its superiority over that 

 highly stimulating manure by steadily increasing the fertility 

 of the laud to which it has been applied. A dressing of 

 from 3 cwt. to 6 cwt. per acre is a liberal one, and all cultiv- 

 ators may safely calculate upon a very reininu-rative return 

 in the form of crops for its uae.—Queeiui/aMUi: 



