38 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[JXJIY 2, 1883. 



from Ceylon." This was stated in 1832, and, though 

 fifty yeara ago hare elapsed, it has not yet become 

 aD article of commerce and never will be unless the 

 Government initiate a practical scberae, spending a 

 fair and liberal sura in doing so — a sum which will 

 be insignificant compared to the ultimate gain in 

 direct and indirect revenue the trade in this article 

 will yield. The price in Europe varies from £5 to 

 £13 per cwt. according to quality. As to there being 

 two kinds of goraka, it is a mistnke. There are a3 

 many varieties as regards shape of leaf, color of 

 flower and fruit, and sLiape, size and flavor of fruit, 

 as there are of mangoes, plantains and all other 

 fruit. The varieties hardly deserve botanical distinc- 

 tions. The coarse gamboge sold in the baztars is 

 not whai is collected in Ceylou but is imported from 

 Southern India. What ia collected in the island is 

 never sold. It is used sometimes by the Buddhist 

 priests to dye their robes, a mixture with sapan dye, 

 giving thus brownish-ytllow or yellowy brown which 

 distinguishes the robes of the Amarapura sect of priests. 

 It ia nsed also to color mats, for painting walking 

 sticks, i=i;ears and bones, doors and w;:.IU of temples, 

 &o. The mangosteen { Mangostana cambogia) belongs 

 to the same or similar family, and from the riud of 

 the green fruit particularly the gamboge flows 

 abundantlj on mere pressure. There are some of the 

 Ceylou gorakas yielding fruit quite as delicious for 

 eating as the mangosccan,* The h"alf-ripe rikd of 

 some of the Ceylon varieties is dried and sold in 

 the bazaars for pickling fish with. It has a peculiar 

 shurp acid flavor. There is a variety grown in fruit 

 gardens known a^ the rata (foreign) goraka. The 

 iruit is quite yellow when ripe and like the mango- 

 teen round «ith a smooth surface, but the rind is 

 soft, not leathery or rough. The seeds of this kind 

 are like the uiangosteen and goraka covered with 

 a pulp not white but yellow in color, and, though 

 sweet, quite different in flavour from that of the 

 mangosteen or goraka. The tree resembles the man- 

 gosteen but is smaller in size. The leaves are as 

 large but of a darker greeu and with a greater 

 droop. Can this be the Garchiia Hanburii of Siam ? 

 It is not a favourite fruit. When ripening it is 

 picked and pickled in vinegar, tbe seeds being re- 

 moved and the fruit stuffed with other pickled fruit, 

 &c., finely chopp'^d. Ir seems that the goraka 

 was considered of siich little value that immenae 

 numbers have been felled from private and crown 

 lands and supplied to th- r.iilway as fuel. Measures 

 should be taken to stop this wasteful destruction. 

 As regards the mode of collection, it is very doubtful 

 if the stick gamboge is collected by bamboos being 

 placed below incisions in the tree for the liquid to 

 flow into. The liquid exudes very slowly and dries 

 too soon to flow. The peculiar marks in the stick 

 gamboge is attributed to the inner formation of the bam boo 

 in which it is collected, but I am inclined to think 

 it is the result of the daily additions of the semi-dried 

 liquid put'in as soon as it is scraped otf from tbe tree. 

 The few natives who gather it do exactly as was de- 

 scribed by Colonel aufi Mrs. Walker in 1839. A piece 

 of bark from the trunk, about the size of the palm 

 of the hand, is cut off and the resin scraped off it next 

 morning. By boiling the leaves, the rind of the green 

 fruit, &c. , a gamboge, interior only as a coloring 

 matter, is obtained, but with care and using the scraped 

 and clean bark only, gamlioge as a dye-pigment ought 

 to be obtained in this way too. The goraka tree is 

 now scarce in the Central Province owing to their 

 destruction when the forests were felled for coffee. 

 But countless numhers yet remain in tbe island along 

 the western coast from nortb to south. It would 



* Some of the goraka fruits nee exceedingly nice, but 

 there is always some acid, while the mangosteeu is delici- 

 ously sweet. — Ed. 



be difficult for Europeans to set about collecting the 

 gam bilge, aa the trees are so scattered over the 

 country. A group of 5 to 10 trees together in a plot ia 

 rarely found. 



Cinchona thefts are no doubt mostly perpetrated 

 by the thieves of other classes and instigated by a 

 large number of the lowcountry Sinhalese and Moors 

 who are squatters in the villages bordering estates. 

 These men prospered when coffee was king and 

 traded in coffee, were owners and lessors of coffee 

 gardens or general boutique-keepers. If the trade in 

 gamboge is opened up a large number of these men 

 would prefer returning to their homes and earning a 

 less profitable but a less precarious and more honest 

 livelihood. The Government should initiate the collec- 

 tion and open a market. If the Government Agents 

 fancy that by merely imparting information to bead- 

 men they will open up a new trade they are very 

 much mistaken. They may even go further and indnce 

 headmen to bring in samples which will find their 

 way to museu-ms and shows, but there the matter will 

 end. In the first place a sum should be specially 

 voted ; intelligent and responsible persons of tbe 

 country emp'oyetl to visit one of 4 or 5 villages as 

 " centres" with the aid of headmen and a small gaug 

 of village coolies set to wovk collecting gamboge, 

 givirg practical instructions S;c. The headmen should 

 be warned to co-operate, making them understand that 

 their promotion depends on th ir efforts and trouble 

 in such matttrs, aud to those whose village collects 

 unusually large quantities, special promotion aud 

 bonuses should be given as incentives to others. The 

 whole body of collectors of each village shoald be 

 requested to appear with whatever they gathered by 

 certain dates at the Kachcheri or other appointed 

 places. Th' produce of each individual collector should 

 be Weighed and the value paid to him and into his 

 hands. Halt the European market rate will enable 

 Government to recoup themselves for tbe outlay in 

 carrying out the scheme. If the villagers were paid as 

 suggested, they woul return to their homes aud act like 

 leaven, stimulated with the few rupees so earned, and 

 the whole loivcountry would be up and doing. Sup- 

 posing the scheme fail, the loss would not be such 

 as to ruin the country. Have not a few thousands 

 been spent on useless commissions, e. g. cattle murrain 

 commission, &c. and abortive irrigation schemes ? 

 There is no reason to doubt of success. No precari- 

 ous cultivation is needed or loss of time. It is a 

 mere matter of harvesting. The first twelve months' 

 produce can be publicly sold from time to time in 

 Colombo as the Government cinchona used to be, or 

 exported for sale to Europe to enable European and 

 native merchants here to aecertain its value outside 

 and induce them to go into the trade. Ultimately 

 the trees in the forests can be farmed by the Go- 

 vernment and a direct revenue obtained. A small 

 export tax can be, if needed, added. I can imagine 

 some high officials in the revenue line wishing at 

 once to begin with licenses. They will by doing so 

 stamp out every chance of its becomiu); a merchant- 

 able commodity. After a year or so, if proper meas- 

 ures are taken to ensure success, the Government 

 can leive the mattter to public enterprize. Agricult- 

 ural shows all round the year, for the next fifty 

 years, will do as much gond as a drop of water iu the 

 ocean. Something of course, but " mighty little." 

 What is wanted are practical schemes with a liberal 

 outlay " an ounce of exumple is worth more than a 

 pound of precept." The money acquired by nativ^es in 

 produce wUl find a healthy circulation in the island 

 and not out of it. — Yours faithfully, 



W. PROWETT FERDINANDS. 



[We differ from our correspondent about the effect 

 of District Shows, wbich however, ought to be com- 

 bined with model gardens — already established at 



