Jtjlv 2, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



39 



several points — so aa to afford the needful example. 

 Agri-Horticultural Shows have done a great deal for 

 the British farmer aad there is no reason why they 

 should not do much for Sinhalese and Tamil farmers. 

 We do not mean "Headmen's" E.thibitions such as 

 those held spasmodically in Colombo; but much less 

 pretentious gatherings which, if held near to every 

 Kachcheri in the island where the farmers might really 

 gee for themselves, could not fail to do good. — Ed.] 



AN ABxVORMAL BLOSSOMING SEASON AGAIN 



THE CAUSE OF SHORT COFFEE CROPS IN 

 THE HIGH DISTRICTS OF CEYLON. 

 Del Rey, Bogawantalawa, June 8th, 1883. 



Sir, — I can fully confirm " W. D. B." '3 remarks, 

 in your issue of the 16th instant, so far at least as 

 this district is concerned. I have never noticed during 

 the 50-called "fine weather" in any previous jc'ir so 

 great an absence of direct, hot sunshine and so 

 much prsvalence of partially clouded or gray skies. 



Tiie mean shade temperature this year is again a little 

 below that of last year, and this is especially marked 

 in the fneaus of the maximum temperature for each 

 mouth. While wo have not had much more rainfall 

 than •U8u;J, the rain has been more evenly distributed, 

 that is we have had fewer "breaks' of quite rainless 

 weather than usual, and (as I said above) these were 

 " breaks" of fair rather than fiiM weather. I have felt 

 no really hot weather here until that which we have 

 just had between the 10th and 25th May : the fine 

 weather at the end of February was not hot enougli 

 to dry up more than the mere surface of the soil. 



Under theie circumstances, with the soil sodden with 

 tho excessive wet and cold of last year, it is little 

 j woTiJer that t'ae treei have not been able to blos- 

 som better than they have done. 



In addition to this, on most estates here rain fell 

 heavily on the only really good blossom we had with 

 the result that but little of it has set. On two or three 

 estates where the blossom escaped the rain it has 

 Bet well. 



In fact I cannot recall a more unfavourable season 

 here for cofifee than that of the past twelve mouths. 

 I agree with "W. D. B." in believing that on all 

 good estates cofifee will again prove remunerative when 

 the present cycle of cold and wet seasons has come 

 to at) end. 



I subjoin an abstract of rainfall and thermometer 

 results for the past 5 months, a comparison of which 

 with the results sent you previously will confirm what 

 I have said. — I remain, sir, yours, etc., 



GILES F. WALKER. 



Thermometer. 



Ib83. Meau. Mean. Mean. 

 Alax. Min. 

 o _ o o 



January 69*6 .56'1 63'S 



February 71-3 51-6 629 



ILirch 72'7 nh-6 64-2 



April 74-1 57'7 65-9 



May 73-7 61-3 67-5 



G. F, W. 



THE FIRST TEA IN DOLOSBAGE, YAKDESSA 

 AND DIMBULA 



[The following letter has been found amongst our 

 papers, and, aj we believe it was never published, we 

 now give it as a contribution to the history of tea 

 in Ceylon. The wr tnr, who is about to leave Ceylon, 

 has recently published another letter on the same subect 

 — Eu.] 



Beaconsfield Estate, Maskeliya, Uth July 1879. 



Deae Sir, — I see your luck is up about the Do- 

 losbage tea, and no wonder, and I shall send you 

 a, few facts that may console you, as I happen to 



know the oldest tea in Dimbula and Yakdessa, next 

 door to Windsor Forest. The oldest tea in Yakdessa 

 is on old Nagastenne, and tlie oldest tea in Dimbula 

 is on old Radella, Liudula. In both cases the busbea 

 must be over 30 years old, and any one interested 

 in the future of tea in Dimbuia and Dolosbage would 

 do well to visit the districts first before jumping at 

 conclusions.- They will then have an idea what like 

 Dimbula and Dolosbage may be 30 years hence. The 

 Nagastenne tea is oidy about 10 minutes' walk from 

 Stow EiSton bungalow, aud the Kadella tea on the road- 

 side going up to upper Radella ; in both cases 

 growing on old abandoned lands. I must say that 

 the Radella bush is the finest, largest, oldest 

 and best that I have ever seen, aud the last time 

 I went to show a gentleman interested in tea the 

 old abandoned tea in Nagastenne iu 1874 it was 

 still in life, and what took my fancy to it, when I first 

 saw it in 1870, wns that it was flourishing, aud, though 

 it had been at one time surrounded by cuffee, the coffee 

 was nowhere to be seen, but the tea bad a sprinkling of 

 seed on it, which I got gathered and secured, aud put 

 Into a nursery on Horagalla, and which came up 

 splendidly. When opening up Seaforth iu 1872, I ex- 

 perimented on 2 acres near my hut, lines and cattle 

 shed, with the tea plant?, and in each pit or hole I 

 planted a tea plant and a coffee j laut. The result was that 

 the tea plants took possessiin, and eventually killed 

 out the coffee plants ; at the same time the plants throve 

 most luxuriantly. In 1873 I secured as many '••lants from 

 seed from old Nagastenne, iind plautccl up ot.'ier 5acres 

 on Seaforth, aud, alth. ugh planted ou the worst piece of 

 soil, the only piece of patna ou the estate, people 

 were astonished at their growth, and ayounggeutkui.iii, 

 who had just returned from Darjiling, who was sent 

 there to learn the art and science of tea plant- 

 ing, on being brought down hy my visiting agent 

 or Periya Durai iu 1S74, to give his opinion, at the first 

 sight pronounced my tea clearing plants hybrids of the 

 first water. I told him that ho might change his 

 mind after seeing the mother-plants in old Na- 

 gastenne, and that, if ho was game for a Walk, I offered 

 to take him and show the old tea, aud we went ; but when 

 he saw the old bushes, he was rather disappointed, 

 and at once put them down as a very low caste of China 

 tea. I asked the same young gentleman how they 

 cultivated in Dirjiling." Oh," he said, "when they can't 

 clear the tea properly from weeds, they knock them 

 down, now aud again." This will let you see how 

 people may be taken in, coming from a tea district, 

 wliere shuck cultivation might be carried ou, although 

 their tea bushes might be of a very high caste of 

 hybrid or indigenous.* 



Dolosbage is a forcing climate aud no mistake, 

 and I shall give you an instance of the forcing 

 growth it can produce. I put iu a nursery of over 

 3 acres of tea seed from Darjiling, 64 mauuds, 

 h.vbrids and iudigenous. I finished putting in the 

 seed ou the 29th December 1874, aud on the loth 

 May 1875 I had over 9 acres planted with plants 

 from the same nursery. The nursery was put in ou 

 St. Rumbolds on the riverside, elevation about 2,300. 

 It was a great success, although put in in a most 

 trying time, the hottest part of the year. 



Another advantage planters have ou that side is 

 this :— In 1875, when 1 was burniug off a large clear- 

 ing on Seaforth, the fire got into old Palampittia and 

 burnt off a portion of the old place below the road, 

 going towards KandalOya. About 3 acres of tlie same 

 I planted for an experiment, and when I returned 

 from home in 1877 I went and had a look at the 

 same. I was delighted with the appearance of the 

 plants : they are A 1. The only thing that spoiled the 

 look of the strip : it had not been supplied. 



* Not very clear. — Ed, 



