August i, 1883,] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



J47 



I trust my numerous friends will not think It pre- 

 sumption of me, if I, iu a few words, note down 

 the impressions made on me, during my late flying 

 visit upcountry, premising beforehand that-I am not 

 a practical planter, but have merely gleaned my 

 views from what I have seen both here and iu Java, 

 so that I make suggestions and put forward my 

 opiuions with all due diffidence. 



Since visiting Ceylon in 1879, cofiee has continued 

 to suffer from the terrible //. V., and planters 

 having turned to cincliona, only to meet with dis- 

 appointment in the majority of cases, are now pin- 

 ning their faith on tea, and it is of these three 

 articles therefore that I propose to write. Of cofiee 

 I would merely state that looking back to October 

 last, when I was in the Pussellawa district, and com- 

 paring its state then, witli wliat I saw this time, I 

 cannot help thinking that I do see an improvement 

 aud that where the estates are given a chauco the 

 trees are looking healthier and more vigorous, and 

 leaf disease is showiut; signs of disappearing, or 

 rather of being checked. Going on to UJapussellawa 

 and Uva, I saw this more plainly, while in Haputale 

 there was little or no disease observable, so tliat I 

 should not be suiprized if, in time, you get rid of 

 it altogether, at any rate in the younger districts, 

 where tlie soil is not so worked out. There is one 

 tiling, which your planters here do not seem to 

 set so much store by, and which I would strongly 

 advocate, and that is, the system of " atr" -holes, as 

 we call them in Java — a name more appropriate, 

 methinks, lia\'ing regard to their object, than that 

 you employ liere namely, " waler^'-holes These we 

 make 2 feet deep by two long and ten inclies or so 

 broad, between every four plants, filliug them with 

 dead leaves, twigs, &c , which serve as a natural 

 manure, while the bottom soil is spread over the 

 tiehl aud tends materially to keep doHii weeds and 

 our enemy the " alang-alang " or "lalang " grass, your 

 " illook." With us they cost about R'2 the lUO, and we 

 adopt them freely in cinchona and tea plantations 



Regarding cinchona, I nmst confess 1 was not pre- 

 pared to hear such gloomy accounts, for in 1S7!), I 

 do not recollect liearing of canker. I have no desire 

 to enter into a dissertation as to tlie causes of this 

 diseased or "dampuig out," as 1 have heard it called; 

 broadly spealung. 1 think we may take it for granted 

 that poorness or exhaustion of soil is chiefly at the hot 

 tom of it. In Java such wholesale dying out is un- 

 known but then we have soil such as cannot bedreamt of 

 here, where yours is granitic as against ours, volcanic. 



I think that your want of success has been due chiefly 

 to the quality of the soil, but I feel convinced that 

 with more attention to your seed, being sure that the 

 same is from matured trees, and more care with your 

 nurseries, not behig in too great a hurry to put out 

 puny weakly plants, your failures would not come 

 up to 60 per cent, as I am told they do all 

 round, whilst proper holing and not mere dibbling 

 is with us considered a " sine qua non. " We iu .Java 

 can afford the waiting game, for we can depend on 

 our soil supporting trees to a g' od old age: henee we 

 do not attempt to shave our trees so young as you 

 do, nor do \\e lop them, until the brandies are 

 matured, wliieh theu form our first crop. We plant 

 closely — generally four by four, — thin out as required, 

 and only sliavc when the trees are six or seven years 

 old Mr. Van Uomunde. successor of Mr. Moeus, ad- 

 vocates only shaving half round the ono year, lialf 

 the next, and giving the tree a rest the third year, 

 and his idea is that old trees may be sawn down to 

 al)Out sixteen feet, shaving being carried up to twelve 

 or tliir.een feet, thus leaving a bare pole, from which one 

 shoulJ allow two suckers to shoot, to be cropped when 

 seemed lit. You howe\- er in Ceylon, with your soil, are 



I think wise in adoptingyour present system of " sweat- 

 ing" the ground or taking as much entofitiii a short 

 space of time as possible, apart from all monetary 

 considerations. There is one thing, however, not to 

 be overlooked, and that is the future of cinchona 

 cultivation, and I think there can be no doubt, that, 

 in view of the enormous production looming in the 

 distance, an estate of the very best kinds only will, 

 in the face of low prices, prove remunerative, and 

 it should therefore be everybody's endeavour to pro- 

 pagate from seedlings or cuttings of tried and duly 

 analyzed trees of the ledger, verde and other ap- 

 proved types, employing the succirubra, Iiybrid aud 

 others sorts as means for providing the sinews of 

 war. Where ledgers or other sor s, rich in sulphate 

 of quinine, I mtan of 10 per cent and over, will U"t 

 grow so as to form a permaneat plantation I would 

 not advise anyoue to to go on with cmchona cultiv- 

 ation, and when talking of the above good kinds I 

 would point out that liybrids between succirubra and 

 ledger, found amo'g ledger seedlings, have been found 

 to contain 10 to 12 per cent sulphate of quinine, so that 

 while possessing the robustness of the one they have 

 been blessed with tlie richness of the other. Of these 

 hybrids, you must surely also have specimens among 

 j'our Yarrow and other ledger seedlings to be brought 

 to light only on analyses, in which direction we all 

 have to work, if we want to do any good iu the 

 long-run. AVhile on the subject of ledger, I may 

 mention what is not generally kno\vn here, that one 

 can tell the superiority in a tree by the acute angle 

 the twigs or branches form in shooting, from the 

 stem, the acuter, the angle, the richer, the tree, and 

 vice versa. Of tea, I have but little to say, beyond 

 tho i^leasuve it has given me to learn of its success. 

 It will stand a poor soil, so has a better chance of 

 life in played-out coffee es'ates than cinchona. .Still I 

 would advocate the air-holes already allued to. Tea 

 costs the pl.auters iu .lava if I am not mistaken lOd 

 a lb. to sell all round — anytliing under that leaving 

 them a loss. — I am, etc., O. P. T. 



Australian Trees ON the Nilciris. — Dr. Brandis, 

 tlie Inspector General of Forests, wrote ,as follows 



', in a nute to Goverumeut in M-ay 1SS2 :^" The 

 plantations of Australian trees on the Nilgiris now 

 cover a considerable area, and some of them have 

 been already cut over. The oldest of these plant- 

 ations date back as far as 1857, aud, considering the 

 extremely rapiil growth of the Blue-gum and the 

 large Accacia, it is time now that the rate of growth, 

 and tables of growing stock per acre, at different 

 ages, be drawn up. These tables must be based upon 

 the examination in detail of most of the existing plant- 

 ations on the plateau, and they will furnish data for 

 estimating the outturn of thinnings, and the final 

 crop at different ages. The enquiries which must 

 be made for this purpose will probably also lead to 

 clearer views regarding tho principles by which 

 thinnings, the formation, and the treatment of these 

 plantations generally should be regulated. It will 

 dou'tlcss be found necessary, sooner or later, con- 

 siderably to extend these plantations on the plateau, 

 aud the results, which the enquiiies here suggested 

 will furnish, will be found useful in arranging these 

 operations in a systematic manner." The Govern- 

 ment of Madras concurred with Dr. Brandis in these 

 views, and the services of Mr. Hutehiui", of the Mj'sore 



I Forest Department, were made available for this duty. 

 He devoted 4i months to the work, aud luas sub- 

 mitted to (iovernment a moat exhaustive report, 

 which ciintain full details of the niethod.f adopted 

 and the results. These include reliable d.ata iis to 

 the average aunual increment per acre or individual 

 tree, and the reducing factor necessary for calc- 

 ulating the same.— .v. /. Obxei-m-. 



