204 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[September i, 1883. 



like toilay, if the weather had been to our ordering 

 wilh the result of oven 3 cwt an acre " set" all round ; 

 would the crops ever have ripened up and if not could 

 we have blamed abnormal weather ? I think not. 

 From the causes already uoticed the treea are in such a 

 sickly and weakened condition that the slightest change 

 in weather visibly aflecta them ; hence undue stress 

 is laid on it. Plai\tcrs of over ten years' standing 

 will remember how little it disturbed us when heavy 

 rain fell ou our blossoms ! ! Eliminate the other 

 factors onuiueruted, as forming the combination I 

 have been referring to, and less will be beard about 

 abnormal seasons and the "bogy fungus." 



I may be told that, but for the latter, most 

 estates would still have been remuuer.itive, my com- 

 bination notwithstanding, ;ind there may be some truth 

 iu tlie remark. But, even if that were so, it is no 

 sufficient reason why we should follow the advice of 

 croakers or slide along unintelligibly waiting for some- 

 thing to turn up. Let us rather follow the tacUos 

 of the good soldier who, findiug that his direct attacks 

 on the enemy's position but end in disaster to him- 

 self, searclies out other means of overcoming him ; 

 such as bribiof! his allies, and taking advantage of 

 weak points iu his armour. Suppose we deprive 

 our insidious enemy of his numerous allies, the most 

 prominent of which I have tried to describe (perhaps 

 somewhat confusedly), we then draw his fangs and 

 render his attacks innoxuous. In short, vfe must 

 adopt an improved method of cultivation to that which 

 has been jieiieral for the past six years, and coffee 

 will, for a long time to come, hold its own against 

 any of the other prodacts. That does not mean, 

 however, that it will prove suflicieut to raise the pre- 

 sent race of involved nominal proprietors out of their 

 difficulties, nor am I aware that I have at any time 

 indicated that my- solution comprised that. Most of 

 us know what a few years of good croj)3 and high 

 prices can do. I doubt not that a large proportion 

 could pull through, given three consecutive years of 

 5 cwts. an acre with coffee at ICO/, the former being 

 within reach of manj', and the latter on the cards. 



DIOGENES. 



TBA IN THE LOWCOUNTEY ON SOIL 

 LONG UNIIER CULIIVATION. 



4th August 1SS3. 



Dear Sib, — It may interest you and your readers 

 to know that the tea reported in your last sale list 

 as C M (in diamond), 12 half-cheets pekoe, Is 5d, 

 was the bulk tea from a small field of about 5 acres 

 iu the lowcoiiutry and not 50 feet above sea-level. 

 The tea is planted on old land tliat had been 15 

 veai-s in cultivation, and as it took 24 months to get 

 in the 12 half-chests referred to, so the price must be 

 considered very good. 



Had ttie parcel been a larger one it would doubt- 

 less have aiveu ft higher price per lb.— Yours truly, 

 ^ A NAYIKIG. 



g_ p. The tea is in ita fourth year now and is 



giving nearly 41J0 lb. per acre at present. —N. A. 



[Tlio iufoimation is interesting, notwithstanding the 

 barbarous signature and the absence of the name of 

 the locality. Why should there be any secret made 

 about so successful au experiment?— Ed.] 



COFFEE LEAF-DISEASE EXPERIMENTS. 

 Dimbula, August 4tb, 1S83. 

 Dear Sik, — During the past six months I have been 

 trying my hand on the everlasting leaf-disease ; all 

 tlio remedies I have applied tended to purify the 

 tainted sap which I believed to be the cause of the 

 malady and of which I am now all l)ut certain, but 

 as the cause is of not much importance providing 

 the remedies put crop on the trees, and of tliis there 



can be no doubt, as I am going to show, and to 

 come as near to the truth as possible, I have weighed 

 one ounce of i>archment coffee and flud it coutaius 

 SO beans or 40 berries, I count d 440 berries on one 

 of my trees which would be very nearly at the rate 

 of 10 cwt to the acre, but the trees are still throw- 

 ing out healthy blossom and berry, so that I can't 

 say what the ultimate turnout will be, but it looks 

 very niueli like 12 cwt au acre and possibly mora 

 and reminds me of the ton an acre I had ou Maha- 

 tenno estate some thirty years ago whereas ou other 

 trees in the same field there is scarcely a bean to 

 be seen. 



When the remedies have had full time to act and 

 the trees time to bear, I will let you know the final 

 result,— Yours faithfully, J. IIAWKE. 



SALES OF TEA AND AVERAGE PWCES. 



14th August 18S3. 

 Dear Sir, — With reference to the para, under "Notes 

 and Comments" in your issue of 13th instant, regard- 

 ing average prices realized at recent sales of Ceylon 

 teas I would point out that in giving prominence to 

 the Windsor Forest break you are doing inju.stice to 

 other estates which in the same sale have done better. 

 I m.-iy mention the following averages to prove my 

 assertion : — 



Sembawatte ... 118 chests Is 8d. 



Mariawatte 84 ,, Is 6|d. 



Blackwater 35 ,, Is 6Jd. 



Wimisor Forest ,,, 252 ,, Is 0|d. 



I agree with you that the price realized for Windsor 

 Forest reflects great credit on the superintendent, and it 

 therefore follows that the better jjrices realized by the 

 other estates reflects still greater credit on the supor- 

 intendeuts in charge of them. This is not the first 

 occasion, and I hope it won't be the last on which 

 Sembawatte has topped the list of averages realized 

 for both Indinn and Ceylon teas, and I consider the 

 superintendent is entitled to rank first in your edit- 

 orial commendation until such time as he is also over- 

 topped, and may that, time come to pass very soon is 

 the desire of, yours faithfully, 



HONOR TO WHOM HONOR IS DUE. 



I ag:iin agree with you, that the Windsor Forest 



2.52 chests is a birge break, but probably is not the 



produce of one estate or the manufacture of one month 



is in the case of the two first-mentioned estates. — 



P. Q. M. F. 

 [We especially mentioned that it was according to 

 " quantity " we gave Windsor Forest the palm : for 

 initauce if any part of the " break " is taken, we 

 might put Windsor Forest with S6 chests for an 

 average over 29. — Ed.] 



OVER-PLUCKING OF TEA BUSHES. ' 

 Colombo, 15th August 1S83. . 



Dear Sir. — There seems lately to have been a 

 growing impression that the system of weekly pluck- 

 ing and taking olf very young ,'hoots is being carried 

 to an extreme poiut ou many tea estates in Ceylon 

 now, the proprietors and superintendents looking only 

 to gettiug a large yield of tine tea at present, to 

 the damage and, perhaps, ruin of the trees iu some 

 cases, in a j-ear or two. 



I have met several of our leading tea men lately, 

 and without exception t'ley all condemued the hard 

 style of plucking that has been recently practised 

 on many estates, more especially the picking the 

 lateraU rotmtl the hushes dow/i almost to the ground, 

 which they said will inevitably ruin the trees. 



Litely a Calcutta "tea mau " visited Ceylon (I 

 was told), for the express purpose of advancing on 

 and investing in Ceylon tea ; but, on seeing the tea 

 plucked ill the style referred to in the first and onyl 



