October i,-i883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



257 



By machine-witheiiiig 1,600 lb. leaf 2 coolies 

 BoUing do 3 



Fii'ins &c. 3 



Total.. 



8 



Saving in labour at 4001b. of tea .50 coolies. This 



JfeaUy represents a sa^'ing of 7j ceuts per lb, 

 or tlie roller saves 3? coolies aofl the Sirocco 13 coolies 

 at 4H0 111. tea. To aid iu working the Sirocco, I make any 

 labor not carrying in loaf, carry in a log of firewood 

 every evening, which one coolie can cut up for the Sirocco. 



The Factory should be roomy and have as much light as 

 possible. All green leaf, whether witheriog, or being rolled 

 should be shut oft from the firing, sorting, packing and 

 store-room, or it collects dust, etc. Kveu wit'i a Wirocco, 

 we should be provided with stoves, ready for charcoal 

 firing, in case of accident. Cleanliness must prevail from 

 rafter to floor. Our coffee stores, when too largo for our 

 crop as at present, can be at a small expense turned into 

 a suitable factory, a portion being walled oft' for om- coffee 

 crop. 



Land can be opened, not including purchase of course, 

 at the following rates per acre for the fii-st year: — Jungle 

 E80, patai.a E50, and coffee E40 to E.50. Coffee should be 

 uprooted when tea is at 1 to 1^ years old, unless it has 

 on it sufficient crop to make it worth while leaving it. Tea 

 at three years of age will prevent coffee giving sufficient 

 crop to pay, and will eventually kill it out, so the two 

 cannot be grown side by side. Oofteo, when uprooted, may 

 be stacked with advantage for firewood or charcoal. 'We 

 can grow umony our tea to advantage, according to elev- 

 ation, taking care not to overcrowd it, 0. officinalis, (best 

 of all, as it gives no shade to speak of, and thrives better 

 among tea than in the open), small-leafed Robusta and 

 Ledger, the upkeep is nil, harvesting being the only e.xpense 

 after planting. We can grow with tea to a larye samny of ex- 

 penditure in both, coffee or cocoa according to elevation. And 

 let us aim, with tea as our mamstiiy to grow .all the products 

 the elevation of om- garden will allow of, with it. " Ex- 

 penentia doctt.^^ 



And now, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I tiust bring this 

 somewhat lengthy p.aper to an end. I have endeavoured 

 througout tobeas concise as possible.aud have, necessarily, not 

 been able enter into many minor details and "dodges " 

 known to the tea pkauter. I trust, howeve-, I have for- 

 gotten nothing useful, and that the practical experiences 

 of a " Oeylon-gro\Mr tea planter " may, however lamely put 

 before you, be of some benefit to you. We have all of us 

 suffered during the past few years, but I can assure you, 

 gentlemen, that I for one feel the turning-point is now 

 at hand, and that never since the fii'st coffee estate was 

 opened in Ceylon has there been such a future as is now 

 before us : lastinq prosperity in our many products, anu)ng 

 which coffee shall not be the least. 



C, Spearman Abmstkono. 

 Eookwood, 24th Aug.. 1883. 



Mr, Shan'd, rising to propose a vote of thanks to 

 Mr, Armstrong for his paper, said that, as many 

 had cime from a distance to hear Mr. Armstrong, 

 and as he saw signs of homeward movement iu the 

 room, he would ask them before they went away 

 to join hira iu passing a cordial vote of thanks 

 to Mr, Armstrong for the instructive paper he 

 had just read to tliem. Mr. Armstrong was a 

 pure Ceylon tea-planter ; he had never been in 

 " India, he had carried out for himself a profes- 

 sion, and the practical paper he had read to them 

 today was the result of several years of incessant 

 mental and physical appliofition, which tliey must be 

 glad to hear were crowned with success, Tlioae who 

 like himself, had visited Rookwood, had seen how, 

 step by step, Mr, Armstrong had conquered those 

 difficulties inseparable from pioneering, and those who 

 had not visitPtl Riokwood at all events knew Rook- 

 wood tea, to which <;old medals and other honors 

 bad been deservedly .Twarded. Long might Mr. 

 Armstrong move among them to contribute to their 

 instruction as he had done ti.lay, and to his own sub- 



stantial advantage, as his paper clearly proved he 

 was doing. 



The Chairman brieiJy seconded the vote of thanks 



and the meeting endorsed it unanimously. ' 



Coffee and other Products . 



The Chairiian next read Mr. Kelly's resolution • 



"That this meeting is of opinion, that it is expedient 

 to introduce new products to all portions of properties 

 unsuitable to the remunerative cultivation of coffee but 

 deems it of the highest importance to give the 'most 

 carefid attention to the cidtivation of all good coffee 

 having faith iu its profitable cultivation." ' 



Ml-. Kelly in speaking to his resolution said that 

 so much having been said on the subject, he would not 

 refer to his reason for bringing it fonvard. It had been 

 before them in print for some days, and they had had 

 ample time to consider it and vote according to theii- 

 candid impressions. He had now been out jTist twelve 

 months after an absence of some six years and he 

 thought he was competent to express an opinion, Hav- 

 ing been constantly asked his views of the future of 

 coffee on his first arrival he was always most chary of 

 then giving an opinion, though from what he heard 

 on his fu-st landing he confessed he was aoreeablv 

 surprised when ho got upcountiy. He remembered 

 that he was addressmg the Dikoya Association and 

 therefore his remarks were confined to Dikoya coffee 

 He had known, and been connected with the district for 20 

 years, and he found on liis retm-n twelve months ago fields 

 of coffee all over the district looking qtute as well 

 as when he leff, it in 1875, He did not, nor did 

 any sane man, for one mouient d ny the ravages 

 of leaf-disease, especially in wind blown portions of 

 the estates, but he did say that there was still a 

 very large quantity of coffee on almost every estate 

 comprising in tlie aggregate a large area whibh would 

 well repiiy care and cultivation ami still pay well 

 It was, iu his opinion ab.=urd, and far too early 

 days to say tlia*: coffee was done, but let him read 

 them a lew figures from the Chamber of Cummeroe 

 report for August •22nd for the commercial year endincr 

 September. He added one-twelfth for the month 0I 

 September. Here we had a proiable 



250,000 owt, coffee valued at R40 f,o,b....RIO,000 000 



7,000,000 lb cinchona bark ,, .SO cts. JJ lb 2 100 000 



1,400,000 lb tea ,, .50 „ .;.' ' 700 000 



1.5,000 tone coconut oil ,, K.3.S0 per ton 4 95o'ooo 



13,600 plumbago ,, 85 ,, l^lSo'oOO 



4,780 tons c(>pper.4h ,, 150 ,, 717000 



1,117,000 lb, cinnamon ... @50ots... SSs's.SO 



RIO, 205,830 

 or in other word.s, this, the shortest crop ever exported 

 from this island was vulued at only K20.'i,8.30 less 

 than all the other principal articles of export put 

 togethi-r. He was therefore a rash man who would 

 decUre our old friend dead. While urging the oonservin» 

 of all good coffee, he heartily advocated bringing in 

 new products, especially T.-a, after the very encour- 

 aging paper just read to them by Mr. Armstrong. He 

 thoii^ht many had made a great mistake in prantina 

 cinchona promiscuously through tlieir coffee in good 

 and bad alike. Hd was satisfied from his own ex- 

 perience that it nuiterially affected the yield of the 

 coffee. He said to all, pratect and care for your 

 good coffee, you have many portions of your estate 

 which from aspect or climate do not give you a pro- 

 fitable return in coffee such as south-west f.aces. 

 Plant them up, plant ihera closer than hitherto with 

 cinchona, tea, etc. and thus do not waste the re- 

 turn of yoiu- profitahle coffee on the unprofitable, but 

 go into other products. They bad the experii'nce of 

 Mr. Walker, who had told them th.at during his obser- 

 vations he had never known so low a temperature 



