26o 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[October i, 1883 



nevr product had been fairly launched that daj', and 

 it was a good omen for its future that this had been done 

 without a aiuyle sceptic note having been sounded agaiust 

 it. But he woukl have them bBware of Mr. Kelly's 

 resolution, aud the overtun-s he made to tea. They 

 were told to plant tlieir tea r.n their blown ritlfies 

 and a'^audoned cofifee, and leave all the fat of their 

 laud foi- coflVe, ah-cudy with one foot iu tlie grave. 

 He would ask them if this was a fair or rea.~onnble 

 way of commeuciug the new cultiv.atiou. On the other 

 hand, let thorn take Mr. Greig's amendment, aud 

 what was tliere iu it that was in the very least 

 objectionable ? He would not do them the injustice 

 of supposing th.at anyone there really believed in 

 the permanence of coffee, but he was quite ready to 

 bow to the feeling that it did n't do to call a spade a 

 spade. Mr. Greig's amendment lifted tliem comfortably 

 out of this dilemma, without committing tliem to 

 Baying anything that would sound very foolish a few 

 years, nay perhaps a few mouths hence, to have 

 said about ooffee. 



Mr. G. F. Walker said they had had such a confusion 

 of metaphors, that he was at a loss to know how to reply. 

 The Secretary had alluded to him as a "weather 

 prophet." He wished that he were one. But unfort- 

 unately he could oidy record what had occurred in 

 the past, and could not attempt to read the future. 

 At the risk of wearying them he would again re- 

 iterate that they were really suffering from unseason- 

 able weather here. It was not, that the seasons 

 themselves had been so nbnormal. No, it was the 

 deficiency of sunheat d\aiiig the past few years 

 rather than an excessive ramf.all — though that too 

 had been excessive as regarded its distribution during 

 the last 18 or 24 months. It was this continued 

 want of heat that had rendered their soil sodden 

 and cold, so that the root development of their 

 coffee trees had been checked, and they were thus 

 unable to crop properly. But even under these ad- 

 verse circumstances, good colfee well cultivated was 

 not only paying its way but was paying also for 

 the introduction of new products everywhere ; while 

 they all knew of instances where coffee that had 

 been highly cultivated for some time past was giv- 

 ing really good crops even now. Those gentleman 

 who were supijorting the amendment appeared to 

 forget that in most instances good coffee had had 

 to pay for bad coffee in time past. They jiroposed 

 to remedy this by Bubstituting new products lor coffee 

 in all fields where coffee was not remuueraiive, but 

 that was no leason whj' they should throw good 

 oifl'ee after bad. Let theiu look at the high ex[ osed 

 land that had been opened in so muuy places. Would 

 this land ever have proved remuuer.ative ? Even had 

 leal disease never made its appearance, there was 

 much unsuitable laud, that must have heeu aban- 

 doned, or replaced Viy some other plant than coffee. 

 He trusted that the meeting would not be per- 

 suaded by the special pleading of the gentleman who 

 had seconded the aineudmeut : his argument appeared 

 to him to resolve itself into this ! > ofl'ee is bad and 

 therefore it must be bad 1 They held as strongly as 

 those who were opposed to them, as indeed the reeo- 

 lution dechired, they must get rid of bad coffee 

 as speedily as possible, but they would not let their 

 good coffee go with it too, nor did he believe that 

 that meeting would support so rash aud suicidal a 

 policy. The amendment implied- that all good coffee 

 should be dug out. 



Mr. Greio entirely failed to see that the amendment 

 implied that good coffee should be t'ug out to m'alce 

 way for tea. Coffee was stilh their staple and they looked 

 to it to help them considerably yet, but what must 

 bo clear to every one of them was that the ravages 

 of leaf-diseaae were narrowing the area of their good 

 coffee every year, natuially wakiug what was left 



still more valuable. At the same time the decline 

 was stead.v, aud every season lost in planting up tea 

 would make it all the more difficult of accomplish- 

 ment in the future. With regird to seasons — while 

 holding the opinion of our weather prophet in high 

 esteem and (aaving kept a record of tlie weather at 

 the lower end of the valley since 1877, he could for 

 th t tune corroborate the valuable and interesting 

 tables he had published), while admitting also that, 

 but for adverse seasous, our crops never would have 

 reached the low level they had done, and that a 

 return to better ones would improve tlie crops on 

 what good coffee was left. Sill, this was altOj;ethep 

 a secondary cause, tlie primary cause was going on, 

 working its deadly insidious way, sapping our trees 

 to the very core, and leaving them weaker year by 

 year. No matter what change might lake place in 

 the seasons, there were thousands aud thousands of 

 acres in coffee that had been, but never would be, 

 productive again. Then might he ask Mr. Walker 

 how long thoy were to go on calling seasous abnormal 

 before becoming normal ? This cry of abnormal 

 seasons had gone on ever since he came to the country, 

 close upon -0 years ago. 



The debate was then brought to a close by the 

 Chairman calling for a division, when 5'2 were found 

 supportmg the origiu,al resolution, 6 voted for the 

 amendment, aud 12 were neutral. 



The resolution •pas therefore carried. 



"The Troi'ic.\l AcRicuLTtjKiST. "— The Chairman 

 of the Ceylon Planters' Association is good enough to 

 write to us of his own motion as follows: — " I have 

 received the Extra num'-er, containing Mr. Vin- 

 cent's report, along with the usual number of 

 T. A., and I must say that, with its e.vcelleut map 

 this Extia is a splendid bonus to your subscribers 

 who have a very ample return for their subscriptions 

 in the regular monthly numbers. These, as the work 

 progresses, liecome more and more useful and inter, 

 esting. I trust this liberal gift may help to attract 

 many subscribers and thus reward your enterprise." 



Mr. W. .1. Forsyth, formerly of Dim hula aud 

 Maturata (a short account of whose travels since 

 he lett Ceylon we are promised for the Observer), is 

 annoyed at the publication here on the day of his 

 arrival of misleading information about his contracts 

 aud business in the Loudon letter of the " local 

 "Times" : — 



He has personally inspected the hiU country in various 

 parts of Guatemala, and pronounced both soil and climate 

 iu different localities widely separated from each other 

 to be admirably adapted for the growth of cinchona and 

 accordingly he has persuaded President Barrios to enter into 

 au agi-eement with him, tile main features of which are 

 as follows ; — Mr. Forsyth to be paid 3,000 dollars, or say 

 £tfOO, as an advauce to enable him to i^roceed at ' ouce to' 

 Ceylon to procure seeds of the best kinds of ei.ichona 

 viz., Succindtm Officinalis and Ledga-iana. He is then to 

 form nurseries at his own cost upon land iu Guatemal se- 

 lected by him and grant ed free by the Government -and 

 when the seedhngs are fit for planting out, he is to deliver 

 them at the places agreed upou, where preparations will 

 previousl have been made at the expense of the Govern- 

 ment and under Mr. Forsyth's general direction, he beiuc 

 paid for the seedlings at the rate of 5 dollars or about £1 

 per thousand. I am told that the total number thus agreed 

 to be suiiplied 5,000,000 plants, but I am not aware 

 whether there has has been any stipulation as to the pro- ' 

 portion of the different varieties. 



Mr. Forsyth's comment ou this is that there is a 

 grain of truth mixed with a good deal of which he 

 knows nothing — the story, as told, not having come 

 from him. Mr. Forsyth is shortly 'o visit India in 

 connection with his Central American business, 



