October i, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



261 



i|!i:i]fr«spun46ttj;3e. 



To the Editor of the Ceylon Observer, 

 ENQUIRIES FOR TEA LAND. 



The Old Country, Sth August 18S3. 



Dear Sie,— An acquaintance o£ mine, who has some 

 capital," would like to invest it in "Ceylon," pro- 

 vided he could procure land at a "reasoKaJ^e/i/ure," 

 in a "UeaUhy climate;' suitable for growing such new 

 products as tea, cinchona and perhaps cocoa. I will 

 feel much oblitjed if you will kindly answer the en- 

 closed queries in your next Overland issue. 



QderUs.—ls "forest land" "suitable for tea," 

 still obtainable at an elevation of 2,500 to 5,500 ft., 

 either from Government or from "private parties"? 

 and would a mau with "capital have any difficulty 

 in securini a block at a reasonable figure, loithln a 

 sliort space of timet" 



2nd.— Is laud suitable for "cinchona" to be had in 

 the higher districts, at an eh-vation of say 6,000 to 

 7,0')0 ft., and could such be readily secured at a 

 moderate price? OLD PLANTER. 



[It is not easy to answer such questions speci- 

 fically: forest land between 2,500 and 5,500 feet is 

 undoubtedly scarce in Ceylon, and, unless the Govern- 

 ment sells in the Adam's Peak district, there is no large 

 reserve to go upon ; but there is a good deal of land 

 fit for tea between the elevations mentioned, in private 

 hands. So with cinchona land 6,000 feet and over : the 

 Crown will sell none, we suppose at present, but " Old 

 Planter" 's friend might be suited from private reserves. 

 It must be remembered, however, that the tea districts 

 below 2,500 feet from Dolosbageto tlie sea at Kalutara, 

 where there is much land for sale at £1 an acre, 

 are found to be quite he.althy for the European 

 planter. Let " Old Planter" 'a frieud come and see 

 for himself. This letter reminds us that gentlemen 

 oBering estates or jjlanting-laad for sale should advert- 

 se in the Tropical Agriculturist. — Ed.] 



CINCHONA CULTURE: THE NEED OF FRESH 

 SEED FROM SOUTH AMERICA. 



Dikoya. 



Deak Sik, — Thousands and thousands of cinchonas 

 are planted out every year, aud tlie results get worse 

 and worse as years go en. Tliose planted out 10 j ears 

 ago were few in number and planted mostly along road- 

 sides, and to mark boundaries, but of those I believe 

 fully (5 per cent grew into fiae strong healthy trees; 

 whereas now I don't believe 5 per cent of those planted 

 ever grow into anything over 6 or 7 feet high at 

 the most, and I don't think it is very hard to account 

 for our present non-success. I feel convinced that the 

 constitution of even the old original trees has become 

 so weakened that plants raised from seed from them 

 are not able to resist the excessive moisture and 

 comparatively poor stiff soil which we have, and of 

 course each generation of seed gets weaker and 

 •weaker as time goes on. To my mind our only 

 remedy is to get fresh seed from South America, and 

 I think it is high time we set about getting a good 

 supply out without delay. 



The successful cultivation of cinchona is of such 

 importance to the colony that I should think Govern- 

 ment would help us to get out fresh seed if no firm 

 in Colombo can procure it. My ideas ou the subject 

 may be considered quite erroneous, though I have met 

 several planters who agree with me, and surr-ly the 

 suggestion I make is worth a trial. — I am, dear sir, 

 yours faithfully, G. 



[Looking at the difficulties encountered by Messi s. 

 Markham, Spruce, Ledger aud others, we fear it may 

 34 



not be very easy to get ripe seed from good trees. 

 Can Mr. P. D. Millie gat his brother to help Ceylon 

 in the matter? — Ed.] 



London, E. C. 17th August, 1SS3. 



Sie, — "G." suggests that some one should be sent 

 oat to South America to try and get cinchona seed, 

 and you put in an editorial backing up the suggestion. 



Now, 1 thought I had made it clear that I hud 

 in Bolivia a first-class man collecting the very best 

 seed that is to be got, almost every seed of which 

 is germinating, and if there is one sort better than 

 another, I am having it home. I have got a good 

 stock of this seed which is sold at a rate, which none 

 who has tried it cavils at the price, owing to the 

 large percentage that germinates, and I ask, what 

 more is to be gained ? 



If any of your planters have any suggestions to 

 make that they want some special tree searched for, 

 well and good. 



Mr. Ledger is here now, and I am seeing him 

 frequently : he is also with Mr. Howard, but he can 

 throw no light upou the question as to which is the 

 most advantageous plant to grow in India or in tlie 

 West Indies. It is as Mr. Howard says, a question 

 of bark and the production of bark. 



If your correspondent "G." has any samples or leaves 

 which he wa nts sent out to the richest cinchona dis- 

 tricts of South America, I will send them out for him 

 and try and have them matched. I have here now 

 numerous sheets on which the different varieties of 

 cinchona have been attached in bloom, and in seed, 

 and these have been before Mr. E. M. Holmes of the 

 Pharmaceutical Society, and al?o Mr. Howard. — Yours 

 truly, THOS. CHRISTY. 



A STRANGE INSECT. 



Matale, 25th August 1883. 



Dear Sir, — By this post I send you a box contain, 

 ing to me a most singular creature. It i.s the Hr^i of 

 its kind I ha\e seen. I found it quietly resting on a 

 rock this morning when my kangany came running after 

 me and pointed it out to me whilst I was examining 

 it. He said he had never seen anything hke it beiore. 

 Yesterday we were working in the samu locality but 

 saw nothing of it. . He told me there were a short dis- 

 tance—a few coffee tree oil— three or four more of thi m. 



Do you happen to know anything of them ? When I 

 put a small twig to its hinder legs it clung to it so tena- 

 aoiouly that I carried him all about the field. Ultimately 

 bringing him from the bottom of the estate to the bun- 

 galow, holding on in this way all the time, I tried 

 to turn him over on his back, but he, immediately, as 

 quickly as it was possible for any thing to do— and this 

 was repeated several times — recovered his position. 



Weather here splendid for all kinds of work, and 

 everyone using their utmost endeavour to make the 

 most of what they have got to work with. Ou 10th, 

 there was a very heavy rain-storm, 4'34 inches of rain 

 having fallen, and for some days after there was rain 

 more or less— Yours faithfully, INHAP.ITANT. 



[Our entomological refcieu states that the insect "ap- 

 pears to be the larva of Sauna bicolor, a large moth." — 

 Ed.] 



MR. JARDINE ON MR. STOECK'S CARBOLIC 



ACID CURE FOR COFFEE LEAF-Dl.SEASE. 



UdapoUa, 27th Au.i,'. 1S83. 



Deak Sir, — I have read Mr. Siorck's letter (see 



page 213). It is not my intention to discuss the 



question as to the distance the utensils thould be 



apart, as I have shown that with a tin with pure 



acid to each tree there was no result. So that whether 



my tins in the 2-acre expeiimeut nere closu euunglj 



