NOVK.MBER I, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



33S 



he says there are isolated blocks worthy of that name, 

 but too triiling to be shown on such a small scale; he 

 therefore treats it all as scrub: the only tracts of forests 

 eoloreJ in on his map as such, are the large tracts of 

 timber reserves in the Northern districts of the island. 



We may take it for granted that there are in the 

 south-western districts of the island a quarter of a milhou 

 acres of land, the soil of which is more or less suitable for 

 tea having an ample rainfall. There are also a hundred 

 thousand acres available in the mountain zone amongst 

 the coffee districts, and, if, as an experienced tea planter 

 from Assam says, the rainfall in Uva is sulBcient for tea, 

 then we may add considerably to the area. It is believed, 

 moreover, that the lauds about the Kauthalai lake with 

 their rich deep soil have a sufficiency of rainfall for this 

 cultivation, with a distribution fairly spread over nearly 

 every month in the year. 



The report on the Forests of Oeylon, recently published, 

 is accompanied by a map on which are laid down figures 

 denoting the rainfall in the different localities which is of 

 much more importance than any coloring to denote heavy 

 jungle, because scrub jungle, and what is known as mooke- 

 lana, from which all the good timber has been taken, serves 

 well tor tea, with an adequate rainfall. There is, in fact, 

 scarcely any jungle remaining in the south-western dis- 

 tricts in which there is good building timber: all such has 

 Jieen thinned out long ago by dealers and petty headmen. 

 It is more than probable, however, that there still remains 

 a good quantity of timber that woidd serve very well for 

 coffee-casks and tea-chests, though even such trees are fast 

 dissajipearing from the Wcinity of roads and rivers. 



With the feehng now existing in favor of replacing un- 

 profitable coffee-land by tea where the soil warrants doing 

 HO, there will be a very extensive addition to this new 

 cultivation without any demand U])on Crown land; but, if 

 capitalists are to be attracted to the island for this new 

 enterprise, it will be ui the direction of Crown jungles, 

 not so much by reason of their greater suitability, but 

 because, as a rule, the proprietors of coffee-lands, or their 

 mortgagees, will generally prefer putting such into tea 

 previous to .selling them, when they may be disposed of 

 as tea plantations in crop. 



Notwithstanding all the disappointments that have met 

 Ceylon planters, it will yet be shewn that our island offers 

 to the man of capital more real advantages than many 

 other colonies in the matter of investments. The island 

 is most conveniently served by numerous hnes of steamers 

 from all parts of the world, with a harbor safe and con- 

 venient at all seasons; with a railway and first-class roads 

 that carry the investor into the heart of the best land in 

 the country. No pioneering is needed, all that has been 

 done long ago ; and, should he prefer Crown jungle to old 

 coffee-land, the selection is ample, and access easj^ by river 

 or road. There is no malarious climate in our tea districts, 

 which, as a rule, are, with ordinary precautions, as healthy 

 as any of the mountain zone, thanks to our unfailing sea- 

 breezes. This accessibility is all in favor of cheap trans- 

 port, which, instead of forming a formidable charge, as in 

 some Indian districts, does not amount to more than a 

 cent a pound on the tea shipped. There are other ad- 

 vantages which we possess over the tea districts of India, 

 which cannot fail to tell in the future, and should influence 

 those who hesitate where to embark their spare capital. 

 What to do with the accumulating savings of the world, 

 niust become one of the most serious problems of the day. 

 It will be our task to assist in its solution. — Ihid. 



TEA IN CEYLON AND INDIA. 



Mr. Owen has professedly dealt with tea cultivation in 

 the two countries, and his obseivations throughout took 

 that direction, and naturally so, in Ids advice to planters as 

 to what to do and what to avoid. He tells us of some things 

 that are better done in India than in Ceylon; of other things 

 that are better and clieaper done in Ceylon. The result of 

 the visit of a practical planter to another country where the 

 same industry is carried on as in his own land, must be 

 of advantage ; for while he will be confirmed in some practices, 

 he will be carefid to avoid others. And thus Mr Owen, in 

 his paper on Tea Cultivation in Assam, Darjiling and Ceybni, 

 places before us v<^ry fully and carefully the advantages 

 and disadvantages under which each labors. If Ceylon has 



not the depth and richness of soil to be found in Assam' 

 we have a chmate far more suitable for frequent flushes of 

 leaf. We consequently produce far more per acre, and, not- 

 withstanding nominally dearer labor, we grow the leaf at a 

 lower cost, and with cheaper tran.sport we put it on board 

 for less money than is done in either Darjiling or Assam. 



Likening our coffee zone to Darjiling, and our lowcomitry 

 to Assam, we can show in either of these a better yield of 

 tea than our Imlian friends; and, without indulging in any 

 but well-estabhsbed fact.s, we are warranted in taking the 

 cost of teas as below any grown in the most favored ihs- 

 tricts of India, and, if we are not mistaken, very much below 

 that from a large number of estates hea\ily weighted with 

 a huge capital sunk and very costly establishmeuts. We 

 suspect Mr. Owen left out of his calculations the item of 

 interest, and this, w-e su.spect, in the majoi-ity of cases makes 

 a very material addition to the cost of the tea produced. 

 The best proof that it must be so lies in the fact that so 

 few tea estates show auj' but the very smallest dividend. 



In speaking of tho peculiar rich clay sub-soil of Darjiling, the 

 >vriter of this essay may perhaps be thought to infer chat the 

 clay suli-soils of many of our coft'ee estates within the mount- 

 ain zone niny be equ,ally suitable for the production of tea; 

 which would assm-cdly be a mistake. The Darjiling clay is of 

 that .soft yellow- description — very seldom met with in I'eylou 

 — which clay is very easily i>enetrafed by roots of the tea 

 plant, whereas the clay on much of our hill zone is hard 

 and compact, and almost impervious to any but the most 

 vigorous roots. 



It is admitted that estates in the Yatiyautota, Avisawella, 

 and similar low-lying districts will generally, under proper 

 management, yield fifty per cent more than those in higher 

 altitudes and on old cuft'ee laud. This may be partly owing 

 to the i)l.ants being newly-openetl land, partly to the more 

 favorable nature of the chmate, but the fact remains be- 

 yond question, even by the most scei)ticaI»or pessimist writers. 

 The most that can be said by those who are compelled to 

 admit the accuracy of these figures is, that it has yet to be 

 ascertained whether estates can continue to proiluce at the 

 heavj' rate they are now giving crops. There are, it is 

 true, no estates in the lowcountry of any mature age, but 

 as regards tea within the mountain zone, both Loolcondura 

 and Kookwood are able to show what can be done with 

 tea in the eighth year of its production. It is, of course, au 

 o]ien question as to the time that must elapse before our 

 tea estates will require help in the form of manure, but this 

 much is certain, that facilities for transport are materi- 

 ally in our favor. 



A wTiter in om- paper some short time ago nrgeil the pre- 

 ference for old coffee estates to new jungle land for tea. 

 M'ithout attemptiug to solve this question, we may remark 

 that the extent of coffee land for disposal in the market 

 cannot be large. There is, no doubt, a good extent of such 

 land in the hands of estate-owners, but it is more than 

 doubtful whether the larger portion of this will not be con- 

 verted into tea properties by their present proinietors. If 

 tea-planting is to be taken up extensively during the ne.xt 

 few seasons, there will be no alternative but to resort to 

 Crown jungle in the maritime provinces, where an abundance 

 equal to any demands likely to be made upon it may be 

 foun<l. Selection wUl be necessary as regards soils, of which 

 theie is a great variety, but, as regards rainfall, we have 

 sufficient data to enable us to say how far the tea pioneer 

 should go. Eighty inches of rainfall during the twelve 

 months suffice for tea cidtivation, iirorided the fall be fau-ly 

 well-distributed. Taking this datura for guide, we may in- 

 clude a large portion of the Uva country within the future 

 range for tea cultivation; for, although there is frequently 

 a long spell of dry weather in ITva, of, say, three months' 

 duration, this will have no other effects than that of a 

 \vintering, such as they have in India for five or six months. 

 If eighty inches of rain, spread over nine mouths of the 

 year, are sufficient in Uva, the question will arise whether 

 there are not other districts, yet uuthougbt of, that may be 

 tm'ned to profitable account for tea. — IhiS. 



A MANUAL OF INDLAN TIMBERS. 



BY J. S. GAJUILE, M.A., F.L.S. 



We are ashamed to say how long a copy of this 

 excellent woik has been daily st:iring us in the face, but 

 no ouc knows better than the author himself that the Imliuii, 



