December i, 1883.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



441 



Planters, as in Ceylon, have not till lately paid attention to I 

 any other cultivation hut coffee, but as coffee has uot proved 

 quite the steady paying investment it once promised, atten- 

 tion to other products, such as cinchona and tea, iy being 

 given, and one very fine tea property in the Perreatora 

 group proves how well this product will do. Cinchona is 

 still on its early trial, and I believe some estates were to be 

 planted up between the rows of coffee with two or three 

 varieties of it. The PeiTyar struck me as suited for cocoa. 

 The tea estates I have mentioned is situated in a windy ex- 

 posed part of the district, where coffee had partially failed, 

 and yet was doing well, and had yielded, I was told by the 

 owner, as much as 300 lb. of prepared leaf in the year, and 

 yet better results were hoped for. Both on account of rain- 

 fall and soil, tea appeared better suited for the upper liiUs 

 than coffee, which, after the prevailing high monsoon and 

 east winds, I was informed looked often hopelessly " shuck," 

 and often did not recover from battUng with the winds in 

 time for giving crop. Cardamoms seemed to grow well every- 

 where m the district, but owing to it being a Travancore 

 monopoly, planters were nearly debarred from cultivating 

 it. In the first place I was informed the cardamom crop 

 had to be given up to an agent of the Travancore Govern- 

 ment, and the planter received one-third of its market value. 

 In the second place, the payment was seldom pmictual, and 

 planters were frequently not paid in full for months after 

 the crop was weighed to the agent. The consequence is, the 

 cardamoms growing in the belts and reserves of an estate 

 were neglected, and what might under fairer treatment prove 

 a help to estate-owners is scarcely looked on as a means of 

 income. No doubt a proper representation to the Travancore 

 authorities would secure better terms for the planters. La- 

 bour appeared plentiful and good on the estates I visited, and 

 the cooly lines and buildings appeared to be all that the cooly 

 could desire. Both sides of the hills furnish the labour 

 used, and Tamil mixed with Telugu might be heard one 

 minute, and the next JIalayalam. Planters preferred the 

 Tamils. The rate, I was given to understand, averaged 

 about 4i annas, out of which the cooly had to pay for 

 his provisions received from the estate store. Estate pro- 

 ducts mostly went down the western ghat and were shipped 

 from either Quilon, Alleppey or Cochin, but provisions 

 mostly came up from the plains of Madm'a. The cattle 

 on the estates seemed to me of poor breeds. On only two 

 estates did I notice any well-bred cattle. I was told the 

 monsoon was too severe for them to thrive, and that only 

 West coast cattle or cross-breds could stand the heavy 

 rains; that indeed cattle did uot increase, the bu'ths not 

 even keeping up with deaths, and that only by frequent 

 purchases could herds be kept up to their full strength. 

 Some estates were trying pigs and buffaloes, and for manure 

 there is little doubt these animals are better than cattle. 

 Most of the land in the district has been taken up from 

 the Travancore Government. The land is first put up to 

 auction and sold to the highest bidder, the original appli- 

 cant very often being kept out of the purchase by com- 

 petition. At the last sale of lands, as much as K70 an 

 acre, I believe, was paid. This arrangement is hard on those 

 ■who have at great expense and trouble selected a piece of 

 forest, and some consideration and preference should in fair- 

 nessbe given to prospectors. For five years no tax is levied ; 

 after that grace, which is supposed to allow the planters 

 to get a portion into cidtivation, twelve annas an acre is 

 charged per annum on both cultivated laud and forest. A 

 duty of, I beUeve, a rupee a cwt. is further charged, and 

 taking the average crops of the district at three 

 cwt. an acre the planter does not get oft" under (with 

 interest on original purchase) four to five rupees an acre ; 

 a very high rate when what planters pay in other dis- 

 tiicts is considered. The Peennaad planters, however, 

 have some quid pro quo for the highest rate they pay 

 by having good roads all over the district, and there was 

 scarcely an estate I risited that could uot be reached by 

 cart. I believe the last sale of land was in 1673, and 

 since then no grant have been given, and it is the pre- 

 sent intention of the Ti-avancore Government to dispose 

 of no more forest laud. Perhaps it is a wise decision, as in 

 one of the mosts flourishing district in the Province estates 

 have in some cases been abandoned, and the Government 

 is loser to the extent of the land tax, while the land 

 probably never returns to forest again. At one time game 

 was plentiful gu the Peermaad hills, ami the early fioneer 



must have a famous time of it among the sambur, bison 

 and iljex but at the time of my visit there was httle to 

 shoot, though the reserve jungles looked likely fiends of 

 game. Though it seemed to me the palmy paying days 

 of the coffee were over in the district, the plucky efforts 

 to introduce other products must, if successful, make 

 it safer for planters, who have hitherto depended 

 on but one ijroduct which, owing to leaf disease and 

 other causes, was unrealiable. I trust the most sanguine 

 expectation of my friends will be reahzed. — Madras Mail. 



Tea is the most important manufaclure in Chitta- 

 gong and the Cliittagong Hill Tracts. According to 

 the administration report of the division for the year 

 1882-S3, the number of gardens was 29, and the 

 quantity of tea exported 1, 030,9271b., against S10,3901b. 

 in the previous year. Two rice mills have also been 

 established at C'hittagong. and appear to be doing a 

 good business. — Friend of India. 



Tea ej the Moraw^k Kokalk, Cetlojt. — We learu 

 from a gentleman who recently visited this district for 

 the tirst time, that nothing could be finer than 

 the sheets of tea cultivation on Anningkanda, Campden 

 Hill and some other places. On Campden Hill, the 

 machinery was doing splendid work, a Kinmond's 

 roller getting through the daily plucking (equal to 

 360 lb. of made tea) by an early hour. A great 

 deal more tea will be planted in the district, and 

 poorLe Cocq's grand coffee-store on Craven, with its line 

 water-wheel, will yet do good service as a tea- 

 house. Alas ! for the change since '72, when we 

 found Le Cocq erecting his macninery and the hill- 

 sides a busy scene of coffee cultivation with encour- 

 aging prospects. The biggest cofl'ee crop ever gatliered 

 in the district was by Capt. Bayley from Closenberg, 

 and, as that was equal to 6 cwt. an acre all over, 

 it was very good and very profitable ; but it did 

 not last. In tea, Morawaka is likely to have a 

 differfDt history, we trust. 



Tobacco in JBurma.— We heard a good deal some 

 two years ago, of the stpps taken in British Burmah to 

 develope tobacco cultivation there. One Deputy Com- 

 missioner visited the hills, where the Karens arc said 

 to grow the finest description of the weed but to fail 

 miserably in curing it according to Western tastes. 

 He smoked a good deal on his trip, drew his travelling 

 allowances we presume, and wrote a couhur de rose 

 report on all he had seen. A plantation was started 

 near Rangoon, and people were to be induced to bring 

 there all the leaf they could grow, to be cured on the 

 American plan. Inscructious were to be given more- 

 over, to ensure the best varieties only being cultivated. 

 It was thought that as the steam rice mills had en- 

 couragfd the cultivation of paddy, by purchasing for 

 cash all that agriculturists or boatmen would bring to 

 their mills, so a factory or plantation prepared to 

 purchase whatever leaf was brought to it for cash, 

 would largely stimulate the planting of tobacco. Has 

 the project failed, .that we hear so little about tobacco 

 in Burmah at present ? The local press is silent on 

 the subject, and good Burmah cigars are as difficult to 

 get as they ever were. The public both in and out- 

 side of Burmah would be glad to hear something of 

 the results of its experiments in tobacco cultivation 

 and curing, of which we were led to expect so mucht. 

 What has been the result of the experiments and whan 

 money have they cost? The wisest and cheapest plan 

 in the end might be to offer a handsome prpniium for 

 the tirst shipment of really marketable tobacco or 

 cheroots, as has been done in Australia and New 

 Zealand with other produce, The result of such bonuses 

 in the colonies has been to establish several important 

 new industries. We are not saying that the attempt 

 of the Local Government has failed, but we should 

 like to know something of the results of the cxperi< 

 meuts made. — Friend of India, 



