T^E TROPrCAt AGRreULTURIST. 



[July 



J 886. 



The exports to the United States, on the other hand, 

 have diminished from 208,00011>. in 1883 to l'2C.,000)li. 

 in 1885. The London and Lancashire Fire 

 Insurance Company insure bungalows and tea 

 factories at rates which differ according as the 

 buildings are pnclui (permanent and solid,) oC brick 

 or stone and iron, or hitcha (temporary) slight 

 and combustible ; the rates being given at,— 

 Bungalows and 



Contents. ..Pucka Premium from J '/„ per annum. 



Kutcha... „ IJ- )i 

 Factory Build- 

 ings Pueka... „ 1§ » 



Kutcba... „ 2J „ 



Our readers who have effected insurances, maybe 

 able to tell us how the above charges compare 

 with those made by the Agencies of Assurance 

 Companies in Ceylon. We learn from the almanac 

 that a Gibbs <t Barry Tea Drier, 10' x 3' 6", price 

 L o. b. £240 to £250 (less 5 p. c), is capable of 

 " 7/8th — drying " 160 lb. to 200 per hour. Nearly 

 one side of the cardboard is covered with a table of 

 equivalents for teas shipped on factory account, 

 freight being taken at £2 5s per ton of 50 cubic 

 feet, with exchange varying from Is 6d to Is lOd 

 per rupee. As our readers are aware, exchange is 

 now down considerably below Is Gd and the signs of 

 tho times seem to point down to Is 3d ! In the 

 three years under review exchange began with 

 1 7 21-32nds ; rose in October 1883 to 1 8 I-K;, stood 

 between 1 8 and 1'8 5-32nds between March and June 

 1884 and in 1885 sunk from 17 10-32nds to l/tj 5-16th. 

 How low silver may go in I88(i, it seems impossi- 

 ble to tell. Tea sold in Calcutta in December 1885 

 at annas 11 11 per lb. At l/GJ per rupee, this 

 was equivalent to nearly Is 3d per lb. 



Our readers will thus see that the Ofhce Wall 

 Almanac which Messrs. Skrine & Co. as the 

 Agents of Messrs. Barry & Co., have sent us is 

 replete with most valuable information regarding 

 the great tea enterprise in which Ceylon is likely 

 erelong to take a foremost position, its acreage 

 already under tea being equal to 2-5ths of the 

 tea area of all India, or 2-7ths of the aggregate 

 tea area of India and Ceylon. 



CEYLON UPCOUNTRY PLANTING REPOET. 



WEATHKK R.VTHER DRY AC..UN — TIMBER RESERVES .\ND 

 TIMBER GROWING— GROWING OF FLOWERS. 



June 7th, 1886, 

 The desirability of having timber reserves is too 

 manifest to be questioned : but the dilliculty in 

 getting tho timber to grow within any kind of a 

 moderate figure is where tho pinch comes. What 

 to plant ? and how to plant ? are ticklish questions ; 

 for those who know anything about timber-growing 

 tell ub that valuable wood won't grow in waste lands 

 without considerable care. And yet what a divers- 

 ity of opinion there is about what should be planted. 

 More than a year ago I was encouraged to try the 

 "Wah" tree, which was said to be goodwood and 

 was a quick grower. I had this opinion confirmed 

 by a high-class authority, while immediately after 

 another man with a large experience laughed at 

 the idea and gave it as his opinion that perhaps 

 in thirty years or so it might be big enough 

 for cutting for fuel. But as I was committed 

 to a nursery I went on, and as far as I 

 can judge from a year's growth of the planted 

 out plants, I incline to think that the last 

 mail has rather understated the length of time 

 required tu mature lor the furnace, and that hall- 



a-century will be nearer the mark.* In this world . 

 of change it is a comfort to have a tree of this 

 kind growing, for you might go home for a trip and 

 stay away for a year or years, feeling quite satisfied 

 that on your return things would be pretty much 

 as you had left them.f 



In the search for new products which will he a stand- 

 by in tho day of low prices, for our staples, there has 

 been considerable ingenuity and energy displayed. 

 What to grow which no one else has gone into is, how- 

 ever, the didiculty ; for as soon as the rumour is 

 abroad that from such things as pepper, tobacco 

 or limes coin can be landed, there is a rush for 

 them. I had a call the other day from a gentle- 

 man representing a Paris firm of perfume manu- 

 facturers, who had a whole bundle of suggestions 

 for new industries, the most practical however be- 

 ing the growing of flowers, and the distillation of 

 their essential oils. From among others he specially 

 mentioned the sacred Champak of India (Miccfielia 

 champaca), the " sapu" of the Sinhalese. For these 

 oils there was a ready market in Europe, and at 

 remunerative prices. The quantity of Howers re- 

 quired to produce a pound weight, was something 

 excessive, or at least it seemed so to me; but it 

 would be pretty much a matter of experiment and 

 a trial on a small scale would not be a costly 

 venture. There was also in India a large market 

 for rose water, it being so much used in native 

 courts, and among the higher castes of the Indian 

 people. Peppercorn. 

 ♦ 



PROFITABLE COCONUT CULTIVATION IN 

 CEYLON. 

 (From an Old and Practical Coconut Planter.) 



Hapitigam Kor.vle, 9th June. 

 Since the monsoon rains opened on the 17th 

 ultimo we have had few days without more or 

 less, but today has capped all, in heavy squalls 

 and a great fall of rain. This is probably the 

 last effort of the season, and we are likely to 

 have a dry spell now. 



I was lucky enough to finish all the planting 

 I can do this season, while the rain lasted, and 

 the gowiyas have very nearly finished their sowings, 

 so that our operations bid fair for success all round. 

 The gowiyas having felled and cleared the land, 

 the owners' work begins, and the following is the 

 cost of my operations : — 



Lining per acre . . . . . . RO-25 



Holing ,, . . . . . . 2-25 



Plants „ 3-00 



Planting and carriage . . . . 0'37 



R5'87 

 Being only five miles from a railway station, I 

 have, oil this occasion, cleared R8'50 per acre for 

 firewood for the engines, so that the operations of 

 the season leaves me R2-()3 per acre profit. 



The gowiyas keep the land in hand for three 

 years ; they first sow kurakkan and muneta, 

 and mamottie-weed the land by way of harrowing, 

 then sprigs of sweet-potato vine are put ten or 

 twelve feet apart, and bits of cassava stem five 

 or six feet apart. The grain and pulse first take 

 up the growing, and keep everything else down, 

 while they occupy the ground ; when they are 



* We received tlie assurance of Mr. Strong of the 

 Railway that in the lowcouutry the " Wah " gave 

 fuel ill its fourtli year. Of the value of the wood 

 as fuel I here is the highest testimony. We have seen 

 the tree growing at J,500 feet, but generally its range 

 is up to 2,500.— Ed. 



t Our friend surely draws a conclusion from insuffici* 

 ent experience. — Ed, 



