8 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[July i, 1886. 



Between the years of 1800 and 1870 one word 

 of warning, and one only, came to the ears of 

 the writer. It came from one who had never 

 seen Ceylon, from a gentleman in London of very 

 wide experience and learning, noted both in financial 

 and philosophical circles. His son was proposing 

 to join a flourishing Ceylon business. ]5ut the 

 father i)ut an unhesitatnig veto on the proposal on 

 the ground of the uncertainty of the future of 

 coffee cultivation. 



Now on what grounds had this gentleman, so 

 early as l.SOO, formed so strong an opinion as to 

 the probable doom of Ceylon coffee that on his 

 faith therein he should be guided as to his son's 

 career '? 



Can you, sir, from the fulness of your stores 

 of information in regard to the history of the 

 coffee plant and its cultivation, say on what grounds 

 such an opinion may have been formed at the 

 date named '? and how it came that in spite of 

 such causes of mistrust the feeling in Ceylon was 

 then and continued for some years later one of 

 serene confidence in the future.* 



It was not til) about 1871 that the first cries of 

 warning were heard within the household of Ceylon 

 itself. About that date Dr. Thwaites of Pera- 

 deniya made public his fears that Hemileia Vasta- 

 trix would in time be the death of the coffee 

 enterprise, and among planters about the same 

 date Mr. William Mackenzie stepped forward as 

 the prophet of the doom to come. Almost with 

 tears in his eyes he confided to the writer the 

 depth of his fears, especially as to all coffee 

 north of Kandy. We were inclined to laugh at 

 the time, but the sad truth has even exceeded 

 in its misery these first gloomy forebodings 

 of evils. 



As has beeii said above, the question of the 

 permanence of cofi'i'e is for Ceylon now only of 

 speculative interest. All practical interest, for the 

 future centres in lea. How lies the matter with 

 that plant ? Are there instances in history of large 

 contiguous areas being planted with the slu'ub, to 

 such an extent as will surely soon be the case 

 in Ceylon ? and if so, how long did the cultiv- 

 ation flourish? One naturally turns to China for 

 a reply, but it must be remembered that, in re- 

 gard to consoling information derived from that 

 empire if such be forthcoming, the plant grown 

 there differs much in habit and in hardihood 

 from the Assam plant grown in Ceylon. Whether 

 any reliable data as to the permanence of the 

 Assam j'lant are to be obtained except from the 

 Indian estates the writer knows not. He only 

 ventures to bring this matter forward as subject 

 for inquiry that may prove useful in guiding future 

 operations m the direction of extending teacultis'- 

 ation in Ceylon. 



A matter of more immediate and present im- 

 portau'^e to the tea planters is the course of prices 

 in Mincing Lane. It is pretty, clear that the high 

 l^rices ruling for the good Ceylon teas last year 

 are, like high, prices for -so many other kinds of 

 goods, a thing of the past. The net result of the 

 praiseworthy efforts of Ceylon i^lanters will be, as 

 was foreseen, that the- British consumer will at 



* 1886 was the black year of Overend-Gurney's down- 

 fall and Ceylon suffered terribly in the re-action, money 

 being so scarce that it was" said scarcely Ll.oo'o 

 could be raised in the Fort of Colombo (.n the best 

 estate seciuity at that time available. There was 

 also a great oiiteiy then about the heavy rate 

 of expenditure on estatcH. 'i'be only other pos.siljle 

 reason we could suggest is that the philosojiliie- 

 financier had formed a w dl-groundcd objection to a 

 colony dependent on one staple, and to the turning 

 of the Ceylon forests into fields with one product,— 

 En. 



the same price as before, if not at a lower one, 

 drink a much better tea than he has been ac- 

 customed to drink. 



The fall in the better classes of tea has been 

 very great during the last three months, and it 

 is dillicult to see how, as the weight of good lea 

 from Ceylon rapidly increases (as needs it must), . 

 the continuance of the fall is to be arrested. 



Within a few days th^^ nrveat Exhibition of the 

 year will be opened in great pomp by Her Majesty 

 — a recent visit showed something like a state of 

 chaos in the Ceylon Court. But there were many 

 willing hands at work, Messrs. Saunders and 

 Davidson with several native attendants. Dr. 

 Trimen, Mr. Smither, Messrs. Shand and Whitham, 

 all under the command of Mr. Commissioner Birch, 

 and no doubt by the 4th proximo, some sort of 

 order will have been evolved. 



The Kandy Tea House is approaching comple- 

 tion, and will no doubt be very pretty. Unfortun- 

 ately it stands crouched between much higher 

 buildings, and its goodly proportions will be 

 dwarfed by those of its great ugly neighbours. 

 After the opening it will be more easy to speak 

 of the merits of the various exhibits from Ceylon. 



The Government of India has spared no effort 

 and no expense to make a grand Show, and with 

 the vast resources at its command, it can hardly 

 be but that poor little Ceylon, India's neighbour 

 at Kensington as in the East, will be in some 

 sort eclipsed. It may be hoped, however, that in 

 the economical products Ceylon may, in spite of all, 

 hold her own. 



CEYLON UPCOUNTEY PLANTING KEPOBT. 



-THE FCTURE 



CEOTON OIL TEEES AS A CATTLE FENOE- 

 OF COFFEE — liEER's EOLLEES. 



May 24th, 1886. 



Y'et another use for the Croton. A man tells me 

 that he has discovered that it is a perfect fence, 

 once it is grown up and bearing, for all kinds 

 of wandering cattle. They take kindly to eating 

 the seed, and when they once do that, they never 

 come back again ! For years he has been worried 

 with trespassing buffaloes ; has tried both mild 

 and drastic measures with the view to mitigate 

 the evil, and had given up all hope of any really 

 effectual relief until he saw a buffalo stiff on its 

 back, and some of his seed-bearing croton plants 

 pretty well eaten into. He calculates that that 

 dead buffalo with its hoofs turned up to the sky 

 had been browsing thereon. The owner of the 

 brute mourns over it a great deal more than the planter 

 does. To have croton s growing about anywhere with- 

 in the reach of cattle or horses is rather dangerous. 

 I know of a planter who lost his horse, by its 

 eating a mouthful of croton seed, which it snatched 

 oft' a tree in passing. It made the misfortune 

 all the worse to bear that he had sold the horse, 

 and the animal was to have left the estate that 

 day for its new owner. 



As to Coffee, I see, that the black-bug is again 

 appearing on it, and this too on the best trees 

 which had been left with the hope of getting a 

 little therefrom. Ah ! it 's a heart-break. I like 

 your cheery cry, Mr. Editor, that those who keep 

 up tlieir coffee will in due time be rewarded ! 

 Yet I know of some coffee which has been pampered 

 and petted, treated in season and out of season 

 in the most handsome manner, and that almost up 

 till now, and when you look at the results, — well, 

 you want a lot of faith' to believe in that bright 

 future. I suppose we will be trying to grow it by-and- 

 bye as an ornamental shrub, a sort of thing to 

 point out to a visitor from liome, a plant with a 

 history. 



