190 



t»E TROPiCAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[SSPT* I, 1SB6, 



6,000 feet, the mcau temperature ranges from 05" 

 below to 01^ above, the medium being 63'. It is 

 quite probable, too, that a rain-gauge down at 1,000 

 feet, in the valley of the Dimbuldauda river, would 

 show a lew inches more rainfall per annum than 

 occurs at 5,800 to 0,000. On the other hand, the 

 occurrence of mist is rare below 5,300 feet, while 

 there is a good deal at certain seasons of the year 

 above that elevation and will be until more of the 

 forest around is cleared for railway fuel and other 

 purposes. The amount of moisture over the whole 

 estate, therefore, is probably pretty equal for 

 the twelve months. Apologies are doubtless due 

 to the readers of the Observer for such large use 

 with a property in which I am 

 data are available and trust- 

 meteorological conditions I have 

 with very slight qualiticatiou to 

 this district ; to Calsay. for iu- 



of data connected 

 interested. But ih; 

 worthy, while the 

 indicated apply 

 many properties m 



stance, with scarcely any qualification at all. So 

 with Mahaeliya, while the figures have a close 

 bearing on Dessford, Clarendon, Edinburgh, Inverness 

 and the whole group down the side of the Great 

 Western, The publication of the figures I have 

 collated may lead to the production of others and 

 of valuable deductions drawn from them, establish- 

 ing the suitability of exceptionally high altitudes 

 m Ceylon for the culture of tea. Visitors to our 

 Sanatorium in December, January and February, 

 seeing the grassy plains whitened with hoar-frost, 

 might naturally doubt the possibility of tea growing 

 and yielding well at many hundreds of feet of 

 loftier altitudes around. But the temperature of 

 both air and soil on forest land is far warmer 

 than on the damp grassy plain. Then Ceylon is 

 an island and most of the tea estates are less than 

 7" from the equator. The comparative figures com- 

 mented on are appended for reference. 



August 11th. 

 Yesterday the wind was stormy, and drizzle and 

 mist prevailed. This morning is calm, but the 

 drizzle and mist continue. The fall for the 

 24 hours has been ^ inch, so that the rainstorm 

 has evidently worn itself out, up here at least. 

 We have, of course, had a good many earthslips 

 on estates, but none of much consequence. The 

 paths show signs of "wash," but where the drain- 

 age is good, the amount of damage from this cause 

 is not great. 



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Averages for three years 

 for 1st ti mouths of year. 

 N'Eliya. Abbotsford • 



3'J-0'.t oU-j-Z .32-13 35-98 



Niuvara Eliya. Abbotsford. 



l-.t G 2nd 6 Ibt 6 2nd 6 



mouths, months. Total, mouths, months. Xutal. 

 1883... 39 81 59-78 99-62 42-22 olsH IWlO 



1884... 17-98 58-44 76-42 2359 61-54 85'ia 



1S85 .. 33-58 45-10 83-68 42-14 47-56 89 70 



1886... 39 09 30-52 



The rainfall at Niuvara Jiliya for the 1st 6 mouths of IbS") 

 is 6-96 inohe> over the average for the previous 3 years. 



The rainfall at Abbotsford for the 1st 6 months of 1886 is 

 5-16 inches under the average for the previous 3 years. 



THE WEATHEli — TEA-ll.iKINU AND MR. GOW — NUWARA 

 ELIYA. 



Upper Lindula, 12th Aug. 

 The compensatory process continues. The rain- 

 fall in July was 11-88, a total below the average 

 considerably, but well distributed over the month, 

 there having been only two days out of the 31 in 

 which no rain fell. On every one of the 11 days 

 of August concluded at this morning, appreci- 

 able rain has fallen ; the lowest record on any 

 day being 16 cents. In the days i)reviously to 

 the rainstorm of Saturday the 7th, the aggregate 

 was 2-30 inches. From the 7th onwards the record 

 has been : — 



21 hours ended Aug. 8th 4-40 inches 

 9th 1-00 „ 



lOth 0-33 „ 



nth 0-50 „ 



12th 0-82 „ 



Total for the 5 days 

 Add for ^Irst days 



7-11 inches 

 2-36 ,, 



Total for 11 days of Aug. t>-47 inches ; 

 or close up to the total for July. The rain con- 

 tinues with but slight intermission, <;o that August 

 promises to make up for the deticiency of June 

 and July, whicn aggregated only 19-52 inches against 

 an average of over 30. We should giadly hail a 

 break of sunshine, however, to put an end to the 

 present necessity of calling in the aid of artificial 

 heat to further the process of withering. This 

 species of heat is said to be systematically applied 

 to the Loolcondura teas, so that the question arises 

 whether Mr. Armstrong and the rest of us, who 

 have built large stores to provide space at the rate 

 of feet for every pound of green leaf, to be withered 

 by natural atmospheric air, have or have not gone 

 to needless expense V The force of the question is 

 intensified by the terms of Mr. Gow's patent 

 machine for the combined withering and smashing 

 of the leaves under the influence of artificial heat. 

 No doubt the public here will soon have the op- 

 portunity of judging of the capabiUties of a machine 

 based avowedly on Chinese practice. Meantime 

 the patentee, whom I have regarded as a sensible 

 and courteous gentleman, is to be sympathized with 

 for being represented (misrepresented, doubtless) 

 by the journalist who specially lionizes him, as 

 guilty of the exaggerated and ofl'ensive self-conceit, 

 of denouncing the whole mass of tea planters and 

 manufacturers in Ceylon as ignorant of their enter- 

 prise, from its alpha to its omega ; as erring in 

 every process from the plucking of the flush to the 

 tiring of the rolled and fermented leaf ! The surprise 

 is that Mr. Gow should not have protested apainst 

 what must be to gross and injurious a repre- 

 sentation of his character. If he has made 

 auy protest it baa noi fallea uudev mj aotioe. 



