Aug. 2, 1886.'] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



139 



LABOUR SUPPLY FOR TEA CULTURE. 



Rattota, l.Sth July 1886. 

 Dear Sir, — I am afraid considerably exaggerated 

 notions as to the extent of our future labour 

 requirements have been prevailing lately, and have 

 given rise to a good deal of unnecessary alarm. 

 People have been speaking and writing about one 

 cooly and a half per acre being required for tea, 

 whereas as I hope presently to show you an 

 average of half that will probably be more than 

 tea can afford. 



In the days when coffee gave crops and working 

 short time was not the rule, it used to be calcul- 

 ated that every cooly working on an estate cost 

 RIO'") per annum, and I presume the same figures 

 would still hold good. Let us try an estimate on this 

 basis and see how it will work out. For the purpose 

 of argument we will suppose the island to be 

 yielding an average of 400 lb. per acre, that it is 

 put f.o.b. at 35 cents per lb., — both pretty liberal 

 figures you must admit. So you have on one side 

 400 1b. tea at 35 cents.. R140-00 



and on the other 



Superintendence on 400 lb. at 5 cts. 

 per lb... .. ..R20-00 



Packing and transport at 4 cts. per lb. 10-00 

 Colombo charges ,, 1 ,, ,, 4-00 40"00 



Leaving you the cost of one cooly for 



a year.. .. .. .. RlOO-00 



out of which you have to pay for manure, tools, 

 repairs to machinery and buidings, medical charges, 

 money charges, and all the other etceteras, which 

 go to make up a monthly report. A smaller yield 

 or a lessened cost of production would obviously 

 reduce the amount available for labour propor- 

 tionately. 



From the above it seems pretty clear that ^ 

 much smaller labour force than is commonly sup- 

 posed will meet our wants unless we have grievously 

 overestimated the profits to be derived from tea 

 cultivation. — Yours truly, 



GEO. W.\UGH BURNET. 



[We can scarcely follow Mr. Burnett in all his 

 conclusions. That tea culture, continued practically 

 over the whole year, will require more labour than 

 coiTee did is certain, but of course the expendi- 

 ture on labour as on every other detail must be 

 reduced, in sympathy with reduced yield and low 

 prices. But if economy in labour is carried below 

 a certain point, it is clear, estates cannot be kept 

 in proper order. — Ed.] 



" CROCIDOLITE." 



Customs, 19th July 188(3. 



Sir, — The enclosed is a specimen of " Crocidolite " 

 but the head of the stick which I send by bearer 

 is a much better specimen. If you care to cut 

 up and examine the smaller piece you are welcome 

 to keep it, but please return the stick when you 

 have done with it. There is a curious poi^ular 

 error in the pronunciation of the word, most 

 people call it " Cruck-o-dile-ite " as if connected 

 with the Saurian which frequents our waters. The 

 proper pronunciation is " Cro-sid-o lite " with accent 

 on the second syllable. — Yours faithfully, 



C. E. DUNLOP. 



[We are much obliged to Mr. Dun lop for a 

 sight of his handsome stick surmounted by a 

 round head of crocidolite with moving rays as 

 striking as if it were a gigantic cats's-eye. The 

 smaller piece we have kept to experiment with, as 

 he 1ms kindly suggested, — Ed.] 



TEA LAND IN THE LOWCOUNTRY, &c. 



Dear Sir, — In days gone by when a 'cute man 

 selected and planted up a coffee estate in some un- 

 known locality, if the venture turned out a succes-s, • 

 there was then a rush for all the land near or ad- 

 joiniug the place without regard to the condition of the 

 soil and its suitability for tlie product to be planted. 

 It seems as if this practice obtains now for a great 

 many places have been planted when much superior 

 though isolated blocks could be got farther off. The so- 

 called Kelani Valley district is certainly a good one 

 for tea, chiefly as regards rainfall, but there are many 

 blocks lying out and near it certainly superior in many 

 other respects. This Kelani Valley district is made 

 up of patches of other districts and extends from the 

 foot of the Dolosbageand Kadugannawa hills, right down 

 to Labugama. The planting commenced midway, but the 

 tendency is to buy and open southward and westward 

 to Labugama, and again near the hills of the Central 

 Province where the soil is richer and the rainfall the 

 same as on the hills. Much of the laud in Kegalla as 

 in Yatiyantota will soon be under tea. In the early 

 days of coffee planting there were several estates in 

 this district opened on fine heavy forest lands, selected 

 owing to the soil being equal to those found in the 

 Central Province ; unfortunately the climate was too 

 warm and only the shaded native coffee lasted till leaf- 

 disease swept that little off. There is of course an im- 

 mense tract ot land lying south of the Kelani Valley 

 district down to Morawaka suited for tea, but the 

 planting of this will be a matter of time. No one is 

 so mad as to select a block in such localities where 

 fever will drive away superintendents and labourers 

 and where it is not easily accessible owing to the want 

 of roads. There are many blocks of abandoned estates 

 in Kegalla and Yatiyantota owned bj' parties in Europe 

 and chetties on the Coast, places " sold up " and pur- 

 chased at Fiscal's sales for debts. These are of course 

 now much sought after, as they are in healthy local- 

 ities, with good roads to them opened years ago. It 

 is preferable to pay K20 to 1125 an acre for such, than 

 to wait orcv 12 uionths and pay about 1U3 for Crown 

 land in almost unapproachable localities however tempt- 

 ing the soil &c. may seem. It is not easy to secure 

 in the Kegalla and Yatiyantota districts Government 

 land averaging 250 acres. The blocks surveyed are small 

 and not adjoining, fields and native chenas intervening. 

 The original purchiieers of Government land so far back 

 as 1816 obtained tracts of 400 to 2,500 I acres, and 

 these were subsequently cut up by the owners and sold 

 to many who sank their money in coffee. All that these 

 estates then shewed was leaf in such profusion, as to 

 tempt others to buy and try to make the places pay. 

 The old Kandy road promises once more to make itself" 

 useful, for much of the land in and about Kegalla and 

 Ambepussa will be planted with tea and those who do not 

 mind an extra day's or two days' delay will be able to 

 place their tea in Colombo by the i-oad much cheaper 

 than by sending it to a branch station and thence by rail ! 

 The lowcountr5' estates seem to have an advantage 

 over those in the Kaudyan districts in the matter of 

 labor, for the women and children leave their homes 

 even if 4 miles away and pick very satisfactorily, beating 

 the Tamils, and I am certain that with this new in- 

 dustry a good many rupees won't find their way to the 

 Coast. One gentleman gave a small field to a Sinha- 

 lese woman to weed on contract and she gave satis- 

 faction and she profited too, for she asked for a con- 

 tract for three years to weed the whole estate! (")f 

 course the removal of Sinhalese laborers fyoiii tJicir 

 homes to places over a dat/'s joiiraet/ never did and never 

 will succeed, but otherwiso the employment of them 

 as laborers for most kinds ol work, is not a loss or 

 disadvantage. When the Tamils leave their homes they 

 are prepared to do so as temporary exiles. In the coffee 

 di.itricts in Southern India, they are as unreliable as the 

 Sinhalese, so long as the estates are not a few mile-' 

 from their homes. That the Sinhalese will rat emi- 

 grate is a nonsensical idea. All won't, but a good por- ' 

 tion of genuine rustics are quite prepared for tempor- 

 ary exile especially after hearing of the benefits the 

 mall party of them in Queensland are deriving, so much 

 ^o that fiopie rpean to stay away altogether • 



