Jan. I, 1887.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



493 



-♦- 



To the Editor of the " Ceylon Observer." 

 COCONUTS AND THE COCO-DE-MER. 



Mahe, Seyclielles, '22nd Nov". 1886. 



Deak Sir, — The letter of your correspondent 

 " Latch" dated 25th August 1886, has come under my 

 notice through the medium of your invaluable work 

 the Tropical Af/ricultin-isf. Fn jiaRmnt, I may men- 

 tion that I hear that periodical highly commended 

 by all to whom I have had an opportunity of intro- 

 ducing it, but more than one has said " it savours 

 rather too much of tea." Knowing Ceylon as I do. 

 and the revolution that has taken place in its princ- 

 ipal culture, I am not surprized that much of the 

 space in the Tropical Agricahnriiit is devoted to the 

 Tea industry.* 



With regard to the coco-de-mer, 1 think I may 

 safely say that the Island of Praslin is its home. 

 There are a few isolated specimens on Mahe 20 miles 

 from Praslin but these have been introduced. The 

 celebrated coco-de-mer groves, where the tree flour- 

 ishes in all its unique grandeur are on the afore- 

 mentioned island, and it is from these groves that 

 the nuts are sent into the market at RIahe. The 

 average price is about Rl per nut. The majority are 

 purchased for export to IMauritius. The few that cir- 

 culate in the country are used as measures for shell- 

 fish and native vegetables or as " balers" for pirogues 

 (native canoes) and a few are polished and sold to 

 visitori as curios. The inside of the nut is a whitish 

 pulp about the consistency of butter, it is edible 

 though not much appreciated. About three years ago 

 I took 'a few full mits to England and although 

 essays have been made to propagate them in some of 

 the principal Botanical Gardens there, I do not 

 think they have been attended with success. 

 Nuts that have commenced to germinate have 

 been forwarded to the Botanical Gardens at Pample- 

 mousses (Mauritius), with these the Director has 

 been successful. I will try and procure some for you 

 and forward them in a wardian. One peculiar feature 

 of the coco-de-mer is, that the plant may appear aljove 

 grovind twentj'or thirty feet from where the nut has been 

 stwn. The late General Gordon when here made some 

 very interesting sketches of the habits of the tree, as also 

 did Miss North. Those of the latter are to be seen 

 in that lady's gallery at Kew. I enclose you a photo- 

 graph showing the coco-de-mer nut and germ. I 

 am sorry, I am not well up in coconut lore, so can- 

 not say if those that grow here a^e the same kind as 

 in Oeylon. From what I remember, there is a great 

 similarity in both the appearance of nut and tree. 

 There is undoubtedly a small variety here, the most 

 noticeable being " the Nicobar, " which is almost a 

 sphere and of a pale red hue. I am not inclined to 

 think that " the larger the nut the greater its value" 

 for I find that many of my smallest nuta yield most; oil. 

 I am not. however, a professed coconut planter. Most 

 properties here represent »»«Z^«i» in parro : on the one 

 from which I am writing there are cacao, clove.«, nut- 

 megs, pepper, vanilla, pine-apples (about 50,000) sugar 

 cane, manioc, sweet potatoes and tropical fruits in 

 numbers ; here and there a tree or plant, a wilderness 

 of disorder and as great a variety of soil as there are 

 forms in a kaleidoscope, but everything grows or would 

 grow if properly cared for. So great is the fertility of 

 the soil and so propitious the climate, that it has been 

 said "you have only to plant your walking stick and 

 it will grow. " Vanilla is now all the rage and Seychelles 

 has become the largest vanilla-producing countrj- in 

 the world. 



Hitherto but little known, Mahd is about to 

 become a large coalihg station ; it is to be the 

 \tefrde-Ucine of the Messagaries Marifimes in these 

 waters. The Orient Line contemplate coaling 

 here instead of at Diogo Garcia and in all 



* A reference to the index of any of our T. A. volumes 

 will shew that there are very many papers on all 

 tropical products : in fact we omit uothjiig bearing on 

 tropical industry. — Ed; 



probability it will shortly be made a Naval station. 

 We are woefully deficient in hotel accommodation 

 — wish you would send us a d'Silva — and thee is ar 

 capital opening for an English mercantile house 

 I am glad to read that there appears to be a 

 prosperous future for Ceylon, though many old and 

 valued friends have, since Ileft,gone to "that bourne" 

 from which no traveller returns. I too have travelled 

 far, seeking "crust or crumb" since dark clouds 

 o'er shadowed the pleasures, and at one time the 

 prosperity of a Ceylon coffee planter's life. Yet there 

 is ever a lingering desire to return to the country 

 where I spent nearly twenty not unhappy years. 

 May they who had the courage to stay be re- 

 warded. — Yours, very faithfully E. H. EDWARDS. 



COCONUT FIBRE REFUSE, ' 



23rd Dec. 1886. 

 Dear Sir, — If further proof be wanting for my as- 

 sertion that , fibre refuse possesses an agricultural 

 value even if it does not possess amanurial value to 

 the tree that produces it, I have only to mention the 

 high agricultural value of sand for a certain description 

 of soils. Though sand is composed almost entirely of 

 siliaca, constituent that plays a minor part in the 

 vegetable economy, yet when applied to stiff, heavy 

 clays it increasa its porosity and therefore fertility. 

 Because sand is intrinsically valueless, will we ba 

 justified in saying that because when analysed it 

 gives very disappointing results, therefore it possesses 

 no value in agricuture? What "C. S. " who is but 

 Mr. Symons' champion says, will possess some weight 

 if the soil of Horekelle is a stiff clay very retentive of 

 moisture, though even there decaying vegetable matter 

 mixed with it will increase its porosity ; but " C. S." 

 tells us the soil is sandy. The defects of such soils are 

 its " extreme porosity or absence of retentivene," 

 the cure for which is said to be the addition of 

 " clayey composts, or green manuring." Neither of 

 these is practicable, generally, on a propertyof over 

 1,000 acres, however well they may suit a few acres. 

 But as the" humus compound arising from the decay 

 of vegetable matter affords an absorbent for moisture in 

 the same manner as clay" I most unhesitatingly assert 

 that the Horekelle Company can put their "vast 

 mounds" of fibre refuse, allowed to accumulate from 

 the <;ime of the late David Wilson, to no better use 

 than to be sown broadcast in the estate and well 

 iploughed in. Mr. Sym -ns very (il) liberally offered 

 this valuable refuse to anyone who would cart it away. 

 Why ? Because Mr, Wilson subjected it to analyt- 

 ical tests and found it worthless. This may or may 

 not be the case but it only proves how little claim 

 that gentleman had to be reckoned as a com- 

 petent agriculturist and how pernicious a thing it 

 is for gentlemen with no agricultural training 

 to " direct " the working of a purely Agri- 

 cultural Company. In attempting to do this 

 they have blindly followed the lead of one who was 

 (agriculturally) blind himself and we know what 

 is the usual consequence of accepting lead of the 

 blind.— Truly yours, the A. W. B. 



Tea in Kalut.\e.a. I880-I8S6. The Kalutara 

 Planters' Absociation First Annual Report, 



Your Committee io presenting this its first Annual Re- 

 port, is happy to record that the past year has been one 

 of progress and good promise for planting interests. Sinee 

 the day the first lots of forest land were sold in the 

 district, many changes have come about. Liberian coffee, 

 cacao, citronella, rubber and cardamoms have all been ex- 

 tensively planted, but the past year has seen nearly all 

 these products superseded by tea. The year 1886 may be 

 said to commence the history of Kalutara as a tea district, 

 pure and simple, and your Committee is glad to note that 

 results both as to yield and price obtained are very satis- 

 factery. In proof of tliis, the following figures may be 

 adduced ; — Tea on CuUoden estate, now seven years old 

 Las yielded 740 lb. made tea per acre during the past 

 financial year ; while tea of about the same age on 

 tjikiyanakanda (mauurcd witli citronella grass refuse, lias 

 yielded in the past 2 years 900 and 1,100 lb. per 'acre 

 As regards young lea, results are equally satisfactory! 

 yield on Ambatenna estate, from tea 2 years and .3 months 

 old. being for the month of November last, at the rate 

 of tiOO lb. made tea per acre for taking these facts with 

 the average prices realized, your Committee congratulate you 

 ou the good prospects for the future, 



