434 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST 



[Jan. i, 188/. 



to thfir own district full of the importance of 

 what they have learned and full of the importance 

 which that learning has given to themselves, and who 

 set themselves above all the people of the country 

 as knowing something better than they, and are 

 prepared to set them all to right and tell them 

 that they are all wrong, and that unless they are 

 listened to, nothing can be done properly, that 

 nothing has been done rightly hitherto, and that 

 they are prepared to shew they are right. Now you 

 may depend upon it ^hat that is not the way in 

 which such influence will be gained : the lessons you 

 wish to be taught will not be learned, and, perhaps, 

 more harm to improved agriculture may result 

 from want of tact and self-conceit than from indolent 

 apathy or the taking agam to old habits ? But 

 between those two extremes I hope, and I believe, 

 there a will be others who will neither be elat°d by 

 knowledge little more than their neighbours, nor 

 yet so apathetic as to fall back into the preju- 

 dices and superstitions of those who surround 

 them. From them I expect great results, and \Yith 

 tact, patience, care and good humour I have no 

 doubt that you will do much to introduce im- 

 provements in agriculture into the rural districts 

 of Ceylon ; and in so introducing them you will 

 increase the prosperity, the wealth and the 

 happiness of the people to whom you belong (Ap- 

 plause.) I can conceive no happier destiny than 

 that of those who are placed in a position which 

 naturally confers on them some influence, who 

 should exerci&e that influence with wisdom, moder- 

 ation, and in such a manner as to enjoy the esteem 

 and goodwill of those about them and lead them 

 gradually into improvements of which they will see 

 the result. As to those who are going with Govern- 

 ment appointments, tl ey too will require to exercise 

 very great care as to ilie mode in which they per- 

 form their duties. Of course, so long as they teach 

 merely in a Government school, they can make 

 the Government school boys listen to them, but if 

 they attempt to teach other people, as I said before, 

 it will depend upon themselves whether they Mill 

 get listeners or not. They may be like those cry- 

 ing out in desert places, or they may be real 

 leaders of the people ; that they nny be of the 

 latter is my earnest hope. I trust that in future years, 

 when I, or my successor, who will more worthily 

 till my place comes amongst you to distribute 

 prizes, that we shall meet here seme of those 

 who are leaving us to-day, and that you will then 

 give some account of the experience which you 

 have had since you left this place, and will be 

 able to cheer all those who have taken part in 

 this Institution and its management with the 

 intelligence you give them of the manner in which 

 your mission has been received by ihos-e among 

 whom you have gone. Wishing you every success, 

 hot only as agriculturists but as individuils, I 

 how beg to repeat the pleasure 1 have had in 

 distributing the i^rizes, (Applause). 



Mr. A. M. J'^EiKii'sjON made some pidctical re- 

 Hjatks with regard to the cuItivnl,o.i of dholl, 

 and alluded to the grand physique of the men of 

 Korthern India, P> 11 result of living on dholl 

 porridge, dholl being largely cultivated in that 

 part of India. He referred in eulogistic terms to 

 the irrigation works initiated by H. E. the (iov- 

 firnor, and went on to sSy that the fish in the 

 globes around the room suj^gested. to him that 

 those in authority who had the power to initiate 

 experiments siiould endeavour to wipe away from 

 Ceylon the reproach of knowing vtry little about 

 the cultivation of lish. In Java there were two 

 harvests, one of fish, and another of grain, and 

 tbe tisb harvest wa^ fully equal to the giain 



very welcome addition to the table and there was 

 no possible reason why they should not be largely 

 cultivated in Ceylon, for it was really a part of the 

 great science of agriculture. 



BROKERS' REPOBT ON CEYLON PEODUCTS : 



COCOA, RVJiBEK, AND ALOK FIBRE. 



(h'jtracifroiu kiter/rom Mr. J. L. Sluaid lo P. A. Cajlon.) 



In the box which I have packed ready for you and 

 which I hope to .send in a few days by Mr. W. .Saunders, 

 there is a parcel of several best Trinidad varieties of 

 cocoa and also three samples drawn iu London with 

 valuation attached. ]\Ir. Pink, who is a great cocoa au- 

 thority and who is rejiortiiig upon the cocoas in the 

 Exbibitioi). thinks Ceylon is maku g a mistake in copy- 

 ing the A\'est India mode of preparation. He says 

 the bright colored beans which Pallekt- He used to send 

 command a special market both at home and on the 

 Continent. He considers we should continue washing 

 and he values Wariapolla uiiwashsd considerably lower 

 than the same mark washed. He also thinks that the 

 value of produce has not been increased by the 

 introduction of new kinds of cocoa. External ap- 

 pearance goes for nought in the trade and the. 

 stoppage of fermentation at the proper time seems 

 the secret of success. He considers Ceylon cocoas 

 will never reach the height which some of the 

 large full West Indian beans fetch, but I 

 pointed out to him that this might be only 

 a matter of age of trees. He says plainly that 

 Ceylon is not sending as good a marketable 

 colour as it did a few years ago and he recommends 

 striving for the brighter colour. 



I was in the City yesterday with one of the largest 

 South American cinchona brokers' who showed me 

 by his books the days when the unit of sulphate of 

 quinine was worth 28. There has been a little activity 

 111 the market this week, but stocks must fall before 

 prices rise much. The cultivated Bolivian bark which 

 generally yield from 1 per cent to 6 per ct. of sulphur of 

 quinine are what the trade look to most as the future 

 source of siii)ply. There is no belief iu the very large 

 quantity coming from Java aadpleuty of room for from 

 (J,000,oOu to S,000,UOU lb. of good Ceylon bark an- 

 nually and considerable rise iu prices should Ceylon 

 exports fall to this figure, is the general verdict of 

 the trade. 



I enclose you two reports upon samples of the 

 aloe fibre sent by Mr. Henry Brown and upon Wariapolla 

 Ceylc'U lubber. The three samples of rubber were 

 all taken from the same piece. — The coffee market 

 continues firm and theie is expectation of considerable 

 fuither improvtmeut in prices. 



I'atry and Pasteur present their compliments to J. 

 L. Sband K.s<(. and beg leave to hand him a report on 

 aiul valun'ijiis ot the following samples of Ceylou 

 Ku jber : 



J.— Faiily wti! ciu'cJ and worth today '2s per lb. 



2.— Badly cured and would bo .-iomewhat diflicult of 

 sail', wor h aay I.-> iSd to Is <Jd according to position of 

 niarktt and buyera' reijuireniiMita, 



;i.— Lew, dirty and inelastic ; badly cured and false 

 packed Vtilue ahout Oil ptr ib, 



38, Mincing L;ine, 2Sth October 1880. 



a^, Miuciug Lauf, Loudon E. O. 28tli Oct. lb'80 



J, L. Shand Esij. Ce\Jou Court, Colonial Exhibition. 



Dear l^ir,— We have submitted your !*amp!c of 

 aloe fibre to cspcif.-, who rt-port upon it as follows;— ^ 

 The sample is of good quality and well prepared, aud 

 if tie bulk prove equal to this, it should Hud a ready 

 ^ale. 



The present value is about £20 per ton. Great caro 

 must be taken to send it home perfectly clean v.H' 

 eiitdiii/hd an(> as long as possible.— We are, dear frir, 

 yours truly. 



(Signed) Patry k Pasteub. 



r, ■>',— W« eucloee our reports ou rubber sttuiplee, 



