tJEti. 1/ 'xB86.] 



THE TJ^OPICAL AGRICULTURISTo 



419 



■^^ 



and 6d. or Sd. for the third ; these prices allowing 

 profit only on very well cultivated and carefully 

 managed properties. There is also a good show of 

 cardamoms, some of the samples being remakablj' 

 fine. Two kinds of the plant are cultivated in Oeylon, 

 viz., the ordinary Malabar kind, which throws out 

 its racemes horizontally, and the Aleppy, commonly 

 called the Mysore cardamom, which has upritjht 

 racemes and is more robust and hardy than the 

 Malabar kind, standing drought and a high altitude 

 better. The Malabar cardamom is, however, usually 

 cultivated, since it is more productive. The cardamoms 

 known as Ceylon cardamoms are gathered by the 

 Sinhalese from wild plants, and dried in a compara- 

 tively careless manner, while the cultivated cardamoms 

 are treated with great care. The fruits are cut off 

 witti scissors by the coolies, then spread out in trays, 

 slowly dried, and subsequently bleached, the chief 

 obiect being to prevent the capsules splitting and 

 to have them ©f a whitish colour and well filled 

 and solid. If gathered in the immature state they 

 are of a light colour, and have what is known in 

 trade as " lean" appearance. A good deal of the spice 

 18 said to be consumed in India for cooking and 

 chewing. Nutmegs are exhibited from the Kalutara 

 and Kegalla districts. The tree is grown chiefly by 

 natives, at altitudes ranging from 1000 to 1800 feet. 

 The annual ralue of the exports amounts to only 

 26,000 rupees. Cloves are shown from the same dis- 

 tricts. This spice is grown in similar localities to 

 the last, and comes into bearing when seven years 

 old, continuing to yield crops for fifty years or more. 

 The yearly shipment of cloves amounts in value to 

 6,000 rupees. Pepper is shown by three exhibitors, 

 but although commonly grown by the natives it is 

 not exported ; several varieties of the plant are in 

 cultivation in the island. Of vanilla there are two 

 exhibits. According to the Official Cfftalogue the 

 flowers have to be fertilized by hand, the insects of 

 Oeylon appearing not to be able to effect this pro- 

 cess, unlike those of the native country of the plant 

 (Mexico). The flowers usually appear during the 

 hot dry north-east monsoon, i.e., from January 

 to April, and the pods begiu to mature about the 

 commencement of the following north-east monsoon, 

 increasing in size and ripeness until January. As 

 soon as thoy begin to show an orange tint, they 

 are gath'Ted and air-dried, cotton wool being fastened 

 round them to prevent their splitting open. The 

 plant thrives only in rich moist ground, under some- 

 what lofty .shade, and fruits well in the neighbour- 

 hood of Kandy; with care it has borne fruit also 

 near Colombo. 



Cinchona bark forms a very prominent exhibit iu 

 this Court. A trophy formed of trees and large 

 quills of bark serves to illustrate the varieties in 

 cultivation and the several modes in which the bark is 

 removed, as well as the usual size of the trees at 

 different ages. From these specimens it is evident, 

 however, that the name of Ledger bark is applied 

 to more than one kind of bark rich in quinine. It 

 was not until 1872 that the planting of cinchona 

 was commenced in Ceylon in earnest, and it increased 

 between 1S73 and 1878, until about 4,000,000 plants 

 had been distributed to planter?, in addition to large 

 plantings in private nurseries. Much of the seed 

 obtained iu 1886-7 from C. succirubra and 0. officina- 

 lis produced trees of a hybrid character rich in 

 alkaloid, these trees being known under the name 

 of C. rohusta. The methods of harvesting adopted in 

 the island have been by uprooting, by coppicing, by 

 stripping, and more recently by shaving. The last- 

 named process has usually, but not invariably, been found 

 to yield a larger percentage of alkaloids than the 

 original bark. The extent to which it may be carried 

 has not yet been ascertained. Many experienced 

 planters recommend shaving the tree at five years, 

 and again at six, and coppicing at seven, taking earn 

 that a good-sized sucker is allowed to start from 

 the collar before cutting down the tree. The reason 

 that the shaving process finds so much favour is 

 that it enables the planter to obtain handsome and 



continuous returns witlio«t destroj-ing tbe value of tbe 



tree. Although some of the finer varieties have at 

 times yielded as much as 10 50 per cent of sulphate of 

 quinine from trees three and a half years old at 

 an altitude of 3,200 feet, at the present day there 

 are few that give 4 per cent, the largest proportion 

 yielding only 1-50 to 250 per cent. The shipmeuta 

 of late years have consisted largely of the strlppiugs 

 of the branches and twigs, containing not more than 

 I per cent of quinine. The exports of cinchona bark 

 from Ceylon have risen from 18,731 pounds in 1875 

 to 11,678,360 pounds in 1S85. A specimen of sul- 

 phate of quinine is shown by Messrs. Symons and 

 Cochrane, of Colombo. 



The essential oils of cinnamon bark and leaf and 

 citronelle and lemon grass oils are represented by 

 several exhibits. According to the OflScial Oataloguo 

 the shipments of citronelle oil have increased from 

 a few thousand ounces about a dozen years ago to 

 1,760,677 ounces in 1881 and 5,721,112 ounces in 

 1885, and there are now about 10,000 acres of land 

 under cultivation ; this over-production having caused 

 the oil to fall to one-third its former value, and the 

 price being now unremuuerative, growers are now 

 abandoning many of their grass fields. 



The oil of lemon grass, or as it is commonly 

 called oil of verbena, is manufactured entirely by 

 the natives, but not more than 8,719 ounces were 

 exported last year. Oil of cinnamon is distilled in 

 the island from broken quills and the coarser portion.s 

 of the bark, which are incapable of being worked iu 

 with the usual quills. The finest oil is valued at a 

 rupee per ounce, but the inferior quality commands 

 only one-fourth of that price. The shipments of the 

 oil have risen from 41,719 ounces iu 1881 to 117,023 

 ounces in 1885. 



Of the resins exhibited the following seem worthy 

 of notice, viz, that of Dooaa cordifoha, shown by Dr. 

 W. 0. Ondaatje, of Z>. Zeylanica, which is colourless 

 and hard and makes a good varnish, and that of 

 Vateria acuminata, which is ti good clear white 

 dammar-like resin. A fossil resin, dug up on the 

 island, named " Bindummala,''* the origin of which 

 is unkuowD, is also shown. Of dye stuffs that of the 

 jak wood ( Artocarpas integrifoliii) is worthy of note. 

 It is used by the natives for dyeing house mats and 

 fibres for ornamental purposes and gives to cotton 

 and silk the peculiar pale canary colour which is re- 

 quired for the robes of the Buddhist priests. Mililla 

 wood ( Viiex altissima) is used to give a still paler 

 yellow, but neither of these dyes are exported. 8apan- 

 wood, which in 1883 was exported to the extent of 

 11,404 cwts. has declined to 2,834 cwts. in 188-5, 

 owing to the low price now obt:ained for it. 



The chief tanning materials used iu the island are 

 ranawara bark (C'liJ-s/o. auricuhcta), and the half- 

 ripe fruit of the timber! {Dio.<pi/ro!^ Einhri/opteris). 

 The latter is also used to coat the planks of boats to 

 preserve them from the attacks of marine insects. 

 The tannin of the plants of this genus appears to ba 

 of a peculiar character and to deserve further inves- 

 tigation. Very fine specimens of plumbago are ex- 

 hibited in this Court from the western and north- 

 western provinces. The trade in this article has 

 increased from less than 1,000 cwts., forty-five years 

 ago, to 279,057 cwts. in 1883, half of which goos 

 to the United States, and of the remainder seven- 

 sixteenths to the United Kingdom, and one-sixteenth 

 to British India and Europe. The yearly value of 

 the export varies from one and a half to two million 

 rupees, the highest qualities ranging in value from 

 100 to 135 rupees per ton, and the lowest quality 

 from 30 to 45 rupees per ton. The trade is entirely 

 in the hands of the Sinhalese. 



Of fixed oils coconut is the most important ex- 

 hibit. The amount exported in 1835 was 274,998- 

 cwts. The oils of the bright yellow, or "king" 

 coconut, is said to be devoid of the strong aroma 

 of the ordinary oil, and is highly esteem". I by all 

 classes of natives and many Enroiienns ns hai- od 

 The value of giugelly oil exported is given at 7,500 

 rupees. The cultivation of croton se ed has beea 



* The "Dammar" of tUe C'yion export list,— Ep, 



