35^ 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov. t, 1886. 



NATIVE CULTIVATION AND CATTLE MUR- 

 RAIN—NEW PRODUCTS— SUITABILITY OF 

 UVA FOE TEA. 



(I'rcm Mr. JI'l. A. Kim/'.': Report as Govt. Aqent, 



for 1S85. ) 

 jIi'vs riis : JVatire. — The greater crop of the ytar 

 (the ixiJiha) is reaped during the live montljs May, 

 Jul e July, August, and September; the lesser crop 

 during the five months November, December, January, 

 February, and ]\tarcb. The greatest activity in reap- 

 ing is in June and July. The area of paddy land sown 

 dui nj IbSo it. given by the headmen at 26,688 amu- 

 nam>, or 35,584 acres. There wms certainly a larger 

 area u'lder crop than had been for many years, not- 

 withstanding (hat there were complaints of want of 

 seed paddy in Wellassa and Butiala in the early part 

 of the year. Where there was plenty of water the 

 crop may be estimated at twenty-five bushels an acre, 

 but on the average it would be only safe to estimate 

 at fifteen bushels the acre. The area of dry grain and 

 Indian corn was 5,508 amuname, or 7,344 acres. The 

 average crop was eight bushels. The sown area would 

 have been larger had it not been that heavy rain in 

 the end of 18S4 had prevented the burning of many 

 ckarings. The chena harvest was accordingly rather 

 i-torter than might have been e.^pected, and the crop- 

 ped area was below the average. There is only one 

 hai vesting season for dry grain in the year, viz., during 

 December, January, February, and March. It is grati- 

 f J ii'g to note that paddy cultivation is extending in 

 Bintenna in the neighbourhood of the Horaborawewa, 

 Kudanewa, and Hembarewa tanks. The native c ffee 

 crop for the year was extremely insignificant. Indeed, 

 by far the greater number of the native gardens have 

 died out completely. For the most part, what was once 

 flourishing gardens is now a wilderness of dry sticks. 

 It is no uncommon thing to see coffee gardens being 

 felled for the cultivation of kurakkan. In the few cases 

 where there has been utter neglect, little more can be 

 said than that the trees have been just kept alive. The 

 j)rtsent state of things contrasts painfully with the 

 luxuriance of nMli\LCi ffte in former days, when it put 

 in circulation ai. onp tie villagers annually in this (iis- 

 trict as much as l-iOOO.tUO. It was this that ersured 

 tlie regular t nd cheerful payment of taxes, crowded 

 the court with suitors, and tilled the pockets of the 

 firrack renters. There were occurrenccss of cattle 

 disease in the first and third quarters of the year. Al- 

 together 239 bla(k cattle Juid l.')il buffaloes are re- 

 pirtod by the headmen to have died from disease. 

 These figures do not include the mortality among trans- 

 pi rt bullocks, of which it was not possible to pro- 

 cure full information. Murrain and theft have been 

 tliiiiiiing the village cattle for some years back, but 

 M'Of were people accustomed to take so little pains 

 to lierd their cuttle, preventing their associating with 

 animals iufccted with disease, ai.d j.'uardiiig them against 

 hiiinglitcr by cattle-stealers, as the K-iudjau. peasantry. 

 J ihinsiriis : Junopf-d/i. — Allowing for dilferent pro- 

 ducts growing ujjon the same land, the following is a 

 statement of estate cultivation in tlic district of ifva at 

 the end of 1^85, as compareil with the previous year — 



18S5 1884' 



('ofi'oe ... 31,755 ... 35,01)2 



Tea ... (;,5;i8 ... 522 



(!iiichona ... 10,(J29 ... 11,650 



Cocoa ... 1,184 ... 482 



l.il erian coffee ... I;i2 ,,, 132 



l^id)'ier .. 122 ... Not ascertained. 



Cardamoms ... 488 ... ilo. 



Otberproducts ... 186 ... do. 



51,031 

 Unlike other districts of thi^ Isl md, coffee-picking in 

 in a greater or his.ser degree goes on all the year round 

 in llva, but the great harvesting seasons are in Spiiug 

 and Autnnin. The Spring croj) is the chief of theyeir 

 for high estates (sny over .'),5(l() feet), the Autumn 

 crop fi r the lower estates. I'lauters count the sea- 

 sons fi (iiii the miiKlle of one year to the middle of 

 the iiixt. 'I'lie Spiingcrop of 1885 was the be.st the 

 estates had produced for many years, but the Autumn 



crop was poor. Though the Spring crop of 1886 is 

 understood to be very short, it is gratifying to hear on 

 all sides most encouraging prospects, ba.sed upon the 

 blossom which has just set (April 15th, 1886). It ises- 

 timated that the later crop of 1886 will be a magnificent 

 one. Encouraged by the promising appearance of the 

 trees, many estates are giving special attention to man- 

 uring, when cultivatiim was beginning to be abandoned 

 as unprofitable or absolutely wasteful. Coff . e produce 

 during the past season, 1884-H.') (June to June), was 

 much greater than the previous one, as the following 

 figures will show : — 



^ „ ^ Bushels. Cwt. 



Coffee crop of Uva for 1883-84 ... 386,589 = 128,860 

 Do. 1884-80 ... 542,387 = 18i I J'Jd 



Asimdar increase is shown in the produce of cinchona:— 



^. , Cwt. 



Cinchona crop of Uva for 1883-84 ... 7 545 

 Do. 1884-95 ... lo'sSO 



Takmg coffee and cinchona together, we have there- 

 fore the satisfactory result that the crop in 1884-85 was 

 about half as much a^ain as in the previous season. The 

 ruling transport rates were 66 cents per bushel in 1885, 

 as against 55A cents per bushal in 1884. Cart hirero.-e 

 IsSo, owing partly to the larger crop to be carried, and 

 partly to the presence of cattle murrain on the Katna- 

 pura road. Tlie result was the crops were very late in 

 being despatched, causing great loss of colour to the 

 coffee, which consequently fetched a low price in the 

 London market. The coffee crop for the season 1885-86 

 is expected to be less than half what it was in the 

 previous season ; but it is believed that the quai.tity of 

 cinchona to be sei.t into the market will be the largest 

 Uva has ever proJuced, Ltaf-disease in cotfee is be- 

 lieved to be fast disappearing, and some planters are 

 beginning to think that they made a mistake in clear- 

 ing out coffee to make room for tea. In examining the 

 figures at the head of this section, attention will he at 

 once arrested by the large increase in the acrca{,e 01 

 tea. Great and praiseworthy vigour has been thrown 

 into this new branch of estate cultivation, notwith- 

 standing the hardne.ss of the times. Indeed, the man- 

 ner in which the planter has roused himself from griev- 

 ing over the shipwreck of his fcrtunes, and bravely en- 

 tered upon new fields of industry, merits our greatest 

 praise. It is now admitted on all .-i Irs thit, in Uvi,soil 

 and climate are as well suited to the growth of tea .is 

 anywhere else in Ceylon, and th.it the oidy impedi- 

 ment in the way of our taking (he pi silion v.couuhtto 

 take in tliis industry lies in our isolation. 



COFFEE PRUNING. 



(Review ok the " Wkinkles and Hints on Coffee- 

 pr.anting" wrih diagrams a^d si'ecimrxs of forms 



liY GKOIifiK WII.OKS ; MADRAS, ADDISION A.\D 

 CO., MOUNT UOAD. 



Bi/ an Old Cn/Iun Goff,c rianti-r.) 

 It cannot be said, that in his article on pruning 

 Mr. Wildes» adopts a false principle but the whole 

 affair appears to me rather meagre and unsatisfactory 

 The man who puts himself forward as teacher .should 

 be able to go to the roots of his subject, clearly 

 explain and logically supi)oit his opinions. As the 

 character given and mode of growth of the coffee 

 tree vaiies with every variety of soil, climate, and 

 exposure, within the range of its pos-ible cultivation, 

 the experience of any one individual planter is too 

 narrow to embrace all the po.ssible coudjinations and 

 the danger, therefore, arises of elevating local circum- 

 stances into universal principles, llowcvor carefully 

 the planter may study his own set of circumstances ; 

 however just the views he may arrive at and how- 

 ever correct the .system that grows out of his expc^r- 

 ience, it is oidy a local .system after all and may 

 in many of its appliances and operations be totally 

 inapplicable on the otlier side of his own mountain 

 range, or even on the same side with a few hundred 

 feet of ditt'erence in elevation, and this more alfeots 

 the art of pruning than any other opeiatiou of 

 cultivation. 



In lo(pking at an Arabian C'offee shrub two years old 

 in its natural stale any stranger to the habits of 



