Feb. I, 1887.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



545 



CEYLON AND ITS PLANTING INDUSTRIES. 

 (to the editor, "the economist.") 

 SiK, — The Ceylon commercial season closes on the 

 30th September each year, and the Colombo Chamber 

 of Commerce tables are made up as soon after as 

 possible. 



The actual results arrived at for our staple export 

 trade cannot fail to be of miich interest to those 

 who have watched the gradual development of other 

 planting industries since appearance of the leaf 

 fungus, which so wofuUy affected our coffee. Having 

 drawn the attention of West Indian planters, through 

 the columns of the London Times, in August, 1884, 

 to the way in which Ceylon planters had developed 

 "new products," to make up for the failure in coffee, 

 I would again venture to trouble the home Press 

 with a few figures, in support and illustration of the 

 position I then took up. 



Tea is rapidly becoming the main staple of the 

 planters of Ceylon, and everything points to our 

 export of this important new product rivalling that 

 of India in about ten years time. So far, it is com- 

 paratively the day of small things, but the follow- 

 ing figures show the beginnnig of an important 

 enterprise. It will be observed that the export pro- 

 gresses more nearly in a geometrical than an arith- 

 metical ratio. The Ceylon exports of tea have 

 developed as follows : — 



Tea. 



lb. 



Total exports from Ist Oct. 1885 to .30th Sept. 1886... 7,170,329 



do do 1884 do 1885... 3,796,684 



do do 1883 do 1884... 2,262,.539 



do do 1882 do 1883 .. 1,522,882 



do do 1881 do 1882... 623,2^2 



do do 1880 do 1881... 277, &90 



do do 1879 do 1880... 103,624 



do do 1878 do 1879.. 81,59.5 



do do 1877 do 1878... 3,515 



do do 1876 do 1877... 1,775 



Cinchona bark shows the next chief development 



among now products, as the foUowmg figures will 



show : — 



Cinchona. 



Branch and 

 Trunk 

 lb. 

 Total exports from 1st Oct. 1885 to 30th Sept. 1886... 15,364,912 

 do do 1884 do 1885... 11,678,360 



do do 1883 do 1884... 11,492,947 



do do 1882 do 1883.. 6,P2.5,-595 



do do 1881 do 1882... 3,099.895 



do do 1880 do 1881.. 1,207,720 



do do 1879 do 1880... 1,203,518 



do do 1878 do 1879... 373,511 



do do 1877 do 1878... 173,497 



do do 1876 do 1877 .. 56,589 



For a medicinal bark, and the preparations there- 

 from, there is no such scope for demand and con- 

 sumption as in the case of tea. But to a fairly re- 

 munerative market it is believed that Ceylon can 

 supply 7 to 10 million lb. of cinchona bark annually 

 without any difficulty ; while if there were only the 

 Market, the export of the past season could probably 

 be maintained for some years to come. 



Cacao, or the cocoa or chocolate-yielding plant, 

 has not succeeded quite so widely as was expected 

 in Ceylon, but there are certain districts in which 

 the cultivation has proved very successful. Some 

 mistakes were made at first in the mode of planting 

 but these are mow generally rectified and there is the 

 fair promise of increasing returns. This is especially 

 the case during the present year, the weather having 

 been very favourable to cacao. The annual exports 

 - have been as follows : — 



Cacao. 



Cwts. 



Total exports from 1st Oct. 1885 to 30th Sept. 1886 ... 13,347 



do do 1884 do 1885 ... 6,758 



do do 1883 do 1884 ... 9,863 



do do 1882 do 1883 ... 3,588 



do do 1881 do 1882 ... 1,018 



do do 1880 do 1881 ... 479 



do do 1879 do 1880 ... _ 122 



Cardamoms had been for many years quite a minor 



article among our products, but since the European 



planter has given his attention to this spice, the 



colonv ha3 taken the foremost rank for its export — 



(ill 



Ceylon, in fact, now ruling the European market for 

 cardamoms as well as for cinchona bark. The ex- 

 ports of this spice have risen as follows: — 

 Cardamoms. 



lb. 

 Total exports from 1st Oct. 1885 to 30th Sept 1888 ... 2.3«,056 

 do do 1884 do 1885 ... l.?2,405 



do do 18-'3 do 1884 ... 66,319 



do do 1882 do 1883 ... 21,655 



do do 1881 do 1882 ... 23,127 



do do 1880 do 1881 ... 16,069 



In contrast with these evidences of steady, continu- 

 ous progress, with what may be called " new pro- 

 ducts," I have to place the return for our old staple, 

 coffee, showing an equally steady decline, consequent 

 on the weakening effects of the fatal leaf fungus. 

 The export figures are as follows : — 

 Coffee. 



Plant- 

 ation Natives Total 

 Total export.s from - Cwt. Cwt. Cwt 



1st Oet. 18S5 to .30th Sept. 1886 ... 215,576 8,117 223,693 

 do 1884 do 1885 ... 294,508 20,305 314,811 



do 1883 do 1884 ... 312,4.'i8 11,483 323,941 



do 1882 do 1883 ... 245,631 14 422 260,053 



do 1881 do 1882 ... 522,949 41,897 564,84» 



do 18^0 do 1881 ... 415,456 38 302 4.53,7.58 



do 1879 do 1880 ... 622,306 47,308 669,614 



do 1878 do 1879 ... 767,293 57,216 824,509 



do 1877 do 1878 ... 651,046 69,246 620,292 



do 1876 do 1877 ... 851,201 91,845 943.047 



It is satisfactory to know that tea is so fully taking 

 the place of coffee, over, 130,000 acres being now 

 planted with this product, which grows well, not only 

 within the limits of climate suited to coffee, namely, 

 from 1,500 to 5,000 feet above sea-level, but from a 

 few score of feet above, or almost at sea-level, to 

 our plateau, at nearly 7,000 feet altitude. The tea 

 plant IS, in fact, one of the hardiest on the long list 

 of the sub-tropical planter, and nowhere has it found 

 a more congenial home than in moist hot Ceylon. 

 The cry of overproduction has, indeed, of late been 

 raised in reference to tea, but if English-speaking 

 folk in America take to drinking tea in place of their 

 favourite coffee (now likely year by year to decrease 

 in supply) there will be a wide demand added to the 

 present one. Moreover, so far as Ceylon is concerned, 

 it has been shown that through the great advant- 

 ages possessed by the colony, tea of a superior quality 

 can be produced more cheaply here than in its great 

 rival India, so that the remote districts in the latter 

 country must first suffer. 



The exports in which the Ceylonese people are 

 chiefly interested— i.e., cinnamon, plumbago (our only 

 commercial mineral), essential grass oils, and the 

 products of the coconut palm, i.e., oil, copra, and 

 coir fibres, keep well up, although the crop of coco- 

 nuts is liable to alternate, according to the season. 

 In a favourable season, the number of nuts gathered 

 in Ceylon is n»w estimated at a thousand millions, 

 the greater portion, however, being stilised lo3ally 

 for the food of the people. 



Briefly, the total value of our staple exports for 

 the past season may be put at 2,400,000 lb. sterling, 

 while for the current commercial year — October, 1880, 

 to September 1887— the following estimate, framed 

 for the Oeiiloii Observer, from district returns, indic- 

 ates a very considerable advance: — 

 Season 1886-7.— Probable Shipment of Staple Ex- 



P^'*«=- Value 



Quantity £ 



185,000 *cwt. at 758 693,750 



14,000,000 lb. at Is id 787,500 



12,000,000 lb. at 8d 400,000 



22,000 cwt at 80s 88,000 



300,000 lb. at 2» 30,000 



280,000 cwt at 27a 6d 385,000 



150,000 cwt. at 14s 105,000 



.50,000 cwt. at 7s 17,500 



1,.500,0U0 lb. at Is 3d 93,750 



500.000 lb. atSd 10,418 



200,000 cwt at 8.S 80,000 



"„ 110,000 cwt. at 1.58 84,000 



Coffee ... • 



Tea 



Cinchona Bark 



Cocoa 



Cardamoms ... 



Coconut Oil ... 



Copra 



Cocoinit poonac 



Cimiamou 



Do Chips ... 

 Piumljago ... 

 Coir of all kinds _. 



* Rather too Hgh we fear now, seeing that up to 

 20th January we have only sent away 32,294 cwt. 

 af,ainst 78,54.5 cwt. at the same date last season.— 

 Ed. 



