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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[March i, 1883. 



spots ouly partially and at liigli elevations ; while 

 we have been able to see ouly a lew twigs which are 

 unmistakably sufiferiug from the graver symptom o£ 

 incipient canker. As I stated yesterday, the bushes 

 pruned in December last have not been touched, and 

 I await the opinion of an Indian tea expert as to the 

 expediency of at once pruning affected bushes or pursu- 

 ing the Micawber policy of waiting to see what may 

 " turn up." As far as my reading goes, neither this 

 special affection nor the flush-curling-and-withering 

 moth is known m India, although tea-bug and red-spider, 

 in some places and in some years, have proved as 

 destructive to tea as he/nilela vaaiatrix in the case of 

 cottVe. Whether the leaf-disease has jet been seen 

 on tea grown at altitudes equally or even more lofty 

 than the top part of Abbotsford, I cannot say, and 

 I can only wish rather than hope that Calsay and 

 Oliphaut and the tea estates in and around Kuwara 

 Eliya and other alpine positions may entirely escape 

 what has occasioned us alarm and anxiety not so much 

 from its prevalence as because of what we have seen 

 of the effects on eucalypts and other ornamental and 

 shade trees and especially on cinchonas. I hope the 

 opinion of our tea referee many be as encouraging as 

 are his reports of the cultivation in the lowcountry 

 of Ceylon. We venture to quote from a letter just 

 received : — "I have just been all over the lowcountry, 

 making out estimates for the current year, and they 

 all come out extremely well. We are now having 

 very fine tea weather, and all the estates are making 

 very fine tea. This, 1 hope, will be the best tea year 

 that Ceylon has ever known, and as this is the first 

 mouth in the year [written on January 30th], I think 

 that I can fairly say that Ceylon will take thfe lead of 

 India this year 1883. You take a note of this now 

 and let me know next January if my words will not 

 turn out correct. ■' Most cordially do we trust that 

 for high aa well as low districts the anticipation of 

 prosperity may be verified, other products and especi- 

 ally our old and chief staple sharing the good fortune 

 of tea. 



The record I sent you of the excessive rainfall of last 

 year on Abbotsford at 5,800 feet above sea-level, a 

 similar excess having been general over the planting 

 districts, is sufficient to account (wind and cold being 

 also taken into the reckoning) for disi aae in vegetation, 

 especially if an excess of salt was lilowu from eea- 

 ward. This question of salt-storms affecting our vegeta- 

 tion ought certainly to be settled, and I am glad to 

 see that the Dikoya Planters' Association has made 

 arrangements for analyses of ra'n water. The con- 

 stituents of run which is carried by severe wind-storms 

 from the sua should be and no doubt will be 

 specially noted. As it may be interesting to readers 

 of the Observer to see liow lower and higher altitudes, 

 exposure being much the same, affect rainfall, I am 

 glad to be able to give the figures for a station 

 (Dessford bungalow) 5,000 feet above sea-level and 

 therefore 800 feet lower than Abbotsford. Here, we 

 had 141 inches, or 31 above our received average. 

 On Dessford 800 feet farther down the quantily gauged 

 ■was nearly 10 inches less, the exact figures being 

 131'80, as per the following return : -January 5'9t) ; 

 February 1-04; March 2-24; April 2-56 ; May 5 '9 1 ; 

 June 13'55 ; July 33-79; August 23 '72; September 9'17 ; 

 October 15 '76 ; November 11'59 ; December 6" 51. Total 

 131 '80. Taking the Dessford average at 106 inches, the 

 excess there was 25 '80, instead of our 31. The 

 Deistord figures for August and September, however, 

 shewing as they do that last year August took the 

 place of September as the rainier month, prove tlmt 

 we must correct our estimates for the two months at 

 Abbotsford by reversing the figures into 18 for 

 August and 12 for September. It would seem that 

 the excess of the inches at the higher station over 

 t'lj lower was mainly due to the rainier character of 



the two eouth-west monsoon months, June and July 

 at the higher, thus : — 



Dessfokd. Aebotsfokd. 



Inches rain. Inches rain. 



June 13-55 18-94 



July 33-79 37-48 



Total . 



... 47-34 



56-42 



The rainfall in June at Dessford was steady and 

 constant rather than in storms, apparently. At Abbots- 

 ford 2-34 inches fell on the 15th. In July there was 

 a rain-storm of 3-32 at Dessford on the 7th, 3-92 

 on the 11th, and on successive days from the 27th 

 to the 30th storms at the rate of 2-4.3, 2-39, 2-45, 

 and 2-66. On Abbotsford 2-10 fell on the 6th, and 

 from the 27th to the end of the month the heavens 

 poured out >it the rate, each successive day of, 2-53, 

 3-48, 3-96, 2-01, and 2-95. After the pluvial pro- 

 fusion of 1882, we have a right to expect a reaction 

 into drier weather than ordinary in 18S3, and we suspect 

 this will be the character of the year, notwithstand- 

 ing the abnormal rain-storms in the early days of 

 February. 



Ipecacuanha. — The following proposals of the Con- 

 servator of Forests have been sanctioned : — "I sub- 

 mit a letter from Mr. Logan on the .subject of plant- 

 ing ipecacuanha together with copy of one from 

 Mr, Ferguson from which it will be seen that we 

 are agreed — that the Silent Valley experiments are 

 out of the question at present owing to difficulty of 

 access aud no planters being now resident there ; that 

 the sites proposed by Mr. Ferguson on the Ellumbellary 

 estate (3,000 to G,.500 feet) and near Tamracheri 

 (50 to 500 feet) are eminently adapted for carrying 

 out the experiments ; that the area to be experiment- 

 ally planted on each of the abovementioned sites 

 shall not exceed 15 acres ; and that Mr. Ferguson's 

 other proposals lie accepted subject to the proviso, 

 in which Mr. Ferguson concurs, that the total monthly 

 charge for European supervision shall not exceed R50- 

 I solicit the approval of Government to cai-rying out 

 experiments on the above basis, on which estimates 

 will be framed by Mr. Ferguson in communication 

 ■with the Deputy Conservator of Nilanibur plantations, 

 who has much experience in planting, and the necessary 

 funds made available. " — Madras Times. 



SuEVARoy, Jan. 30th. — The harvest of our crops is 

 drawing to a close. In ten days or a fortnight all 

 the cherry coffee will have been picked, aud the 

 process of stripping the trees will commence. The 

 outturn up to date is satisfactory, as regards quan- 

 tity and quality, and the effect on the spirits of 

 planters, I need hardly say, is everywhere apparent. 

 The weather for the last four weeks has been very 

 cloudy, retarding the drying of coffee on tables and 

 barbecues. Consiquently, consignments to the coast 

 have been emaller than usual at this time of year. 

 A few sunny dajs would change this state of things 

 and relieve our crowded stores and barbecues. There 

 is still a large quantity of green coft'ee on the trees, 

 which it is feared, will never ripen, but will have to 

 be picked and cured as native coffee — a loss of -203 

 per cwt. to the planter. The total rainfall for 1882 

 was 65 inches, the average of the 5 preceding years 

 being 64J inches. All but 6 inches of this wBs col- 

 lected in 7 months from May to November. The 

 greatest rainfall in one day occurred on the 17th 

 May, w-hen 3 inches w. re registered, and the greatest 

 fall in one month in August. (14 inches). I regret to 

 record the death of one of our oldest plnters, Mr. 

 James Campbell, of Swiss View Estate, which occur- 

 red rather suddenly on the 10th iustsint.— Madras 



