August i, 1882.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



91 



wards, should be tied down, and so trained to tho 

 horizontal position, instead of being pruned off. Plenty 

 of wood is desiderated, as this plant requires shelter for 

 its berries ; bears in tlie gieeu wood ; and is chary of 

 throwing out shoots at the eye of a cutoff branch. 

 The result of pruning a Liberiau coffee tree, in the 

 same «ay ai> jou would an Arabian, would be that the 

 former would become straggling and " whippy," instead 

 of round and bushy, and moreover would give only a 

 few lierries at the tips of the branches. If your corre- 

 spondents lind tbeir experience differ, I trust they will 

 come forward with their criticisms. As machinery is 

 in use to pulp t>nd cure this variety, there is nothing 

 calling for a remark here. Loaf-disease no doubt is 

 present; but the vigour of the tree, as well as the 

 stoutness of texture of its leaves, will I think, pr-vent 

 it from suff' ring to anything like the extent of the 

 Arabian kind. No doubl tho question of le.af-discase 

 has also been the meiins of preventing the free ex- 

 tension of this product. 



III. — Cocoa. — The chief nttraction of this product 

 is that it is permanent. I believe that a cocoa tree is 

 considered in the West Indies to have reached its prime 

 at its sixtieth ((iOth) year! So that tlie planter niakes 

 provision not only for his ow'n lifetime, but for that of 

 his cliildren's. The undoubted success that has followed 

 tho cultivation of this plant, in Dumbara especially, 

 is patent to any catual visitor to the valley. The 

 returns arc not so rapid, as it is the fashion for Ceylou 

 men to hunger after ; but the slowness does not de- 

 tract from the sureness of future profit. Itis just this 

 "hungering after" rspid returns that has landed so 

 many high and dry. When the trees have developed 

 into their full proportions, and heavj' picking is the 

 order of the day, then some plan, differing from 

 that adopted with regai'd to the small coffee berries, 

 will have to be resorted to. The usual present 

 plan is to cut off the ripe pods with an implement 

 combining a hook and knife, taking care not to injui'e 

 the excrescences on wiiicb future crops depend. The 

 blossoms appear on these excrescences, and by tear- 

 ing off the pods injury and loss occur. The pods are 

 emptied of their cmitents by a coolie armed with a 

 sharp knife, with which he half twists and half cuts 

 the pod at the stalk end, and then the bunch of seeds 

 comes out easily. Thjse wet seeds have great specific 

 weight, and therefore the carriage to the store, in the 

 absence of carts, involves expense. These seeds are 

 emptied into ordinary cofl'eo cisterns, lined at the bot- 

 tom with wire-gauze placed on reepers for the pur- 

 pose of letting the juice drain off". On the top is laid 

 a covering of plantain leaves, and then a covering of 

 sand, and then overall are laid old eaeks. This is left 

 thus for about twenty-four hours, and then the seeds, 

 having been fermented, are dried rapidly, either in the 

 sun, or, should the weather be uncertain, in heated 

 air. The nibs (the articles of commerce which are con- 

 tained within the shell of the seed) are peculiarly sus- 

 ceptible to mould. The last shipment from Palk- 

 kelly, which reached such an unpreeedtnted price, and 

 which was termed by tbe brokers " highly dried," 

 was, I undeistand, exposed to high temperature by 

 the Clerihew process. One authority advocates, hot 

 water or hot air pipes, instead of a hot air draught 

 through the room. As to pruning, reverse the Arab- 

 ian cnffee method, viz., keep on old wood, and 

 keep down young wood. Of course this ndmits of 

 modilicaiioue. The thing to be desired in a cocoa tree 

 is a thick solid crown as compact as possible, so that 

 the leaves shelter the young fruit. Cocoa is very sens- 

 itive to wind. It seems to luxuriate in the direct rays 

 of the sun, but suffers from wind immediately. There- 

 fore shelter, not shade, is required. In the West Indies 

 the pods are heaped on the ground in tbe field for twenty- 

 four hours before being opened, I should say that this 

 would render the pods soft, and lessen tho danger of 



damage by a sharp-edged instrument. Some would 

 reply: "Thieves might appreciate the heaps of ready- 

 pulled fruit." lu answer, I say that it does not make 

 much difference whether the fruit be on the trees or 

 on the ground. Mr. VoUar and Mr. Sinclair especially, 

 along with others, deserve great credit in that they 

 have brought the successful cultivation and curing 

 of this most delicate product out of darkness into 

 light, and. though more light may be wished for, yet the 

 success has been very wonderful. Ceylon, generally, 

 is not suitable for this product, but the experiehce 

 gained here will be available for other tropical count- 

 ries, such as Sarawak, New Borneo, and other 

 lands, possessing richer soils than our island. 

 There are some trees of tho yellow variety, and also 

 of the green or white variety, on Pallokelly. The 

 coolies distinguish tbem as the " tangam choklat." 

 These are bearing heavily, and present a very pretty 

 sight, with the pleasant contrast of the golden-col- 

 oured fruit among,3t tho dark heavy foliage. These 

 are of a more robust and spreading character, and will 

 I should think, bear more heavily than the red variety. 

 I do not know if they would fetch a better price. 

 There is nothiug more pleasing to the eye than a 

 cocna wall' : but, what is better, there arc few things 

 so filling (as regards the purse) at the price. I must 

 not omit mention of the success that has crowned the 

 efforts of Mr. Forbes Laurie in this product, and 

 also notably in Liberian coffee. So much so has his 

 success been apparent, and his pluck and enterprize 

 been recognized that jjlauters know him by the name 

 of yew Products. We all wish Neto Products all success 

 in his various ventures. 



IV. CiNCHON.'V.— I feel myself unfitted to give 

 adequate justice to this subject. There are many 

 points connected with the cultivation, which belong 

 to the botanist, and the chemist, and on which the 

 greatest authorities differ. 



This paper makes no pretence of going deeply into any 

 subject, but is merely a review of different products. 

 It was said in India that sufficient seed had been 

 sent to Ceylon to cover the entire surface of the Central 

 Province. I would venture to say that many hundred- 

 weights of cinchona seed have failed. Still Ceylon 

 planters were not daunted. Slowly but surely pro- 

 gress has been m.ide ; and, had it not been that the 

 financial pressure has caused many to cut down their 

 cinchona,--, this product would have been more visible to 

 the eye of one journeying through the diflerent districts. ' 

 Hard-up proprietors have had to kill the golden egg- 

 laying goose. But new methods have since been dis- 

 covered, whereby the goose may be induced to increase 

 her produce without being slain. How bitterly dp 

 many repent the coppicing an 1 the uprooting of their 

 cinchonas in these days of shaving ; but s'ill those 

 quills of bark gave a buoyancy to the sinking ship, 

 and staved off the evil day to many a despondinw 

 planter. I do hope the evil day will never come, but 

 that the turning in this long and dreary lane is near, 

 I do not enter the disputed ground of nomenclature, 

 hybridity. or classiticition. .Sufhce it to say that it 

 is best to ask »ith Shakespeare " What 's in a name?" 

 and, leaving scienti,sts to tight for tl'cir favourite 

 theories, pursue steadily the cultivatiou of those kinds 

 that have been already tested by the maiket and 

 laboratory, as being the most profitable. Succirubra 

 and a h.ardy form of officinalis (wheth- r called conda- 

 minea or not) have been proved to be the best pajing 

 of the common kinds. Ledgeriana stands by itself, above 

 all doubts and dissensions, as one of the most valuable 

 products in the world. Great progress his been made in 

 tbe extension of this priceless variety. A great deal of 

 seed from India and Java has been obtained, from which 

 many valuable clearings will now be pljnied up. The 

 results of analysis with regard to thi.- phiuthave been 

 most wonderful, and have equalled anything cffeottd 



