July t, 1882.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



29 



rubra and offti-hutUs, available for distribution from the 

 gardens at tho time, other Uimls h:iving since sprung 

 into existence, and now thtirnameis fcfy'O?). I apijlieil 

 first for 2,000 pl:iuts to the late Director of the i'era- 

 deuiya Botanical Gardens, and, on signing a document 

 promising to attend to their proper cultivation. I was 

 granted an order to receive 2,000 plants (1,000 sue. 

 and 1,000 off. ) — I was then manager of MoneraUande 

 and other estates in Haputale. I got the pUmts 

 down to Monerakande intending to plant them tliere, 

 but, when I was doing so, Mr. C. Totteuhani, one of 

 the then proprietors of Monerakande, visited the 

 estate, saw what I was doing, appeared to he annoyed 

 at sucli a waste of Uhour, and ordered me to desist 

 from orn.amental cultivation, pull up and throw away 

 whit I li.ad already planted, and on no aco< unt to go 

 in for any more aesthetics ! I had ahvady planted 

 out some 500 plants along the road s des, hut so 

 little were lliey cared for or lookeil after, that only a 

 few trees wi-re on the estate a few years ago — the 

 baUince of the plants (some 1.500) I sent over to Maha- 

 pitiya and hadtlieni planted out allernnlidy along the 

 road sides, round the Ijoundarie-j of a 60 acre clearing, 

 and on both sides of the ravines, after I lost the 

 estate in ISO'T ; how the plants fared I cannot tell, but 

 t heard say that some subseciuent superintendent 

 cut down and destroyed most of the trees for the 

 reason of their overshading the coffee, especially those 

 iu the ravines Those old trees that Mr. H. H. Capper 

 found on a portion of Broughtou estate were the 

 remnauts of the cinchonas I planted in 1'65. We only 

 knew cf tw" varieties then, succirubra and ofEcinalis, 

 but since then plants have grown from seeds set down 

 under the old trees of so many different shaped leaves 

 that they had eonimencecl to puzzle even the most 

 scieutitic botanists, and it is the fashion now to give 

 new-fangled names to the plants by the shape, siza, or 

 colour of the leaves : they arc so numerous alr< ady, 

 there is no saying where the nomenclature will end. 

 I leave it to such luminaries as the Observer, Forbes 

 Laurie, and William Smith, and other minor .'satellites, 

 to fight nut the battle of hybridization ; in my humble 

 opinion these freaks of nature, sports, crosses, or what- 

 ever yon may call them, will go on ad ivJinUuin, tdl 

 we have as many kinds of cinchonas growing, as there 

 are races of maidiind* on the face of the earth. Apo- 

 lo;;izing for I he length of this letter, I remain, sir, 

 yours fai hfuUy, JI\0. A'I'WELL, 



P.S. — I may mention here that in 1S63 I visited 

 the Hakgala gardens for the first time in company 

 with the late Mr. G. B. Carson, then propiietor of 

 Gonamotava estate, and could only purchase /sre plants 

 grown under glass shades in ne.it little p 'ts. I had 

 to pay 5.S. t'nl. for each plant : I could not get more, 

 I'iu-se plants I planted on Gonamotava estate in 1863, 

 and not hiug ago tw^") or three of these Jtrst plants, 

 introduced by me into the Haputale district, were to 

 be seen near the site of the old bungalow on Gonamotava 

 estate. 



SEVERE PUNISHMENT FOR FOOD ADULTER- 

 ATION RECOMMENDED. 



12th May 18S2. 



Siu, — I e\iclose the following extracts, say one from 

 a leading London daily (probai>ly the Daily Telerjraph 

 but I cannot say for certain) and one from Truth 

 of !3th April last. 



Iu reference to the extracts above referred to, 1 

 w o lid beg to suggest that, considering the great 

 power possessed at ihe present day in the councils 

 of our state by publican, and grocers (perhaps I 



*The off-band way iu which this writer disposes of 

 questions on which the greitest meu of science speak 

 hesitatingly is quite refreshing. — Ed. 



ought to place tho latter fir.st), I consider it a blioht 

 upon oitr great niition that the statesmen represt'nt- 

 iug it (bi' they Conservatives or Liberals they are 

 equally anilty) should so debase their high funclious 

 as to " Hirt" (that is Mr. A. Mackenzie's icnn, as 

 lately applied iu indignant terms, when twitting his 

 brothi r-|ilaiiters with not backing him up in black- 

 balling 111 season aud out of season a perhaps foolishly 

 weak Haputale Magistrate) with the representative 

 multitude of these all powerful trades whenever they 

 (the said so-called statesmen !) have to legislate /or 

 the (jooil of the people ! 



I would suagtst that every importer, manufacturer 

 or tradesman who was found guilty by our courts of 

 law or adulterating ihe staple food ao- drink cf the 

 people (be tho latter alcoholie or «o«,-alcoliolic) should. 

 ill ailditioii to lilies, be pui ishable say for a third oireuce 

 with tlie lews of his vote at the general election, the 

 fourth for two elections— the fifth with three elections, 

 and sixth teith a total disability to vote on ami tketion 

 whnterer, and also with imprisonment at hard la- 



.bour according to Ihe heiuoust.ess of his offence. 



I am yours truly, A FRII'ND OF THE PEOPLE 



INFORMATION ABOUT CARDAMOM CULTIV- 

 ATION DESIDEKATED. 



May 1.3lh, 1882. 



Dear Sir, —As cardamoms are being grown, and will 

 I believe, be extensively cultivated later on in the 

 hill districts, as well as iu the lowcountrv, it is 

 desirable that planters experienced in this "new jjro- 

 ducc should give the results they have obtained in 

 the cultivation of it. 



Inronnatiou on the subject is much needed. Coidd 

 Mr. Holloway, or any other of your able correspondents, 

 be induced to give it us, in the form of a pamphlet,' 

 tlescribing in detail the treatment of the eardamoiii 

 from the making of nurseries to the final shipping 

 inColomljo? A book of ihis kiud joined to "All About 

 Cardamoms," published by you, wouM be ii boon to 

 planters inleueling to go iu for this product. 



I cannot say _i et with certainty, but 1 believe it 

 would pay well upcouutry, judging from its growth and 

 power of blosso'ning at 4,000 feet elevation in 



YAKDESSA. 



[On an estate in Ambag,-imuwa, the plant has failed 

 to give a satisfactory return of fruit at a far lo%vei- level 

 than 4,000 feet.-Eo.J 



QUESTION ABOUT INDIA RUBBER. 



Dear mr,— Being interested in the cultivation of 

 rubber, I shall be exceedingly obliged, if you, or any 

 . f your correspoudents, will iuloim me how long 

 the Mozimbique pink rubber [Lemdolphia Kirkii) 

 takes to come to maturity. If, as a correspond- 

 ent in the Observer, of the 29th March, hints," it is 

 closely allied to the Para rubber, iirobably it 

 wi 1 lake nearly as long to come to inaturit.v, which 

 is, I believe, about ten .vears. In that case, will it not 

 pay planters much better to stick to Ceara rubber 

 fri m which there is a good return two years after 

 placing the seed iu the ground. I have just been 

 taj.pinga Ceara tree only six months old from which 

 I collected a small Vjall of rubber ? The tree is very 



hardy and seems to stand wind rcmarkalily «ell 



Yi.urs faithfully, CEARA RUBBER.' 



CIMC'IONA BARKING: FAILURE OF A COM- 

 PLICATED MACHINE AND SUCCESS OF A 

 SIMPLE DEVICE. 



T.indula, 15th May I8S2. 

 Deah Sir, — In hard time .ike these I woild not 

 willingly injure any man's p. ispects of making money, 

 especially when the means are so honest aud credit- 



