254 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[September i, 1882. 



CONSUMPTION OF TEA, &c., IN VICTORIA. 

 A lai'fe proportion of the tea used in other colonies 

 of the Australasian group finds its way first to Mel- 

 bourne, whence it is distributed. A copy of the Aus- 

 tralian Trade Sevkw enables us to give the figures 

 for the actual consumption of the gold colony. The 

 riuantity increased from 5,786,067 lb. in 1880 to 

 6,495,776 lb. in 1881. This was an increase of 

 709,709 lb. in one year, so that we may safely take 

 the round seven millions of pounds for 1882. As the 

 population of the colony is, in round numbers, 900,000, 

 this would be at the rate of about "i lb. per head. 

 As tea drinkers, therefore, the colonists of Victoria 

 are very far ahead even of the Inhabitants of the 

 mother country. The proportion of coffee per head, 

 however, is about the same in each country, not 

 quite 1 lb. In Victoria the consumption was 787,886 lb. 

 in 1880 and 863,768 lb. in 1881, an increase of 

 75,882 lb. Chicory is not separately shewn in the 

 tables before us, but it is at least as lai-gely used 

 in Victoria as in Britain. Of chocolate and cocoa the 

 consumption was 285,312 lb. in 1880 and 274,477 lb. 

 in 1881, a decrease of 10,835 lb. Of sugar the con- 

 sumption (that used in breweries included) is very 

 great. The figures for 1880 were 573,951 cwt., for 

 1881, 608,784 cwt., an increase of 34,833 cwt. The 

 consumption per head exceeds 75 lb. and is rising 

 rapidly to the round 100 lb. It may be noted as a 

 curious coincidence that the duty on tea in this 

 colony, 3d per lb., is equivalent to fl per mauud. 

 In Queensland and Tasmania the duty is the Eng- 

 lish figure of 6d, while in New Zealand 4d per lb- 

 has been adopted. 



TISSAMAHARAMA : PADDY AND NEW PRO- 

 DUCTS: EUROPEAN AND NATIVE 

 CULTIVATORS. 



{From a Correnpondent in the local "Examiner.") 



Tangala, 30th July. — Let us gauge the cost of briug- 

 ing 100 acres of land under crop under the primi- 

 tive system of the goya, and the advanced and scien- 

 tific method of the English paddyist. Having some 

 knowledge of the former, I will take thatin hand now : — 

 The owner of 100 acres in one lot must needs have 

 20 men to watch his crop night and day for from 3 to 

 5 months running. These are not paid a daily or even a 

 monthly wage ; they get invariably a third of the out- 

 turn the caitle-supplier, that is the owner of buffaloes 

 used in ploughing, mudding and preparing the soil for 

 the reception of the germinated paddy, gets 'another 

 third share; and the proprietor of the soil, the remain- 

 in" third; but this division takes pl.ace after the follow- 

 ing charges are cleared off : — 



Ist' One-seventh for cutting, stacking and threshing 

 the crop. 



2nd One-tenth GovernEPent share calculated on the 

 original quantity. 



3rd Fifty per cent interest on seed paddy. 



4th Muandiram, or village headman's perquisite, at 

 10 curunies from every amunam (=6 bushels) extent 

 sown. 



5th One curuni from every amunam sown called 

 Kenwi for the use of the village charmer. 



6th One curuni from every amunam sown called 

 Nekcetivi for the use of the village astrologer. 



7th One curuni from every amunam sown culled 

 Pinwi for charitable purposes. 



A 100 acre average soil field will give, all things fair, 

 nearly 2,400 bushels. 



After all these, and with the water rate of 50o the 

 acre in districts where Government irrigation works 

 exist, you will see how heavily handicapped the staple 

 native industry is. 



The soil all over Tissa is a stiff clay, and suited 

 for purposes of cultivation only with unfailing irrig- 

 ation available. If the tobacco plant takes kindly to 

 the soil, all accessories for its succeBsful and remuner- 

 ative cultivation are at hand. In 1850 a tobacco 

 plantation was started by the agents of Baron Delmar 

 in the neighbourhood of Tangalla, and the quantity 

 and quality produced were considered excellent by 

 connoisseurs. The plantation was kept up tor ma ny 

 years, but after the death of Mr. Straube, the Colombo 

 agent, the experiment which had passed the tent- 

 ative stage flwas unhappily abandoned. I have 

 great faith in Liberian coffee and rubber proving suc- 

 cessful in the more favoured portions of the district 

 — those portions bordering on the Matura district. 

 In the Kirame, Katuwana and Getamanne division, 

 labour is plentiful and cheap, the soil is excellent, 

 and the rainfall of sufficient average, and the cultiv- 

 ation of what are called new products need be no 

 experiment, but will be au assured success, whilst 

 the drier portions will afford a splendid field for the 

 cultivation of the valuable varieties of the tobacco 

 plant. 



Hambantotta, July 29tli. — The cultivation at Tissama- 

 harama has, I am extremely happy to say, proved a de- 

 cided suceess. To the best of my knowledge, an area of 

 nearly 5,000 seres of land has already been sold to both 

 Europeans and natives. Out of the 5,000 acres of land, 

 nearly two-thirds has already been cleared of jungle, and 

 the cultivation of paddy is going on vigorously. The 

 cultivation at Tissa is now regularly being carried 

 on both in Maha and Yala seasons, and sometimes 

 three times a year, and in all appreciable returns have 

 been obtained. Not ouly paddy, but other products, 

 too, euch as Liberian coftee, cocoa, citronella, plant- 

 ains, and coconuts are reported to thrive well. A 

 paddy landowner assured me that a few Liberian 

 coffee plants are thriving well in his garden. On the 

 whole, the place is making rapid strides towards re- 

 gaining its former glory, and already good and sub- 

 staniial houses are springing up. Messrs. Wodehouee, 

 J. W. Newington, F. F. Blatherwick of Aningkanda 

 estate, and a European lady are the purchasers of the 

 lands at Tissa. Mr. Blatherwick has caused to be planted 

 some coconut plants on bis land, the rest being planted 

 with paddy. Machines for winnowing, grinding and 

 husking p.addy have been taken to Tisea by Mr. New- 

 ington, who is residing at Tissa, having built a good 

 house there. 



AGRICULTURE ON THE CONTINENT OF 

 EUROPE. 



{S2)ecial Letter. ) 



Pakis, July 15th. 

 Very great attention is given at present in France 

 to irrigation. "Soil is female, water male," says an 

 Arabian proverb. To be able to irrigate land appro- 

 priately is to bring fecundity, where, without such, 

 the soil would remain sterile, despite all labor and 

 mauuiing. But the agriculturists must be instructed 

 how to employ, and economically, the water within 

 their reach, from springs, raius and streams. The 

 department of the Var is one of the dryest in 

 southern Frauce, and one which has most suffered in 

 its vineyards from the phylloxera. Proprietors have 

 employed steam engines to pump water from rivers ami 

 inuudate the vineyards in autumn, thereby drowning 

 the phylloxera to a large extent. The cost of plant &c. 



