THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [September i, 1882. 



ther, but when the earth is soaked by raiu. Grevilleas 

 are preferable in eveiy respect except, perhaps, rapid- 

 ity of growth: they and tlie "black wattle." The 

 latter tree is specially liable to attacks of lorauthi, 

 parasitic plants allied to the mistletoe, but these could 

 be cleared away by coolies amied with long poles to 

 the ends of which crooked knives or sickles are at- 

 tached. Monkeys still continue occasionally to break 

 off the tops of cinchonas near forest with tlieir 

 forehands, but latterly elk have become much more 

 destructive and must receive attention. As I am 

 always ready to f/ire information I now venture to 

 ask for the experience of those who have allowed tea 

 plants grow up as seed-bearers. Ours have been left 

 absohitely to grow at theu' own sweet M'ill some for 

 seven years. But probably a certam amount of prun- 

 ing and perhaps topping (?) would improve the quality 

 as well as increase the quantity of the seed ? Some 

 of my ti-ees are over 20 feet in height. Would top- 

 ping be beneficial as well as thummg out the smaller 

 branches? — P.S. — At 3 p.m. the rain is heavily heavily, 

 0'62 of an inch havmg fallen since the record of the pre- 

 vious 24 hours was taken, and the coolies have had 

 to be knocked off. 



The Tamils are valuable labourers, but only when 

 well looked after. In this connection I may notice 

 a letter which my good frieutl Mr. St. George Caul- 

 feild has addressed to the Queenslander, and in 

 which he claims special belief in his testimony favourable 

 to the Tamils as labourers, because he is a superintendent 

 and not a proprietor. Now why, may 1 aek, should the 

 testimony of a superintendent as regards the character 

 of the coolies be better worthy of belief or less sus- 

 picious tlian that of a proprietor. Superintendents are 

 constantly passing into the ranks of proprietors — Mr. 

 Caulfeild, doubtless, hopes to undergo the transform- 

 ation. Will his testimony and that of other men who 

 have passed from the positiou of superintendent to that 

 of proprietor become valueless or hss trustworthy 

 with theii- rise in life ? Uutil an answer is given, 

 I must consider the problem as much "one of the 

 things which no fella can understand " as the 

 compositor's reason for making me write of tea 

 flesh instead of flush. Perhaps the printer had heard 

 that tea to hard-working milliners and others is not 

 merely a •stimulant but a very good substitute for 

 flesh-forming meat. The vulgar idea that tea is in- 

 jurious to weak or consumptive people has in count- 

 less cases resulted in the cruelty born in ignorance. 

 One of my eai-liest recollections is that of a poor 

 consumptive patient who instinctively longed for the 

 comfort of a cup of tea, which she said her liusband 

 out of kindness— most mistalien kindness — refused to 

 let her have. To the vast majority of those who use it, 

 tea is a boon, and the more who can use it the better. 



INDIAN COOLIES. CINCHONA. 



TO THE EDITOR OF THE " QUEENSLANDER." 



Sir,— I am a Ceylon planter of ten and more years' 

 experience, and I have lately had my attention nincb 

 turned towards Queensland, where 1 have relatives. 

 I have been principally interested iu the procuring of 

 Tamil labour for Queensland, and have read with 

 interest articles in tlie Queensland papers on this seem- 

 ingly vexed question. I hold that the extra value to 

 be obtained trom your waste lands, both jjublic and 

 private, by the increase'i cultivation rendered feasible 

 by the introduction of black, cheap, and good labour, 

 will in time tend to make more work in many \vays 

 for the whites, who now object to the introduction of 

 such labour. From all I hear and read, I gather 

 that the available fields of Northern Queensland must 

 and will lie waste unless you get a sufficient quantity 

 o£ cheap black labour, which your kanaka labour 

 evidently is not. My experience of Tamils extends 



over eleven years, and I find them capital workers. 

 Mind, I write as a paid superintendent, and not as 

 a proprietor, so my words can be relied upon. 

 With such vast exteut of available lands, Queensland 

 ought to be a fine field for hard working men willing 

 to rough it for a time. 



I send you by this mail a packet containing 1 lb. 

 of Chidwna officinalis seed, to be used as you see fit. 

 If it had not been for the cincliona enterprise out 

 here a good many planters would have goue to the 

 wall, owing to bad coffee crops. The public were at 

 first most unwilling to embark in the new enterprise, 

 but how it is largely engaged in, and has turned out 

 a first-class cultivation. C. officinalis will, I believe, 

 suit yonr climate best, as out here, owing to excessive 

 wet, it dies out in large patches, with cankered roots. 

 You should strongly ads'ise your fellow-colonists to 

 give the cultivation a trial, aud should it thrive with 

 you it will run your other products hard, as the de- 

 mand is steady, and indeed above the supply. — lam, 

 sir, (fee, H. St. Geo. Caulfeild. 



Ceylon, 24th April. 



A Ceylon planter (Mr. Caulfeild), of more than 

 ten years' experience, has kndly forwarded to us by 

 mail lib. seed of Cinchona officinalis for distribution. 

 His reasons for doing so will be gathered from the 

 letter accompanying the seed, which will be found on 

 another page. Mr. Caulfeild's opinion aud remarks 

 are in perfect agreement with the reports which ap- 

 pear from time to time in our exchanges from India. 

 There tbe cinchona is largely cultivated, aud various 

 methods are iu use for stripping the bark so as to 

 save the trees for future production, and different 

 varieties are grown according to the locality. It may 

 be well for our readers to bear in luiud that the tree 

 is decidedly tropical, aud caanot be expected to thrive 

 except in the northern districts ; there, however, with- 

 out doubt it will be perfectly at home. We ijave to 

 thank our thoughtful correspondent for the fine parcel 

 of seed we have received, and which we shall be 

 happy to distribute amongst those of our readers in 

 the North who will give it a fair trial, if they will 

 make eai-ly application for the same. — Queenslander. 



LOW-COUNTRY PRODUCTS IN CEYLON, 



LiBERiAN OoFFEE AND Hhmileia Vastatbix; Ohop; Oocoa; 

 Wax-palms; Oeara Rubbeh; Crickets. 



Henaratgoda District, 8th July 1882. 



June was wet up to the 2.3rd, when a fortnight of 

 dry weather set in, cloudy with strong wind — not 

 reasy, teafy, easy wind, but rairing, taring, raging 

 wind, that tears branches from the trees, and carries 

 them for many yard?. The wind had calmed down 

 for a couple of days, but broke out again yesterday, 

 in one of the fearful squalls to which our district 

 is so liable. I was fortunate, in haviug evacuated the 

 kajau hut I have occupied for three years, for it 

 came down by the run, a few days afterwards, 

 burying one coolie in the ruins; luckily none of the 

 heavier sticks came on him, and he was rescued with 

 little or no damage. I thought I had chosen a spot 

 for my bungalow, sheltered from both monsoons, and 

 BO it is, but the wind perversely persists in coming 

 either from the north-west or south-east. In fact, the 

 wind has not settled for a day to south-west, since 

 the present monsoon opened. 



I am sorry to say that the fungus is extending on 

 the coffee of all age^, from nursery plants upwards, 

 and many of the larger trees, that; hitlierto appeared 

 fungus-proof, are contracting pinepots. I cannot now 

 say, that there is one variety, on the place, that 

 remains unaffected in all its individuals, aud I begin 

 to fsar that we have not a kind with an absolute 

 power of defying the enemy. I have three ways of 



