October i, 1882.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



339 



with the ruins of the Sandagiri da^oba, has now been 

 made over to the Siamese priests, while the two 

 lesser ruins of the Jutula and Mauik dagobas have 

 been given in charge of the priests of the Amarapura 

 sect. It ia expected that the rivalry of the oppos- 

 ing sects will have a salutary effect in developing 

 the settlement of the place, and, by an equal di- 

 vision of the shriues, the privilei,e of worahi])piug at 

 the sacred places has been secured to all classes of 

 the Buddhist community. 



The cultivation of land under the restored tank 

 was commenced about five years ago, and has pro- 

 gressed beyond all expectation, though very little en- 

 couragement has been given by Government to those 

 who are willing to ruu the risk of opening up a new 

 country. The soil is extremely fertile, and appears 

 capable of growing rice, plantains, sugarcane, tobacco, 

 and all lowcountry products. At present 2,. 500 acres 

 of land have been sold, of which 1,500 acres have been 

 opened. There is a great demand for more laud, but, 

 although 4,000 acres, or so, have been surveyed, the 

 sale is still deferred. The sale of this land alone would 

 go far towards paying for the expenditure on the work. 

 The reason given for withholding it is that the in- 

 take channel from the river has not been cut sulBci- 

 ently wide to bring in a constant supply of water for 

 the irrigation of a larger acreage than that already 

 under cultivation. But surely this is a matter easily 

 remedied, and, considering that the «orks have cost 

 K 140,000, there is no excuse for not finishing the work, 

 when only some R6O,00O is asked for (see Mr. 

 Fisher's Administration Report) and their completion 

 would allow of the sale of the remaining 4,000 or 5,000 

 acres of valuable land. 



Several large paddy estates are in course of open- 

 ing both by Europeans and natives. The largest of these 

 is the Beaconsfield estate, the proprietor of which is 

 very well siitisfied with the returns already derived 

 from invested capital. Several new varieties of paddy 

 have been introduced from other districts, and some 

 imported, and it is intended to cultivate with ploughs 

 of an improved pattern and to introduce weeding and 

 transplanting as followed in the Kandyan countries. 



Tol)acco and plantains are the only other pro- 

 ducts yet grown, but it is intended to give other 

 lowcountry products a Ir'al, including coconuts on a 

 lari;e scale, as they seem to grow luxuriantly. 



The chief feature, however, is the introduction of 

 maoliinery, for thrashing, winnowing and husking 

 rice. The rice mill is worked by bullocks, and is 

 capable of turning out 40,000 bushels of rice in a year ; 

 attached to it is a purler which polishes rice for the 

 fastidious by tossing it about in a sieve, and round a 

 stone making 480 revolutions in a minute. 



A large Government bungalow has been built over- 

 looking the tank, and with the other bungalows dotted 

 about gives the place quite a civilized appearance. 

 There is plenty of good water and the people are all 

 healthy ; the place has quite lost its bad reputation 

 and coolies come to it freely for employment. 



It is hoped that Government will not now allow 

 things to go backwards, but encourage those already 

 settled by granting the irrigation necessary. 



The great richness of the soil is sure to prove attract- 

 ive to all practical men, now thtit there is a teudency to 

 invest in the lowoountrv. The Government incur a serious 

 responaibilityby keeping the laud out of the market. 



The statements in your issue of the 10th instant, 

 taken from the "Examiner," convey an erroneous 

 impression as to the profits derivable from paddy 

 cultivation, for of course Europeans working with 

 their own capital are not subj-ot to the payment 

 of the numerous taxes therein mentioned, " village 

 charmer," etc. The tytlie alone is levied by Govern- 

 ment and planters are not subject to other extortions. 



F. B. 



NEW PEODUCTS : KOLA. NUT. 



Dear Sir, — Any information on the subject of the 

 kola nut would oblige. At what elevation will it 

 grow best in Ceylon ? I have got some trees over 3 

 years old : they are only 6 feet high, .and have at present 

 shown no sign of blossoming; they are planted at an 

 elevation of 2,500 feet. PHANTOM B. 



[Has our correspondent noticed what is said at page 

 1.200 of the T. A., vol. I.? Weshould gatherthat the 

 plant is more suited for th° lowcountry, but Dr. 

 Trimen says (|)age 10.50) that there are several flouri.sh- 

 ing examples in the Peradeniya Gardens. — Ed.] 



CINCHONA LEDGERIANA SEED. 



Dear Sir,— In the Tropical Agrkullurint of 

 September 1st, you reproduce an article from the local 

 "Times" on " New Products," in which, among other 

 things, it is statel that ledger seed of all kinds is 

 not much trusted; especially so the imported. Is it 

 through iiJnorance, or for the good of the public, that 

 the " Yarrow ledgers," the most authentic seed 

 ever oflfered for sale in Ceylon, should be ignored 

 by this writer ? Unfortunately for planters there 

 have been many vendors of so called ledger seed, but 

 have any of the sellers given to the public the proofs 

 that the proprietors of Yarrow have? As well as I 

 remember : out of a clearing of about 200 trees there 

 have been sixty separate analyses published— analyses 

 both by Mr. Symons and Howard of London— giving 

 up to 12 per cent and some 8 or 9 samples over 11 

 per cent sulphate of quinine. This for 5 year old trees 

 is conclusive and has not been shown of any other 

 seed offered in Colombo for sale. 



Besides it is well known that the Yarrow trees 

 were raised from seed brought over by Mr. Mclvor 

 from India— the firstfruits of trees raised from the 

 origin.al seed imported by Ledger. Consequently plants 

 raised from Yarrow trees should be purer than if 

 raised from Darjeeling, where seed is collected from 

 trees several generations later. 



Yet people having all this at their own doors as 

 it were, where they can see the trees as they grow, 

 can prove all that is said of them and know the 

 men that planted them and the men that analyze 

 the bark, persist in buying Java calisaya seed from 

 Dutchmen at R80 per ounce, without any guarantee, 

 and when it is well known that pure ledger seed 

 will fetch four or even ten times this price in 

 Java. 



I may mention that I have no personal interest in 

 Yarrow, beyond being a purchaser of the seed, the 

 germinating vitality of which I can speak of with 

 certainty, as I have been most successful with it ; 

 in one instance raising 5,000 large seedlings from 2 

 grammes of seed.— Yours faithfully. J. A. R. 



SHAVING CINCHONA TREES. 



8th Sept. 1882. 

 SiR^ — Referring to your paragraph of last evening, 

 re shaving cinchona, the information afforded is 

 most valuable ; there are many amongst us who are 

 thirsting for more. Can, or rather imll, the ' planter 

 in a high district " referred to inform us : — Brstly, 

 at what age he commenced to shave his trees ; 

 secondly, if he shaved them in the wet or the dry 

 seasons ; thirdly, if he applied mana grass or other 

 covering or left them uncovered ; fourthly, for what 

 time did he allow this covering (if any) to remain 

 on the trees ; fifthly and lastly, were the irtes operated 

 on succirubrn, officinalis or hybrids ; at what elevation 

 are they growing, and are they located on this or the 

 other sideofNuwara Eliya ?— Yours, HUMIDITY. 



