466 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[December i, 1882. 



dyuasty of coffee has passed, or ia passing away aud 

 another arising in tea and cinchona. Even in those 

 diati'icta on which coffee is still apparenlly flourish- 

 ing, such as the Pundaluoya, Dirabula, Agrapatsnas, 

 parts of Udapusselawa and BaduUa, the planters seem 

 to have taken the alarm, and to be preparing them- 

 selves for the change which is impending, for it 

 would not be possible to name any estate on which 

 the two products of tea and cinchona are not being 

 introduced. In the higher elevations, tea and ofBcinalis 

 seem to be the favourites, while succirubra, called 

 aflfectionately by the planters, ''Succy," enlivens the 

 borders of the roads on the lower estates, or peers 

 above the eoti'ee in the bad patches, of which there 

 are far too many. The bright red and green leaves 

 of this hiirdy variety of cinchona helps to give -a 

 cheerful aspect lo the country, and seems to possess 

 the confidence of planters over the more valuable 

 descriptions, such as officinalis, ledgpriana, calisaya 

 and hybrids. Judging by what I saw, the better kinds 

 are used in high elevations, while succirubra and strong 

 hybrids are in favour in the hotter and lower districts. 

 As 1 said before there are signs of a great change 

 coming over us, and 1 look upon King Coffee as 

 doomed in the course of time to resign his sceptre 

 to the invading new products which are gradually 

 overrunning the country. And most fortunate it is 

 for owners and mortgagees that something has been 

 found which will grow in apparently worn-out estates. 

 The hardy succirubra, plants itself from wind blown 

 seed, and seeii.s to thrive in the most barren looking 

 soil. I say nothing about cocoa, for I saw none in 

 the districts 1 visited, but I understand its cultivation is 

 rapidly progressing in districts favourable to its growth. 



In speaking of the decline of Coffee C nltivatinn, I 

 am still of opinion that there aio some favored por- 

 tions of the isl:mJ where it will prove remunerative 

 for some years to come, especially if home prices im- 

 prove, or it the present value of the colory coffee be 

 maintained. 



On the other hand, 1 look upon mauy districts as 

 quite worn-out. Notably those of Pusellawa and 

 Kimbodde as far as Nuwera Eliya, and it struck me 

 forcibly th:.t this was owing more to the loss of soil 

 from the system of weeding, than from leaf-disease. 

 It is melancholy to see the once fertile fields of the 

 Pussellawa and Kambodde ranges so utterly desolate 

 as they are at present, so irremediably exhausted, 

 the soil having been washed into the valleys and 

 carried down by the rivers into the sea ; draining 

 may have arrested the mischief for some time, but 

 the obligation of cleaning the drains when full of 

 washed down soil, and casting it forth below to be 

 caught in the next drains must necessarily end in its 

 being lost altogether. Such hs.s been the fate of the 

 once famous districts of Pussellawa and Eambodda 

 which I have known since the year 1848, when old 

 Archdeacon Glenuie and the Messrs. Worms were 

 living aud creating the once magnificent properties 

 of Rothschild aud Delta, the glories of which have 

 departed never to return as cofl'ee estates. Both of 

 these large properties are, I believe, now being con- 

 verted into cinchona plantations. 



In endeavouring to account for the extinction of 

 coffee in Pussellawa and Rambodda, I am inclined 

 to believe that the estates have arrived at the natural 

 term of their existence, tlieir lives having been con- 

 siderably shortened by leaf-disease, but chiefly by the 

 loss of soil under the system of weeding which was 

 perhaps unavoidable. 



As to cinchona, I much fear that the necessity of 

 planters is causing them to shave stems aud to lop 

 branches, at too early sn age ; no tree should be so 

 operated upon before it is 4 years ild. The oi.er.ttion 

 „f lopping is performed also to an excess u hich is 



•denfly injurious to the tree and undoubtedly checks 



its growth by depriving it of a portion of its respiratory 

 organs ; I may be wrong, but such is my belief 

 from actual observation. 



I am glad to say that I noticed very little leaf- 

 disease duriui; my travels except on some estates 

 an accumnl ition of dead and fallen leaves and I cer- 

 tainly attribute the fearful shortness of crop in the 

 coming season, to exceptionally unfavorable weather 

 during the blossoming season. In this belief the uni- 

 versal cry of the planters is, let us try one more 

 year before abandoning our hope in coffee. When 

 speaking of the cessation of coffee cultivation in 

 Pussellawa and Rimbode, I ou^ht perhaps to have 

 mentioned that there are a few estutes that are still 

 carefully cultivated, but as far as personal observa- 

 tion goes I on\y know of three, two in Pussellawa and 

 one in Rambodde. A kind of cultivation is kept up upon 

 some otliers, but more for the benefit of cinchona 

 than coffee. 



Referring to my remarks upon the loss of soil by 

 the system of weeding practised in Ceylon, they 

 are singularly confirmed in an article on cacao culti- 

 vation, in the Planters' Gazette on the 2ud October. — 

 Yours faithfully, G. 



TUE GRAFTING OF LEDGERIANAS ON SUC- 



riEUBRA STOCKS : BAMBOO CYLINDERS 



AND BOTTOMLESS BOTTLES. 



Deae Sik, — I notice in your issue of 13th ultimo 

 a letter from Mr. Kemp, giving his experience 

 aud method of grafting C. Lodgeriana on succirubra 

 stocks as practised by him at Hope, "Ouchterlony 

 Valley." The letter is very interesting inasmuch as it 

 represents the process as simple and the result a 

 perfect success. Interesting as the letter is, it would 

 have been considerably more so bad Mr. Kemp stated 

 what percentage of the grafis succeeded, /. e. , in the 

 open, under bamlioo cylinders aud bottomless bottles 

 also in glass structures. Without this iuformation 

 the letter may mislead, and in the end prove only a 

 delusion. A few words from Mr. Grant, under whose 

 instructions, 1 believe, Mr. Kemp was acting, would 

 also be of interest — particularly, if he can endorse 

 Mr. Kemp's success as described in his letter under 

 I'eview. 



There is no novelty in breaking a bottle by means 

 of oil and a heated rod of iron ; this is familiar to 

 every boy in tiie Madras Piesideucy. The bottom 

 portion of a bottle so treated being often used in 

 planters' bun<;alows as a night-lamp before lamps and 

 finger-glasses were so plentiful and common as at 

 present, and I think it would be an easy matter to 

 prove, th.at the use of the top portion as described by 

 Mr, Kemp, did not emanate from that gentleman. 

 This applied with equal force to the introduction of 

 bamboo cylinders. LEDGERIANA. 



Southern India. 



COFFEE AND GOOSEBERRY BUSHES. 



21st Oct. 1882. 

 Sik, — Can " W" cite instances where orchards or 

 say large gooseberry gardens — and the appearance and 

 cultivation of this shrub in mauy respects resemble 

 the coffee tree, after having for a series of years 

 remaiu'^d unproductive revive aud give their previous 

 yield of crop ? I knew in .Scotland of a large goose- 

 berry garden, of some acres, collapsing in the way 

 our plantations here have done aud the owner after 

 years of patience having to root out. L. 



PROBABLE ANALOGY BETWEEN HEMILEIA 



VASTATRIX AND PERONOSPERA INFESTANS. 



LlNDULA, 24th Oct., 1882. 



Dear Sir, — The great want of rootlets to oqr 



coffee trees has been one of the my^ter'ous accom- 



