February i, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



619 



matcli-box, -was the larva of ' Syrpbus Nietneri' 

 described in Nieiner's " Enemies of the Coffee Tree," 

 page 12 (new edition) as being a great devourer of aph- 

 ides. It carries the empty skina of its victims on the 

 back of its head in a little heap, and, when the heap 

 becomes an inconvenient burden, it rubs it off and 

 commences a fresh deposit of skins. When full grown, 

 it is about a quarter of an inch long, pear shaped, and 

 brown in color, with a triangular cream color patch on 

 its back." — fin.] 



A WORD FOR THE KALUTARA DISTRICT 

 AND LIBKRIAN COFFEE. 



Kalutara, 21st December 1SS2. 



Dear Sir, — I hav« read Mr. Ferdiuauds' letter in 

 your issue of 19th instant. Some of his statements if 

 admitted migbt influence intending investors in the 

 district. What is the siguitioant fact your correspond- 

 ent sees in Liberian coffee plants being cheaper than 

 Ai-abian plants? Does he not know that Liberian 

 parchment is cheaper tlian Arabian ? germiuates well 

 and requires if anything less attention in the nursery ? 

 So it would not be surprising were they not dear — but 

 where do Liberian plants sell for less thanArabica? 

 This miy be the case in other districts of your corre- 

 spondent's extended exiierience, but so far as this one 

 is concerned, last monsoon, plants were in great re- 

 quest and sold readdy at double the price which 

 Arabian plants used to fetch. Mr. Ferdinands tells us 

 in glowing terms how the first opened estate in the 

 district looked at 12 montljs old — but, why his 

 ominous silence regarding its present appearance, leav- 

 ing the impression on your readers' minds, that this 

 estate has utterly faibd to fulfil its early promise, 

 whereas the fact is a paying crop is now been gathered. 



In 187S, laud bought close to villages from which 

 all the (jood timber has been taken out, your corre- 

 spondent is quite riaht in saying valuable trees were 

 not plentiful, but I would be happy to show him 

 virgin forest with valuable timber of a size seldom 

 exceeded in tlie Central Province, and to quote facts 

 I could refer him to one case not so long ago in which 

 a considerable sum was realized off lUO acres and 

 scarcely made an impression on the jungle. 



Mr. F. further says: — "It is strange there should 

 have been to much thoughtlessness exercised in buy- 

 ing laud in K;ilutara and certain other districts for 

 Liberian coffee." Forgetting tliat at the time not so 

 much was known about Liberian as we kuow now, 

 when it was generally believed this product would 

 grow in almost any soil, but experience has prov. d to 

 the contrary and that as much discretion is required 

 in choosing land for this as for any other product. 

 His propliecy that " Liberian coffee will never be a 

 success in the choicest land of the district," may he 

 correct if he means that large fortunes will not be 

 made in a few years, but it is generally agreed that 

 a system of yearly manuring with our climate paying 

 crops will be the result. 



In Mr. Ferdinands' opinion a liberal application of 

 lime will produce a heavy crop or two and then Liberiau 

 coffee will be non est, whereas the general opinion of 

 those most interested is, that by a moderate annual 

 application of a fertilizing as well as a stimulating 

 manure (e. g. a mixture of poonacs and bone dmtj 

 will assure a permanent property with paying crops. 



I agree with your correspondent the cultivation 

 of Arabian coffee in this district should not beat- 

 tempted without much consideration, judgment and 

 caution" and would even go further, that it should 

 not be attempted at all. But in case some of Mr. 

 F.'s friends have beeu meditating, on sleepless couches, 

 with fevered brains this bold experiment, 1. as pre- 

 sumably one of the novices am quite willing to 

 stand by an d behold the wisdom of the aneieuts. 



YOU KiyOW WHO. 



A WORD FOR WEEDS. 



Dumbaia, I'eth Dec. 1882. 



Dear Sir, — In your leading article of Dec. 22ud, 

 I see y.iu quote from a correspondent of yours, who 

 wishes those who believe iu weeds to go and see "a 

 wellkuown old estate iu Pussellawa," and be con- 

 (? per) verted. As one of the writers on the subject, 

 I should like answers to a few questions before going 

 to the trouble and expense of the journey. Were the 

 weeds grown from the opening of the estate, so as to 

 save the soil, or were they only allowed to grow 

 when there was no soil left to save, and no coffee to 

 pay for pulling them up ? I can easily see an old, 

 abandoned, wornout place which has been weeded to 

 death without going to Pussellawa. Were the weeds 

 taken in hand sud kept in control — in fact, cultivated 

 — or were they left to grow into jungle and choke out 

 the coffee, when it was no longer strong enough to 

 resist them ? 



1 don't for a moment advocate the growing of weeds 

 " shuma," nor do I, on the ground of saving of expense, 

 ecouomy as some would call it, for I believe that to 

 manage them so as to be of advantage to the estate will 

 cost as much or more than to keep an estate clean ; 

 but what I do eay is that weed.i properly looked after 

 are the salvation of an estate, as they preserve the old 

 soil and are constantly making new, while they keep the 

 whole moist and in a good condition chemically and 

 mechauically. 



I should like your correspondent to come here and 

 see the results of our experiment so far. The district 

 is going through an attack of leaf-disease at present, 

 and we notice that, while those trees which are 

 attacked are having it in pretty much the same degree 

 of severity, a much larger percentage escape entirely 

 in the weedy field than in the clean one. 



Weather very wet--wor8e thau Ambagamuwa. 

 Wishing the "Old Rag" the compliments of the season, 

 a prosperous New Year and many of them, yours 

 truly, G. B. 



LIBERIAN COFFEE IN KALUTARa! 



3l8t December, 1P82. 



Dear Sir,— In reply to " You Kuow Who" on this 

 subject, I admit that the statements in my letter, ap- 

 pearing in your issue of the 19th December last, 

 might, and I hope will, influence intending in- 

 vestors in Liberian coffee in that district and prevent 

 them cultivating this product, just as much as a sub- 

 sequent communication of mine may, aud I trust will, 

 encourage inteuding investors iu property there, to 

 cultivate tea aud some other products wiih a certainty 

 of success. Liberian parchment might he cheaper than 

 Arabian, but I cannot see what tliat has got to do 

 with the fact that Liberian plants have been and are 

 being now sold cheaper than good Arabian plants ever 

 were. A bushel of selected and picked cherries of either 

 Liberiau or Arabian coffee can be purchased for about 

 Ro; with this diftVrence, that you get an average of 9,000 

 seeds from the Liberian and 30,00 ' from the Araiiian 

 cherries ! Arabian coffee flourished on extensive tracts 

 of land in this island for over 40 years, and the value 

 of good plants was seldom less than R7'50 per 1,000, 

 though they are now procurable at 1!5 per 1,000. On 

 the other hand Liberian coffee plants scarcely five years 

 ago were fetching R250 and more per l,00il, and 

 they have been lately sold so low as at R3 per 1,000 in 

 the Kalutara district. The price of nursery plants is 

 reguh.ted by the .'demand, and the demand is to a cert- 

 ain extent an index of their value. I have had several 

 years' experience in growing coffee nurseries, and never 

 fouud our Arabian feed more troublesome to raise 

 plants from than Liberian of the freshest description. 



As to the first opened estate giriug now a paying 

 crop, Iain not in a position to support or contradict 

 this statement, and it wonid be impertineuce on my 



