January i, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



603 



The magnificent appeiirance of the trees after a 12 

 rao'iths' growth caueed some excitement, and planters 

 were attracted and allured to this district purely for 

 the purpose of growiug this variety of coffee. The 

 blocks put up for sale in 1872 fetched remarkably 

 good prices and induced the Government to commit 

 the blunder of putting a reserve of E50 an acre on 

 subsequent blocks ofl'ered for sale, with the result that 

 they were unsaleable and the opening up of a tine 

 district was very much retarded, as, in lieu of 12 to 15 

 l^roperties, in all probability there would have been 

 ere this four times that number opened up. Land can 

 now be had at the upset price, theGovernment being only 

 too glad to fell the whole district at that rate for 

 planting purposes, to secure the so-called addition to 

 the revenue. 



Many of those who purchased the first lots sold m 

 1878 expected to recoup themselves for the heavy 

 outlay in the purchase by sale of timber, but they met 

 with considerable disappointment. The forests con- 

 tained very few timber trees tit to fell and it is a 

 fjuestion whether the forests in this district, having 

 trees growing so closely and thickly on such stiff sub- 

 soil, would ever yield many and valuable timber trees 

 of sutiioient girth aud size, even if the forests were 

 allowed to remain for centuries. 



From Kalutara town to the foot of the higher hill 

 ranges, on the south of the Kaluganga river, it is only 

 5 miles as the crow flies, 10 miles by road and 15 by 

 river. The road is a fair one up to the bridge near 

 the 8th mile post, and then comes a road, unfit for carts 

 or carriage tratlic, extending for another 6 miles, but 

 in a very round-about fashion. From about the Gth 

 mile for 4 to 5 miles the road is in many places 

 submerged and impassable by foot during the floods 

 when the use of all the canoes in the neighbourhood 

 becomes indispensable much to the pecuniary ad- 

 vantage of their owners. 



There are a few estates and clearings on either side 

 of the road commencing from about the .3rd mile, but 

 visitors intending to have an idea of what the district 

 is and its capabilities, make a great mistake by limit- 

 in » their journey to inspecting properties below the 

 hill ranges. Only an extra hour's journey will trans- 

 fer them to quite a different country — hills covered 

 with dense forests running up to an average of 500 

 feet and some nearing 1,000 feet. A view from the 

 top of some of these hills is maunifioent. To the west 

 lies an undulating tract of laud, with hamlets and 

 fields peeping here and there from amongst the chenas, 

 and the river is seen winding its way to the sea, of 

 which there is simply a glorious view. Fishing-boats 

 out at sea are detected with the naked eye. To the 

 north the country is almost similar, but with more 

 hilly ground within 4 to 5 miles, and you get 

 glimpses of the Bolgoda lake and the Panadiira river. 

 To the north-east you get a fine view in the far dis- 

 tance of the Kegalle and Kadugannawa hills, while 

 on the East stretching southward yon have the rest 

 of the mountain ranges of the Central Province. The 

 lowland lying immediately beyond the first hill 

 ranne and to the west of it as far as the sea, never 

 exceeds 40 feet aViove sea-level, and has an average of 

 about 20 f' et. The difference of temperature in the 

 hills is, of course, very great aud enjoyable. There 

 are a few very rocky liills almiit 200 feet in elevation, 

 lying almost parallel to the river and close to Kalu- 

 tara town. The railway from Kalutara is rarely used 

 for the conveyance of grown produce. The old Dutch 

 canal is its rival for cheapness. The carrying con- 

 tractors besides complain of the trouble and ofBcial 

 and other annoyances they are subject to in the load- 

 ing and unuiading at the terminal stations. 



What is popularly known as Ihe surf^icc eoil in these 

 forests varies in depth from 4 to 15 inches. This is 

 exceedingly rich in humus and is highly nitrogenous. 



The next layer of an average depth of 10 inches con- 

 tains less vegetable matter, more silica and laterite 

 (cabook) in a finely granuloted state. This is followed 

 by a mixed stratum of laterite and reddish yellow clay 

 not easily penetrable by roots of shrubs and even of 

 some trees. Below this is chiefly cabook, but still 

 harder stuff than the former aud an admixture of sand 

 and rock. On examination of the roots of the forest 

 trees blown down bv *;he wind, there is seen a fair 

 amount of lateral roots, but scarcely any tap-root ; 

 in some instances the tap-root is not unlike a conical shell. 

 The l.ind is very rocky in most parts, the propirtion of 

 therocks varying from 30 to 50 per cent. They are rather 

 an advantage, as, with a little management in rough 

 terracing, the surface soil is secured from the effects 

 of rainstorms. Whatever inferences may be drawn 

 from the above rough description of the soil, they 

 must be weighed with theresultsshown in the growing &c. 

 of some of the other new products, such as tea, rubber 

 about which I shall send you some account in another, 

 communication. 



It is strange, after so much had been done in the way 

 of analysing coffee soils and the component parts of the 

 tree itself aud with the results and conclusion arrived 

 at thereby made public and quite fresh in the minds of 

 planters in 1878, that there should have been so much 

 thoughtlessness exercised in buying laud in Kalutara 

 and certain other districts for Liberi.an coffee. No 

 chemical analysis was needed. Careful superficial ob- 

 servations as in olden times ought to have answered. A 

 lime-pit here is as rare as a plumbago mine in the plains 

 of Nuwara Eliya. The cultivation of Liberian coffee will 

 never be a success in the choicest land of this district. 

 It grows vigorously enough up to the second year, 

 commences to bear in its third, and yields a fair crop iu 

 its fourth year, but not a satisfactory one. At this age, 

 a great proportion of the trees appear indifferent, suffer- 

 ing from the effects of leaf-disease and black bug, but 

 chiefly from the poorness of the soil in one particular, 

 viz., a very great deficiency of lime and its compounds. 

 It is during the fruiting stage the tree begins to be 

 taxed and after yielding a first good crop a great 

 many trees either die or recover very slowly, and 

 even when they do, the new leaves have a sickly, pale 

 yellow appearauce. At first a good many will be in- 

 clined to put this yellow appearance down to the effects 

 of leaf-disease, but on careful examination it will be 

 traced to a fault in the soil, in all probability to a de- 

 ficiency of lime. As regards the climate and rainfall 

 for coffee, no fault can be found. Another mistake 

 was the planting at the distance of 12 feet apart. The 

 attempt' to fill intervening rows, like the attempt at the 

 late filling-in of vacancies in Arabian coffee fields, was 

 fiuitless and the expense of doing so a sheer loss. 

 Where only a couple of valuable crops can be taken off 

 such virgin soil as exists there, so unsuited iu other re- 

 spects for coffee, 6 feet apart would have been a better 

 distance. There is, however, no cause for much alarm 

 to those who have hitherto rather bliudly ventured to 

 cultivate Liberiau coffee in this district, as a product of 

 come permanency. It will not lead to ruin, but it will 

 not give them anything like even a half of what was 

 generally expected. It beiioves them then to take im- 

 mediate measures that will make up for the unexpected 

 lose. Some estates, after taking their first crops, are 

 being manured with; puonac and bones, but less of it 

 aud the addition of lime or of lime only in younger 

 phnces is what is really needed. Coral lime can be 

 easily brought up ihe river from the sea-coast and con- 

 veyed to tlie estates. The application of it is imper- 

 ative, but i^appily at a triflng cost compared to that of 

 applying it on upcountry estates. A liberal application 

 of lime will produce n few lieavy crops, aud tlien the 

 trees mu-t be left to do what tbty can. In the mean- 

 wliile, the land so planted can aud should be utilized. 

 In young clearings, not exceeding 2i years old, tea can 



