136 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[August 1, 1884 



be planted in a row as close as will cause them to meet in 

 from three to four years, and where wind is sus- 

 pected they should be grown checker-board fash- 

 ion. " Too much capital is tried to be made out of the 

 cry of ' poor laud.' " All I can concede under this head 

 is that cacao should not be planted on land where there 

 is a hard, imdenetrable subsoil. All ordinary soils will, 

 I believe, grow it profitably. Why will people go out of 

 their way to have a fling — perhaps thoughtlessly — at a 

 neighbouring district ? I see, in an extract you make from 

 a correspondent's letter, he says his cacaos have no disease. 

 Now, why not stop here instead of proceeding to say 

 " and hear that it is only bad at Polgahawela. Cacao 

 should never have been planted there, as the soil is very 

 hard, and the climate hot and dry." Surely this is grat- 

 uitous opinion and advice, at the same time that it is 

 much overdrawn. True, the soil in Polgahawela is hard 

 in drt/ weather— and where is it not ? — but the bulk of 

 it is, in my opinion quite suited to grow cacao ; it is hot, 

 and so are most places where cacao is grown. As to its 

 being dry, well, if an average rainfall of 90 inches in 

 the year, well distributed over 10 months (January and 

 February having usually only one or two showers) 

 is dry, then it is dry ; but I think most people would 

 consider it wet. As it is a matter of great importance 

 to all intending cacao-growers, I must ask " P. F. L." 

 to tell me where the Caracas seed was got from which the 

 trees killed by Helopeltis were raised. On receipt of this in- 

 formation, I may have something of interest to communicate. 



THE 



ITS SUIT- 



December The seasons differ from those on the 

 western side of the Nuwara Eliya range, the bulk of 

 the rain filling m the north east monsoon, so that 

 the pruning time may probably be different on the 

 two sides, and labour for the purpose can be shifted 

 from the one to the other. 



To sum up, we repeat emphatically, that while many 

 parts of Uva are suitable for cacao culture, the climate 

 ot the whole region is eminently favourable to the 

 luxuriant growth of tea, and perfect for withering 

 the leaf and preparing it for the market. The rail- 

 way trucks on the line from Uva will yet be laden 

 with tiers of tea-boxes, while lead, rice and other 

 goods will be carried up in proportion. 



AVERAGE MONTHLY RAINFALL IN THE 

 DISTRICT OF UVA. 



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CLIMATE OP UVA AND 

 ABILITY FOR TEA. 

 By the courtesy of the acting Surveyor-General, we 

 are now able to place before our readers a table of 

 rainfall averages at a considerable number of stations 

 in Uva, for the months as well as the year, and show- 

 ing the number of days on which more or less rain 

 fell. The results fully bear out our contention that 

 Uva has a climate favourable for the growth of tea, 

 and eminently suitable for the preparation of the leaf. 

 In many parts of Assam where excellent returns are 

 obtained, the rainfall does not exceed 70 inches, while 

 the distribution over the months is by no means so 

 favourable as in Uva, No doubt the climate of Uva 

 was and is eminently favourable to the production of 

 coffee, much of which still holds its own, and is likely 

 to do so, in the face of the fungus pest. But the 

 conditions of rainfall tor coffee and tea are much the 

 same : an annual fall of 70 to 100 inches well dis- 

 tributed. We have not the slightest hesitation, there- 

 fore, in committing ourselves to the prediction that 

 Uva will yet be as famous for its tea as it has been 

 for its coffee. Sir Arthur Gordon can judge for him- 

 self from what he sees and hears on the occasion of 

 his approaching visit, and, meantime, the figures for 

 rainfall, added to actual experiments, more or less 

 advanced constitute evidence not to be denied. Long 

 may coffee preserve its pre-eminence ; but, whatever 

 happens to the Old King, certain it is, to use Sir 

 William Gregory's words, that " Uva has not come 

 to the end of her tether." The average annual rain- 

 fall cf the nine stations where observations have been 

 recorded is 8937 inches (very little short of 90), the 

 lowest figures being 74 67 against Badulla and 74 '24 

 opposite Oodawera, while the highest, 10986 inches 

 (nearly 110 inches), are opposite Madulsima. Prom 

 Badulla to Meeriabedde in Haputale, therefore, on the 

 one side, and to Madulsima on the other, the rain- 

 fall is ample. At Badulla alone are the rainy days 

 in a year fewer than 100 ; at the other eight stations, 

 the number of days on which rain falls varies from 

 134 to 195. the average being close on 150. If our 

 readers will glance at the table, they will observe 

 that there is not a single month represented as ab- 

 solutely rainless. The lowest number of rainy days 

 in any mon^h is 3; th» lowest measurement in any 

 month is 1*33 inch in June. The opposite extreme 

 is 24 rainy days iu November and 21 '36 inches in 'Colombo, lltliJuly 1AJI. 



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