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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [December i, 1884. 



The Insects referred to in last night's issue 

 having been submitted to the gentleman who is 

 good enough to help us in matters entomological, the 

 following is his report:— 



"The large bug belongs to the family Bedumtda They 

 are pre-eminently insectivorous and are usually scentless 

 The smaller bug is not Helopdtis, but somewhat resembles 

 it The beetle belongs to the family Melolmthuta. It 

 is a small chafer often found on rose trees, feeding on 

 the roses." „ ,. 



"The Argonautic Expedition to Perak. —Messrs, 

 G H. D. Elphinstone and A. H. Thomas have safely 

 returned from their expedition to Perak, and we are 

 glad to learn from Mr. Elphinstone that he is well 

 satisfied with" the result of his visit of inspection. 

 He visited sugar plantations in Province Wellesley 

 to find as great depression prevailing (in reference 

 to their product) as anywhere in Ceylon. The 

 " Klings " everywhere encountered, turned out in 

 many cases to be old Ceylon coolies, some of whom 

 recognized their old durais. Not only in respect of 

 Tamil coolies, but also of planters and other residents 

 did the visitors feel as if they were in au outlying 

 province of Ceylon. Every second man met had been 

 in this island or had relatives here. As might be 

 expected "Logie" was not content with a mere per- 

 functory visit, but, as he was about it, went thoroughly 

 into the business of tin exploring and mining, re- 

 ceiving the assurance in return from an experienced 

 responsible Chinaman that no European had ever be- 

 fore spent so much time with him or enquired so 

 closely into the practical working, although many had 

 come and invested their money ! No wonder, though 

 such investors have in too many cases reaped little 

 or nothing. Mr. Elphinstone was well pleased with 

 the 200 acres of land allotted free to his party. It 

 is situated at the junction of two rivers on flatfish 

 land within eight miles of the sea, and promises well 

 for tin He returns again in three months or so. 

 He visited the Waterloo plantation of Government 

 now under the care of Mr. J. F. Cock, formerly of 

 Matale where Liberian coffee and cacao are growing 

 well • but, of course, the coffee fungus is pre- 

 sent The difference between our hillcountry and that 

 of Perak that arrested attention most was the ab- 

 sence in the latter of such cliffs as those of Gallaha 

 Wattegodde, &c, with disintegrated rock and soil 

 below. In the Straits the precipices seem to be all 

 perpendicular, granite with a good deal of slate. Mr. 

 Elphinstone describes the conditions of successful 

 bome for tin in Perak as follows :-First stratum 

 leaf-mould; second, gravel; third, light- blue clay and 

 white quartz and precious stones ; then the tin-wash 

 lying on dark-blue day. The point now is whether 

 tin can under similar conditions, be profitably worked 

 in Ceylon. Gygax in his Report on the Geology and 

 Mineralogy of the Sabaragamua district, written in 

 1847, had the following :— . . 



i< 'i<i n —The tin ores nic also found in the alluvium 

 iust below the strata of precious stones. The locality 

 most favourable for the existence of tin is decidedly 

 in the eastern side of the district along the base ot 

 the high mountain zone, and especially near the 

 Edcb'as-iua Pass. To work tin mines here with suc- 

 cess it will be necessary, I anticipate, either to reduce 

 the height of the rivers or to employ powerlul pumps 

 in each mine, so plentiful is the water and at so high 

 a level The position in which this ore has been met 

 with is precisely similar to that of the ore in Saxony 

 aud Siberia, with tourmaline, white topaz, zircon, garnet, 

 aud corundum." . 



Between Balangoda and llaldummulla at the loot 

 of the hills would be the place to explo.e for "tin, 

 the veiy name of which sounds attractive in these 

 hard times ! But we suspect it had better be sought 

 by means of a tea-garden rather than a tm mine -in 

 Ceylon at least. 



Java Teas are Improving. No. 1 Pekoe of one 

 Java estate by this mail sold higher (2s Hid) than 

 any of the Indian, while for ordinary teas the 

 prices got were very good. Messrs. White & Co. sur- 

 mise that some of these good teas must have been 

 plucked from plants growu from Assam seed. 



Mr. Gass, Deputy Conservator of Forests, who was 

 for some time acting for Colonel Jago, has, we learn, 

 been presented by the local Government, with the 

 gold medal awarded to it for the Cinchona collection ex- 

 hibited at the Amsterdam Exhibition. — South of India 

 Observer. 



Mr. C. H. De Soysa, the well-kuown Sinhalese 

 capitalist, is, we are glad to hear, about to plant 

 tea on an extensive scale on some of his lowconntry 

 properties. Mr. De Soysa has already put some tea 

 on Charley Valley plantation, Matnrata, and we 

 have no doubt this will be followed ere long by 

 operations in Hewaheti, Maskeliya, aud other districts 

 where this enterprising gentleman has land. 



Sale of St. Andrew's Estate, Kalutara. — Messrs. 

 Somerville & Co. sold the above estate to Mr. E. Schrader 

 for Rl,300, at public sale as advertized. The estate ^con- 

 sists of 74 acres, more or less, of nutmegs 1 to 2 years old ; 

 9 acres, more or less, of arecanuts, 2 years old ; 11 acres, 

 more or less, of coconsts 1 to 2 years old ; 16 acres, 

 more or less, of cardamoms, mangosteen, piues, jack and 

 cotton trees; 16 acres, more or less, juugle, &c. ; total 126 

 acres. — Local " Times." 



Obituary.— Muny of our planting friends will read 

 with much sorrow and regret of the death of Mr. 

 John Jackson, at one time Manager of the Scottish 

 Assam Tea Company, and subsequently partner with 

 his brother in the well known firm of Messrs. W. 

 & J. Jackson. A few years ago Mr. Jackson eel tied 

 down iu America, and was there ingaged in estab- 

 lishing a tea business when the unexpected news has 

 reached us of death — from fever. Mr. Jackson was 

 very highly esteemed by all who knew him. — Indhjo 

 and Tea Planters' Gazette. 



Anuradhapura, 18th Oct. — From the 11th October instant 

 we are having rain daily. It has cheered the heart of the 

 cultivator and of the land-owner. More land than was 

 ever anticipated by us has been brought under cultivation, 

 during the last two mouths. Here too the labour will 

 have to be imported from India in a year or so. The 

 Sinhalese yob/as are capital hands, no doubt, iu clearing 

 jungle, but they are not as hard-working as the Indian 

 coolies. Messrs. Yalupulle, and Perumangaar, the twu 

 Jaffna gentlemen called the pioneers of paddy cultivation 

 hereand who have bought lands extensively, imported Jaffna 

 labour at a heavy cost. If the Yoda Ela work be not finished 

 before the end of 1885, the Government will not be in 

 a position to give sufficient water to the lauds that are now 

 being brought under paddy cultivation. It appears people 

 do not generally understand the advantage of buying lands 

 for cultivation here. For the henefit of all who may like 

 to know, I will giveashort account of how matters stand. 

 Though what I write here has come under my personal 

 observation, still I wdl put it in a hypothetical form. If 

 an acre of land be bought for 1150 (this is the maximum 

 price realized lor the best plot of land) Jth of this sum 

 must be deposited at once, the other fths by three in- 

 stalments. To the capital for the first year (Kl-'SO) must 

 be added for the clearing of jungle and burning it 

 Klo per acre. Sowing, reaping, stacking and threshing an- 

 ntherE5. The whole cost, including the price paid for the 

 land thus comes to R32S0. An acre of land produces now 

 between ;!0 and 75 bushels. Taking 50 bushels an acre, and 

 allowing two harvests for the first year, the purchaser has 

 his 1O0 bushels. Allowing 50 cents per bushel he will get 

 BB0 besides the straw and the vegetables, which also may be 

 reckoned at K20 per acre. For a capital of lv02'50 the pur- 

 chaser gets R70. [Oh ! paddy cultivation is net quite such 

 plaiu sailing. — Ed.] What other trade will be surer, safer 

 and more profitable, let speculators decide. The encourage- 

 ment given by the administrators of this province to the 

 purchasers and cultivators, is another stimulus to intending 

 purchasers to try their fortune here. — "Examiner." [Have 

 100 bushels of paddy per acre ever been got in Ceylon z— Ed.] 



