November i, 1884.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



389 



additions to the scientific history of the pearl-oyster, 

 but, unfortunately, no copies of their final reports 

 exist iu the Museum, 



Erythroxylon Ooca.— This plant is perfectly at home 

 in the museum compound, growing in the ground and 

 seeding freely. It could be grown to an extent in 

 Madras. According to Bentley and Trimeu's " Med- 

 icinal Plants," the total produce of coca in South 

 America is probably not less than 40,000,000 lb., 

 which estimating the value on au average at one 

 shilling per pound (for the best qualities yield at 

 least 5 shillings) in the countries in which it is pro- 

 duced, would represent a total value of £2,000,OOU. 

 Should coca therefore even become any article of con- 

 sumption iu Europe, which is not uulikely, or in 

 this country, its culture would probably be very re- 

 munerative. 



CEYLON'S NEW PLANTING INDUSTRIES. 



CACAO — TEA — RUBBER— CARDAMOMS — PEPPEtl— FIBRES. 



There left Colombo in the P. & O. steamer 

 " Malwa " for Hongkong and Yokohama a gentle- 

 mau who, from his direct interest in a large 

 extent of plantation property in Ceylon and the enter- 

 prize and confidence he has uniformly manifested in 

 the outcome of " new products," has been as "a 

 tower of strength " to a wide circle of friends and 

 observers nmidst the gloom of the prevalent de- 

 dression of the past five or six years. We 

 refer to Mr. R. S. Fraser of Kandenewera and 

 Wariapolla, who has just gone on a short visit 

 to Japan, and who has on several previous oc- 

 casions made trips from Ceylon, to countries in the 

 East and West, which have borne fruit for the benefit 

 of agricultural industries in this colony. For ourselves 

 we have ever found Mr. Fraser cheerful and con- 

 fident about the future of Ceylon and its planting 

 enterprize, and he has certainly afforded substantial 

 proof of the faith that is in him by the extent of his 

 investments in "new products." It will be remem- 

 bersd that Mr. Fraser visited Trinidad and British 

 Guiana at the time when attention first began to be 

 given to cacao planting in Ceylon. He gave us the 

 benefit of his experience in a description of " Cacao 

 Culture in Trinidad," which was made available for 

 intending planters at this office, and he at once pro- 

 ceeded to devote a large portion of Wariapolla to this 

 new product. The result has been, as be told 

 us, most satisfactory, and, contrary to one high 

 authority, Mr. Fraser is confident that the growth 

 of cacao, age for age, on Wariapolla (and on some 

 other places in Ceylon) is equal to the finest in the 

 West Indies or South America. Mr. Fraser went all 

 over the two plantations which are acknowledged to 

 be the best in Trinidad, and while, of course, there 

 is nothing in this island as yet to equal the older 

 trees there, he is confident that for trees of ten years 

 and under in age, Ceylon will bear off the palm even 

 from the finest plantations in the West. Mr. Fr.iser has 

 always been opposed to planting in cleared ground 

 or cutting down shade. Contrary to the Report of 

 the Sub-Committee of the Planters' Association, he 

 believes that the natural shade of trees judiciously 

 selected from the original forest is preferable to that of 

 trees planted expressly as shade trees. He thinks the 

 Ceylon planter ought to have followed the example in 

 this respect of his brother iu Trinidad where the cult- 

 ivation has been carried ou for a hundred years. 

 The finest cacao trees he has seen iu Ceylon are 

 among a limited number on Sylvakande estate, but 

 we gathered that ou the Wariapolla clearings, grown 

 under natural shade, none of the enemies experienced 

 or threatened elsewhere have as yet been encount- 



ered ; nor have the cacao "walks" suffered from 

 drought, so that the crop duriag the coming siasou 

 ought to be very satisfactory. 



On the same plantation there are 100 acres planted 

 with Rubber trees, are we were glad in the face 

 of recent reports of this industry — rushed into at first 

 as a perfect El Dorado — being abandoned in certain 

 quarters, to find Mr. Fraser >u well satisfied with the 

 growth of his trees and with the prospects of a re- 

 munerative harvest in due time. " Iu due time": 

 therein is fouudthe explanation of agooddeal of abandon- 

 ment. Those who are in haste to. be rich must 

 look elsewhers than to Rubber. The tapping of trees 

 for a remunerative collection of rubber at two or three 

 years old as was at first anticipated, is all a mistake. 

 The Ceara rubber tree, which flourishes so readily in 

 Ceylon that it already threatens to run wild through 

 the jungle, requires from seven to ten years of 

 growth before it can be said to be fit to yield 

 an abundant and profitable because continuous 

 harvest. But that the cultivation will be remuner- 

 ative to the planter who can wait so long, Mr, 

 Fraser has not the slightest doubt. He has already 

 been experimenting iu the collection of rubber from 

 very young (two years old) trees of his own, sim- 

 ply because these were on ground that had to be 

 cleared to round off fields of tea ; but his large 

 extent of rubber trees on Wariapolla is not to be touched 

 for several yean yet. . In the case of the two years' 

 old trees, Mr. Fraser (with the help of Mr. Dobree's 

 knife, of which he speaks highly and of another 

 invention of his uwu) collected some splendid samples 

 of rubber (now in the hands of Messrs. Geo. Steuart 

 & Co., Colombo) as fine as any of the Ceara kind 

 we have seen in the London market. Mr. Fraser's 

 experience was that it required about 15 trees j2 

 years old to give a pound weight of dry rubber ; the 

 maximum from one tree beiug lO-j ounces in 14 days 

 tapping. He thinks it important that the rubber 

 should be dried in the dark. We have no doubt 

 that the samples we inspected will secure a high 

 valuation ; but, of course, neither quality nor quantity 

 can be taken as a test of what is expected from 

 the trees on Wariapola when mature, four or five 

 years hence. So confident is Mr. Fraser of this 

 industry proving a success in Ceylon, that were he 

 Governor he would be inclined to plant up waste 

 Crown land with Ceara rubber (at a very little ex- 

 pense) to secure the greatly enhanced value such planted 

 areas would realize if offered for sale a few years hence 

 Kandeuuwera has always been a prosperous 

 coffee plantation and even now a good many thousands 

 of bushels of the old staple are annually gathered, but 

 the reserve of fine forest land has been wisely utilized 

 for Tea and Cardamoms. Fifty acres under the latter pro- 

 duct are in a most flourishing condition, blossoming, 

 setting and fruiting in a manner that gives promise of 

 a continuous crop, this time, sufficient to pay the annual 

 expenditure on the whole estate ! The estimate of 

 100 lb. au acre is already about realized, and there is no 

 appearance of abatement iu crop. From the other side 

 of the planting districts in liakwau.i, we have received 

 au equally satisfactory account of a small cardamom 

 clearing, the estimate of crop being at the rate of 

 L'OO lb. per acre for the season 



Mr. R. S. Fraser was not one of the first to go 

 into " Tea," though the experienced manager of 

 Kandenuwara, Mr. Hugh Fraser, has been a pioneer 

 with this product on his well-known Lugyala property. 

 Ou Kandenuwara there is however now some 300 

 acres of fine tea, the prospects of which are all that 

 could be desired both as regards growth and the 

 quality of the leaf. Indian planters who have visited 

 the district have been loud iu praise of the suit- 

 ableness of Matale in climate, soil and lay of land for 

 teacultivatiou, and Mr. B, S. Eraser declares that during 



