January i, 1885.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



56S 



COFFEE AND TEA PLANTING ON THE HILLS 

 OF CEYLON. 



THE WEATHER — GOOD FOR TEA — RAINFALL— TEA PRUNING 

 AND FLUSHES— CROP AT A HIGH ELEVATION. 



Lindula, 29Hi Dec. 1S84. 

 There has been a complete change iu the weather 

 aud the surface of the ground looks as dry as if the 

 heavy rains between the 10th and 19th had never 

 fallen. But in shaded spots and in forked-up earth 

 abundance of moisture is apparent. We have now 

 the true eud-ofthe-north-east-monsoon-weather, in 

 the ehape of cool, indeed cold, nights and mornings 

 with blazing hot days. Lust night the thermometer 

 here (elevation 5, S00 ft.) went down to 52°, while as I 

 write at half past 1 p.m. it marks 70°. The whole 

 vast series of mountain ranges is clearly defined and 

 scarcely a speck of cloud is visible, although as evening 

 approaches, we may expect a recurrence of yesterday's 

 phenomenon. Volumed masses of cloud appeared over 

 Dikoya and Maskeliya, more snow-like than anything 

 to be seen out of the Oberland Alps in Switzerland. 

 " Presage of a hot, sunny morrow," was our remark, 

 and our anticipation, has been fulfilled. A temperature 

 of 70 J up here is quite the equivalent of 85° at 

 Colombo. Such weather, following on abundance of 

 rain, is most favourable for tea ; all except the seed- 

 lings put out about a week ago, which are drooping 

 but which, owing to the moisture in the soil will 

 probably hold their own. For flush, nothing better 

 could be desired ; and the same may be said as re- 

 gards the coffee crop now ripeuing rapidly— what there 

 is of it. Here we are likely to get 2 000 bushels 

 instead of the S,O0O at least which would be due had 

 the fungus pest not intervened with its desolating and 

 deadly influences. But even the 2,000 form a con- 

 siderable improvement on last year, and black-bug 

 not having put in an appearance here, the coffee 

 trees look fresh and clean after the recent washing 

 they have received. We should entertain sanguine 

 expectations regarding "next year," but for past 

 experience of virulent attacks of Hemileia vastatrix 

 following immediately on apparently total exemption 

 from the plague. How fervently we wished the real- 

 ization of the prediction we heard from a traveller 

 yesterday, that in a few years the fungus would 

 disappear from the coffee, except as a partial and insigni- 

 ficant affection. What we know as natter of fact 

 is, that since the latent pest emerged into activity 

 and notice in 1809, it has, not only Bpread over all 

 Asia and portions of the Pacific, but that it has 

 found its way to Africa and is likelv, therefore, to 

 be soon heard of as infesting the indigenous plants 

 of Central Africa and Abyssinia. Whether the exnt'c 

 coffee of Southern and Central Ameiica are destined 

 to preserve ihe present immunity from this worst of 

 all " the euemies of the coffee tree," remains to be 

 seen. The probability seems to be that the fungus 

 will ultimately be co-existent with its special fond. 

 On the other hand it is no more conceivable that 

 coffee will be entirely snuffed out of existence by a 

 pest, than have been the potato and the vine. It is 

 on a patch of tea and not on coffee that the scale 

 insect has been sen up here, and this will be the 

 subject of notice subsequently. The really heavy rain 

 ceased here with 0'22 of an inch on the 19th, and 

 ooly O'lO have fallen since then spread over four 

 rainy days, 0U7 falling in a gentle drizzle yesterday, 

 The total rainfall of the expired portion of the month 

 has been 30 inches, against the Langdale average 

 for the whole month of 457. It is possible that 

 enough rain may follow the present heat to make up 

 7 inches for December. 



In that case the rainfall for the twelve months will 

 be:— 



January ... ... 0-fil inches. 



February ... ... 072 „ 



March ... ... 0-34 „ 



April ... .. 1-12 „ 



May ... ... 5-80 „ 



June ... ... 900 „ 



July ... ... 1119 „ 



August ... ... 14-39 „ 



September ... ... 7'8.3 „ 



October ... ... 1286 „ 



November ... ... 8'45 „ 



December ... ... 7'00 „ 



Total.. .8533 inches, 

 against 100 - 10 last year and an average of 110 inches. 

 There has thus been a re-action in the past two 

 years against the abnormal rainfall of 1 882, when about 

 one-fourth above the average was recorded. 



The past year, or rather the year just closing, has 

 been favourable for tea and an average of 500 lb. an 

 acre will be shown at this elevation of 5,000 to 0,000 

 teet. As a considerable portion of the plants were 

 pruned at a period which lessened Hushes in the best 

 months, it is reasonably anticipated, that, if meteor- 

 ological conditions are not specially adverse, fully 0001b. 

 per acre will be picked and cured next year. A Darjee- 

 liug planter objected to nipping off the tops of tea 

 bushes at an early age, that, although lateral growth 

 might thus be promoted, it would be at the expense 

 of robustness of stem. Experience here has not veri- 

 fied this theory: the early topped tre.-s shew good 

 surfaces and equally good steins, and growth altogether 

 is wonderfully luxuriant. Our most formidable enemy 

 as yet is a " poison tree," the stem and roots of 

 which kill a good many plants, but of this more here- 

 after. 



JUST THE WEATHER FOR TEA-FLUSH — NO BLIGHTS OF 

 ANY KIND VISIBLE — PLUCKING A CHECK OX INSECTS 

 — POISON TREES. 



Lindula, 30th Dec. 



Yesterday, before my letter was dispatched, the 

 sky began to darken ; and last night the temperature 

 was so mild, comparatively, the mercury going down 

 to only 57°, that we anticipated what has come to 

 pass, a gentle drizzling rain occasionally, just the 

 weather for the tea-flush and equally good for ripen- 

 ing up coffee. I mentioned that coffee showed no 

 signs of Laf disease, and I have now to add that I 

 have never before seen the tea bushes so clear of 

 blight of any kind. There is no sign even of the 

 little white moth, which lias hitherto been our chief 

 trouble, and no second specimen of Helopeltis Antonii 

 has been discovered. When the one specimen which 

 was sent to Dr. Trirr en was found with a few other 

 bugs ot a kindred nature, strict search was made 

 for affected leaves, aud all found were destroyed. 

 Ever since, too, the pluckings of "flush" have been 

 frequent, and I think there is much force in the re- 

 mark of the superintendent when I expressed my 

 surprize at the entire absence of insects : " We pluck 

 so frequently — on an average once a- week — that the 

 insects do not have undisturbed periods sufficient to 

 breed in ; and our constant pickings and consequent 

 shaking of the bushes in Jeylon must tend to give 

 us greater immunity from blights than is the case 

 in India where the bushes lie untouched sometimes 

 for thirty or forty days during flushing time." Be 

 the reason what it may, since the disappearance of 

 bug from "the cattle-shed field" (where it hindered 

 flushing but left the trees uninjured), the clean con- 

 dition of the luxuriantly flushing tea has been most 

 satisfactory. The only exceptions have been a few 

 of the large seed-bearers, from the stems of which 



