January i, 1885.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



545 



THE AMERICAN EVAPORATOR. 



A trial was made 011 December 17th at Messrs. Carey 

 Straehau&Co's Stores, Colombo, with one of the large No. 

 3 size evaporators, as to the curiDg of cacao beaus. Con- 

 sidering the condition of the beaus which had been three 

 days in store, and that no one was present who was 

 practically acquainted with the working of the machine, 

 the result was, to say the least, promising. It appears 

 that the temperature was somewhat too high, Mr. 

 Vollar, who was unable to be present during the trial, 

 stating subsequently that 120° to 160° Fahr. was the 

 proper degree of heat for curing cacao beans. As 

 our readers are aware, tea is cured at about 

 280°. We learn from Messrs. Davies & Co. that the 

 machine which was tried this morning is to be taken 

 by Mr. Vollar to Pallekelle to be there erected aud 

 fnllv tested, the experiments to be conducted aud 

 reported upon by Messrs. Vollar aud A. Ross. Our 

 readers may, therefore, expect a decisive verdict at 

 an early date, and we see no cause to doubt that it 

 will be as favourable as that which Mr. R. S. Fraser 

 has already delivered. At our suggestion some peeled 

 plantains were experimented on and slices of pine- 

 apple were added. There can be no doubt that some 

 of our fruits, mangoes amongst the rest, cau be cur. d 

 for keeping and transport by meaus of the Evaporator. 

 One to be tried in tea-curing has been sent to 

 Blackstoue estate, aud of its performances we hope 

 soon to hear. 



PRACTICAL PLANTING HINTS: THINGS YOU 

 OUGHT TO KNOW AND WANT TO KNOW. 



(From an old Hand.) 



" How is it some tea estates realize a good average price 

 all round for their tea f " Such was the question discussed 

 with a neighbour the other day on his mentioning that 



had realized a few cents short of a rupee per lb. for 



his year's picking. It was said, no doubt took excep- 

 tional care, and'in fact lived in his teahouse, but my friend 

 said never a bit of it : the secret was he tasted every 

 roll and if any were bad he chucked them away, and it 

 paid him better to do this than spoil the name of his estate. 



Those who are planting tea in old coffee fields where 

 cinchona is also growing, should give the following a trial. 

 Break all the branches off the coffee, and carry them off 

 the field; leave the coffee stumps in the ground to throw 

 out suckers, the best of which should be left to crop. 

 ( ioppice the cinchona and allow suckers to grow. The three 

 products will then have a fair start, and let us hope " grow 

 in beauty side by side." This has been tried and after oue year 

 everything looks promising, and leaves an adjoining field 

 where the tea was planted under the coffee and cinchona, 

 nowhere. All who want to sail in a safe boat should try 

 and keep the three products growing. Give them all a 

 fair chance, and like a good father favour none. ( 

 (lie soil as high as you can afford and leave all the products 

 to share it pat i passu as the lawyers say. If it is nit 

 found they cannot be-grown together to pay, then knock out 

 oueortwoif need be, but give the threea trial first. Oneyeai s 

 trial, as has been said, is not discouraging bj any means' 



Sinue Durais beware and poor men " pattiraru." Don't 

 believe for a minute what Talbot said about whisky 

 being a necessity. It is nothing of the sort. Politically 

 Talbot may be right but in other respects he is (tee) 

 totally wrong. Ask him if he ever tried to do withoi t 

 it : if he has not, then what is his opinion worth ? After 

 some years trial my advice is " Hark to thj teeti 

 and 'way with them." Talbot does not make out 

 good east; for his whisky as the Trisl 



his politics with whisky. He said when a Idress- 

 inn- hi . "and what makes you shoot yourland- 



Lords? — whisky ;and what makes you miss them? — whisky." 



Just so my boys in Oeylon, whisky you may ) 

 you on for the timk being, but depend upon it when the 

 " shooting time comes" you will find you have " made a 

 miss." 

 69 



THE CEYLON FOREST ORDINANCE. 

 Draft of the proposed Ordinance relating to fore ts 

 and waste lands and to the felling and transport of 

 timber appeared in last Government Gazette. Its Indian 

 origin is shewn by the use throughout of "the Governor 

 in Council " which in India is significant of the. 

 fact that the members of Council have real and lar_;e, 

 if not co-ordinate powers. Here the members of the 

 Executive Council are in a very different position, 

 and the Governor is bound to consult them only as 

 specific laws render the process imperative. " With 

 the advice of the Executive Council " is the usual 

 phrase here. By the proposed laws the Governor will 

 be vested with extensive powers in proclaiming 

 forest reserves and we can only hope that the in- 

 terests of the great planting enterprize will not be 

 sacrificed to an exaggerated idea of the value of 

 forests and timber trees. Conservancy and fresh 

 production of really valuable timber trees are desir- 

 able, but a reference to Mr. Vincent's report will show 

 how few of the timber trees of Ceylon come under 

 this category. In the extensive planting operations 

 which have taken place in Ceylon during the past 

 balf century the proportion of really useful timber trees 

 destroyed has been very small and as for the 

 effect of forest denudation on rainfall the most 

 careful observations show it to be nil. We 

 notice that besides Government forests proper, the 

 Governor will have power to regulate village forests. 

 We notice that amongst animals trespassing 

 goats are charged only 50 cents against a rupee 

 for cattle, two rupees for buffaloes and ten rupees 

 for elephants. Now there can be no question that 

 of all animals goats are the most destructive to 

 forests, so much so that the opinion is held in the 

 Madias Presidency that the paucity of forests in the 

 lowlands of Southern India is mainly due to the 

 ravages of goats. When these animals get at young 

 forest trees the fate of the latter is sealed. Rights to 

 forest land or forest produce, ran be recognized by Gov- 

 ernment or purchased and all the stringent legislation 

 of existing timber laws are to be consolidated in this 

 Ordinance. The term "Headman" is, cunou-ly enough, 

 not defined, and the schedule of trees to be specially 

 protected is not given. So that we cannot at pre- 

 seut criticize the Ordinance es complete. Laws for 

 the protection or for encouraging the growth of good 

 timber trees in accessible situations are most desir- 

 able, but we feel bound to repeat the hope that the 

 Govi rnor of Ceylon and the various fotest officers, 

 (including Government Agents and their Assistants) 

 will so use the large powers vested in them by this 

 Ordinance as rot to discourage and repress the | lant- 

 ing enterprize, by acting on a too vivid idea of the 

 comparative value of forests and timber. 



TEA MACHINERY IN CEYLON. 

 It is unquestionably a great advantage in favour of 

 the tea planters of Ceylon that at the commencement 

 of the enterprize here, there should b avnilable in 

 the shape of labour-saving machiuery the results of 

 a couple score of yrars of experieuce and invtutions 

 by the Iud an tea planters, wii 1 . poi from 



_ied and maau- 

 red. List it us letters and advertise- 



ir in the uivsii patentees of the two 



t 1 driers w ich we believe to be at present most 

 in favour, Davidson & Co.'s "Sirocco" and Mr. Kin- 

 moud's Tea Drier. The agents of the former, Messrs 

 W, H, Davies & Co., cannot certainly be charged 



