May t, 1885.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



819 



♦ 



To the Editor oj the " Ceylon Observer. " 



AKECANl'T CULTIVATION IN OBYLON. 



March 24th, 1885. 



Sir,— I11 reviewing a letter from Mr. Borron od page 

 791, on arecanut cultivation, you draw comparison bet- 

 ween his figures generally and the statistics of a, 

 "Planter from the South"— vide Tropical Agriculturist (and 

 might also have added a little work lately reviewed by 

 Messrs. Cave & Co., from which they gave a greater portion 

 of the article in it on Arecanuts)— with the remark that 

 " we need hardly say that Mr. Borron's calculation seems 

 the safe practical one." The only inference to be drawn 

 is that you consider a " safe " estimate synonymous with a 

 " practical " one, or that you wish it to be under- 

 stood that my figures, as the writer of the letter re- 

 ferred back to, are not so— in oilier words that they are mis- 

 eading. Aniufereuce injustice to myself, but more particularly 

 Iso for the reputation of a promising industry that I look 

 forwa/d to will work substantial benefits for the island and 

 many in it, you will allow me to question. Mr. Borron 

 lias given information all interested must feel obliged to liim 

 for, and whilst wishing him their full gain, as a matter of 

 public benefit, I hope his letter may be the means of elicit- 

 ing from the correspondents the remaining secrets ot the 

 industry he does not see it wisdom to dispense gratuit- 

 ously. Further he may be, I ought to say must be, as 

 speaking from personal experience, quite right that the 

 conditions obtaining in Matale East are not favorable to 

 a greater number of trees to the acre than 480. 

 I would though venture to doubt the relevancy of his 

 parallel between the coconut and areca, save that they 

 are both palms ; in fact quite prepared to prove the ex- 

 tent of their dissimilarity of habit, by groves of as healthy 

 and heavy bearing trees in this neighbourhood as he 

 could wish to see (at an estimated yield of 300 !) grow- 

 ing as thick as they cau well be crowded together. 



All I will now say' further is, that, taking my experience 

 from this district, from characteristics of soil and climate, I 

 should regard as a suitable one (though irrigated, the palm, I 

 believe, grows and fruits well even in the Eastern Pro- 

 vince !) I see no reason, with all deference to more weighty 

 knowledge, to alter my figures or opinion in any respect, 

 — that it is but a reflex of my neighbours' independent 

 deductions and practice, and that, though optimist views 

 are to be deprecated equally as much mischief as can be 

 done, and as in detraction to a new euterprize, extension 

 stayed by understating its fair capabilities. Few men with 

 the prospect of six years to wait would be tempted by the 

 hope of nett returns not to exceed as I gather, £4 per 

 acre, and the prospects of half this going by theft; whereas 

 my figures, if fair ones as I believe them to he, point 

 to profits that, though at this, will pass muster. 



With reference to suitable localities the question is : Am 

 I right, or Mr. Borron r 



PLANTER FROM THE SOUTH. 



TEA. DRYING : CAREFUL EXPERIMENT WITH 

 SIROCCOS. 

 Blackwater, Nawalapitiya, 20th March 1885. 



Dear Sir,— Allow me to send you the result of 

 two careful trials with two No. 1 Siroccos, one of 

 which has the old kind of air-heaters and the other 

 the newest. I was most particular iu the weighment 

 of fermented leaf, in the taking out of trays when 

 dry, and in noting the time. You will see the No. 

 710 only gives me 30J lb. with 10 trays and the No. 

 737 with 9 trays S3 lb., making a great difference 

 between the quantities got by Mr. Armstrong, viz., 

 46 and 48 lb. 



I do not merely state that I worked my Siroccos 

 with the thermometer at 275, because for one hour 

 that exact heat could not be kept, so I show the rise 

 and fall. 



My machines stand in one large pit 18' x 10" x 4' 6" 



and have splendid draught , the mean temperatures o 

 the two machines being 280 aud 278 are higher than 

 Mr. Armstrong's ; yet the results are far from being 

 as good. I should like very much to know, 1st, were 

 all four trays put in at commencement? 2nd, were the 

 bottom trajs turned over and respread ? 



I know that there is a great difference in the work- 

 ing of Siroccos, some working better in pits andotheis 

 on the level; still C3 against48is very great.— Yours 

 truly. C. A. HAY. 



A No. 1 " Sirocco." 



No. 710 01,1 style of air-heater. 



No. of Put in Taken out Time _. 



Trays. Sirocco. of Sirocco. Taken. Tlme ' Therm 



1 H-17 11-31 14 miu. 11-17 275 



2 11-17 11-37 20 „ 1127 280 



3 11-17 11-43} 26i „ 11-30 282J 



4 11-17 11-49} 32} ,, 11-33 285 



5 11-32 11-53} 2H „ 11-40 280 



6 11-37} 11-59 21} „ 11-52 282} 



7 11-44 12- 4 20" ,, 11-56 275 



8 11-54 12-10 16 ,, 12-6 280 



9 12- 12-15 15 ., 12-9 282} 

 10 12-04 12-20 16 ,, 12-17 285 



From putting in 1st tray at 11-17 until the taking out 

 of the 10th at 12-20, 1 hour and 3 minutes, I only got 30| lb. 

 dried tea- Every tray had exactly 9 lb. weighed leaf put on, 

 and every bottom tray was overturned and re-spread 

 taking about A minute in the operation: no tray was left 

 in one second longer than necessary to quite dry the 

 biggest leaves. I have never used my Sirocco so low as 

 275 before, generally working at 300 aud 310 ; still there 

 is a great difference between 30J aud the 48 Mr. Arm- 

 strong obtained. 



A No. 1 " Sirocco." 

 No. 737 Newest style of air-heater. 

 No. of Put in Taken out Time 



Trays. Sirocco. of Sirocco. Taken. ljme - Therm. 



1 7 7-16', 16} 7 275 



2 7 7-21J 21* 7 5 280 



3 7 7 28 28 7 10 286 

 * 7 7-34 34 720 275 



5 7 17 7-10 23 7 25 280 



6 7-21} 7-45i 23J 7-35 286 



7 7-28} 7-51 23} 7 40 277 



8 7-34] 7-56] 22 7 50 275 



9 7-401- 8-5 24i 8 272 



From putting in the 1st four trays at 7 a.m. until the 

 9tb tray was taken out at 8-05, 1 hour and 5 miuutes. I 

 only got 33 lb. dried tea. Every tray was spread with 9 lb. 

 fermented leaf. The time taken in pulling out bottom 

 tray, shifting down the other three aud putting in the 

 fresh one on top occupied from 20 to 25 seconds ; once 

 re-spreading bottom tray, 40 to 45 seconds. The last tray 

 of all was not re-spread, and just took 4 minutes more 

 than all the other bottom ones. Time deducted from hour 

 in re-spreading 8 trays, i minutes. Time taken in shifting 

 trays, 3 minutes. 



THE PROGRESS OF CHENA (FOREST) 

 DESTRUCTION IN CEYLON. 



29th March 1885. 



Dear Sir,— In 1879 a block of 40 acres of jungle in 

 the lowcountry was applied for, for the purpose 

 of trying Liberian coffee and cocao. The applic- 

 ation was au urgent one and was backed up by the 

 Assistant Government Agent and the Government Agent 

 of the Province, but nevertheless the land was 

 not surveyed till late in 1S83 and has not been 

 put up for sale yet. The applicant from a reverse 

 of fortune is not now in a position to buy the 

 land, but even if he were he would not take it for 

 R10, as all the jungle on it has just been felled by 

 natives for chena cultivation. This is only one 

 of many cases of a similar nature and instances 

 the loss Government sustains from its apathy in carrying 

 out the provisions of its laws, and doing its work. 



Two yeais ago the district favored with the 

 situation of this land boasted of over two hundred 

 and fifty convictions a year for chena clearing, but 



