May i, 1885.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



«55 



fore the verdict, as well us removal of cinchonas. 

 Indeed the result 0! the experience I have adverted 

 to is, that over large expanses now in the 

 districts, where tea is superseding coffee, there is no 

 further thought of waiting for one or two crops while 

 the tea is growing, but a ols in clearance is made of 

 the coil'ee, before the tea plants are put in. A 

 striking illustration of this process was presented 

 to me on part of the ouch grand coffee estates 

 of the Messrs. Madden, which I remember, under 

 the superintendence of good old Mr. Peter Moir, 

 yielding 11, 12 and even 13 ewt. per acre por 

 annum. Collet which thus did its duty well in 

 the olden days has been- honorably cremated in 

 preparation for the reign of its heir by adoption. 

 Nothing could so reveal the high quality of the soil, 

 from Elkaduwa, where tea seems a continuation of the 

 native rice terraces, up to ihe calcareous rock of 

 Kandenuwara, than this process of thorough clearing 

 and planting de novo. But I need not again draw 

 attention to the great effect in the near future of 

 this clearing process on the exports of coffee^ from 

 Ceylon, but especially ou the figures which will re- 

 present the quantity of bark our island will, a couple 

 of years hence send, into the markets of the world. 

 While so many are eradicating cinchonas, no one 

 that I saw or heard of, is planting the fever trees, 

 and the only recently planted coffee I saw was on 

 Pallekelly, where (advisedly, no doubt, with refer- 

 ence to soil, climate and experience) Arabian coffee 

 was grown as shade for cacao, to be removed when a 

 couple of crops were obtained. I need not say how 

 glad I was to foregather with Mr. Hadden on his 

 own domain, old as coffee planter, as also in experi- 

 ence and sagacity, but young and justifiably sanguine 

 as a tea planter. I also must confess to being old iu 

 some respects, the proof being that on the occasion 

 in question I was being earned in a mandarin's chair, 

 courteously placed at my disposal by the laird of 

 Wariapolla, Mr. R. S Praser. I cannot positively say 

 whether, consistent.;,- with the occasion, I was shouting 

 to the bearer coolies the " pidgin English " equivalent 

 of '■' Excels ; or !'' in the shape of a " Topside galow 1" but 

 in any ease my appearance must have been very 

 imposing, for I was evidently taken for the Governor, 

 whi'in, as is well-known, I clos ly resemble in phys ; que 

 though not in intellect. It was amusing to notice how 

 rapidly Mr. Hadden exchanged a loo!; of cen 

 for one of coi dial frankness when I alighted and an- 

 nounced myself as "only the Senior Ed. O.O. " We 

 had a delightful evening walk in a perfect clim- 

 ate, which Mr. Hadden has found res.orative, up 

 to the ascent of Kaudenuwara rock, " sputin' " after 

 the fashion of .Sambo and his master as to the 

 assured success of tea and the ri •' of the fort- 

 unes of individuals and of the colony by its means. 

 Mr. Hadcten.pn returning to the coloi-.y a couple of 

 years back, saw the line tea field ou Elkaduwa, 

 and at once made up his mind that tea would be 

 a success, even while some interested in the property 

 were doubtful. He at once acted ou his conviction, 

 and there is evidence already of the wisdom of his 

 conclusion and course. Of this evidence and of other 

 matters I shall speak in a future communication. 

 That and whatever may follow will be after the 

 fashion of this discursive epistle, information and 

 incidents being dealt with as associations recall 

 them from a memory ti which after the first day 

 of formal note-taking 1 had entirely to trust. When 

 a traveller is verging on threescore and ten, and 

 on his forty-eighth year iu Ceylon, he may be par- 

 doned, if he cannot combine incessant movement 

 with regular entries in 1 



I may, for tlii unable to recall, It 



I can certainly never forget the more than kind re- 

 ■option I met with in my progress from the low 



country tea estates in the Kelani Valley to those 

 in the high of the mountain zone. My 



on in the lower elevations vied with the warmth 

 of the climate, while at the higher altitudes tho 

 atmosphere alone was cool. 



Out for a walk this morning (April 15th) at an 

 altitude approaching 6,000 feet, in a temperature 

 marked by the thermometer at 56°, and longing for 

 the warmth of the sun's rays, I could not help re- 

 calling the contrast of a fortnight ago in the Matale 

 Valley when, at the unearthly hour of 4 a m. I felt 

 oppressively the exertion of walking down hill, in an 

 atmosphere which was simply a vapour bath. Still 

 more striking was the contrast to my noonday walk 

 of a month ago with Mr. P. Byrde up the ste< p tea- 

 clad sides of the Awisawella estate, exposed to the 

 full blaze of a aim which would certainly raise tho 

 mercury in an exposed thermometer to 160°. There 

 is no mistake about the heat in the Lower Valley of 

 the Kelani, any more than of its forcing effect ou tea 

 and other vegetation. A visitor here, a few days 

 ago, asked me which climate I preferred, and there 

 could be but. one answer, considering the difference 

 between English summer warmth (yesterday's range 

 was from 72° to 54°) and the most fervent heat of 

 the tropics. For pleasantness and salubrity there 

 can be no question as to the advantages of the zone 

 extending from 2,500 to 6,500 altitude. Iu the lower 

 climatic zoue, the compensating advantages area more 

 rapid and luxuriant growth, where good Soil is pre- 

 sent, and generally speaking, as regards tea, a stronger 

 ll.uured leaf which commands high prices in the 

 London market. All the European gentlemen whom 

 I had the pleasure of meeting in the exquisitely 

 beautiful but fervidly hot valley, in the latter end 

 of March, looked as if malarious fever were nonex- 

 istent; but I regret to see in the pap- rs a statement 

 to the effect that the attendance at a recent festive 

 occasion was diminished by an outbreak of fever 

 such as must be counted with in all similar regions 

 when the soil is first stirred. As charing advances 

 and the age of estates increases, no doubt the visits 

 of the mysterious agency we call malaria will be- 

 come few and far between, exemption from its in- 

 fluence being probably iu proportion to elevation, dis- 

 tance from the river and shelter from the north- 

 cast winds. It is pretty certain too, that estates in 

 the lowcouutry, while forced by the climate into earlier 

 and heavier hearing than those in the loftier zone, 

 will be sooner exhausted and their proprietors com- 

 at an earlier period to supply the soil with 

 nous, phosphatic and potassic substances such 

 as Mr. Hughes indicates in his letter just published, 

 , pstates, especially opened on 

 virgin soil or on old coffee soil of exceptional quality, 

 will b'i less exposed to the consequences due to com- 

 bustion 1 the soil .aud its exhaustion from over-lux- 

 uriant bearing; although really I can scarcely imagine 

 anything more luxuriant than the growth of tea I 

 have recently seen, in this specially genial, if droughty, 

 season, up to even 0,000 feet. When the flush can 

 -en growing " at that altitude, what must be 

 the rush of growth at 200 to 1,000 feet » It has been 

 stated to me that as a matter of fact the yield of 

 tea on many lowcouutry estates has been disappoint- 

 ing. Wherever that is the case, the soil is probably 

 at fault, and most likely iu its mechanical condition 

 nee.- than in its constituents. I have already ex- 

 pressed my belief that our rich.. it red Ceylon soils 

 have passed (ages ago, perhaps) through the protean 

 metamorphoses of cabook, cabook itself beiug the re- 



bool soil, therefoi -. 

 -I s f ] ocky hardm -,, 

 which j can be, sometimes closely simulating 



of lava. I'.ut we believe iu the rapid ameli- 

 orating action of our hot, moist climate on even rocky 



