866 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[May i, 1885. 



■ J. I LLJ 



the pods. He groaued in spirit and replied that 

 any such consummation was too good to be tr'on 

 Animal enemies of the eacao plant, not to speak of 

 insect plagues, are sufficient to keep planters on the 

 alert. Mr. Drummond has recorded his troubles with 

 the omnivorous Paradoxurus, one of which cut the 

 jugulars of nine Observer carrier pigeons in one night, 

 using papaw fruit as a corrective. While going round 

 under some of the romantic precipices of Kawuda- 

 pelella with Mr. Ros«, %ve came upon a troop of 

 little rilawa monkeys in flagrante delicto, who scolded 

 violently at being disturbed at their afternoon cacao 

 and Mr. Dewar showed me on Rosrneath a boulder 

 on which a porcupiro had mounted during the night, 

 broken down a pod-laden branch, and feasted on the 

 contents, leaving the fragments behind him. So 

 secretive in habit are these latter creatures that an 

 offer of HO per caput had been but poorly successful, 

 and as for ourselves, although we have resided many 

 years in Ceylon and moved about a good deal, we 

 have never seen a porcupine in the wild state. The 

 case is different as regards wild hogs which in the 

 lowcountry have almost eradicated rubber trees (those 

 allied to the cassava), grubbing them up for the sake 

 of the tubers. Mr. Kobert Fraser still retains his 

 faith in these trees, of which he has a large well- 

 grown grove on Wariapolla. He desiderates more 

 mature age for the plants, but that is just the diffic- 

 ulty with most planters : they canuot wait any 

 lengthened period for returns. On Mipitiakaude, be 

 sides luxuriant tea, pruned so that the bushes met 

 I saw some nice cacao plants and also some really 

 tine Liberian coffee trees, scenting the air with their 

 large white blossoms. But, with most planters, faith 

 in this once-promising product is lost even more 

 than in regard to iudiarubber trees. The cherries 

 do not properly ripen, the pulp is tough, and the 

 proportion of waste matter is outrageous, while in 

 England there is a prejudice against the bean. We 

 suppose that in regard to no single new product were 

 hopes so sanguine or disappointment so entire and 

 bitter as in the case of the big-leaved, big-blossomed, 

 lai-ge-lruited Weit African coffee. I can speak for 

 myself at any rate. I am taking such crop as there 

 is from trees, many of which look really fine, to 

 make room for tea. This is on a lowcouutry estate 

 near Ilenaratgoda. — One of the very prettiest sub- 

 sidiary cultures on estates is the croton oil plant, and, 

 as the oil from the seeds is used not only iu medicine 

 but for dressiug cloth, there is hope of profit from 

 this clove-like plant, which Mr. Holloway has used 

 as shade for cacao. I taw some fine cotton trees, 

 by the Bides of the road from Badulla to Spring 

 Valley estite, but Mr, Ross's magnificent lines and 

 avenues, closely planted of this tree, excel auything 

 I have previously seen. A good deal of the fine short 

 wool (the "kapok" of Java) has been gathered and 

 profitably sold, both iu the rough and cleaned state. 

 If the trees are only kept clear of the parasite loranthm 

 which so affects them, they will loug continue a 

 valuable property, and, should thinniug out bj required, 

 he timber is good for tea boxes. Pieces of the tree 

 snick into the ground for fences grow readily. — Haviug 

 thus dealt w th subsidiary products, I hope in my 

 next instalment of notes to return to tea in the 

 Kelani Valley, following it into Doloahage, the Nawala- 

 pi'iva Vallty aud Gampola, in the neighbourhood of 

 Kandy aid on the ranges running northwards to 

 M.italeand beyond into the comparatively arid regions 

 at and below Dambool or Dambulla, the second syllable 

 of which the late Mr. Campbell of May was of opinion 

 should be written, Scotch fashion, "het." The writer of 

 " Circular Notes" would not have joined the Calcutta 

 prrss in calling for the intervention of the Bishop, when 

 the vowel a was substituted for u, in the name of the 

 great military station, near Calcutta, known, before 



the reformed orthography was insisted on, as Dum 

 Dam. The new name reminds us of the sad fate of 

 a Kelani Valley estate which began life with tho 

 grand appellation of Ruwanwella, the golden field or 

 plain. But as coolies and letters intended for the 

 estate went miles away to the station of Ruwanwella, 

 the name was changed to Deioalakanda. The awkward- 

 ness of such a name becomes obvious when we remem- 

 ber that the Sinhalese w is generally convertible into 

 v. " Spell it with a wee, my lord, " is all very well, 

 but so good a man as Sir Charles Feter Inyard, 

 whrn troub'ed in the Colombo Kachcheri about a 

 series of Dewal lands, was so far left to himself as 

 to exclaim, "What the Dewal is it all about?" 



FIBRE CULTIVATION AND PREPARATION 

 IN SOUTHERN INDIA AND CEYLON. 



We attract attention to the interesting aud 

 valuable letters on this subject which will be 

 found on pages S68-9, To Mr. J. W. Minchin of the 

 Glenrock Company, Limited, Wynaad, our especial 

 thanks are due for one of the most sensible, 

 moderately stated and thoroughly practical expositions 

 of the experiences and difficulties connected with the 

 utilization and cultivation of fibrous plants that we 

 have yet seen. Our thanks are also due to Mr. 

 Le Mesurier of the Ceylon Civil Service for placing at 

 the disposal of the public the information supplied to 

 him in connection with the cultivation of New Zea- 

 land Flax. We trust this example will be followed 

 by other public servants in charge of revenue dis- 

 tricts, or who may have friends in other colonies, 

 in reference to the development of the resources of 

 Ceylon, tho introduction of new agricultural indus- 

 tries or the utilization of raw products now going 

 to waste. Our Civil Servants need to be reminded 

 that the Minute against writing to the public press — 

 which not a few are so fond of referring to as a 

 shield for their laziness or want of public spirit — 

 rather encourages thau prevents communications on 

 subjects of geueral public interest, merely forbidding 

 the discussion by public servants of controverted 

 ■political topics or the indulgence in criticism of the 

 Government whom they serve. 



As respects Fibres, it will be seen how clearly 

 practical experience both in Southern India and Now 

 Zealand, aud we may add iu Ceylon, controverts the 

 popular notion that there are many fibre-yielding plants 

 growing wild and running to waste, which could be 

 so utilized by machinery as to yield large profits. 

 Again and again has this idea been exploded by experi- 

 ence only to be taken up again by some oue now to the 

 subject. But Mr. Miuciiin and Mr. Halcunbe show 

 that the quantity available of fuch raw material is 

 far less than is usually anticipated, even under 

 the most favourable conditions while the cost 

 of carriage, a'oie under the circumstances of col. 

 lecting from wild plants, is well-nigh prohibitory. 

 It may, iu fac-, be assume! as an axiom that 

 cultivation alone can bring any fibre-yielding 

 plant within the bounds of profitable experiment. 

 Mr. Minchin makes another very candid but most 

 reasonable admission that in respect of the cheaper 

 fibres, it is very doublfnl if Europeans even with 

 machinery, can compete with native processes. This 

 has surely b en pretty well demonstrated in Ceylon 

 iu the case of Coir fibre, where the native industry 

 and native processes have held the ; r own notwith- 

 standing many improvements in machinery. 



Mr. Minchin alTu-ds statistical results of great 

 value to any who may be contemplating experiments 

 in the utilization of fibrous plan's ; aud very striking 

 is the difference in the proportions of raw stuff' to 



