THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[July i, 1885. 



and in a good tea climate, have resulted in a luxuriant 

 shew of heavy Hushing Ijuahes on Kadawella^ than 

 which Mr. Jackson said he had seen none finer in 

 Assam. Nuthinr/ can be better than Assam indigenous 

 in a suitable climate, but we suspect its zone in Ceylon 

 cnda nearer 3,000 thin 5,000 feet. It is carious how a 

 thing will come to the front all at once. Until recently 

 and in our own experience we had never heard of 

 moss on the stems of tea bushes, and we have searched 

 Money's E^isay and the Tea Cyclop.xdia in vain for 

 any notice of moss, lichen or fungus on the bark. 

 But cue of the first things we heard on reaching 

 Carolina was that Mr. Dalgaruo, whose experience had 

 \y6eu obtained iu Darjecliug, had uttered the warning: 

 " In a few years the growth of moss on the tea 

 bushes will lessen flush in Ceylon," while Mr. 

 Jackson iu answer to our questioning told us that 

 moss on tea stems is well known in Assam. Such 

 being the ca.se, it is surely carious that in books and 

 essays on tea, nothing or so little should have been 

 sai'l of a form of " blight," which certainly re- 

 quires the attention of planters. The growth of the 

 moss is probably promoted by the dense shade 

 produced by wid e surfaces of flush-yielding wood and 

 foliage, and pruning in the dry season, December and 

 January, vfas mentioned to us as a remedy. Until 

 better ;idvi.sed, we shall continue to believe in tho 

 necessity of occasional rubbing of badly affected stems 

 and dusting with lime. But the prominent impression 

 created by a visit to Kadawella is that of truly lux- 

 uriant and magnificent tea, while we learned that, 

 if a recently purchased block of forest is cleared 

 and planted, the total area under tea belonging to 

 the owners of the great Factory will be 2,000 acres. 



BANANA PLANTING AND TKADE IN WEST 

 INDIES. 



Jamaica, June 17th, 1884. 



Four people supervising the work of about 300 or 400 

 Creoles aud coolies seemed too absurd, and particularly 

 unple.isant for me whcu formerly accustomed to 100 and 

 50U people without anyone to dictate to me as to the 

 modus operandi. Bananas, forsooth ! People here make 

 as much fuss about them as though they were coffee, 

 or tea, or cinchona, ■\^"hy, in Ceylon, we gave the 

 bananas to the coolies, aud they grew at their " own 

 sweet will " better tlian " cultivated." The present rush 

 into bananas has resulted in a fall in price : fancy, a fall 

 of 50 per cent from Ss to Is 6d and Is local prices paid 

 at the wharf for eight-baud bunches only. My first 

 " banana " savings wore expended in buying a -b nuff- 

 coloured suit aud half-a-dozen new shirts, a pair of 

 elastic->ided boots and jiair of slippers, oh, and a brown 

 felt hat to match the clothes: fancy my new outfit com- 

 ing-out of"'" banana s:tviugs." I was as proud of my 

 banana suit as old Golii.sniith wlien he bought a new suit 

 out of his advances for the M8.ot the" Vicar of ^Vakbfield." 

 Ean.inas have done more for some people ; one man 

 bonght a "carriage aud pair " and another bought two 

 old sugar estates, all out of the profits of a good season. 

 I feel sorry to leave Port Autdnio. Captain Eaker said 

 I might please myself, go or stay at Eog or Bound 

 Brook, but I told him. there wore too many people 

 overlooking the works there and that I wanted to be 

 " boss " myself. "All right," said Captain liaker, "go aud 

 look after the ' heathen Chinee.' " He kindly gave me a 

 free passage in the "Flying Cloud" schooner just get- 

 ting uudor weigh aud bound for Anuatto Bay. One last 

 long g.<izo at pretty little I'ort Antonio aud the " Flying 

 Cloud" was making tracks along tho east coast of Jamaica. 

 Tho sun set and moon rose, aud the captain and his 

 male entered into an animating conversation on nautical 

 sulijeots in whieli I took part. 



"Yes, sir," said the Captaiu, " as I just remarked 

 to niy mate." Kf arboard your helm." " Starboard it i.s, sir." 



Damn that boy ' is he asleep on his look-out again P 



jre 'sa ' usolesFi creature for triie.' " Whack, whack, with 



a rope's end, " Who dat knock me ? me not asleep, 

 captain, mo nebber sleep on my look-out," By-and-byo 

 the captain went to sleep, and the mate steered the 

 " Flying Cloud." I had some hard boiled eggs, cold fish 

 aud bread tor supper and smoked a cigar, the " Flying 

 Cloud " roUed very much aud rocked in the cradle of 

 the deep I rolled myself up iu the main sail aud was 

 soon in the arms of Morpheus, Anchored in Aunatto 

 Bay at 2 a. m. When the captain awoke ho hammered 

 his boy as most captains of small crafts do. "I" shall be 

 the death of that boy yet ! Fancy his not turning out 

 when the watch is called and me and my mate got to 

 shorten sail. Never heard of such a thiug ever since 

 I 've been at sea, my king ! Boys are men in these 

 days. Now be quick and make the coffee or look out for 

 squalls." It did rain during the night and blow hard, 

 and I went below, but the rats and cockroaches ran 

 over my face and the fleas in the banana trash pro- 

 vented sleep down below, therefore anyone taking passage 

 in a Jamaica drogher should stick to the deck, if 

 weather permits, for there are too many cabin passengers 

 in the form of natural history specimens. A night in a 

 Jamaica fruit boat is not a thing one would care to ex- 

 perience twice, it it could be,helped. Anyhow the writer 

 cannot count the number of times he has spent miser- 

 able nights at sea in all sorts of crafts. 



I landed in Anuatto Bay on the 30th July 1884. Met 

 Mr. Broughton, drove out with him to Iter Boreale 

 estate, and had a nice breakfast with Mr. Manahan, tho 

 manager of the property. The Chinese had arrived, but 

 done no work from date of arrival ; they look a good- 

 looking gang aud may turn out well. The worst of it is, 

 we have got to weigh out rations to them, and they 

 are always complaining of quantity and quality of the 

 provisions when they are all of the very best obtainable, 

 much better than we use ourselves sometimes. It is 

 hard lines for me after trudging up and down the hill 

 and working all day in the sun to be obliged to weigh 

 out their meat, rice, coco, sugar, salt-fish, &c., &c., until 

 dark, our dinner getting spoiled, and pitch dark before 

 time to bathe or wash and dress for dinner. The worst 

 of it is, the Chinese are not likely to improve, their 

 motto being to get as much out of the estate and their 

 employers as they can for the least labour. Iter Boreale 

 estate is a sugar plantation with extensive fields of cane, 

 sugar-house, distillery, &c., &c. Mr. Manahan and two 

 book-keepers are in charge of the property. Mr. Broughton 

 visits onco a fortnight or so tor a Mrs. Hossack, resident 

 iu England. The estate gives about ISO hogsheads ot^ 

 sugar and eighty or ninety puncheons of rum per anuum. 

 It is situated on the sea coast between Aunatto Bay 

 and Fort Stewart. Banana cultivation is carried on up 

 the hill near " Prospect," a property occupied by tho 

 Westmoreland family, also owners of sugar estates, 

 " Gibraltar " and others. 



There are several j.roduce brokers iu Aimatto Bay who 

 send out their waggon.s to the estates and buy up tho 

 bananas by the hundred. The price is at present low, 

 about £6 per 100 bunches. Mr. Benbow is agent for 

 Messrs. Baker & Co. of Port Antonio ; and, when the 

 "Flying Cloud" landed me iu the Buy, Mr. Benbow 

 kindly took charge of my baggage and sent it up to me 

 by the Iter Boreale cart. Mr. Benbow had no bananas 

 ready for tho " Flying Clound " and telegraphed to Baker 

 for orders. She was sent to " Port Maria " higher up 

 the coast for a load of coconuts. Mr. Benbow and his 

 brother are descendants of tho brave Admiral Benbow. 

 who fought the French olT Port Koyal aud had 

 both his legs shot off before sinking the French frigate 

 Admiral Benbow wai buried in Kiugston, Jamaica. 



Store-keeping appears to pay in Aunatto Bay, to judge 

 from tho number of stores and shops. Wednesdays and 

 Saturdays are tho market days. There is a market for the 

 sale of fresh beef twice a week, a post office, telegraph 

 office, court-house and a church of the Church of England. 

 A little out of the Bay there are churches of other de- 

 nominations including a Baptist aud Wesleyan. The roads aro 

 fairly good and bridged over for somesbort distance from 

 town, and all along tho public road is a succession of fruit 

 gardens, coconut palms bearing well, breadfruit, oranges, 

 limes, iic. 

 Iter ]!nreale i« only two-»nd-a half milos from the town 



