Nov. 



1885.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



339 



steadily " going out.'' Also many estates are now 

 in the hands of the mortgagees who are only too 

 desirous of reaUziug, and in some cases accepting 

 even a loss rather than continue in having their 

 resources locked up in a distant country. 



The climate of Ceylon has proved itself simply 

 perfect for the growth of tea, the b\ishes actually 

 '■ flushing " all the year round, whilst in India 

 this only occurs, generally speaking, during some 

 7 months out of the 12, the result is that here 

 we got a most extraordinary crop, some estates 

 raising their returns up to 1,000 lb. of made tea 

 per acre. I propose, however, to base my calcul- 

 ation on the very moderate return of 450 lb. per 

 acre. .So many causes bear upon this point that 

 it is somewhat dillicult : to arrive at a fair ai-eniye 

 estimate elevation or rather altitude of the laud, 

 richness of soil, and rainfall are the principal 

 things that must be considered. In fair average 

 soil on the low-lands or at low altitudes, the 

 planter may depend on SOO lb. per acre ; whilst 

 when he may plant 2,000 ft. to 3,000 ft. higher, 

 his return per acre will probably be reduced to 

 500 lb. to 000 lb., and then another 1,000 ft. or 

 2,000 ft. to about 400 lb. to 500 lb. per acre. What 

 he loses in quantity, however, he is likely to gain 

 in quality, for the hill teas undoubtedly possess 

 generally ° more "bloom" or aroma than those 

 grown on the low-lands. However, in taking 4.j0 lb. 

 per acre, I think 1 am well within the mark. 



.\s to quaUty, Ceylon teas have already with 

 their limited import of some 2,.500,000 lb. made 

 such a name for themselves on our London market, 

 and are getting so generally appreciated by all 

 who can tind the opportunity of securing them 

 "pure" (that is unmixed with other teas), that 

 I purpose merely to state, that from my extended 

 knowledge of teas and the taste of the British 

 public for tea of this character, the more they 

 get known the greater will be the demand for 

 them, and, where they can be procured unmixed 

 with other growths, they will go far to supplant 

 both China and IniUan teas : this fact will be 

 found very important, as will be seen from the 

 figures I shall produce further on. The grand 

 peculiarity of well-made Ceylon teas is that they 

 are perfect in themselves, and do not require to 

 be blended with other teas, as do the majority of 

 both China and Indian production — they, of course, 

 at the same time can be successfully used in 

 improving other teas by being blended with them. 



The exceUeut comiiiunications by railways, roads, 

 rivers and canals render Ceylon certainly superior 

 to any other tea district in the world, and this 

 fact is enhanced by having the splendid and 

 economical shipping port of Colombo, nearly all 

 Eastern steamers calling there. 



The labour in Ceylon is some of the very best 

 that can be procured, Tamil labour, and the 

 supply is inexhaustible, as we have 12,000,000 of 

 this race on the opposite shore of youthern India. 

 These are only too willing to cross over and re- 

 ceive the enhanced pay they command in Ceylon. 

 The present price of labour is about 7d to 8d 

 per diem. In Assam a cooly costs about Is 

 per diem, after the heavy cost of getting him on to 

 the estate (about £8), and then he is by no means 

 so etiicient as the Tamil cooly. 



The rainfall combined with the tropical heat of 

 Ceylon alone accounts for the extraordinary growth 

 we see among the tea, the rainfall being so uni- 

 formly spread over the year, ami not coming in 

 the violent monsoons peculiar to India. I'liis 

 rainfall varies considerably according to the dis- 

 tricts : about 130 inches to 2.j0 inches is what may 

 be put down as favouring the tea districts. 



The tea plant hitherto lias scarcely any enemy 

 in nature, the red-spider, bug and blight being the 

 only ones, but these I tind generally only occur 

 where the tea is sickly, or from exceptionally dry 

 weather, neither of whicli circumstances are likely 

 to occur in this redundant climate. The tea 

 jilant itself is a most hardy one, and throws down 

 deep into the ground a long strong tap-root tluia 

 sinking deep into the ground for its sustenance, 

 which fact may account for its apparently not ex- 

 hausting the soil as is the case with coffee, and 

 this enables the tea-plant to be so independent 

 of any drought littlo as there is any fear of tliis 

 in Ceylon. 



AN AMERICAN PEACH FOREST. 



Mr. .John H. Parnell, a great Ameriaan peacli- 

 grower, has been letting out some of the secrets of 

 his peach forest, which have more interest as Mr. 

 John Parnell is the brother of another and more 

 famous member of the family, Mr. C. S. Parnell 

 himself. " In my early days," said Mr. Parnell to 

 the correspondent, " I was advised that there were 

 excellent chances for inves-tment in the South, and 

 especially in Cieorgia. It was my idea that thus 

 located there was money in cotton, so I paid cash 

 down 12,000 dols. for 1,500 acres. To this original 

 purchase I have since added 500 acres, making my 

 possessions 2,000 acres in all. P'or three years I 

 planted cotton, only to find it a delusion." It was 

 in this fortunate moment that Mr. Parnell made up 

 his mind that there was money in peaches. The 

 great peach forest is described as containing acres 

 and acres of ground, stretching indeed into miles, 

 covered with every variety of tree. The trees, which 

 number 150,000, are planted twelve feet apart, and 

 are kept trimmed to the ground, so that a person 

 standing can pluck the rosy fruit from its fastness. 

 When the first blush comes upon the cheek of the 

 dainty beauties 100 men, women, and children are 

 set to work, each armed with a Hat basket, return- 

 ing to the rendezvous when the bottom is covered. 

 Thus they keep on day after day until the season 

 is over. The story of Mr. Parnell's venture is brieHy 

 this : — He invested 12,000 dols. in his plantation. 

 He has spent over H,000 dols. since in trees, seeds, 

 and labour. Upon this investment he makes from 

 8,000 dols. to 10,000 dols. a year, and would not 

 sell his peach forest for less than 300,000 dols. 

 Great as Charles Stewart Parnell is as the uncrowned 

 king of Ireland, greater is .John H. Parnell, the peach 

 king of America. " I found it necessary to have re- 

 course to English varieties. It was clear that a 

 hard, firm peach which would bear handling would 

 be a gold mine. In 1871 I brought from England 

 5,000 budded trees — the Beatrice, the Early Rivers, 

 and the Early Louise. I have found that these 

 three varieties meet every requirement. I have 

 developed a hybrid, to which I have given the name 

 of Parnell. This peach is destined to rank in the 

 peach family as the Le Conte does among the pears, 

 i secured it from an accidental seedling. I made 

 iny first shipment of this peach live years ago, 

 when it went off at 25 dols. a bushel. I have now 

 seven thousand trees of this variety. It has a dark 

 red skin, white flesh, and is firm and hardy for 

 shipment. The next is the Foster, a jieach of yel- 

 low skin, saffron flesh, and firm mould. But one 

 crop in three of this peach, however, is fit to ship. 

 Of the Amelia peach, dark-flcshcd and brownish red 

 cheek, I have over 8.000 trees. I have spent much 

 lime in experimenting, and believe that I have now 

 solved all the difliculties of this neighbourhood. 

 As old trees die I replace them, and also make a 

 regular annual increase of 25,000 trees," 



