September i, 1885.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



227 



low. He doubles the estimated nett prodt ^ler acre 

 from padiiyby recalliug the fact that there ara usually 

 under irrigation two croi 3 a year, and he verj properly 

 dwells on the Urge preliminary outlay and lous^ delay 

 in waiting for returns from palms and o her fruit-trees, 

 or even from ciuuamou. This argunieut, however, 

 scarcely applies to the new product, tta, we may say 

 en pasmnt ; but there is anotlier fact not speci.illy 

 pointed out so fir, which tells in favour of encourag- 

 ing the paddy cultivator, and whicli we nadily hriu^; 

 forward. It is that paddy cultivation ev>n in the 

 richest districts and busiest, because moat favouraMe, 

 seasons leaves the cultivators plenty of time between 

 Bowing and reaping and reaping and ploughing to 

 give thtir attention, if they choose, to other cultiv- 

 ation. The combination, therefore, of gardens of 

 palms and other fruit-trees with paddy-fiflda is 

 a very natural one, and equally so of the patch 

 of coffee around the hut and village which maj' now 

 be replaced by tea. We see a loinl contemporary 

 would fain try to make capital out of his un- 

 founded and misleading charge that we want the 

 Government to encourage the cultivation of tea 

 among the people to the superaeasiou of paddy, 

 or even in preference to it over the i^lind. 

 Nothing of the kind, as we think a fair perusal of 

 the remarks publi-shed yesterday will show. We s-iy 

 that the requirements and cap.ibilities of each 

 district must bi' judged on its meats, and that the 

 frovernmeot ought to give more attention to otliT pro- 

 duct', besides paddy, for which many large districts 

 are eminently' alapted. We are aware of the fict, 

 for instance, that au active, intelligent Asdstint 

 Ageut for a district admirably adapted for tea, 

 not long ago asked permission of the G.vernmeut to 

 procure tome tea-siied for expeiiinent in the Kach- 

 cheri garden and for distribution among the headmen 

 and villagers — nnd yet he only gut a refusal and a 

 snubbing lur his pain=. Of course, we cannot expect 

 the native villagers for nuny ytars to become i x- 

 perts in the prepiratmn of tea even after the 

 primitive Chinese fashion ; but there are factories 

 springing up in all directions, in the Sabaraganiuwa, 

 Kegaila, Kalutara, Galle and other lowcountry divisions 

 where the tea-leaf pluuked by the villagers would 

 be realily purchastd a; a price remunerative to them 

 as growers We are convinced that t a is des- 

 tined to become a favourite product for cultivation 

 with the Sinhalese in many districts. The only 

 question is, should the Government help or en- 

 courage the people, in this direction, as well 

 as in respect of other new products, or confine 

 their attention, enei'gy and votes, ai^ricultu-ally. all 

 over the i-lanci, to rice alone and to irrigation 

 works solely in the interests of this one staple ? 

 With Mr. Ram* Nathan we may say that nothing 

 is further from our thoughts than to stop or dis- 

 courage the cultivation of paddy : our wish ia not 

 to see paddy neglected, but other products looked 

 after as well, and so to see the favours of Gov- 

 ernment and the revenue, a little mere generally 

 distcibuted. 



"RICK CULTIVATION [JXDER IRRIGATION IN 

 CEYLON." 



De.\r bin, — With reference to Mr. Rama Nathan's 

 criticisms ou my paper, please allow me an opport- 

 unity of leplying to one or two points which es- 

 caped me when idosing the debate. 



First, I would point out that my original calcul- 

 ations were all made in native m asurements of 

 sowing extent and days' lubor, to avoid the moot 

 points as to the proper rates cf conversion, pay, &c. 

 But to suit a European audience uot cooversaut 



with the intiicacies of amunams, pelas, knru- 

 nis and marakals, I added the results per acre at 

 certain approximate equivalents. 



It mafers not therefore if it takes 2 or 2Ji 

 bushels to sow an acre. For instanc-, in Matara 

 my figures are 90 days for a sowing extent of oua 

 amunam or •ii.r bushels. If this extent is equal to 

 t'J acres instead of 2.^ (ps stated by me) the num- 

 ber of days' labor comes to 30 per acre (and not 

 36 as given by me). 



Rtturning to the native measurement, an amunam 

 sowing extent will at only <i)i fold give 10 amunams 

 or CO bushels in Ma'ara B'rom this we must 

 deduct, for tithe, seed, wati r rate &c.. 16 bushels, 

 leaving 44 bushels as the rewarel of 90 days or a 

 bushel for every two days' labour. So at this low 

 rate of yielel the outsitle cost of growth ie 50 cents 

 a bushel, and the profit per acre al out R7, on one 

 crop. These results are, I stoutly maintain, below 

 the reality in the irrigated districts, and I see no 

 reason to depart from the figures I have advanced. 



As regareis the question of interest and pecuniary 

 return, Mr. Rama Nathan overlooked the contingency, 

 nay the certahdy, in the Martara elistrict, of tao crops 

 a year, which at once doubles his figure". In his 

 comparison with coconut and cinnamon, Mr. Rama 

 Nathan also overlooked the larger capital lockeel up 

 in the investment. A return therefore of K30 per 

 acre is not more than 20 per cent ou the cost of 

 creation of Buch property, while a return of K7 per 

 acre on paddy is eeiuivalcnt to 18 per centou K4lt, the 

 corresponding cost of paddy land, and this from oiw crop 

 alone. Aeain paddy will give a return in one year 

 at the outside, while coconuts take ten at least. 



I need not enlarge on the benefits of quick returns 

 though accompanied by a smaller profit. — Yours truly, 



E. ELLIOTT. 



RICE CULTIVATION IN CEYLON, 



(Local " Times.") 

 Mr. Elliott wishes us to understand that his I'alcul- 

 ation as to the cost of production per bushel of paeldy 

 included the Government tithe as well as the water rate, 

 and be fiuther jioiiits out that at least three districts — 

 the lands under the Giant's and Kanthalay tanks and the 

 Giiriva Pattu-are similarly favorably situated as regards 

 proximity to the coast and consequent faeitity of transport, 

 as are the Batticaioa lands, whilst the W'anni, to which 

 we referred, is not so baeilj otf as we contended. Figures 

 are given by Mr. Elliott showing that, starting from 

 Anuradhapura, to IVIatale the cost of transport by cart is 

 30 cents, and to Jalfna 4lJ cents a bushel. This added to 

 the a/j cents, which Mr. Elliott eleclares to be the actual 

 cost of production including ntl taxes ami charges, would 

 allow paddy to be laid down in either of the two markets 

 mentioned above at from &ik to 77^ cents per bushel, anil 

 this— as ill either of those places the ruling rate tor paddy 

 cannot be less than lir25 — leaves a prolit of about 5t> 

 cents per bushel. This very satisfactory result i.s, how- 

 ever, more or less mythical, for tlie simple reason that 

 the paddy on which this handsome return is to be made 

 is not forthcoming. The Anuradhapura district has 

 as much as it can elo to grow sutiicient grain to maintain 

 its own sparse population, so that except as a literary 

 exercise it is not mue-h use proving how large a profit 

 coulel be obt lined, if it only produced an enormous sur- 

 plus of padily. * We are told that the cultivators are made 

 to repay the cost of irrigation woiks in ten annual in- 

 stalments or contribute a late of UL per acre in pcr[,etuity. 

 That this is so in theory we do not deay. lint where 

 are the millions of rupees expended by the Government 

 on the construction, repair, aiul maintenance of the irrig- 

 ation works of the island? H-'.ve tlie-y ever come back 



* To do the Governmemt only baro iustice, this surplus 

 is what tliey are ainii;i(,' :d in constructing the Kala- 

 wewa Irrigation ^^'orks, aiul iiidi"-d Mr. Fisher declared in 

 an ofBcial report that tliere have been large exports of 

 paddy in some recent years from his nroviuce. — Eu. 



