Nov. 2, 1885.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



361 



LETTERS FKOM JAMAICA.— NO. 8. 



SSIAI.I. COFFRB CROPS llUT GOOD PUtCES AND GOOD PKOS- 

 PXCTS— MK. COTTAM'sCHITILISMS — JAMAICA AND CEYLON 

 SV3TEMS OF CULTIVATION — THB I'KOIT INDUSTRY AND 

 nAIl.>VAV EXTENSION — THE PANA5IA CANAL. 



Blue Mountain District, Jamaica, Aug. IK.s.j. 



Our Blue Mountain crops have, as I led you 

 to expect, turned out small : but I am glad 

 to say that prices so far as the coffee has yet 

 been sold in the Liverpool market have been very 

 satisfactory. Clifton Mount. Newton, Sherwood 

 Forest, Clydesdale, Chestervale and Badiior produce 

 has sold at prices ranging from 139s. to 110s. 

 per Gwt. ; the first-named continues to bear the 

 palm. Tlie season has again been very dry, the 

 lowlying coffee must have suffered from the 

 drought, but it lias been very suitable weather for 

 the top niuuutain properties. The blossoms have 

 as yet been good; there is another very good one on 

 the eve of coming out, so that, unless unforseen 

 bad weather comes, we may look for a "bumper" 

 next year. The old ejcperienced planters say it 

 will be a very good season from all present signs. 



The remarks of your old correspondent, Mr. 

 Cottam, relative to Blue Mountain coffee estates, 

 which appeared in your TlVt'A/i/ OhsciTfi- of 

 28th April last, are somewhat too trenchant, and 

 the remarks upon the overseer of Sherwood 

 Forest estate anything but polite. As to Jamaica 

 coffee estates, everyone admits they are not as 

 well or expensively cultivated, as was the rule 

 in the good old Ceylon days when planters 

 could spend £12 an acre, in cultivation, 

 manuring, supervision, etc., and yet make proKts 

 of £8 to £12 an acre. Jamaica planters say 

 they " must cut their coats according to the 

 cloth " ; they cannot afford high cultivation, and 

 they "must make both ends meet." Of course the 

 question remains, whether, if they weeded and 

 pruned more frequently, the result would not be a 

 succe.ss. 1 myself think it would ; but the soil and j 

 climate -are so good for cofiee, that the trees do 

 not seem to suffer as they would in Ceylon from ; 

 being weeded only 3 or 1 times a year, and it | 

 certainly .saves "wash," which is a consideration, j 

 Had Mr. Cottam had an opportunity of going 

 over some of the properties he names he would ! 

 have found cultivation better attended to than he 

 supposes, some of the estates being added to by j 

 new clearings ; and as to Sherwood Forest, he I 

 would have found it a very tine property of about 

 200 acres coffee, kept very fairly clean, trees in 

 decent order, and the most compact of all the Blue 

 Mountain properties. It is therefore not just or 

 correct to state that " there is no extension of 

 coffee cultivation in the Blue Mountains," as Abbey 

 Green, Clevelands, ArnkuUy, Corner Post and 

 Whitfield Hall are all being extended, and we 

 also hear of some projected estates on the Northern 

 slopes. 



I send you a Jamaica paper which contains 

 interesting articles on our Fruit Industry, and also 

 about the present state of the Panama Canal 

 worlis. As regards the former it is much to be 

 regretted that the finances of the island do not 

 admit of the extension of our present railway 

 system to connect the northern ports with the 

 capital, for I am sure it would be a success; 

 and not to go on, is as bad as stopping the 

 Ceylon line at Nanaoya, and not pushing on all 

 these years to Haputale and Badulla. It would 

 lielp to revive the agricultural prospects of the 

 island, and confer benefits not only on sugar i^lant- 

 ers and fruit-growers but on the general public. 

 I am sure the land-^ along the line would soon be 



46 



taken up for banana and coca growing, as well as 

 other tropical products ; any scheme that helped 

 the i)lanteis and pen-keepers in cheapness and cert- 

 ainty of transport, and enabled them to get up 

 manure at a cheap rate, would be beneticial. 1 trust 

 therefore the day is not far off' when tlic (iovernor 

 will see liis way to sanctioning the expenses of ii 

 survey to .select the best and cheapast route ; there 

 should be no difficulty in raising a guaranteed loan 

 at hoiup f'lr the construction. Mr. Espi'ul piiints 

 out the delicacy of fruit, and that it cannot bear 

 to be kejit long ; if therefore the railway jiroves 

 the fastest feeder to the several shipping ports, 

 there is no doubt it would be well supported by 

 the growers both European and Creole. .\s to the 

 Panama Canal, if aff'airs are as it is stated, 

 matters seem to be in a very bad state for the present 

 bondliolders; neither will the work lie accomjilished 

 as ijuickly as was promised. Where has all the money 

 gone to? Echo answers where. Indirectly it has 

 been a fine thing for the .Jamaica labourer, who has 

 found well-paid employment, and as so many sugar 

 properties have suffered from the low prices, and 

 have not been able to employ so many hands as 

 of yore, the work so near at hand must have been 

 a Godsend to the Jamaica Creole. Here, on our 

 side of tlie island, owing to the drought and 

 people being short of provisions we have not suffered 

 from want of labor. We hear moreover of several 

 win liave gone to Colon in search of work until 

 better seasons return. Felling and topping, pruning 

 and all job works have been done cheaper on many 

 est.ites owing to the above causes. The prices for 

 felling, topping and clearing up ready for planting 

 are dearer than in Ceylon, though the Jamaica 

 forest as a rule is not nearly so heavy : the custom 

 has been to pay Is per square chain, or £2 an acre for 

 the simple felling. W. S. 



TEA PLANTING ON THE HILLS OP 

 CEYLON. 



TEA PRUNING — EKFECT OK BURYIMG PRUVINOS AND 

 WEEDS — LUXURIANT FLUSH — THH TEA-LEAF MOTH — 

 USE OF SPIDEF.S — TWIN AND THINR TEA LKAVES — 

 "WILD tea" — OLD KING COFFEE IN HIS DOTAGE — A 

 " SPRING CROP " IN DIMBULA— A MARKET FOa ''COFFEE 

 tea" WANTED. 



Tea pruning and the burying in longitudinal 

 holes of the prunings, weeds and rotten timber debris 

 are going briskly forward and wonderfully trim and 

 clean the ground looks where the processes ha\e been 

 completed, while the tea bushes are scarcely cut down 

 when they begin to put forth a fresh wealth of buds 

 and wood. The mechanical as well as the inanurial 

 effect of the burying process must be most bene- 

 fieial to the soil as well as to the plant, as is 

 shown in the luxuriant fiush on the trees pruned some 

 months ago. 



Yesterday I wrote that the moth pre- 

 valent in Dikoya had not reached this locality. 

 That is still true of the higher fields, but on the 

 lower, evidences of the presence of the insect were 

 this morning seen in curled-up leaves. The con- 

 solation is that this pest chooses not flush but 

 mature leaves whereon to lay its eggs, — eggs whence 

 the maggot escapes, sucks the juices of the leaf 

 and is gone (as a moth ?) in a time so incred- 

 ibly short that it is but rarely the caterpillar can 

 be seen. It is now tlial the value of spiders and 

 their beautifully ingenious webs of all shapes, 

 sizes and designs can be appreciated. The spider 

 has not heard of the theory of the balance of 

 animal life, but he works diligently on its lines, 

 as the lea moths e:ipcricncc. 



