44« 



THE TROPICAL AGRICUtTURlST. [Dec, i, 1885. 



compliment. The consequence of tliis iiroceduro is 

 that young i^eople cxccetl their income quite un- 

 intentionally, and before they know what they are 

 abouL, they find bills coming in wliich they hardly 

 know how to meet. This is exactly wliat liappened 

 with us. Our extravagances — I call them extra- 

 vagances inasmuch as' they were beyond our income — 

 were incurred in this innocent and somewhat foolish 

 manner. One day the dinner was not as good as 

 usual ; there was a sameness about it which did not 

 make it appetising. I had bee"h so interested in my 

 new garden and its extensions, that I had left the cook 

 to his own devices. George, wlio seldom grumbled, 

 made a remark to the effect that the cook was falling 

 off in his cooking. " It is the everlasting beef which 

 is so difticult to manage," I exclaimed. "If we 

 could only get fish occasionally, or if my fowl yard 

 would grow a little quicker I could make a change 

 in the food." My husband replied, "You can get 

 fish from Colombo once a week if you like. It 

 will come up to Kandy in ice by rail, and I can 

 send a coolie for it, who will bring it in the same 

 day." And so the tish was ordered, and we rejoiced 

 in the change of food, as well as our friends, who 

 often dropped in to the eleven o'clock breakfast. 

 But when the bill was sent in, and we came to 

 that understanding of our expenses which must 

 inevitably be faced by all young married couples, 

 we found that our income would not meet it. The 

 same thing happened with regard to my pony — an 

 addition to the establishment on my arrival. He, 

 like the fish, was one straw too many. I at once 

 advocated retrenchment, but my husband said "No, 

 there was no need." He was to have a percent- 

 age on the coffee crop when the profit exceeded a 

 certain amount and he was sure that that percentage 

 would come, as there was every promise in the 

 blossom of a bumper crop. He suggested that we 

 should pay part of the fish bill, and continue 

 having the supply of fish ; and he vowed that the 

 pony should on no account be sold. But this 

 dependence on the future did not suit me. After 

 much discussion, it ended by a discontinuance of 

 luxuries we could not afford. We cancelled the 

 standing order for the iish, and sold one of the 

 ponies. 



It was now for the first time that I heard of 

 the Chetties, and their use, They are native merch- 

 ants and bankers — generally of Indian origin — 

 who supply rice for the coolies, and other merchandise 

 needed for the house, or the estate ; they cash cheques, 

 discount bills, and advance money. As their rates of 

 interest are similar to those of the sowcars of India, 

 it is needless to say that the planter is wise 

 who keeps out of their clutches. When I 

 asked how our neighbours, the Browns, man- 

 aged to live as they did, with no greater income than 

 our own, I was told that Brown " wrote orders on 

 his chetty" : that is to say, he asked the chetty 

 to advance the money for the bill. This the chetty 

 did at a higli rate of interest ; and the Browns 

 were steadily accumulating a debt in this way which 

 they hoped the coffee of the future would pay off. 

 All around me I saw extravagance and expenditure 

 carried on upon the strength of future wealth. I 

 had been brought up in the good old school that 

 taught that there should be no expenditure till the 

 money to meet it was in hand. But now I was 

 in a new element, and my neighbours were ex- 

 isting on golden dreams which had yet to be re- 

 realized. The substantial stonestore, sheds and 

 pul))ing-liouses, and the expensive machinery — the 

 pride and glory of the planter — were raised partly 

 on borrowed money. The i^lanters were so certain 

 that their crops would pay off these debts in a 

 eboct time, that tbey did uot hesitate about plung- 



ing. They accepted money at the hands of agents 

 and chetties at high rate of interest, and they reck- 

 lessly burdened their estates with such millstones 

 as eventually dragged them to utter ruin. I 

 trace a good many of my friends' misfortunes to 

 this fatal spirit of extravagance, quite as much as 

 to bad seasons, and poor crops. In all mercantile 

 operations it is necessary to allow a margin for 

 reverses. The merchant or speculator who lives up 

 to his income, or exceeds it in the expectation 

 of an increase in the future, paves the way to 

 ruin. The cofl'ee planters of Ceylon- came of a 

 class that knew nothing of mercantile transactions, 

 and they very easily fell into errors. They were 

 the sons of country gentlemen, doctors, lawyers 

 and clergymen, and had been bjMught up to see 

 their fathers living on incomes which never fluctuated, 

 and might therefore be spent with impunity. Not 

 to spend what honestly came to hand was almost 

 a crime in their eyes. They felt as if they were 

 Hot acting up to their moral standard if they did 

 not dispense their money as freely and generously 

 as they received it. I have more than once heard 

 a man spoken of disparagingly because he showed 

 himself careful over his rupees, and declined to 

 live up to his income. He was called a " rupee 

 gatherer," and was avoided as unwholesome com- 

 pany. When the heavy reverses did come the 

 despised rupee-gatherer was the only one who 

 weathered the storm. 



In my next paper I shall have to toll how we in- 

 ■vested in an estate, and with what success. — Madras 

 Mail. 



J 



VANiLLA.^The weather has been very unpro- 

 pitious to the preparation and we cannot expect 

 any Vanilla of good and sound quality before next 

 month. Owing to the high rate of exchange on 

 Paris and London, there has been a fair demand 

 for tliis staple in the shape of remittances. A lot 

 of about 1.50 kilos (fine quality) was sold at R16 

 per kilo. We understand that the total outturn 

 of this crop will uot be e(juivalent in quantity to 

 that of last year. The following quotations are 

 nominal. 



per Idlo.^ §. 



Crystalised 1st quality . . E16 to B18 I S 



2nd „ " 



Good to middling 



Inferior (reddish) 



Vanilloes 



— MuKritiux Gazette. 



AsBusTos. — It may interest some of our readers 

 to learn that an asbestos mine exists on the spur 

 of a hill about two miles from tiundagai. New 

 South Wales, in which the lode has been driven 

 upon for a distance of !)0 feet, and a shaft 100 

 feet has been also sunk. The mineral occurs in • 

 a serpentine formation similar to ijuartz veins, and 

 is mined in the same manner. On the same pi-o- 

 perty another class of asbestos has been discovered 

 and worked in connection with gold. Tiie lode 

 is peculiar in character, and with one or two minor 

 exceptions is almost identical with the fanious 

 Lucknow lode, which has proved so rich in gold. 

 In some instances veins of calcspar make their 

 api)earance in the lode, bringing gold with them 

 every time. Arsenical and iron pyrites are abundant 

 and so far as the lode has been worked it has 

 proved payable by crushing tests, without one failure. 

 — liitliurulihcr Trades Journal. 



"ROUGH ON CORNS." 

 Ask for AVtlls' •'Kougb on Oonis." Quick relief, 

 complete, permanent cure. Corns, warta, buoionSi 

 W. E. Smith & Oo., Madras, Sole Agents. 



