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TBS TROPICAL AQRlCVLTUniST. Gf;vvtv»«- i, iSSC 



portaneu than they arc in the case of tea, for my 

 Goloniljo Agents have repeatedly told me that ten 

 shillings a hunilredweiglit was uo overestimate 

 of the extent to wliich my coffee was depreciated 

 by the long liausport via Eatnapura. Just think, 

 Mr. Kditor, what a huge sum of ni'iney ten shillings 

 a hundredweight on the crops ot Uva from its 

 palmy days down the present day of small things 

 would amount to. It would almost pay tor the 

 construction of a railway, I should think. On most 

 of the estates, hoth here and in Madulsima, where 

 tea is being largely planted, there are considerable 

 reserves of forest available as fuel, and, in addition 

 to this, large numbers of fast-growing trees are 

 being planted, so that for a time at least we shall 

 not all have to depend on rail-carried fuel, but 

 when we do have to indent- for ton's of coke and 

 coal, I hope the means of transport, in the shape 

 of a railway right into Badulla, will be there to 

 meet our wants. 



I believe I am right in stating that some thous- 

 ands of acres arc already under tea in Uva, and 

 if the men who have borne the burden and heat 

 of the day, and are pegging away at it still, would 

 tell us Occasionally something of the progress of 

 the young plants, it would add greatly to the 

 interest and value of your paper. If you would 

 just give a hint to the effect that those planting 

 tea in Uva might be a little more communicative 

 of their doings, I feel sure it would have the desired 

 effect. ICH DIEN. 



lOur Directory figures show some 4,500 acres 

 of tea planted within the Principality, and they are 

 certain, as our correspondent says, to attract atten- 

 tion. We shall be liappy to receive and publish 

 communications of the nature desiderated. We 

 have ever believed in the suitability of Uva for 

 tea culture, and a new and strong argument for rail- 

 way extension lies in this fact, of which wc have 

 not failed to make use. — Ed.] 



THE PACKING OP TEA. 



Dimbula, 10th Dec. 1885. 

 Dkau Sik,— There is an error in your printer's 

 rendering of my letter. I said "a fortiori", and 

 not " a portion of." As I am again on this subject 

 I may point out how nuich more profitable it is 

 to employ full chests rather than half-chests or 

 still smaller packages. For the extraordinary 

 arithmetical manccuvre described by "Tea Buyer" 

 can of course be practised on each package, and , I 

 have seen an account sale of tea shipped in small 

 packages in whicli 15 per cent loss in weight 

 was incurred. Tliis most [objectionable weighing 

 trick and the i lb. draft arc public scandals, and 

 should both be abolished. — Vours truly, 



TEA MAKEB. 



.Sul.i'mTHic Acid: Loe.a, MANNnv.vcTPTii!!. — A plant- 

 er writes : — " I don't quite agree with your views 

 about that SO;i Company. The loss of the Ceylon 

 custom would not reduce the home price by a cent. 

 The local Company would of course want to make 

 as nuich profit as it could, and so the public would 

 merely in all iirobability gain but a very sliglit 

 reduction in price, say just something under what 

 the acid could be imported. A ten years' monopoly 

 would be bad. Let Government however olfer a 

 handsome bonus on the first 10 tons acid nuade 

 and remit duty on its imported machinery and 

 material." The proof of the pudding is in the 

 eating: if a success in the Barbados, why not in 

 Ceylon? With abundance ot sulphnrio acid locally 

 available, there is uo saying what can bo douo I 



Ivy FOB ScufiKjjs. — I have froin time to time tra- 

 velled a good deal abroad. Recently, when at 

 Darmstadt, I noticed a very good ])lau of ivy for 

 screens, which was the growing of ivy ag.tinst wooden 

 uprights painted green, stuck iu lung, narrow, hut 

 deep woodcii boxes, also painted greeu. These boxes 

 could be easily moved about as reipiired, and a screi'n 

 some three j'ards or more iu height, as reijuiM-d, 

 could thus at ouce be produced. — C.^V. (I'au, 13:usses 

 Pyrenees, France). — Field. 



A Method oi- Wateking PLAs-rs i.v India. — At a 

 meeting of the committee ot the Agri-HorticiOtural 

 Society of Madaa?, Deputy-Surgeon-Gcneral .Tobn 

 Shortt, concerning watering iu India (on the Shi'va- 

 roy Hills) said : — " I also resort to the Gurmh mode 

 of watering plants, that is. the common water-pot 

 styled co(h'm on the JIadras side, having a small 

 month. It has a small hole knocked into the bottom, 

 and the pot is buried to a depth ot one-third its 

 size, as near to the stem of the phut as possible, 

 and it is kept constantly filled with water, which very 

 gradually oozes into the soil througli the minute 

 opening at the bottom, giving moisture to the roots 

 of the i)lauts without causing waste by spilling or 

 evaporation. I find this method a great success."— 

 Gardt net's' Chrotiicle. 



A\'oNDEKrui, Catekpillars.— A Demerara contempor- 

 ary says :— " A country correspondent has been good 

 enough to send us a bottle containing a number of 

 caterpillars, about G inches long and about a i|nartec 

 of an inch thick. They are round in the body, the 

 back being a glossy black, and the under side a 

 marled white with Vermillion spots ; the heiid is a 

 bright vermilliou. Our correspondent says: — "These 

 worms are destroying all the sweet cassava in Sisters 

 Village; they are so numerous that some of the 

 people cannot get into their beds to work or reap 

 their crop. Fields of cassava arc destroyed by them ; 

 they are also interfering with tlie coffee trees'. The 

 farmers in Good Intent, Sisters, and La Ketr.aito 

 have suffered much. It is something wondirful to 

 hear them feeding." It is to be hoped that Demerara 

 will send specimens of tliis scourge to the Colonial 

 and Indian Kxhibition. — Colvnics and India. 



Tea in Persia. — The Fiotner, commenting on the re- 

 export trade from Bombay to Persia, says: — "No 

 fewer than 933,000 lb. of Chinese tea were sent 

 from India to Persia, and only 40,000 lb. of Imlian 

 tea. We have often reminded our tea-planters of the 

 neglect of their own interests shown by them in 

 not cultivating the Asiatic market, but these figures 

 place that neglect in a strikiug light. India, which 

 affects to be a tea-producing country, actually scuds 

 to Persia 25 lb, of Chinese tea for every pound ot 

 Indian tea. This evidence of want of enterprise amoug 

 our tea-growers is perhaps the most discouraging 

 feature in the whole prospect of Indian industries.'' 

 These are hard words, but we are afr:iid they are 

 deserved. Why should not the Tea Symhcate exploit 

 Persia.— /«(/«<»! 'i'ta Gazette. [We learned in Java that 

 a good deal of the tea of that country is sent to 

 Persia.— Ku.] 



AViiEN TO Eat Feuit. — Fruits, to do their best work, 

 should be eaten either on an empty stomach or siniply 

 with bread— never wilh vegetables. In the morning. 

 before the fast of the night has been broken, they are 

 not only exceedingly refreshing, but they serve as a 

 natural stimulus to the digestive organs. And to 

 produce their fullest, finest eU'ect, tbey shouUI he 

 ripe, sound, and every way of good quality ; moreover, 

 they should be eateu raw. What is better than a 

 bunch of luscious Crape or a plate of berries or 

 Cherries on a summer morning, the first thing on 

 sitting down to breakfast ? Or a fine ripe Apple, 

 rich and juicy, eaten in the some way':* In our 

 climate Apples should conslitute not the finishing, 

 but the beginning of tlie mc.al, particularly the 

 breakfast, for at least four nioulbs in the year; and 

 fruits, raw or cooked, sh idd make a p.art of the 

 morning and evening meal (providetl suppers are eaten/ 

 dining the entire year. — Form and Jli inc. quote I i • 

 Oujiitheri' Ohronkk, 



