502 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [January i, 1886. 



produce of the year at 8 annas a pound, 150 rupees 

 ought to be realised to March ]Ss5. 

 The allotment \\as in — 



18S2-83 K500 



188a-84 „ 500 



1S84-S5 , 3CK) 



18S5-N0 200 (proposed) 



For 1885-86 I only propose to keep one gardener, 

 and I propose to limit the expenditure to 200 rupees. 

 This woulil give tiic receipts as 150 rupees on an 

 expenditure of 1,500 rupees, or say ruugldy 10 per 

 cent. In 188(i-87 a far larger yield might he looked 

 for, and the gardens shoula be not only self-supporting, 

 but should give a surplus over the expenditure for 

 that year. I do hope that the gardens will be kept 

 up till April 1S8C, and then Government will be fairly 

 able to form an opinion whether the experiment has 

 been a practical success or not. Of course in an under- 

 taking of this sort I had at first no practical ex- 

 perience. I\Iy first idea was that deep shade was 

 necessary, and that the soil was, comparatively speak- 

 ing, a secondary consideration. The first place I fixed 

 upon was Dodaung. This had been frequently worked 

 as taungya, and consequently large shady trees were 

 only to be found here and there. This led to the work 

 being scattered over a large area. By the second and 

 third year from the undergrowth being cleared away, 

 &c., the trees had sprung up considerably, and more 

 shade was obtained and more trees fit for planting. 

 But still the vines only flourished in certain places, 

 and that was in places were there was the best soil. 

 Ciiven good soil, shade seems to be an unimportant 

 factor. In Malabar alluvial soil is said to be the best. 

 As I have already said, I think the Malabar method 

 is likely to be the most successful. 



Cuttings of Ei-ythrina Ini/ica (Penli Kathct) are put 

 down 14 feet apart in tie dry weather, and by .Tune 

 next are ready for the pepper vine plants or cuttings. 

 They are all planted in straight lines, and a plant- 

 ation is easily watched and inspected. In four years 

 the vines begin to fruit and last for 25 years in the 

 case of cuttings; 40 in the case of seedlings. One 

 of each is usually planted at the foot of each tree. 

 This method of cultivation is somewhat similar to 

 that adopted by the jieople for the betel vine, so 

 that they will be more likely to take it up. Tliere 

 is no diihculty attached to the cultivation of the pepper 

 vine. Cattle will not touch it nor even goats. In a 

 healthy state, the vine has few enemies. I have only 

 found two— snails and a long thin brown caterpillar- 

 like grub, with a horny head. Will the people take 

 it upy I think they will; already it is being tried by 

 them in different villages on a small scale, but not on 

 any systematic plan. I am inducing people to visit 

 the Government Plantations, and see for themselves. 

 People are beginning to talk about it, and from what 

 I can hear, a good many attempts will be made next 

 rains. As regards Dodaung I have not gone into cal- 

 culatians, nor mentioned the precentage of deaths, 

 and number of plants put down, simply because a 

 great many were planted under conditions which, as 

 we now know, were hopeless. Further, a good dtal of 

 ground, viz., about 43 acres, has been thrown out. In 

 March 1884 there were in four blocks of Dodaung (105 

 acres) 3,70!) plants alive, of which only 52 were over 

 two feet high, and 400 of these were ilestroyed by fire 

 in May. During the rains of 1884, 1,700 plants were 

 put down in the reduced acreage of 63 acres, and now 

 there are 3,030 plants alive, of which 23(i are over two 

 feet high ((i2 of them are over 4 feet high). I have 

 also j)Ut down c'uttings of Ki i/thriiia Jndica, of which 

 1(X) are alive, and will be planted with vines in .June 

 1885, and before the end of Ai)ril, I hope to have another 

 hundred down. 



IvVAVN<i-D-UNi;. 



In March 1884 there were 430 plants alive in this 

 nmall plantation of 3 acres; 2.50 plants were put down 

 in the rains of 1881; and in February 1885, 580 were 

 alive, sliowing a percentage of deaths of cuttings 

 amounting to 33 per cent as against 3G per cent last 

 year. No record of the height of these trees was made in 

 March 1884 ; but in February 1885, out of a total of 



580, over2S9 were more than four feet, and 103 other" 

 between one and four feet high. Here the soil is re- 

 markably good ; more trees are springing up fit for 

 planting, and ne.xt year probably 150 more plants can 

 be put down, bringing up the total to 730 trees, which 

 gives about 243 vines to the acre— rather more than 

 the number per acre on the Malabar method of planting. 

 Suppo.sing all these vines in fruit, and allowing 1 lb. 

 a tree, these three acres would give a production of 

 730 lb. of pepper, worth at least 365 rupees for three 

 acres, or an average of say 120 rupees i)ei acre. 

 No comparison exists between this and the produc- 

 tion of ijaddy, cither as regards labor or profits. To 

 any one, who can afford to wait and work uj> his 

 ground, fruit trees can be used for growing the pepper 

 vine with just as much success as any other tree, and 

 with the double result of fruit from the tree and the vine. 

 An easier or more paying cultivation does not exist. 

 I think Kyaung-daung may be considered a thorough 

 success. It is not as if the fruiting of the vine were 

 doubtful ; that is an ascertained fact. From some trees 

 in Sandoway 5 to 7 lb. of pepper are gathered an- 

 nually. I have done my best in travelling about the 

 district to explain the advantages, method of culture, 

 ic. As I have already noted, its euUivaticn is here 

 and there being attempted. On the arrival of the 

 Thugyis with the laud Revenue rolls. I took the whole 

 of them to visit the gardens and explained tlie principal 

 points. A number of the inhabitants of .Sandoway 

 have also visited the spot. 



Sandowny, with its network of creeks from Saudo- 

 way to Mai, wants nothing but a valuable production 

 of this sort to bring it forward from its present back- 

 ward position. Boat or canoe transport would cheaply 

 bring the pepper to any central point at very little 

 cost, and we might then hope to see a little more 

 trade in the district. If Government should feel in- 

 clined to sell or lease Kyanng-daung now that the 

 vines are well established there, I think there would 

 be plenty of applicants. I should then simply continue 

 the experiment on the best part of Dodaung, at the 

 same time testing the Malabar method of planting 

 in straight lines on cuttings of the Erytlirina JmUca. 

 — Induin ji(jyicidtii^M. 



The Indian Cohal Tkep;. — The enquiry instituted 

 by the Department of llevenue Settlement and Agri- 

 culture, last month, regariliug the alleged influence 

 of the lOrythrina Indica (Dadap or Indian coral tree) 

 in producing leaf disease when planted for shade 

 among coffee trees has, according to Mr. AV. Wilson, 

 the Director of the Department, elicited replies from 

 several gentlemen well (jualified by their practical 

 knowledge to si>eak with authority on the subject to 

 the effect that there has not been observed in 

 Southern India any connection between the presence 

 of Erythrina trees and the production of leaf disease, 

 but that on the contrary the effect of planting 

 F>ythrina has been distinctly beneficial, not hurtful 

 to the coffee trees which it is planted to shade. 

 The replies given are in complete accord on the point. 

 —Madriii Mail. 



EsPAKTO IN Trxis. — Reports from Tunis state that 

 the Esparto-grass trade is now carried on there on 

 a large scale, and large tracts of Esparto-producing 

 fields have been bought by speculators. The Anglo- 

 French Esparto Fibre Company are developing 

 their trade at Abouhedma, and a tramway is now- 

 being laid ilown by the same to carry the Esparto 

 fibre to the coast, But export duty is very heavy on 

 this article, and competition by Tripoli and Algeria, 

 where Esparto pays no export duty, is telling much 

 on the trade. This trade is said to be amongst the 

 very foremost resources of the Lousa district. " Through 

 good and bad, dry or rainy years, there is always 

 a crop of it. The Arabs fall back on it chiefly in 

 times of scarcity, when successive years have brought 

 them deficient crops. But the duty on this article, 

 especially at Lousa, is so heavy as to deter the Arabs 

 from ]ndling ami bringing it to the market, except 

 when they feel the pinch of poverty."— G'nrrftnfi-s' 

 Chronicle, 



