fH£ TKOPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [March i, ms. 



Near View of Cinchona Succirueba. — The large 

 leavsG C. suciiruhra, hero so faithfully represented, 

 T\-BS, like the other species, growing luxuriantly on 

 the tip oF "Knock Ferrol," in November lHlf>, 

 but this larger anil more robust form ha<l not run 

 to flower and seed at about 3J years old as the 

 more ])reeociouB smaller species had done, Before 

 the splendid looking grove of cinchonas on this 

 hill had commenced to "die off" from canker and 

 the trees were cut down tor the harvesting of the 

 hark, it is no exaggeration to say that, besides the 

 large quantities of seeds gathered, some millions 

 of self sown seedlings were produced and either 

 utilized on the estate or sold. There was a sale to 

 one planter of three quarters ot a million seedlings. 

 Much seed was also sold from the older trees on 

 other parts ot the estats, so that from livst to last 

 Cinchonas, the culture of which was furtnuately 

 taken u^t at a very early period, gave far better 

 returns than cofi'ee did. Tea was Jalso adopted 

 as a subsidiary cultivation at an early period of 

 the estate's existence, plants being put down, 

 amongst other places on the top of " Knock 

 Ferrol." As the cinchonas disappeared the tea 

 bushes took their place, and there are now line 

 fields of tea where ten to five years ago groves 

 of cinchonas flourished, here as well as on inany 

 other portions of the plantation. ' 



Nkah Vif.w or Cixchon'a Officixalis in Flowkr 

 AN'n Sekp. — The late Mr. Mclvor of the Nilgiri 

 Cinchona plantations, the real founder of the 

 culture of the fever plants in India, was 

 enthusiastic in his admiration of this picture, whicli 

 was taken on the summit of " Ivnock Ferrol" at an 

 altitude of .5,200 feet, on a day when the air was 

 perfectly (piiescenl. Tlie result is that even without 

 the aid of a magnifying glass, nearly all, even the most 

 minute botanical characteristics of the C. offlchinlix 

 bushes in the foreground can be pretty well identified. 

 The little lakelet on the top of the hill, (what, in 

 the north of England would, I suppose, be called a 

 turn,) was the result of rain water collected in a 

 depression on the summit. This depression bears 

 some resemblance to the crater of an extinct volcano, 

 only that the boulders on the shelving sides are 

 composed of stratified gneiss. Similar pools, before 

 the British planter invaded the Kandyan forests, 

 were favourite resorts of the elephant, deer and 

 buffalo. The reflected figures in the perfectly still 

 and transparent water are so much more distinct 

 than the originals, that the picture is frequently 

 inverted by puzzled beholders. 



The " Old BrNO.iLow " and Gakden. — This bunga- 

 low was run up rapidly from unseasoned timber 

 Bawn on the ground, in 1872. It was built on a 

 site near the south end of the estate, conveniently 

 near the coffee store and 4,800 feet above sea-level. 

 Its life was eight years, not bad considering the 

 circumstances, and even then it was only the posts 

 <n the ground which decayed, — doors windows, &«., 

 being utilised for the " New Bungalow." As will 

 be observed, the ornttinental plants put down in 

 iSTi-li, had beyun lo show in November 197S, 

 jinS by the tinio the site had to bB abandoned in 

 1880. there was a danae grove of Eucalyirtc. Aca- 

 cias, Knos. Auracarias, Palms, Bambus, tVc. youic 

 of the blue gutiia (hj.tcalijptu^ [iloluluA planted in 

 1874 are in 1886 upwards of 100 feet high, whilg 

 krceu of Orevilka robiista though not so tall, 

 ohcw noble stems. If tea, whichjis rapidly supersed- 

 ing coffee on this estate of ot',1 acres and over 2 miles 

 ill length, becomes, as is sanguinely hoped, a decided 

 perm n^nt success, another bungalow will probably 

 be built o.: tills beautiful site for the second division 

 of the OBtate. When the original building wasererted, 

 jilthougb tout yti&K had elapsed since the coffee leaf 



fungus, IJemileia vastatri.i- had appeared, the pre- 

 diction by the late Dr. G. H. K. Thwaitea that it 

 would prove fatal to what was than ovei'whelmingly 

 the staple product of the colony, was regarded with 

 incredulity by the vast majority of experienced 

 planters. But the naturalist judged only too truly 

 of the disastrous effect of the pest, new not only to 

 coffee planters but to scientists. The spores enter- 

 ing the stomata of the leaves and the mycelium 

 sucking the life blood from the cells, coffee became 

 more and more enfeebled, from the process of 

 elaborating successive crops of leaves only to be- 

 come the prey of the fungus, until fine shows 

 of sweet-odoured, jasraine-hke blossoms either 

 gave no fruit, or only berries most of which 

 dropped prematurely. From .300 acres of c»fi'ee 

 planted on this estate only a few normal crops 

 were obtained, the returns latterly from fine look 

 ing bushes, being not sufficient to repay up, 

 keep, an experience, unhappily, only too general- 

 on young as well as old estates. But for the ad- 

 vent of the fatal fungus, however, there was abund- 

 ant evidence that coffee, planted from 4,G00 to 

 .'i,000 feet would have here done well. Happily 

 for the proprietor, he resolved from the first not to 

 have " all his eggs in one basket," and, the|principles 

 on which he directed the estate to be planted were : — 

 Coft'ee up to 5,000 feet. 

 Tea from 0,000, to r,,r)0O feet. 

 C'inchoua officinalis from "),.J0O to 0,000 feet. 

 Cinchonas, of both species and tea bushes were 

 also, from the first planted along paths and drains, 

 and cinchonas interspersed with the coffee. By the 

 time the new bungalow, at the northern end of 

 the estate, and .'>,800 feet above sea level (just 

 1,000 feet more elevated than the " old bungalow ") 

 was occupied, it had become fully apparent that 

 coffee was doomed ; that cinchona bark had become 

 literally a drug in the market, and that hopes of 

 retrieval and prosperity depended on the expanses of 

 tea around the new bungalow. These began to yield, 

 in 1878 and onwards, after a fashion that encouraged 

 extensions on a large scale : indeed the prospect is 

 that two years hence, the whole cultivated ground, 

 except a few patches of exceptionally fine coffee and 

 cinchonas, will be planted with tea. Of course it is 

 impossible to predict what providential dispens- 

 ation may lie in the future, but as yet, one of the 

 great encouragements to the extension of the tea 

 enterprise in Ceylon, has been the comparative ex- 

 emption of the plant here, from the formidable attacks 

 of liflopclli'i, redsjiider and other " blights " so pre- 

 valent and soinjurious on many Indian plantations. 

 Thk Fir>sr SeHoor.-HousE. — This building, (to the 

 left) was erected shortly after the completion of the 

 bungalow, a glimpse of the front of which appears 

 over the knoll to the right. It is over this schoolhouse 

 now superseded by one near the new bungalow, that 

 eucalypti rise to a height of 100 feet and more. The 

 coffee in the foreground was. when the photograph 

 was tnken, about '■^^ years old and iiitcrepcrbed ur<; 

 i cinchona a tul tea bushes, a year .voungor. Some of 

 I tils tea bushcri are now noble teed -bearcrb aiidclotie 

 by it) an EnglJjli oak, whicli. after a good many years 

 of bushy growth, was pruned and is now a verV 

 ! beautiful and promising Ueeof about U feet high. It 

 seems to hau' latterly get rid of its teiideiicy to de-- 

 ciduoUbiK bt,. .\ ihesnut, which grew close by. «•»;> 

 ' rooted out by the coolies as an undesirable " jungle 

 I tree." The superintendent and his wife have always 

 1 taken A deep interest in the school, which 

 for several years now has been conducted by an ac- 

 '• complished and enthusiastic Tamil teacher, " Apolloo 

 Pallid." {ioveninient give pranls-in-aid to estate 

 I schools, but the conditions as lo attendance, A-e., 

 limit those grants to small sums. The benefits to 



