March i, 1886.] THE TROPICAL AGRJCULTURtST. 



643 



THE NEW UVA PEOVIXCE. 



COHEE — TKA — CACAO AND CINCHONA — THE 

 MONAKAli.U/A UISTKICT : ITS WANTS AND PROSPECTS. 



( h'n»ii Our Special Representathc. > 



loth February 188G. 

 I have never in the whole circle of the hill 

 country of Ceylon seen cinchona tieifls so satis- 

 factory in growth and appearance, so full of promise 

 and so pleasing every way to the eye as those 

 of the Messrs. Mactarlaiie on Cannavarella estate, 

 about 5,000 feet hiyh on the Nannuiakula range. 

 Old Cannavarella estate I have known since the 

 day when ■' Sandy Brown" engaged in my presence 

 Mr. .7. P. Koss ("long Boss") to go across from 

 Dumbara to that outof-the-way part of I'va to 

 take charge of his interests. I saw it tlrst over 

 twenty years ago,' and 1 spent a couple of days 

 on the place in 1,S72 ; it was a pleasure to me 

 to see the old place in such good hands as those 

 of the Messrs. Macfarlano, who. both in Maskeliya 

 and Uva, are known as staunch reliable colonists 

 and careful planters of the very best type. Some 

 of the old cotTee on Cannavarella — 40' years old 

 trees, 1 am atraid to say how many niches in 

 girth— are still very "tit" for crop; but certainly 

 the finest sight Mr. K. P. Macfarlane had to show 

 me was his hundred acres of cinchona, in age from 

 three up to seven years — planted in virgin forest- 

 land, in clearings of from '20 to 40 acres (chiefly 

 hybrid robustas), each field surrounded by jungle. 

 unbroken expanses of healthy, vigorous growth, not 

 excelled by anything I had seen even on " Lover's 

 Leap," and far more striking to the eye. because 

 on Cannavarella the cinchona fields are not interrupted 

 by blue-gums or any other vegetation. Lower down 

 on Oetumbe and Wayvelhena there are also line 

 cinchona clearings ; hut I should say that the 

 zone about or above 4,000 feet in Uva must be 

 perfection for cinchona. 



I have already alluded to the tine cacao fields 

 in the valley, and to the very promising tea clear- 

 ings on both Glen Alpine and Spring Valley. On 

 the latter property, if one has the patience for 

 a thl-ee-mile rule through the estate, or a climb 

 up steps so Bteep and prolonged as to remind one 

 of those of Malta (which Jiyron apostrophized as 

 "those cursed steps of stairs '), the reward will 

 be found in the evidence of a splendid growth of 

 tea at a high elevation, the bushes having stouter 

 stoms particularly, for their age than I have noticed 

 anywhere else in the country. The buhn.-ssand 

 promise of flush will be more evident by and bye, 

 the clearings bring still very young. " Tea-seed 

 planted at stake" seems to do exceptionally well 

 in Uva : in one case, a clearing so grown, pointed 

 out to me. rivalled one grown from plants put out 

 at the same time. Xaliavilln has a clearing of 

 tea on a Hat which was described to me as mar- 

 vellous in growth : bushes ."> and <i feet high in 

 less than two years. I think. Cannavarella has also 

 good tea. It was a real pleasure to look down 

 from the Cannavarella ridge on the splendid ex- 

 panse of luxuriant coffee visible on Nahavilla and 

 GowrakeUa. — nothing eoubl be liner. — and later on 

 to pass through .Mausagala, a place which was 

 being felled when I first saw it and which — 

 thinks very much to the successive good manage- 

 ment of Messrs. Crow and Deaker — has done 

 as well for its owner in crops as peihaps any 

 * TIV cut the houn'laries round from Spring A^alleyi 

 via WeywelheD.n, Gonrskrlle, Nahavilla. ,\-c . 1.'; years 

 ago. an<I «>• remember furveyor .John r.iaybrooke 

 Wc.sDw the ateep features of (^nnnavarelia. f.ittle did 

 we then drea"" '' ciiichoua or tea, or ca'no iu Uva. 

 — Ep. 



coffee plantations of its size in the country ami 

 which is still in good heart. 



On the left are the Passara group of estates, and 

 right in front is the " isolated Monaragala mount- 

 ain, " which, though 30 to 40 miles distant by the 

 riding path through the lowcountry, stands before 

 us in clear weather so plainly as lo enable each 

 l^ropcrty and clearing to be distinguished. This is . 

 not wonilerful, seeing that the view of the low- 

 country to the sea from Cannavarella is so good 

 that the Basses light is an object of nightly 

 observation, being very distinctly seen. Tlie out- 

 look in other respects from these lofty Badulla 

 ranges is extremely interesting ; one never tires o( 

 the morning mist filling up hollows, or spread like 

 a veil over the lowcountry or anon curling slowly 

 up the mountain sides, assuming the most fantast- 

 ic, forms. But the cloud effects of an evening 

 are .even more entrancing, and one picture remains 

 with me as " a thing of beauty and a joy for 

 ever," the westering sun over the Totapala range 

 lighting up a sea of cloud lying over Upper Us a and 

 making it appear as the translucent crystal floor of 

 Paradise. 



Of MosAiiAo.vi..\, and its nine or ten cultivated 

 estates, I have only the usual record of trying 

 pioneering difficulties to make. Ditticulties with 

 trarisport, absence of supplies, difficulties with 

 climate, the heat at the fool of the hillside some 700 

 feet above sea level being described as simply un- 

 eciualted in the experience of any planting district 

 in Ceylon. There have been two it not three 

 European victims already to climate— including the 

 much -regret ted E. P. Eastwood — and there is still 

 much suffering from fe\er. A regular supply of 

 good food would go far to enable plant- 

 ers and coolies to fight their enemy and as cultiv- 

 ation extends, no doubt the climate will be im- 

 proved. .\t )nesent out of .S.oOO acres in private 

 hands about 1,400 acres arc under cultivation, halt 

 under coffee, and the rest chiefly cacao and card- 

 amoms which promise exceedingly well. With a good 

 road to ^^'c■llawaya, a medical dispensary in the 

 heart of tlic district, and an improved bridle- 

 path to Ijunugala, there can be little doubt that the 

 prospects of Monaragala will improve considerably. 

 -Mready. there are tew districts in the island 

 which can show so satisfactory a growth of 

 so many products as Monaragala. The Arabian 

 coffee is as good as could be expected ; the Liherian 

 cofl'ee equal to any in the island ; the cacao is most 

 promising; cardatnoms bear heavily; now pepper 

 and arecafiuts are coming on nicely. I believe 

 cinchona gi'ows well on the upper i)art of the hill, 

 and " crotons " (the crotbn-oil trees) grow like 

 weeds. As regards tea, the growth leaves nothing 

 to be desired. A planter who put in a few 

 thousand plants in .Tanuary 18H5 last month found 

 them averaging about 3 feet. These plants are a 

 good hybrid, but sotne people think indigenous would 

 cio even better. However transport will have to be 

 much improved before Monaragala planters will care 

 to go in for tea on a large scale and there tnight 

 be some difficulty in getting the l''acfory work well 

 and carefully done owing to the climate. As regards 

 labour the planters never have had any difficulty 

 in getting coolies, and. except on one or two or estates 

 where water is bad, the coolies. 1 am told, do not 

 suffer so nuich as their masters froiu fever. Theelifnatc 

 however is undoubtedly a great di-awback .'is regards 

 Europeans, and, as I have said, we can only hope 

 that it will improve with time. It is well known 

 that the district was not well opened, and it is a 

 matter of surprise that the older estate- have come 

 en as well as they have done. Some of the best 

 cacao wab '•tUbblod in"— a great tribute to the 



