o4^f 



tBE TROPICAI, AGRICULTURIST. [AIarch i, iM 



frcenesB and goodness of the soil. There is a lot 

 of very fine forest still available in private handf, 

 and of Cro'.yn jungle too, a great extent. The 

 tollowinij notes from a planter interested in the 

 district were made some months ago : — 



Aii.UiLiN Cofiile, looking well, about 10,000 bushels 

 crop this year. 



LiBBRiAN CofKEE.— A fine coTCr on -yirigaUa (\shich 

 is also planted up with cacao) and bearing well'. 



Cauhamums.— These do very well and the clearing on 

 Walton is giving a very good crop. They are all, I 

 think, of the Malabar sort, and some sold in" London in 

 November 1885 fetched Is .'id to '2s Hd per lb. 



Cac'Ao, 1 consider the most promising product. The 

 :i and 1 year old fields on Sirigalhi and Maragalla 

 leave nothing to be desired, and the yoving clearings on 

 Mouerakellie are A 1, while the old trees on Raxawa 

 are splendid specimens. The Forastero sorts are 

 now being planted to some extent and wc cayie 

 across a 2* year old tree with 30 fine pods, while an 

 old tree on Kumaradola had given about 120 in the 

 year. , Shade — iak, rubber, dadap.aud. crotou — is heine 



put iu. , ^ -' - ■ ■ ; '. ■ .. '■, 



Uelvi'iUif has done very little damage so far, and 

 with the deep soil and good rainfall— about '.tO in.— 

 I do not think it will. Aic<-(ui are planted all round 

 the clearings on Monerakellie and are coming on well, 

 while a few iieinin- riiies put ni have made a 

 start and we are going to plant a number this year 

 at the base of jaks and forest trees and are going to 

 give them a trial on the large boulders which are so 

 abundant. A few ni'tmcgs have also been put out on 

 Siri^alla. 



The recent ' sale of Monaragala cocoa reported 

 by Mr. Mason is most encouraging, and although 

 tea grows so well I think the Monaragala 

 planters should continue for some time yet to 

 give their attention to cacao and cardamoms.' " Oh 

 (or a railway within rvn," the pioneers in 

 this distant division may well cfy. Planters on 

 the Kandy side have been accustomed to regard 

 the Kamunakula estates as the iiltiiwi Thiilc of 

 Tva, and it is difficult for them to understand 

 that there are plantations and districts .SO to 

 •10 r.'iiles beyond, farther out in the new province. 

 I have been much struck with the evidences of 

 an abundant labour supply during the present 

 visit and also with the good relations existing 

 between employers and employed. As Mr. 

 Macfarlane told me on Cannavarella, such a thing 

 as robberies of bungalows or outhouses, so com- 

 mon in the liimbula, Dikoya, Maskeliya and Kandy 

 districts, are almost unknown on this side, and 

 planters take little or no trouble about locks 

 and keys for their residences. 



A^ OTHER NEGLECTED LNJUUSTBV. 

 i'r. E. Ronavia writes to the I'ioiiccr; — 

 In the Pioneer of Uiird November, 18S5, page '>. I 

 read Unit in IhnI.mu, out of total ijuantily of ()!)3,17<i 

 luiiii of wheat exported from India, Italy took 17,!Ki<') 

 IpUb. In IMija.H;), out of 7;-57,'."-'0 tons, she took 

 y.gOO lotia, In IHHS.KJI, yut of 1.0l7.M'i4 tcus, she 

 took •J-2,'>in lon.% and in lNHi.fj,j, out of 7y2,71I 

 kuis, she looV H5,015 tons, so that tlio exports of 

 .(ndian wheats to Italy have nearly doubled in four 

 jbai>: Tliero can haruly be a \loubt that the 

 Italians ha.-t; found the hard Indian wheats — rich 

 Ih gluten —eminently suitbd to the manufacture of 

 mucatOui and other Italian pastes, .lust observe 

 how lu'.T wt- In India obiaiu our nmcaroni an 

 Brtiifle of diet which is much prized by all who 

 havp eaten it, but which is now used only like 

 "bonboiiR,'' on account of its prohibitive price. 

 'Che Indian wheats first go to Italy, and some of 

 (hem. either In Naples or Genoa, arc then ground, 

 sifted, and mairafactutcd iuto macaroni. Then the;- 

 tft ;])iffej s^ mucaruui tu £u;;Iaiid uud TruDce. 



boxed in tins or wrapped in small paper parcels, 

 and sent back to us as tins or packets of macaroni. 

 The result of the Indian ■ wheat's travels to -the 

 seaports, its voyage across the seaa, its perambul- 

 ation in Europe passing through three or four hands, 

 and its return journey to India is ,that vye^jiet 

 tinned macaroni — Fabbrioa l>e Rarbieri — nervi — ex- 

 pressly "ptepBredr for Crosse and Blaokwell at 7i?/iw 

 a ^Ib tin. That is the price I paid for it the other 

 day in the shops. Other English firms also send 

 us tinned macaroni at eijually absurd prices. That 

 which comes from Erance is made up in long blue 

 paper packets, and bears the label of "Groult Jne, 

 Paris — Macaroni gras de Naples." The latter, 1 

 think, is the best, but, if I mistake not, also the 

 dearest. Last year I bought a tin of macaroni of 

 another firm, also at an absurd price, and, in boiling 

 the paste turned black. The difference between the 

 superior and inferior kinds of Italian paste is that 

 the more you boil the former the whiter they be- 

 come,' while the; latter turn darker -,the more they.,: 

 are cooked, probably in the same way that brow» - 

 bread turns dark by baking. No one will probably, 

 deny that the Italians, rich and poor, live largely 

 on macaroni : tlierefore the inference is that this 

 article of diet can be manufactured and retailed 

 at a eomparativeJy loie price, probably at a , few _ 

 pence per pound, while we are forced in pay for 

 the imported article one nqicc j'er ih. The new in- 

 dustry which I now suggest is a macaroni factory, 

 which would work up our macaroni wheats iwi tlm 

 sj)ot ivliere flieij are ffroirn. either in Oiidh or iu- 

 the Punjab. The advantages are obvious. The 

 carriage to the sea-ports, the voyage to Europe.- 

 the perambulation over Europe, and probably the 

 cost of tin boxes and the return journey to the- 

 Indian shops with other expenses would be saved, 

 and tor the dear labour of Italy would be sub-, 

 stiluted the cheap labour of India. In addition : 

 the bran — a very nutritious cattle food — would ' 

 remain in the country. Then we might hope to get ' 

 our nuicaroni at about 1 annas or less per ijound. At 

 present a dish of macaroni is a luxury that only 

 the rich can afford. If this article could be pro- 

 duced cheaply in India, all the European troops 

 might be able to have it two or three times a week, 

 insfead of their monotonous and perpetual meat 

 diet, winter and suumicr. All the Aug o-Indian and 

 Eurasian population and the Christian population of 

 South India would use it. and probably, if Maho- 

 medau workmen were employed in the factories, " 

 the whole Mahomedan population of India would 

 also eventually use it in the same way that many 

 of them now use European fashioned bread i ihuiHc 

 rati, as they call it J made by Mahomedan bakers. 

 It will thus be seen that the probable held of 

 consumption is not at all small, if this article could 

 be produced in India at a low price. There ini{jhl, 

 pei'lmps, be room for more than one factory. 



This is not all. MacoronI and other Italian pastea, 

 II properly dried, v. ill keep u lon^' time, and if 

 ijUliiciently cheap would, no doubt, soon become an 

 article of war provisions. Kor imuiodiate use it 

 does not appear that tin cases are necessary for 

 macaroni. That imiiorted from Paris is simply. 

 wra)iped in thick blue paper. I kept macaroni in 

 these papers all throuyli last rains without their 

 in the least spoiliii'-'. No doubt the Indian [laper 

 mills would be able to manufacture a cheap thick 

 suitable wrapping paper. With macaroni might be 

 associated the maini!acturc of "semolina," which 

 is only a superior sort of " soojee " — an article 

 higlily nutritious; and suitable not only for making 

 superior bread, but also as an article of war pro- 

 visions for Ihe thickfuiug of ;ioups and brotht., and 

 {or luakiu^ casuii brcud' riusHy. iu tbe i^iiwe 



