65s 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIS:^. IMasch i, 1886'. 



'ore me — for you must take time by the fore- 

 lock, and making an early start from Maha- 

 dova bungalow you should go as far as the north- 

 ern boundary of the estate, and have a peep into 

 Kudadova, where what was in former days a fine 

 field of coffee, is now being crowded out of exist- 

 ence, by a vigorous growth of cinchona. Return- 

 ing by way of the bridle-path in the direction of 

 the tennis-court near the Amanadova boundary, 

 your attention will be attracted by the luxuriant 

 appearance of a belt of cinchona officinalis, skirting 

 the jungle which forms the top boundary of the 

 estate. This is one of those exceptional fields, in 

 which ofticinalis has been an umiualified success, 

 vacancies being few and far between, and the growth 

 regular and good. The first harvesting operations 

 carried out in this clearing, yielded n return of 

 SOO lb. of dry bark per acre, at three years old, 

 and the following year 500 lb. an acre v/eve ob- 

 tained, the crop of the two years realizing some- 

 thing over a shilling per lb. Mahadova can still 

 bnast of some good coffee, but I fancy it is bound 

 to disappear either under the juggernaut wheels of 

 cinchona, or the cheerful smiles of tea. An experi- 

 mental patch near the little bungalow, and extend- 

 ing to some thirteen acres has just been planted 

 with Assam indigenous. Seeing all that is likely 

 to prove of interest to you on Mahodova, will not 

 occupy more than an hour of your time, so that 

 you should reach Amanadova boundary, before 8 

 o'clock. From this point half-an hour's ride should 

 bring you to the other extremity of this property. 

 A 25 acres cloaring of newly planted' tea near the 

 top boundary will not fail to catch your eye. This 

 was formerly under cinchona officinalis which was 

 uprooted at live years old to make room for tea. 

 It yielded a croji of 1,000 1b. per acre of dry bark, 

 which fetched a good price. Leaving the road here 

 and crossing through the narrow belt of jungle to 

 your left, will bring you within view of another 

 of the Madulsima Company's estates, Cabriabokka. 

 The beautifully even cover and robust appearance 

 of the young trtes on this estate, furnish con- 

 vincing proof of the fallacy of tlie olt-cxpresscd 

 opinion, that recently formed cinchona plant- 

 ations are not so successful as of old. An ana- 

 lysis of the bark from the parents of these young 

 trees revealed the existence of quinine sulphate to 

 the extent of from 7 to !1 per cent, and the several 

 analyses of bark taken from the progeny, indic- 

 ate a proportionate richness of alkaloids. Ee- 

 mounting your horse, a few minutes' ride through 

 Anamally, on which there is nothing deserving of 

 special mention, will bring you into a 50 acres field 

 of fine healthy looking coffee, which forms part of 

 Vercllepattanic. Arrived at a little Eoraan Catholic 

 Khrlne, always decked with fresh flowers, proceed by 

 the road which branches olT to the iight, and you 

 iri!', tiiid yourpult traversing the tea dearinys oil 

 t'vn'icllit). Heic Vol! vvill find thut the fc'fowtb dyei- 

 hot co'iipftie vcij lavounibly with the lea in 

 liOtte'' *Ic'(uI»imai whicli fact luaV be in some 

 measure dUe to the cihchona shade, under which 

 they are growing. A O'.msidSrable impetus to grolvth 

 bas, however, been observKd *ithiii the past few 

 months, and it is not at all improbable that though 

 the growth of Uvakellie tea has been somewhat 

 slow, in its infancy, the matured bush may be 

 Bsi hue as any in the district. You will see some 

 ilirtfc tra on (liis estate on the way to the Forest 

 Hill .'.^■lp ivliich point you should reach about !l 

 o'clock. Wending your way downwards through 

 h'orest Hill you will see the finest field of collce 

 in the district, with perhaps the exception of 

 Doomoo which is rcsei\ed fur your return journey, 

 i'aseing above the district hospital (about tp be 



abandoned in favour of a more suitable building 

 to be erected somewhere near Lunugala), you had 

 better put spurs to your horse for there is nothing 

 more worth looking at until you reach the bound- 

 ary of Wewebedde estate, where what was known 

 as the young coffee field — from which the late 

 proprietor vainly expected so much — is now all 

 planted with tea. A small patch in front of the 

 bungalow promises well; and away towards the 

 lower extremity of the estate, where the land 

 si)reads out in the form of a " terai " you will 

 detect the ancient boundaries of the now-vanished 

 " wewa," or lake, from which this property derives 

 its name. You will obtain another good gUmpse 

 of lowcountry scenery from the Tavalampalassa 

 gap, and in a few minutes more you will approach 

 the confines of Dorapotha, and Quedjeley, now both 

 abandoned, but still retaining mterest from their 

 being the scene of Mrs. Edwards' weird story, " The 

 Mystery of the Pezazi." The steep patana ridge 

 between these two. is traversed by a long toilsome 

 flight of steps, hollowed out by the weary feet of 

 countless generations of credulous followers of 

 Buddha in their vain endeavours to work out their 

 own salvation. 



A few minute's more tripping and stumbling 

 along this rough bridle-path will bring you into Coca- 

 galla, the original proprietor of which was either Sir 

 John Lawrence or his brother Henry, of loved and 

 revered memory. Whatever the coffee on Cocagalla 

 may have been or done in times past, it is now in the 

 sere and yellow leaf, but the great success which has 

 attended the introduction and cultivation of cin- 

 chona here, leaves no room for regret that coffee 

 has given way before it. On your way down to- 

 wards the bungalow, you will pass through what, 

 a year ago, was a dense forest of succirubra trees, 

 which had so often undergone the (barbarous !) 

 operation of shaving, that it was deemed advisable 

 to coppice them. The result has been highly satis- 

 factory both in point of yield, and in subsequent 

 growth of suckers from the coppices left in the 

 ground. After breakfasting w^ith Adolphus (affection- 

 ately contracted to Dolly), you will be shown round 

 the famous clearing of cinchona Ledger, and if its 

 appearance does not excite your admiration, the 

 statistics of returns obtained from it certainly will. 

 The clearing is small, being only seven acres in 

 extent, and looks like a wedge hammered into the 

 centre of an immense field of officinalis. The trees 

 were raised from seed supplied by Moens of Java, 

 the two ounces yielding nearly 35,000 plants, 

 almost all of which were planted here. At 2.J years 

 old, a careful recount was made, which showed a 



j total of 2'.I,H5() heiillhy, well-developed trees. At 

 the same lime branch bark was harvested, and 



I yielded at the rate of over 350 lb. per acre, with 

 an analysis of 1-75 of quinine sulphate. Six months 

 later on, analysis of the stem bark indicated the 



I existence of tJic chief ailisloid to the extent o( 

 o'lJO per cent, and when the trees were 3^ years 

 old: sulphate of quinine had increasid to 6'40 pel' 



, cent; A system of thinning out trees of .seemingly 



j inferior type has been vigorously ptlrsued. and this, 

 Up to date, has resulted in a yield of dry bark 



I equal to over 3,000 lb. per acre, exclusive of trifjs; 



' tilt average price obtained being solnething over 



I 2s per lb. These fifjures speak for themsehes, but, 

 nevertheless, it seems to be pretty generally ad- 

 mitted that licdger is very uncertain and short- 

 lived ; even the trees reserved as being the most 

 true to type, in the clearing referred to, do not 

 inspire one with a feeling of confidence. Far differ- 

 ent is it in the case of the vast area of officinalis 

 and hybrid trees, young and old, which will burst 

 ujiuu your Size, »& you rouud the corner and enter 



