March i, i»86.] THE TROPICAL AGkrCOLTURIST. 



655 



advue, prefeiTing to work out liis own idea. Had 

 every man acted as honourably, we would not 

 now be hearing so much of infringement'!. Hovf 

 this battle of the rival machines rages ! Even in 

 these far-away regions the din of the fray has 

 reached us. 



The really splendid field of two-years-old tea, 

 within a stone's throw of the store, will attract 

 your attention, and a walk through it will beget 

 a confidence in the future of Madulsinia, such as 

 did not exist, even when coffee was at its best. 

 The other fields of young tea on this estate all 

 show a healthy and vigorous grovv'.h, betokening 

 that soil and climate are exactly to their liking. 

 The clearings here are amongst the most exten- 

 sive in the district, and the extraordinary pro- j 

 gress made by the young plants indicates that 1 

 plucking and manufacture will be the order 

 of the day at no distant date. What a strange ! 

 lomment it is on the perversity and blinduess 

 of human nature, that on this, the very spot 

 where the old Dame wrote the doom of coffee 

 on its own leaf, in what now seem to us such 

 clearly detined characters, it should have taken 

 us nearly twenty years to gather the import of 

 her words of wisdom ; but late though the re- 

 sponse to her warning cry has been, it must re- 

 joice her heart to behold these flourishing fields 

 of lea as the result. 



The next estate on your route is Vereilapattina, 

 and hero you will miss the kindly welcome and 

 warm hand-shake of dear old Ciarioch, who has 

 just left us. Good luck to him ! This is now the 

 property ef Mr. Channing Esdaile, whose is a safe 

 lead to follow, judging from his past connection 

 with our district. Vereilapattina should make a 

 tine tea garden, the lay of land being beautifully 

 easy, and the soil generally of that deep ochreous 

 colour, in which the shrub revels. There are some 

 .HO acres planted this season, part of which is under 

 the shade of coffee and cinchona. My own experi- 

 ence of such planting is, that, from six months 

 old and onward, the plants compare very unfavour- 

 ably with those planted in land which has been 

 cleared of all other products to make way for them. 

 A short walk along the boundary of Vereilapattina 

 towards Dagenham and Bolivia will enable you to 

 gather some idea of the extensive scale on which the 

 enterprizing proprietor of these estates is planting tea. 

 May all his undertakings end in complete success. 



Von will have to hurry on now as you must reach 

 Hanii>ha before the shades of evening fall. The first 

 few miles of your way will be over ground already 

 traversed, until Auckland is reached, where you 

 will see one of the finest fields of cinchona in the 

 district, and which yields, year after year, large 

 harvests of renewed bark, without any ajiparent 

 effect on the health of the tites. Some of the 

 cardamoms planted under the forest shade are 

 very good. 



Nidhanagalla is a proioising young clearing ex- 

 tending to W) acres, tlio whole of which is planted 

 with the most valuable kinds of cinchona. 



I do not think it is necessary for me to describe 

 your route any further, as you are now in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Mr. (rodfiey Power, who will take 

 charge of you, show you all round his own pro- 

 perties, and those of which he has charge; tell 

 you all about his new products, both here and 

 on Monaragala, a great deal better than I could 

 possibly do, and finally will send you on your way 

 rejoicing, while his hearty laugh will keep ringing 

 in your cars for days after. 



I mu.st now conclude. I had no idea the out- 

 line of your route would have taken so much 

 scribbling. My only fear now is, that you will con- 



tent yourself with the delusion that you know the 

 district well enough fi'om the very imperfect and 

 hurried sketch of it which I have given you, but 

 no two people ever see a thing in the same light, 

 and I therefore beg of your that even if you can 

 find no stronger aigiiment for ycur iiroi)oscil trip 

 than that of anld actiuaintance, do come and see 

 us tor the sake of "auld lang syne." " Auf Wieder- 

 sehen." — I remain, your loving cousin, 



IcH DiEN. 

 P.S, — At the last moment I find that Yapanie 

 estate has through inadvertence been omitted from 

 your route. You will however see a good deal of 

 it on your way from the cart-road to Mahadova 

 bungalow, and i^iould you wish to see more, you 

 can take it on your return journey staying there 

 for the night instead of at Hanipha as already 

 suggested. I understand something has been done 

 in the way of tea-planting during the rainy reason 

 now drawing to a close, but I have no idea of the 

 extent of the clearings. Clifton, Daysbrook and 

 Melrose you will get a good view of from the high 

 way when driving' fr<ini I'assara to Lunugala on 

 your way to the district. 



UVA AND NUWABA ELIYA. 

 (From Our Special Correspondent.) 



GIANT CINCHONA AND CACAO TUBES— EXPtROIENTAI. 

 BOTANICAL GAIIDEN OPENED AT ISAOIILLA — KOUUR 

 ELEPHANT AND CHEETAHS REAOV 1 OH SPOUTSMEN NEAK 

 HAKOALA OAUDENS. 



Who has, and where is, the biggest Cincho.va tree 

 at this moment in Ceylon ? In order to start the 

 enquiry I have got the measurements of the big tree 

 in Cannaverella as follows : — 



Feet. 



" Height . . 



Circumference of stem 6 inches 



above ground . . . . 4 fi 



Circumference of stem 3 feet 



above ground . . . . 4 



The tree is not a high one, but has a splendid bole 

 as you will see from the measurement. It is a sueci- 

 rubra growing in poor soil." Who can beat this ? * 

 Some of the largest cinchonas ever grown in Cey- 

 lon, I think, were on the New tialway estates, as 

 sections sent by Mr. Cotton to the Olmenvr Office, 

 and still used as footstools under some of the 

 editorial tables, testify. These were grown from 

 some of the first plants issued from Hakgala Gardens, 

 but tlic stems were cut down a good many years ago, 

 and I rather think the largest section of stem, under 

 my table, exceeds the 4* feet circumference of Mr. 

 Macfarlane's. The latter too must be an older tree. 

 But without going back, it will be of interest to 

 learn whether there is a larger standing tree at this 

 time in New (ialway, or elsewhere, than the Canna- 

 verella " giant." I do not know if Abbotsford 

 has a rival, i but will be able to judge a few days 

 hence. 



I sunpose some of the largest Cacao trees in the 

 island are also to be found in Uvn, on Keenakelte 

 estate iieai the buiigalow, and if the moiisuronient 



• Mr. U. It. UraJy i.i his recent p&|>er on ti e Java 

 cincboim plantations writes; — " At Iicmlang is a Magiii- 

 ficeiil example of C. suctin'hru about 30 years old 

 said to be tlu; finest cinchona in the Knst Indies. As 

 nearly us I could judge it was about (iO feet liigh ami 

 the trunk 1S< inches in <lianieter .it S feet from the 

 gro'md." The circinoferciipe at i feet high, th'reforc, is 

 6 inches ahead of the T'va trae. Hut the ,fava tree 

 is probably tt-n ye.irs older. — Ko. 



t Nothing approaching it. The oldest trees are not 

 more tiiau a dozen years old and the biggest were 

 cut down or "died out," — Kn. 



