JUME I, 1886,] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



■^53 



Icxlen and several other buii'jalow heights in this 

 district, the most cheering and cliarninig views of 

 our Western sea-coast imaginable. Over an 

 almost unbroken sea of forest — much of it in 

 reality, cultivated trees, palms, <tc. — the blue water 

 line, or in the monsoon season, the line of 

 reefbreakers (white horses galloping inwards) 

 is readily marked and every passing stoftmir 

 and other vessel can be noted. From some 

 points, notably Torwood, the forest is broken by 

 stretches of paddy fields; — pictures of living green 

 framed in the sombre forest. 



One can understand from these heights how 

 Kalutnra planters regard the common talk of 

 their district being hot and unhealthy -because 

 in the low-country, as so nuich nonsense. Hot 

 it can be undoubtedly, especially on rocky land 

 and enclosed Hats towards the afternoon, when the 

 sun has done his worst. But unhealthy never. The 

 pure unadulterated sea-breeze comes far inland across 

 the Kalutara district : the river not far off creates 

 a current of pure air and he.alth is maintained 

 among Europeans.as well perhaps as in most districts 

 in the country. Mr. Kniglit with .his '22 years of 

 good health is ample evidence and among the tea- 

 planters there are men who have been 5 and G 

 years opening clearings and planting and who have 

 scarcely known fever or ache. This is not the 

 uniform rule of course ; but Kalutara can certainly 

 claim to be a healthy part for the planter. The 

 great point is to get the major portion and tlie 

 real hard out-door work done in the early morn- 

 ing and forenoon as much as possible. 



Beyond Kogart, lies Polgahakande, a tine block 

 of 2ir> acres belonging to Messrs. Wight and 

 I'airweather of which 160 acres ai-e under tea. 

 Clontarf is a young promising clearing in the 

 same neighbourhood and not far off is the es- 

 tablished garden of Heatherley with 200 acres of 

 fine tea nnder the care of Mr. Algie who also 

 looks after Mr. Hadden's Hattaugalla, south of 

 CuUoden. Away to the Eastward is also Arabe- 

 tenne under the care of Mr. Cochar (as well as 

 Bogart and Torwood) and in this neighbourhood 

 is situated a good deal of the 500 acres of forest- 

 land purchased by tlic son of the wellkhown and 

 wealthy " Johanis Peries Ks(j.'' of Colombo. A part 

 01 this is said to have just been sold to the 

 Messrs. Slrachan at a rate which has not trans- 

 pired. We were son^ to have no time to go and sec 

 Arapolakande estate belonging to the Ceylon Co. Limi- 

 ted, ^aid to have over 200 acres of as fine tea as any 

 in the district, but which has this year suffered 

 from an ill-limed pruning. Cruric and Ulendon 

 (formerly l-'crriu uish) in the same neighbourhood 

 have good tea, and the purchasers of the latter, 

 the Messrs. Booth, are well pleased enough to 

 meditate c.-ctending their investments. Travelling 

 from Culloden to Kalutara, on foot or horseback for the 

 first few miles, one sees something of Becherton, St. 

 Andrew's and Ensalwatte properties with promising 

 tea, especially on the flats, while farther back lie I'ul- 

 larton and Kaluganga estates. Altogether the .^,000 

 acies opened out of 11,000 acres in private hands in the 

 Kalutara district, afford good promise of satisfactory 

 returns to the owners. It is, of course, the day 

 of small things so far, iu respect of the outturn of 

 crop, most of the clearings being under age ; 

 but, while the older Kelani Valley plantations (of 

 ll.OdO acres out of a total of 1!),000) are giving 

 crops this year estimated at 1 million lb., we 

 suppose the outtnrn for Kalutara district will not 

 be much under 250,000 lb. 



Talking of these two young tea districts, it is 

 evident there is a good deal of rivalry, or at any 

 rate an exchange of a plentiful amount of criticism 

 aod banter between them. One story current ( 



as to the decided opinions expressed to a iiew 

 arrival seeking for information, on the merits of the 

 two districts by two V. .\.'s, the one pronouncing 

 very decidedly for Kalutara, the other as much 

 so, for Kelaniya. The enquirer was puzzled until 

 he found that each owned property in the district 

 he backed up ; but surely that went to shew 

 that each had given lire best proof of his 

 faith in his Own opinion. At tlie same time the 

 Kalutara patriots point to the fact that men of 

 experience in the Kelaniya Valley are fond of 

 coming down and investing iu the Kalutara dis- 

 trict and they point to Mr. Kuthcrford and still 

 more to Messrs. Wright, Pairweather, and Dawson in 

 support of this view. The greatest doubt perhaps 

 i-i about the comparative values of the soils, and per- 

 haps, it would be decided by impartial autliority 

 that taking the district as a whole the Kelani 

 Valley has the superior soil, although there ai-e 

 selections in Kalutara equal to anything in its 

 rival. As for climate there is not much to choose : 

 both must have an abnnilancu of rain and heat. 

 But in two other important miitters, tlie palm 

 nuist in our opinion decidedly lie with Kalutai-a. 

 namely in abundance and cheapness of labour, 

 and in cheap transport facilities. Enough has 

 been said about the advantage of Sinhalese 

 labour, and what Jlr. Knight has done should 

 be counted equal to lUO an acre by Kalutara 

 pureliasers ! But in regard to transport facilities, 

 there are few districts so well-served by roads 

 canals and rivers iis that of Kalutara. There are 

 a few miles of connecting road remaining to he 

 cut and then the road system will be almost 

 perfect both for Europeans and natives. But apart 

 from this under the auspices of Mr. Morison 

 of Culloden, an old Dutch Canal is being cleared 

 out leading from the Kaluganga right into 

 the heart of the principal group of estates 

 — the authorities giving KIOOO against a simi- 

 lar amount raised in the district — and when 

 this work is done, pada boats will take away the 

 Kalutara tea at a total cost of 20 cents per 100 lb 

 c!)est between the estates and Colombo, and if the 

 Railway authorities work for the same rate with a boat 

 of their own to their terminus, this district getting 

 its tea to Colombo wharf at about R5 per ton, will 

 certainly be the best off' of any in the island. 



So much for the present. We have said that 

 there are between 11,000 and 12,000 acres already 

 taken up by private proprietors for planting pur- 

 poses in the Kalutara district. But we are 

 credibly informed that the total area of land 

 suitable for tea and which would easily find 

 purchasers, cannot be less than .50,000 acres 

 situated between the Kaluganga and Bentota 

 river. The prospect of expansion is therefore very 

 considerable, until possibly Kalutara becomes one of 

 the mobt important tea-planting divisions of the 

 island. Meantime for any one with three or four 

 days to spare we can recommend no more pleas- 

 ant trip or way of seeing the country than the 

 route we adopted- -to liatnapura by coach, dcvn 

 the river to Augurantota (or Putupaulakande), in- 

 land to Gekeeuaka .do and Culloden and tiienco 

 after seehig the principal estates on loot or horse- 

 back, to the end of the cart road on which a 

 drive of xveii or eight miles carries the visitor 

 back to Kalutaia railway terminus. We found the 

 agriculturists very busy witli their pad ly fields as 

 we travelled eeastwards, and we were struck on this 

 journey, as on several others of late years, with the 

 way in which the Moormen (IradcTs) are lilling up 

 the houses not only in the coast towns, but on 

 the roadsides (or considerable distances inland. 

 Do they chicHy live by preying— as moneylenders (ind 

 universal traders — on llie .Sinhalese ? 



