November 12, 1874. ] 



JOUENAL OF HOBTIOUT-ICIEE AND COXTAGB GAEDENEE. 



423 



having facilities afforded for finding employment for surplus 

 labour without losing it altogether during the intervals between 

 the crops of both cultivations. 



If Malabar labour be not forthcoming, Chinese can, doubt- 

 less, be obtained if a careful system of emigration be carried 

 out, and emigrants bo introduced from the pure agricultural 

 districts of China, and not drawn from the lowest strata of 

 the cities of that empire. 



In the " Food Journal " of November, 1872, it is stated that 

 Tea has been already produced in Ceylon of so excellent a 

 quality as to be pronounced worth 3s. per pound on the 

 spot. 



The present Governor of Ceylon (The Eight Hon. W. H. 

 Gregory), in his Bpeech to the Legislative Council, quoted in 

 the " Food Journal" of December, 1872, takes, it would ap- 

 pear, a very favourable view of the prospects of Ceylon as a 

 Tea-producing country. The right hon. gentleman with truth 

 considers that it will be an important adjunct to Coffee, as it 

 will enable the planter to find continuous work for his labourers 

 (the great desideratum), and will bring into cultivation large 

 tracts of land which are generally considered to be too high 

 for Coffee. In a few years we may reasonably count upon an 

 export of some quantity of good Tea from Ceylon, and which, 

 probably, like the Tea from Continental India, will reach the 

 consumer comparatively pure and unadulterated. It is well 

 known that much of the Chinese Tea is largely adulterated 

 before it leaves China, passing, as it does, through so many 

 native hands prior to its shipment for Europe. 



When in Ceylon I understood that in 1778, when the Dutch 

 possessed the maritime portion of the island, a Tea plant was 

 discovered in the Margam Patoo of the southern province. 

 Its leaves were ordered to be dried and duly prepared by Mr. 

 Angelbeck, the then (Dutch) Collector of the province, and 

 sold under the name of Badegiri Tea on account of the Dutch 

 Government, at the rate of 6s. the pound. A note is now 

 before me from General Walker, no mean botanist, who was 

 for some years in Ceylon (he died in India in command of a 

 division there), forwarding to me some leaves of the said Tea ; 

 but a plant can no more be known by its mere leaves than a 

 man by his coat. As, however, its cultivation was not ex- 

 tended, it is to be presumed that the after-importation of Tea 

 from China, at a comparatively low rate as to cost, operated 

 prejudicially to any attempt to grow it as an article of local 

 consumption or of export. 



In the report of the Director (Dr. Thwaites) of the Royal 

 Botanic Gardens in Ceylon for the current year, it is stated 

 that the cultivation of the Assam hybrid variety of Tea is 

 getting rapidly into favour, and but for the comparatively 

 small number of plants and seeds procurable in the island, 

 added to the difficulty of obtaining from India really good 

 seeds for germinating, Tea cultivation would advance more ex- 

 peditiously here. There cannot be the least doubt, however, 

 that these difficulties will not long operate as a check, the 

 climate of the island being so admirably adapted for Tea- 

 growing. The Assam hybrid variety grows equally well at 

 Peradeniya and at Hakgala, and the plantations in both places 

 are being considerably added to, in order that we may be pre- 

 pared by-and-by to issue fresh seeds in large quantity. Of 

 the ordinary Bohea Tea of China good supplies at a very mode- 

 rate charge are obtainable from both gardens. Dr. Thwaites 

 strongly recommends trials being made of this hardy plant on 

 abandoned Coffee estates rather than that weeds should be 

 allowed to take possession of the laud. There can hardly be 

 a doubt that the expense of such a step would be more than 

 repaid if Tea is one day to become, as it most probably will, 

 one of the most important staple products of the island. 



EiCE. — The cultivation is gradually extending under the 

 judicious system introduced by the Island Government, and 

 energetically carried out by its local agents, in reference to the 

 repair of some of the ancient tanks and the construction of 

 new irrigation works, and in the eastern province, especially, the 

 results have been in the highest degree satisfactory, and there 

 is reason to hope that the large sum hitherto annually paid by 

 Ceylon to Continental India for grain supplies will ere long 

 be very considerably reduced and finally extinguished, and the 

 next phase in the career of Ceylon may find her an exporter 

 of grain. By the restoration of ancient tanks, and by addi- 

 tional reservoirs for storing water being constructed, which 

 the modern appliances of science render of comparatively 

 easy formation, such a result may be arrived at, at no very re- 

 mote period. 



The supply of water would also be invaluable to the health 



of both the inhabitants and their cattle. At present it is 

 notorious that in those districts of Ceylon where the old tanks 

 are situated, and where additional dams, &a., are required, 

 the water is very unwholesome, and most inimical to the 

 health of both man and beast. In works of irrigation the 

 executive have the native with them most thoroughly, and that 

 is half the battle, especially in a tropical country. He knows 

 full well the inestimable advantage of having a command of 

 that element in reference to his agricultural operations. All 

 that is wanted is the loan of capital and European overlooking 

 to insure success, and Government, as is the cass at present, 

 is far more than recouping itself by the enhanced value of 

 the raw material (the land) and the taxation on its pro- 

 duce, while a hvely sense of favours conferred is felt by the 

 governed, and contentment under EngUsh rule is materially 

 strengthened. 



In the report of the Irrigation Committee of the Legislative 

 Council it is stated that the Blue-book returns show that the 

 annual production of Paddy (unhusked Rice) is about seven 

 millions of bushels. The average yield is as nearly as possible 

 sevenfold, and that according to ancient inscriptions at Polo- 

 neura (one of the ancient cities of Ceylon, and situated in a 

 now most deserted part of the island), the yield of Rice laud 

 in Ceylon in the twelfth century was seventeen and a half- fold. 

 The difference between the present and former yield is there- 

 fore ten and a half millions of bushels, equal to five millions 

 of bushels of Rice, or one million bushels more than the 

 yearly import of that grain. The question naturally arises 

 whether by means of irrigation, supplemented by better seed 

 and improved processes, the former yield of the soil may be to 

 a great extent recovered, and thus enable Ceylon to reduce her 

 dependance on foreign supplies to a minimum. The yield in 

 Madras and Bengal is twenty to thirtyfold, in Burmah forty to 

 fiftyfold, and in the latter case entirely without manure. The 

 Committee were further of opinion that great as would be the 

 benefit conferred on agriculture by an improved system of 

 irrigation, a part only of its good results would be experienced 

 unless a change of seed be resorted to and maintained. The 

 rotation of seed could be easily carried out, and its effects 

 would be BO manifest, and in such a short time, that there 

 should be no difficulty in inducing its adoption by the natives. 

 The Committee do not share in the opinion held by many 

 persons, that the natives of Ceylon, in common with other 

 orientals, are opposed to change in their agricultural operations, 

 and that it would be in vain to endeavour to introduce amongst 

 them any improvements in the cultivation of Rice. Judging 

 from what has been done in the cultivation of other Ceylon 

 produce, as well as from what has taken place among the 

 ryots of Continental India, this opinion appears to be errone- 

 ous. In a paper on the food resources of Ceylon, published in 

 the "Food Journal" of June 1871, I alluded to a legislative 

 enactment which I had the privilege, as a Government Mem- 

 ber of the Legislative Council, to assist in framing, and having 

 for its aim the renewal and enforcement of the ancient customs 

 regulating the irrigation and cultivation of Rice lands. The 

 machinery of this law has been since extended and otherwise 

 improved in those particulars which, in its practical working, 

 were shown to be required, and has thereby given a great and 

 steady impetus to the cultivation of Rice.* — E. Eawdon 

 Power, Ceylon Civil Service (Retired], 'Tenby, South Wales. 



NOVELTIES IN THE BOYAL GABDENS, KEW. 

 Beownea cocciNEA is flowering in house No. 1, and, it is 

 needless to say, is very ornamental. It should be seen from 

 beneath, as the fascicles of flowers hang down. Young plants 

 do not flower freely, and thus we account for its not being 

 more generally grown as a stove plant. Old plants when fully 

 in bloom are very handsome, and are well worth the necessary 

 amount of space. The soil should consist of loam and peat, 

 with a moderate amount of river sand ; the first may pre- 

 dominate it free and open. When growing a free supply of 

 moisture to the air is beneficial. Seeds are very often dead 

 when received from abroad in the ordinary way, but if packed 

 in moss or soil very slightly damp they are sure to arrive in 

 good condition. Cuttings are rooted with little difficulty, 

 selecting small shoots not quite ripe. It is a native of Vene- 

 zuela. This is the freest-blooming of the genus. B. grandiceps 



♦ iDgredienta in 1 lb. of Kioe :— Water, 2 J ozs. ; glaten, loz.; atfljoh' 

 II8-IO0Z8. ; sngar, 1-16 oz. ; gnm, l-Soz. ; fat or oiJ, ^ oz.; woody fibre' 

 i oz. ; asbes, 1-16 oz. Carbon in 1 ib. of tbe above substaucoa, 6 ozs. 



