5 1 8 Coco-nuts The Consols of the East 



up a little and allow the roots to find their own 

 water. 



" It would be interesting to hear of results 

 of a few experiments, and also to have the 

 views of some of the veteran planters of the 

 Eastern Province on the subject." 



With regard to the cost, I can only give 

 particulars of this in connection with experi- 

 mental work with rubber, &c., as follows. It 

 will, however, be quite easy and inexpensive 

 for coco-nut and other planters to carry out 

 experiments and work out the cost on their 

 own account, so as to ascertain all the pros and 

 cons, including the cost, of " Farming with 

 Dynamite." 



On the Morakelle Estate, in the Kelani 

 Valley, Ceylon, a field of three-year-old rubber 

 adjoining the railway having been selected as 

 most suitable for the experiments, holes were 

 drilled to a depth of 2 ft. 9 in., and single 

 charges of dynamite inserted at distances of 

 20 ft. X 10 ft. No earth was thrown up by 

 the explosion, but the soil was cracked and 

 loosened within a radius of 5 to 6 ft. of each 

 hole, and on one of the holes being subse- 

 quently opened, a considerable cavity was 

 found where the charge had been inserted. 



Another experiment carried out, also in 

 Ceylon, to test the relative cost of cultivation 

 carried on by means of dynamite compared 

 with coolie labour, resulted in favour of the 

 explosive, which was estimated to cost on the 



