CEYLON COCOA ESTATE 51 



sex and name of infant, etc., etc. It is quite 

 right that it should be so, considering that 

 coolies are foreign emigrants, isolated from their 

 own friends, and very much at the mercy of their 

 employers. Their existence should be safely 

 guarded in every possible way by the State. 



To-day I saw in the tool store a delightful 

 implement of husbandry, which I wish we had 

 in our English gardens. It is called a trans- 

 planter and is used for transplanting young tea, 

 coffee, and cocoa plants. It is difficult to 

 describe, but I will try to do so. Imagine, 

 then, an iron cylinder about three inches in 

 diameter, and fifteen inches long ; a light iron 

 rod bent square at the top is attached to each 

 side of the cylinder thus forming a handle. 

 When a plant has to be moved it is first heavily 

 watered, then the cylinder is put over it and 

 driven into the ground its entire length, With a 

 hoist of the hand the plant is uprooted and 

 raised with a ball of earth attached. Then 

 comes the second part of the process. When 

 the young plant has been taken to its destina- 

 tion, it is forced out by the lower end of its iron 

 receptacle being placed over a wooden block 

 which exactly fits it. As this fills the cylinder 

 the plant and its ball of earth are forced out 

 without any of the roots being injured. How 

 useful a small transplanter would be in a 

 kitchen garden, to move lettuce, and cabbage 



