THE 



TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST 



AND 



MAGAZINE OF THE 



CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Vor,. XXXIV. 



COLOMBO, MARCH 15th, 1910, 



No. 3. 



A JOURNEY AROUND THE 

 WORLD. I. 



We returned February 17th from a 

 year's holiday, spent in journeying 

 around the world, and a few impressions 

 collected during that time may be of 

 interest. 



We spent the first five weeks in Venice, 

 Padua, and Verona, where there was 

 little of agricultural interest to be noted, 

 beyond the enhanced price of all produce 

 in Venice, owing to the fact that it 

 has to be brought in from considerable 

 distances. 



Proceeding to Lake Garda, we found 

 the reverse the case : prices were ex- 

 tremely low, owing apparently to the 

 fact that the railway does not yet touch 

 the upper parts of the lake, though it 

 reaches the two extremities. Pood was 

 remarkably cheap in Gardone. 



Prom here right along through the 

 Alps, the noteworthy feature was the 

 enormous use made of water power. 

 The whole country was intersected by 

 electric tramways, and electric light was 

 common in the smallest village. People 

 who have only seen the electric car in 

 Colombo, or in a level English town, do 

 not realise the capabilities of such cars. 

 We travelled from Innsbruck up to the 

 Stubai-Thal along a road as steep as 

 that from Nanuoya to Nuwara Eliya, at 

 a speed as great as that of the up- 



country trains, and for an absurdly low 

 fare. In Seattle or in San Francisco 

 electric cars may be seen climbing 

 streets as steep and as long as the 

 upper hill between Nuwara Eliya and 

 Hakgala. The car is placed on " Second 

 speed" to do it. 



Proceeding northwards through Tyrol, 

 the great agricultural feature of interest 

 is the co-operative wine-growers ' asso- 

 ciations, by aid of which the peasant is 

 able to keep his feet against the big 

 capitalist. For many years we have 

 preached this doctrine in Ceylon, but it 

 is slow to produce effect. 



Staying for some time in Innsbruck, 

 which was preparing for the centenary 

 of Andreas Hofer, our host, who is the 

 great chamois hunter of that part of the 

 Alps, took me on an expedition up 

 among the snows, in the course of which 

 we came upon a herd of eight chamois. 

 On this expedition, at one of the huts, I 

 was given some " tea " in compliment to 

 my nationality. About a tablespoonful 

 of Ceylon tea was put into an in f user, 

 and waved about in a large basinful of 

 warm (not boiling) water for a minute 

 or two. The faintly coloured liquid was 

 then ready ! 



Passing through Bavaria, and southern 

 Germany generally, we noticed large 

 State forests, an institution which is 

 badly needed in England and other 

 countries. The United States have been 



