76 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



investigations in connection with which were 

 commenced in 1897. He, with Mr Green 

 worked out a method of treatment of the disease, 

 and that drew public att rition to the fact that 

 something could be done to tackle diseases. Mi- 

 Green was added to the permanent staff, and 

 Mr Canuthers was asked to come out as Mycolo- 

 gist for certain estates, the estates paying half 

 ard the Planters' Association payiug Mie other 

 half, and he worked at the cocoa canker pure 

 and simple. Shortly afterwards he was taken 

 on to the permanent staff of the Department. 



The next thing necessary to complete the 

 scientific equipment was a chemist, and Mr 

 Kelway Bauiber came out. He is not a ''birth- 

 day-book" official, but is paid by feds for what 

 he does, and is able to accept private engage- 

 ments as well. That practically completes the 

 scientific staff, and there is also an Assistant 

 Chemist. This staff was provided by 1900. 



In 1901, Dr. Willis began to agitate to get an 

 experiment station started, where propor agri- 

 cultural experiments could be carried out, and 

 in 1902 Government bought Gangaruwa. 

 Mr Herbert Wright was the firbt Superin- 

 tendent, then Mr Mee, and now Mr Holmes. 



In 1903, Dr Willis realised that the North 

 Country was ultimately going to be one of the 

 great centres of agriculture in Ceylon, and he 

 got the Government to agree to open an experi- 

 ment station there, also. This is at Maha Illup- 

 palama, 22 miles from Anuradhapura, and is 

 under irrigation. There was endless difficulty 

 for many years, with labour, the peculiarities 

 of the climate, and one thing and another, but 

 now it is seems success is in sight, and 

 Dr. Willis thinks that in another five or six years 

 there will be a good deal of planting in what has 

 hitherto been practically a desert. Coconuts 

 are doiug wonderfully well, aud there is good 

 reason to hope that tobacco and cotton may be 

 fairly successfully cultivated. Ceara rubber is 

 certainly doing well, but Para makes little, if 

 any, progress. There is a very good soil, and, 

 with cultivation, planting is very successful. 



As Dr Willis says, " What people have to 

 realise all over Ceylon is that you have to culti- 

 vate. People expect that if they just stick 

 things in and leave them they will grow, but 

 that is not so. In other tropical couutries 

 where labour is not so plentiful they cultivate 

 properly." 



This gives in outline, very briefly, what Dr. 

 Willis has done during the 15 years in which he 

 has been here. His views, both interesting and 

 valuable, will be found below, in an interview 

 which one of our representatives had with him 

 recently. 



The Agricultural Future. 



Dr. Willis holds a very optimistic view with 

 regard to the future of Ceylon. 



" i think," he said, " that Ceylon is in for a 

 very fairly prosperous time. Tea is paying very 

 decently, coconuts are doing very well, and 

 rubber is giving very large profits. Coconuts, 

 it is true, are being planted up all over the 

 saitb, but at the same time, no amount of extra 

 planting seems to send the price down. It is 

 bound to go down some day, but there is no 

 sign of it at present," 



Rubber. 



" It is said that rubber trees are being over- 

 tapped." 



" I have no facts to go upon with reference to 

 over-tapping, but I have seen tree s which lam 

 sure are over-tapped. Their yield is all right now, 

 but I am sure they will not go on in the same 

 way. At the same time, I have no facts to back 

 up my opinion. The way they cut away the bark, 

 however, gives me that impression, and I am 

 pretty sure they are not allowing enough for re- 

 newal. Now that the system of cutting only a 

 quarter, or a third of the bark is coming in, it is 

 much better, but in many places they have been 

 tapping nearly all round the tree. When that is 

 done, it is all right at the time, but it is doubt- 

 ful whether, when you have tapped away all the 

 old bark, it will have renewed enough to let you 

 start again." 



Dr. Willis holds a very hopeful view of the 

 future yield of latex of Ceylon trees, for he told 

 our representative that 



"As far as soil and climate is concerned, my 

 general impression is that rubber in Ceylon does 

 not do very well for the first six or seven years, 

 but after that it does very much better. There 

 is no doubt that the Malay States can beat us 

 for six or seven, possibly ten years, but I am 

 quite convinced that, after ten years, Ceylon rub- 

 ber grows as well as any." , 



"That is a hopeful view." 



"¥es. With the high price of rubber, natu- 

 rally it pays to have the yield coming in when 

 the trees are young, but I am pretty sure that 

 after abort ten years the trees will begin to 

 catch up with those in the Malay States. How 

 long they will take to catch up, of course, I can- 

 not say." 



Tea. 



Talking of tea, Dr. Willis said he thought tea 

 was in a fairly prosperous coudition, as prices 

 were good. "I don't see any reason to suppose 

 that tea won't go on paying," he said. "Tea is 

 paying at the sort of average rate of any tro- 

 pical product, and, when it is at that, it is not 

 likely to be overdone, and the price spoilt. 

 People don't seem clearly to understand that. 

 They seem to think that rubber is going to pay 

 fortunes for the next century or two, but it isn't 

 going to do anything of the kind. It will go 

 down to the average as tea has done." 



The Question of Rubber Prices. 



" Although they're making 2s. on the lb. now," 

 exclaimed the Doctor, "they'll thank their 

 stars if they're making 6d., in a very short time, 

 say five or six years. I don't suppose the price 

 will go much below its present figure for the 

 next six months or a year, but you never can 

 tell. Nobody can explain the course of the rub- 

 ber market. What the rubber market wants, 

 the thing of all things, is that rubber should go 

 to a steady price and stay there. So long as it 

 is going to bump up and down, they will never 

 make a prosperous industry out of rubber. The 

 amount it will go to will be determined by the 

 ordinary laws of political economy, cost of pro- 

 duction aud amouut , but the figure it will settle 

 at will be about 2s., may be2s.3d.,or 2s. 6d, some- 

 where between 2s, and 3s. is perhaps the safest 

 thing to say," 



