M iscellaneotis. 



164 



[Feb. 1908. 



Coconut Products. 



The year has been quite the best on 

 record, for though crops were generally 

 short", yet the high price of Copra in the 

 early part of the year more than com- 

 pensated owners for such shortage. On 

 27th of February, 1907, the price rose to 

 Rs. 80 per candy, which i" the highest 

 figure ever recorded for this article in 

 the annals of Ceylon History. The total 

 export of copra (347,970 cwts.) was about 

 76,000 cwts. short of the quantity sent 

 out in 1906 ; the coconuts in the shell 

 were less by 2i million nuts. Oil also 

 shows a falling off in shipment by 50,000 

 cwts. — 460,683 cwts. going out this year 

 against 511,720 in 1906, whilst Poonac, of 

 course, shows a similar decline. 



This falling off in crop is generally 

 considered to be due to the very dry 

 season of 1906, which seriously affected, 

 in many districts, the young nuts then 

 setting for maturity in 1907. Germany, 

 again this year, was our best customer 

 for copra, and took almost half of the 

 total export, and purchases by Belgium 

 come next, and show a heavy increase 

 over the business done in the previous 

 year. 



Shipments to the United Kingdom 

 dropped from twelve thousand to above 

 three thousand cwts. Nuts in the shell, 

 as in previous years, went chiefly to the 

 United Kingdom, ten out of thirteen 

 millions going there ; while the markets 

 for Yarn and Fibre remained much the 

 same as in 1906. Prices for the New 

 Year continue high, aud a good season 

 is anticipated, if normal weather con- 

 ditions prevail, as the rainfall during the 

 past year was sufficient and well dis- 

 tributed. 



Batticaloa was visited by a severe 

 cyclone at the beginning of March, with 

 disastrous results to some of the Coco- 

 nut plantations in the vicinity, where 

 thousands of trees were uprooted and 

 damage to the estimated amount of 

 Rs. 6,000,000 was done. 



The fallen trees represented a grave 

 menace to the whole district as affording 

 cover and breeding ground for beetles 

 and other pests. 



At first the Government refused to 

 make any grant from the revenue to 

 assist the sufferers in the destruction ol 

 such trees, but, in response to the strenu- 

 ous representations of the planters con- 

 cerned, cordially backed by your acting 

 M.L.C. (Mr. W- D. Gibbon), the sum of 

 Rs. 100,000 was ultimately voted for this 

 purpose. 



Insect Pests. 



^Through the courtesy of Mr. E. E. 

 Green your Committee report that no 



new or startling tea pests have attracted 

 special attention during the y^ar. 



Tortrix, though still somewhat trouble- 

 some in some of the upcountry districts, 

 has not assumed the serious condition 

 that prevailed in Maskeliya two years 

 ago. 



Shot-hole borer remains our most im- 

 portant tea pest. Mr. Tyler's scorching 

 method is a new departure in the treat- 

 ment of the borer, and gives promise of 

 good results. 



Tea mites are always more or less pre- 

 valent during the dry season, but are 

 readily amenable to the sulphur treat- 

 ment. 



There have been a few cases of defolia- 

 tion by ' Red Slug' and 'Nettle Grub,' 

 but not of a wide-spread or serious 

 character. 



Helopeltis has been rather more trouble- 

 some than usual in parts of the Kelani 

 Valley. 



The disastrous cyclone in the Batti- 

 caloa district has been followed by an 

 alarming increase in the numbers of the 

 red palm-weevil. Measures have been 

 taken to check further increase by new 

 regulations under the Pests Ordinance, 

 insisting upon the destruction of fallen 

 trees. 



Rubber still remains exempt from any 

 really dangerous insect pest. It is be- 

 lieved that the presence of the viscid 

 latex in the bark renders the plant prac- 

 tically immune to attack. — West Indian 

 Bulletin. 



CULTIVATION AND PREPARATION 

 OF JAMAICA GINGER. 

 By R. J. Miller, Jamaica. 



It is now between sixty and seventy 

 years since ginger was introduced to 

 Christiana in Jamaica. There are not 

 many parts of the island where it can be 

 grown, on account of its needs of a cool 

 climate and suitable soil conditions. 



The writer has ascertained by inquir- 

 ies from some of the oldest inhabitants 

 in the district that the root was first 

 brought to Christiana during the time 

 that Mr. Richard Jackson was the 

 attorney for Struau Castle estate, a 

 property near Christiana, between the 

 years 1835 and 1840- 



The experiment of growing ginger on 

 this property proved successful, and not 

 long after, some white immigrants, 

 chiefly from England and Ireland, settled 

 in the district for the purpose of culti- 

 vating the article. By careful handling 

 and attention, from the time of planting 

 till the cured article was ready for 

 export, they demonstrated the fact that 



