[May 1908. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



TROPICAL AGRICULTUCE IN 

 CEYLON AND INDIA. 



(Extracts from a Report by Mr. 

 H. Newport, Instructor in Tropi- 

 cal Agriculture Kamerunag.) 



It will be remembered that last year 

 Mr. H, Newport, on recovering from a 

 severe illness, was granted leave of 

 absence for three months to regain his 

 health by a visit to Ceylon and India. 

 During his absence Mr. Newport has 

 been busily engaged in inquiring into 

 the various phases of tropical agricul- 

 ture as they present themselves in the 

 countries mentioned. He writes : — 



In Ceylon, on my way to India, I called 

 on the Honourable Hugh Clifford, Chief 

 Secretary to the Government of Ceylon, 

 and had an interesting conversation 

 with him, chiefly in re labour for tro- 

 pical industries in tropical countries. 

 This gentleman kindly gave me a letter 

 of introduction to Dr. Willis, of Pera- 

 deniya Royal Botanic Gardens, Kandy, 

 and I accordingly proceeded to Kandy 

 by rail and by trap to Peradeniya. Dr. 

 Willis kindly gave me a good deal of his 

 time, and conducted us over the grounds, 

 especially the experimental portion of 

 the gardens, across the river, to which 

 ordinary visitors are not admitted. A 

 description of the Botanical Gardens, 

 magnificent and complete as they are, 

 would be out of place in this report ; the 

 experimental secton, however, was re- 

 plete with interest. Extensive experi- 

 ments were being conducted with many 

 tropical products, particularly in con- 

 nection with cocoa, rubber, coffee, coco- 

 nuts, &c. Especially noticeable were 

 the fine buildings in the Experimental 

 Station, including laboratory, experi- 

 ment rooms, drying rooms, large stores, 

 power house, and complete machinery 

 for the drying or preparation of pro- 

 ducts such as cocoa, coffee, rubber, &c; 

 for crushing and even distilling oils, 

 from heavy oils such as castor oil to vola- 

 tile oils such as citronella or lemon grass. 

 Records and museum specimens were in 

 the Director's office buildings. Similar 

 ample storage and drying rooms for tro- 

 pical products, especially in districts 

 with heavy rainfall, are very necessary 

 and requisite, though at present, in this 

 country, largely conspicuous by their 

 absence. Complete machinery also for 

 artificial drying with hot air and fans 

 etc., as well as for preparation in 

 marketable quantities, is a great desi- 

 derata, and would be invaluable in this 



country for purposes ot complete and 

 practical demonstration in encouraging 

 the establishment of tropic tl indust ries, 

 With regard to unichinery for rubber, 

 I am reporting especially and separately. 



In these experiment plots, which in 

 themselves must cover well over 100 

 acres, especial attention is paid to mat- 

 ters of culture as well as numerous 

 methods of harvesting the products. 



In Southern India I was fortunate in 

 being able to meet Sir Frederick Nichol- 

 son, I.C.S., K C.M.G., the greatest author- 

 ity on agriculture in the Civil Service 

 of India, who gave me a great deal of 

 time and a fund of information on cul- 

 tural matters. 



On the Shevaroy Hills, in the Presi- 

 dency of Madras, I also met Mr. A. G. 

 Nicholson, one of the most successful 

 planters ot Southern India, and the 

 first to undertake the! cultivation of 

 rubber on a practical scale. Mr. A. G. 

 Nicholson very kindly showed me over 

 several of his estates, especially that of 

 "Hawthorn," from which his Para, 

 rubber biscuit obtained a first-prize gold 

 medal at the recent Rubber Exhibition 

 in Ceylon. 



In Madras I carried a letter of intro- 

 duction to the Hon. J, N. Atkinson, l.C 3„ 

 and was introduced by him to the Direc- 

 tor of Agriculture and also to the Di- 

 rector of the Horticultural Society's 

 Gardens. Over these latter magnificent 

 gardens I was thus enabled to see, under 

 the most favourable circumstances, and 

 found the rubber experiments most in- 

 teresting, especially in connection with 

 the giant creepers-species of Landol- 

 phia. 



To arrange to go over rubber planta- 

 tions in Ceylon, and to see the inner 

 workings of factories, &c, is no very 

 easy matter, and correspondence in an 

 effort to obtain this privilege took 

 some time. 



Returning from India to Ceylon, how- 

 ever, I interviewed the manager of 

 Messrs. Walker Sons and Compauy, 

 agricultural implement and machinery 

 manufacturers of Colombo, Ceylon. 

 This gentleman was most courteous and 

 kind, affording me considerable infor- 

 mation regarding rubber-tapping and 

 other implements, and introducing me to 

 Mr. Michie, the firm's engineer. Mr. 

 Michie is the inventor and patentee of 

 numerous machines, appliauces, and im- 

 plements, and is himself interested in 

 rubber culture. He took me over 31essra. 



