and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society. 



303 



equal and that they are both equal to 5 and 

 5J year trees in Ceylon. On account of the 

 .soil and the absence of droughts the yield in 

 Java (especially) and the Straits should, this 

 gentle man thinks, exceed that of Ceylon or 

 South India." 



From this statement he would seem to infer 

 that Ceylon and South India are on a par as re- 

 gards growth, which we in Southern India are 

 not prepared to admit. We consider our growth 

 to be very fine indeed, in proof of which we have 

 the following measurements taken hy Managers 

 of some ten estates in Travancoro and Cochin : — 

 6 years. 4 years. 3 years 2 years, 

 32 19-04 12-10 8-62 



These are the averages of the returns sent in. 

 I do not suppose they have taken their worst 

 trees, but the fact that we have such trees, I 

 think, is proof that we have growth that is 

 second to none. 



The biggest measurements sent in, although 

 only of individual trees, are worth mentioning, 

 and are as follows : — 



6 years. 4 years. 3 years. 2 years. 

 i)3-75 23-25 19'5j 12-50 



These are all Para rubber. I have received 

 measurements of four year old Castilloa as 32 

 inches and two year old Ceara at 27-4. I may 

 mention that the four year old Castilloa has been 

 tapped and I have with me samples of biscuits 

 as well as Para biscuits from both low and high 

 elevation rubber. I have also some photo- 

 graphs which are interesting. I have also 

 received a record of the tapping of 7 Para 

 trees 12 to 15 years old which during the last 

 3 months have given a yield of 28 lb. of dry rub- 

 ber, an average of 4 lb. each. 



I do not think there is any doubt about the 

 yielding powers of our rubber, as our tine soil 

 which has already shown its effect in the matter 

 of growth must also tell on the outturn of rub- 

 ber and healthy and rapid renewal of bark. 



Mr. Windle — confirmed generally Mr. Rich- 

 ardson's statement. — M. Mail, Aug. 19. 



TROPICAL AGRICULTURE: CEYLON 

 AND INDIA. 



[Extracts from a Report by Mr. H. Newport, 

 Instructor in Tropical Agriculture, Kamerunga.] 



It will be remembered that last year Mr. H 

 Newport, on recovering from a serious 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 agriculture 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 inter- 

 esting conversation with him, chiefly in re labour 

 for tropical industries. This gentleman kindly 

 gave me a letter of introduction to Dr. Willis, 

 of Peradeniya 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 com- 



plete as they are, would be out of place in this 

 report ; the experimental section, however, was 

 replete with interest. Extensive experiments 

 were being conducted with many tropical pro- 

 ducts, particularly in connection with cocoa, 

 rubber, coffee, coconuts, &c. Especially notice- 

 able were the fine buildings in the Experimental 

 Station, including laboratory, experiment rooms, 

 drying rooms, large stores, power house, and 

 complete machinery for the drying or prepar- 

 ation of products suchas cocoa, coffee, rubber, 

 &c; for crushing and even distilling oils, from 

 heavy oils such as castor oil to volatile oils such 

 ascitronellaorlemon grass. Reoordsand museum 

 specimens were in the Director's office buildings. 

 Similar ample storage and drying rooms for 

 tropical products, especially in districts with 

 heavy rainfall, are very necessary and requisite, 

 though at present, in this country, largely con- 

 spicuous by their absence. Complete machinery 

 also for artificial drying with hot air and fans, 

 &c, as well as for preparation in marketable 

 quantities, is a great desiderata, and would be 

 invaluable in this country for purposes of com- 

 plete and practical demonstration in encourag- 

 ing the establishment of tropical industries. 

 With regard to machinery for rubber. I am re- 

 porting especially and separately. 



In these experiment plots, which in them- 

 selves must cover well over 100 acres, especial 

 attention is paid to matters of culture as well as 

 numerous methods of harvesting the products. 



In Southern India I was fortunate in being 

 able to meet Sir Frederick Nicholson, i.c.s., 

 K.c.M.G., the greatest authority on agriculture 

 in the Civil Service of India, who also gave me 

 a great deal of time and a fund of information 

 on cultural matters. 



On the Shevaroy Hills, in the Presidency of 

 Madras, I also met Mr A G Nicholson, one cf 

 the most successful planters of 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 es- 

 tates, especially that of " Hawthorn," from 

 which his Para rubber biscuit obtained a first- 

 prize gold medal at the recent Rubber Exhibi- 

 tion in Ceylon. 



In Madras I carried a letter of introduction to 

 the Hon. J N Atkinson, i.c.s., and was intro- 

 duced by him to the Director of Agriculture, and 

 also to the Director of the Horticultural Soc- 

 iety's Gardens. Over these latter magnificent 

 gardens I was thus enabled to see, under the 

 most favourable circumstances, and found the 

 rubber experiments most interesting, especially 

 in connection with the giant creepers — species 

 of Landolphias. — To arrange to go over 



KUBBER PLANTATIONS 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, however, I 

 interviewed the manager of Messrs. Walker 

 Sons and Company, agricultural implement and 

 machinery manufacturers, of Colombo, Ceylon. 

 This gentleman was most courteous and kind, 

 affording me considerable information regarding 

 rubber-tapping and other implements, and intro- 

 ducing me to Mr. Michie, the firm's engineer. 

 Mr. Michie is the inventor and patentee of 

 numerous machines, appliances, and implements, 



