and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society. 



197 



Editorship of the "Straits Agricultural Bulle- 

 tin," which is a very useful planters' periodical. 

 But in Trinidad he will have the editorship of 

 another Agricultural Bulletin which, under Mr 

 Hart, has done very well ; and Mr Hart tilled 

 each quarterly number almos* entirely by him- 

 self ; the volumes of the Bulletin are a monu- 

 ment of useful work done by him. 



Mr Carruthers has good knowledge of rubber, 

 cacao and coconuts as cultivated in Ceylon and 

 Malaya which will be very useful in his new 

 career, for these products are being extensively 

 done in Trinidad. Rubber there is coming to 

 the fore. Cacao is a very paying product though 

 some Ceylon methods might well be adopted, 

 and coconuts are a product which is likely to 

 be extended. As a botanist Mr Carrutheis will 

 have great scope ; and his home in Trinidad 

 will be among most pleasant surroundings. He 

 is certain of the good wishes of many Ceylon 

 friends including numerous planters,— Yours 

 faithfully, 



ADMIRER. 



FAILURE AND FORTUNE IN 

 NYASALAND. 



"H. B.' ; responds to the criticisms in these 

 columns (October, 1908) that he had not told us 

 yet of any fortunes made in Nyasaland, while writ- 

 ing of its advantages. From what he says, tobacco 

 would seem to be the most paying crop ; while 

 cotton has not been a success. We wonder if 

 the latter has been wrongly planted ? How- 

 ever, it will not be long now before Mr. 

 Stewart McCall, the new Director of Agricul- 

 ture, who believes it is the product for the 

 country, arrives on the spot to show the plan- 

 ters how it should be grown and harvested. 



Mlanje, December, 1909. 



In my hints to new-comers and investors, who 

 might be inclined to try their fortune in Nyasa- 

 land, appearing in y our issue of October last, 

 there was no reference to past failures, but 

 simply facts as they exist at present; but as 

 "Sceptical" refers to the 



NYASALAND COFFEE CO.*S FAILUKE 



in 1901 without even paying a dividend to the 

 shareholders, I feel bound to reply — as it is 

 very probable "Sceptical" was a shareholder, 

 and I myself was their V. A. When the 

 Nyasaland Co. was formed and during the 

 first few years of its existence, coffee was, to 

 all appearance, to be the future industry of the 

 country ; and from crops that had been se- 

 cured from various estates, there was no getting 

 over the fact that money invested in thi3 pro- 

 duct was to all appearance safe, and bound to 

 yield good interest in the course of time. 

 It is very doubtful if one man could be found 

 in or out of B. C. A., who, in view of the 

 circumstances surrounding the industry at the 

 time referred to, was then bold enough to 

 give an adverse opinion to the general one : 

 that B. C. A. was the home of the coffee tree, 

 and that there was a fortune in it. As time 

 went on, however, we began to make dis- 

 coveries that there were 



NATURAL ENEMIES 



of the coffee tree to contend with, of no trifling 

 Dature. The larger the area that was opened up, 



the more and more numerous those enemies be- 

 came, until they proved too much for the 

 coffee enterprise, and the result was wholesale 

 abandonment all over the country. Not only 

 the Nyasaland Co., but many others had to 

 close down after years of hard honest work, 

 which did credit to those who struggled to make 

 coffee pay. A great many 



FINE BRICK BUNGALOWS 



and godo wns standing in the bush in the different 

 districts throughout the country bear evidence 

 of the confidence in the coffee enterprise. Nya- 

 saland planters were not satisfied, like Ceylon 

 pioneers, with a wattle and daub house to 

 begin with and wait to see whether the estate 

 was going to pay or not, for many of the houses 

 cost £500 to £60U and more— before even a berry 

 of crop was harvested. To sum up the failure 

 of coffee in this country. If a coffee clearing 

 is opened and comes into bearing during 

 years that are 'unfavourable' for the deve- 

 lopment of insect pest, especially thrips (which 

 is mostly ruled by the early or late bush tires 

 and monsoon rains), a heavy crop and, perhaps, 

 two, can be secured ; but on the other hand, if 

 the season is favourable for breeding those in- 

 sects, the leaves and bark of the young wood 

 and berries are so damaged by their sinking 

 and puncturing the sap cells, that one may as 

 weli cut down the plants and let a sucker 

 grow up, for they are damaged for life. This 



ACCOUNTS FOR MANY COFFEE CLEARINGS NEVER 

 GIVING A CROP 



in Nyasaland and even after cutting down the 

 trees the suckers have been also damaged in 

 the same way. 



COTTON. 



Cotton, for some who have been years in this coun- 

 try, has been a complete failure ; and for others, 

 it has given a very paying crop, indeed, but the 

 risks, of course, are a great deal too serious for 

 small capitalists. Was it not Mr J W Home who 

 had to abandon the cotton industry in the bed of 

 the Muturajawela tank, Ceylon (after spending 

 some £7,000), owing to insect pests, in the 'six- 

 ties or 'seventies ? " Sceptical " wants to hear of 



PLANTERS WHO ARE GETTING BIG RETURNS IN 

 THIS COUNTKY 



at present. He might as well ask a man for 

 his Bank balance. The planters that are left 

 here are men of small means, who have managed 

 to tide over the coffee crisis, with few excep- 

 tions ; but I can mention one not very far away 

 from here, who sold about 7 tons of tobacco at 

 7d per lb., which cost very little to grow and put 

 on the market. 1 know another, who got lid 

 per lb. for 12 tons, and yet another, who sold 20 

 tons of cotton at 7^d per lb. 7 tons of tobacco 

 fetched Is l^d per lb. not very long ago. Chil- 

 lies, 1 have just got the account sales for — tons, 

 sold at 56s per cwt. I could tell you of many 

 who have not only made a living here, but have 

 been able to clear out of the country with a few 

 thousands ; but not fortunes, that people are 

 usually in such a hurry to secure. How many 

 of the Ceylon planters made' fortunes out of 

 Coffee, or even Tea ? The writer thought that 

 10 years was enough to make a fortune in 

 Ceylon and 5 years in Nyasaland ; but, alas 1 

 —the schemes of mice and men,! 



H. B. 



